Laura Gathright Woodard
MLM Sales
how to start an MLM business
I sat down at my kitchen counter with a cup of coffee to have a chat with one of my dearest friends, Laura Woodard. Laura is a mom of three and an mlm sales rockstar. We first met at a camp when we were 14, later we attended Ouachita Baptist University together, keeping in touch through social media and reconnected face to face a couple years ago.
Just over a year ago Laura started selling NuSkin, she had quick success and started building a team. She now has just over 500 team members. She’s remodeled her kitchen, furnished her home, built a deck, pays for preschool for her daughter and so much more all with her income from NuSkin. She even won a trip to South Africa for her and her husband.
We all hear these stories and think they have something we don’t. They don't. Laura’s strategy is simple, use what you have, create your brand and use social media. I asked Laura to give some tips for someone just getting started.
Q. What are your top tips for someone who wants to get started in an mlm?
A. Find your passion, you will only be successful selling products that you believe in. Put on your business hat. You have to research the commission plan. Think long term. Will you be able to support people on your team or will you always be focused on meeting your own quota. You’ll also want to make sure there is a broad range of products so you can appeal to your entire friend list, not just a handful of them.
Q.) What is your brand and how did you define it through social media?
A. I’m a mompreneur or mom boss. It just is what I am. I’m a mom and I have a business. Being a mom was already defined because it’s what I share on social media. Integrating products I’m selling was easy because my friends trust me and I only make about 20% of my posts about my business. This way it doesn’t overwhelm or annoy my friends.
Q. How did you build a team so quickly? 500 team members is a lot by any measure.
A. Well only about half of them are super active and selling on a consistent basis. This is something you have to know about mlm teams. A lot of people will fall off or quit because they don’t want to put in the work. My strategy is to build up my dream leaders one at a time. I’ve figured out this is the best strategy and builds very strong leaders who can do the same thing. I support the rest of my team through Facebook groups and messenger groups. I’ve created training videos and do live videos for education. They can also reach out to me if they have specific questions.
Q. How do you balance everything with being a mom and running such a large team?
A. It’s all about organization and having a routine. I’ve set up my team to be very self sufficient. After I drop off my kids and run errands, I check my messenger groups, my private team group, post a Facebook live or post and send 10 personal messages a day. It’s pretty simple at this point but I had to work really hard to get into this routine.