A year ago I was struggling in this industry. I had only a handful of upline/crossline members I could contact for support. There was very little recognition for any of the smaller successes we all achieve as we build our business. There was no feeling of a big team working together where we would all win and help each other grow.
Although I don’t pin that as the reason for my lack of success, now that I’ve experienced an amazing “community” I know that it’s been a huge part of my success and a key element to my six figure income and team.
If you can create a community where people feel like they are a part of something bigger, you’ll create a stronger team with longevity.
Eight months ago I joined a new company and a new team. We started a private Facebook group that is almost 2,000 people strong. It’s been a key element in my success. Why? Because it keeps me plugged in, gets me recognized and allows me to recognize others, a fast option for support and a great way to communicate with the team.
It’s a safe, positive place for our team to bond, support and build each other up. Without it I don’t think we’d be the fastest growing team in our company.
I highly recommend if your team doesn’t have a private online community that you get started and create one today. As a leader in your community, be sure to participate in as many posts as possible, be the leader your want your team to become.
Here are just a few of the benefits I’ve seen from having an online team community.
Support
Often times people in your teams need answers and they need them fast. An online community can be a great way to get questions answered quickly …especially as your community grows and more and more of your team members are part of the community. Anytime I need an answer fast, the first place I go is to our team community forum.
Recognition
“People will work for money, but they’ll die for recognition.” One of my favorite things about our community is the recognition. When someone gets their very first customer there is usually no less then 15 or so people shouting them out and congratulating them within our forum.
Recognition give people a good feeling that so many others are behind them and cheering them on. People get recognized for the smallest of successes right up to when someone hits the top of the compensation plan. Recognition makes people feel good. And if they feel good within a community, they are more likely to hang around.
Testimonials
Network marketing is built on stories. One of the key reasons you should attend events is to hear stories of others success both from a product perspective and from a business perspective. When you first start you don’t necessarily know many of the stories out there in the field…maybe your immediate sponsors story and one or two others, but really that’s not enough You need to eventually have a whole bunch in order to tell relevant stories with a wide variety of people you are going to meet. So knowing many stories is important.
An online community can provide many stories and quickly. The other day I needed a few testimonials about people who have seen results with a certain health condition. I didn’t know of any story for that particular condition, so I posted something in our forum and within 1 hour I had about 4-5 different testimonials I could use.
Announcements
When building a team there are often times when you need to get an annoucement out. Maybe a last minute team call or an update on last month’s stats. Whatever it is…it’s not always easy to get the word out. With an active online community forum, making announcements is quick, easy and non-intrusive to your team. It also provides a way for people to comment with questions and allows for all to see the answers.
We use a private Facebook group primarily cause Facebook is the most popular website where people are hanging out and visiting daily. It has many options for security and notification. It’s easy to use and works great. Consider starting your team Facebook group today.
If you have other “key elements” that have helped you build a “six figure” team, please share them in the comments below. Or if you have other tools that you’ve used to build your success, please comment below. Or if you just liked this post and got something out of it..please Tweet or Share it on Facebook. Thanks team! xo
