It has been said that experience is a good teacher, but that he wastes his knowledge on old people. That is so true.

As I write this I am looking at a copy of a small Oxford English-Chinese dictionary, a memento of a business trip to Shanghai. You might be surprised to learn that English is not widely understood in China, although Shanghai is somewhat of an exception due to its British past. That realisation dawned on me the moment I tried to summon a taxi at Shanghai airport, and I knew that English was not going to be of much use during my stay. So my first goal was to find a Starbucks outlet within walking distance of my hotel, where the staff would most probably speak some English, and enquire about directions to the nearest bookshop so I could obtain a dictionary.

The Starbucks crew was very helpful with their directions, but I failed to locate the bookstore and no-one on the street seemed to understand me, so I returned to Starbucks. This time I got myself some written directions in Mandarin. By approaching some friendly-looking passers-by for directions I eventually located the bookstore, only to find that the staff there could not speak English either!

So back to Starbucks I went, this time obtaining a scrap of paper explaining, in Mandarin, that I wanted a dictionary. I back-tracked all the way to the bookstore. Success at last! An amusing experience, but so relevant to network marketing.  The moral of the story? Don’t be afraid to ask!

If you are an inexperienced online entrepreneur there is so much you don’t know. Most novice marketers experience a type of sensory overload in the beginning. But, instead of asking for assistance, they have this notion of doing everything on their own, without assistance. Not very clever! This approach is not very time-efficient and your time is limited.   

I am not suggesting that you never put up a fight if confronted with a challenge. You are, after all, building a new business. If you want to become wealthy, it’s only fair that you put in some sweat equity. But please – there is so much assistance available! Let me offer some advice based on personal experience:

-   Enlist the help of the search engines. It really does not matter whether you prefer Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other search engine. Simply type in the question the way you would put it when asking someone in person! I recently tried this when I forgot a technical formula and, after typing the search phrase in this way, Google referred me to the exact location in a textbook I’ve written myself a few years ago!

-   Buy as many relevant {e-books and training courses} as you can. Knowledge will require some financial expenditure, but ignorance will cost you even more. Before the days of the Internet, I took a year-long sabbatical and studied for an MBA, because it was advantageous for my career at that time. By comparison, a e-book is free. If you are unsure about what software to buy, ask your upline. Alternatively you can ask me!

-   Participate in forums, such as BetterNetworker.com. Interact with the members of the community. Be assured that your problems are not unique.

-   Ensure that your service providers (e.g. web hosting providers) have proper (24/7) help desks and use them liberally. That’s what you are paying them for.

By now I hope you understand what I’m driving at. Every conceivable network marketing problem you could have has already been solved. There are thousands of people that have already attained some network marketing success or technical expertise and are more than willing to help. You just have to invoke that magic little three-letter word: a-s-k.

If that network marketing success that you are working towards is still a little out-of-reach, or you need some help with some aspect of your marketing, just ASK me. Marketing is my ‘career’, not my ‘hobby’.

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