In Network Marketing, the concept of having a system is not new. However, not too many new network marketers really understand the power of a system.

For many years, I was in constant productive mode and was slowly building my network marketing organization on a very part-time basis. I must admit that for a long time, both my sponsor (also my friend) and I were scratching our heads as to why some people who were doing so well in our company while we were just plodding along.  My sponsor then went on an amazing journey of exploration. We improved on our skills. The team was growing. Yet, it was still not the type of results that we would love to have.

The Missing Ingredient

Looking back, I can see clearly that what we were missing was a simple system.

My sponsor was a stay-at-home mum. We both had a clear understanding of the power of leverage in Network Marketing. We knew that in order for us to reach our goals, we have to teach others how to do the business. It is definitely NOT about each of us able to enrol new team members. It is about having a simple system that any ‘ordinary’ person can follow.

During the exploratory journey, we encountered Tom Challan. That was a defining moment for me!

Here is what Tom shares in his website:

“I learned that it was possible to have a life and make money. I learned that it was possible to build a wildly successful business with a system that wasn’t predicated on me training absolutely everyone I enrolled. I learned for the first time how to take the spot light off me and simply outsource, so all I had to do was focus on one simple, productive, money-making task each day…RECRUIT.

This knowledge helped me enroll 500 representatives into my business within the following twelve months. In fact, that next year we earned over $211,000. We became the #1 income earners of our company in record time; meanwhile, our 500 reps turned into 40,000. Following our example, many of those individuals also became top income earners.”

Great insights indeed!

However, I made another key mistake that I want no-one to go through.

The Wrong Path

I trusted that after studying many great leaders’s ways of doing network marketing, I could come up with my own simple system! My ego was s-o-o-o-o–o big then that I believed that I could do that even my sponsor was later too busy to do any recruiting any more!

How wrong I was!

I found myself busy re-inventing the wheels. Busy in figuring out how to ‘blend in’ all the gems from various leaders and come up with a simple system. Busy holding training sessions to support my team leaders. Busy in searching online lead generation solutions. Busy in a lot of tasks but recruiting.

The result? After qualifying for the company’s Leadership Forum for two consecutive years, I found myself failing to qualify in 2010! I was also way behind my goal of getting qualified for the car bonus in February 2011.

Oops! A big smack on my face!

At last, I knew that what I had been focusing on was not helpful for the whole team.

A New Beginning

By March 2011, after much serious thoughts into the future of my Network Marketing career,  I was contemplating leaving my existing team. I could not possibly invent a simple system on my own.

After much research, I quit in July 2011 with the full intention to return to the same network marketing company but joining another great mentor’s team. My new beginning of my professional network marketing career re-started in late October 2012 (after a proper 12-month wait).

You may have heard that results speak the loudest. I am very happy about the progress of my team. The simple system and mentorship have helped me to achieve the level of success that would have taken me much longer to achieve.

I have just qualified for the Leadership Forum again this year, after the 3 -year break!

I look forward to a new beginning with my new found team.

Success Tips For YOU

If you are not in Network Marketing but is seriously considering joining one, find a team with a simple system AND a great mentor. Those two ingredients alone would help you tremendously along your Success Journey.

If you are already in a team that does not seem to have a simple system in place, I encourage you go upline to see if there is a system that you can tap into. Generic systems such as the one offered by Tom Challan and some other great leaders are great.  The down side about using those systems is that you do have to invest extra money.  Besides, our simple system is unique to our company. These are the main reasons that I chose to find an existing mentor in my own network marketing company. My success is my mentor’s success. He has great incentive to help me shine. Similarly, there is great joy in me helping my team leaders shine.

There is always a better way!

Success Tips From You

As a strong advocate for the Network Marketing profession, I’d love to hear your success tips too.

Does your team have a simple system? Could you share some insights with our readers?

Have you had a time in your network marketing career that you did not have  a simple system in place?  How was that affecting the growth of your organization?

Please share – both your positive and negative experiences.