The Social Selling Sisterhood Podcast Episode 105- Is Your VIP Group Dead?

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Yeah. Hi friend. Welcome to the social selling sisterhood podcast. I am Lindsay Dellinger and I have many titles. High school spanish teacher, dog mom, world traveler and direct seller. I empower women to run your direct sales business is the right way. So you can earn the money, you deserve to live the life of your dreams and travel the world. Now we got that out of the way. Let's get started. Hello, hello social selling sister. It's Lindsay darling her with a social selling sisterhood podcast. Come into your lab for your business tip thursday happy thursday. If you're listening to this actually the day traps if not happy whatever day it is, I hope you're doing well before we dive in, go ahead and screenshot this episode because I know you're gonna get some value or it's at least gonna give you something to think about today. Go ahead and share it in your stories. Tag me and I will definitely re share and share you with my audience. So anyway, what we're talking about today girlfriend is is the VIP group dead and I'm going to argue it is okay, so this is kind of controversial and you might be like lindsey, my V. I. P. Group is not dead and I'm going to challenge you on that. I listened to a lot of podcasts, you guys know that and um one of the people I follow just did well actually I think it was fraser brooks was interviewing someone about using facebook groups and how you can monetize facebook groups and they can be really great thing. I don't disagree with that but those facebook groups are not what we would traditionally refer to as a V. I. P. Group I don't think. Okay so here's what I'm describing as a V. I. P. Group. V. I. P. Group is a place where your customers and you know your customers friends, they might invite their friends in for whatever reason are in this group and you are pretty much just talking about your product in your business opportunity for direct sellers. Um You might have the groups and I've seen the groups for people making handmade products, things like that. And yeah I would call that a V. I. P. Group as well. Some call them like online boutiques and I think that's a little different because generally speaking the people's online boutique facebook groups that I'm in are literally just sharing pictures of what is available for you to purchase. And if there are any like promo s and like that's it. Like I only go to those pages for the purpose of shopping right? Like I know that when I'm in that group I'm going there shop and to me a VIP group is kind of like that but a lot of times it's got the mix of the like I'm gonna play games and I'm going to um you know share testimonials and things like that and I know about you but I am so over those kind of groups like over over over like I've taken myself out of so many of them um you know even people on my team, I have taken myself out of their V. I. P. Groups or I mute them, I don't want to see this stuff because I don't want to I don't have time and I feel like that is kind of the mentality or at least it's the mentality. A lot of of a lot of my ideal clients is that productivity is the name of our game. And when we're on social we're on social for a specific purpose, you know to meet and connect with other people um and to support other people as well. Yes. Um that I'm not on there too, guess how many nail files are in a jar. Like they're the type of people who like that is their jam. Like that is a specific type of person. And if that person is your ideal client, your avatar, like if that is you you're like I love playing those games, that's great and I'm sure your V. I. P. Group is probably not dead because that is your jam. You love it. So you're attracting other people that love things like that and you're probably getting a lot of great success and it's minimal effort for you. I think for the large majority of social sellers that is not their game. Like the only reason that they are posting those is because they're finding these free graphics in a graphic group and they're like, oh I need to do something interactive on Tuesday afternoon and I need to do something on a Wednesday and I need to do this and then no friends. No, we should never be posting just for the sake of posting. We should never be posting just for the sake of interaction either like everything and I don't mean that you need to overthink it, but it needs to be kind of thought through and intentional like I need to share my product, especially if you're in a group um but more than anything, I need people to get to know me, so before I get too far into that um let me just kind of share. So you guys know that I am with a different company, I am with a nutrition supplement company, I am partnered with level now I am still signed up as a stylist of a nail strip company, I still have a team and the requirements of that company or that You need to sell $300 a month in order to be able to get your team bonuses and I still support my team, I still do all of that. So I don't feel, I don't feel in any way shape or form guilty about still collecting my bonuses because I have done a lot for my team. Okay, so let me just set that straight, but when I decided to really go all in with level and put this other company on the back burner. Um instead of just like cutting it and quitting cold turkey, I decided that I'm going to and I talked about this little bit, I believe already in a podcast or a live video very recently and I don't honestly remember what platform it was but I decided that I was going to kind of work that business and I mean work very very loosely um more as an affiliate like people, you know, I'm going to share because I'm still using the product. I have a tone of the product. Um but I pretty much have abandoned my V. I. P. Group. I do have a virtual assistant who schedules out a picture of the product every day. It goes up at like noon. But other than that I literally only go in there to post the company graphic of a new set launching or any sort of incentive that I think my customers that are in there might want to know about. Um but that is it and even that like I said I post the company graphic which I that is not what I think is a good business practice or anything like that at all. Um So like that's I don't want to be like I don't care but I don't want my energy and I don't want my focus to be on that business anymore. So I'm kind of doing like bare minimum. Um And what I'm sharing about this is so I stopped doing all of the VIP group work. Honestly probably about mid april I'm recording this podcast in september and I have already hit my minimum sales requirement for the month in order to be able to get my my bonus check. And it's not even labor day weekend. And the way that I have done that is my social media marketing. And this is why this was like all along backstory to lead up to this and this is why I think that you don't need a V. I. P. Group. And I have said this and I've said this and I told this to my old team. Um And I've said it several times because I see people spending their time posting things all the time posting all day long in the V. I. P. Group. And it is getting minimal to no interaction. An interaction is not everything we know that you know sometimes there are people who are watching, watching, watching and we'll never comment will never like whatever on your post. But if this this low to no interaction is also equating too low to no sales from your V. I. P. Group. Like you should be putting into that group as much as you're getting out of it. So I mean it's kind of up to you to judge but for me like Like 10 hours of scheduling posts and being in there and interacting and not getting and only getting for example only getting I don't know, $200 of sales to me that's not worth it. Like my time is worth way more than $20 an hour. Um So that's kind of actually that would be a good topic for another podcast is like figuring out your hourly wage, your hourly worth. Um But to me that you know that wasn't worth it, so I decided I was going to back way off of the V. I. P. Group um and just see where my sales ended up because my goal really was just to sell that minimum so that I could keep my business active to keep getting my team paychecks. Um And that that has happened and my sales honestly are not that much lower than when I was busting my butt doing parties and V. I. P. Group things all the time and all of the things and that's because I'm showing up consistently on my public social media profile. I'm talking to people and stories and messages all the things we're not talking at all product like this is literally just connection and relationship building. Talking about getting back to school, wishing people happy birthdays um asking people for advice about different things like just normal human things and then when they need to reorder they order from me or every once in a blue moon we have a product launch and I put up that poster in that group and with the link or it's up in my stories, they remember and they ordered for me and that's literally what we do with social media influencers all the time, right? We're scrolling through instagram were scrolling through facebook or we see an ad and we're like oh I would really like that I'm going to click in order, that's what I'm doing and it is literally like less than an hour, less than an hour spent on my personal business and those sales are coming and I'm sharing that with you. Not that I think that you should spend less than an hour in your business because I spend way more than that our doing all the things that I already mentioned the connections, the emails, you know, creating good social media content, showing up, making stories, all of that stuff. That is where I'm spending my focus and you know what the beautiful part about this is when I am spending it there and not spending that 10 hours in the VIP group scheduling on the post and doing other things and blah blah blah is that people are seeing it or have the ability to see it, who are not even in the V. I. P. Group space. So then I have new people coming to me, new people ordering from my legs, new people seeing me. So this is my argument if you are doing social media the way you should be doing social media, building a brand, building a presence, showing up regularly. Being in your stories, making connections with people, you know making connections and doing all those things with people in real life. Getting out, trying something new, saying hi to someone when you're out and about and yes I know it's a weird time to be doing that and meeting new people in person and blah blah blah. But if you're doing these things that you know you should be doing that, I preach about all the time that everyone preaches about doing all the time. I will argue you don't need a V. I. P. Group and that that time is better spent not in a V. I. P. Group. That time is better spent. Like I said building your social media presence in your brand. And the beautiful thing about that is if you ever do decide to transition, you ever do decide to add something new to your product suite. Um you know a lot of you have social selling businesses etc. Store things like that. Great. So when you ever decide to add selling headbands to your earrings, it's not like you're just doing it in a group and it's like awkward because you have some people in there that are just earrings, they're not used to your headbands or maybe you're selling facial care along with your earrings now and you're doing like a whole beauty thing. Um you know this is part of your brand and you've been talking about that and people know why it's important and all those things and it's a much easier transition and it just makes sense. And that's what I mean. That's what it has to be in our business. We have, it has to make sense. It has to ebb and flow with us. It has to be very natural. Um It shouldn't feel like a chore, it shouldn't feel like you're selling selling selling all the time. Like that's so gross right? But if people know that they're going to go to your page because you love sharing healthy tips. It's only natural for people don't want to know what supplements you're taking. It's only natural for them to be like wow you're sharing how much energy you have all the time or not even talking about it but I can tell I had people reach out after my facts. It's fun on boxing complimenting me on my energy and my mood. Well that has to do with the awesome supplements I have been taking. Do you want to hear more about them? Right? And so you don't always have to be talking directly about your products all the time. And I feel like that is what so many people do in the VIP groups or they're putting up those, just take a look just take a look, you can tell look at your V. I. P. Group posts if you have 100 people in your V. I. P. Group and you have three people commenting or liking or whatever and it's the same three people. Is that a good use of your time? You get to decide. You get to decide. I can't do that for you but I just want you to kind of think a little bit critically about this and just remember giving up your V. I. P. Group or cutting back, I don't know if I necessarily would give it up but cutting back on what you do in there doesn't equal spending less hours on your business. It just means you're shifting that time that you have been spending in there to do things like showing up in your stories, making connections with new people, getting into other people's facebook groups, you know different interest groups, Disney groups, um book groups, travel groups, whatever and connecting with some new people online. It just means using that time to do your daily methods of operations and your other checklists of tasks and spending more time on building up your social media presence in your brand. Then being in a group that isn't necessarily serving you or getting you in front of new people's eyes because that's what it's all about, is getting in front of new people and strengthening that relationship with customers that already know and love you so that they trust you enough to refer their friends to you and then it's just a cycle. You do it over again, you rinse and repeat in your business just keeps naturally growing and that's what we want. We want that natural progression that sustainable business that will grow into whatever our goal is. That big residual lifetime income, that income in that business that you can pass on for generations. The generational wealth that is the beauty of the network marketing and direct sales industry. So I hope this gave you something to think about. I would love to know your thoughts again. I know this is a controversial topic. I know there are a lot of companies that really really really preach the V. I. P. Group. I have been telling my team um honestly since I think last fall that I was over the V. I. P. Group and yeah, I think the VIP group can be really great for some people but if it's not working for you, stop trying to make, stop trying to fit in the form of what everyone else is doing or what everyone tells you is the right thing to do and try something new pivot and like I said it's never a bad thing to build up your social media brand, your social media presence where a bunch of people can see you versus just that small group that you're exposed to in something like a VIP group. Alright friend, I hope you have a blessed and wonderful rest of your day if you found this valuable or you want to get other people's opinions on it, please share this out. Um leave me a five star rating. Just scroll to the bottom. You can literally do it right now while you're listening, you can scroll down to the bottom of your app, click the five stars and then you need to leave like a sentence or two in a review for it to save properly. So tell the world something that you've learned, something that you love about this podcast, when you listen to it, all the things, how you found it. Um and I would love to I'd love to read him. I read all of them. I really do. And it keeps me going and doing even more podcasts and more value and more info for you guys. All right, Friends. Have a wonderful day. Bye bye.