Ask successful marketers and they will tell you that the key factor in networking is simplicity.

Networking is at heart a very simple business. Keeping it simple does not mean that no hard work is involved, however. There can be hard work involved in ANY business, but in network marketing, one of the common mistakes is that people try to make it more complicated than it really is.

I used to teach people how to acquire some very basic skills for a new job in a short period of time. It never ceased to amaze me at how hard they worked at complicating the job rather than accepting the fact that most of the kinks had already been worked out. If they had accepted the guidance of more experienced individuals rather than attempting to reinvent the wheel, they could have saved themselves (and me) a lot of extra time and effort.

I see the same thing occur in network marketing, and yes, I did it myself. It's funny. Now that I consider myself to be successful at what I do, I find that I am doing what others who had been there before me said to do. All the blind avenues I went down and all the unnecessary expenses of time and money that I incurred were the result of my trying to make a simple system more complicated than it was.

Anyway, one of the goals of creating a business group in network marketing is to pass an easily duplicated system on to your downline. Most people coming into a network marketing program are completely new to the field. So, even if you create a complex system which achieves great results for you, others who follow you in your networking business will find it difficult to duplicate your actions and your results.

Experts agree, and these are people who have "been there, done that" that having an easily duplicated system is one of the most important assets of a successful network marketing venture. Your success depends on the success of your marketing network, and their success depends on the network marketing tools and training you can provide.

Simplicity is the key. Everything you pass on to your team must be easy to understand and to duplicate. If what YOU are doing is successful, they will soon begin to duplicate your results.

Avoid things that require large expenditures of money or special training or skills. Just like sales depends on approaching a large pool of potential customers, finding the next professional network marketers will require you to recruit from as large a pool as possible. Setting up unrealistic expectations and requirements will limit your group appeal. In fact, there's a good chance that those with special training or skill are already doing quite well, thank you! On the other hand, it is quite often the warm, human, but unsophisticated or untrained person who does well in network marketing.

Another reason to keep your system as simple as possible is speed. The easier it is to learn, the sooner your network will be trained, and the sooner they can begin to make sales. Here is another point. There is only one of you, and if you are holding the hand of the beginner, you cannot make the next sale, or recruit the next partner yourself!

Once you find an easily duplicated and simple network marketing technique, concentrate on developing your own skills and refining the method so that it can be easily taught to your own network.

If you have kept it simple, and it is working for you, it will probably work for most of the people you bring in. However, always be mindful of the fact that not everyone has the same training, background, experiences, upbringing, or education as you. This may require you, or them, to restructure how the basic system is approached.

Here's a small example. I belong to several networking groups and attend meetings where I come in contact with others doing the same thing with their businesses. I am comfortable with this and have several things that I can offer as part of my networking package, if you will.

My wife, who is also a network marketer, does not feel at all comfortable with this sort of venue. However, she is a skilled online poker player and loves to meet others. Where I walk straight up to someone or stand in front of a group and tell them who I am, what I do, and how I can help them, she spends hours chatting about and playing poker, and somehow the word gets out about her home business! We are both moving about in much the same venues, but our techniques are entirely different based on our personalities and our individual businesses.

Although we each approach the technique differently, the basic technique is the same. We put ourselves in contact with others of similar interests and interact with them in a positive way. This gives us three important results.

1. We expand our personal network which means that our businesses are being "advertised" to a large group of people with minimal effort.

2. From this large group, we see sales and recruits which helps expand our business.

3. Our JOB consists of meeting nice people in social settings, having a good time, making new friends, and learning new things. It is said that this sort of thing helps you stay young and healthy. How's that for job benefits?

As simple and unlike a "system" as this sounds, it is a system that works and has worked for thousands of successful network marketers. It is also a lot easier to learn and do, and ten thousand times less stressful than making so many cold calls a day, or knocking on strangers' doors.

Avoid complexity. Take a lesson from some of the most successful organizations in business...McDonald's and Wal-Mart! Despite their gigantic sizes, the heart of their organization is based on the ability to quickly and easily duplicate what worked elsewhere. Take note, however, that at the same time, both organizations retain a touch of flexibility that keeps them from becoming encased in their own forms and procedures.

Take a look at what you are doing. If you are successful, why are you successful? Can this process be expressed in a simple manner? Can you quickly and easily show someone how to do what you are doing? Even better, can the system be simply explained over the phone? Can they put it into action without intensive training, and especially without too much expense...or butterflies?

Keeping it simple can keep them from being scared. Remember the old acronym KISS? Most will tell you that it means Keep It Simple Stupid. I prefer to say, Keep It Simple for Success!