How Busy Moms Can Build a Network Marketing Business from Home on Part-Time Hours
Updated: March 21, 2023
So you’re thinking about getting into the social selling industry and joining a network marketing company? But you’re wondering if the business model is going to be a good fit for your lifestyle as a mom? Then you’re in the right place!
The truth is that network marketing is an awesome opportunity for a working mom looking for a profitable side hustle, or for stay-at-home moms that would like to contribute to their family’s income.
However in my opinion, creating a successful business in network marketing is a bit different than the typical path to success that many network marketing companies will suggest that you follow.
Being a mom, while also building a sustainable business, typically means that you have less time available for anything that requires a quiet house and lots of focused individual time (phone calls, 1:1 in-person meetings, etc.), or for anything that requires you to leave the house (coffee chats, hosting in-person classes, etc.).
So is it possible to be successful in networking marketing with your MLM company as a mom with limited quiet time to work on your business?
I’M HAPPY TO SAY THE ANSWER IS YES!
It’s all about making the right choices for you and your current lifestyle.
That means that you have two choices ...
Find a way to have more childcare for your kids so that you can increase your devoted business-building time in your schedule. Or ….
Figure out a way to build your direct sales business in a way that fits your life as a mom.
For me, it was never a question.
I knew that I was building my business for the benefit of my kids and my family. So I wanted it to be something that fits into my life, rather than trying to work my business in a way that takes away from my family. Time freedom is important to me, and I wanted to build that philosophy into my work as I grew my business.
So I decided that I was going to focus my efforts on creating an online business with strategies that:
I could do from home. AND …
I wanted at least some of the strategies to be things that I could do while my crazy (and sometimes loud!) kids were around me.
Multi-level marketing is an excellent opportunity for moms to make money at home, but you just have to be creative with the business-building strategies that your company and upline may share with you.
I knew that the key for me was going to be to build my direct sales business online, rather than in-person.
In this blog post, I’m sharing with you some of my favorite ways to promote your direct sales company online, master productivity, use social media to your advantage, and motivate your team online, so that you can easily fit it all into your #momlife!
3 Ways to Promote Your Network Marketing Business Online for Moms
#1 INSTAGRAM and Facebook and Pinterest
Personally, I love using a Facebook page and Pinterest to promote my business, however, many love Instagram instead. The key is that you’re focusing on your lifestyle, your use of the products, and sharing the behind-the-scenes of building your network marketing business.
No one wants to see a bunch of promo photos, or you posting all of the latest sales. Social media is about being creative and having fun with photos that inspire. You can use your post captions and Stories to share more about your products and the opportunity. The job of your photos is to get people to stop and take notice.
A few quick Social Media tips:
Use the Lightroom mobile app and a consistent filter pre-set to turn your photos into a cohesive feed.
Use hashtags that will attract potential customers that are not already using your company’s products. For example, using #crunchymama would help me reach people that might be interested in learning more about natural products, rather than #qsciences which is more likely to attract fellow Ambassadors.
Post consistently. A good goal for getting started is 1 post per day in the feed, and 5 Stories posted each day.
#2 YOUTUBE
Enjoy talking more than writing and photos? YouTube is another great option for building your direct sales business online. This can be as simple as 5-15 minute videos of you speaking to the camera (your cell phone), addressing common questions that someone new to your product or opportunity would need to understand.
Not sure what those topics would be? You can do a search in Reddit or on Answer the Public, or even typing phrases directly into the YouTube search bar to see what suggested phrases start coming up.
Having a high-quality video to upload to YouTube doesn’t have to be difficult.
Here are a few quick tips:
Use your cell phone in horizontal mode and be sure it’s stable to avoid any shaky videos.
Use extra lighting. A clip-on ring light or a larger diva ring is cost-effective and works great for this.
To get clear and crisp audio you can use a clip-on lapel mic or simply the plug-in headphones (with built-in mic) that likely came with your cell-phone.
#3 BLOGGING
If you enjoy writing long-form content, then blogging may be right up your alley! If you’re new to the blogging world, it can take a little effort to get your blog set up from the start, but once you do then you have a simple and effective platform to share your story.
I use the Squarespace platform for my website and a theme from GoLiveHQ. They make it as simple as following a few step-by-step videos to get a professional and fun website up and running in just a few hours.
When blogging with a purpose to share your direct sales products and opportunity, I suggest following a few tips:
Focus your blogging strategy on teaching, rather than selling. People are searching for information. Provide them with what they are looking for as a way to attract them to your blog.
Get started on Pinterest asap. It’s my favorite way to drive traffic to a new blog.
Use Ubersuggest and the Pinterest search bar to find what phrases and questions people are typing into search, related to your product topic. Use this information to plan out the blog posts that you write.
I like to use RankIQ as an easy way to find "low-hanging fruit" keywords that are easy to rank for with SEO.
3 Ways to Share your Opportunity and Products Online
I believe that starting with education is always a great way to reach new people. I LOVE this because it’s a way to connect with multiple people at the same time by giving just ONE presentation (best investment of your time!).
But I still didn’t want to be leaving the house every single week to teach a class. Which we know, as a mom, involves getting a babysitter, doing hair and makeup (and showering!), putting on actual clothes, finding a place to host the class, and all that’s involved to make that happen!
That’s why I knew that doing the work online was going to be the best fit for me!
And while I could take it upon myself to host a bunch of online calls to share about my business, that's not the best way for one very important reason:
The way you share needs to be duplicatable.
Maybe you're a "unicorn" that loves hosting Zoom meetings and has all the free time in the world to host multiple meetings each week to accommodate everyone's schedule. While that might be your life, I've got a feeling that most of the people that you share with about your business don't have that same drive and time freedom.
So it's extremely important and a good idea to share in a way that is duplicatable for others!
The company that I partner with has multiple Zoom calls hosted each week by top leaders throughout the company, some focusing on the product and others focusing on the business, that anyone can invite potential customers or future business partners to.
However, if your company doesn't provide that type of support, here are a few ways that you can present your product and opportunity through online classes as a GREAT strategy for direct sales moms:
#1 TEACH A LIVE CLASS THROUGH FACEBOOK LIVE AND/OR ZOOM
This is one of my favorite ways of teaching classes because people have the chance to see and hear you, as well as to interact with you throughout the presentation. This is a great way to develop that deeper connection to your audience online.
You can choose to have the camera on you the entire time and teach as if you were speaking to a live audience in the room with you. Or you can create slides in advance to help you share the information.
#2 TEACH A TEXT-BASED CLASS
If you’re not quite ready to teach live on video online yet, you have the option do a text-based class. You can still set a specific time and date for your class, to encourage people to show up live on Facebook and interact with you. But instead of a video, you’ll be posting multiple pre-planned posts that provide the information that you want to teach.
People who show up live to see your posts are encouraged to ask questions and interact with you in the comments, which helps to build the relationship. You can also send people to read through this class after it’s already over if they’d like to educate themselves.
#3 TEACH AN INSTAGRAM STORIES CLASS
Have a following on Instagram and want to leverage that platform for more product sales and building your team? Teaching a class via Stories can be an effective way.
Create pre-planned Stories posts to host your class, and then ideally you’ll speak on camera yourself between each of the pre-planned photos. This allows you to easily present the information, while also developing a stronger connection through seeing and hearing you.
3 Ways to Nurture your Network Marketing Team Online for Moms
In network marketing, we know that one of the keys to success is building a downline team that is highly engaged and understands the opportunity that they have in front of them. So how do you build an engaged downline when you’re building your mlm business online, and you’re creating a team with people from all over the country? You leverage your ability to communicate with your team online, of course!
Here are 3 ways direct sales moms can effectively and efficiently encourage and communicate with their network marketing team online:
#1 HOST A TEAM FACEBOOK GROUP
Most people are naturally on Facebook throughout the day anyway, so let’s bring the information to where they are at.
Create a pinned post that points them to all the information that they might need to know - things like: how do you sign up a new member? Is there a rewards program? How do you get paid? This allows your new team members to feel confident in their next steps, without always needing to rely on asking you.
Post about the products, share about what this business has done for you and your family, and just for fun… create engagement posts! Ask your team members to share 2 truths and a lie, or post a selfie of what they are doing RIGHT NOW. Keep it fun, keep it light, keep it engaging … and soon your group will turn into their favorite place on the internet to be.
#2 HOST MONTHLY TEAM ZOOM CALLS
Zoom is such an amazing tool for hosting what feels like an in-person group meeting, but online. Your team members can join from their computers or their phone. They can pick to have their camera on or off, and everyone has the ability to chat and communicate with each other in real-time.
Hosting a monthly team Zoom call is a great way to keep the team motivation high, share new strategies that you’re learned, and encourage your team through any struggles they might be having. Then post the call replay into your FB group so that anyone who missed it can watch later.
#3 SET UP A FB MESSENGER GROUP CHAT
Don’t feel like you’ve got a big enough team yet to do a FB group or monthly call? (Honestly, once you’ve got 10 people, you’ve got enough!) Instead, you can set up a group FB Messenger chat.
A chat group can feel a bit more intimate than a FB group, and you can really “do life” with the members as you message throughout the day as inspiration hits. This is also an option if you’re got a weak leg that you want to hustle with for a limited amount of time and really amp up the energy within its members.
Success Online in Network Marketing for Moms
Ultimately finding success in direct sales through online strategies comes down to many of the same strategies that you’d use in person:
Building real relationships.
Solving real problems.
Caring about others.
Educating.
Sharing.
Following up with heart.
Consistency.
Persistence.
A love for what you do.
If you’re considering network marketing as a career path for you as a mom (good choice BTW … did you know that 82 percent of women in the United States who make $100,000 a year or more accomplished it through direct sales?), then I’d encourage you to find a company AND a team that is supportive of you building your business online.
Yes, you *can” build just about any direct sales business online. But it’s SO much easier in the long run when you have an upline and a team culture that is supportive of your online marketing strategies.
It’s much easier to succeed when you have a team that is plugged into many of the same strategies that you’re using so that you can cheer each other on, and share tips for what’s working. Rather than being the “odd man or woman out” who is seen as doing that “online thing.”
Just know that it is absolutely possible to be successful in direct sales as a mom, and you CAN build your entire business online. The network marketing industry is changing, and you have the ability to be at the forefront of that shift online.
Finding the right company, the right products, and the right team, that supports you in your dreams and goals is your first step. From one mom chasing her dreams for an abundant momlife to another, I’m rooting for you!
