Have a Purpose and a Passion
You might be surprised to learn how many people start online businesses they don’t actually care about. Many get swept up in the allure of flashy promises—the “make a million dollars overnight” sales pitches that network marketing companies are famous for. To be clear, network marketing can be a legitimate business strategy, so this isn’t a critique of it. The real issue is that success often hinges on passion—genuine enthusiasm for your product and your business.
Take, for example, a woman who decided to start an online business. She wasn’t great at cold calling and had no interest in traditional sales. One day, she stumbled upon a popular company recruiting sales associates for an online network marketing program. The pitch seemed irresistible: they’d help her set up the business, connect her with a mentor, teach her marketing, handle product delivery, and more.
What they couldn’t do, however, was find her customers. The products were weight loss and nutritional supplements, and succeeding in the business required a real interest in people—listening to their health concerns, promoting the products, and recruiting others to join her team. The problem? She had no personal connection to the products, had never used them herself, and wasn’t passionate about them. Her motivation was purely financial, and that wasn’t enough to make it work.