Setting SMART goals is one of the most common tools taught in business school. If you have ever felt like you’re working day and night but not getting anywhere, it may be because your goals aren’t set up to be attainable.

If you want to take the shortest road to success, you need a system for implementing time bound and target-based goals that are measurable.

Don’t waste your time rushing around trying to pack more tasks into your day, when you can design a path to success that allows you to maximize the use of your time while achieving your goals.

Many people who start their own network marketing business never take the time to write down their goals and define how they are going to achieve them. For many network marketers just getting started, this is the first mistake they make.

While it doesn’t need to be overly formal, creating a game plan for your business will help you stay on the right path and prevent you from trying to aimlessly build and grow your business.

If you’ve never written a business plan before, then you may be wondering where to start. This helpful guide will walk you through the process of creating a basic plan for your network marketing business.

If you’ve attended network marketing training seminars, you probably know that downline management and motivation is a key component that is discussed and is critical to building a successful team.

Whether you have one person in your downline or 50, your job as an upline sponsor is to educate, support and motivate your team. Setup the people below you for success and they in turn will help grow your business. It’s as simple as that.

Unfortunately, many people still struggle with implementing what they learn in seminars and weekend meetings at resorts. And, if you’re new to network marketing, the concept of inspiring your downline may seem overwhelming.

But, with the right organizational tips, strategies, and tools, you can build an atmosphere that will allow your team to reach their full potential and take your network marketing business to the next level.

Let’s dive into these tips and strategies for managing your downline.

Moms control a large amount of the spending in many households around the world. That makes them a huge target market for businesses large and small.

And while many network marketers target moms as part of their business plan, many fail to break this audience down into smaller segments. As a network marketer, it’s important to understand that the same message won’t work for every mom.

For example, to really expand your sales network you need to learn how to differentiate messages that will work for young moms vs. messages that would work for urban moms.

But, that’s just the start. Keep reading to learn more about the strategies you can employ when marketing to moms.

As a network marketer, you need to consider the power of what people think and say about you and your product or service offering. Positive or negative, the opinions of others can and will have a big impact on your business.

And while many customers may voice their opinions on their own, there are many that will need a little nudge to convert positive thoughts into positive outward communication.

That’s where having a great customer referral program comes in. But how do you create a referral program and what should you consider when setting up your incentives? Keep reading to learn more about growing your business with customer referrals.

To be an above average network marketer, you need a large, motivated team. But, getting people fired up to work hard isn’t always easy.

Lots of people who work in network marketing have to make their schedule fit around family responsibilities and other jobs.

To motivate your team, you need to show them how to inspire themselves. You have to get them excited about the opportunity your company offers and show them that their time and energy won’t be wasted.

You need to be the living example of success and communicate with your team, sharing the strategies and inspirations that brought you to where you are today.

Putting yourself out there is the foundation of running a network marketing business. But, sometimes, people respond to your messages in a negative way.

Unfortunately, that’s part of the game in sales. Not everyone is going to see your vision. But, if you know how to respond to criticism, sometimes it’s possible to turn a nay-sayer into a potential lead.

While that may sound optimistic, you can start by learning how to respond to the biggest myths about the MLM industry. Then, you can use your own personal network marketing statistics to tell the truth about network marketing.

Creating a social media strategy for your network marketing business is a critical step in building your audience and growing your business.

But with so many platforms filled with different voices, how do you develop a successful plan that puts you in a position to break through the noise and reach your audience?

This is where taking the time to do your research and knowing how to develop an effective strategy pays off. Let’s take a look at the steps to get you there.

When a company really starts to grow and there are a lot of affiliates and distributors in the market, it’s common to find multiple people in the same company who are looking to give you an opportunity.

It can be difficult to decide how to make a decision on whose team to join. You don’t want to choose your team based on who is giving away a free t-shirt.

When you see people within a company competing for your interest in joining their team, you should look for a sponsor with a long term plan. Choose someone who is a true leader that is willing to help you develop the necessary skills to become a top earner in your network.

Keep reading to learn more about choosing the right sponsor and why it is important to be coachable.

The majority of network marketers in the world are women. They’re able to build huge networks and are leading major organizations and generating true wealth in the process.

But, some women take their role even further — starting their own network marketing companies and building a legacy. Learn more about five of the top women in network marketing and get inspired by their powerful stories.

It’s easy to sell your products to a prospect that is already interested. They’ve had a chance to do their preliminary research and know that what you offer is a potential solution.

At that point, all you have to do is follow up with them and answer their questions. When you’re in front of the right people, they will choose you over your competition.

But, if you really want to make it to the top tier of your company, you’re going to need to learn how to get people interested and how to convert someone who isn’t interested into a prospect. Check out these tips for lead generation to get started.

Many network marketers use social media as a primary way to drive sales to their business. But, their posts can often come off salesy and insincere.

And then there are those people who post product pictures all of the time. Being friends with them you tend to forget whether it’s a company or a person behind the page.

On the other hand, there are social media influencers who rarely mention their products at all. Are they really able to sell anything?

Getting involved in social media for network marketing can mean losing friends, getting blocked, or hearing people call your messages spam. Sometimes it can even feel like you’re shouting your message into a void.

But, then there are those people who are able to do it so seamlessly, so flawlessly that it works.

They post things that are relatable to their audience, start a conversation, and bring up their products personally to the people they think they can help.

The network marketing industry has continued to grow and evolve over the past 50 years. What started as large scale companies like Avon and Mary Kay selling products at home to their friends and neighbors, is now a multibillion dollar industry.

And, for the most part, tactics haven’t changed. You reach out to the people you know in your network and try to get them interested or involved with your products.

But, just because you sell something like health food or vitamins, doesn’t mean everyone that eats is a member of your target audience. You should promote your products specifically to the people that have a need for them.

For example, someone who works from home might not be the best customer for ready-made meals. Instead, you would want to focus your attention on attracting people who are out of the house during the day and in a hurry.

Once you have identified working people as a target market, you can narrow it down from there to people who are tired of eating out all of the time, people who have gained weight due to ordering in, etc.

Don’t use an aimless approach where you make a list, gather information on the people, and see who sticks. Instead, be efficient with your time and use technology to your advantage to direct your marketing message at a very specific audience.

When evaluating a network marketing compensation plan, it’s important to focus on whether or not it incentivizes, rewards, and recognizes your hard work. But, how do you evaluate whether the plan you’re offered will do that?

There are four different kinds of basic compensation plans when it comes to network marketing - binary, stair-step breakaway, matrix, and unilevel. And, there are pros and cons to each set-up.

But, before we dive into all those details, let’s talk about the questions you should be asking yourself while you’re evaluating various plans.

Facebook has more than 2.5 billion monthly users. While all of those people may not be on your friends list, you never know if you have what it takes to make a viral post.

While going viral may be a bit of a reach for network marketing posts, there are a lot of things you can do to create engaging content that attracts people that want to make a purchase.

Start by reviewing your analytics for previous posts and look at what worked for you in the past so that you can replicate those results in the future.

You can also ask your audience to get involved by sharing what they would like to see you post on your business page. But, that’s not all. Check out our tips and tricks for creating engaging content for network marketers.

Depending on the network marketing company you represent, you may have a variety of recruitment materials at your disposal.

Some companies provide their reps with videos, pamphlets, infographics, websites, training, and more when they get started. This information can be used to educate new recruits on the products and services your company offers its representatives.

But, a lot of people are also out there doing it all on their own. Creating their own sales and marketing materials to help build and train their team.

Whether you have a whole slew of resources at your disposal or if you’re brainstorming your own strategy, check out these tips for recruiting new team members.

What does it mean to lose a lead?

There are all sorts of terms for it. A lead can “go cold”, they “get stale”. But the basic idea is, if you don’t follow up on a lead quickly, you’re sure to lose it.

Proper lead hygiene can help you focus your attention on getting the right leads and maintain their desire through the sales process.

Rather than scattering your efforts to the masses reaching out to anyone and everyone, you can target exactly the people that would be interested in your products with no time wasted.

What if you could walk your prospects to the finish line with a proven sales funnel? Want to know how? Keep reading and follow these 7 tips.

When someone takes the time to examine your offerings, following up with them becomes crucial. If you want to make a sale, you need to close your leads.

But, you also don’t want to attack someone who is interested in your products or joining your team, bombarding them with information. It’s important to finesse their interest into a burning desire to make a purchase.