How to Succeed in Direct Sales without Friends & Family

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“How do I break out of the circle of my friends & family with my direct sales business?” Sound familiar? Or maybe your circle of friends & family is on the small side? It's no matter. You can succeed in direct sales without friends & family.

There seems to be a direct correlation between those who are successful in their direct sales endeavors & those who learn to break out of their circle of family & friends with their direct sales business. I also firmly believe it is lack of knowledge on how to branch out that lends to the stigma of direct sellers in general of being spammy. Well, let's be honest: Many direct sellers ARE spammy.

The key lies in FUNNELS — & I don't mean the cake!

Funnel strategy simply means you are strategic in attracting people to you & enticing them to GO where you want them to go. It kind of is that SIMPLE. However, simple doesn't mean easy. There IS some thought that really needs to go into it. Even more so, there's some consistency that needs to be maintained, especially in the beginning stages of your business.

Funnel strategy starts by working your way backward.

Decide where it is you'll be leading people. Do you have a Facebook community you connect in? Or maybe an email list? Either way, where ever you lead people, make sure it is a place you can actually communicate & build relationships. In other words, your replicated site is NOT an effective place to funnel. Direct sales without friends & family doesn't mean you won't have any friends while working your business; you'll be making friends as part of your business strategy. Where is an effective place to do that for you?

The end-point of your funnel is where people know you.

The end-point of your funnel is that place to where you're leading people. It is where people already know you at least a little — & a place where people can get to know you more. Likewise, the end-point of your funnel gives you the chance to get to know them more too. You can really nurture a relationship here. This is how direct sales without friends & family becomes a non-issue: you're making new relationships all the time!

The entry-point of your funnel is where people have no clue who you are.

In fact, there should be SEVERAL entry-points to your funnel! Your funnel entry-points are EVERYWHERE you are. Seriously. EVERYWHERE. Social media profiles, email signatures, & videos are all examples of places overlooked as funnel entry-points, for example.

Funnel entry-points need a lighter touch. This is where a lot of direct sellers go wrong & wind up spamming, despite even good intentions. Because no one knows you, has a chance to even like you, & certainly can't trust someone they don't know, they, likely, are NOT going to buy from you just because you say so. This means, your funnel-entry points are NOT for promotional content (“Hey! Buy my stuff!”). Don't be THAT person! This is from where the bad name comes.Direct sales without friends & family doesn't mean ALIENATING those you do have. 😉

Direct sales without friends & family doesn't mean ALIENATING those you do have. 😉

Instead, funnel-entry points should be predominately personality posts about YOU & what you & your business stand for. This can be a funny meme, a game, a story. Anything that will entertain, get a laugh, or evoke a “Yes! Me too!” 

Anything that brings forth EMOTION in people is GREAT for funnel entry-points.

People remember how they FEEL more than they remember what they see or do. Play to people's emotions in ways that will help them feel a connection with you.

On that same note, funnel-entry points are perfect to share value. Get purposeful. Recipes, tutorials, explanations about why something is the way it is. INFORMATION. Direct sales without friends & family requires giving so much value, people will seek you out & refer your resources to others.

Giving value on a regular basis will keep you on people's radar.

If you're providing purposeful content, people will start to remember how handy you are & beneficial it is to be in your circle. They will want to like your page or follow you. They will be more inclined to join your group or email list. This is so important. You CAN be so successful with direct sales without friends or family being involved simply by remembering this. Don't YOU seek out your favorite coaches or YouTube personalities or bloggers when you know they'll have something new to share that will be useful? It's the same idea.

If you remember NOTHING else about funnel strategy, remember to LINK back to your END POINT from EVERYWHERE you are!

Every social media channel you're on, your email signature, your business cards, the end of your videos: These should ALL somehow link back to your funnel end-points. Every single personality or purposeful post from your funnel ENTRY-points should have a call to action at the end of them. This call to action (CTA) should invite them to comment, join your community, subscribe to your email list — anything that will pull them further into your funnel as related to whatever it is you posted.

Start where you are. Let the rest go.

Funnel strategy can get complex. It can seem HUGE. Frankly, funnel strategy kind of IS huge. There are seemingly ENDLESS amounts of things you can do to engage people in your funnel. It almost turns into more of a WEB than a funnel, constantly linking back & forth between all things YOU!

With all of that said, start with where YOU are. Pick one or two tasks & execute them well. Don't try to do ALL THE THINGS all at once. Master just a couple, then layer in more. And, even more so, do the best you can with what you know now… THEN, when you know better, you can do even better too! Before you know it, you'll forget it was ever an issue to worry about direct sales without friends & family because you'll have QUITE the circle around you because of the awesome funnels you've built!

Let's talk more.

If you'd like to continue the conversation, please don't hesitate to reach out to me! Email me at retajayne@confidenceandchaos.com or shoot me a private message. 

(See what I did there? A call-to-action. 😉 Funnel strategy, baby! Here's more…)

AND, of course, if you'd like to be a part of a supportive, confidence-boosting online community of empowering women, please accept this invitation to join us over in the Calculated Chaos Community! We'd SO love to meet you!

Lastly, if you've been looking for your direct sales “home” & would like to partner with me & Sweet Minerals, there are a few more trainings provided by me, other leaders in my Sweet Family (team), & the company. These trainings range from video tips, FUNNEL STRATEGY, goal-setting, prospecting & sponsoring, building community, Instagram — & more! Contact me with any & all questions or dive in by purchasing your Sweet Minerals starter kit HERE.