Network marketing has been around a long time. There’s plenty of advice going around about how best to build a downline and a customer base to help you succeed. But not everyone takes advantage of the Internet.

Sometimes it’s due to lack of comfort with it. If you don’t think you can make a good website, you’re probably not even going to try. If you assume that it’s beyond you, it will be…

At least until you give it a try.

Now the first thing you have to do is find out what the company’s rules are regarding marketing on the Internet. Some have very strict rules surrounding what you can do. You may not even be able to mention the company’s name. Others provide you with a website you can sell through.

But even if they provide you with a website you need to build one of your own. Replicated websites don’t attract their own traffic. They also don’t allow you to show your personality, yet your personality should be one of the key factors to recruiting a downline. You want people to want to work with you.

Fortunately there are many ways to create a quality website even if you haven’t tried it before. Blogging is very popular, with Wordpress being the most popular software. Once you have a theme selected, all you have to do is write your posts.

Well, that and market your site.

It may seem that you’re adding to your work by adding a site. Now you have a business opportunity and a website to promote. However, since the one promotes the other it’s not as bad as it may seem.

There are lots of opportunities to promote your website. Twitter is getting very popular with marketers. You have 140 characters to express yourself in. You can’t just market your business and expect people to follow you, but if you’re interesting people will take a look at those times you include links.

You can market on forums, write articles, pay for ads, whatever suits your style, just so long as you know when to sell and when to offer advice.

The beauty of it is that you can interact with people all around the world, rather than being limited by the number of people you interact with each day. You have a much better chance of finding people who might be interested in your opportunity.

Better yet is that some of them will be looking specifically for it.

A big part of network marketing is that you can choose to sell something you are really passionate about. Let that show in your Internet marketing activities and you improve your chances of building a really great business.

There’s a lot more you can learn about what you’re doing right and wrong with your network marketing opportunity. Read The 7  Great Lies of Network Marketing and think about where you can take your business.

Network marketing is a very popular way to start a home business. You get to represent great products that you really enjoy, and build up a nice income. You can even help people you know get started themselves.

But for a lot of people it’s the wrong choice… at least until they’ve really thought about why they want to join the opportunity.

1. You think it’s an easy road to riches.

Just as with any other business, more people fail in network marketing than succeed. Those who succeed work hard on their business and take it seriously.

It also takes time. Those who are really good at it can build up a fair income within a year, but most take longer.

2. You think the only way to build a downline is to pester everyone you know.

That’s the old way to build a downline. There are all kinds of options that don’t involve alienating those you care about.

3. You’re considering options based only on what you think will bring in the most money.

Money’s great, but your enthusiasm for the product is what will help you to make sales. Also, if you choose a product line you feel awkward or uncomfortable selling, you won’t impress potential customers.

There’s a big reason that people talk about passion in the network marketing industry. Passion is what helps to drive you when things are tough. It’s what impresses your customers with the quality of your products.

Some people can cope with just their passion to earn money, but it’s much better to be passionate about the product as well.

4. You don’t want to sell or market.

Some opportunities trumpet the lack of needing to sell their products. But what you still have to do is market them, which is really an aspect of selling. There are many ways you can promote your business, from the standbys of handing out business cards, carrying samples and telling everyone you meet about your business, to online marketing through websites.

The great part about network marketing opportunities today is that you can promote some of them 100% online. If the home party scene really isn’t your thing, you can try an opportunity that lets you develop your own website to get sales and build your downline.

5. You’ve hopped from opportunity to opportunity.

Many people spend so much time hoping for success in network marketing that they don’t give the opportunities they join the time to work out. If they don’t get instant success, off they go to the next opportunity!

If you’re still in that frame of mind that the next opportunity will be the big one, it’s time to slow down and review your expectations. You can’t assume that you will have instant success, or even success in 6 months. Giving up one opportunity and joining another means you keep having to start over. It’s not a way to succeed.

Being in the right frame of mind is one of the key steps to succeeding in direct sales. Expectations that are too high, fear of committing to an opportunity and other problems can make it harder for you to build a solid business.

If you’ve been considering joining a network marketing opportunity, or if you’ve been trying to get yours going, I suggest reading The 7  Great Lies of Network Marketing. It might just give you some insights and ideas for where things could work better with your business.