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Either you found this blog post because you are an existing Mary Kay Beauty Consultant and are curious about these 5 Steps On How To Sell Mary Kay Online Only, or you are interested in finding out if Mary Kay is the right avenue to start your own business. You are at the right place for either of these reasons.
Before I go into the 5 Steps, let’s look more closely at the existing Mary Kay business itself.
According to Direct Selling News, in 2018 Mary Kay was the sixth-largest Network Marketing company in the world.
A paradigm shift took place in the aura of COVID-19 where it became more important to sell Mary Kay products remotely rather than in-person face-to-face.
It has become critical to learn everything necessary how to conduct your business exclusively online.
One of the characteristics that impressed me the most about Mary Kay is they focus first on selling their premium products directly to customers and then on recruiting other sales representatives to build out your sales team.
I’m going to cover the following details in this article.
- The Company
- How to sign up as a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant
- Sign Up Options
- The Products
- How Are The Products Sold
- How the Representatives Earn Money
- 5 Steps To Selling Exclusively From Home
- Pros & Cons
- Is This Right For You?
Mary Kay has been around for so long but do we know what kind of company it is? Let’s look at the details:
Mary Kay The Company
- Founded by Mary Kay Ash in 1963
- Privately owned
- Uses Direct Selling and Multilevel Marketing sales model
- Notable for giving out Pink Cadillac in rewards to its top sellers
- Mary Kay is the 6th largest direct-selling company in the world in the personal care industry
- Sales in 2018 were $3.6 Billion worldwide
- Mary Kay products are sold in 40 countries including Russia and China
- US Based Company, HQ in Texas
- Website: https://www.marykay.com
How To Sign Up As A Mary Kay Beauty Consultant
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You can only sign up as a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant through another Beauty Consultant by joining her team. If you already know a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant who is serving you, she may be the best person to sign up with.
Another way is to click this link: Find A Mary Kay Beauty Consultant Near You.
You have the option of entering the name of a Beauty Consultant you know, or your zip code or area code depending on in what country you live.
You will be provided with a list of possible Beauty Consultants you could sign up under. You may even wish to contact a few to find out for yourself who best you can work with.
By all means do an interview, Set up a meeting with them if possible. This is an important step so give it the attention it deserves. I am certain they will be so happy to spend time with you because you found them instead of the other way around.
When you become a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant, you can be hopeful that a person like you who wants to join will find you in the same way.
Sign Up Options
Mary Kay provides two options to sign up. Either via purchasing a Starter Kit for $100. Or using the eStart method that normally costs $69.95 but is being offered as a discount when I wrote this for $30.
Both of these are shown below where I used screenshots from the Mary Kay website. Click either of them to get to the real pages:
Every new member is given access to their business back office through their In Touch web page. If you wish to conduct your business the traditional way through personal interaction, this is all you need.
Personal Mary Kay Website (PWS)
However, if you wish to build your business online as well, you will need to set up your Personal Mary Kay Website (PWS) to sell products.
This is NOT your back office, but your very own Mary Kay online store. You will need this website to use the 5 Steps process I will be sharing with you.
There are additional costs associated with this approach that I will explain below.
You can use your Mary Kay back office to set this up. The annual fee is normally $50. But new consultants can get this for $25. However, you do not have to renew it if you don’t wish to.
There are many steps involved in setting up your PWS that I shall not be going into here.
When you sell products through your website, you have the option of taking payments personally if your customers are local and you will have to deliver the products yourself.
The other option is for the customer to pay directly through your website and have Mary Kay ship the products for you.
To use this option, you must set up a system to collect credit card payments using a third-party company called ProPay.
They accept payments made through VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.
You can set this up through your In Touch Back Office for an annual fee of $39,95. You can pay this in one payment, or split it up into three monthly payments of $13.31
ProPay also charges you a fee for each transaction as follows. 2.69% of the total transaction cost for VISA, MasterCard, or Discover. The fee is 3.19% for American Express.
For example, if you sold a product for $100 in situations where your customers used the first three cards, ProPay would keep $2.69 and credit your account for $97.31. For American Express it would be $3.19 and $96.81 respectively.
Note that you will be selling the products at retail where your profit margin is 50%. Hence, you will still be making a decent commission.
Unlike other companies who take care of the billing for you and send you your commission, with Mary Kay you have to do this yourself. Even though you are paying for your Mary Kay Personal Website.
I shall be addressing the PWS later when I go into the 5 Steps online marketing process.
The Products
Mary Kay provides premium quality products that are competitively priced in:
- Eye & Makeup
- Skin Care including Acne Treatments
- Fragrance
- Body Care and Sun Protection
- Men’s Products
- Gifts
How Are The Products Sold
Over the years when I lived in England, Canada, and now in the US, Mary Kay was a familiar name.
I have seen their consultants selling the products to the female members in my family as well as my female friends.
Until I read about it I truly didn’t know that Mary Kay was also an MLM company.
I had never seen a Mary Kay consultant try to recruit the women I knew into being constants themselves.
They have an army of approximately 3 million consultants worldwide.
Unlike other MLM companies where most of the products are purchased mainly from the company’s independent consultants, Mary Kay appeared to generate most of its sales by word and mouth personal touch selling.
This implied that the products were of high quality and sold at reasonable prices to elicit repeat customers, I know because the women in my life kept ordering them over and over again from their local rep.
Hence, Mary Kay reps have been able to build up a large customer base of people who are not consultants. In the world of Network Marketing, this is very notable. Another company like that is Avon,
Mary Kay has taken advantage of developments in the Internet to provide online tools to help their consultants build and manage their businesses.
There is a missing link. Several missing links hinder their consultant from making the most use of the Internet.
The 5 Steps in this article will be filling in these missing links. It will help Mary Kay consultants use the Internet to create a large enough customer base so that they do not have to rely solely on the Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) business model to earn a decent income.
How Do You Earn Money In Mary Kay?
To qualify for commissions, a consultant must purchase at least $200 of products at wholesale each month.
Do you think this is fair? If you wish to treat this as a real business, having “skin” in the game is a good incentive to take action.
Why not make your first goal to earn monthly commissions to at least cover this $200 cost? Your goal should be to earn far more than $200 a month.
At the end of the year, if a consultant has excess products, Mary Kay will buy them back at 90% of the purchase price as long as they were purchased within the same calendar year.
This is not the norm for most companies. In this way, you are not saddled with a garage full of unsold products.
When a consultant sells a personal care product at retail, they can keep 50% as commissions.
Overrides
As a consultant builds out her team, she can earn override commissions from team sales ranging from 4% to 13% depending on her rank in the company.
Rank
Rank is assigned depending on the number of consultant recruits she has and the overall growth of her team taking into account the recruits of her recruits.
Note that to earn bonuses and overrides, your recruits must generate sales of at least $600 wholesale. Your bonus is $50 for each new Independent Beauty Consultant (IBC) recruited.
Rank levels are as follows, lowest to highest
- Independent Beauty Consultant (IBC) – Earn 50% commissions from retail sales.
- Senior Consultant – when you recruit your first IBC and qualify to earn an override from their sales
- Star Recruiter – when you recruit 3 IBC. 450 Bonus on 4th IBC. Earn 4% override on team member’s sales
- Team Leader – 5 IBCs recruited.9% commissions on sales. Or 13% if you make a $600 purchase at wholesale
- Sales Director – 24 active IBCs including you. Earns 9% to 13% in team sales. Plus additional bonuses
- Senior Sales Director – 1 to 2 Sales Directors in their team
- National Sales Director
- Senior National Sales Director
- Executive National Sales Director
- Elite Executive National Sales Director
Bonuses
To qualify for bonuses, a consultant has to sell $600 worth of products wholesale.
Either they buy the products themselves to sell at retail, or the consultants they recruit will purchase products at wholesale adding up to $600.
When new consultants achieve $600 of wholesale in their first three months, they qualify for a $100 bonus.
Significant bonuses are also earned when a consultant and/or her team meet specific sales targets.
You can download a 27-page PDF document below that will provide you with the details on how to qualify for the various leadership levels as well as how the overrides are calculated for each of these levels: Mary Kay Compensation Guide
Another Way To Generate Sales
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You’ve tried the traditional way of contacting your family and friends to buy your Mary Kay beauty products. Many have. Are these sales enough to allow you to quit your day job? Or build up a small fortune for the future?
Does it seem that you are working very hard just to earn a little pocket money?
What does your Upline tell you?
- You’re not working hard enough
- You don’t attend enough training
- When you attend opportunity meetings you do not bring guests
- What about the goals you originally set, why are you abandoning them?
- Do you really want to do this business?
I think you get the idea. It’s YOUR FAULT that you are not succeeding. How does that make you feel?
Wouldn’t it be great if you could sell enough Mary Kay products by yourself to earn a significant income? That would show your Upline, wouldn’t it?
Can you see the look of surprise on their faces when you make enough sales to move up the ranks WITHOUT needing a downline?
Racking up a huge amount of sales is hard to do with your own efforts the traditional route. That is why you have to recruit other consultants to join your team.
And then you have to train them. You probably have tried this method and it just doesn’t work for you like they say it should.
What can you do?
However, with the Internet at your fingertips, you can build a large Mary Kay business online.
If this is what interests you the most, don’t worry about the Mary Kay Compensation Plan as the whole process becomes so much simpler.
Let me show you how.
5 Steps To Selling Mary Kay Online
The strategy I will be sharing with you below is related to Affiliate Marketing.
You create a website that you utilize effectively to find customers who are looking for the results your products provide. Then direct them to your Mary Kay PWS where they can purchase that special product to give them the results they seek.
What are these 5 steps?
- Create your independent website
- Write compelling content
- Attract customers to read your content
- Communicate using Emails via an Autoresponder
- Direct your customers to your Mary Kay PWS
Let’s look at each of these steps in detail.
Step 1 – Create Your Independent Website
Although you have a Mary Kay website, you have to compete with over 3 million other Mary Kay consultants worldwide. Why would customers buy through you?
It is all about branding yourself not only as an expert on Mary Kay beauty products but also knowledgeable in this highly competitive field in general.
You do this through your website, independent of Mary Kay.
The approach to building your business is closely related to attraction marketing. Instead of going after customers you will be designing and using your website to attract customers to you.
That is a paradigm shift from what you were taught. The result is to generate sales. And lots of it.
After you get your domain name selected, the next step is to register your domain name and get it hosted.
You can buy a domain name from many sources like Go Daddy, Host Gator, Dream Host, and Bluehost among others. They all have a system where you can enter the domain you like and they will tell you if it is available or not.
If it is, you will be told what it will cost you either monthly or annually to own that domain.
If you like it pays the fee and you will have your domain name.
Owning a domain name is not the same as having a website with that domain name. You will need a company to host your website and a process to create your website.
All these companies I mentioned will also host your website for another fee. You can contact them to find out what the fees are.
Often, the fee amount will depend on the level of hosting you require. For example, if you want website security, there is an added cost. If you would like a fast server, there may be more expenses involved.
Don’t worry about these costs now. I will show you how to do all of this with no muss and no fuss at a really low cost.
But first, you will need a platform to create your website. Some examples are WiX, Network Solutions, Squarespace, Site123, and WordPress.
In my case, I needed a lot of training, help, and support to build and operate a website for a business. I found a company called Wealthy Affiliate that provides everything I needed so I joined them.
I bought my domain name through Wealthy Affiliate for $13.99 a year. They also host it. The reason I chose them is for the following:
- WordPress Platform is used by over 30% of websites in the world
- Choice of 3000 website designs
- Site Domains – The World’s Only Inclusive Domain Platform
- Amplifies website speed
- Increased Spam Protection
- Free Website Analysis
- Free SSL Certificates (Website Encryption)
- 24/7 Monitoring for any critical issues
- Virus and Malware Protection
- 24/7 all-year site support
- Hosted with powerful servers
Step 2 – Write Compelling Content
If there is one critical fact in the world of online business is that GOOD CONTENT SELLS!
When you have a problem what do you usually do?
Enter a question into Google of course. Articles will appear that will show you how to solve your problem using words, pictures, and even videos.
When Google shows you a list of articles to your query, what do you look for first?
The Title, right? What next? The few sentences that come after the title.
When you feel confident that these words will lead you to your solution you click that specific article. When you land on that page you have high expectations.
After you start to read the article if you feel a sense of disappointment I am certain you will move on to another one. Right?
As a consultant of Mary Kay, you have the option of providing products and solutions to people who are looking in the areas of personal beauty.
For example, you could write a whole article on the issue of wrinkles and aging and how specific Mary Kay products can turn back time. I think you get the drift.
You are going to use your content to not only showcase the incredible variety of products Mary Kay offers but also how each one of them provided a specific solution to those who are looking.
Use your imagination combined with data and testimonials to write your articles on your website. The purpose is to help your visitors make a buying decision, click on your Mary Kay PWS, and make a purchase.
Let’s recap what these areas are:
Eye & Makeup
Skincare Including Acne Treatments
Check out this Mary Kay YouTube video on their Skin Care Line
Fragrance
Body Care and Sun Protection
Men’s Products
Gifts
Mary Kay combines beauty and skincare items that complement each other into gift packages to make it easy to select gifts for people. You can see what these are here.
Ideas On Writing Content
You can write one article for each item, or a set of products that complement each other. Use the review reporting approach to build out your content. Ask the questions like Who, What. Why, Where, When, and How to Create an interesting read.
What about your competition? Why don’t you do a comparison review that shows why Mary Kay is the more effective product? I think you get the idea.
To provide the best service to your customers, become very familiar with all the Mary Kay products so that you can write intelligently about them.
The COIVID-19 Pandemic is phasing out gracefully with the help of cures and vaccines. Now is the moment to have guests over to celebrate.
What a great way to highlight to your customers how they can use the Mary Key Products to make those occasions truly memorable.
To provide the best service to your customers, I suggest you go through the Mary Kay catalog in great detail and make notes.
If you do this online, take screenshots you can use to illustrate your article. I have used that approach in writing this article.
Isn’t it exciting to see all the possibilities you have to provide value to your customers?
Your main goal is to get good at writing compelling content that not only ranks high but also persuades your reader to want to buy what you are recommending.
Step 3 – Attract Customers To Read Your Content
How do you find people online to first click through to your content and then stay long enough on it to read your message?
That is the million-dollar question. Although you can get your own eCommerce website from Mary Kay it falls way short in attracting traffic.
The affiliate marketing model I mentioned above will fill that gap amazingly well. Here are the steps necessary to make your website attract traffic and customers:
- Build your website and focus only on one
- Write content, at least 1000 words for each article. The more the better. I’ll explain why later.
- Create at least 2 articles a week
- Select a title for your article so that it will rank high in the search engines like Google
- Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques to drive traffic to your content
- Use URL links creatively to send customers to your PWS
- Promote your content on Social Media such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter
- Use your content to collect Email addresses that you can use to communicate with your customers and prospects
- Use pictures and graphics to support the points in your article rather than for making it look good
- Use Internet tools to track your website statistics
These may seem like a lot of things to do. It is. Once you learn how to do them you will discover it is not rocket science. You do not have to do all of them at once. This is where you create a plan of action to schedule when you will do what activities.
Step 4 – Email Marketing
Communicate using Emails Via An Autoresponder
The most successful online entrepreneurs use a lot of follow-up with their existing customers and prospects. A customer is someone who has made at least one purchase from you and you have collected their email address as part of the transaction.
A prospect is a visitor to your website, read your article and decided not to purchase yet. However, you have made them an offer on your website of a free report, maybe a test report. In order for you to send it to them you ask for their Email address.
All these Email addresses are entered into two databases. One for customers and another for prospects. The format is usually a spreadsheet like Excel.
Many Autoresponder systems like Constant Contact and Aweber provide you with a system, to send out messages via Email at regular intervals you set up.
These messages always end with a call to action. Either click on your PWS or ask for more information if they need it.
Many sales take several messages spaced judiciously apart to conclude with a sale.
Step 5 – Generating Sales Through Your Mary Kay PWS
Direct your customers to your Mary Kay PWS
Isn’t this your eventual goal? When a customer clicks through to your Mary Kay Personal Website, that means they are ready to purchase. I suggest you do not enter the price for the product in your article. When your visitor clicks through to your PWS, all the prices will be there. Not only the product or products you reviewed in your article but also all the other Mary Kay products. When prices change you will not have to edit your website. That removes one source for error.
Here are 3 ways you can direct your customers with links to your Mary Kay Personal Website (PWS)
- Add the link to your script
- Create a graphic with an embedded link
- Use a picture of the product with an embedded link
Is This Right For You? Your Next Step
Either you can try to figure this all out by yourself using YouTube and Google. Or you can join an online community where you can learn how to do all of this through targeted training and using a Mastermind Group.
Business Or A Hobby
Do you want to treat this as a real business or a hobby? If all you want to do is try it and see what happens just for fun, then you will fail.
You need a plan of action. And a resolve to follow through on your plan.
It must include getting trained right; an easy way to build and set up your website; and learning all the skills you will need to harness the Internet to drive traffic to your website and generate sales.
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If you are truly passionate about the personal care industry, you can market products from many non-MLM branded companies that also compete with each other. And earn a commission no matter where your customers buy from. In this way, you have more freedom and flexibility with your business.
Later if you feel that the beauty and self-care industry is not for you, there are thousands of companies you can become an affiliate of for free in other niches, and sell their products through your website and earn commissions. Unlike MLM, there are no minimum purchases necessary to earn commissions.
But you don’t need to make that decision now. Focus on making Mary Kay a huge success. With Mary Kay, you have a great company and products that will form a strong foundation to start your online business journey. At least you now have an alternative.
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Mary Kay Pros & Cons
All businesses have pros and cons. This is not a negative thing. You can utilize this knowledge to help your customers even more. If they bring up negative aspects about Mary Kay it is best to be prepared to provide a sensible answer.
Never get defensive when a negative comment is provided. Treat it like an objection. Use the feel, felt, found response such as, “I know how you feel. That is how I felt. But then this is what I found.”
If you do not know the answer, never guess. Tell them you will get the answer within a specific time. And do it.
Always express empathy with your customers first. In that way, they will feel respected. Then proceed to tell them what you found that changed your mind. Let them make their conclusion after you provide them with all the relevant facts.
Pros
- Excellent range of products
- Reasonably priced
- Been in business for a long time
- Trusted Brand
- International Market
- Provides you with a website for online sales
Cons
- You have to take care of billing using ProPay
- It’s your responsibility to charge sales tax where necessary
- Took a long time to update its product line
- Still rely on the door to door selling to family and friends
- Is not set up to generate customers online, even having a business website
- Only a small percentage of consultants make the big league
Mary Kay’s MLM Program – The Online Way!
Mary Kay takes the position it doesn’t run an MLM Program. This is not so. When you can earn overrides on many levels, that is classic Multi Level Marketing. You can learn how their MLM Program is set up through their document: A Proven Program For Achieving Success.
If you join Mary Kay I suggest you get their latest version of this document through your In Touch back office or your Upline.
You may be wondering how would you do the Mary Kay MLM program online. My recommendation is to build a huge online customer base first.
You may be surprised at the income this will generate for you. Heck, you may decide not to bother to recruit other consultants.
However, if you wish to pursue the MLM program, you can use the Email marketing approach to offer your customers the opportunity to become a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant in your team.
Since you will have a successful Mary Kay business online you will be able to speak with authority and show them how to do what you do. This will of course include using the Wealthy Affiliate training to build their marketing website and make it successful.
How cool is that?
Conclusions & My Recommendations
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Conclusion
Have I shown you a way to build your Mary Kay business online? Have I shown you a way to build your team online from your happy customers? Please share your thoughts with me in the comments section below.
Recommendations
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Thank you for taking the time to read my article on How To Sell Mary Kay Online. As a parting gift would you like a digital copy of the iconic book by Napoleon Hill called Think & Grow Rich?
Napoleon Hill explains how important it is to change our habits if we want to reach our goals. As well as the steps we must take to change our habits. Fill in your name and email address below and you will reach a page where you can download this eBook.
I wish you all the best in your Mary Kay business and in life too.
Edwin
Thanks for a really interesting article, Edwin. It really opened my eyes to the possibility of selling MLM products online, rather than constantly embarrassing friends and family with not so subtle suggestions that they look at my products.
And I liked the focus on product sales rather than chasing down line recruits. I love the idea that you can win twice: once via the affiliate marketing approach, and then again by directing people to another website also owned by you.
Even if you’re not interested in selling personal care products, the principle is transferable to other product lines, eg drop shipping of gifts and home wares. It sounds as though the work involved to get it all set up is huge, but there is potential for big rewards. I’m going to save this article and keep for future reference.
Hi Teri,
Thanks for your well thought out comments. My website is devoted to affiliate marketing and I have written many articles on the subject to help people figure out if this is right for them.
You are correct that a lot of work is required. Any venture needs hard work to become successful. However, unlike a job, a website asset is created here that pays passive income in time.
Thy key is to work at it consistently and never give up. Doing business the MLM way,less than 5% succeed in making decent income. The percentage is higher for affiliate marketers.
I appreciate you bookmarking this article for future referene.
Cheers.
Edwin
Exactly.Im wannabe Mary Kay consultant and this idea of parallel website attracts me. Appreciated.
Hi Kali,
Thanks for your comment about your interest in marketing Mary Kay using a parallel website. If you are a student of the MLM industry, they all have one thing in common. Their associates are taught to start building their business by sharing the opportunity with family and friends. And then branching out to friends of theirs and so on. The next approach is to use targeted lists.
This method has been very successful, but only for about 5% of associates who sign up. Most fail. Either they stay on as customers or make the break permanent. One of the sad facts for those who fail is they lose credibility with their family and friends and will always find it uphill to build another MLM business.
Hence, the thought of using Internet Marketing techniques is very appealing. It insulates yourself from rejection. Know though, that building an MLM business online requires intensive training in how to use the Internet to find customers as well as possible team members. You also cannot avoid persistence, hard work, and patience.
Once you realize these facts and enter into building your online MLM business with your eyes wide open, you will make a great start. May I suggest joining Wealthy Affiliate to learn how you can do this?
I’d love to hear back from you.
Cheers!
Edwin
Very in depth review and explanation of Mary Kay. You clearly know what you are talking about and took the time to explain it all to us, thanks.
My experience with MLMs is not very positive and they all seem to be selling pretty much the same thing. How is Mary Kay different? What do their products and/or programme offer that is better than say NuSkin?
Hi Kit,
Mary Kay and Nu Skin are in that premium personal care league where prices compare to the more expensive ones sold in department stores. Mary Kay appear to be higher priced than Nu Skin overall.
The purpose of my article was to show Mary Kay consultants that there is another way to generate sales other than using the MLM model. The same would apply to Nu Skin.
As to the difference between Mary Kay and Nu Skin, I do not know the answer. When I look at both their products, they each have products that are effective and others that are questionable.
When I do a review of Nu Skin I will be better equipped to answer your question. Thanks for asking it though.
All the best to you.
Edwin
As someone with extensive Direct Sales experience, I will say, you have done a very good job of preparing someone with interest in Mary Kay.
While I love the review and suggestions, in my opinion, the single most important thing anyone taking a leap into Direct Sales needs to know is…SOLUTIONS, not SALES! People DO NOT want to be sold! Therefore, EDUCATE, INFORM, and SUPPORT…let them tell YOU when THEY are ready!
Keep up the good work. Well done!
Hi Jason,
Thanks for your perceptive response. I cannot agree with you more about the role of bloggers. That is why I gave so much attention to the content creation section of my article
It should be the objective of every online marketer to find out the problems people have that can be resolved with the products they are promoting. Then proceed to address the issue in easy to understand terms.
Remember though that people use emotions rather than logic to make buying decisions. Hence it is crucial to tap into these emotions using good examples of how their products work. And then leave it to the reader to decide if this is right for them.
This is the direct opposite to an eCommerce store that places more emphasis on hype than solutions.
All the best to you.
Edwin
Interesting article! I’ve been familiar with Mary Kay my whole life seems like. LOL Between my mother using the products and several of her friends being distributors for Mary Kay, I’ve seen how it works. It has actually worked well as far as MLM is concerned.
I realize, as you stated, that they do not consider Mary Kay a MLM business, and I’m not aware enough of the set up to know for sure, but I always thought it was one. That’s not a bad thing, at least in light of the past.
MLM is a model that worked during the time it worked LOL. But again, as you stated, they have no structure for doing this business online. That word, “online”, is where everything changed.
The old MLM system dealing with friends and family and the door-to-door approach worked in decades gone by as people were not online at all, there were no distracting smart phones, and life was just different than it is now. If I went to someone’s door selling encyclopedias today they’d think I’d lost my mind!
Mary Kay is known to be a good company, but for them to not lose share in the market in upcoming years, my opinion is that designing an online model is imperative. You offered a great solution near the end of this article. Join forces with a reputable online training system and website development resource and community and offer products that way. That’s how people buy these days.
Great article! Remind everyone to take their business online! 🙂
Hi Darrin,
I truly appreciate your input regarding Mary Kay. I included a link on their compensation program that clearly shows that the way to progress up their consultant ranks is to build a team and help others do the same. The commissions they focus on are personal sales as well as the overrides from their team. This is classic MLM.
Sadly, the majority of distributors in MLM companies earn very little if at all. Duplication is far more difficult that they make it out to be.
In the final analysis, this is a business that succeeds on sales. The MLM management don’t care if there is a high turn over in distributors as long as their is a net gain to keep sales increasing. That is why they have so many meetings and conventions that are designed to play on the hopes and emotions of their distributors to stick with it.
In most companies, the distributors must be responsible for a minimum number of personal purchases in order to qualify to earn commissions. And if they fall short, all their credits are washed away. This is a powerful incentive to continue to purchase products even if they need them or not.
This is not the case in Affiliate Marketing. I think I should make a bigger point about that in this article, that calls for an edit.
I wish you much success.
Edwin
Edwin, your article is very comprehensive and eye opening.
It is intriguing how some direct selling companies are making the online offering and purchasing process easier for their distributors. Also great that Mary Kay are using technology and developments in the internet with online tools to their reps to make their lives easier.
This is very interesting that Mary Kay has the Personal Mary Key websites which are not the back office but the reps personal online stores.
It is even more awesome that you offer a professional website and marketing plan for Mary Kay consultants. Something worth considering if they want to go professional and stop annoying people on Social Media trying to see their stuff.
Hi John,
Thanks for your great comments that appreciate the significance of doing business online these days.
Cheers.
Edwin
It was very hard to understand the first part of the web site content, the different costs, percentage, commission, bonuses, wholesales, earns percentage, retail sales, pro pays, keys, fees and rules for doing things and starter kits for 100 USD and Rank Levels. But since they have an army of 3 million consultants worldwide, there must be value in it and you seem to know what you talk about.
It is a little confusing to look through with all the fees and other costs mentioned in the text.
So, it can also be difficult to see the commission size for the interested person (Sorry).
But then you come to the 5 Steps to Selling Mary Kay Online and then things started to give meaning in attracting and join Mary Kane and even as a free starter member as long as you wish.
Wish you the Best
Hi Henrik,
I’m glad you found the MLM structure confusing. That was my point. Earning commissions and moving up the ranks in the MLM model requires a different skill set than just selling. It requires recruiting and being a coach. Not all consultants like doing that.
The solution as I provided in the 5 Steps was to use affiliate marketing techniques to generate sales instead of building a team. To clarify, the free membership I spoke about was not for Mary Kay but for Wealthy Affiliate who reaches how to build an online business.
I’m glad it all made sense in the end.
All the best to you.
Edwin
Helo over there.
A big thanks to you for sharing this educating and insightful post on how to sell Mary Kay online only.
Beauty products are one of the top notch in the market including Mary Kay’s product that are really amazing.
I must say that these tips here are really the most interesting ways of selling Mary Kay’s product online.throigh owning an independent website. It will really help and yield a lot.
Thank you.
Edwin
Hi there,
Thanks for the review it was really helpful. Online selling is definitely a worthy option if you are a start up but it depends on your nature of business and vision.
The most successful process of online money making is to make money by selling products online. Being a Mary Kay consultant gives you that room to be a successful affiliate marketer.
Indeed, having the skills to sell products on line is an acquired skill. And Mary Kay consultants can learn these skills to continue doing thier business online if they so wish. In these social distancing times it becomes even more critical for them to do so.
I hope they get to my article and take away some ideas on how to do this.
Cheers.
Edwin
Hey nice article you have there, your thoughts are indeed invaluable.
Mary Kay has been an awesome and effective product in the cosmetics industry. Nevertheless, I am impressed with the policy put in place by Mary Kay to buy back unsold goods from consultant. This will really help consultant a lot, as it will help to eliminate capital on stock.
This online strategy will definitely be an effective one especially now that businesses are closed
Selling cosmetics has evolved into a people business. Even in department stores, the various brands have demos on their products using the store visitors.
Mary Kay beauty consultants now have to figure out alternate ways to sell their products. I hope they read my article to give them information that in this closed world of commerce, they can still run their businesses online.
Thanks for highlighting this issue.
Edwin
Hey Edwin I am glad I found you. I have been in Mary Kay and joined right before Covid hit. I have been telling my up line that I want to do it all online. No one could help me but you. My plan was exactly what you had said. Start a blog, write about content and send them to my Mary Kay website. No zooming in to the directors who want to tell their story. I will be signing up for your affilate training and the 49 packaged deal in November. I want to hit the ground running. I love their products just feel I can reach so many people online. It is the in thing to do. Thank you so much. When the student is ready the teacher will appear.
Hi Laurie,
Thanks for writing to me about doing Mary Kay online. I am glad you see the logic in this approach. I owe you an apology that I didn’t respond to you sooner. I have been very busy writing content and failed to check my comments. This is not an excuse. Just an admission I screwed up.
I am happy to hear that you are considering joining Wealthy Affiliate in November. It will be an honor to mentor you. There are a few key points I need to talk over with you and feel it is best done by Email. I will send you an Email from moneyleaps@gmail.com with Mary Kay Online message from Edwin in the subject line.
Please look for this message today.
All the best to you.
Edwin
Well I just had to comment again — the WA program is so worth the money. I learned so much and plan on using the MK website. With Mary Kay you don’t have to have the product. You can sell directly from your own MK website and they will ship it for you. All you have to do is focus on content with a blog that sends them directly to your website. Recruits will love this ’cause they don’t have to buy all this inventory they simply can’t sell. You do have to put some skin in the game though as Mary Kay Ash said you can’t sell from an empty wagon. Although in today’s world, your very own Mary Kay website where they pick and pull your orders is definitely the way to go.
Great comments Laurie. Mary Kay knew what she was talking about. As the saying goes, no pain, no gain. The difference with programs like Mary Kay is you have a proven path to develop residual income by helping others in so many ways.
Cheers!
Edwin
OMG! I did not know it was you, Edwin Bernard. I happen to be a Mary Kay personal use consultant because I love the products. I’d consider selling MK if I can do this online. I’ll take a look at your free resources.
Thank you for adding so much value in talking about MK as well as over-delivering with your article and resources.
Janet
Hi Janet,
Silly me for leaving it so long to check the comments. Did you find my Mary Kay post through searching? I’d love to know. As. MK consultant, it means a lot that you thought I over-delivered. It took a lot of work and research to write that post. I’ll send you a PM about this on Instagram. I can’t send PMs to starter members on WA. Glad that we connected on my website.
Thanks for signing up for the free starter membership. If you need any tips just ask.
Cheers.
Edwin
Thank you Edwin for such a well thought out and written how to on the five steps to sell Mary Kay products online only, the article was just what I was searching for this morning in regard to creating a way to make money online from home and I’m certain other readers will find this information helpful as well.
I think this is a very important gap you are attempting to bridge, linking Mary Kay consultants and their wealth of time proven products with the world of affiliate marketing and search engine optimization.
Are there many consultants currently with an online only presence or are you attempting to be the first?
Hello Joseph,
I appreciate your thoughtful response. Many MLM associates use their websites to promote their MLM business. Some companies have strict guidelines on how to do this and require approval. Others do not as long as the distributor’s website meets the standards set by their company.
My advice is to focus first on generating sales and to treat recruiting team members as secondary. Since my site appears on the 1st page of search engines I have generated a lot of interest. I wish I was a distributor of Mary Kay to test how this works. Since I do not like to be tied down to one company doing that would not help me.
I wish you all the best.
Edwin
Great article on selling Mary Kay online! I appreciate the detailed steps and tips you provided on how to build a successful online presence for your Mary Kay business. The information about setting up a website and using social media platforms effectively was particularly helpful. Have you found that using social media has been a successful strategy for growing your Mary Kay business? I’m curious to know if you have any specific tips for using social media to reach potential customers. Overall, great job on the article and thank you for sharing your insights and experience with us.
Thanks for your helpful comments. There is no bulletproof way to use social media effectively. The platform I like best is Pinterest. Here’s why. It uses images called Pins to catch people’s attention. We can embed our website Post URLs into the Pins to connect visitors directly to our posts. We can be as creative as necessary in how we design these Pins. I like to use Canva to do that.
Strangely I am not a representative of Mary Kay. I have been a rep of USANA Health Sciences. I am only an active member of Legal Shield, a company that markets legal and identity theft services using the MLM model.
Unlike most people, I do not discredit MLM companies when I write reviews. It’s members are trying hard to make it and my approach is to show them an alternative approach.
All the best to you.
Edwin
Mary Kay does not allow selling via a website or blog. People will be terminated as Mary Kay consultants if they find out. I know this because in 2018 I joined Mary Kay planning on selling it with a website/blog. My Director confirmed that is not allowed. In this day and age, Mary Kay is absolutely stupid for not allowing this. But as of 2018, they didn’t allow it.
Hello Debra,
Thanks for pointing this out. The approach I promoted was to use the Mary Kay personal website to generate sales. In parallel to use ones own website as a funnel to direct prospects to ones Mary Kay site.
Do you think that would fall within the guidlines of Mary Kay?
THere are so many other high quality cosmetics and health companies out there to build a business if Mary Kay erects barriers. Perhaps I will amend my article to hoighlight this point. Thanks for sharing
Cheers.
Edwin