It has been said that experience is a good teacher, but that she wastes her knowledge on old men. I agree with that wholeheartedly.
Right now I am looking at a copy of an English-Chinese pocket dictionary, a memento of a business trip to Shanghai. You might be surprised to learn that English is not widely understood in China, although Shanghai is somewhat different due to its colonial past. I discovered that reality upon my arrival at Shanghai airport, when I realized that I was going to have (to put it mildly) a challenging time language-wise. My first priority was to find a Starbucks outlet within walking distance of my hotel, where the staff would most likely speak some English, and enquire about directions to the nearest bookstore so I could buy a dictionary.
The Starbucks crew was very helpful with their directions, but I failed to locate the bookstore and nobody on the street seemed to understand me, so I went back to Starbucks. This time I got myself some written directions in Mandarin. By enlisting the help of some friendly-looking pedestrians for directions I eventually located the bookstore, only to find that the staff there could not speak English either!
So back to Starbucks I went, this time obtaining a scrap of paper explaining, in Mandarin, that I wanted a dictionary. All the way back to the bookstore I went. Hooray, success! An amusing experience, but so relevant to network marketing. The moral of the story? Don´t be afraid to ask!
If you are a ‘newbie’ in network marketing there is so much you don´t know. Most new marketers experience a type of sensory overload in the beginning. However, instead of asking for help, they have this notion of doing everything on their own, without assistance. How silly! This approach is not very time-efficient and time is money.
I am not suggesting that you never put up a fight if confronted with a challenge. This is still your business. If you want to become wealthy, it´s only right that you put in some effort. But for heaven´s sake – there is so much help available! Let me offer some advice based on personal experience:
- Use the search engines to find information. In this context Google really is your friend. Simply type in the question the way you would put it when asking someone in person! I recently tried this when I forgot a technical formula and, after typing the search phrase in this way, Google referred me to the exact location in a textbook I´ve written myself a few years ago!
- Buy as many relevant e-books and training courses as you can. Knowledge will require some financial expenditure, but ignorance is even worse. Long before the Internet I spent the equivalent of two years´ salary to do a full-time MBA, because I needed the knowledge at that time. By comparison, a $37 e-book is free. If you are not sure which ones to buy, ask your up-line.
- Take part in forums, such as BetterNetworker.com. Put your questions and concerns out there to the community members. Be assured that you are not the only person with a specific problem.
- Ensure that your service providers (e.g. web hosting providers) have proper (24/7) help desks and make use of them liberally. That´s what you are paying them for.
By now I hope you understand what I’m driving at. Everything you need to know is out there. There are thousands of people that have already attained some network marketing success or technical expertise and are more than willing to help. You just have to invoke that magic little three-letter word: a-s-k.
Deon H Reynders is the CEO of Visionary Marketers and lives, with his wife Marijana and an assortment of four-legged and feathered friends, near Toodyay in the Western Australian wheatbelt. Deon is an accomplished marketer, electronics engineer, coach, trainer and published author. You can read more of his articles on Network Marketing Success here.
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