Part of the guide: Blog Traffic
Recently I’ve been thinking about my overall business strategy and how I can completely automate my MLM business. Unfortunately, there really isn’t a way of building a completely hands off business. As there are always events to attend, phone calls to pick up and the occasional article to write. With all that being said, I’ve spent the last year figuring out a way of almost completely automating my MLM business. If you’re the kind of person who wants to spend money while a clever system makes it, read on. 
So I spent a lot of LONG nights scheming up evil ways to completely automate my MLM business. So what did I conclude? Well that you can actually recruit new reps on complete autopilot, but you cannot under any circumstances build an MLM business automatically. If you follow my advice you’ll be able to start recruiting on autopilot, but if you think you’ll be able to leave it to grow by itself, you’ll fail. I lost an entire MLM organization figuring that out so just trust me.
Let me start by listing what can be automated and what can’t… (It’s important to know)
What can be automated:
- Traffic
- Lead Generation
- Relationship Building
- Cash Flow
- Presentations (Prospecting)
What can’t be automated:
- Talking On The Phone (closing)
- Team Training
- Leadership
What can be automated:
So essentially the entire recruiting process can be pretty much automated. If you don’t believe me, it’s true as I automatically recruit multiple reps daily. I also automatically sell a crap load of products and memberships around the clock. Let’s start with the traffic. Traffic really can be automated, how? Well you have two options…
First of all you can pay for it, using PPC or any other paid traffic method. Of course, there’s a little bit of maintenance involved, but it’s as automated as it gets. Then there’s using free strategies and just paying other people to do them. You know… article marketing, blogging, SEO and anything that generates free traffic. The problem with most free traffic generation strategies is that they take a long time to amount to something.
Like if you’re blogging, it might take you 3 months to see any results or if you’re article marketing it might take you even longer. So the only option is to hire people in 3rd world countries to do the work for you! Yah, a genius idea I schemed up LOL. Just kidding, but it’s the way forward. Cheap help, you can go and hire a virtual assistant for $500/month. Or you could pay a premium price ($1000-$3000) for a full time qualified assistant to handle your traffic generation.
Anyway, you have no excuse when it comes down to generating traffic. If you’re too lazy get some help! (And yeah it sounds mean paying $500/month for a full time assistant, but it’s the going rate) You should also know that you’ll get crappy uneducated and highly unqualified VA’s at that price. I honestly think if you’re going with free traffic you should pay a few guys in America or Europe to do things for you.
Then there’s lead generation which can of course be completely hands off the same way traffic can. All you have to do is funnel all the traffic you’re getting to an opt in page. Now we’ve got that stuff out of the way, we’re generating traffic and leads on autopilot. Next is the almighty relationship building phase of the business. You can automate this process using a good old autoresponder like Aweber or GetResponse. Simply feed your leads with free content and send them videos of yourself. Just remember to brand yourself throughout this process.
Next is cash flow, creating cash flow in your business is dead simple! All you have to do is nicely recommend a few products/services to your email list. Since they now know and trust you because of all the free stuff you’ve been sending them, they’ll buy stuff you recommend. Prepare a few promotions that can be placed into your autoresponder follow up. Maybe promote 10 different products over the course of 3 months or teach your subscribers how to do something which involves them purchasing a few things. A great example which everyone seems to be doing… teach your subscribes how to setup a website or blog. And in order for them to do so, they need to buy like half a dozen products/services. That’s cash flow sorted.
Lastly is presentations, presentations can be ruled as recruiting. By simply recording a video of yourself and or power point presentation… you’ll be able to automatically prospect and expose your leads to your MLM business. In your presentations you can be as direct as you like, talk about the comp plan. Talk about the product and most importantly… paint a picture of what it will be like after your potential prospects joins you. Very simple stuff, involves some minuscule technical knowledge which can be outsourced anyway.
What can’t be automated:
So I’ve pretty much summed up exactly what can be automated, so here’s what can’t be. First of all I want to talk about the mobile phone. Yeah, you can’t build a highly profitable MLM business without picking up the phone. Why not? Well whoever picks up the phone and calls a lead is probably going to sponsor him/her. Let’s leave it at that. As when they opt in to your email list after seeing you on some website, you’re like this imaginary person to them. Once they pick up the phone and hear your voice, it’s like you suddenly become real. You confirm their believe that it’s not some scam or whatnot.
Plus, talking on the phone is by far the best way to close new reps. It’s the highest converting way to do so anyway. If you were to send 100 people to an online presentation, maybe 5-10 would join your company. However, if you were to pick up the phone and individually speak to every lead. Telling them all about your business, confirming their beliefs and asking them to literally signup, you’ll convert more like 20. Next is team training, it can’t exactly be automated.
While I’ve tried and tried to automate my team training process, it can’t be done. I still get people asking me 100 questions! So what do you really have to do? Setup a training system with a back office for new members to log in and get started. You should cover offline recruiting and online marketing strategies. On top of that, you need to hold regular training webinars. Can’t be totally automated.
Of course, leadership isn’t something that just happens on autopilot. If you want your team to strive you need to offer them leadership. You need to step up and be the leader, put your money where your mouth is and say, this is how you’re going to make money. This is what to do and how you’re going to do it… so get your ass up and start working! Trust me… it’s the only way forward.
In Prosperity,
David Wood
P.S. Please leave your thoughts, comments and questions in the box below. I’ll be sure to reply to some of them. Just do it
Comments
Micah, August 2 2011, 16:33
It always comes back to the basics. You automate lead generation, then call them, sign them, and do live training. Simple, but very effective. What I like about this method is that it very efficient, and fully leverages your time. Of course there are other ways to get leads, plucking them one by one off facebook for example, but there’s no leverage there. Lifestyle freedom is the goal. This mean time freedom es well as financial freedom. Thanks Dave!
Ryan Biddulph, August 2 2011, 16:33
You have been paid late before
You have watched the number on the dashboard not match the number in your account. What is different now is simple: it settles on a public contract you can check yourself, not a dashboard I control.
Read the contract →Most participants earn little to nothing. No income is guaranteed. You can verify every payout on the public smart contract.
Hi Dave, If you plan to have a life you must automate some of the process. I formerly worked hours on end, missing out on life while I worked my online business. I quickly discovered some aspects of your gig must be automated, or else you burn out. Socialoomph it. Hootsuite it. Get your SEO down, driving passive traffic to your site. As for the leadership end of things, you can’t automate personal development. As you note, you have to show up and inspire others around you to become a leader. Thanks for sharing your insight Dave. RB
Gabriel Johansson, August 2 2011, 16:33
This is some powerful stuff that the entire industry should see. Yes, I do get some duplication without communication but it does not usually last long. Keeping in touch with your team is vital and I have literally doubled the size of my team in the last 30 days because of that. It IS cool that I don’t lift a finger and get daily leads though 😉 Thanks for the post, -Gabriel Johansson
Sarah Thompson, July 30 2024, 14:00
Thank you for sharing this insightful post, David. It’s encouraging to see that automation can handle so much of the process, leaving more time for personal growth and direct engagement with the team. Keep up the great work!
Michael Lee, July 30 2024, 14:05
I learned a lot from this post about balancing automation and personal interaction. The distinction between what can and can’t be automated is crucial. Thanks for breaking it down so clearly!
Emily Richards, July 30 2024, 14:10
Could you elaborate more on the tools you use for automation? Specifically, what are your thoughts on using GetResponse versus Aweber for email marketing?
John Peterson, July 30 2024, 14:15
This post is quite informative, but I think there needs to be more emphasis on the challenges of automation. It’s not always straightforward, and the quality of the virtual assistants can vary significantly.
Daniel Kim, July 30 2024, 14:20
Hey David, long time no see! How have you been? I loved the post. We should catch up sometime soon. Maybe grab a coffee and discuss more about these strategies?
Laura Martinez, July 30 2024, 14:25
I had a similar experience when trying to automate my business processes. It took a lot of trial and error, but once I found the right balance, it made a significant difference in my productivity.
Mark Johnson, July 30 2024, 14:30
I recently came across a tool called HubSpot that offers similar features to the ones you mentioned. It might be worth checking out for those looking for comprehensive automation solutions.
Rebecca Lee, July 30 2024, 14:35
I’m skeptical about the results you’re claiming. Do you have any concrete evidence or case studies to back up these claims?
Three posts a day. One email a day.
Everything I publish, in one short daily email. Real numbers, no hype, unsubscribe in one click.
Get paid 100%, on-chain, the second the sale clears
Most affiliates earn little, and that is disclosed up front. The difference here is not a promise about what you will make. It is that you can verify every payout yourself, on a public contract, in about twelve seconds.
See how the payout works →Most participants earn little to nothing. No income is guaranteed. You can verify every payout on the public smart contract.
The best case against ‘relationship building’ being automatable: what’s actually being automated here is the appearance of relationship — a video and a follow-up sequence standing in for someone who chose to answer the phone. If the whole model depends on that call converting at 20 versus 5-10, the thing labeled ‘automated’ was never the differentiator in the first place. We ran a version of this at the insurer for years — rebrand it ‘digital-first engagement,’ retire the account managers, let a portal carry the relationship — and renewals always slid until someone senior quietly rehired people to make the calls. Not necessarily my own view. But it’s the stronger version of the objection than ‘automation is lazy.’
Nothing in this list of ‘what can’t be automated’ has changed since the telephone was invented.
Bonnie’s right, and it’s the part I actually avoid. I can automate everything on the ‘can’ list for weeks. The phone has no draft mode.
Davey, sorry if this is a dumb question, but if picking up the phone is really the highest-converting part like the post says, why does everyone selling ‘automate it all’ lead with traffic and lead gen and barely mention the calls? Genuinely asking, six months in and still scared of my phone.
Bonnie, I don’t think it’s a dumb question at all — I think it’s the actual question. Courses sell the part that doesn’t require you to feel afraid on camera or on a call. This post is honest that the phone is where it’s actually won. Whether you’re willing to be honest about avoiding it is a different matter than whether the strategy works.
Fine, granted: traffic and lead gen can run without you. Look, the premise is still off. ‘Hands-off MLM business’ promises something the post itself spends its second half explaining is impossible — training, leadership, closing, all hands-on, all you. Renaming that ‘almost automated’ doesn’t make it a different business model. It’s the same one, with a nicer subject line.
The line that stands out is ‘I lost an entire MLM organization figuring that out.’ Most of these posts are three thousand words of technique, this one has a single sentence about what it actually cost to learn it. That’s the part worth reading twice.