Despite the simplicity of the multi-level marketing model, millions of people have tried network marketing and failed. The statistics of businesses owners that produce even a small positive cash flow by most companies is sadly in the low single digits. If you want to avoid being on the wrong end of those statistics, you need to avoid the pitfalls that kill most businesses.
7 Killer Problems to Avoid
1) Not having a plan to make money fast enough. It would probably shock you how many people start a network marketing business without having an actual plan to make money. If you have already started, you need a way to make money NOW, even while you are building up your residual income.
2) Treating your business like a hobby. You need to decide right now that you are going to treat your business with the commitment that it deserves. This is your future. You need business hours, business cards, and a plan for moving forward.
3) Not knowing what to do. A lot of people fall into this category. If you are completely clueless about this, here are a few suggestions. Ask your sponsor to tell you about your company system. Any decent company should have a recommended system. Your system needs to do two things for you. It needs to help you get new prospects, and it needs to help you get those prospects started and trained.
4) Not knowing what to say to people. If you are new to this business, you need something called an elevator speech. An elevator speech is a 10 second commercial that helps you answer the question "What do you do". You also need to become skilled at asking good questions. If you just talk about your company and products it turns people off, but if you ask good questions, it opens people up.
5) Do not get training. Many people in this business think they are really just going to share this with a few people, and then they are going to become very wealthy. This is far from the truth. You need to invest in yourself and get as much training as you possibly can. Only a few percent of people actually make money in this business, and so you better find people that are really making money and get trained by them.
6) No support from your sponsor. If you do not have quality support from your sponsor, then I would highly suggest you call your company and find out the names of your upline leaders. If you have never owned a successful business, you need to be able to ask questions from someone with experience.
7) Believe misconceptions about how to build a business. There are many outdated, aggressive forms of selling this business that will offend your friends and family and you really do not want to use them. One of the worst of them goes something like "You just need to share this with a few people". How successful would McDonald’s be if they just told each employee to share the vision with a few people?
Summary
If you want to avoid the pitfalls that kill the majority of network marketing businesses, then you need to guard against the problems that kill the vast majority of business owners. It starts by taking your own business seriously, and getting a game plan together to actually make money. Be sure to be continually improving yourself with training from people who are actually making money. Believe me when I say "You are worth the investment".
Joe Shaw - The Family Business Guy - invites you to get Ann Sieg's free eBook The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing at http://familybusinesstips.com/7Lies.html. When you get Ann's free eBook, you automatically get the rights to resell, reprint, and redistribute it anywhere (even on your own website). Get your free subscription to the Family Business Tips newsletter at http://familybusinesstips.com/.
