5 Surefire Ways to Fail in Network Marketing
copyright, 2016, Debbi A. Ballard All rights reserved worldwide.
Just as you have to know how to succeed in your own network marketing business, you have to know what NOT to do. Here’s 5 surefire ways to fail in network marketing.
1) Jump into an opportunity impulsively.
Just because a close friend, relative, or some other contact recommended that you join a particular mlm network marketing opportunity doesn’t mean that it’s a good one or the one that is best for you. Look at the product offerings, pricing, market potential, etc.. Have you even tried the products? Are you really passionate about them? If you’re not, look elsewhere.
Look at the policies and procedures, adherence to legal and ethical issues, the experience of the management team, the functionality of the compensation plan, and examine the support systems and tools. Do you like what you see? Do some research online as well about the company.
2) Start promoting your products and the opportunity without a plan.
Planning includes defining your goals and objectives along with the strategies and tactics you are going to employ within given time periods to meet those goals and objectives. An astute sponsor will have a planning guide to assist you in this. The guide will enable you to write down various options relating to offline and online strategies and tactics. In managing your business properly, there will be many issues you will need to address and a good sponsor along with the right planning guide can help get your business off to a great start.
So write your plan and realize that it will change over certain time intervals as you build your business. You’ll be testing and refining what works best for you.
As part of your plan, keep in mind that it’s always good to use the products consistently yourself. How can you genuinely be enthusiastic about them if you don’t use them yourself? In sales, credibility is always so important.
Start focusing on establishing an initial loyal customer base after you have practiced making presentations with your sponsor. If you decide you also want to build a downline sales team, then you should do so only after you have made some products sales and feel comfortable explaining and answering questions relating to the opportunity.
Remember, there is no quality opportunity without quality, unique, in demand products available at the right price. The benefits of the compensation in selling those products, both short term rewards, and long term rewards, along with any bonus programs and recognition awards, also needs to be clarified to any prospective networkers. In addition, know how to explain the other opportunity related benefits such as support tools and services, experienced management team, offline/online training and events, etc.
3) Listen only to your sponsor and your upline and certain industry “gurus.”
There is no duplicatable system that is the best for everyone. What will work best for you may not work best for someone else. Some high earners may have great incomes but how did they achieve that? Did some follow legal and ethical guidelines while others didn’t? You need to know that. Never blindly follow anyone. Always maintain a “healthy skepticism.”
Don’t be afraid to innovate in creating sales and building a productive downline sales organization. Use your own creativity in developing and applying various strategies and tactics. Just make sure you do so within the proper legal and ethical parameters.
4) Embrace the wrong mindset.
Never, ever depend on someone else for your success. First of all, what you define as “success” will be different from others. Some look mainly to achieve certain monetary reward levels. Others look more for a combination of recognition, travel/auto/luxury awards and a certain consistent monthly income. Most look to establish and maintain a life/work balance in their businesses with both recognition and monetary awards. The social factor of making and maintaining new friends with similar ambitions also plays an important role to many in network marketing.
If you tend to be a procrastinator, someone who is not focused, unable to make and fulfill commitments, someone with little patience, not willing to spend time learning and acting to move your business forward, someone who likes to blame others for everything wrong in your life…
then you’re ripe for failure in network marketing.
Indeed you’re ripe for failure in any business.
Can you change your mindset? Of course, but only if that’s something you really want to do.
5) Don’t keep abreast of critical external factors impacting your business.
There are many external factors that will impact your network marketing business. These include legal/political factors, economic conditions, competitive environment and the state of the industry itself. Changing regulations can have an enormous impact on the flexibility you have in running your business as an independent contractor. The economy impacts every business person. Consumer spending is down due to job losses. However on the opportunity side, because of those job losses, more people are looking for ways to replace their lost incomes via home-based businesses. Network marketing is one such alternative.
Failing to understand the competition will present you with major challenges. You can’t sell your product if you can’t clearly differentiate the benefits over similar products. So knowing your competition is another external factor you must address.
The industry is changing. It is coming under more scrutiny than ever before by legal authorities, consumers, and industry participants themselves. This time of increased scrutiny will give the good companies a time to shine. Those with circumspect products, comp plans, etc., will be more vulnerable to challenges that could cause their demise.
Keeping abreast of what’s happening in the industry at large is important to your business. Failure to do so could mean that your ability to evaluate how well your company is being managed will be limited. You want a sustainable, enduring endeavor to promote so don’t be kept in the dark. Industry news is important.
So there’s 5 surefire ways to fail in network marketing. Here’s hoping no alarm bells went off while you were reading this.
Debbi A. Ballard introduced the world’s first comprehensive marketing and management consulting services for start-ups and established multinational firms in the mlm (network marketing) industry. A consultant, speaker, author and expert witness, she is considered a trusted authority and visionary in that industry. She is also recognized for her innovation and leadership relating to the convergence issues that impact network marketing and affiliate marketing. Thousands of corporate owners, managers, networkers, and affiliates subscribe to her firm’s newsletter, MyNetBrief(tm), for news, research and valuable tips.
About the Author: MLM Consultant, Expert Witness, Author, Blogger, Speaker and CEO of International Network Liaison Corporation...but more importantly, wife, mother, daughter, aunt, cousin and friend.
