Using the social media pyramid to build an online presence for your direct sales company is not only a good idea — it's a must.

Once you join a direct sales company, one of the first things you need to figure out is how your customers, hostesses, and team Will be able to find you. Even if you plan on returning to primarily in-person vendor events and in-home parties after the pandemic, you'll need to have a social  media presence.

You'll need to post online, engage, and use social media as a marketing channel. Not to mention that even before the pandemic came and left its mark, social media was already one of the fastest ways to grow your business.

The question is, how do you stand out in a crowded online field of hundreds or thousands of other consultants selling the same thing as you? By understanding and using the social media pyramid.

The social media pyramid refers to a visualization of the various social channels.

At the bottom of the pyramid, everyone is given a business website when you join your business. Whether it's free or you pay for it, you have a website where you can take customer orders. And so does every other consultant in your brand. Having a website is not going to make you stand out at all. But it is a good place to start your online presence, as it will likely serve as a central piece to your direct sales funnel.

So let's climb the pyramid.

A good portion of consultants will have a Facebook presence for their business. And because so many do, it will continue to be hard to stand out from the crowded Facebook field. Where do you need to be? Higher on the pyramid.

I'm sure you can see the pattern here.

The higher you climb on the social media pyramid, the fewer people from your brand who are on that channel — so the easier it is for you to stand out when you post and engage consistently. Not to mention, the more places you are online with consistent profile naming, the more chances that Google will find you and return you in search results when someone is searching for your brand.

Using the Social Media Pyramid to Decide Which Channels to Be On

Now, does this mean you have to be on every single channel to be successful? No.

Do you have to be blogging to be successful? Must you be doing videos or live-streaming? Should be everywhere?!

No, nothing is required. In fact, I don't even recommend being on most of these channels. I recommend you choose your two or three favorite channels and stick with those: better to be amazing on two channels than mediocre on five.

However, using the social media pyramid will help you decide which of these channels will be easier for you to stand out on simply because there are fewer consultants using that particular social channel to market their business. Therefore, the greater the likelihood is that you can stand out there with really great content.

If you aren't comfortable on video, figure out where you are most comfortable. Find your niche where you can be authentically yourself, and then ride that baby.

“But Brenda, if everyone starts climbing the social media pyramid, won't that mean more people will be at the top?“

I'm glad you asked.

Climbing the social media pyramid is scary and will require you to be all kinds of brave. Take another look at the pyramid itself and what do you see? Comfort levels and time commitments.

It's easier and more comfortable to be on Pinterest than it is to be livestreaming and livestreaming requires more of a time commitment – so there are some direct sales consultants who will never climb up to livestreaming. It's easier and more comfortable to be on Twitter than it is to run your own blog, so there are some consultants who will never expand into their own blog. The higher up the pyramid you climb, the more brave you have to be and the more time you'll need to commit to your presence there.

So, take a good look at each of the social channels available to you and decide which channels you want to build an online presence for yourself. Choose at least two:

• One channel you love and are comfortable using
• One channel you like and will challenge you to grow your comfort zone a bit
• If you're feeling really brave, choose a third channel even higher on the pyramid that you know nothing about and vow to learn more about that channel and if it's right for you.

Try your hand at writing. Put yourself on video. Figure out how to take better pictures.  Learn how to make your own graphics. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

#EmpowerSocial