Here is the million dollar question right now. How do I meet new people online? I met Charlie online 12 years ago, but it was a little simpler. We were both “looking for love” so we joined eharmony where we could be connected with other people looking for love.

If only there were an eharmony for potential customers to join where they could find their perfect network marketer. The problem is that’s not how this works. Customers don’t congregate in a place where they are looking to buy network marketing products like single people join dating websites or apps. 

Let’s start by doing a quick review of networking, the different ways to build your network, and how to increase the number of people you know, even though you are online. 

Network marketing works like this: you share your amazing products (and opportunity) with the people you know, which is your network.

Within your network, people decide they want to share with their network and this goes on and on so your influence gets bigger and bigger as you work through people and their networks. That’s why it’s called, “network marketing.” 

One of the keys to success to continuously expand the # of people in YOUR network, giving you more opportunities to find people who want to sell through their network.

There are 6 ways to spread your influence.

  1. people you know
  2. referrals/hosting
  3. vendor booths
  4. partnerships with professionals
  5. speaking/networking events
  6. social media

If you are stuck at home, a few of those aren’t in play anymore. Yes, you can go straight to professionals and say “hey want to work together” and that could work. But you will have more success if you have a large number of professionals in the “people you know” category.

So what we are ultimately trying to do even with referrals, vendor events, partnerships, etc is increase the # of people we know.

On social media, we all know how to connect with the people we already know. They are friends with us on Facebook, or following us on Instagram. We can message them directly and it’s not weird.

But what about new people? There are 2 ways.

First, you can build your own sphere of influence and create a business page. There you can create community.

Second, you can make new friends online.

Today we are going to talk about the second strategy since we have done other podcasts on creating a business page and we give more guidance on that in our course, Your Social Media Engagement Foundation. 

If you want to get a friend, be a friend. I am going to give you my top tips for making friends online. 🙂 

Trust and influence increases as soon as you have something in common. The more you have in common, the faster trust builds. So we are looking for people where we have a ton in common. As you know them longer, you can start to appreciate differences in your friendship. But that comes later.

For example when I met Charlie, there was some trust established because he lived 20 minutes from me, we are both Christians, and we liked hockey. Boom! First date. In setting up the first date, I learned that he was also a Cutco guy. This greatly accelerated our trust of each other. In fact, I trusted him so much, I fell asleep in the car on our second date!

Ok, lets get into those tips

  1. start local- it’s much easier to build influence with people who live near you. Be a big fish in a small pond, not a small fish in a big pond. I know, you don’t want to exclude people that aren’t close to you. It’s harder, I promise.
  2. make a list of 2-3 interests outside of work. If you don’t have interests outside of work, get a life. Seriously. It’s killing your ability to relate if all you do is take care of your kids and work your business. Often this is why I see very successful network marketers “run dry.” They no longer have a life. 

Let’s use me as an example. I live in Southern California, play hockey, love tacos, and Charlie and I both drive Mazdas. My girls are little ninjas and I am a PROUD karate mom. 

  1. Go to Facebook and search for your interests, along with your geography. Click on groups to find groups you can join. A quick search for “Southern California women’s hockey” got me 3 good groups. Hockey Planers- Southern California. SoCal Women’s Hockey Network (I was already a member), and “Southern Women’s Hockey Club.” Perfect. I also did a search for my city, Corona. There are TONS of local groups that I could join. I tried to find “California Taco Lovers” and there isn’t one! But I did find “California Wine Lovers” and I can join that one. I did all of these searches in under 5 minutes. 
  2. Request to join the groups
  3. Be a contributing member. Is it a pet group? Show pictures of your pets. Make friends. Be friendly. And move people to the “people you know” category in your life. 
  4. If you have an event like an online event or you are going to do a push for 1-on-1s, you can go back to these people who you now know and invite them.
  5. The invitation can be something like, “this weekend I’m doing a bunch of appointments for my business where I help people with their __________. Since you are now someone I know, I want to include you in my invitations. If you wanted to chat, we would go over your ____ goals, a little about the product, and then you can decide if it’s a good fit for you. I thought about you because you like _______ so it made sense to me. Is that something you would be open to?

Yes, it will take work. Being stuck in your home is really like moving to a new town where you aren’t as connected anymore. Just like moving to a new town, it takes times to build relationships. But also, like a new town, there is SO much opportunity. 🙂

Not sure about the best way to get started with Emerge Sales Training? Follow these simple steps to hit the ground running…

Step #1 – Download a FREE copy of “Customer First” at emergesalestraining.com/book or text “customerfirst” to 44222. The key to getting out of our own way is to put our customers first. It’s not a tactic, it’s a way of business. I am so passionate about this topic that I want you to have this book for free.

Step #2: Take our social media course, “Your Social Media Engagement Foundation.” Create your personal social media strategy in your voice and guaranteed to get great engagement. Learn more at emergesalestraining.com/ysmef

Step #3 – Book a Free Call to Talk about One on One Coaching Options – If you aren’t getting the results in your business that you want or you want to expedite the results you are getting let’s chat. This option is for the most committed entrepreneurs. Email team@emergesalestraining.com to schedule.