How long does it take to become successful in network marketing?

How long does it take to become successful in network marketing?

Malcolm Gladwell, in his bestselling book, Outliers, says mastery in any endeavor takes about 10,000 hours. That's twenty hours a week for ten years. Gladwell says that no matter what the objective, whether becoming a world-class musician or a billionaire, to reach the pinnacle of success takes consistent effort over a sustained period of time.

Does it take ten years to become successful in network marketing? Well, that depends on how you define success. Thousands of people each year reach the six-figure mark in a few (i.e., two to five) years; some do it quicker.  I'm guessing that there are very few seven-figure income earners who got to that level in less than ten years.

Sustained effort over time is clearly a key to success but there's another factor that transcends talent, technique, or perseverance: proximity to people who have what you want.

Cal Newport makes this observation about what it takes to make it as a world-class screen writer. Newport says that conventional wisdom about what it takes to succeed as a screen writer falls short. It takes more, he says, than learning some basics and working hard. "The problem. . . is that thousands of hopefuls do exactly this every year — and consistently come up short. Something more must be at play."

In network marketing, we see the same thing. Hundreds of thousands get started each year and many of them learn what to do and work hard at doing it but very few make it to the top. Why? In screen writing, network marketing, or anything else, the ones who climb to the top of the mountain usually have some help.

Newport  says, ". . .screen writing requires an apprenticeship." The ones who make it spend time learning from and associating with other writers who have made it and the people who hire them (producers). They don't lock themselves in a tower, working in isolation, finally producing a manuscript someone wants to buy. There are exceptions, of course, but while screen writing is a craft it is also a business and the ones who succeed in that business have learned to associate with people who can teach them things they can't learn in books and, even more, introduce them to people who can help them achieve their goals.

It's the "Law of Association". You become like the people you associate with. In network marketing, every distributor has access to other distributors who can help them. Often, they are paid to do so. Your upline has a financial incentive to help you succeed, and there are many others, sideline, who can and will do the same.

If you are an aspiring network marketing success story, you can apprentice with people who have succeeded not only in this industry but in your very same business. They can teach you, mentor you, and coach you, and by their example, let you see what you need to do. "I'd rather watch a leader than listen to one," it's been said.

And, unlike the world of screen writing, you don't have to work hard or get lucky to meet the right people and gain their help, you simply have to sign up.

So why do so few take advantage of the opportunity to apprentice themselves? Why do most distributors associate with the wrong people, people who have never built a successful business? Why do so many think they know a better way and refuse to follow the proven systems they have been taught?

Would you like to know the answer to these questions? So would I. If you figure it out, please let me know.