For many people, building a network marketing business has to be done on a part-time basis, at least to begin with. Lots of people are still working at a job, raising children or having to meet other commitments that take up their time, and while network marketing can in time provide lifestyle freedom, the majority of people have only a few hours each week to spend on their new business.
Here are some of my best tips to help you succeed in network marketing in as little as 1 hour per day:
- Part-time, not sometimes – whether you can spare 10 hours a day or 1 hour a day, your network marketing business needs to be worked on consistently. Successful network marketers are the people who work on their business every single day, even when they would prefer to be watching TV or seeing friends. You must treat your network marketing business as a real business and respect the commitment you have made to your own success. That means meeting your daily or weekly time commitment, no matter how small or large it is.
- Plan – the fewer hours you have available to dedicate to your business, the more crucial it is that you plan your time in advance. Invest in a diary and block out the time you will spend on your business. Give this time the same importance you would give time you committed to work for an employer. Break down each chunk of time and plan exactly what you will get done in that time – but be realistic about how much you can physically achieve in that time, as setting unrealistic goals and failing to meet them will only knock your confidence. Do this in advance – I recommend planning each day’s chunk of time no later than the day before.
- Avoid distractions – make sure your friends and family know when you are working on your business. If your children are used to you being on call to them 24/7, or your friends are used to calling in uninvited for coffee, you will need to be strict with them. Explain that your business is important to you and that you need their support – which means respecting your work times. Try to have a dedicated area where you can work undisturbed with the door closed. Turn off the TV, ask your spouse or flatmate to turn the music down, make sure the dog has been taken out for a wee before you start work. It’s amazing just how quickly your time can be eaten up by distractions.
- Focus on action items – there are four areas your actions should be focused on; prospecting, following up with prospects, enrolling new customers or team members, and training new team members. You should be trying to do a mix of these four items each day, depending on demand (if you’re new to network marketing, you might not have any team members to train yet, etc). Notice that these action items don’t include researching your great product, checking your eMails, seeing who has joined Friends Reunited, or reading about a new marketing method you might use.
- Take advantage of conference calls – if you only have 1 hour to spend on your business each day, that limits how many people you can directly speak to and explain your business or products to. The best network marketing companies will have regular conference calls, or even a 24/7 information line that your prospects can dial into to learn more. You can then follow up with them after the call, and while they might have spent 20-30 minutes listening to the conference call, you were able to spend that time doing other things.
- Delegate – your network marketing success will benefit your whole family, so I believe it’s only fair to involve them and ask them for help. It might be that your children can start to make their own beds and tidy their own rooms, giving you more time to spend on your business. Depending on their age, they might even be able to cook dinner some evenings or deliver business leaflets for you. Could your spouse take the children out to the park at the weekend to give you some more free time? How about asking your friends to carry some of your business cards to leave in public places or hand out to people they think might be interested in what you are doing?
While it may be daunting to have such a limited amount of time to focus on your network marketing business, you are perfectly able to succeed as long as you make the best use of your time. An organised person working one hour a day will achieve more than a disorganised, highly distracted person who has all day every day to devote to their business.
