Your Upline Is Full of Shit. Cold Messaging Won’t Build A 6-Figure Business. Do This Too.

Social Selling Simplified - Ashley Shaw

The title of this episode is for effect, HOWEVER, there is far too much bad advice being given by *most* uplines out there!This isn’t necessarily anyone’s fault; What worked a few years ago simply doesn’t work in this current climate… but understanding the Customer Value Journey will help this make more sense!Uplines used to tell team members to share their stories or cold-message people to get their businesses up and running. This worked for a couple of reasons:

1

Sharing your story is sharing yourself and your results.

There will be some people who gravitate toward that! What has changed recently is over-saturation and the changes in social media.

2

Our newsfeeds were different.

Before Facebook & Instagram had so many users, user-generated content was going into the newsfeed, and we weren’t seeing many ads. Now, platforms spread organic content in the beginning (when they’re newer, like Tiktok), but once they build an ad base they will make their money through advertising. Now there are many more ads in our IG and FB feeds! They don’t need your organic content anymore.

This is taking your delivery rate down to 1-2% instead of what it used to be. This means out of 100 people on your list, 1 person might see what you’re posting! That’s a HUGE amount of effort to put in… especially if you’re a network marketer that’s putting 100% of your effort into social media! (Can you see how this makes growing your business extremely difficult very quickly?)Even if you’re decent at social media, it’s going to take a large number of people seeing your post in order for there to be engagement AND some action taken. Unfortunately, the odds are very stacked against you if you’re using social media alone to grow your business.

That idea is now a myth.

Cold messaging is the idea of finding random people online who might be interested in what you offer, or starting a conversation with an acquaintance that didn’t begin organically. This approach isn’t authentic, and isn’t set up for success. Messaging is also a numbers game. The number of messages you have to send needs to be high in order for 1) someone to respond, and 2) someone to respond positively. This huge amount of work isn’t allowing you to grow your business quickly.

The response rate of cold messaging is too poor and will never place you on the fast track. This is why I call bullshit on the “build your business through cold messages” method.I believe most network marketers are not given the tools to grow 5-figure, 6 and 7-figure businesses. So what are the 1% actually doing?

It starts with understanding the Customer Value Journey.

There are various stages people have to go through in order to want to know more about you and do business with you.Picture a literal funnel: It’s big on top and gets smaller on the bottom. At the top of your sales funnel, there are more people coming in and the number of people coming out at the bottom is smaller. At the top, you need a strategy for getting strangers to see you and find you. This is where a lot of network marketers are focused on things like hashtag strategies.

While I applaud the effort there, it’s the slow path to nowhere.

It’s like trying to build a business with one peg of a stool.

#1

The first stage of the Customer Value Journey (the top of your funnel) is “Awareness.”

This is you need fresh eyeballs to see you somehow.

#2

The second stage is “Engage,” where strangers might check you out and engage with you on social media. This is where most network marketers spending all their time, which is problematic. Instead, you need a strategy that uses organic social posts as a testing ground. Test “hooks” that will pull people in. (“Hooks are the first line of your posts. The title of this podcast episode is an example!)

Don’t put your focus on likes or engagement.

#3

The third stage is Subscribe, where you want them to give you some form of information you can follow up with, such as an email address. Use your platform to encourage people to subscribe, then you’ll have the ability to use email to prove you’re an authority and an expert.

The challenge in network marketing is differentiating yourself.

Creating your own free tool or download will help others see how different you are, and what you have to offer.Once they’re a subscriber, your goal is to get them to invest a small amount of time or money. (People who do this are MUCH more likely to buy!) You’re not doing this through social media- you’re doing this through email. Every business utilizes email, and you need to, too. The open rate on emails is an average of 20%, which is MUCH better than the 1% of social media! You automatically get MUCH more impact this way. (They say every email is worth about $5, or even more!)

#4

The fourth stage is “Excite.” They need to have an “ah-ha” moment that gets them excited to purchase from you. This is your chance to prove you’re worth investing in.

Once you have these stages in place, then you can start running ads! It’s the best way to scale a business quickly. If just have one leg of the stool (like social media), you’re susceptible to the algo, or just crossing your fingers and hoping you’ll go viral. You’re spending time investing in something that’s not guaranteed.

If you want guaranteed success, you need to have a matching strategy. That’s one of the reasons I’m putting on a new, free workshop! It’s called Your Upline is Full of Sh*t. Cold Messaging Won’t Build a 6-Figure Business. Do This Instead.It’s on Monday, September 19th at 5pm PST / 8pm EST. Jump in on it if you’re struggling and want to make more money!

Key Takeaways From This Episode:

• In order to understand how to make money in today’s online climate, you need to understand the Customer Value Journey.
• Don’t put your focus on likes or engagement.
• Most network marketing companies make it difficult or impossible for people to differentiate themselves.
• You need a strategy that doesn’t rely on social media in order to establish yourself as an authority, and give people the “ah-ha” moment that will lead them to buy from you.
• Every business utilizes email, and you need to, too.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

My book, F*ck What Your Upline Said.

WHERE WE CAN CONNECT:

• www.ashleyshaw.ca
• Ashley Shaw – The Fitness Leader Institute
• @theashleyshaw
• Join the Facebook Group: Business Bootcamp for Fitness Coaches

Don’t forget….. If you loved this episode, screenshot it and share it to your IG stories and tag me @theashleyshaw. I would love to connect with you!