There has been blog post after article after video after rant about how Facebook and other social media are full of friends “just selling stuff.” Yeah, I know. Mine is, too. I have friends who sell essential oils, make-up, jewelry, clothes, weight loss systems, vitamins, nail polish, mascara and skin care. Crazy, right?

I mean, Facebook used to be all about people posting pictures of their food and crazy cat videos. No one complained about THAT. Oh and there are the political rants. Everyone LOVES those. The conspiracy theories and the inspirational quotes straight from a 365 Days of Inspirational Quotes desktop calendar…. (rolls eyes). What about the endless pictures of your best friend’s kids at their dance recital? Cannot wait for those to come across your feed, am I right?

Well, I have a solution for dealing with all those pesky direct sales people. In fact, I have a few suggestions….

1) You don’t have to read everything that your friends publish. Think of it like a newspaper or magazine. Do you read every.single.line.of.every.single.article and ad in the paper? No, you pick and choose what you want to read. You skim some articles and completely skip others. Think of Facebook and social media the same way. You are only seeing a very small percentage of what your friends are posting on Facebook due to the algorithm in how posts show up in newsfeeds, by the way. You can go directly to their pages to read, skim and skip if you are not getting enough news on your feed ;-)

2) Here’s a novel idea… support your friends. Are they truly friends or just Facebook “friends”? If they are truly friends, support them. Help them. That does not mean you need to buy all the products, but perhaps you are using another brand of a similar product and would be open to trying what your friend is offering instead? Who knows, maybe you will even like the products better than what you are using!? I mean, we’d ALL rather the profits go to our FRIENDS than to some behemoth corporation so they can pay million dollar bonuses to the C-suite, right? Of course we would. Think about that the next time you buy from a retail store instead of from a friend. (I am not guilt-tripping anyone, but think about it... if you feel guilty about this, then you know what is right.)

3) If you really have no need for the products or services your friends are representing, who in your network does? This is another way to help your friends build their businesses. Referrals are the life source of any business! Opening your heart and mind are sometimes even better than opening your wallet, and there are surely people you know who are looking for something that one of your friends has to offer. (That has been a huge revelation for me - NEVER assume someone is not interested!) It’s a way to help several people at the same time by connecting those who have a need with those who have a solution. It’s a GOOD thing. It’s the way the world works. The flip side is that you are helping NO ONE if you shut down friends (or anyone else you have reason to trust) just because you succumb to the stigma of a direct sales model.

4) Pay just a little more attention to those posts. Maybe… just maybe… you will realize that this is a new wave that is growing, not going away. It’s called Social Commerce. I wrote all about Social Commerce in two recent posts, The Modern Entrepreneur in The Age of Social Commerce https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/modern-entrepreneur-age-social-commerce-trish-nicolas?trk=prof-post and Stigma Can Stick It: Why Social Commerce is the Next BIG Thing https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stigma-can-stick-why-social-commerce-next-big-thing-trish-nicolas?trk=prof-post

If you have any qualms about social commerce, I suggest you heed the research:

Customers are 4x more likely to buy when referred by a friend.

90% of consumers trust peer recommendations, while only 33% trust ads.

74% of consumers rely on social media to inform their purchasing decisions.

Eighty-four percent of millennial shoppers say consumer-written content on brand sites influences what they buy.

Your friends are paying attention to what you like and buy. You pay attention to what your friends like and buy. Trusted recommendations are an integral part of social currency! I’d MUCH rather get a recommendation about my skin care from a friend who I know uses it than from Retail Rita at the department store – who I don’t even know and have NO reason to trust! Why on Earth would you trust Retail Rita more than a friend you know? Lots of people just have it backwards…

Network marketing not only builds on this very real trend of social commerce, it also provides a multitude of people with an income stream with flexibility. If my friends and contacts can create an income stream that supports their financial needs and lets them manage their own schedules, I am THRILLED for them. I support them! I am a CHEERLEADER!

5) If you have read this up to this point, you may be feeling a little old school, definitely a little judgy-wudgy, and maybe a little FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). If you are not feeling any or all of those, go back and re-read. You owe it to your friend. No, you owe it to YOURSELF. Are you possibly letting surly stigma get in the way of your next BIG opportunity?

Now, think about this:

Perhaps the reason this network marketing thing is all over your Facebook feed is because it WORKS. Social commerce is big, real business and – WHOA! – your friends are catching the wave and YOU ARE NOT. While they are building their side gig into serious income in yoga pants in the garden, you are in your car, commuting three hours round-trip to a job you hate that only gives you a raise once a year.

You can either watch the parade pass you by, or join us. We won’t judge ;-)

#RFLife #whynotyou #whynotnow #FOMO

>>Related:

What's A Nice Girl Like YOU Doing in Network Marketing?https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-nice-girl-like-you-doing-network-marketing-trish-nicolas