I firmly believe the key success factor in Network Marketing (also known as MLM) is simplicity. Network marketing is a very simple business. But keeping it simple does not mean that hard work is not involved. One of the common mistakes is that people try to make it complicated.

Even if a complex system achieved great results for you, others will find it difficult to copy. In network marketing, personal success isn't your greatest asset. Your greatest asset is having a system that guarantees the success of everyone using it. The success of others –and ultimately, your success–is dependant upon their ability to do the same things you do. Keep the least experienced of those in your network in mind when you set up a system of doing things for your organization to follow.

Everything you do must be so simple that anyone can quickly duplicate your efforts and achieve the same phenomenal results as you.

There are a couple of key phrases to remember:

Anyone
Don’t do things that require special skills or resources available only to you or a limited number of people. When you do things that anyone can do you open up your business to a much larger pool of people who can become successful.

Quickly Duplicate
You need to build your network as quickly as possible. You can only meet with a few people each day and can personally close even fewer sales. But using a network marketing strategy, you can help others quickly learn to do the same simple things as you. When they do, they multiply your efforts.

If you are in the network marketing business and you have not fully comprehended the Power of Duplication or the Principle of Multiplication, you have obviously missed out the entire essence of the business.

To convey the concept, I often ask, “if you recruit only one person a month and if every person you recruit does exactly as you do, how many persons would you have in your organization by the end of the year?” I then remain silent and let my listener squirm to find the answer. When I finally tell them that the figure is 4,096, you can literally see the widening of their pupils and their mouth as the principle dawns onto them.

Their next question usually is: “How do we do that?” The answer is found in the next key phrase:

Same Phenomenal Results
This is Quality Duplication. Each person in your network, from top to bottom,

To ensure duplication you need a system i.e. processes that anybody and everybody can follow and teach. You cannot duplicate a person but you can duplicate a system. Ray Krocs, the founder of MacDonald’s cannot be duplicated but the MacDonald’s franchise system can be and is, to almost 100% perfection in 18,000 outlets worldwide. In building a successful and long-term network, the System must rule. Remember a system is only as good as it is duplicated. The more complex a system, the less likely quality duplication will be achieved. To make sure you duplicate well, follow the System you are provided with religiously. There is no perfect system and your time is better spent perfecting your ability to duplicate it rather than perfecting a system.

The way to test whether your system is simple enough is to ask yourself if downlines’ activities will continue (as they should) when you go away for a long holiday. Will MacDonald’s still be around after Ray Krocs has gone away?

Keeping it Simple
To ensure you do things that your distributor can learn from and duplicate, use the D- question: Is what I am doing easily duplicable? From the meetings to the prospecting techniques you use: “Is it simple enough to be duplicated?” Keep asking yourself the D-question and if you answer “yes” at least 75 % of the time, you are on track.

The most successful people in the business understand that it MUST be kept simple in order to grow your business. Show others how simple it is to do what you do. They need to see you do it, and then believe it is simple enough for them quickly duplicate to achieve the same results.

Recently the Singapore government recognized Richard Tan as one of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs. As a successful entrepreneur, he has both traditional businesses and a business based on an MLM strategy. In 2005, his MLM-based business received two exciting awards: MLMIA (Multi-Level Marketing International Association) recognized it as the “International Company of the Year” and Deloitte Technology awarded it as the 7th fastest growing technology company in the Asia Pacific region. To learn more about the importance of simplicity in network marketing, visit http://www.simplesuccessideas.com

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