This email came in overnight from a reader and I felt strongly that it needed to be answered here ASAP!

Hi Roxanne,

I found you on facebook and love your Q&A series on your blog.  Here is my question.   If you do decide to answer it on your blog, please just call me “NOT making money with facebook”.

I just found out today that my job is ending in a month and I need to know how to be making money with my business before then.  I’m scared!  Before now, I’ve been trying to work my MLM business but it’s just not going anywhere.  I feel like I’ve been wasting a lot of time on facebook.  I take all of these classes and they say to go to groups where other networkers are and post 1 – 3 times a day.  I do that and get no response.  I’m posting about all of the great things about our company.  The excellent pay plan, how they can get started for under $500, how they can fire their boss and things like I see other people posting.  I don’t get anyone to “bite”.  I’ve sent some emails to people introducing myself and my business just like I was told by one trainer.  That got me a warning from facebook.  Someone reported me for spamming them.  I wasn’t spamming, I was introducing myself and my business.

It just seems that there are so many rules to what you can and can’t do on facebook.  And everyone is doing the same thing so how do I know what will make money?     I’ve spent a lot of money on training and I feel that I’ve been implementing everything I was taught to do.  Why isn’t it working and what is the best way to make money going forward?

Thank you for your help.

Well, hello, NOT…   I am glad you found me!  I’m sorry to hear about your job, but the good news is you can turn that into a very good thing.  I’ll tell you why in a bit.  Welcome to my training.  I don’t know how far you’ve read or what, if any, trainings you’ve listened to of mine so I will begin with this:

I am not one to “sugar coat” things.  I will not tell you what you want to hear, I will tell you what you need to hear.  If that’s too blatant and too much for you right now, don’t read the rest of this answer.

OK…here it is….

First of all, you found me on facebook.  That is a very good sign.  Do you know what that tells me?  It tells me that what I’m doing is working!!  Now…do you want to learn from someone who is just making money teaching or from someone who is actually doing the things they are teaching?  Too many times people teach others to do things they are not willing to do themselves.  Why?  I do not know what the motivation is for that.  Maybe if they can keep you from having success, they think you will keep coming back to spend more money with them, I don’t know.  In reality, the exact opposite is true.

Let’s move on…

Going to groups where other networkers are and posting all of the great things about your company is actually the WORST way to do business on facebook.  Let’s look at this logically.  These groups are filled with other network marketers.  They already have a company.   They are struggling just like you are.  They have heard everything you are saying before.  Heck…they’ve probably said it too.  They are not your target market.  So, you are spending time giving the wrong information to the wrong people.  There aren’t many other ways than bad that could turn out.

You talk about sending emails to other facebook members.  You say “I wasn’t spamming, I was introducing myself and my business.”  Did these people ASK to hear about you and your business?  I don’t think so.  Any time you send any kind of private message (fb PM, fb email, regular email, etc…) that is unsolicited (not asked for) it is considered SPAM.  You could be legitimately offering people $100 for reading your email and if the recipient didn’t ask for you to email them, it’s SPAM.  So, yes…you were spamming them.

It’s good that you are willing to invest in yourself and get the training you need.  I did take a look at your facebook profile and I can tell you that it is not set up properly to attract the right people.   The first thing I always recommend that you have a smiling photo of YOU as your profile photo and that you use a cover photo with a clear, concise, “About Me” statement that tells the person looking at it who you are and what you do.  This should be short and clear.  Read my post from yesterday about using facebook to market your business.  It’s all about being SOCIAL on SOCIAL spaces.  Attraction marketing.  That’s what works, not “go yell and scream until people block me” which is what is being taught by many “trainers”.

Bottom line…You will need to learn how to properly use facebook to market your business.  I suggest you find a coach who is currently working on facebook and having success doing it.  Learn from them.  Don’t waste your money on any other training.  Get the proper training now while you still have an income and you can learn how to be making money before you get into the spot where you have nothing and are so desperate that nothing works.

Good luck!!

Roxanne

There is a very high failure rate among those in network marketing/MLM.

One of the biggest reasons I see for failure is the “I can’t afford it” syndrome.

The average cost to join an MLM company is $500.  The average monthly product requirement is $100.  So, by month three, the average network marketer has invested $700 into his/her business.  At that point, they have exhausted their warm market.  This is the point where most people give up and quit. 

They claim they have invested too much money so far and “can’t afford” to invest any more into learning how to properly market their business beyond their warm market.

HELLO??

If anyone seriously thinks they can start a business for $700, not market it properly, and make it a success, they are nuts.

We need to stop marketing MLMs to people who do not have the resources to make it into a successful business.  This is why network marketers get such a bad name.  People who are building a business lie to their prospects and tell them it’s easy.  They tell them that they can “fire your boss tomorrow” among other things.

Are you ready to stop lying and learn how to attract those who can afford to build a business?  If you won’t put money out to make your business successful, don’t expect those you bring in to do it either.  You really can’t afford to NOT spend money on your business.  Your return on investment – IF YOU IMPLEMENT WHAT YOU LEARN – will be huge if you go to the right person to learn.

I am amazed at the number of seemingly intelligent people who are acting like they don’t have a shred of common sense. If you are offended by this statement or this post I apologize in advance. This is not meant to “trash” anyone. It’s meant to educate.

In the past few weeks, I’ve gotten a lot of emails that go something like this:

THEM: I started a home based business and was told that I would be able to quit my job in no time. But here it is, a year later and all I’m doing is spending money instead of making it.

ME: What are you spending your money on? Why do you think you are not making money?

THEM: I’m spending money buying products from my company so that when I do sponsor someone, I will qualify for bonuses. I’m also spending money advertising. I’m not making money because nothing works me.

ME: First of all, there are MANY free and low cost ways of advertising. You do not need to spend a lot of money advertising. Unfortunately, if you don’t know what those ways are, yes…you will spend money to learn. You need to either spend time learning it on your own or pay someone to help you. It’s that way with anything. If you want to be a teacher, you pay to go to school to learn how. If you want any career and not just a job, you pay to go to school to learn how to do it. If you don’t already know how to build a business, you have to pay to learn how. The question then becomes – Do you pay someone thousands to learn or hundreds? Just like going to college, it’s an investment in your future.

THEM: Why should I pay more money to learn how to market? Nothing has worked so far.

ME: That’s exactly why you should make the investment into learning how to market. Once you learn it, you can implement it forever. Think of it as an investment into your future, not spending money on something that is getting you nowhere like you’ve been doing.

I really am surprised at the number of people who honestly think they can start a home based business with NO EXPERIENCE OR EDUCATION and be replacing their income in no time. It seems these same people would think they could become a doctor just out of high school with no education.

I have quite a few programs to help entrepreneurs build their business online using social spaces.  The majority of them give generic trainings.  After learning the material, you must take what you learned and put it into specifics for your company or business.  Many  have had a problem with this.

So…I developed the half hour to 45 minute strategy session for those who just need a little nudge in the right direction and the VIP day for those who need more one on one help.

Quite a few people have said that they would love to do a VIP day, but they just can’t afford it right now as they aren’t making much money from their business.   I can completely understand where they are coming from.  I’ve been there.  Here is what I’m doing for those people:

For the month of October, 2012, I am doing a group coaching.  We will have a private facebook group where you can get all of the specialized help you need.  We will do up to three calls during the month to answer any questions participants may have.  This will be similar to what you would get in the VIP day, but will not be one on one.  It will be done in a group.  This allows me to help you for a much lower cost.

I will only open this group coaching to a limited number of students to make sure everyone gets the help they need.

What does this group coaching cost?  $247 (Only $147 during Fall special) and that includes the 6 module social networking course, the private group coaching and the coaching calls during October.

Here is a test for you…go to your facebook profile.  NOT your newsfeed.  Facebook is the most popular social space so we will test with this one.  Sign in and click on your name in the top right.  Look at statuses that you’ve posted that come up on that first page.  How many statuses have “likes” and comments?  Now look at those who liked and commented. Are they your prospects or your business associates?  If they aren’t your prospects or if there aren’t many likes and comments, you NEED this coaching.

How much more time will you waste floundering around on social spaces?  Find out how to use them properly to build your business.

To join the private coaching group,

click here to make your payment in full

or

click here to make 2 payments of $127 (2 pmts of $75.97 if you sign up during Fall special)

After payment is made, please go to http://www.facebook.com/roxannegreen1 and make sure we are facebook friends so I can add you to the private facebook group.  Expect to hear from me within 24 hours of payment.

If you have already taken the 6 module social networking course, email me privately for a discounted price.

I do not know when I will do another group coaching as they are very time intensive, so get in on this now.   Stop struggling and start making money.  Isn’t that why you started a business?

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Here is another great question sent in by a newsletter reader.  If you have a question, send it to me at roxanne at roxannegreen.com and put NEWSLETTER QUESTION in the subject line.

Roxanne,

You teach social networking to build a business. What is the best social space to use?

Thanks,

J.V. in NJ

Hi J.V.

This is a tricky question.  Social spaces are all over the internet.  The most popular ones are facebook, twitter and pinterest.  But…don’t forget blogging and forums and OPB (other people’s blogs).  The best social space for you will be determined by YOU based on the knowledge you gain about each one.   I give an overview of each one and how to use it in my Social Network Your Way to Cash Self Study Course.

Have an Awesome Day,
Roxanne Green