There are a lot of different excuses that people use when they sign up for a new opportunity. They'll join an MLM or an affiliate program; they sign up and then they just don't do anything.
They don't contact or respond to their sponsor. They don't log in and take advantage of the training.
We're going to look at the 5 top excuses new marketers make for not going any further than just signing up.
Excuse #1: I just don't know how.
If you just don't know how, then you really need to stop making excuses and learn.
One of the best ways to learn is to contact your sponsor and at least log in to the program and join a forum if they have one.
Just DO something. Just learn how.
Because if you don't know how, someone can show you how, but you have to want to take the initiative and learn how to do something yourself also.
'I don't know how' really isn't an excuse. It's more of a cop-out to just say 'I don't know how.'
So think about that the next time you want to join an opportunity and you're not sure if you're not going to know how to do it.
Another thing you can do is go on YouTube and research the company. A lot of people now are using YouTube to do back office tutorials.
The main program that I'm in, which is SFI (Strong Future International), I did an series of 8 training videos.
So if any of my new team members join up and say, 'I just don't know how,' I've provided them 8 getting started videos that show them how. And then once they get into the community and join the forums, there's all kinds of people there who are going to show you how to do whatever it is you need to learn how to do.
But you have to stop making excuses - take some initiative yourself. If you just sit there and go, 'I don't know how,' then you're really not going to succeed in any business at all.
Excuse #2: I don't understand.
Now that could mean they don't understand the business. They don't understand how to work the business. They don't understand what they're supposed to do first or what they're supposed to do next.
Or maybe they think the whole business is just too confusing, even before they've given themselves any time at all to at least try and figure it out.
So if you're a person out there and you're using the excuse, I don't understand, then you're not taking the initiative to get to understand the business that you signed up with.
Just like with Excuse #1, I don't know how and I don't understand almost go hand-in-hand.
If you don't understand the business, then you need to do some research on it. Get in touch with your sponsor or if you were recruited through some type of a co-op so you really don't have a sponsor, then again, just like with Excuse #1, go on YouTube and search out some videos about that company.
And then you have to stop making excuses and give yourself time to understand what you're doing.
It's a lot like Excuse #1. No matter what type of business opportunity you've decided to sign up with, it's up to you to take the initiative yourself to understand the business.
And if you don't stop making excuses and instead take that initiative to do something - to take some action - you're really not going to succeed in that business or any other business that you try.
Excuse #3: I don't have the time.
You'll hear some people complain that they don't like their job, they wish they could do something else. 'I'd love to work from home.'
But when you bring up an opportunity that seems like a good fit for them, they'll say, 'But I just don't have the time.'
This is one of my pet peeves. And this is why I say that. At one time I was a single mom, two kids, a broken down car, full time job, and I still had time to invest in learning new things that I needed to learn in order to go into business for myself.
Way back in the day when my kids were still young, I had a full time job, two kids at home, I was still a single mom, I still had to help them with homework, and I made the time to go to college on top of that.
You have to stop making excuses and prioritize your time. If you think you don't have the time, look at what you're doing every day.
Can you get up an hour earlier and get online and look at other things that you can do?
When you get home from work, instead of hanging out at the neighbor's, can you go home and lay out a plan of what you want to do and how you want to do it if you want to change your situation?
Whenever I hear anybody say, 'I don't have the time,' and then they're at a party here, going to a concert there, hanging out at the neighbor's, if they were really serious about changing their lifestyle, working from home and owning your own business, they'd make some sacrifices.
Obviously, you don't want to sacrifice time with your children, but you may have to sacrifice some leisure time and remind yourself that these initial sacrifices are going to pay off in the future when you can just drop everything and go on a vacation without having to answer to a boss or get permission.
So, if you think you don't have the time to do something else, or you don't have the time to start a new business, remember - you do have the time because you can make the time.
You just need to set aside some time to manage your time better and then you will be able to have the time to start a new venture or get into a new company and get yourself to where you're breaking away from the J.O.B., from being someone else's employee, and you're actually on the road to having a better life.
Excuse #4: But I have children to take care of.
Okay, so you have kids. The kids don't need to be with you 24 hours a day. They have nap time, play time; it's a matter of disciplining the children and saying, 'Hey kids, this is Mom's time, so here's some coloring books, here's some crafts, watch this TV show, here's some books, go entertain yourselves.'
I know because I did this. I was a single mom for decades and when I would come home in the afternoon, I had to help my kids with homework. After that I was like, okay, I had kids' time, this was your time. Now it's Mommy time.
I told my daughter, 'Play with your little brother. Mommy has things that she has to do.'
I had a full time job. I had kids to take care of and I still worked a part time job. Now this was back in the day before the Internet, so that part time job today would have been my online business.
If I can go to work for three hours after having my kids time and homework time and my full time job, then that was my time for making an extra income.
And the same applies today, whether you have one kid, two kids, four kids. I have a cousin who has four kids. She still has time to go to school. She still works.
Now granted, she's not a single mom. She does have a husband, but he's in the Marine Corps so there's times when she's alone with those kids for months at a time. And she still held a job, went to college and took care of her kids.
So stop making excuses just because you have kids. 'I have kids to take care of' is only an excuse if you don't know how to teach your kids that this is Mommy time.
I had a schedule where during the week I had certain time slots that I just spent with my kids, and this was after working full time, and this was even working part time on top of that.
The evenings, when I got home from my second job, is when I would sit with the kids, read them stories, tuck them into bed.
It all falls into time management. Look at Excuse #3 - 'I don't have the time.' You make the time.
If you don't want to make the time, then you're not serious about starting a business for yourself or you may not even really need the extra income.
Because if your kids are going to be in the way, then maybe your own business isn't something that you really, really want, or you will set your family life up so that you can have the time where you're not taking care of the kids, so that you can apply yourself to earning that extra income and create a little bit better of a future for your family.
Excuse #5: I don't have any money.
A lot of network marketing companies do cost a little bit of money to get started. That's one thing you don't have to worry about with SFI in particular, Strong Future International, which is the primary company I'm with.
It is Free. It's free to sign up and if you use the right strategy, it can remain free forever!
Now I'm talking cash-wise, it's totally free.
If you want to move up to the higher levels, then you have to recruit a solid team and that may work faster if you invest some cash for paid advertising.
Your team will help push you up the levels, sometimes without investing any cash at all. But you need to use a marketing system that's easy for your team members to duplicate.
Another free resource for advertising is IBOToolbox. IBOToolbox is an awesome networking site and it's specifically targeted to business owners and online marketers like yourself.
The cool thing is that when you use these two programs together, you may not need to spend any cash at all. But what you do have to spend - is time.
And that directly relates back to Excuse #3 - "I don't have the time."
So if you're using the excuse that you don't have any time and you're also using the excuse that you don't have any money, what you need to do is stop making excuses and just do something.
If you don't have the time, then maybe you have the cash to invest in a business where you can set some things up on autopilot.
And if you don't have the cash, but you have the time, then spend your time.
And the best way to spend your time marketing when you're broke is marketing with content. That's creating videos, putting audios on SoundCloud, recording your information and then adding it to slides and making a video.
This gives you multiple pieces of content out of one video or audio.
This does take time. If you don't have any money, then you're going to need to invest some time.
And then you have to be patient because it's going to talk a little while longer in the beginning to build a business when you're only investing time and not money.
But if you don't have any money, don't let that stop you from joining a business opportunity because there are a lot out there that are free to get started.
And one of the best is SFI, which is one of the companies I'm in. And then for free networking and advertising purposes, you can use IBOToolbox and share your content there.
