Top 21 Best New MLM Companies 2025

MLM has been a rapidly growing industry in 2025. Multi-level marketing offers business opportunities that are unparalleled for most aspiring entrepreneurs and side hustles. And some of the top MLM companies in the world are now CBD oil businesses going deeper into 2025. Cannabidiol product sales are exploding around the world due to their value over alternatives like addictive and dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, or the more psychedelic and less legal marijuana. CBD oil products go together with multi-level marketing like peanut butter and jelly in 2025. 

Cannabinoids are crushing it in the MLM marketplace today because unfortunately more people than ever are dealing with chronic anxiety, insomnia, inflammation, stress, fear, and pain. They also want a natural solution such as CBD and not more ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or opioids going into 2025. Whether they are eaten, vaped, swallowed, taken sublingually, or applied topically CBD products are increasingly popular and accepted by customers of all types.

CBD business also goes well with affiliate marketing and direct sales so a few of these top companies are include as well on our top list. If you prefer affiliate sales or direct selling over MLM, that is not a problem with CBD oil. The business opportunities are everywhere, you just have to know where to look.

With a can-do cannabis attitude and multi-level marketing as your profitable platform, you have the potential to earn unlimited income working from anyone for low startup costs in 2025.

MLM + CBD = Success For You + Me

A lot of people are overwhelmed with all the CBD Oil Companies coming out, some being only wholesale. Here are our top 21 best CBD Oil MLMs below including a few affiliate marketing companies. 

CBD oil is big business. Forbes predicts it to skyrocket to $25 billion a year by the end of 2025 along with a growth in CBD oil payments processed. It is probably already passed that as expectations are growing for 2026. Consumers need to relax and get healthy after a stressful and sickening year, and CBD oil products allow them to do that on a budget and without a prescription or health insurance coverage. While some of the health claims of CBD need to be further substantiated, it is clear that there are benefits and that customers are willing to pay a premium price for cannabidiol for the foreseeable future. And that is where hemp MLM companies come in for motivated network marketers.

Obviously everyone wants a piece of the CBD industry growth action. Hundreds of CBD Oil MLM companies have surfaced over the last few years, no surprise there! But, if you are reading this article, you are probably an internet network marketer who wants to make a great income as well as benefit from the miraculous CBD benefits in 2025 and beyond. 

Top 21 Best MLM Companies In The World Selling CBD Oil Products 2025

Here are the top 21 best new MLM companies for 2025. Most of them are CBD businesses and some of them are more direct selling organizations than multi-level marketing, but these are the best of the best overall MLM and affiliate marketing CBD companies going into 2025 and 2026. 

1. LiveGood 

LiveGood is a brand new multi-level marketing business that sells a variety of high end healthy supplements and cannabidiol products. They sell their organic non-GMO CBD products for frugal prices so they can boost sales volume and recruiting, while minimizing distributor attrition. 

LiveGood has experienced record-breaking growth in its several few months as top network marketing company and is now a global opportunity with an expanded discounted product line. They are approaching the 1,850,000 member mark as they ramp up sales, recruiting, and distribution in 200 countries. 

With LiveGood you can really live good by earning big money per month over time without having to recruit new members into your team! This is an excellent way to passively boost your wealth while improving your health. Their CBD oil for humans and pets are top-notch bargains while their CBD pain cream is truly a ground-breaking product for both MLMers and customers. Now LiveGood also has essential oils of the highest quality, to compliment their other powerful herbal products.

2. Nu Skin 

Nu Skin is a top MLM company that specializes in health and beauty. They recently added CBD skincare products to their already diversified product line. NuSkin certainly isn't a new direct selling company, but it is a successful and stable MLM organization that will only grow further after adding cannabidiol products. Nu Skin will continue to be a top-performing network marketing business in 2025 as they are lightyears ahead of most CBD MLMs in terms of global distribution.

3. Kannaway 

Kannaway is the top MLM company that has probably been around the longest. They are an actual CBD oil network marketing company. However, I don’t see pure CBD Oil on their current website. I see what is possibly a blend called “Revive AM & PM” Kannaway CBD oil. You can start with purchasing this bottle for $66 if you join as a “Brand Ambassador” and pay $10 a month membership fee. Commissions are a little low at 30% in this top CBD network marketing business. They have other incentives, like 3 for free, where you get free product if you recruit a certain amount to your MLM downline in 2025. 

Pros: They are the pioneers of the CBD MLM industry so they have had a head start on sales success worldwide. 

Cons: This MLM corporation's marketing is a bit outdated for the 2025 cannabinoid industry. There is a lot more competition for CBD network marketing organizations now.

4. My Club 8 

The My Club 8 MLM company started off huge but supposedly ran into business difficulties soon after so it is not the #1 best network marketing company right now for CBD. Distributors felt betrayed and frustrated for a period of time, although that has mostly passed. While looking at Club 8’s products, I noticed they do offer pure CBD Oil. However, looking closer at the bottle reveals that they buy their CBD compound from Isodial, which is not a MLM but a wholesaler. Therefore, Club 8 is simply a middleman and just tacking on their price to the product. 

Club 8 is Isodial and its commissions are also low at 20% paid on the first level to independent business owners and affiliates. You can get a bottle of Club 8 CBD Oil for 500 MG for $34.99 and it is apparently free to join. I don’t know if there is a certain BV requirement each month to receive commissions for 2025 so you will have to do your due diligence in that area of this top CBD MLM company. 

Pros: It is inexpensive to get started with this MLM company which is always helpful for network marketers on a budget. 

Cons: There are low commissions on cannabinoids sales. There is also questionable management and turnover in this network marketing business.

5. Hempworx & My Daily Choice 

Hempworx by My Daily Choice was launched nearly 5 years ago now with a huge splash in the MLM space. My Daily Choice experienced a 1000% growth rate within 3 months of launching which caused some initial delays in shipment and customer support. But, they are in the full swing of things now and I enjoy their pure CBD Oil. You can get a 500 MG bottle of Hempworx pure CBD Oil drops for $69, plus a one-time activation fee of $25. MDC commissions are the largest in the MLM industry at 30% to 50% on first time orders in 2025. 

Pros: This MLM biz offers great marketing tools. They also have the highest commissions in CBD oil industry. 

Cons: The network marketing option is relatively new. Shipping times can also be slow for some CBD products. 

6. Prime My Body 

Everyone is talking about Prime My Body MLM. They have a flashy website with a flashy CEO and they want you to change your “lifestyle” by joining them. Beyond the Prime My Body Hype, they offer one 50 mL bottle and four 10 mL sample bottles of CBD Oil for $239 (that is not including the $39 activation fee.) Commissions are also low for this CBD MLM company, a flat 25% rate paid on first time orders no matter what your rank in 2025. 

Pros: Fancy marketing is apparent in this network marketing opportunity. Top-notch management makes them one of the best cannabidiol MLM businesses to join. 

Cons: They have some of the lowest commissions in the MLM industry. This MLM company also has very expensive products and autoships required.

7. Isodial 

Isodial MLM offers CBD powder isolate, but they are not a network marketing company technically speaking, more of an affiliate sales structure. This top cannabis MLM business is growing fast as it matures. It is still worth looking into this cannabidiol company though for 2025!

8. CTFO 

Change the Future Outcome aka Chew the Fat Off CTFO is the new kid on the block in the MLM industry, at least with their new CBD Oil line. The company was called Chew the Fat Off but is now Change the Future Outcome. They offer an affordable CBD Oil for I think $47 dollars and their comp plan is a patented forced matrix. Commissions are around 20% for this top cannabinoid MLM company in 2025.

9. CBD Pure 

CBD Pure isn't a pure network marketing company, although they have a generous 40% affiliate referral program, so that is on one time sales, no residual income aspect like with MLM. CBD Pure is out of Europe, but they have a store in Vancouver, Washington. Their CBD Oil is made in Denmark and they have grown rapidly since their debut. Look into joining this growing cannabinoids company for potent profits!

10. HempMeds 

Hempmeds CBD is a company based out of California. They are not by definition a network marketing company, but do have a 15% affiliate sales program for 2025. It is a top CBD oils company option for motivated direct sellers and affiliate marketers. This hemp oil direct selling company deserves your attention as a smart network marketer!

11. Elixinol 

Elixinol is out of Colorado and is not technically a CBD Oil MLM. However, they have a strong CBD affiliate program that pays 10% on the first level, and 3% on the second level for 2025, so it is worth mentioning as a CBD oil MLM alternative for affiliate marketers. In 2025 Elixinol could be one of the top cannabidiol MLM businesses in the industry!

12. Trevo

Trevo was one of the top MLM companies for CBD oil and nutritional supplements for 2025. Join their company to make major network marketing profits selling powerful products. Unfortunately they have dealt with a few lawsuits as of late so you might want to think twice before joining this MLM company. Do your due diligence before signing up to join this CBD oils MLM company in 2025.

13. Vasayo 

Vasayo is another top MLM company that sells CBD oil products. They have a strong herbal product line, have been around for several years, and offer strong compensation plans for network marketers. Vasayo might be the right CBD oil MLM business for you to join to cash in on cannabidiol in 2025. 

14. Arieyl

Arieyl is one of the hottest new CBD MLM companies of 2025. Co-founders Kristen and Travis Butler have been top MLM earners in their previous companies and wanted to launch a new age network marketing business. So far they have succeeded, with over 25,000 downline MLM team members recruited to independently distribute their top-notch cannabidiol product line with strong compensation packages. Give Arieyl a look for high profit potential while cashing in on CBD in 2025. 

15. Cannaceuticals 

Cannaceuticals is a skincare and anti-aging CBD oil MLM company that has an upscale product offering. Their CBD creams and lotions are organic, non-GMO, non-toxic, and THC free. It is a top CBD MLM company to consider joining if you have a high-end audience to sell to or recruit with in 2025. 

16. Herbalife 

Herbalife has always been one of the best MLM businesses in the world, despite dealing with all of the obstacles network marketing companies face. And now with their recent re-launch, they have added CBD oil dietary supplements and cannabidiol skincare products to their already established line. Their hemp balm and CBD gummies are top-notch.  Herbalife is far from being a new MLM company, but the addition of CBD oil products is a smart move for their corporate and distributor success in 2025. 

Herbalife is one of the best positioned MLM companies entering the 2025 economy with a good reputation and existing sales network. Just because it is not new and flashy doesn't mean it isn't the right network marketing company to join for success. And their stock still has a very high market cap despite shorts against it, with a solid market cap that an $HLF IBO can feel good about.

17. Amway 

That is correct, old-school Amway now has CBD products! Amway MLM has premium CBD skin cream, facial oils, and hydrators. They don't appear to have ingestable canndibiol products, but they have still quietly jumped on the cannabinoids bandwagon with their massive network marketing and direct selling reach. It is hard to go wrong with Amway if you stick to the multi-level marketing basics.

18. Market America 

Market America, like Herbalife and Amway, have also jumped on the CBD oil product bandwagon for their MLM company. Market America, also known as Shop.com for their online products, offers hemp oil and Pet CBD. While they have a minimal cannabidiol product offering, it is better than nothing for Market America reps looking to expand into CBD sales. Market America is still a powerful MLM business that can generate major money making. 

19. Le-Vel

With over 40 years of combined experience in the wellness and health industry, founders of Le-Vel multi-level marketing knew what it took to create a successful and productive company. This company aims to help people commit to living a healthier lifestyle that is at a higher level of nutrition and success. Seeking to help people strive towards breaking into the next and bigger level of their life, Le-Vel offers products that can guide people to live a healthier and more successful life

20. QuiAri 

QuiAri is headquartered out of Florida, and as you can see they launched their company nearly five years ago with $2 million in revenue to start. The next year they just blew that out of the water with 35 million, and in their third year they did $50 million in total revenue. They continue to grow rapidly in 2025 as well with promising potential profits in 2025. So that is a difference of 43% growth in one year, so that is one of the fastest climbing MLM companies. The estimated commission payout for them is around $30 million annually, and commissions paid out 2 million a month and 500,000 per week paid out. 

They offer them Acai Berry or CBD supplements, and it is a very powerful antioxidant, and what makes this company stand out amongst the rest is that they have an Instant Pay Plan. Alright, so if I go down here, there are seven ways to earn fast start customer bonus team bonus, speed bonus matching bonus lifestyle bonus and more for 2025. If you look at the compensation plan it says right at the top, the world’s first and only five minute pay plan. So instant commissions are yours in this top MLM business opportunity. They do have an e wallet that is available in 200 countries. This company is available in 200 countries and that is probably why they are growing so fast. 

They also have a complete marketing system and landing pages and auto auto follow up system for all your leads, all built into one system and that is the way I like it. 

21. Optavia 

Optavia by Medifast is a publicly traded MLM company that is available to join and purchase from around the world. They have a wide variety of helpful healthy products including hemp and CBD oils. The product line from Optavia is expensive but very high quality, so it beats a lot of other top MLMs in that regard.

More Of The Best MLM Businesses Selling CBD Oil 

Aside from these top MLM companies with cannabinoid products, there are some other great multi-level marketing and direct selling options out there to examine. Here are even more top MLM companies selling CBD products:

- Dose Of Nature

- CBD Pure

- 5 Linx 

- Omnilife 

- Jifu

- Live Pure

- Nutritional High

- IRIE CBD 

- Zilis 

- Prime My Body 

- Morinda 

- Relive 

- Cannergrow 

- Pure

- Aquavita 

- Isoderm

There are more new MLM CBD businesses launching each month, so keep your eyes open for new network marketing opportunities in 2025. 

Now Is The Time So Join A Network Marketing Company For 2025

Now is the time to start an online or hybrid home business like CBD MLMs. Hundreds of thousands of people are joining a top network marketing company in the hemp or cannabis sector or looking for one to join every month around the world. Globally, network marketing is nearly a $1 trillion dollar a year industry. 

What is exciting about the cannabidiol network marketing business model is that more and more corporations are switching over and using it for cannabinoid product sales. It is a great, efficient way to distribute CBD oil products and services by using word-of-mouth, rather than expensive advertising that isn’t as effective as it used to be. No one wants to be sold cannabinoids anymore by a loud annoying voice on radio or TV, and it is very annoying listening to traditional radio with commercials in 2025 when you have been spoiled with satellite radio, streaming, or on demand digital music. 

The laptop and smartphone entrepreneur movement is exploding with digital nomads getting rich from home or while traveling in 2025 selling hemp CBD products. As the economy grows more uncertain and being bossed around at a job seems a little outdated for the new information era, people are turning to the Internet, and their laptops, to make money. Becoming a CBD oil network marketer has many benefits, but one of the greatest is being able to work from a laptop or even cell phone from anywhere in the world where there is internet access. 

When you join a CBD oil product MLM, you are given a personal website and maybe some lead generation pages or tools to promote any way you like. You are also given a control panel or dashboard where you can see the activity of your MLM business. I love online analytics and every day I can view how many hits my capture pages are getting for direct selling, network marketing, and affiliate sales. These landing pages and analytics dashboards are your tools for CBD MLM success in the new digital age of network marketing.

Join A Top MLM CBD Companies For 2025 

Out of this list of top network marketing companies, My Club 8 is the least expensive CBD MLM company to join, but My Daily Choice has the highest commissions. You decide which of these top MLM companies you should join depending on your preferences. Forget about investing in hit-or-miss pot stocks or massive cost marijuana dispensaries, join the best MLM businesses selling CBD oil in 2025 instead!

Of course, you can find many CBD Oil wholesalers and get CBD Oil for less money, but I am a full-time network marketer and make my living from home. The best network marketing companies do tend to tack on a little more to the price of their cannabinoid products, but you have to remember that you are basically purchasing a home business with the potential to make unlimited income in 2025. 

Cannabidiol Company Cash Conclusion

When it comes to joining an MLM company or starting a business, choosing a top CBD network marketing venture is the way to go. Think how expensive it is to run a traditional brick and mortar business or cannabis dispensary. You have a lease, pay employees, pay utilities, merchandise and repair bills along with cannabinoids product payments. The paperwork, risks, and insurance are huge expenses and headaches with cannabinoid selling that isn't under a multi-level marketing umbrella!

That is not the case with a CBD oil MLM company! With hemp network marketing or affiliate sales / direct selling, you can make more than a traditional business from your home for under $100 a month in 2025! You can't beat that business opportunity with today's inflation prices. Now get out there and succeed masterfully in MLM in 2025 and 2026!

What To Take Care Of Before Starting A Business

Starting a business is a journey, unlike anything you have ever experienced before. The road to success doesn’t happen overnight but instead occurs gradually the more passion, time, money, and effort you invest. Being an entrepreneur will test more than your educational or professional experience; it will challenge your relationships, your well-being, and even your self-confidence. This isn’t to discourage you from taking a chance but to ensure that you understand and prepare for being the boss. Continue reading for advice. 

Define Your “Why” 

While reasons like money or quitting your job may seem like good reasons to start a business, these aren’t good motivators. Generating reasonable revenue from a startup can take months or even years. Not to mention, the life of an entrepreneur isn’t all peaches and cream. There are going to be instances where you probably wish you were back at the office. 

Your reason for starting a business needs to be something that you can stand on through the good and the bad. For example, if you start a business in a field you are passionate about, your passion will drive you. Maybe you want to live a life of purpose and help others; it is that sense of purpose that will guide you. If you dream of building generational wealth or leaving a legacy for your family, that’s another solid reason. 

Talk To A Mentor Or Business Coach 

If you want to know the ups and downs of starting a business, talk to someone that’s where you want to be. Experienced entrepreneurs can offer advice, assist you in defining your goals, help you avoid costly or time-consuming mistakes, make more informed decisions, and even open the door to potential opportunities for growth. 

If there is an entrepreneur in your personal or professional life you look up to, don’t be afraid to reach out. There is also the option to talk with a business coach as they can help ensure that you are prepared personally and professionally to go the distance in the world of business and life. 

Get Support From Your Partner 

If you’re in a committed relationship or marriage, it’s essential to have a conversation with your significant other. The amount of dedication it will take to get your business where you want it will impact your relationship. The long hours, financial investments, and the physical and emotional toll of owning a business will trickle down to your personal life. 

Now that you know why you are starting a business and you’ve learned what it takes to run a business, you are ready to talk to your partner. Once you have shared your idea, why you want to do it, and how it might impact your relationship, give them a chance to express themselves. Ask for their support as you move forward on this journey. 

Fix Your Finances 

Whether you plan to take out a small business loan, start a crowdfunding campaign, or bootstrap, fixing your finances before starting a business is recommended. Reduce your debts as much as you can, work on improving your credit score, and develop a healthy relationship with money. These steps make it easier for you to acquire loans or other sources of funding for your business. 

Another financial move to make before starting a business is to build a nest egg. Especially individuals that plan on quitting their jobs. It can take weeks, months, or longer to supplement your income. You want to ensure that you have enough money to cover your household expenses for at least three to six months. 

Build A Better Business

Being a business owner is going to take everything you have. Although the saying is that anything worth having is worth fighting for, you have to be prepared for the fight. Before taking a leap of faith, spreading the word about your idea, or even conducting market research, make sure you have taken care of the suggestions above. When you know why you are in this, what it takes to succeed, and you have the support of your partner and your finances are intact, you have a better chance of making it to the top.

How To Start Up A Business And Promote It Online

Starting a new business can be an intimidating task for any entrepreneur. You may always get questions that how to sell products online. With the rise of e-commerce, it has become much easier to sell products online and reach a wider customer base. 

This guide will provide you with all the information you need to ensure your business runs smoothly and efficiently from the beginning. So, let's take a look at these 4 essential steps for promoting businesses online. 

● Choose An E-Commerce Platform 

The first thing that you need to do is choose an e-commerce platform that you can use for selling products online. There are several different options available that you can choose from. 

Consider your budget, the features you need, and the platform's scalability before making your decision. Flipkart is among the top e-commerce platforms that offer a wide range of features, scalability and is quite easy to use. 

So, you can go for Flipkart if you are looking to sell products online. 

● Create An Account 

When starting and promoting your business online, one of the most important steps is to sell products online. Once you have chosen a platform to sell on, the next step is to create an account. 

Creating an account on one of these platforms is relatively simple—you will need to provide some basic information about yourself and your business to set up your profile. 

Once you have created an account, you can start selling products and getting them out into the world! 

● List All Your Products 

The next step in starting and promoting a business online is listing all your products. You must ensure you have a consolidated list of all the items you intend to sell. 

This list should include the product's name, description, price, and other details. Please provide photos of each item so potential customers can get an accurate idea of what they are buying. 

Additionally, consider adding more detailed descriptions for every product so that potential customers understand exactly what they are getting when they purchase from you. 

● Use All The Features Of The E-Commerce Site 

Flipkart has various features for you to sell your products online. You can manage orders, track shipments and payments, set up promotions, customise product pages, create collections, and more. 

Each feature is designed to help you market your business in the best possible way. You must use all the features available on Flipkart to maximize its potential when selling products online. 

The Bottom Line On Business Promotions

Starting a business and promoting it online is challenging, but you can make it happen with the right knowledge and resources. Understanding the different ways to sell your products online, from e-commerce sites to social media platforms, will help you get more exposure and increase sales. 

It is also important to remember that creating content, engaging with customers, measuring analytics, and leveraging marketing strategies are essential for success when selling products online. 

You can establish your brand name and sell your products online quickly with hard work and dedication!

10 Mindset Tips To Thrive In MLM And Profit

Most people fail in Network Marketing because of their Mindset. Find out the 10 Mental Mindset Tips to Thrive in Network Marketing and Profit with the best MLM companies. Mindset matters in multi-level marketing for 2023! 

Join Our MLM Opportunity

10 Top Mindset Tips For MLM Mastery

1. Becoming Inspired By Your Product Or Service 

The biggest driver to your success in MLM is to actually use the company’s products or services and love them. One of the most powerful tools to use in promoting your business is to create a personal testimonial of what it’s done for you. The leaders in network marketing usually blog or shoot video on their experiences, but stay away from just hyping the products and tell their personal experience. These stories usually tell a transformative experience with the product, which makes people want what you have. 

No one cares if your MLM product has Omega 3’s. They want to hear how you feel, because they basically want to change how they feel also. This testimonial also solidifies a commitment for the distributor or customer. They are less likely to quit during hard times in the business when they have such a strong experience with the product. 

2. It’s A Business, Not A Hobby 

Most distributors in Direct Sales make little money, because they are doing it a few hours here and there like a hobby. But, once they develop a belief of the power of this business and it’s earning potential many step it up and treat it like a business. This means full time, or any free time outside of their job to build it. People that make this shift from hobby to business begin to educate themselves with all the skills necessary to become successful and attend all company webinars and events. 

They also implement the best methods to get MLM leads and quality prospects. They fully commit to learn their new profession like it is a million dollar business. It takes 120 semester hours and 360 to 720 hours of study to get a Bachelor’s degree and a Bachelor’s degree barely gets a student an entry-level job. If people in network marketing put 360 to 720 hours of study into their profession they would more than likely succeed, but many don’t because they don’t fully believe in MLM yet. 

3. Recruit People Who Are Looking 

Many new MLM distributors are excited about their business and run out and try to sell their family and friends on the idea. They are then rejected by their loved ones and quit. New distributors do not usually know how to talk about their business yet. This is the equivalent of someone thinking they can jump on a car lot and sell a Lamborghini without any knowledge of that car. Enthusiasm alone will not work. 

What’s even more counter-productive is that most family and friends aren’t interested in your life-changing product and don’t want to build a successful MLM business. Or they agree to join you because they love and support you, but secretly don’t have any desire to do anything. The better thing to do is to tap into the millions of people online who are looking for an opportunity, or hang fliers and newspaper ads for offline marketing. 

This is called “Attraction Marketing” and sounds exactly like what it is, “People are attracted to your offer and seek you out.” When people seek you out you don’t need to feel pushy or sell anything to anyone. The people that find you first are motivated because it was their idea, not yours. The most powerful motivator is someone believing it was their idea. This works whether you join a top coffee MLM business or a CBD multi-level marketing opportunity.

4. Building Posture 

Confidence in your ability to promote your MLM business is crucial for success. If you don’t have confidence, it will show and people will say no. The best way to build confidence is by believing in the product or service (testimonial) and by mentoring and learning from the leaders. Posture also means you aren’t desperate for people to join your business. People can smell desperation. You want the attitude of “I am going to build this MLM success story with or without you, but I prefer building it with you.” 

Your business is important to you, and you don’t need to rush out and throw it in anyone’s face. Posture is about staying focused on your objectives without worrying what others think. Like Michael Jordan, you’re going to win the game whether you get booed, feel sick, or the other team his heckling you. Be laser-focused on the end result you want for your MLM company and ignore the white noise around you. 

5. Handling Objections To Your Network Marketing Opportunity 

By prospecting large numbers in a network marketing business, you will run into people that raise objections. Every objection has a proper technique to disarm the prospect with the right education. If the objection is just rude or has a “lack” mentality behind it, you have the choice to not pursue them. 

This is your business and you have a choice of who you want to work with. This is a partnership that can potentially last the rest of your life, you don’t want to work with people that hold you back or bring you down. If the objection to join an MLM does seem sincere, try to pinpoint it by asking questions. Keep asking “why” until the real problem is revealed. Then, provide solutions to their worry. If they keep objecting, cut them loose. There’s too many fish in the sea. 

6. Going Through The Multi-Level Marketing Numbers 

Building a successful network marketing business is about showing your opportunity to thousands of people. When I first joined my MLM I thought every lead would upgrade to paid member. I eventually realized that my conversion rate was 1 to 2%. In LiveGood it can be more like 15-30% though so it depends on the network marketing company along with timing. That means usually out of a hundred people, only one would upgrade in your direct selling or affiliate marketing business. At first these numbers depressed me, but then I was also glad that I knew mathematically what I needed to do to get one new distributor. 

There is power in numbers and although you may start out getting one or two leads here or there, like I did, eventually you learn the marketing techniques to bring in a hundred MLM leads a day. Think about the number of people in India and that MLM business potential. Going through the numbers means not expecting anyone to join, even if you have a thousand Leads. It also means to keep recruiting and never stop, even if you have a large team because they copy what you do. If you stop recruiting, they stop recruiting and your business comes to a halt. 

7. Stop Looking At Short Term MLM Results 

One of the most maddening, counter-productive things to do in this business is look at your business stats every ten minutes. I remember logging on every hour in the beginning and worrying why I only had a 100 views instead of 232 like I did the day before; this just drives you crazy and if you want those numbers to look better, start producing more content and value for people. The results will come the more you put out there in MLM and blogging. This can take a couple years, especially with Blogging, but the results are automatic Leads 24/7 and a top MLM position and praise within your company. 

8. Detaching From People Who Leave Your MLM Team 

I forgot who said this, but your business is like a train. People will hop on board and ride a little ways and get off because they aren't able to live good. Others will ride a little further, and some will take your train all the way in hopes to live pure. Sometimes people who you thought would be great at the business quit, and the ones you thought would fail, go on to be successful in LiveGood or LivePure. Mark Yarnell talked about having a doctor in his business and a guy who lived in a small trailer in his business. He thought for sure the doctor would be wildly successful selling multi-level marketing products, but he quit in three months and the guy on his downline in the trailer park went on to make millions. 

Never prejudge anyone. People had assumptions about me and I am still here and they are long gone. People are going to quit no matter what. The thing to do is keep recruiting new people and they will naturally sift through and become quitters or winners. Yes, a leader or two might even quit to join the next exciting MLM opportunity, but don’t fall for it. Stay the course and new leaders will join you. 

9. MLM Mastermind And Events 

One of the most exciting and enthusiasm-producing things to do in this business is attend company events. Many people that have changed from hobbyists to pros said they made the switch by attending a big company event. Masterminds are also great for building a strong community that promotes self-growth and networking ideas. It is quite hard to quit your business when you have a few leaders looking out for you and caring that you succeed. 

10. The Grass Is Not Always Greener In MLM

Most top network marketing distributors quit because they joined with false expectations, or they were misled by a marketer who lied about the numbers. Without proper guidance, a new distributor will feel that they were left behind or just another number and within 3 to 6 months will just quit, or even sooner on average. But all of the top earning MLMer professionals stay laser focused on one opportunity at a time, and usually for several years or longer to earn their fortunes.

 Master Your MLM Mindset

Another huge lure and distraction for new multi-level marketing distributors is a new company opportunity. This is the “grass is greener” trigger. They are all over the internet and some are very tempting, but if you are not making money in the one you are in now, you will not make money by moving to another company. It doesn’t work that way in multi-level marketing, even for Pakistanis. 

A successful MLM leader could move from one company to another and make it work no matter what, because they have a mindset of a leader. The best thing to do is work on yourself and success will happen. There is no magic solution or better wealth opportunities by just switching MLM companies. 

Keep these top tips in mind to master your mental mindset in a multi-level marketing for company success! Wellness can help you do really well in an MLM business! So get your mind right and start putting in the work with your network marketing biz. 

It is time you survive, thrive, and feel more alive with the best network marketing business opportunities available.

Newest MLM Opportunity

5 Key Questions To Answer When Setting Up A Business

Setting up a business can be one of the most exciting and stressful times of your life. On one side, you’re looking forward to getting your company off the ground and making the progress you’ve been dreaming of. On the other, you have concerns about making all the right business decisions along the way. 

Here are the 5 most important questions to answer when setting up a business: 

1. What Business Structure Is Right For You? 

You have several basic options including sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, S corporation, and limited liability company (LLC). Make a list of the pros and cons of each structure, based on your short and long-term business goals. 

For example, if you’re starting a business as a solo web designer, you can get away with sole proprietorship for the time being. But if you know you’ll be hiring employees on day one, a corporation or LLC is probably a better choice. 

2. Do You Know How To Create A Business Plan? 

With so much to think about when launching a business, it’s easy to get ahead of yourself and overlook key details. A business plan is one of these. It may not sound like something you absolutely need, but a business plan will go a long way in keeping you on track in the early days of your company. Not to mention the fact that it also provides guidance down the road. 

Remember, your business plan doesn’t have to be overly complex. It can be simple and to the point as long as it addresses key details such as company structure, competitors, and a marketing plan. 

3. How Do You Plan On Funding Your New Business? 

This is where many entrepreneurs come up short. They’re excited about starting a company but don’t have the funding in place to do so. Additionally, they don’t know where to look for funding.  You can start by contacting a loan company to learn more about the products that are available to you. You can also review your personal savings, apply for a credit card, or talk to a loan officer at a local credit union. 

It is imperative to have a clear understanding of how much money you need to set up and launch your business. This goes along with creating a detailed business plan. If you don’t think about this upfront, it could come back to haunt you down the road. 

4. Will You Work From Home Or In A Traditional Office Space? 

Setting up a business means knowing where you’ll work. In today’s day and age, working at home is more common than ever before. However, it may not be the best fit for you and the company you’re hoping to build. There are pros and cons of both work arrangements, so carefully consider each option before making a final choice. And remember, you can always change your mind in the future. For instance, if you start out working from home and find that you need more space, you can expand at that point. 

5. Where Can You Turn For Help? 

There’s more to setting up a business than what you see on the surface. You may realize that you need outside help, so knowing where to turn is a big deal. This allows you to get the guidance required without wasting any time. 

Consult with a tax professional, financial advisor, and business attorney if necessary. Talk to people you know who have started successful businesses in the past. You may not need help now, but this could change in the future. And if it does, it’s nice to know exactly who to call. 

Summary On Setting Up Businesses

It doesn’t matter if you’re setting up a part-time side hustle or going all in, make sure you address the questions above to the best of your ability. Doing so will give you confidence that you’re moving in the right direction. If you have any questions on your mind — no matter what they may be — don’t hesitate to answer them. 

And if you don’t know the answer, consult with someone who can help. It’s better than making a mistake that will cost you in the long run. Can you think of any other questions to answer when setting up a business? Share your thoughts and experiences setting up a new business on social media and make sure to share this article link!

4 Tips For Improving Your Online Marketing

Since online marketing uses the internet to reach a global audience every day of the week, it has the potential to be more profitable than a traditional approach. However, regardless of how well you’re currently using this digital marketing, you may still be missing out on some highly effective online promotional techniques to sell your products or services. 

If you’d like to create a better long-term plan for success, here are some handy tips to generate more traffic and convert more visitors into customers: 

1. Deploy An Industry Specific Automated Marketing Strategy 

Professionals can manage their business more effectively with the help of an automated marketing platform. It will not only help them reach more potential clients but also deliver higher quality work. However, since every industry serves different clientele, businesses need industry-specific platforms. For example, since the accounting industry deals with highly-sensitive data, an accounting business needs reliable, comprehensive, and intelligent cloud-based accounting website software that will meet the confidentiality needs of their clients. 

2. Outsource Your Marketing To A Digital Marketing Agency 

Outsourcing marketing to a digital marketing agency is a superb way to manage cost and time constraints. Marketing professionals with the right skills and software resources to manage your marketing campaigns will help you promote your products or services more effectively. You won’t need to build a marketing team. You also won’t need to spend precious hours trying to figure online marketing out for yourself. 

3. Develop A Powerful Content Marketing Strategy 

Since every business has unique goals based on industry and economic trends, determine what your company’s goals are and develop a content marketing strategy that will help you achieve them. Every marketing plan should include a content strategy to build authority in your niche. After deciding what type of content you want to produce, create a publishing calendar and decide on the best media to use to get your message in front of your audience. For some companies, the right media might be blogging. For others, it might be better to launch a YouTube channel. 

4. Develop A Comprehensive Digital Marketing Campaign 

In a digital marketing campaign, messages are developed, content generated, and advertising created to generate leads. 

Here are five essential software tools to help you run more effective campaigns: 

Graphic Design Software: 

A digital marketing promotion requires graphic design software because you’ll need to create graphics for various platforms, such as websites, blogs, and social media. 

Video Editing Software 

Investing in video editing software will allow you to edit videos and compile them into shorter versions to promote your business on your favorite social media platforms. 

Social Media Management 

You can monitor your brand on various social media channels using social media management tools. These can help you spot any issues or opportunities and engage with customers quickly. 

Analytics Software Tools 

You can use analytics software tools to evaluate and interpret data and extract insights for strategic decision making. Because these SaaS tools provide real-time, accurate data, they offer you a 360-degree view of your business, a comprehensive overview that would not otherwise be possible. 

Content Management Systems:

You can use CMSs to organize, create, and share content across different platforms, including social media. They allow you to manage all your content in one place and make it easier to run an online newsletter, blog, and special promotional events. 

Don't Forget About Email Marketing, SEO, And PPC 

Besides these suggestions, also consider the different types of online advertising available to promote a product or service. Email ads, banner ads, search engine optimization (SEO), YouTube video ads, social media advertisements, and text-based display ads are some powerful ways to extend your marketing reach. All of these are essential digital marketing tools that should be added to your marketer arsenal.

If The Pandemic Has Forced You To Start A Blog, Here’s What To Do Next

The pandemic has forced a lot of people to become entrepreneurs. It is not that those people didn’t have a business idea in the back of their mind. It is just that life has been ticking along just fine until the last couple of years for a lot of people. No one wants to make a big change when things are going well enough. We have an aversion to rocking the boat. Or to put it another way, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

But of course, it is broken. And no good fix is in the works. We didn’t cause the problem. But we have to become the solution. The problem is that most of those businesses you were noodling cost a lot of money to get started. Right now, no one has a lot of money. And banks are not in the mood to lend it. 

Thank goodness for blogging. Maybe you weren’t the best student in school. But you always did well in grammar. You developed an appreciation for literature. And you had a knack for creative writing. Blogging can take advantage of all that. But you need a little more than a way with words and a gift for gab. If you want to beat the pandemic by blogging, here’s what you need: 

A Good Desk 

When you are purchasing a desk chair, it is useful to know the average desk height. It is even more useful not to have to worry about it. You are not the average person going into the average career under average circumstances. Since you will be writing several hours a day, you are going to want to be able to get out of that chair several times a day, preferably, without having to take time away from work. 

A sit/stand desk can do all that with the press of a button. One moment, you are sitting. Realizing how unhealthy sitting for long periods of time can be, you press the button to raise the desk. The next moment, you’re standing. But at no moment did you have to break the flow of your work to do it. The powered desks can usually be programmed to accommodate different heights in the event more than one person uses the desk. It also provides flexibility if you decide to get a chair that sits a little higher or a little lower, your desk will be able to accommodate you. If you are looking to go into the word-making business, you are going to need a desk that works with you. 

Play To Your Strengths 

If you are an introvert, business-minded kind of person, then become an introverted business blogger. Don’t think of your aversion to social situations as a weakness. Embrace it as a strength. Love who you are and write what you know. If you know all the ins and outs about skateboarding, you can build a totally rad blog with a highly engaged niche following. 

If you like to keep things light and funny, use your wit to make serious things more digestible. If you are a pop culture expert, sprinkle your writings with pop culture references. There is almost no topic that doesn’t have a natural audience. You don’t have to worry about a topic being oversaturated. With over 7 billion people on the planet, you can find a couple hundred who really like your style. Develop an audience and advertisers will follow. Just be yourself and play to your strengths. 

Get A Laptop 

If you only have a desktop computer, get a laptop. The best laptops of 2021 include Macs and PC’s for a broad spectrum of budgets. As a blog writer, you don’t need a high-end machine. You just need something that you can take with you every time you leave the house. The worst thing you can do as a blogging writer is to be without your tools when inspiration strikes. 

Conclusion

It is possible to supplement your income with blogging. But you have to have the right mindset and tools to make it happen as a blogger. Get the kind of desk that keeps you healthy while you work on your blog. Use your natural abilities and strengths and don’t try to be someone you aren’t. Authenticity is key online. And get a mobile device you can use for writing on the go because inspiration waits for no one.

All About Inbound Marketing Advantages

Inbound marketing has been a popular term over the last decade. But what exactly is Inbound Marketing, and how is it different from traditional marketing or advertising?

The digital information age is defined as the rapid transmission and access to vast amounts of information. This modern age has perpetually changed societies, cultures, and economies, including the marketing landscape. In the 1970s, individuals were exposed to an estimated number of 500 daily advertisements. As businesses continued to leverage digital advertising channels, this average grew to a monstrous 5,000-10,000 daily advertisements per person in 2022. That's ad overload to put it lightly for customers of all types going into 2023.

The invention of the Internet has opened endless opportunities to reach a global audience through digital marketing channels; however, while companies continued to capitalize on this mass exposure, consumers became proficient at filtering information to combat this information overload. Modern consumers’ ability to make educated purchasing decisions has led to a decrease in trust and reliance on disruptive, unsolicited advertisements. People are increasingly utilizing tools like ad blockers and spam filters, and the reality is, nobody wants others to tell them what to do or ask for money. 

An inevitable shift in buyer behavior and psychology have led to a new marketing methodology to enter our atmosphere: Inbound. As traditional marketing strategies began to lose effectiveness, Marketers began to ask the question: How can businesses effectively engage consumers in the modern age? In 2006, HubSpot co-founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah came up with the term, “Inbound Marketing”, to describe the new marketing methodology that better aligns with the buyer’s empowered mindset and journey. Twice as many marketers report inbound marketing as their primary method of lead generation compared to outbound marketing and over 40% of marketers to report inbound as a higher ROI than outbound generates. 

While implementing a combination of Inbound and Outbound marketing strategies has proved most successful for companies, our guide will help you understand how the new age has altered consumption practices. 

This marketer guide illustrate the importance of Inbound, as well as assist you in integrating this marketer methodology in your marketing mix. 

What Is Inbound Marketing? 

So what exactly is inbound marketing in today's modern digital era?In the contemporary digital landscape, people are searching for and researching solutions to their problems online. Inbound marketing is a fundamental revolution from a brand-focused marketing strategy to a customer-focused approach that acknowledges the power of modern buyers — it’s really all about helping others. The objective of inbound marketing is to build trust and credibility that attract buyers to your company organically. Inbound marketing involves creating valuable content and incentives for your prospects at every stage of the buyer’s journey. As the flywheel illustrates, inbound marketing is the cyclical process of attracting, engaging, and delighting people. Based on a deep understanding of your target audience, creating educational and relevant content demonstrates you are an industry leader and naturally brings in people with sincere interest. Once your platform generates traffic, you can engage people and build stronger relationships with conversations. Continue to provide exceptional content, and your customers will be delighted as they will be able to rely on you for pain point solutions. 

By converting leads to sales, you will generate ideal, loyal customers that will grow your business drastically. Generating three times more leads than outbound advertising strategies, Inbound Marketing is an essential, powerful strategy capable of increasing brand reach, traffic, engagement, lead generation, conversions, and of course sales and referrals. 

Essential Inbound Marketing Strategies & Top Tactics 

In order to run a robust inbound marketing campaign, you must define your goals and KPIs, identify your ideal buyer persona, choose your platforms, provide content, track and report results, and never stop optimizing. Remember buying behavior will continue to change so tracking and reporting results are essential for your marketing campaign’s efficiency. If something isn’t working, change it. 

Here are some of the most important strategies and tactics to utilize for your upcoming Inbound marketing campaign — adapting these to fit your company in creative ways will boost campaign effectiveness! 

Useful Content Is The Base Of Any Inbound Strategy 

Content is king when it comes to inbound marketing! Content serves as a method to attract, engage, and nurture audiences, and ideally close customers. When the buyer persona is adequately defined, content creation and distribution can begin. Successful campaigns utilize various tactics to create content including; print media, video content, infographics, social media, opt-in emails, events, press/ public relations, events, emails, web pages, thought leadership, blogging, community building, word of mouth, public speaking, influencer outreach, and CMS. Check out more of our comprehensive content marketing guide below to implement an effective inbound content strategy of your own. 

SEO Is Also Essential To Your Inbound Strategy

A strong, long-term SEO (search engine optimization) ensures your website ranks higher in search results, increasing your site’s visibility, organic traffic, and conversions for your business. Some strategies to optimize SEO for Google and other top search engines include the following: improving page speed, keyword research and integration, link building, image optimization, and designing a user-friendly website. 

Social Media Is An Effective Way To Maintain Credibility And Customer Loyalty

Through social media, a company is able to build a community around their brand — let’s be real, everyone is on it. Social media platforms are not only excellent channels to share company content, but also a place to increase credibility, awareness, and build stronger relationships through dialogue. Some social media strategies include; generating referrals, having open dialogues, participating on forums, and sharing promotions. 

Retargeted Ads And PPC Effectively Increase Website Traffic, Visibility, And Quality Leads 

Despite the price tag on these ads, you have control over the amount invested in PPC (pay-per-click) advertisements such as Google Ads and Facebook. When used efficiently the PPC and retargeting ad strategy can boost ROI. Some strategies for retargeted ads and PPC include; collecting data and insights, and bid on relevant keywords to display targeted ads. 

Pros And Cons Of Inbound Marketing 

Although the Inbound methodology works for a wide range of businesses, there are some cases where this strategy is not suitable for your business including; companies that sell generic products, offer geographically limited products or services, do not want to grow, or are not willing to nurture and convert leads. Before you dive into your Inbound campaign, acknowledging the pros and cons will help you determine whether or not Inbound marketing is right for your business. 

Pros Of Inbound Marketing Methodology

+ Generates quality traffic and leads

+ Builds trust and credibility 

+ Saves cost and improves your return on investment 

+ Builds loyal relationships with your customers 

+ Gain valuable insights into your audience 

+ A life-long process 

Cons Of Inbound Marketing Methodology

- Not always mechanical or automated

- Takes time and effort 

- Ends up being expensive to start and maintain

- Digital marketing is a much more congested place than previously

All Around Advantages Of Inbound Marketing Methodology

The traditional, outbound marketing strategies are no longer as effective as they once were. Of companies exceeding their revenue goals, nearly three quarters of these businesses report attracting thousands of visitors per month. If you are up to putting in time and energy, producing epic content, and tackling SEO and media platforms, Inbound is critical for business growth in today’s digital landscape. 

The heart of the Inbound method is providing value to people by attracting an audience to your business, nurturing leads into customers through high-value content creation. By diversifying your marketing tactics to include an inbound strategy, your traffic, sales, leads, customer loyalty will grow exponentially. Implement inbound immediately!

5 Tips To Grow Your Business On A Budget

As a business owner or manager, you realize that when you take risks there is a possibility that you may fail. That is the gamble real business professionals and entrepreneurs have to take. But the flip side of the coin is that you also have a chance to increase your revenue and overall business growth. Just don't lose all your money in the process, it's an expensive world out there for business owners. Here's how to drive more business growth and profit potency in any economy and on a budget. 

Top 5 Tips To Enlarge Your Business On A Budget

1. Venture Into New Markets

Many companies that have succeeded locally find it difficult to venture into new business markets especially if it is somewhere across the globe. Few business owners have the nerve to research and risk their investments in new markets or send their workers to initiate a production unit in another part of the world, yet this is the pinnacle of business growth. The fear is understandable because the risks involved are high, but the truth of the matter is that the higher the risk the higher the returns. This post is mostly directed to business owners and managers who have established themselves locally and have expanded their investments into new markets. The best way to do this is by plunging into it head on. 

When entering a new market, make sure you cause a commotion about your business brand potential and in the same time show how you consider the importance on the new market. This will make the customers see that you value them and that you have come to solve their problems. When starting up a new business venture in a fresh market, it means pumping in your investment even if it means breaking the norms of your business practices. Mainly due to the fact that, for a new business or organization visibility is paramount. 

With visibility then it would be possible to impact the marker hence make sales. As a business owner realize that when you take risks there is a possibility that you may fail. That is the gamble real business people have to take. But the flip side of the coin is that you also have a chance to increase you revenue thus business growth. 

2. Define Your Business Growth Strategy

Business growth is often assumed simply to be increasing annual sales and the size of your business. But it is much more than that. It is not just the concept of getting bigger. Many businesses view growth differently and it is important that you define the type of growth you are looking for. The message is that when your mind turns to business growth, resist the natural urge to think in terms of business growth meaning 'simply getting bigger'. You need to look beyond that. Business leaders need to have a clear view of what growth means to their individual businesses. Even if your business is thriving, chances are it's not as successful or productive as you'd like it to be. You may desire to increase your client base, sales revenue, profitability and income. You may want to grow your network, marketing, selling and presentation skills for the future. You may want to add key pieces to your business infrastructure that you could not previously afford. 

Pieces such as particular workforce positions and employees or specialized equipment that can open up new opportunities in the future. Your ability to persuade and influence others, your leadership capabilities and emotional intelligence are all factors in determining how you would like to grow. Rapid business growth can also be about meeting certain goals that have nothing to do with overall sales or size. What kind of work-life balance are you trying to achieve? Often a business's efforts to grow are wasted. This can be because they are not directed at building competitiveness or are short-term in their perspective, and fail to capture the benefits of compounding by building on what has gone before. Now that may seem a strange thing to say, because surely growing a business is always good and simply means getting bigger and bigger and bigger but it is not just about bigger. 

Determining how you would like to grow means defining the strategy that will help your business to go, from markets and products to channels and market intelligence. Growth is of vital importance to all businesses. But you need to determine what type of growth it is you are looking for? The idea of business growth actually comprises many different ideas and concepts that you should constantly consider. Growth and your personal goals are intertwined whether you realize it or not. They are very much the same thing and need to be considered in that light. Because one will ultimately help define the other when pushing for business growth and profit potency. 

Become laser-focused on your ideal customers ... the people you WANT to do business with ... not the pain in your behind customers, but the juicy ones who appreciate you, pay well and refer you to their networks. 

Be able to clearly articulate your value proposition and hearing people say “We absolutely MUST have what you've got!” Have a system for building relationships with new prospects daily, staying in touch until they say YES! over and over again. 

Grow your repeat business with customers who chase you for your post sale offering, refer their friends, family and business contacts, and keep you top of mind as the expert in your industry. Walk away with a complete understanding of where your business has been going wrong, and know the instantly-implementable strategies to turn it all around for your company.

3. Increase Energy And Potency While Preventing Burnout

It's hard to drive more business growth and profits when you are feeling sluggish and impotent. Owning or running a business can be very stressful and there are negative side effects from that in terms of energy loss, depression, and reduced virility. You can't grow a business to a bigger size when you feel lethargic and unable to find an outlet for your stress. 

This is where work-life balance, hobbies, family, and vacation come in. Activities that increase energy and stamina like exercise or meditation also work wonders. Good nutrition and adequate sleep are essential and not optional. It's important to hustle hard, especially when starting out with your business, but you don't want to burn out. 

If your body and mind fail, your business will fail as well. 

4. Don't Forget About Data

What makes a company profitable? Fundamentally, it comes down to selling things at a greater cost than it takes to make them. No matter how smart or well-funded you are, at the end of the day, if you spend more than you make, you will eventually go out of business. Some of the most successful, innovative companies have figured out how to not only reduce the costs of what it takes to make their products, but in some cases, people will pay them to do it. 

For example, Nzambi Matee, a Kenyan entrepreneur who founded Gjenge Makers, has figured out how to take waste packaging and waste plastic, combine it with sand, and turn it into bricks that are 5 to 7 times stronger than regular bricks. Her costs? The sand and the labor to make the bricks. One of the principal components of her business is so valueless (plastic that can’t be recycled) that people pay HER to take their waste. Now that’s a business model set up to succeed - her company isn’t going to make bricks faster than the world makes waste plastic, so she basically has an infinite pipeline of raw materials to work with. 

You know what else we treat like a waste product? Data. Think about it for a second. How much of the data we collect is actually useful, is actually used? How much of it is just ignored or discarded? Every interaction a customer has with us generates data, and that data COULD be used to generate analysis, insights, and strategic decisions. But in most cases, it’s treated like a waste product. We toss it into giant databases that cost more and more to maintain, that pose huge security risks if the data isn’t stored properly, and that relatively little gets reused or recycled. Then we bring in analytics consulting companies to take our waste product and turn it into something useful. If we were more thoughtful about our data, we might change how we use it. We might choose to collect less of it, as we dug into it and figured out what data was useful and what data was noise. 

We might design systems that used more of the data that was valuable, delivering insights instead of just puking our data back to us in flashy dashboards that no one reads. We might find ways to reuse our data over and over again - a marketing insight is just as likely to be a sales insight and just as likely to be a customer service insight, if we’re truly thinking about the customer. 

Give some thought to how you use data. Give some thought about moving away from single-use data to reusing and repurposing data just like we try to do with consumer goods. If you really dig in, you’ll find that like Gjenge Makers, your data can be converted into something really valuable - and you’ll make a ton more money on it, especially if you’re acquiring your data for free as a waste product now. 

This week, let’s talk about datasets. If we want to understand people in aggregate, we need to have data to build understanding from. In a chat with my mentor today, she was suggesting that I spend more time thinking about data sources - where we get our data from, how we obtain it, and what we do with it. The good news is, we have more data available to us than ever before for modeling and understanding human behavior. The challenge is obtaining it and preparing it for analysis. How should we go about obtaining data? We have two basic choices here. 

First, we could collect it ourselves. From established sources like application programming interfaces (APIs) that permit the ingestion of data in bulk to scraping software that can download and interpret public-facing, readable content, we have no shortage of tools available to us if we’re technically inclined. Want to grab the latest fan fiction from Archive of Our Own? On Github, Radiolarian’s AO3 scraper can ingest any collection of stories you specify. Need some tweets? Twitter’s API comes to your rescue. If it’s readable by a human, it’s readable by a machine. Note that if you violate the terms of service for a site, you risk permanent exile from those sites, so it’s a general best practice to adhere carefully to the terms of service for any site you care about. Second, we could look to data collected by others. 

There are data-focused search engines out there, like Google Datasets Search, which provide links to datasets, as well as giant repositories like the United States government’s Data.gov, or the EU’s European Data Portal. There are great newsletters out there that share interesting data sets, like Jeremy Singer-Vine’s Data is Plural. And of course, there’s good ol’ regular Google search, where you take a term and append the word dataset to it. My only caution here is to inspect the data carefully to make sure it’s valid and from the source it says it’s from. Just because it’s on the Internet doesn’t make it reliable or truthful. In short, if you need data to work with, there’s probably a dataset out there for you - either one you build, or one you obtain. For laughs I Googled for a dataset for one of the world’s largest not-safe-for-work (NSFW) content sites and found a dataset on Kaggle (download link at the end of the newsletter if you want to see it for yourself) - the open data science competition site - with scraped data for 99,061 content providers, along with 47 metrics (numeric data) and dimensions (non-numeric data). Now, what in the world would you do with that data? 

At its core, it’s just marketing data; the dataset contains both rankings and the view counts of providers’ content, along with 45 other columns of data. If you’re learning how to build data science and machine learning models to understand what content does best, this is a great dataset to do that with. It even contains protected class data like age, gender, and ethnicity, so you can build models and test them for bias and unintended discriminatory outcomes. The key takeaway is that if you’re looking for data to learn from, to train and hone your marketing analytics skills on, there are millions of datasets to do that with. With just a bit of searching, you should be able to locate data on just about anything as a starting point for improving your analytics skills. 

Don't ever forget about data in business if you want to grow your company!

5. Double Up On Diversity

In the past we worked with a company based in Atlanta. It had just acquired a company and we were brought in with the rest of my team to integrate into the larger parent organization. On my first visit to the parent company headquarters, I noticed something strange. Atlanta back then was about 55% Black by population, yet on the staff of this company of a hundred employees, there wasn’t a single African American employee. When I asked the human resources manager why that was the case, they said there weren’t any viable candidates that were more diverse. They’d even been issued a mandate from their board to improve their diversity but struggled to find any POC candidates. 

Fast forward and it was time to hire for someone on our new team. This wasn’t a data science role; we were hiring for a straightforward digital marketing manager, one of the easiest roles to hire for in terms of available talent pool. The HR manager offered to let me use the HRIS to pull from a pool of available candidates, but I decided to go for the general cattle call instead in all the job boards, etc. to see what came in. We were inundated with over 100 resumes. This was the tail end of the Great Recession, so there were still a lot of people looking. I took the 100+ resumes and did a first pass to remove any resume that didn’t have a LinkedIn profile on it. Why? Basics of digital marketing: if you can’t market yourself, you can’t market for a company. That cut down the pool by about half. Of the half that remained, I did something that the HR person thought was supremely weird: I printed them all out, got a pair of scissors, and cut off any personally identifying information about the candidates. No name, no contact info, no address, no hobbies, just work experience and education. I handed out photocopied stacks of the redacted resumes to my team and told them to pull out the five resumes that looked the best, in order, and we’d interview the top candidates that everyone chose. After a few days of people sorting through their piles of paper, we got the candidates filtered and I re-matched the names to the resumes. Remember how the HR manager said there were no viable candidates that weren’t white? There wasn’t a single caucasian candidate in the pile, it was all people of color. We had 15% of Middle Eastern descent, 25% Latinx, and 50% Black. In the end, after interviews, we ended up hiring one of the folks who was Iranian-American. 

So what happened? Did the company suddenly become less racist? Sort of. What happened was that our ability to be racist - consciously or unconsciously - was hindered by a system change. When we talk about systemic racism - or sexism, or ageism, or any other discrimination - we spend a lot of time properly talking about the -ism. What we don’t spend a lot of time on is the systemic part of the phrase. We have systems that reinforce existing biases, whether we know it or not. In the case above, we had a hiring system that permitted conscious and unconscious discrimination based on how someone’s name sounded, or the activities they participated in. If we break the systems that reinforce our biases, it makes it much harder for us to behave in a biased manner - and if we do, it becomes a fully conscious choice, instead of a semi-conscious or subconscious choice. 

To break the legacy of discrimination, we must break our existing systems themselves, removing opportunities for us to bring our personal biases to the table. We should absolutely continue to crusade for fairness as people, as individuals, but we should also be requiring fairness be built into every process and system in our institutions, actively looking for way to remove opportunities for bias to creep in. Your mission, should you choose to accept it: look carefully at every system you have responsibility for that involves choosing people in some fashion - from ad targeting to email segmentation to hiring to performance reviews - and ask yourself whether that system is doing enough to prevent biases of any kind from infiltrating your company. 

Don't hire for height, appearance, social skills (unless that's a core aspect of their role), personality, or any other bogus reasons. Just hire the best qualified candidate for the role to help grow your company.

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