Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes in Network Marketing

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Have you been in the network marketing industry for a while now but just haven’t quite hit your stride yet? Then it’s time to take a look at the things you’re doing and ask yourself a few hard questions.

You’re probably busting your butt doing “stuff”, but are you really putting your efforts towards the things that really matter?

Here are 5 common mistakes to avoid in network marketing.

1. Ignoring Personal Development

Personal Development is the first step that you must invest in to accomplish success in building your mindset. Although you will be given tons of training, tools and mentors, your success relies in your ability to have the right mindset.

It is a highly encouraged practice that should be enforced on every individual who joins the industry, yet sadly, it isn’t. From the team meetings, to business presentations, you’ll find that Personal Development is the foundation on which nearly all Network Marketing companies are built. If you overlook this, expect to suck at network marketing. Well, maybe that’s harsh, but there will come a point where you will hit a growth wall and only personal development will move you past it.

Every industry leader I have ever encountered spends a large percentage of their earnings on coaches, seminars, workshops, master-minds, etc… to stay on top of their game. The sooner you get into the practice, the better off you will be.

2. Opportunity Hopping / Distracted by Shiny Things

An Opportunity Hopper is someone switching from one network marketing company to another in hopes of landing that one business that will make them rich instantly. Instead of focusing on a single company, they chose to diversify and put all their resources to waste by diverting their attention multiple different ways, otherwise known as “being distracted by shiny things”.

You really want to avoid this common practice. Focus is your friend. I’d suggest focusing on one company that you firmly believe will be the gateway to your success, and give it 100% of your time, energy and effort. This also goes for almost everything else in network marketing, especially the marketing part. Find ONE method of marketing, master it before moving on. If you do a little of each one, you’ll be mediocre at lots of stuff, but good at nothing.

Now then, most businesses take 2-3 years to build successfully, so make a time commitment to give it all you got during that time.  If for any reason, you see that you’re giving 100% but changes or flaws in the company have altered your vision for reaching your goals, only then should you begin considering changing over to a new company, where you can be 100% focused again.

This can get tricky because, many times we look for excuses when things aren’t going our way. We tend to find blame where we want to, so be honest with yourself. If you know you’ve been jumping around without clear focus, then knock it off. Get focused and move forward.

3. The Old Bait and Switch

Few things can ruin a friendship or make for a very awkward situation like the old “bait and switch”. Unfortunately, desperate network marketers have been doing this for years, and I have yet to see it work. I have seen it ruin a ton of friendships, though.

It works like this: They invite friends over for a casual get-together, only to corral everyone together in the living room for some “Big Announcement”. Then, they spring their network marketing opportunity on this captive audience. I’ve had it happen to me, and that was the last time I ever hung out with those people. Enough said. Never do that to anyone.

Pulling a Bait and Switch will give your network marketing company, and you, a bad name. Don’t do it.

4. Easily Influenced

Your warm market (family and friends) can be your worst enemy. Now, it’s likely that the first thing your network marketing company told you to do was to write down a list of 50 people you know and go recruit them. I guarantee it, actually. The truth is, without proper training, this is going to end badly. These people probably do not want to go into business with you. If you’re honest, you probably don’t want them to.

Experiencing rejection directly from people you see every day can be tough. Not only does it kill the enthusiasm, it also creates massive self-doubt—especially for beginners. It takes about 5 seconds for someone to go from “Fired Up” to “I Quit”, at the hands of a close friend. So, until you have the personal development part down, you are secure in your vision, and have your mindset down, I’d steer clear of the warm market. Plus, it’s much easier to recruit from your warm market when you are successful and people can see you are going places.

Now back to being easily influenced, you might not control what other people will tell you or how they will react, but you do control your response to it. The easiest way is to be selective about who you share your opportunity with, come from a standpoint of mutual benefit, not you trying to “get” them, and do not get hung up in the outcome. If they say “yes”, great. Sign them up. If they don’t, no sweat. There are an infinite number of other folks that might be open.

Remember, no one can steal your dreams and enthusiasm from you unless you let them.

5. Being a “Lone Wolf”

If you’re not leading and building a team, you’re going to have a tough time in this industry. The very heart and soul of network marketing is to network amongst your team while working cohesively towards the same vision. If you hate people, I think you might have the wrong industry…

Network Marketing is simply the act of bringing together a group of people for a mutual benefit. It generally answers the question “How can I help?” rather than “What can you do for me?”.

Communicating with your team regularly helps you gain new and fresh ideas about the business and holds you accountable to staying plugged in with the daily activities that will get you closer to your goals. By interacting with your organization, you’re not only creating the opportunity to inspire your own team; you’re also developing meaningful and valuable relationships with them.

Avoid this common mistake by holding a weekly group meeting with your team. Use this time to train, answer questions, assess performance, provide feedback, and share insights in improving your group’s overall productivity.

OK, that was a lot of stuff but very much necessary. Now that you know which mistakes to avoid in your network marketing company, you can get started on the right track. Better yet, bring qualified leaders to you by having your own attraction marketing system in place.