VIC ALARIO : THE SALES QUEEN REVEALS IT ALL
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So excited to kick off our first feature of Whit’s Women with my girl, Vic Alario. Let me set the tone before we dive in with Vic.
Vic and I met in New York for Revolve Festival. We immediately clicked and shared the same mentality of working our asses off to “live our best lives.” Oh yes - she is my kind of girl.
Vic has not only starred on MTV’s EX on the Beach, but she has also built a social following around her fashion sense and manages a sales network of over 150+ women!
UM. Ya. She’s the real deal guys.
But… I mainly wanted to feature Vic because I love her entrepreneurial spirit. She is a real go-getter and isn’t afraid to approach sales with a firey force!
So let’s get into it!
. . .
Introduce yourself!
Hi babes! My name is Victoria Alario and I'm a blogger, influencer and content creator, and Executive Director in an online beauty company, MONAT. My entire life revolves around social selling from fashion to beauty to everything in between. I mentor thousands of women across the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, and Poland on how to do the same!
1. How did you get started in being a fashion blogger + influencer in New York?
I've always done it more as a hobby, and started in college after being inspired by the OGs like Arielle Charnas, Aimee Song, and Danielle Bernstein. I would literally study their profiles and blogs like a book - and I always thought, "If they can do this, so can I." So I just started buying (and then returning after shooting) tons of clothes and tagging brands; it was such a rush getting reposted! I started to grow my following pretty slowly but it was the best feeling ever when I started landing small scale collabs. I worked SO hard: I was shooting during lunch breaks at work, I was up until 4 AM stalking every single brand until I found their PR email. I was willing to do whatever it took to make this happen for me.
2. What led you to trying Monat?
It's funny because I'd always bought clothes as an investment into my blog, but I didn't see it that way so I didn't understand what investing really meant. So I'd initially said no, because I just wanted free stuff. Then I realized free stuff doesn't pay the bills, and free stuff most certainly doesn't build an empire or dream life. For some bloggers, they truly to make a hearty living doing it, but I wasn't there, and I needed something that brought in real money and could change my life while impacting others as well. So when I really looked into it and discovered the effect the company had on hundreds, thousands of women, I had that SAME moment again of, "If they can do this, so can I." So I did it and never looked back. Within 6 months, these girls were living the life I had 10 year plan dreams of. I was immediately like, F that. I'm not patient enough to wait for my dreams.
3. Most people shy away from network marketing and sales? Why did you choose to do it?
I think they're just uneducated about how simple it really is, like I once was. I realized every single one of us are socially selling something everyday, it's just known as "referring." Referring people to recipes, clothes, makeup, movies, restaurants, you name it. If you like a product or service enough, you refer it to people. It's that simple... so imagine how much more simple it is to refer people to products you don't just like, you LOVE. Products you see major results from. Products that basically sell themselves. All I have to do is show that they work and say why I love them, the rest is all just a result of the product.
4. What has been your biggest learning in sales? Or biggest challenges?
I'm learning every single day - I change it up all the time. I'm always growing and I think that's where the magic happens. Joining the business is a matter of getting out of your comfort zone, right? So once you join, you have to keep getting out of your comfort zone. People join and see it as such a risk, but then aren't willing to grow. I'm always willing to grow, so I think my biggest challenge would be when I wasn't willing to give up control. I'm a HUGE control freak, and for the first year, to year and a half, of my business, I just wanted to control everyone. We talk so much about freedom being a perk of the company but I always just wanted to make sure everything was done perfectly, so I kind of took that freedom from some people without realizing it. It wasn't in a bad way; it was 100% all out of just wanting them to succeed, but I needed to let them succeed on their own. Fail on their own. Try again on their own. Once I allowed myself to let go, my entire business changed for the better. It was a challenge, but it was the greatest thing I'd ever done.
5. How did you build such a large network? Give us 3 details or learnings on what you found successful in building your network.
1. Being on reality TV - I can't pretend this didn't happen. I grew a following from being on a show for two months, but I don't want people to credit my success to that- I just want to acknowledge it. I've lost 20k followers over the past 2 years because those people had only followed me for the show, and they only wanted to see drama. They didn't care what my business was or what I was up to unless it had to do with reality TV.
2. Collaboration over competition - collaborate with girls in your niche! Shout them out and vice versa. Shoot content with local girls! Make friendships in the industry. You will not grow by yourself - slide in the DMs and reach out asking to work together in some way or another!
3. Be VALUABLE. What are you talking about? What do you share? No one cares about your 25 posts for your best friends birthday. Share your favorite recipes, where you shop for the best thrift finds, open up about whats really vulnerable for you, give people something to want to come back for. If people aren't finding value in your material, they will not engage with you!
6. What advice can you give our readers that don't have any experience in sales but that want to launch their business?
JUST START. AND DON'T QUIT. It sounds cheesy, but it's the best advice you deserve to hear. Who the heck has experience before they start? No one. Start messy. Just do it. You WILL fail. MANY TIMES. I failed from December 2018 - October 2019 in my business and I showed up every single morning with a smile on my face and determination in my soul. It was hard as hell but I knew the only way to truly fail was to quit. I was having short term failures because I wasn't hitting my goals and was nowhere near where I wanted to be, but I knew I was going to have long term success because I wasn't going to stop until I had my desired result.
7. Can you give a lesson in your sales approach? How to do you get people to buy?
I love how you asked that question, because that's everyone's EXACT problem why they CAN'T "get" anyone. NO ONE wants to be "got." You have to turn off the mindset of, "I need to get this sale," or "I need to get this business partner." Your whole approach will change. Build a relationship over a commissionship, and you'll stop trying to hard to "get" everyone to buy your product. Just share what you have to offer and the money will follow. Do you love what you're selling? Do you show your passion for it? Is it a good product that works? If you can say yes to all of those things, you will have no problem closing leads. Remember this: everyone loves to buy, everyone loves to shop, and everyone hates to be sold.
8. What is your advice for someone wanting to work for themselves or start their own online business?
You better have some serious self-discipline! Motivation will not make you successful. If you start your business when you're motivated, you will only work when you're motivated. So in other words: you won't work when you're discouraged or in a bad mood. I work no matter what. Why? Because I don't need motivation, I have self-discipline.
9. What's next for you? Any future plans or projects?
Right now my entire focus is on maximizing my business to its highest potential. I might not ever be satisfied, to be honest with you, but I do have specific goals for myself that once I reach them, I'll be expanding into new projects :)
Best,
Victoria Fashion and Lifestyle Blogger
VIC, that was absolutely amazing and I love all of your takeaways!
For those that want to know where you find more of Vic check out
