Don’t Quit Your Day Job – The Ugly Side of Network Marketing

Let’s get ready to rumble! This post is going to offend people and that is perfectly fine. So without further delay, let’s get into it.

Network marketing is a business. Marketing is a skill. You MUST master marketing to be successful in this field. PERIOD!

I believe in the power of network marketing to change lives, lift bank accounts, build leaders and produce results. That is why I joined a network marketing company.

But.

Network marketing can be really, really tough sell as a business. And that’s the problem. Even though network marketing literally has the term ‘marketing’ in its name, the way people build their business has NOTHING to do with actual marketing.

Say what?

The way most coaches teach their downline to “market” isn’t marketing at all. It’s sales. And I’m all for sales because that’s my profession by trade. However, I’m not for terrible sales practices that include outdated three way calls and pushing your products and “business opportunity” onto friends, family and virtually anyone with a pulse.

That’s a recipe for disaster and it’s why network marketing has an insane drop-off rate.

Because of the hype surrounding MLM companies, I’ve seen many people quit perfectly good jobs and opt-out of perfectly good skills because they believe network marketing is the magic pill career that will give them ultimate freedom, money and success.

Then they struggle to recruit people and sell products because they have no idea what the fuck they are doing, their up-line sold them a bill of goods and no one is willing to share the real secrets of the industry.

By the time people get to me, they are beyond desperate. They want to know how they can replace the income lost by quitting their job in as little as 3-6 months. They want to know how they can hit double-platinum, diamond-crusted, master-of-the-universe rank overnight like so-and-so from their up-line did. When I tell them the truth about network marketing (i.e. it doesn’t work that way for the majority and it’s a business like any other), they are floored and devastated!

This process makes me angry.

I’m not angry that that people come to me for help. I LOVE meeting passionate people with heart and drive who want to build businesses and change lives. What I don’t like is all the bullshit the industry feeds them about quitting their jobs and making 5 figure months within 60 days.

Network marketing is a business. And like any other business, it takes time to build.

I’m sure that is not what you’ve been told and I’m sure that is not what you want to believe. But, that doesn’t make it any less true.

It’s not your fault you thought this was going to be easy. I understand how you came to that conclusion. I’m willing to bet that every person who “sold” you on joining their business did so by overpromising and telling you things like how quickly so-and-so earned $5000 their first month.

Think about it. You were told all you needed to do was get 5 people who would get 5 people and so on for eternity. Then you could sit back and watch the dollars start rolling in.

And you might have recruited a few people when you first started. But then…

One of them dropped off.

You had to drag others along.

Another one canceled their auto-ship.

All of a sudden, the thought of actually building a downline with 5 recruits starts to feel impossible. And forget trying to teach them how to build a profitable, sustainable business.

Ugh…all this selling is NOT was network marketing was supposed to be about, right?

You know this can’t go on forever. So how do you stop selling and start marketing?

If you’re new to network marketing and starting to feel defeated, don’t lose hope! It gets better and there IS hope for your business.

First thing’s first. Do not – I repeat DO NOT – forget all your past experience and knowledge. You wouldn’t start a new job and leave all your previous knowledge at the door. Bring your entire skill set to this business. If you want to make it in network marketing full-time, You’re going to need it.

And don’t quit your day job…not just yet.

Here’s what you can do to start marketing your business.

Use your skills to publish, publish, publish. If you have lots of public speaking experience, start a podcast that documents your journey going from an employee to business owner. If you have a knack for writing, start a blog that details your expertise in business and marketing (or fitness, recipes, etc). Capitalize on your skills and use a vehicle that will best showcase them.

Stop listening to your upline, find mentors who are successful in the field and follow them. You chose this business because you believed in it. You owe it to yourself to find people who have achieved success and learn from them. Then…

Implement what you are learning. Don’t get bogged down in being the most polished person in the room. Instead focus on being the most well executed. With practice, comes polish.

Let’s get real: The majority of network marketers who are killing it because they have:

Brought their existing downline from one company to another;
Built a personal brand they use to position themselves as an expert;
Find and recruit people from other MLM (multi-level marketing) companies.

I refuse to get into a debate about these methods, because technically there is nothing wrong with any of them. The issue is that not everyone has a downline to migrate and not everyone wants to build their business by actively poaching people from other MLM companies. That just leaves one choice: build a personal brand.

This won’t guarantee overnight success and it’s not easy. But it will give you the skills to stop chasing sales and start generating leads (with or without direct contact with prospects) through marketing.

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO START BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND NOW:

Do your homework. Pick a mentor, follow what they do and implement what they suggest to begin testing the marketing waters.
Create your ideal client checklist, find out where they hang out (online) and make a plan of action to reach them via marketing strategy.
Start doing DMO (daily methods of operations) and put your income-producing activities first on your “to-do list” in your business daily.
Find someone who knows the industry who can help you fast track your success – you are not an island and don’t have to do this journey on your own.

We created a 6-point checklist that discusses all these points above and more. Get that here.

And in the meantime, please keep your day job.

Or, if you have already quit, go GET another job (something preferably low stress and flexible) while you build your business. Do not starve trying to live the entrepreneur lifestyle.

And finally, know and understand that you can build a network marketing business that sustains you if you approach it with the right mindset.

BONUS:

If you’re currently growing your MLM business and are struggling to make it happen, then check out this Free Webinar from Steve Larsen. He’ll show you a few strategies that most people don’t share.

Work From Home

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Why I Stopped Building Landing Pages the Hard Way

If you've ever sat down to build a landing page and immediately felt overwhelmed by the blank screen staring back at you, you're not alone. For a long time, I was in that same spot. Drag-and-drop builders help, but they still take time. And when you're running a solo online business, time is the one thing you don't have enough of.

That's why I started experimenting with using Claude AI to build my landing pages for me. And what I found changed how I approach the whole thing. In this post, I'm going to walk you through exactly how I do it, step by step, so you can start doing the same.

What You Need Before You Start

You don't need to be a developer for this. You don't need to know HTML. You just need two things: a Claude AI account (the free version works for basic pages) and a Systeme.io account (also free to start).

That's it. If you have both of those, you're ready to go.

Step One: Writing the Right Prompt for Claude

This is where most people get stuck. They open Claude, type something vague, and get back something that doesn't really work. The fix is being specific.

Your prompt needs to include your product name, what the offer is, your brand colors, and what you want the page to do. For example, you might tell Claude: 'Build me a Systeme.io-compatible landing page for a digital product called [Product Name]. The offer is [what it includes and what it costs]. Use a dark navy background with red accent colors. Include a headline, features section, countdown timer, and a buy button.'

That level of detail gives Claude enough to work with. The more specific you are, the better the output.

Step Two: Getting the HTML From Claude

Once you submit your prompt, Claude is going to generate a block of HTML code. This usually takes about one to two minutes. When it's done, you'll see a full page of code on your screen.

Don't panic. You don't need to read it or understand it. All you need to do is hit the copy button and move on to the next step.

Step Three: Importing the Code Into Systeme.io

Now you'll head over to your Systeme.io dashboard. Create a new blank page and give it a name. Once you're inside the page editor, look for the HTML element in the sidebar and drag it onto your blank canvas.

Click on that HTML element, go to 'Edit Code,' delete the placeholder text that's already in there, and paste in the code you copied from Claude. Hit save.

At this point, you'll see your page take shape. It might not look perfect yet, but the structure is there.

Step Four: Fixing the Padding Issues

Here's something that trips up a lot of people. Systeme.io adds default padding to every element on the page. So when you paste in your HTML, you might notice a white bar at the top or gaps where there shouldn't be any.

The fix is simple. Click on the section that's causing the issue. Look for the padding settings, usually labeled in the element options. Drop the top and bottom padding down to zero. Do this at both the section level and the row level. Once you save, those gaps should clear up.

Step Five: Checking the Mobile View

After your desktop version looks clean, always check the mobile view. Claude does a solid job with mobile-friendly code, but the font sizes can sometimes come out a little large on smaller screens.

If that's the case, just go back to Claude and ask it to adjust the font sizes for mobile. Something like: 'Can you update the HTML so the heading text is smaller on mobile screens?' Claude will spit out a revised version of the code. Copy it, paste it back into Systeme.io, and you're done.

The Hybrid Approach: AI Plus Drag-and-Drop

One thing I want to be clear about. When you build a page this way, you can't use Systeme's drag-and-drop tools to edit text or buttons directly. Because the entire page is HTML, those elements don't work the same way. Every change has to go through Claude.

That's why I recommend what I call a hybrid approach. Use Claude to build the sections that are design-heavy, like your hero banner or feature blocks. Then use Systeme's native tools for the simpler pieces that you'll want to tweak often, like your opt-in form or your footer.

This gives you the speed of AI and the flexibility of the builder. Best of both worlds.

How Fast Is This Really?

Here's my honest answer. From opening Claude to having a live page preview in Systeme.io, I've done it in under 10 minutes. The prompting takes about 30 seconds. The code generation takes about two minutes. The import and padding fixes take another five minutes or so.

Compare that to spending 30 to 60 minutes building a page from scratch, and this method isn't even close. It's faster every single time.

Final Thoughts on Using AI to Build Landing Pages

If you've been putting off building your funnel because the tech feels like too much, this is your sign to just start. You don't need design skills. You don't need to hire a developer. You just need to know how to write a decent prompt.

Claude handles the code. Systeme.io hosts the page. You just put the pieces together. That's the whole thing.

I've put together a full video walkthrough that shows this process live from start to finish. If you want to see it in action, you can check that out on my YouTube channel.