In recent years there have been an increasing number of people setting themselves up as mentors and coaches with the aim of building an internet marketing business. During the excitement of launching a business, recruiting and retaining team members would seem to be a relatively straight forward process.

All their attention is focused on recruiting and marketing or website design and all the other activities that will achieve the short-term goals. Given time, determination and almost blinkered focus the network grows and suddenly they find themselves in the position of being the 'leader'. There is a now a new group of people looking for direction, motivation and encouragement.

It is only now that they realise that they need a new set of skills, a new strategy and a new focus that need to be implemented if they are to retain their team members. In most cases managing people is not a skill they have learnt before.

The reality is that it requires considerable skill and knowledge to manage; support and mentor people to ensure you meet your mutual goals and objectives.

One fundamental principle is to understand and implement the requirements for successful adult learning, learning styles and identifying the barriers to learning.

Ultimately adult learners have differing needs and it is possible to identify a number of key principles to achieve 'deep learning' in adults.

In the 1970's Peter Honey and Alan Mumford developed substantial research concluding in their model for assessing learning styles which are widely used today. They concluded that by using a questionnaire, it is possible to identify a person's preferred learning style.

These are:

Activists - those that act first and consider the consequences later. They like anything new and problem solving.

Reflectors - those that stand back and observe. They need time to review the information before formulating a plan.

Theorists - people who think through a problem in a logical manner. They like to seek expert opinion and conduct their own research.

Pragmatists - people who are keen to put ideas and theories in to practice. They like coaching, feedback and seeing if things work. Other principles of learning suggest that adults need a range of factors to be in place to ensure a successful learning outcome.

A range of these include:

• Independence and choice

• Intrinsic motivators and curiosity

• Feedback with time for reflection

• Active involvement in real world tasks.

• They are also concerned with:

• Higher order abilities (e.g. - critical thinking, problem solving)

• High challenge / low threat environments

• Practice and reinforcement.

However, as discussed not everyone has the same needs to achieve so these principles will be evident to differing degrees in everyone. Possibly more difficult to identify and manage is what can create a barrier to learning.

Some suggestions include:

• Lack of feedback

• Lack of Concentration

• No motivation

• Inappropriate Environment

• Level of Course

• Experiences

• Tutor/Group

• Forced to attend

• Age

• Memory

In conclusion, Learning and Development is a major area of study in the corporate environment and this is just an outline of the principles being used. However, it highlights the need to focus on the needs of the team members to ensure the long-term success of a business whilst adding value to the team members.