One of the most frequently asked questions I get from potential team members is if they join my team will I teach them Internet Marketing – since this is how I work my business. Many are surprised that my canned answer isn’t “Yes – of course!” Let me explain “¦
Internet Marketing (IM) isn’t something a direct sales sponsor can teach – at least not in the same way the sponsor can teach using a workstation or host coaching. It is a knowledge base that must be learned over a period of years. There are Internet Marketing gurus who make teaching this subject their full time business.
I would be very leery of any sponsor who promises to teach you IM. The sponsor should be making him/herself available to training and mentoring the entire team on all aspects of their independent businesses, plus taking care of their own customers, while continually working with prospects. When would this person have time to teach a comprehensive skill set that takes years to learn and one that is dynamic and always changing?
I actually worked with a local lady a few years ago who was interested in joining Scentsy. After meeting with and communicating with her over a period of weeks she did eventually sign up to be a consultant. However, she signed up with someone else, who lived on the other side of the country. That fact didn’t bother me so much because I genuinely believe it’s important that you find a good fit with your sponsor before signing up. It was the reason she went with someone else. She said “because he’s an internet marketer!” That was amusing to me because I was one of the original Scentsy consultants to first start working my business online in 2006 and the person she went with was a new consultant with the company with no proven track record. But he promised to “teach her IM”.
Fast forward two plus years, and she was still in the very beginning ranks and eventually quit. He promised her the moon about teaching internet marketing and didn’t deliver. I’d rather tell people up front that I absolutely will help them with their internet marketing; I will coach them; I will point them in the right direction; I will offer suggestions and share what is working for me – but teach them? No.
Just to make sure we’re clear on the difference between Helping with – and Teaching, consider this example:
My daughter is taking Spanish classes at school. She is in her second year. Her teacher, Mr. Enriquez is teaching her. That is his full time job – to teach the students Spanish. They learn and practice every day of the week, semester after semester, year after year to become proficient. The students haves a responsibility not only to show up for class, but to do the work and apply what they learn.
Before tests and quizzes I help my daughter study. I go through her flash cards with her and I give her some word association ideas on how she can better remember phrases. I am not teaching her Spanish. My full time job is to be a Scentsy Superstar Director and all that entails. I can’t possibly do that and be a Spanish teacher. But I can help, mentor, coach and support.
See the difference?
It’s like if you came to me and said “I want to really promote my business to the Hispanic Community.” I tell you that’s an excellent idea and frequently an underrepresented market. Then I ask you if you speak, read or write Spanish? If you don’t, how are you going to be able to be successful in this market segment? I can certainly give you ideas on how you can work this niche, but knowing the language is going to be a prerequisite before you come to me for tips.
If you want to work your home based business using Internet Marketing techniques, you absolutely can and should – it’s a wonderful way to build your business. However if you don’t already possess some of the required knowledge, skills and abilities it’s going to be very difficult to build a business using IM. That is not to say you can’t learn, but you’ll have to be committed to learn over a period of time and simultaneously work your business using other methods such as home parties, basket parties, vendor events or fundraisers.
Learning IM is not for the faint at heart. Because it involves technology, it is frequently changing. What I learned in 2006 is now obsolete. It involves staying ahead of the curve, or at least keeping up with it. It’s also something that requires constant monitoring, measuring and tweaking.
Not sure where to start? I would recommend you chumming up with my buddy, Mr. Google. He’s a wealth of knowledge. Take it one small area at a time and immerse yourself in becoming proficient in that topic. Try searching [Topic] then the words “for beginners.” Your topics might be: blogging, internet marketing, social media, social networking, Facebook, Twitter, SEO, WordPress, Keyword Density, etc.
So the next time you are interviewing sponsors, before you sign up to be an independent consultant ask plenty of questions and be cautious of anyone who promises to teach you Internet Marketing.
Here’s to success! See you at the top –
About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a Michigan work from home mom and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping men and women start and maintain a home based business in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Germany, Ireland and the UK. To download a FREE Start Up Guide which provides more details about how to start a home business as well as to learn about our compensation plan go to https://www.thrivingcandlebusiness.com/how-to-start-a-candle-business/
I agree with you 100% that Internet Marketing is not for the faint of heart. It is so tedius and boring too so when I try to teach people they just kind of look at me like why would I do all that random boring stuff?
Plus, one of the biggest problems with Internet Marketing is that although there can be a very nice return on your time it is rarely instant. Sooo, so many people get frustrated and either stop marketing on the internet altogether or even worse quit the program because they think its not the internet but the products, or the company, or the team.
Glad you are preaching proper expectations!
Keep up the good work and Happy Selling!
~Eric