Network Marketing Pitfall #5 – Unmanaged Expectations
When people get into Network Marketing, they usually do it to follow a dream. A dream of one day owning their own lives. A majority of them have unrealistic expectations. They want to start making tons of money right away and want to retire in 3 months. There are a couple reasons for this thinking. The first being the unrealistic promises from the people they join with. A lot of sponsors use enticements to get people to join their deal, and since people have that dream, they buy into it easily. Another reason is lack of experience. A lot of people just don’t know how long it takes to realistically make the kind of money that is needed to retire comfortably.
Expectations need to be managed up front, and it’s the sponsor or mentor’s obligation to make sure that the new person realizes what exactly it’s going to take to make their dream come true. I love the way Randy Gage puts the time expectations on working a Network Marketing business. He says that it’s a 2 to 4 year plan. And if anyone asks if it’s some “Get Rich Quick” Scheme, he says “Yes!” Because any opportunity to get rich with a 2 to 4 year plan instead of a 45 year plan is a “Get Rich Quick” Scheme to him.
So please realize that you’re not going to get rich overnight in Network Marketing. It takes time and effort. Building relationships with people takes time. Building a team of enough people to leverage everyone’s efforts takes time. But it sure is worth it, to own your life.
Network Marketing Pitfall #4 – Overspending
I’ve seen this one countless times, and have even been a victim of it myself. We end up spending way too much on things that don’t really get us closer to our goal. Again, this is where a good sponsor or mentor come in. They can advise you on what to spend your money on that will bring the highest return on investment. Now don’t get me wrong here. There is an expected cost to running your own business, but is that latest and greatest blog theme really a needed expense when there are thousands of free ones out there? Same with advertising. Should you spend hundreds or thousands on an ad campaign when there are effective low-cost to free advertising avenues available?
My opinion is to work as close to a shoe-string budget as you can while you’re learning how to do all this cool stuff, then as you start to actually make money in the business do you increase your spending.
Network Marketing Pitfall #3 – Being Busy, Not Productive
It’s a very easy thing to do. You want to be busy, so you rush around and do a million things, but only a handful of those things actually are productive. If you follow the 80/20 rule, you will find that 20% of the things you do, actually yield 80% production. On the flip side, 80% of the things you do only yields 20% of your productivity. So you should focus on the 20% that is productive and let the other 80% of your effort get directed toward something that actually produces results.
Network Marketing Pitfall #2 – Lack of Focus
This goes hand and hand with Network Marketing Pitfall #3. Without focus we end up doing a lot of unnecessary things and not getting a whole lot done. Being focused is a very important quality to learn. Start off with doing one thing and seeing it to completion. Don’t let little distractions interrupt you. Shut down the email, turn off the phone, turn off the TV. Learn to concentrate.
And the #1 Network Marketing Pitfall – Not Learning the Skills of What to Say and What to Do
This pretty much ties into all the other Network Marketing Pitfalls. We spend our time on all the other things in our business and fail to learn the basics of what to say to people. Remember, you can have the coolest website, most awesome capture page, a brilliant way to generate leads, the world’s best autoresponder and the greatest marketing campain ever known to man, but eventually you’re going to have to talk to people. You’re going to have to build a relationship with them. You’re going to have to mentor them. Unless you learn the skills of communication and the skills of what to teach them, they’re not going to join you, and if they do, they won’t stick around for long.
So learn the skills. Ask your Sponsor or Mentor to show you what to say and do. If they can’t really help you, check out FortuneNow.com. It’s run by a guy named Tom “Big Al” Schreiter. He’s a legend in Network Marketing and will show you exactly what to say and do to get people to want to hear what you have to say.
To Your Success, Because Your Success Matters!
David Haines
(215) 268-6696 Anytime!
