Network marketers get the short end of the stick when it comes to quality website training. This is detrimental to those of us who aren't internet-savvy because we don't really know what's right or wrong. We just take our companies' words for what they are worth because we trust them. The sad reality, unfortunately, is that the way most companies teach their distributors to use the internet is completely useless.

Have you ever been conned into purchasing a pre-designed website system with fancy bells and whistles that was designed by a "professionally trained web designer/graphic artist" for about $50 a month? Everything is already custom made just for you and all you have to do is put your web site address on your business card and wait for the money to arrive in the mail. You think to yourself, "This company wants me to succeed, so it must be the real deal!" But then a year later all you have to show for it is a debt of $600. Why didn't it work?

The problem is that most network marketing companies focus on teaching you how to sell their product rather than how to properly market it. It costs way too much money to teach each person how to be a master marketer and leader of their own business. So they play a numbers game that ensures them to increase their overall sales no matter if you quit or stick around for ten years. That certainly explains why there is a 95% drop-out rate in the industry while company sales keep increasing.

My experience using a custom-made website program will provide you with a good example on why it doesn't work. I bought into a "system" designed by my upline that included a really nice looking, informative website. It had all kinds of training and visuals to help me grow my business. I was told that all I needed to do was purchase leads from them for about $4.00 each at a monthly cost of $500 to $1000 and wait for people to visit the site and the rest would work for itself. This proved to be very far from the truth.

After I added up all of my expenses over a six-month time period and guaged my activity, I was amazed to find a debt of about $500. I was one of the fortunate ones because I kept track of my gauges and quit. My upline's check increased because the "system" was really designed by them to supplement their income whether I succeeded or not. I wouldn't go as far to say that I didn't get any business at all, but after six months of hard work, only one customer still remains actively purchasing products from me today.

I'm sure my story is tame compared to the thousands of people getting themselves into bankruptcy over these sites that don't really work. The problem is that we're not being told that there is an art and science to using the internet. It doesn't come from a pretty looking site for which you have to spend lots of money. It comes from knowing how to get the right audience in front of the right message.

Imagine a convenience store way out in the middle of the desert. How can anyone expect to find it? And what happens when they stumble upon it by accident and are unable find what they are looking for? Do you think that if the interior looks pretty enough it will make them want to buy a bag of potato chips when they really want a cold beverage? Probably not. Those people are going to leave your store and do what it takes to find a store that has water.

What if you knew how to send a message out to all the people who wanted potato chips and then directed them to your store? Just like the person who wanted water, it wouldn't matter what your store looks like. It's the potato chips that they want, and they'll buy them from you regardless of how pretty you've painted the place. You've found people who have a want, need or desire for what you have to offer, and you've filled that demand with supply. That's called marketing.

Did you know there are simple, proven ways to drive people to your website without spending lots of money? Did you know that you can easily find $25 leads on the internet for about ten cents each? Did you know that there are specific techniques to getting targeted traffic to your website that won't cost you any money at all? All of these things are available to you. Unfortunately, your company and upline probably won't tell you what they are.

If you want to expand and explode your current home-based business, you need a proper education in marketing. Marketing your products instead of distributing or selling them is what makes the difference. Your products won't sell themselves just because you get your Aunt Faye to your website. If this was true, why would your company need you at all? Why would you want to bug your friends and family when all you have to do is learn how to find people who already want what you have? Or even better, learn to have them find you!

It's simple and it's proven, but it does require a change in the way you've been programmed to think in network marketing. It requires the mindset of a person who wants to grow a successful business from home rather than simply sell a few products here and there. You have to step up and decide you need to change your way of thinking. It doesn't come from buying the latest website or the most expensive leads. It comes from a willingness to think outside of the box by being educated on the simple things that make the biggest differences.