Ok, I may have been a bit harsh saying the ‘top ten stupid mistakes network marketers make’. I don’t like to say “stupid”, but you know that feeling where you want to smack the palm of your hand against your head after you’ve realized something that you thought you should have known?

I can raise my hand and say that I have made almost all of these mistakes. And I am sure you can think of at least one or two more.

But these are the “top ten” mistakes that I came up with in thinking of how we can have better success in network marketing by avoiding:

1) Thinking MLM is only a numbers game. when it is actually a relationship business. While the numbers idea is true in the strictest sense, Direct Marketing/Sales is more a numbers game than MLM.

You do not need to look for 99 NOs to get a YES in network marketing. If you use a system to filter out potential ‘no’s and then build relationships with the rest, it is much less painful! While the numbers are still there, you don’t notice the ‘no’s because they’ve already moved on without your bothering with them!

In the telecommunications manufacturing business, the sales are for very high priced equipment. A marketing rep for our company has said many times ‘Never underestimate the power of the relationship. People buy from people they like!’. The same goes for any business, and especially in network marketing.

Trust is the emotion of network marketing; You have to earn it by consistently looking for what people need and providing it to them. You need to be a Mentor with a Servant’s Heart.

“A leader is not measured by how many followers they have, but how many followers they have inspired to lead.”

Cultivate your relationships as you would the soil in which you sew your seeds. The more seeds you sew in fertile and well prepared soil, the more crop you will reap!

2) Not Knowing your WHY – This is what fosters persistence and staying power, keeps you and your prospects focused on your goals and results in retention.

A clearly defined ‘Why’ is so ~very~ important in ridding yourself of excuses, and finding the drive and persistence to get on with what you might be a bit afraid of or that which you think you may lack a talent for.

Then you just DO it, and KEEP doing it, and finally there you are, with impressive results. It is so important, and yet many people will not even have them written down.

3) Recruit instead of Sponsor If you Sell or Close someone into your business you will have to re-sell them every month to get them to do any work. And when you do not sponsor and mentor them, they may lose direction and seek another team.

This and recruit-recruit-recruit behavior causes you to end up with the wrong people into your business. Someone negative, unmotivated, or who has no “why” will end up fostering dissent in your team.

Your focus must be to your people, not on your personal profits. You want coachable people with strong desire and work ethic. They will tell you their “why”.

Look for someone who is looking for you, it is not up to you to chase them down. A recruiter never knows their peoples “why” but a sponsor does. Products come and go; companies come and go. but good relationships last forever.

4) Buying Leads / Not using a turn-key system for duplicating lead generation. You want a lead generation system that will bring in only the most qualified people into your group, and a simple duplicatable attraction marketing system that is inviting, educational and fun.

5) Not following up with prospects. Don’t expect your leads to call you, they won’t! Even if you have already called them once or twice. Continue to follow up! Read this post for more excellent reasons you should be doing this.

6) Present yourself as a product expert - Educating your prospects is fine, but overwhelming someone with information about your product and opportunity puts people off; they think they have to know all the details to succeed. But when if you offer a duplicatable system which provides all the information and resources that can be leveraged, and do not have to be memorized or recreated, they see possibilities.

7) Not understanding their compensation plan or policies and procedures – Be able to determine how many people you will require in your downline to create your target income.  About 70% will be inactive.

Know whether your company has the option of terminating your distributorship and if so for what specific reasons. Is it a renewable agreement which can change any year? Do you have to continue recruiting to continue making money? Be careful choosing a company whose hands in which you will be placing control of your residual income.

8 ) Not getting the proper training - you need training and mentoring in your network marketing career just as with any other. If you have been told this is easy and that you would not have to know anything more than how to present the product and plan then you have been completely misled. You need a simple duplicatable MLM training system for your team, duplicatable being the key to a passive residual income.

9) Leading with the Opportunity – ok for approaching the 10-15% of the population who are heavy hitter sales people, but with this as your only approach, you have just eliminated 85% of the population! Focus on people and find out what their interests and needs are, and work with those.

10) Indecision and lack of focus - If you are constantly changing your direction, you will never reach your goals. Going after every next pre-launch might indicate you lack focus. If you feel you must move on, then carefully explore your reasons why and be absolutely sure they do not lie within you! If you put all your talents knowledge, studying and training into creating a superb business model, then spinning off in different directions when you find that one is not working might make more sense.

Wishing you every success!