Top 8 Ways to Shorten your Learning Curve
I remember when my wife Dani and I first joined network marketing (ah feels like FOREVER ago!). We thought, how hard could this be right? Well, then reality struck. I remember thinking, of course, everyone will want in on this. This is going to be easy. And this isn’t because neither of us was afraid of hard work. We didn’t consider how much work it was going to be. We wished someone or something out there would help shorten our learning curve.
Feel familiar?
So, although we were in a groove of packing out home parties and hotel meetings — this was not what we had envisioned. This was not ideal for a young couple building a family.
And ultimately, to be transparent — this was NOT how we wanted to spend our time.
More Time Spent in other People’s Living Rooms than our Own
So, we wanted to do what we saw others starting to do.
That was building businesses using social media.
How hard could that be?
We would throw a few statuses up, and people would just come, right?
We had the best products going — why wouldn’t they buy? People had to be as excited as we were (or so the story goes ….).
But guess what?
Learning Facebook was a steeper learning curve than we had imagined. There was much more to this social media thing than posting a status. Building a network marketing business on Facebook started to feel more like an art.
A skill that we needed to learn and grow through the ‘times that didn’t work. And there were plenty of those.
We spent 1 1/2 years testing things, getting around people and courses, picking up books and watching training videos in an all-in effort to make this whole Facebook thing work. I mean, it had to work — it became our only option. And you know what’s funny? Everyone thought we were crazy — even our company at the time.
No one believed you could build your network marketing business on social media. They thought, sure, you may get a customer or two, but the likelihood of building a business into the six-figure range was impossible.
That is, of course, until that’s precisely what Dani and I did.
Shorten the Learning Curve
Think to yourself for a moment if that would be helpful for you.
Imagine that you were able to take a five or 10-year expectation in network marketing and shorten your learning curve enough that you could execute it in less than half or three-quarters of the time.
Social media, specifically Facebook, has created many incredibly successful network marketing professionals, and we want the same for you. So I want to share with you today our top 8 ways to help you shorten your learning curve so that you can build a six-figure (and beyond) business for yourself.
One of the main things we work on with our coaching clients is the strategies to expedite their business process. We dive deep into their business and help create strategies that will work for them. For example, Dani and I walked away from building our network marketing career(s) because we wanted to devote time to changing the profession’s face on social media.
We readily believe that network marketing is a better way.
And helping others shorten their learning curve became our mission.
Top 8 Ways to Shorten your Learning Curve
#1 Be clear about your objective.
If you are familiar with using SMART goals, this would be the place to map those out. Your objective (or goals) should be tangible, measurable, and — realistic. The path to get there will be more apparent when you know where you want to be. This is a great way to ensure you stay on track and maintain your focus.
#2 Measure your progress.
Because you are intentional about what you want, you should have pitstops along the way. Finding an accountability partner is a great way to do this. It is someone to whom you report your results. Please note this should be someone who has achieved the level of success you are striving for. Although your team members, friends or family may feel like a more comfortable decision — they are not where you want to be professional. This matters.
#3 Take notes often.
Taking notes does two things; it helps you retain information more effectively and gives you a place to reference what you learned later. Notes are a great place to revisit when you feel stuck or need Facebook Live or Reels content. Record what others who came before you are telling you.
#4 Study materials more than once.
Just because you heard it once doesn’t mean you ‘know it. I would go as far as to say that applied knowledge is where the magic happens. Just learning the information isn’t enough. Understanding it and then using it is so important. It not only helps test your actual knowledge about the content but helps you benefit from the information you are learning.
And guess what? You will do it ‘wrong’ the first dozen times. The difference with that is you learn along the way. And, in my own humble opinion, you can only truly learn when you have ‘skin’ in the game.
Available on Amazon is ‘Your Impact Playbook’
#5 Make yourself accountable for your results (or lack thereof)
Tell the supportive people what you plan to do. Tell someone whether this is an income goal or how many lives you want to impact. Statistics show that we are far more likely to achieve something when we tell someone else. Although this tip falls more along goal setting and reaching — they matter in your learning curve.
Why? By telling someone, you expedite your need to make it happen. You create urgency within yourself and are far more likely to do the necessary work to get there.
The primary difference here, however, is that your learning curve shrinks tremendously by being around others who have done what you want to do. And we stumbled so that you don’t have to. Well, at least not as many times, anyways.
#6 Don’t stop at proficiency.
Practice isn’t over just because you get it right once. You must keep reinforcing and practicing new skills until they become second nature. Otherwise, studies suggest that your training efforts will begin to slip away more quickly.
However, the beauty in this is that you have someone showing you exactly what to do. So, much of our time on research, for example, is eliminated, compared to following a map or directions. Someone created an accurate road map to help you reach your destination faster, right? And most of us these days rely on our GPS. This is possible because the guesswork is taken out of it.
We can do it.
#7 Teach what you’ve learned to someone else.
Imagine if you could shorten your learning curve enough that you could, one day, do the same for your team. You see, teaching someone else a skill is a sure way of knowing whether you truly understand the concept or not. You might consider introducing it to a small community of people who are learning, just like you. For example, our Social Impacter members always test things out on each other.
It is not uncommon for them to go through a training module, head to their Facebook to implement, and then ask the community for feedback. Of course, they have the advantage of various experts available to support them as well, but overall, the community itself plays a significant role.
#8 Find a coach.
Seriously. A coach, mentor and community are essential to a network marketer’s career growth. And when it comes to how to shorten your learning curve — this couldn’t be more true.
A coach has been there and learned the ropes.
And they learned the ropes and spent time on them too. So, for example, when Dani and I decided to take our business to another level a couple of short years ago — we hired a coach. We knew that to grow, and we needed to invest. Period.
Sure, we knew we could probably figure things out along the way, but why? Why would we spend countless hours figuring out how or what to do when we could hire someone who could pave the way?
Someone who would give us the blueprint.
Some Final Thoughts …
I hope these tips were helpful to you — and I believe everyone can decide to change their futures for the better. I also think that we always find a way when we want something so badly.
If you knew you had the answer to a sought-after skill that someone you know needed, wouldn’t you want to help shorten their learning curve? Of course, you would! There is enough good in this world that everyone can win, and I choose to surround myself with winners.
Who do you choose to surround yourself with?
Seeking more social media training to help grow your business?
Feel free to join our FREE Facebook Group Today!
