The network marketing industry can be quite insular. We tend to follow what our company says, duplicate what our upline is doing and stick to the methods we've always been taught.

And that's not necessarily a bad thing. The training and support you get from your company and your leaders can be brilliant, and you absolutely should tap into it.

However, I don't believe it should be the only place you look.

When we stay inside our own little network marketing bubble, the methods we're using can become outdated and we can be slower to catch up with what's happening in the wider business world, how people are buying and the different ways businesses are selling.

I'm in quite a unique position because I've been in network marketing for 21 years, but I've also been running my own founder-led business since 2018. I see both worlds, and there are so many things happening in online businesses and traditional businesses that network marketers could take, tweak and use brilliantly.

We're going to cover this in today's episode.

What could you learn from a salon owner? What can you take from the way a plumber runs their business? How can you use the format from somebody running courses, memberships, masterminds, webinars or challenges?

At the end of the day, you're selling something. You might be selling products, pampers, services or the opportunity to join your team, but a lot of the methodology behind how other businesses attract people and make sales can still be used in your network marketing business.

In this episode, I talk about why I think network marketing can become stuck in the status quo, why it's important to look outside your company for ideas and how you can start thinking more creatively about the way you build your sales and your team.

I also share some practical examples of how you could take the traditional party-plan model of selling one-to-many and bring it into the online world.

If something isn't working as well as it used to, or a method you've been taught just doesn't work for you, don't assume that's the only way.

Think wider. Think bigger. Look at what people outside network marketing are doing and ask yourself how you could put it into context for your own business.

I also talk about the free challenge my friend Sophie Foote is running from 2 November, where she'll be teaching ways to create additional income streams using methods from the online business world. I'm going through it too and supporting the network marketers who join through me so I can help you put what Sophie teaches into context for your own direct selling or network marketing business.

Join Sophie's free challenge here: https://sophiefoote.com/landing-page?am_id=annagreen2633

If you liked this episode, please share it with your teams. And give this podcast a follow, a rating and a review. It helps me help more people.

Grab yourself a copy of my free download, 100 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base, here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/web-100ways

And get 104 Post Ideas to Attract Your Ideal Teamie free here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/104-post-ideas

Find me on socials here:

Facebook www.facebook.com/annagreenmentor

My Facebook Community www.facebook.com/groups/directsellingsuccesscommunity

Instagram www.instagram.com/directsellingsuccess

TikTok www.tiktok.com/@directsellingsuccess

This episode was recorded the day before my summit. Even if the summit has passed, please do still listen as I talk about the mindset behind reaching out to potential speakers, how it felt being scared and what I did to overcome it and build my summit.

The Sales Makers Summit is on 8th October 2026. Get your ticket here https://thesalesmakers.com/summit_2026

If you liked this episode, please share with your teams. And give this podcast a follow, a rating and a review. It helps me help more people.

Grab yourself a copy of my free download, 100 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/web-100ways

And get 104 Post Ideas to Attract Your Ideal Teamie free here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/104-post-ideas

Find me on socials here:

Facebook www.facebook.com/annagreenmentor

My Facebook Community www.facebook.com/groups/directsellingsuccesscommunity

Instagram www.instagram.com/directsellingsuccess

TikTok www.tiktok.com/@directsellingsuccess

In this episode, Sarah Harland chats with me about her experiences in the Build, Elevate, Duplicate Mastermind (BED).

Want to find out more about Build, Elevate, Duplicate, or want to join the next cohort? Check out the information page here https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/bed-sep-26

If you liked this episode, please share with your teams. And give this podcast a follow, a rating and a review. It helps me help more people.

Grab yourself a copy of my free download, 100 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/web-100ways

And get 104 Post Ideas to Attract Your Ideal Teamie free here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/104-post-ideas

Find me on socials here:

Facebook www.facebook.com/annagreenmentor

My Facebook Community www.facebook.com/groups/directsellingsuccesscommunity

Instagram www.instagram.com/directsellingsuccess

TikTok www.tiktok.com/@directsellingsuccess

In this episode, Alison Quinn chats with me about her experiences in the Build, Elevate, Duplicate Mastermind (BED).

Want to find out more about Build, Elevate, Duplicate, or want to join the next cohort? Check out the information page here https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/bed-sep-26

If you liked this episode, please share with your teams. And give this podcast a follow, a rating and a review. It helps me help more people.

Grab yourself a copy of my free download, 100 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/web-100ways

And get 104 Post Ideas to Attract Your Ideal Teamie free here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/104-post-ideas

Find me on socials here:

Facebook www.facebook.com/annagreenmentor

My Facebook Community www.facebook.com/groups/directsellingsuccesscommunity

Instagram www.instagram.com/directsellingsuccess

TikTok www.tiktok.com/@directsellingsuccess

In this episode, Anne Blackmore chats with me about her experiences in the Build, Elevate, Duplicate Mastermind (BED).

Want to find out more about Build, Elevate, Duplicate, or want to join the next cohort starting 1st October 2026? Check out the information page here https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/bed-sep-26

If you liked this episode, please share with your teams. And give this podcast a follow, a rating and a review. It helps me help more people.

Grab yourself a copy of my free download, 100 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/web-100ways

And get 104 Post Ideas to Attract Your Ideal Teamie free here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/104-post-ideas

Find me on socials here:

Facebook www.facebook.com/annagreenmentor

My Facebook Community www.facebook.com/groups/directsellingsuccesscommunity

Instagram www.instagram.com/directsellingsuccess

TikTok www.tiktok.com/@directsellingsuccess

In this episode, Rhiannon Blackmore chats with me about her experiences in the Build, Elevate, Duplicate Mastermind (BED).

Want to find out more about Build, Elevate, Duplicate, or want to join the next cohort starting 1st October 2026? Check out the information page here https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/bed-sep-26

If you liked this episode, please share with your teams. And give this podcast a follow, a rating and a review. It helps me help more people.

Grab yourself a copy of my free download, 100 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/web-100ways

And get 104 Post Ideas to Attract Your Ideal Teamie free here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/104-post-ideas

Find me on socials here:

Facebook www.facebook.com/annagreenmentor

My Facebook Community www.facebook.com/groups/directsellingsuccesscommunity

Instagram www.instagram.com/directsellingsuccess

TikTok www.tiktok.com/@directsellingsuccess

Are you doing all the things in your network marketing business, but somehow still not getting the results you want?

You’re posting on social media. You’re creating the Canva graphics. You’re talking to the people you already know. You’re attending the meetings and doing the things that feel productive.

But are you actually growing, or are you simply doing the things that feel safe?

In this week’s episode, I’m talking about something that came up inside my membership during our five-a-day challenge. One of the members realised that she was naturally choosing the actions she liked doing - the things that felt comfortable - rather than the things she was avoiding.

And it made me think about how often we do this in our network marketing businesses.

We stick to the safe things because they make us feel productive. We’re doing something, so it feels as though we’re making progress. But more often than not, the results aren’t coming in at the other end.

I talk about my own experience of doing exactly this when I first started in network marketing, and how I gradually realised that if I wanted to grow, I had to start doing some of the things that felt a little less comfortable.

That doesn’t mean throwing yourself straight into the scariest thing you can possibly imagine. I talk about working around the edges of your comfort zone instead - doing something that feels slightly awkward, stretching it a little bit at a time, until those things start to become normal.

I also share my own experience with social anxiety, from a time when simply walking into a supermarket could make me physically sick, through to speaking on stages in front of thousands of people. That didn’t happen in one huge leap. It happened by taking small steps and gradually making the things that felt unsafe feel safe.

So I want you to have a think about your own business.

Where are you staying safe? What are you avoiding? What has been sitting on your to-do list for ages that you know you probably need to do?

And rather than telling yourself you have to go and do the whole scary thing today, ask yourself what one little thing you could do that takes you a step towards it.

Sometimes it’s also worth asking yourself not only, “What’s the worst that can happen?” but “What’s the best that can happen?”

What could change in your business if you got used to doing this thing and it eventually became normal?

If you liked this episode, please share with your teams. And give this podcast a follow, a rating and a review. It helps me help more people.

Grab yourself a copy of my free download, 100 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/web-100ways

And get 104 Post Ideas to Attract Your Ideal Teamie free here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/104-post-ideas

Find me on socials here:

Facebook www.facebook.com/annagreenmentor

My Facebook Community www.facebook.com/groups/directsellingsuccesscommunity

Instagram www.instagram.com/directsellingsuccess

TikTok www.tiktok.com/@directsellingsuccess

In this week’s episode, I’m talking about doing things before you’re ready.

When I joined the direct selling industry back in 2005, I certainly wasn’t ready. I’d bought a kit to earn a little bit of extra money, give myself a bit of my life back after having children and, if I’m honest, escape from just being Mum for a little while. I had no business experience and didn’t really know what I was doing.

But I joined anyway.

Then somebody asked to join my team before I knew how to look after somebody. Social media came along before I knew how to use it. People in my team started asking me how to recruit before I really understood how I was recruiting people myself. At every stage, I ended up having to learn by doing the thing before I felt ready to do it.

I also share the story of going for my first incentive trip in 2009. I didn’t achieve it. I made plenty of mistakes, didn’t plan properly and didn’t really understand what it was going to take. But because I went for it anyway, I knew what to do differently the following year, and in 2010, I achieved an amazing trip to Hong Kong.

That experience has repeated itself throughout my business. I’ve invested in coaching before I was ready, gone for leadership levels before I was ready, started this podcast before I knew how to make a podcast and tried plenty of other things without really knowing what I was doing.

Because you don’t learn from not doing the thing. You learn from trying it, getting things wrong, tweaking them and having another go.

So I want you to have a think about the thing in your business that you’re waiting until you’re ready to do. Pick one thing and go and do it. You might get it wrong. It might not go smoothly. But you’ll learn far more from doing it than you ever will from waiting for the perfect time.

If you liked this episode, please share with your teams. And give this podcast a follow, a rating and a review. It helps me help more people.

Grab yourself a copy of my free download, 100 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/web-100ways

And get 104 Post Ideas to Attract Your Ideal Teamie free here:

https://annagreen.kartra.com/page/104-post-ideas

Find me on socials here:

Facebook www.facebook.com/annagreenmentor

My Facebook Community www.facebook.com/groups/directsellingsuccesscommunity

Instagram www.instagram.com/directsellingsuccess

TikTok www.tiktok.com/@directsellingsuccess