You are Wasting Your Time... MLM Pareto Principle
Written by Raymond Fong on Apr 3, 2008 11:59 am
Read More: Discipline | Mindset | Personal DevelopmentYou are Wasting Your Time and You Don’t Even Know It...
My girlfriend is just starting out a business and wants to market it online.
And guess who’s the lucky guy that gets to help her with the marketing front? That’s right, you guessed it, ME!
When we first started out, all she could think about was making a "pretty website". She wanted to learn HTML and all that "flash" jazz so she could make an impressive website. This is very typical of those just starting out their online marketing venture. After some coaxing and my explaining how much time and effort it would take for her to really learn the skills necessary to make a razzle-dazzle website, she agreed to take a canned template and run with that.
Of course... after we put together the template for her she immediately transitioned her attention to the logo design. She spent a few days tweaking the logo and trying to get it to be "perfect".
Again, I had to do some coaxing before she finally stopped tweaking her logo.
And then there’s that darned font selection and how "boring" the Verdana font looks.
It seemed like everywhere we turned there was a distraction of some sort that captured her attention.
Now, you may be asking yourself, what’s so bad about creating a nice looking website?
Nothing.
What’s so bad about creating a kick-arse logo?
Nothing.
What’s wrong with wanting to pick a pretty font?
Nothing really...
That is, nothing except you are focusing your effort on the wrong things!
It’s like your house is burning down and you are focusing on fixing your A/C... Having a functional A/C is nice and dandy, but only AFTER you put out the fire.
All Too Familiar
This is the same problem that I had when I first got started and I am sure many of you can relate. I would convince myself that what I was focusing was critical and important; however, when I became honest with myself, those things, while useful, really weren’t even remotely close on the priority list.
Truth be told, I chose to do them because they were more "fun" than the other things. Or perhaps they were "easier" and flashier. The bottom line is, I found excuses to NOT do the things that had the highest priority (and of the greatest importance).
I ask you this, are you doing the same thing? Are you avoiding doing things that could have a drastic impact on your business in favor of things that have little impact?
If so, you need to familiarize yourself with the MLM Pareto principle , which states that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts and 20% of your results will come from 80% of your effort. What this means is that there are some things you can do that will produce drastic results and there are loads of little things (that take a lot of time) that may produce little results in comparison.
The secret is to always do the things that get you the "best bang for the buck" before you do the others.
What are YOU Doing?
This concept can be applied to your MLM business in just every aspect. When prospecting, are you spending too much time on the tire-kickers and looky-loos? You know who I am talking about, the ones that have 5 gazillion pessimistic questions and negative remarks for you - and you find yourself spending hours on end defending yourself and your business.
Or are you spending time with the movers and shakers who are interested in just "getting it done".
Are you spending all your time reinventing the wheel because the canned software available just isn’t "good enough" or are you making do with what’s available now and moving on to something more meaningful like creating powerful content?
Stop missing the forest for the trees.
At every step of the way in building your business, always check your priority list and ask yourself if you what you are doing warrants your immediate attention and would produce the most drastic positive result for your business than the other action items on your list.
If so, great, carry on. If not, perhaps you should refocus.
With this in mind, my girlfriend and I were able to focus our efforts. In a matter of a few days, we had a few capture pages up (for split testing), 150 ad groups in AdWords each with 2 or 3 ads for split testing.
And now, I am having her contract out the logo and website design while focusing on reading and creating content for her business. This sure beats banging our heads against the wall figuring out just how much we suck at logo and website design... :)
To Affinity and Beyond,
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Views: 1,650
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Comments: 28 
About the Author: Raymond Fong
Member Since: 11/15/2007
I'm a Distributor For:: Numis Network
Other Company: Affinity Integration, LLC
Industry: Consulting
Primary Web Site: http://www.RaymondFong.net/
ah... so true.
I recently learned that if you want to be hugely successful online, 90% of your time should be focused on getting traffic and increasing your conversion.
Only 10% of your time should be on the technology.
It was definitely our mistake early on.
-Ferny
Couldn't have said it better...
This is so dead on. I think a lot of it has to do with perfectionism. Too many people try to be perfect every step of the way, so they spend ridiculous time trying to get everything just right... even things that don't matter as much. I'm still fighting this myself, but I've gotten a lot better. Awareness is the key! Great post man...
well, i am going to go against the grain on this one...while i think that you are spot on with the majority of what you said, I do think there is a point to be made here...
while your friend was spending a lot of time on the website...(and i am sure it was a little overkill) I do think that she was on the right track...potentially.
marketing...especially internet marketing is not so much what you say, or how you look, or even the words on a page...but it is HOW YOU SEPERATE YOURSELF from everyone else.
The point is this...while it might seem useless...it is never bad to invest in your business and your "system" by putting in some effort and time. Have you ever looked at all the "MLM" websites out there? How many of them look the same, feel the same, talk the same, heck, even offer the same things? Frankly, it made me sick.
If you are going to be successful in internet marketing, you have to seperate yourself from the pack.
The same rules apply wherever you go...when people are buying stocks in mass, you should be selling. When people are buying houses in mass, you should be selling...etc.
I think you get the point. There is a price that is paid by those investing in their business and their internet marketing, and that price will be realized many months down the road, but it is a well paid price as the investment will always pay off.
Matthew,
I am not entirely sure what exactly you are "going against the grain" here...
If you are making the point of "you should separate yourself from the pack", I doubt any of us would disagree with you on that. However, I am not sure how relevant that is to this post...
Thanks for the contribution.
Raymond
Thank you for your
Thank you for your leadership!
Great article Raymond. I
Great article Raymond.
I think many of us can relate to this.
Thankyou!
Hits the nail on the head
Outstanding job on the article, Raymond!
I got caught in this same trap in all areas of my life, and it greatly reduced my productivity and effectiveness. When I look back, I really didn't get much done when I obsessed over the minor details.
I now realize that in network marketing, great information beats great image hands down. Plus, if you make something so perfect and high tech, how can you expect your downline to duplicate? Instead of focusing more on true income producing activities, they'd be trying to imitate what you've done. Everyone will be frustrated in this case because the cash flow would be minimal to none.
Swallowing Frogs
Boy, is this human nature or what? I do it all the time. It's so much easier to play around with details, do busy work, or just move things around on your desk. You tell yourself you're getting something done, but deep down you know you're just putting off the most important (and challenging) task at hand.
It can eat up all of your time.
In my network marketing business, I was always afraid to pick up the phone and nervous about approaching people so I'd do other things that weren't so scary and convince myself I was being productive.
There's an old saying, "If you're going have to swallow a few frogs, it's best to swallow the biggest, ugliest one first".
Carolyn Schweitzer DDS
I luv this stuff
gottta stay focused... i like your storytelling.... kinda real
Staying focused
Excellent written aarticle. We all have fallen into the same boat for the past years. It takes a while for people to realise their mistakes. We all learn the hard way, otherwise it will not be challenging in life. Good advise and keep up the good work
To your success
The truth hurts
Great article Raymond! I know exactly how your girlfriend feels. When we start something new we are excited; so by human nature we start with what we know and hope the rest will fall into place. I know to market my product I must have a "website". The problem comes into play when you have this great website but no visitors. What do you do next? This is where marketing knowledge starts becoming a huge factor and doubts enter in.
NancyP
Aw darn it Raymond!
Now I'm going to have to stop reading all these great posts and get some 'real' work done!
Cheers, Heather
LOL
U Took the words right out of my mouth...today I will add more content to my blog! and maybe finish my website:)
www.betterrta.biz
Brillaint article
Hi Raymond
Spot on! You hit the issue right between the eyes. Bulls eye. Great article and to the point. Thanks
Hey Raymond, Great post,
Hey Raymond,
Great post, feast for thought. Thanks,lb
80/20 rule
We all start with what we know in anything & have to learn from there.
Some take in new info & run instantly with it & others learn R_E_A_L __S_L_O_W !
This is where Mentors, good training & examples are needed...I need to see it first, others need to hear it & others need to do it, to get it!
Once it's "got", we go from 80 % down time to 80% effectiveness & we then move on to the next part of learning & go thru the 80/20 principle again!
Mary
Thanks Raymond,
It's the old getting ready to get ready routine. We all want everything to be the right way before we get started, then we find out there are no right way just different ways.
That is so cute
We need to do the Stuff that pays the most amount of money for our Time. Cute is Good but Focusing on what is going to give you the best bang for your buck I Great. Thank you Raymond
That is so true. Which is
That is so true. Which is better an incredible website with no traffic or a ok website with massive traffic? The answer is pretty obvious. The great thing about the internet is pretty can be done later.
Thank you...
Considering my new business is in pre-launch, I am certain you just taught me a valuable lesson that will change my focus in the coming weeks. However, I will have to say that the time I spend here on BetterNetworker.com is extremely valuable. It might not be traffic-generating, but it is assisting me in becoming an Alpha Networker.
OMG! Best Article Ever!
This is hands down the best article I have read on this site to-date!
It is so easy to fall into the procrastination trap! It is human nature. Fight that urge and move to the next step. It is the only way to finish and find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Thanks Raymond!
-Jon Kaufman
(P.S. The 80/20 principal is absolutely true. I have been living by it for years now.)
Raymond you are definitely
Raymond you are definitely spot on!
One of the best things that someone once told me when I was just getting started in this industry was..."Have you ever had a business before?"
I said, "I tried a couple of things but failed."
They said, "Don't act like you have then...don't think YOU KNOW anything because in fact you KNOW NOTHING---you haven't achieved success yet. Get your ego out of the way, find people who have done what you want to do, get a coach who will work with you, and then do whatever they tell you to do! Don't be arrogant and pick and choose or waste time second guessing them. You will be wasting your time and theirs. IF YOU WANT WHAT THEY HAVE THEN DO WHAT THEY DO--No matter the cost, no matter the time---Don't let YOUR FEAR FOOL you into not achieving your goals!"
Best Advice I was ever given!
Thank you for your leadership!
Pamela Glowski
pam@sereneinsights.com
www.sereneinsights.com
Hitting all points
People sometime miss the point of how important it is to know the true reason why they are in business for themself especially when they are going alone. That sale is now the top reason to be in business. For example I have developing this new company, and more of my focus in sales even thought customer come to us because the company have a brand of making rely good sites www.peopletree.ws
Yea.....I'm guilty
How much time do we (myself) waste on Twitter, or reading forum posts when we should be implementing the tools that we have learned. I'm sure that many of us have enough tools and information to get things going or to better our process. Instead, we tell ourselves that we need to learn more.
I have got to stop this! From now on I am implementing. I will learn more as I grow.
Great advice!
I too was guilty of spending all my time planning how to be successful.
I didn't start to see success until I put action behind these plan.
Even now I am still a "work in progress" but at least now I am working.
Wonderful Advice!
Raymond,
you are so right!!! I have been totally guilty of doing that. Thanks for bringing light to this issue which is always trying to win.
Giselle
howdy
i take it your girlfriend's company does not sell web design or branding services?
:)
And the truth shall set you free! :-)
Raymond, this is a timeless post and as true today as the day you wrote it.
I have been guilty of being distracted by wanting dazzle and bling and worse of wanting to DO IT ALL myself. Having a background in IT and design I was loath to hand over the reigns to anyone else for any part of my business until I realised I was spinning my wheels trying to be all things. Having a 'Can Do' attitude doesn't mean we 'should do' everything and your article is a great reminder to be smart and selective about where we spend our time.