Kevin Stephan is a forerunner in the world of network marketing, leading a team spread across over 25 nations and four continents. Kevin’s mission is to empower leaders worldwide to scale their network marketing businesses through the implementation of modern, non-invasive methods of prospecting. As he features in our Top 10 Marketing Leaders 2024, we speak with Kevin to learn more about his journey to excellence.

Ever since Kevin was a teenager in Lower Saxony, he knew that he wanted to be independent and stand on his own two feet through self-employment. For over a decade, he has dedicated himself to a continuous education in online and affiliate marketing and now, he is in the unique position to educate others.

With all his experience, Kevin is the first to admit that the sales sector can be a difficult landscape to navigate. “I know exactly how it feels to be stuck and overwhelmed with all of the tools, techniques, and methods out there. Instead of doing it all at once, I will support leaders to micro-step their way,” he says. Using his vast knowledge of the market, Kevin now supports individuals in building their own empires.

The journey to great success was not always easy for Kevin, though the marketing mogul spun his setbacks into opportunities to learn. At the beginning of his marketing career, Kevin found himself spending extensive time away from home. He worked closely with his sponsor, driven by his desire for financial independence. Unfortunately, his sponsor was also new to the industry, and encouraged Kevin to build his list through intrusive marketing techniques. Commonly, sponsors are instructed to build their downline through contacting friends and acquaintances though this method proved unsuccessful for Kevin. His peers were deterred, and his sponsor was unable to support him in obtaining new contacts.

This did not stop Kevin. He turned to the internet, placing endless free classifieds and reading up on network marketing to further his understanding. He received calls from his first prospects and went on the road, selling dietary supplements. Kevin noted that there was a limitation to internet and telephone marketing, it was harder to communicate the benefits of the business digitally.

So, he asked for help. He wrote to numerous successful online networkers for advice on how to break into the digital sphere. One networker wrote back, and they immediately struck up a friendship. This networker demonstrated how easy online marketing could be, all because of a system he had implemented to complete the work. He says, “A system gives you scripts to say the right things at the right time, steps to approach the right people in the right way, and sources to generate more leads whenever you need them.”

This system revolutionised the way Kevin viewed the industry, and he shifted his entire approach. Rather than putting such a heavy focus on selling to strangers in an intrusive manner, Kevin learned to market and positioned himself on the internet so that people who wanted to know more could easily find him.

Today, Kevin resides in Cyprus, overseeing a team of over 8000 partners. As a full-time father of three children, he enjoys his ability to build his financial independence from wherever he pleases. Kevin spends his time teaching innovators how to build their own platforms, as well as promoting Web3 and Blockchain education.

Web3 is an innovative solution that promises to revolutionise the way that we use the internet. It has been noted that a handful of larger entities have a stronghold on large areas of the World Wide Web and have a significant influence on what content is accepted into the sphere. Web3 was developed to counteract this limitation, embracing decentralisation and putting the power back into the hands of its users.

Over recent years, the development of the World Wide Web has been categorised into two stages. The period of 1990-2004 is viewed as Web 1.0, the early stages of the development of the World Wide Web. Web 1.0 was comprised mainly of static websites owned by companies, with minimal interactional elements for users. This stage of the web became known as the read-only web, due to its limited user experience.

Social media platforms began to boom in 2004, effectively transitioning us to Web 2.0. Companies provided users with platforms to engage with, allowing them to share their own content with their peers. The web became read-write, instead of read-only, though there were still limitations to this. Large companies began to control traffic, and users were not seeing the benefits of their content being monetized.

Web3 is a new stage of the World Wide Web, coined by Ethereum Co-Founder Gavin Wood in 2014. He believes that the current stage of the internet requires its users putting too much trust into that handful of private companies to act in their best interests in terms of regulation. Web3 aims for users to have equal access to the web, with ownership being distributed between Web3’s owners and users. Web3 will transform the internet into a read-write-own space.

Data resides on the blockchain, so that users can maintain ownership of their data, reputation, and everything else that they have built online. If users wish to switch platforms, they must essentially start from scratch. This is not the case for Web3. This counteracts ownership and censorship issues that have arisen in recent years, spurring conversations on the limitations of the current internet.

Web3 is still an evolving system, constantly developing as the digital landscape changes over time. As CEO of TechTree, Kevin now educates the public about blockchain technology and cryptocurrency so that they can better navigate Web3. Through TechTree’s free course, users can start their journey into Web3 and understand the possibilities and limitations of the platform.

To Kevin, leadership is about guiding others on their journey to financial independence. He encourages future leaders to champion their own way in the industry, which he notes is key to excelling. “Many leaders don’t realise they’re not just a salesperson, they are an actual role model for the way that the next 10 generations of their downline behave in their business,” Kevin tells us.

His core values are integrity, confidentiality, and clarity, elements that are essential to building trusting relationships and further expanding your network. “Done right, the internet will give you an overwhelming stream of new prospects, so much that you will have to turn down some of them on a regular basis, or hand them to your downline. However, the opposite is true for 99% of all network marketers out there. I want to change that,” Kevin tells us.

Kevin takes the time to ensure that information is digestible, that his contacts can rely on him, and that he addresses every complaint that he encounters, no matter the size. Communication is key in multi-level-marketing, be that with customers, leaders, or trainees.

We ask Kevin for advice for future leaders, and he says, “Ultimately, who wants to lead has to learn to follow. Yes, you give the direction by setting up the systems. However, understanding the mechanics and rules of the market or team you are moving in will give you much more intel about what to do than you could ever know beforehand. The larger the leaders are that you are orchestrating, the more you will need to access their systems and their style of leadership. Don’t change them. Don’t break them. Add to it by offering what they don’t have.”

With such a strong grasp on what it takes to dominate an industry, Kevin has rightfully earned his place in our Top 10 Marketing Leaders 2024 feature. We look forward to seeing what 2024 has in store for Kevin as he continues his mission to educate the multi-level-marketing sector on network marketing.

You can keep up with Kevin through his LinkedIn to learn more about Web3 or attend one of his insightful online marketing seminars via his website.

For business enquiries, contact Kevin Stephan on his website – https://www.kevin-stephan.de