The network marketing business is … business, just like any other.

And in business, the person who makes the most mistakes and learns from them is the one who ultimately wins.

The key to success lies NOT in avoiding mistakes but in embracing them.

And just like any business “bedtime story”, when we talk about mistakes, we can’t escape using the example of Thomas Edison who discovered a light bulb on his 1001 attempt and refused to subscribe a point of view that he had just experienced 1000 failures. (Reportedly, he would say that he had just discovered “a 1000th ways things don’t work”.)

In business (MLM, network marketing or any other kind) it’s important to have that Edisonian attitude. And it is very possible that “attitude” is too small a word to use here. “The way of life” is probably more appropriate.

So here’s the list of my personal “Letterman” list of top 10 network marketing mistakes, snafus and bloopers (committed by yours truly and millions of other MLM reps):

10. Not Being A Freak Enough About Adding People To My Contact Database

At the end of the year, I discovered that I have several stacks of business cards of the people I met at various networking events that never made it into my database. What a waste! Most of us don’t need more leads. We just need to patch up that leaky bucket.

9. Pre-Judging Who’s The Right Candidate For The Opportunity And Who’s Not

We don’t and can’t possibly know who’s ready to join our business or buy our product. Our job as network marketers is to let everyone we come in contact with know about our product and let them decide if they need it and if it’s the right time for them. 2 years ago, I had someone I knew relatively well join my company with another rep. (“Oh, I didn’t know you were in this business!”) Not good! Lesson learned. I am not letting this happen to me again and you shouldn’t either.

8. Being The Best Presenter Of The Product

At certain point in time, I knew and loved the product so much I started doing the entire presentation myself, without relying on company-provided aids, presentations and videos. As much as I could get people excited about the product, I was getting them “not sure” about the opportunity. Or rather, not sure about their ability to present. I was good. Too good. And they couldn’t see themselves investing their time into becoming that good at presenting. After all, network marketing is the business of duplication. You need to keep it so simple people will see doing it themselves.

7. Spending Core Selling Time On Non-Core Activities

There are a few very simple activities (a complete list being outside the scope of this article) that you need to do every day to ensure the consistent growth of your business. Slow and consistent is key to success. “Slow” is “fast.” Yet, as impatient humans, we want it now. We want to hit the proverbial MLM jackpot. So when we go to endless networking meetings, spend time on social networking sites and discussion forums, or (as in my case) writing articles and building websites, it feels like we’re getting somewhere — but we’re not. Go back to basics.

6. Not Being Consistent

This is an extension of #5. People who keep on keeping on, and who focus on a few simple, consistent actions every day, build strong network marketing organizations. Those who start and stop, and build their business in spurts, wane.  Last year, I took a few “sabbaticals” from my opportunity to build another (non-MLM) business.  The checks kept coming and but the team stopped growing.  And as soon as I put my attention back on the ball, the business has been growing steadily; other reps started building, too. I’ve heard of this phenomenon from other network marketers and it definitely is true.

5. Not Asking For Help

This is more than just a guy thing. Some “gal” network marketers are guilty of that too. There is a lot at stake for us. We have a lot to prove — to the world and to ourselves. Yet being able to ask for help is not weakness. It’s strength. Your family, your friends, and many of the business contacts you have developed would jump at a chance to help you, even if they may never join your network marketing company. Don’t deprive them of a chance.

4. Trying To Do Everything By Ourselves

Yes, we do that all the time. However, we need to remember we are not alone on our quest to MLM reaches. We have our upline, and some of us have our downline, and our successes depends on each others’ successes. And besides, doing things together is so much easier! Also, you are not limited to just your team or even your company. You can get a “running mate” who could belong to a totally different network marketing company and who will keep you accountable to your goals, just like you will keep her accountable to hers.

3. No Tracking Of Activities

If we don’t track our activities, we don’t really know how we’re doing. Tracking can be and should be simple. There is a story of Jerry Seinfeld in his early days as a comedian. He wanted to learn to write good comedy so he set a simple goal of writing something every day. He placed a huge calendar above his bed and he would draw a line with a marker across the box for every day that he wrote something. For him, the trick was to keep that line going. Figure out a few key activities you should be doing every day and don’t break the line.

2. Not Bringing The Reps To The Company Events

The stats in the industry show very clearly that the reps who are “plugged into” the company events and activities have a lot more success than those who are not. Bringing your distributors to company seminars, events, and annual conventions will grow your business manifold.  One of the very successful networkers told me that for every one of his reps who comes to the company convention, his business will eventually grow by an additional $5,000 annually. That’s a good rule of thumb to follow. Start applying it to your business.

1. Re-inventing The Wheel

Network marketing business is simple. It is not easy. Just simple. The problem is, our “creative side” rebels against the simplicity and sends us on a quest to find new and better ways to build our company.  There is always some new book and new website that promises instant MLM bliss, and we are off to exploring new frontiers. However, you need to remember that business success is found through trial and error, and errors cost time and money. Until you have the time and the money (which you get once you build a massive team), you simply can’t afford to experiment. Listen, if you have fewer than 1,000 reps under you, don’t try anything new. You haven’t earned the right to start experimenting yet. Find a successful networker and relentlessly — alsmost religiously — follow their simple system.