How Long Should an Upline Play the Mentor?

In a network marketing home business, the upline can play many roles to the downline. Those roles range from business mentoring to answering simple questions about getting the downline started. There is a fine line to walk between spending too much time on the downline and giving them enough information to get started on their own. On one hand, if you spend too little time, your downline might feel abandoned or confused about what to do next or how to proceed in the business. That can lead to a non productive team member. Those team members don't really make you any money and can be dead weight in your team.

On the other side of that coin is spending too much time with a downline. If you spend too much "hands on" time with them, then you run the risk of spending too much time training people. This can impact your ability to grow your own business. So you need to find that "fine line" between the 2 extremes.

It helps to succinctly define your role as upline. Most successful network marketers define that role as having one main responsibility; to get the downline started. This can be done with a series of a steps such as getting them to review company resources, getting them on training calls (if your company offers them), or giving them a script and getting on the phone with them to practice it. But it should include a point at which you move on or otherwise you get too bogged down in their business building.

To continue to grow that network marketing home business, the upline will require a structured approach to mentoring those new downlines, and letting them eventually go out on their own.