How to Tell People What You do in Network Marketing

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and they ask you what you do, and you freeze up because you didn’t know what to say?

It can be tricky when you are in network marketing, because you’re not actually an employee of the company and maybe you do multiple things besides your business.

You may work full or part time outside your home or from home, take care of kids and aging parents and do many other things too. We do lots of things! But it’s helpful to be able to express it in a concise way to tell others.

So when you meet people in person, what do you say you do?

Here are a couple tips to help you think about how to tell people what you do in network marketing. Three primary ideas are:

1. Say that you represent a company and what the products are
2. Talk about what you do in terms of the impact that you have
3. Follow a formula

Before we talk about examples, let’s talk about who you are talking to.

It Depends Who You Are Talking To

When you’re in a conversation with somebody and that person is going to ask you what you do, I want you to bear in mind a couple of things. Is that person familiar with network marketing or building a business online or are they not?

This will determine your answer to the question – what do you do?

If the Person Knows Network Marketing and Business

If you are talking with somebody that they know about online businesses and network marketing, you can easily say that you represent a company. Here are examples:

• I’m an influencer with XYZ company and I build a business part-time online.
• I’m an advocate with a wellness company and I help busy moms lose the baby weight with natural products.
• I’m a brand ambassador with a lifestyle brand and I help homeschooling moms of little kids organize their meals so their kids can eat healthy food.
• I have a really fun business where I get to promote supplements that I’ve had great health results with.
• I’m a brand influencer with a jewelry company and I teach women to add style to their lives as stay at home moms.

If the Person Doesn’t Know Network Marketing or Business

If you have a conversation with somebody that doesn’t know anything about network marketing or online marketing, they might not understand what you’re going to say. You could try to change that language a little bit to help them to clarify what you do.

You could say:

• I run a business  to teach people about XYZ products.
• My career history is in education, but my real passion is helping moms to learn about nontoxic products and use natural solutions for everyday living.
• I work outside the home in a clothing boutique and in my spare time I teach people how to gain their confidence back with hair care products. 
• I’m home with my two young children and use social media to help women organize their homes with lifestyle products.
• I’m a retired teacher and found a great company that has smart coffee and supplements, so now I teach people how to lose weight naturally.

Or, you can talk about it in terms of impact and leave out any company names too. This can present a more well-rounded approach to what you do and can encompass several things.

Talk About the Impact

Another way to think about this if you are having trouble trying to figure out how to put yourself into a title or what to say based on your history or all the multitude of things that you actually do, maybe you really just talk about the impact that you have. Because sometimes the titles that we have with network marketing companies are not exactly the easiest to understand.

Use this structure to tell people about what you do:

I help (blank) do (blank) so they can (blank).

I (verb: help) (audience: stay at home moms of young children) to (insert impact here: have all day energy) with or by (product category: weight management supplements and workout videos or by using at home workouts).

For example:

I help new moms get their confidence back after having a baby with fashionable activewear clothing.

You don’t necessarily have to put a title on what you do, but it’s great to talk about it in terms of the value that you offer people as well too.

Follow a Formula

There is also a guide for a conversation (or short “pitch”) that you can have with people when talking about what you do. It follows this basic outline of points:

1. Talk about what you did before joining your company.
2. Talk about what you were looking for that helped you take the opportunity.
3. Talk about the fun, the feelings, the benefits joining has given you.
4. Talk about what you are looking forward to the most at this point in your business.

For example: At that time, I was a stay at home mom after leaving a full time job and I learned about the chance to use natural products and create a business for myself. I was looking to get out of the house, meet new friends, and make some income for our family so I joined and I love being empowered as mom to support my family’s health. Since then, I’ve gotten to travel, gain professional skills, present at conferences, and meet some great friends. Now I’m looking forward to growing my team, gaining more health benefits from the products I share, and to helping other women grow a business too.

This approach can appeal to different types of people because you have mentioned a few different points: facts, fun, people, and the future. Adapt it for your own experience and company.

Most Important, Have Posture

When you are preparing and delivering your sentences, you must have posture. What is posture? 

Posture is the way you present yourself and what you’re saying with confidence and security. This is communicating in a clear way and having confidence in what you’re saying. You never want to meet somebody and you know, have them stand around and be like, well, um, I don’t know. Like I sell shampoo once in a while, like with my friends. 

Make sure you are sure of yourself! Project your words clearly, stand tall, and speak with confidence.

You have amazing products and you know people can benefit from them so act that way!

This will help people be attracted to you and what you do.  Then they will want to learn more.

More tips on how to connect with people is to friend them on Facebook. Don’t even worry about business cards. Find them online and follow them back. Then you both have a way to connect with them. You can also airdrop them your contact information, message them and talk more.

Then make sure you ask them about their life too! Find out about what’s going on in their lives. You want to build real relationships with people.

What to Say Next

If you feel like this is someone you want to have a genuine relationship with, then connect more and maybe in the future you find a great opportunity for the product that you have.  If you find that someone reveals a pain point and you feel like you have a chance to share with them your product, by all means, go with what you think is going to be the right way to do it. 

Most of the time you’re going to ask people if they’ve used your product, not necessarily if they’ve heard of it, because most people have heard of it. But do you want to say something like, Oh, have you used such and such? And if so, what did you think of it?

And then when it gets to that point, you can say: I help people learn about such and such (use the sentence structures above).  Continue with, when you want to know more I can certainly help. Or, please keep me in mind. Or, we are having an event next weekend, here is the info.

Don’t forget, we all have history, we all have value and we all have something to offer.

Get clear on your message of what you do, practice it and say it with clarity and confidence!