Using Personal Branding to Grow Your MLM Business

by Lindsey Winsemius - Posted 5 years ago

MLMs and Personal Branding

When it comes to network marketing, or direct sales in general, trust is an essential component for success.

Building trust in customers and potential recruits requires more than just a great MLM website. Many companies have websites. Many companies have great compensation plans. Many companies offer marketing tools for success to their recruits. Many companies have appealing products.

How can your business stand out and earn the trust of your audience?

The answer is personal branding.

Personal branding is a term you’ve probably been hearing about often. What is personal branding?

Personal branding is building your own authority and name recognition in your chosen field. Your name IS your brand. Your photo becomes your logo. 
In businesses that rely heavily on digital sales, like direct selling or MLM, a personal brand helps consumers feel like they are making a connection with a real person, not just a business.



How can you build a personal brand?

Be professional.

What you share online becomes your digital footprint. Make sure what you’re sharing is aligned with the image you want the world to have of you. 

Choose a professional photo to represent you. It doesn’t have to be a formal photo like many people use on places like LinkedIn, but it should be a professional photo. Avoid grainy images, or images containing offensive or questionable poses or attire.

Create a persona.

Most influencers or brand personalities have a persona. Craft your own persona:

Identify your appeal: Why do people enjoy your company? Are you helpful, knowledgeable, organized, funny? Those are the traits you will want to emphasize and leverage to connect with your audience.

Identify your specialty: What makes you so great at network marketing? Why would people come to you for help or advice?

These traits are what you should keep in mind when creating materials for your personal brand.

Be social.

Choose social media sites to grow your personal brand recognition. How can you choose the best sites? 

Pick the sites your feel comfortable using. If you’re already on Twitter, it will be a simple step to develop that presence as your professional brand. And if you’re comfortable using a social site, you’ll be more likely to keep your presence updated and relevant.

Pick the sites that are popular with your target audience. Identify the audience you are trying to recruit, and the consumers that are most likely to purchase your products. Where are they most active? Those are the best sites to grow your personal brand.

Key social media strategies:

Don’t overextend yourself. Trying to be too active on too many sites could take up valuable time and make you overall less effective. 

Be authentic. Don’t be afraid to share glimpses of your personal life, or tell stories of things that are happening to you. This is the best way to connect on a personal level with your audience, they key benefit of building a personal brand. Just use your best judgement on what is appropriate for your business type, and your audience.

Create content.

You’ll want a space where you can use the power of content to share your persona with others. This means a website or blog on your company website. Virgin Mobile’s Richard Branson is a great example of someone who has built a powerful personal brand that furthers the company image. His personal blog is connected and displayed on the corporate website.

Richard Branson Personal Branding


Use video, articles, and images to attract your target audience and share your expertise in your industry. This could be you at events, using your own products or services, how-to or motivational content, or just you enjoying the life you’ve earned from your hard work.

Be unique.

Don’t try and copy what is successfully. Find your own style that plays to your strengths. If it isn’t natural for your persona, it won’t resonate with your audience. That is why it is so important to identify what your persona is, and what your personal strengths and weaknesses are.