Multi-tasking isn’t bad. There are times when it is very important to do so. But then, there are some instances, especially when it comes to business, when multi-tasking should be set aside. When running a business, all your attention should be focused only be on one thing.

Serious entrepreneurs the world over will all say the same thing: a truly successful entrepreneur does not multi-task!

So what is „multi-tasking“? Simply put, it is doing a number of tasks simultaneously at a given time. This is usually done so that plenty of work can be done over a short amount of time.

An example that many of us do without even noticing it is listening to a news report while sipping coffee while reading the newspaper while keeping an eye on your kid or sibling while they finish their breakfast. Without even intending or noticing it, that’s four things at once! Cool, right?

In the short-term, multi-tasking is okay, as long as what you’re doing is fairly routine and technically simple. These things are so complex that an irregularity in performing here or there will severely damage the whole process. This is called „continuous partial attention“, and it is okay for those everyday, mundane situations. However, the life of a successful entrepreneur, especially when it comes to business, is anything but mundane.

One of the things that a serious entrepreneur needs is concentration, especially if your business is one that calls for face-to-face or personal interaction with customers. No customer would be thrilled if you would be talking to them, while at the same time, talking to another customer on your phone while emailing another on your computer. No one will ever accuse you of being a competent entrepreneur if you’re like this, much less a serious entrepreneur.

The Costs in Switching Tasks

Experimental psychologists have long been studying the effect of multi-tasking on productivity. Numerous studies have shown that there is a „switching cost“ every time you change from one task to another. This means that you need as much as four minutes to go back to maximum productivity on a task after an interruption. Now, if you’re trying to juggle four tasks, you lose as much as sixteen minutes in one cycle of task-switching alone. Such a waste of time, huh?

So do you still want to multi-task? Sure, a serious entrepreneur has a great number of things to do. If it were possible, there should be more than 24 hours in a day!

What any successful entrepreneur should do, however, is finish one task at a time. On the average, you may have the same result as compared to doing portions of each task. The benefit comes from the non-quantifiable things that you get out of completing tasks one at a time. You get less stressed simply because you’ll have one frame of thought at a time. As a result, as you shred off tasks one by one, you have less and less things to think about. And this, perhaps, is the secret of success for any serious entrepreneur!

In the hectic world that we live in today, you’ll probably think that multi-tasking is a skill to be admired, something that’s even necessary! If that’s the case, then this article probably isn’t for you. True, there are times when there are just too many things to do and multi-tasking seems like the only way to get them done. But for the things that are really crucial, focus and concentration is the name of the game, particularly in business.

Serious entrepreneurs the world over will all say the same thing: a truly successful entrepreneur does not multi-task!

Definitions first. Multi-tasking is defined as juggling two or more tasks at the same time in an attempt to finish as many tasks as you can in the least amount of time. Simply put, it is man’s ability to perform more than one activity at the same time.

An example that many of us do without even noticing it is listening to a news report while sipping coffee while reading the newspaper while keeping an eye on your kid or sibling while they finish their breakfast. Without even intending or noticing it, that’s four things at once! Cool, right?

In the short-term, multi-tasking is okay, as long as what you’re doing is fairly routine and technically simple. These things are so complex that an irregularity in performing here or there will severely damage the whole process. This is called „continuous partial attention“, and it is okay for those everyday, mundane situations. However, the life of a successful entrepreneur, especially when it comes to business, is anything but mundane.

One of the things that a serious entrepreneur needs is concentration, especially if your business is one that calls for face-to-face or personal interaction with customers. No customer would be thrilled if you would be talking to them, while at the same time, talking to another customer on your phone while emailing another on your computer. No one will ever accuse you of being a competent entrepreneur if you’re like this, much less a serious entrepreneur.

The Switching Cost – the Cost of Switching from One Task to Another

The „switching cost“ has been discovered by experimental psychologists in their research. This means that every time you change tasks, you will expend four minutes each time to be able to reach your maximum productivity. Just think: doing four tasks a time would cost you an extra 16 minutes!

So do you still want to multi-task? Sure, a serious entrepreneur has a great number of things to do. If it were possible, there should be more than 24 hours in a day!

However, any serious entrepreneur should not sacrifice quality for quantity and should finish one task at a time. In the long-run, what you’ll spend in time you’ll more than make up for in productivity. What’s more, you’ll feel less stress, as your mind is only occupied with one thing at a time. If you keep on taking things one at a time, you’ll see that, sooner or later, your workload has been significantly reduced and your end results have superb quality. Truly, this is what every successful entrepreneur wants in the end!

A lot of people who hear the words „multilevel marketing“ run screaming in fear of being scammed, or at least, being part of a scam. This could be due to the negative publicity that mlm marketing has been receiving to date. The notoriety of this business model (which is legitimate, by the way) springs mostly from the few rotten apples (read: pyramid scheme) that have made it into the multilevel marketing barrel.

One thing is certain: the main difference between the two is that mlm marketing is a legitimate business model, while pyramiding scheme IS a scam and IS definitely illegal – not to mention immoral and downright dirty. In layman’s terms, multilevel marketing is a highly social business model that seeks to cut out the middle man and lower the overhead cost, so that the end consumer isn’t paying for the storefront’s operation expenses, including labor, utilities, and even the traditional advertising media. Pyramiding schemes, on the other hand, will want you to invest your money on the possibility of big rewards for small amounts, but is actually just a transfer of money from the „downline“ to the „upline“ (to be explained later).

You know what they say, if it’s too good to be true…

It’s likely to be a pyramid scheme if it’s too good to be true. Multilevel marketing and pyramid schemes are often mixed up because the latter utilizes the same techniques as the former. The business model is designed in such a way that people end up thinking that it’s the same as mlm marketing. In other words, they use deceit in putting up a network.

In both business models, you have to sell some kind of product, you will create a „marketing network“, you will either be „sponsored“ by your „upline“, or you will sponsor a „downline“ with the idea that the „upline“ gets commissions from the sales of the „downline.“ The first thing that would tell you that you are in a legitimate mlm marketing business is that the commissions from your „downline“ are just a plus, but the bulk of your profits come from YOUR sales and YOUR hard work.

Off to the market.

Multilevel marketing is a great business if you are the type who wants to work at home in your pajamas. It’s also pretty easy to get into, even if you only have $29 as capital. It’s very flexible, and you don’t need to have a college degree to go for it, just a bit of computer knowledge.

Life without the Internet is unimaginable nowadays since it is considered vital in almost everything there is. Most people rely on the Internet for their everyday needs. Suffice to say, it is already considered „a way of life.“

In addition, shopping, banking and paying of bills is made easier and more convenient with the Internet. Of course, business-minded individuals discovered the efficiency of the worldwide web in marketing endeavors.

One of the best marketing strategies to use the Internet for is multilevel marketing, also known as the MLM business. Let’s discuss.

To define Internet marketing, it is the promotion and selling of goods and services through – obviously – the Internet. Sometimes, it’s also called e-marketing or web marketing.

MLM marketing, on the other hand, is a strategy that rewards those who gather sales that they personally generate and from those people whom they have introduced to the company. In ordinary language, this is also termed as „network marketing“, or the pyramid scheme. MLM marketing basically pays you to sell products and to convince others to sell your products, too.

If you put these two together, then you have a great thing in hand. Surely, this would click among the people since it’s modern and applicable to everyone out there. Listed are the pros of utilizing the net for MLM marketing:

Broad Reach

The Internet is the best way to reach out to every possible client out there, especially for MLM marketing. Since almost everyone has their own e-mail addresses, contacting possible affiliates and customers could be done in a jiffy.

Having a website is also a must. This way, clients can access information about your business with just a simple mouse click.

If you want to make things even easier for yourself, you can also buy e-mail addresses of potential clients from companies that are selling them. It’s well worth the investment, especially when you get your business running in full speed.

Hassle-Free

Compared to traditional marketing activities, Internet marketing let’s you avoid irate customers. No hang-ups on the phone, no challenging addresses to look for, and no outright declines. Thus, it’s but rational for you to make use of banners, pop-ups or even e-mailers in spreading word about your MLM business.

As time goes by, you would surely come up with even more exciting ways to expand your MLM marketing business. These are just two to get your started. You’ll never know what’s in store for you in the future.

Cyberspace has changed how our lives are being lived. You can „live“ a life without even leaving the comforts of your couch through social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace – just to name a few. These „netizens“ even have personal blogs and websites for the whole world to see.

If you are one of these people who are keeping their blogs updated, you can venture into affiliate marketing to earn big bucks while doing what you love doing – writing. What is affiliate marketing? What’s so beautiful about it?

Affiliate marketing, simply put, is using your own site as a host to entice your readers into visiting your client’s company site. Multilevel marketing can also be applied in this strategy. By this, you can surely bring in big bucks.

These are the steps to ensure success in affiliate marketing:

Know your readers

Before you even begin accepting offers from clients, understand who your frequent readers are. What do they want? Why are they coming into your site? Surely, there are tools in the site that can help you measure the reason for their frequent visit.

For example, if the bulk of your readers are, most of the time, reading your blogs on sports, then you should place affiliate advertisements for sports. For multilevel marketing businesses that are into sports products, this will show good support to them.

To make sure that your multilevel marketing business would be a success, make use of the information you already have. Don’t hop into the bandwagon and make rash decisions just because everyone has, and by all means, use relevant affiliate ads.

Put attention into your Content

In your effort to put up a lot of ads, you might end up losing focus on the bloodline of your site, your content. Make sure that you still write useful and accurate information. Writing informative content not only adds beauty to your site, it also spreads details about what your multilevel marketing business is all about.

Patience is a Virtue

Don’t expect money to immediately come pouring in. Time is of the essence in this type of multilevel marketing business since your profits are based on the customer’s decisions. Affiliate programs pay when your readers do certain things like clicking a link or signing up for newsletters, so don’t forget the power of a good call-to-action statement. All you have to do is wait. In due course, you will surely reap what you’ve waited so patiently for.