In this business, the competition is fierce. You have heard about all of the internet network marketing gurus. You know their names. You've probably purchased a lot of their products trying to figure out how you can follow in their footsteps to success. But, do you know the secret of rising above the competition?

First, let me be perfectly honest with you. If you are trying to compete against the big names, if you want to go toe-to-toe against the heavy hitters, you're setting yourself up for failure. Don't fight a battle you cannot win.

The secret is, the gurus aren't your competition!

"Say to yourself: 'Here I am, a human being just a little different from any who has ever lived before or will ever live again....I shall be judged not by what I accomplish in contrast with other men, but by what I make of myself in comparison with what I might have made.'" -- Bruce Barton

You are unique. You have a personality and qualities that differ from everyone else on the planet. You have had experiences and emotions in your life that no one else has had. If you can manage to involve these in your internet network marketing business, you cannot help but succeed.

The problem is, you don't want to try to succeed by copying someone else. The gurus achieved success because they used their own qualities, capabilities, and personalities to develop their network marketing businesses on the internet. If you want to succeed, you'll have to power your business with your own personal attributes.

While you can probably achieve a certain amount of success following someone else's blueprint, in the final evaluation, you have nothing of yourself to offer. Why should your prospect buy into your internet network marketing opportunity, if you are a nothing more than a carbon copy of someone else? Wouldn't they be better off going straight to the source?

I'm not suggesting you blaze your own trail, unless that's what you really want to do. You can learn from others and find some shortcuts to success. If you hitch your wagon to an internet network marketing star, you certainly increase the possibility that you will succeed in a shorter amount of time than they did.

What I am saying is, don't sell yourself short. You have your own history and experiences that will help you develop a very personal connection with people looking for an internet network marketing opportunity. You will draw these people to you through your sincerity, and you will likely find ways to succeed that your personal guru or mentor never thought of -- because you have something that they don't. You are uniquely you.

The competition in network marketing is tough -- especially in the internet arena. But, your competitive focus should be on how can you top today what you did yesterday? How can you better your performance from last month? What are you going to do differently this year to surpass last year's success.