When starting in the Network Marketing industry, the learning curve is HUGE. Understand that you need to learn and apply the knowledge that you learn to achieve what you truly want in your business and this is not done overnight – it takes time. So, in the beginning, making mistakes is a part of this learning process and just means that you are taking action.
Over the course of the next 5 weeks, I’m going to go through my personal list of the Top 10 Newbie Mistakes in an effort to help you avoid them altogether or recognize if you are doing them so you can stop.
Each one of these mistakes are very common and about 99.9% of individuals new to Network Marketing make at least one of them if not several. Once you realize the mistake you are making, you can easily change it. However, these mistakes, if not caught early on, can lead to major problems. Because of this, it is VERY important that you take a few minutes to read about these mistakes so you can learn how to avoid them or change what you’re doing.
Today I’ll talk about my #10 and #9…
10. Perfection
This type of thinking often leads to procrastination, because a requirement of perfection, in even the smallest of tasks, is overwhelming. Perfectionists believe if it can’t be done perfectly, it’s not worth doing. It is the ultimate self-defeating behavior.
When starting out in the Network Marketing/Home Business/Internet Marketing/Direct Sales industry, the learning curve is huge and this is also true for the seasoned veteran because the industry is constantly changing so it’s impossible to do everything perfectly and to know everything.
I know that I am guilty of making this mistake in the beginning, myself. When I started my business, I was accustomed to being an expert in my field for the past 16 years so not really knowing what I was doing was not very comfortable for me. I spent so much time “getting ready to get ready” that I wasted precious time actually “doing” it.
So the bottom line is that if you wait until you have everything perfect before you begin to take action, you will NEVER get out the gate. The key is to just get started where you’re standing and taking immediate action, learning as you go.
9. The “Management Trap”
The management trap can hit a new person after he/she has recruited a few people. Instead of continuing to build, time is spent trying to motivate current distributors into action. You will often hear frustrations like, “My team members say they want to succeed, but I don’t see them taking action!” or “My team seems so dependent on me. Why can’t they be more self-motivated?”
The fact of the matter is, people naturally want to emulate success and it’s your job to be the kind of leader that you would want them to follow. In order to be the best LEADER, you must LEAD by EXAMPLE. How can you expect your team members to do things that you’re not doing yourself? Your team will be watching you and will oftentimes duplicate what you are doing.
There is a fine line between management and leadership. Managing will kill your business and Leadership will enable it to prosper. So you must learn to lead and support, not manage.
The goal of a Network Marketing business is to have it become self-sufficient and to create and foster self-sufficiency within your team. This seems like common sense but so often we get into the habit of managing our business without even realizing we are doing it. That is, we end up doing everything for them. When you do this, even though you may feel that you are helping your new recruits, in reality you are not. Rather, you are preventing them from gaining the leadership skills they need to succeed. And, you are taking away from your own valuable time and energy that should be spent building. After all, you should be leading by example. If you stop recruiting to manage your team, how can you expect your team to go out and recruit?
“Network marketing is about duplicating yourself through the efforts of others and developing leaders. It is not about collecting money from lazy people who want you to do all the work!” Dale Calvart
By having your recruits and your team completely dependent on you, you make your business incapable of duplication. This doesn’t mean that they should be completely independent from the beginning. To the contrary, they should be calling you regularly in the first couple months with questions and for guidance. But, as you train and guide them, you should be showing them how and where to find the answers on their own so they can become self-sufficient.
One of the most important things to understand is that as your team sees you leading by example, some will follow, MOST will NOT. So, your focus needs to continue to be on building your organization. Increasing your enrollments will grow your organization and allow you to find the key people that match your enthusiasm and dedication.
Well, I hope you got some value from this post today. Hopefully you don’t find yourself making these mistakes but if you are, becoming aware is the first step to correcting them.
Stop by next week when I talk about Mistake #8 and #7. Before you go though, please share this post with your facebook and twitter friends and leave a comment below. It will be much appreciated!
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When it comes to Network Marketing (and this can be applied to any business), there are far more people that fail than succeed.
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35 Responses
Laura, I love these points. You do not have to be perfect to get started or to build a successful network marketing business. The good thing about this industry is that people can earn as they learn.
You are also so right about getting all caught up into the management trap. In this industry you can only be a leader not a manager.
If you become a manager then your team will become managers. You will have too many Chiefs and no Indians. Pass the cigars let’s have a meeting about the meeting. If you do not lead by example you will end up with a team where everyone involved wants to run the show, but no one wants to do the actual work.
@Liz K : Success From Home Trainining, I totally agree Liz! Lead by Example!!! Thanks for the add. Make it a Great Day!
Everyone dreams of being perfect. Maybe we need to be re-wired to dream of just getting it done and stop procrastinating!
Great post Laura.
I have myself fallen prey to nr 9 before. Recruited a few people and then started to try and get them to keep recruiting while I was managing.
Looking forward to the next post
Ben
Laura,
I started my ‘blogging career’ with network marketing. I have honestly made these mistakes you talk about! I look forward to the rest of the list! I’ve been learning a ton but I learn more from your expert advice!
Linda
Laura – Great advice for new and older network marketers. It is so easy to get caught up in things that don’t help you make money. I had problems at first with #9 – It was hard for me to let go of team members who not only didn’t want my help but also to the ones that didn’t deserve my extra attention. Thanks for the reminders
@Glyna Humm, I hear ya Glyna, I struggled with that in the beginning as well – BIG TIME! Like they say, you can lead a horse to water…. I guess it’s just something you learn over time but nevertheless, it is still difficult to see people not reach their full potential and even more so when they don’t even give it a good faith effort.
Loving the blog Laura. Keep delivering the awesome value…I’m looking forward to your future posts.
Hey Laura,
Great post here.
There are so many things that you can fall into when starting out in network marketing or any other area of our lives. I consider looking at the failures we have as opportunities for us to grow stronger and be a motivation to drive us to do whatever it takes to make it through. It is with tips and information like this that can help keep us on track and point us in the right direction by learning from the path that others have taken before us.
Make it a great day!
God Bless,
-ed
@Edward, Hey Edward, I totally agree. The learning curve is HUGE and that’s the beauty of our struggles in the beginning – to learn what not to do and to share with others so they too can learn from our mistakes. Blessings, Laura
Wow! I am two for two so far. I can’t wait to read the rest. It is so important not to fall into these traps that happen to almost anyone starting their own business.
The good news is that once you make the mistake once, if you correct it can actually be a great learning experience. If I can make the mistakes so my business partners don’t have to that is a good thing.
To your success,
Rafael
@Rafael Cantu, Hi Rafael. Very well said. How you look at it and what you do about it makes all the difference. Have an Awesome Day!
Thanks for the thoughtful and informative post. Sorry I missed the beginning entries, but I am going back now to read your other posts.
@Angela Arnold, Hey Angela, thanks for the stopping by. I hope I’m able to offer some good takeaways.
So true. My friend Joe Schroeder says, “You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going.” Adjustments are made along the way.
@Melodie Kantner, Hey Melodie! Kudos to your friend Joe Schroeder! That’s exactly right – Excellent saying. Thanks for sharing, Laura
Hi Laura,
Both of these are common mistakes. I think alot of people would not thick that the management trap could be a mistake.
New people must be able to stand on their own two feet and ask for help rather than wait for it. If you get into that they will never do anything.
Great post and thanks for sharing.
Tristram Lodge
@Tristram Lodge, Hi Tristram. I agree. Leading by example is much more effective than “managing” and being a leader, I believe, it what sets you apart…. Thanks, Laura
Hi Laura,
As a fairly new internet marketer, I’m really looking forward to the 8 other mistakes. I’ve tried to do it the right way, but I’m always looking for better ways to do things. Thanks for sharing this information.
Leslie
@Leslie Denning, Hi Leslie, that’s just it – learning as you go. We’re going to make mistakes, that’s a given. The key is taking action, learning from our mistakes and always looking to improve. Awesome! Thanks for the comment. Make it a Great Day!
Laura,
Great of identifying two common mistakes that we as network marketers tend to make until we grow and develop as a person. You have thoroughly described our desire to be perfect and to manage our teams.
You are right in that our desire to be perfect will delay our action steps. When we hold off and only study, we make no money and we are so much more likely to quit. Network marketing is amazing in that you can begin to make money as you learn, not only after you learn everything.
In regards to our tendency to manage our current team rather than focusing on continuing to grow our team, that strategy/mistake doesn’t work either as you pointed out very well. Those on our team who truly see it don’t need any management and those who don’t see it can take up way too much of our valuable time. If the ones who don’t see it yet keep trying, they may later see it on their own, but it is not our job to try to force them to see the opportunity that is right in front of them. Our job is to keep searching for those who get it and that’s where our focus should be as you emphasized in your post.
We look forward to your identification of the other 8 mistakes that we need to overcome to be successful in network marketing. Thanks for going down this road to help all network marketers.
Dave and Dawn
Laura, Wow, is there ever a huge learning curve! I remember back in the beginning thinking this home business thing is going to be easy! Boy was I wrong.
You are spot on when you say that the industry is always changing, because it is. There’s always some new recruiting or marketing strategy coming out, and then there’s all these distractions. It’s really hard to focus sometimes with all that is going on around us!
In my early days I was guilty of doing too much for my recruits, and not teaching them where to go to learn for themselves. It really took alot of my time, and left me with little time to build my business.
Like you said these mistakes are common. The key to it all is to learn from our mistakes and keep moving forward.
Thanks for sharing this very informative post, and I’m looking forward to part 2.
~Joseph McDevitt
@Joseph McDevitt, Hey Joseph, thanks for the comment and I agree. I did the same too at the beginning and I learned pretty quickly!! But that’s the beauty of our experience, we can help others save time and energy by helping them avoid the mistakes we made.
Laura,
oooooh… Love number 9. That’s a common thing for most marketers to do. Slipping into the management role is so very easy. The problem is exactly as you said; trying to manage new recruits while not continuing to find additional partners will almost always result in a crumbling foundation.
Looking forward to the rest of your series.
To your continued success,
Robin
@Robin van der Merwe, Hey Robin, I absolutely agree. Very easy to slip into especially in the beginning. Individuals think once they get a few, those few will dig in and get to work but unfortunately that is most often NOT the case. And it’s not that you don’t want to be there for everyone, you just need to realize that the leaders WILL show themselves (and it’s not always immediate – sometimes it take something happening in their life to trigger the action…). Focus your energy on finding those you “get it” and helping those who want your help.
Thanks for commenting!
Hi, Laura,
Quite an informative post. I thoroughly agree that newbies and those of us who are not so new, need to be aware of the common pitfalls that await online marketers. My top 3 are:
1) Failure to get into action (Massive Action leads to massive results.)
2) Waiting for things to be perfect. Things will never be perfect so I advise people to follow Napoleon Hill’s example … Start where you are with the tools that you have in hand. As you move forward, better tools will become available to you.
3) Failure to get training. We are not expected to know everything. Training and professional development are a must – even for the super wealthy.
Thanks for a great post.
@Angela Arnold, Hi Angela, thank you. I like your 3 – they are definitely key! Blessings, Laura
Hi Laura,
I’m looking forward to your Top 10 list.
You are spot on with #10 and #9.
Here are a few thoughts and distinctions I use to help people discover and live their genius.
#10 Perfection
Perfection is the enemy of done.
Focus on progress not perfection.
Learn as you go.
Your first is your worst.
Dare to suck.
Every master was once a disaster.
If you want to be great, you have to be willing to be horrible at first.
#9 Management Trap
People do what you do not what you say
You can never overlook a leader, leaders show up and present themselves
Don’t do anything they should be doing themselves.
When you help people, you are crippling them not empowering them.
When you support people, encourage and show them not tell them.
Managers get team members to meet a standard.
Leaders get team members to create a new standard within themselves.
Your blog is a great resource for network marketers.
To Your Genius,
Eiji
@Eiji “A.G.” Morishita, Hey Eiji, Excellent, Excellent add here – thank you so much. I love your quotes on perfection 🙂 Have an Awesome Day and thanks for taking the time to offer such great advice! Thanks, Laura
Hi Laura,
I’m the perfectionist type so I know quite well what you are talking about here. It would permeate every aspect of my life if I let it. So we all have to beware of getting ready to be ready. I also agree with your differentiation between management and leadership. I’m anxiously awaiting your next items. Thanks for sharing.
@Debbie Stevens, Oh you’re one of “them” too LOL Thanks for stopping by and for the comment Debbie!
Laura, great blog and wonderful information. Looks like you’ve spent and lot of time and thought on what to post and with sharing your information.
@Dan Johnson/TSA, Thanks Dan!
Comments are closed.