There’s been a booming trend lately with so-called internet marketing “gurus”: Big ticket seminars and product launches.

You know the kind.

“Starting in two weeks, you only have three days to pony up $10k for my exclusive product launch, and after that it’s too late to ever learn all the secrets to exploding your income online.”

Then, each day your in-box is pounded with JV/partner/affiliate promotions for the same launch:

“Use my link and I’ll give you an extra bonus”

“Oooh! Oooh! Pick me, and I’ll give you one of my products FREE!”

“No wait! Pick ME and I’ll give you my shirt, my first born, a new car, and a bunch of other stuff that’s really cool I swear.”

What we have here is a classic example of finding a niche and filling it. Only in this case, the niche is people with “shiny object syndrome”.

We get so caught up in trying to grow our business using the latest internet marketing tactics that we float from one new product to another, without ever fully implementing the strategies we learned in the last product we purchased.

We’re stuck on having “the latest and greatest” so that we’re not left out in the cold. Heaven forbid we might miss out on a couple of dollars, when in reality, we’re probably “dropping dollars to pick up dimes” as my momma would say.

“Mad Guru” disease is sweeping the Internet. These ultra pricey products and events are causing most of us to pull our hair out! Why are they so pricey? Many times, it’s because HALF (or more) of the ticket price is being paid out in commissions to affiliates!

And as long as the gurus are raking in the cash, they’ll keep serving the market. Why not? It’s lucrative for everyone who owns a “company store” – selling picks and shovels to the internet and network marketing miners.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot to be learned here. As a Network Marketer, I came online to grow my business using tools and strategies I learned from the Internet. I have created a successful niche and career for myself selling those same picks and shovels to network marketing miners.

You’ve heard it said before “sell the dream, not the deal.” And on it goes in the wild wild Web.

It really got me to thinking about my customers, and what I was sending them. Was I over promoting and under-delivering? I serve a network marketing community where every penny (and second) is precious. To waste the time (or money) of a stay-at-home soccer mom of four that’s trying to keep “the ends” together, juggle multiple family schedules, and have a little free time for her family is ludicrous!

When I went away for four days and came home to over 1400 unread messages in my inbox, it hit me.

The inordinate amount of time I was WASTING reading the same jv promotion over and over was insane: sometimes 2 or 3 emails from the same person in one day!

Frankly, I would have trouble sleeping at night if I pulled these same kinds of shenanigans. Call me nuts, but I’d feel guilty sending out that much email to my list!

It’s painful and shameful to admit, but I’m a recovering “shine-ob-ite” myself. I think I was subscribed to something like 40 different mailing lists – probably more, but I lost count. So, I got VERY selective. My time is more valuable to me now.

But more importantly, it taught me a lesson. As I was culling my in-box that day, I counted MAYBE 20 value added messages that weren’t blatant affiliate/jv promotions. Those subscriptions, I kept. The rest went bye bye.

I’m not ANTI-affiliate marketing. I’m not Anti-Internet Marketing. I’m not even ANTI-guru. I participate in affiliate programs, I sell products and offers to my list. But I also believe in providing substantial value for the return on investment.

The secret is no secret. Build relationships, be friendly, and stop selling everything that isn’t nailed down to your list.

To that end, here are 3 tips to keep you on track with your online network marketing prospecting:

Focus. Mark Joyner talks about that. See your target. Stay focused on your target without distraction, and hit it until you hit it. It may mean picking one of the programs you’ve already purchased, implementing it, and seeing it through to completion. It may mean unsubscribing from all the newsletters, mailing lists and marketing propaganda that are distracting you from hitting our goal. Whatever it takes, if success is to be yours, find one program, dedicate some time to it, and see it through until you get the results you want – or until you’re convinced you need something else to get you there. Stop living in fear. Over 80% of our decision making is motivated out of fear. This was a hard lesson for me to learn. I was constantly reading anything and everything I could to grow my business. The problem was, I wasn’t implementing anything, and couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t successful. Afraid I was missing something, I kept buying, reading and researching without implementing – so afraid that I’d miss out on the next big thing that was SURE to catapult my business. So step out of fear. Know that you have all the tools you need to be successful (because all you really need is you, anyway), and get started. Sure, there are things that will make you more efficient, but when you’re getting started, success is more important than efficiency – especially if you don’t have the money to spend. Be Courageous. Sounds simple, but it’s not easy. You can’t do it without focus and turning away from fear. Courage is feeling the fear and doing it anyway, according to the card a friend bought for me. Courage is stepping out in faith, beyond where the fear lies – maybe even in the middle of where the fear lies with the focus on a singular goal that you will not be dissuaded from – regardless of naysayers and life’s little happenstances. Once you’ve achieved steps one and two, step three reveals itself, tests you, and propels you toward greatness.

Look at your business, your down line and your goals. Where do you want to be? What are “those voices” saying to you that are paralyzing you in fear? What can you do to drown out the noise, take the first step, and create laser-like focus on your objective?Therein lies the answer to ultimate success.

By: Lisa Young