How many hype-filled emails have you received by someone who recently joined a network marketing company and in only a few weeks had over 1000 members in their downline? They encouraged you to get in early because this one was "really growing fast." They encouraged you to get in on the ground floor to take advantage of all of the momentum and guaranteed "spillover."

I get these almost daily.

Do these emails excite you? They shouldn`t because they attempt to fill you with emotional excitement rather than encouraging you to look at things objectively. Any business that you`re thinking of investing your time and other resources in should be looked at long and hard! Do your due diligence just as you should with any major business decision.

One of the first questions you should ask someone pushing you to join under them is, "How much money have you made?" Or just ask them, "Have you made any money at it yet?"

If they haven`t made any money at it yet, then you need to bring them back to reality by asking them to explain how they can get so excited about it then. Find out all that you can about the company, it`s management, and other projects that the management has been involved in.

Here`s a sobering fact shared with me by mentors who have been in network marketing since the late 1950`s... 97% of all MLM companies fail (90% within the first three years). Does that mean that you shouldn`t get involved in MLM? No, but it does mean that you should probably only get involved in companies that have already proven themselves. I was personally taught to only look at companies at least 5 years old.

Why be the guinea pig for an unproven company when you have so many choices? Why go against the odds by going with an unproven company?

So why do people get so excited about new launches, and what`s wrong with that?

People get drawn into the hype of the massive potential of new launches because they are looking for a way to generate massive income - with no work. It`s as simple as that. Even though they know that there`s no such things as a free lunch, they convince themselves that maybe they`ve finally found one :-)

Think about this for a second.... most of those people who rush into a new lauch are people already involved in network marketing. They know that the concept is very powerful, and is the best chance that the average person has today to create a successful business of their own. The problem with most of the people attracted to these companies is that they lack commitment. So as soon as they see another company that, on the surface, appears more attractive, they`re going to jump over to that one.

Here`s the real problem with the whole scenario layed out above. Who`s producing the sales? Where is the income coming from? If everybody is jumping in... often for free... and then counting on others underneath them to generate the revenue, then who is actually making the sales necessary to make that company a success? Sales, and proper training, drive any business` success.

Ok, you should`nt fall for all of the hype, but we do know that network marketing works. How does it work then? It works by people like you being trained by someone who has a system in place for bringing in new people - and training them properly. The system has to be something that the average person, who is also willing to work, can easily learn and pass on. It`s that simple.

You won`t have any major, lasting success in network marketing until you focus on finding and properly training a few good people. They have to be provided with a system that they can easily duplicate and that they can teach to their new recruits.

One of the early mistakes in my networking business was not focusing on this specific area. I`m a skilled marketer with a huge list, better than average copywriting skills, and name recognition. Those assets made it easy for me to generate new signups.

New signups weren`t what I needed to focus on. It`s not what you need to focus on. Reflect upon the title of this article. That`s the question you need to ask yourself. If you don`t like what you see, then obviously you need a different system.

Anyone that you do signup is only going to be productive and help build your business if they are properly trained. Being human, there is a limit as to how many people you.... one person, can effectively train, manage, and motivate. So you need to focus on properly training just a handful, and having each of that handful do the same. Continue this through several levels and you can have that huge organization, but with a big difference...

You`ll have a huge organization of properly trained, producing members, who know how to bring in even more people and properly train them. That`s how your organization grows into the tens of thousands and even beyond.

One other very important point about the system necessary for your success... The training needs to be formalized and packaged so that new members can be "plugged right in."

If you want to see an example of such a system in operation, check out: http://www.eliteteammarketing.com/81309/

This is a system that evolves around providing training and support to team members. Team members have ready access to formalized training put together by top producers in the company. Team members have ready access to other team members on all levels. The day that I joined this team, I received emails (with phone numbers) from 3 different people.

The other reason that I wanted you to take a look at that website is that you won`t see any mention of building a huge downline. It`s not necessary. The top producer in the company in August 2004 is a member of this team. So is the number 2 producer for that month (that would be me). However, if you study the site, you`ll see that it`s not about large numbers... they only impress those who don`t know any better.

You can build a business that will provide the lifestyle that you want for yourself and your family. You won`t do it by being swept up by all of the hype surrounding the launch of "the latest and greatest." Instead you`ll do it by taking a long hard look at any company that you`re contemplating, and asking lots of probing questions. You`ll do it by acknowledging that there still is no such thing as a free lunch, but there are people who`ve already done what you want to do who are willing to teach you.

Copyright 2004 Willie Crawford