If you are building a Network Marketing business or MLM, and you are just sharing information with others about great products for some extra income, prospecting will always be the first thing you will need to learn. When I see people floundering in their business or stuck without any momentum moving them forward, it always comes down to prospecting, or should I say lack of prospecting?
But it does not need to be this way. It can be as easy as brushing your teeth. It can be so natural that you may not even know you are doing it. If you are using the Internet for prospecting, you will not even be there as people come to you.
The Key is to Have More Than One Method in Place.
One, two or three or more methods of prospecting will make it much easier for you compared to using just one. There are over 101 prospecting methods to pick from. Placing newspaper ads, mailing postcards, giving out audiotapes and video DVDs, joining the local Chamber of Commerce, home party plans, buying leads. These are some of the old-school methods that have been used for many years.
Today, prospecting on the Internet using “Attraction Marketing” is the newest way of prospecting and works even better then the old-school ways listed above. But this requires training from the few people who now understand it and are using it. Since I started to use ‘Attraction Marketing”, I no longer use the old-school methods above. But even when using the Internet, you still need many different methods for prospecting.
Here’s a partial list of some of the online and offline methods available to us:
· Ezines
· Joint Ventures
· Postcard Mailings
· Pay-Per-Click
· Magalogs (Catalogs That Look Like Magazines)
· Direct Mail
· Spots In Other People’s Catalogs
· Banner Ads
· Radio
· TV
· Press Releases (Online And Off)
· Teleseminars
· Webinars
· Magazines
· Newspaper Classifieds
· Speaking At Seminars
· Writing Articles (Online And Off)
· Inserts In Newspapers, Magazines Or Mail-Order Shipments (This Is Called “Insert Media”)
· Blogs
· Viral Marketing
· Social Marketing (Through Sites Like Myspace)
· Linking Strategies
· Free Search Engine Listings
· CPA And CPM Networks
· Forums
· Online Videos
· Cell Phone Ads (Bet You Never Thought Of This One!)
· And The list goes on…
The key is to pick two or three and use them on a weekly basis to connect with people who have a need for your products and may also want to increase their family’s income level by joining you in your business. Over time, you will learn which ones work the best for you based on your resources, skills, and your style.
Keep in mind that we are talking about prospecting methods here, not what business building method you use. Prospecting is looking for people to talk with, a business building process is what you do with them once you find them. I met a lot of people over the past few years who have said that finding people to talk to was not a problem for them but most all of them said they did not know what to do when someone said yes.
So be sure you first have a business plan in place that is simple for people to follow before you do any prospecting. That way, if your prospect is interested in learning more, you can then plug them right into your process. The business plan will most likely be the same one your sponsor used to introduce you and is now teaching you the same plan.
One method of prospecting I used to enjoy was to buy business leads because it saved me time. I also felt that if I could buy leads, so could my downline builders. It is better to use a method others can also follow so that is why I used it at that time in my MLM career.
However today, I market 100% on the Internet because technology has now made it possible by more people than ever before to do the same. My builders can follow the same process their first day in business and will not face the rejection that knocked so many out of this business. I find that some people are still learning how to use their e-mail but yet want to learn how to build their MLM business on the Internet instead of using the party plan method.
So my thought is to keep this business as simple as I can so that anyone and everyone can follow and do the same as I am doing.
What about referrals? That’s a great way to connect with new people and a method I use a lot. Because they are referrals, they would be considered a warmer prospect compared to people who you don’t have any connection with at all.
The average person knows at least 200 people so that means that if you just talked to people you know and they each referred the people they know, that would give you the potential of 40,000 prospects!
That would be great if you got to meet all of them, but this is the real world.
But having more than one prospecting method working for you is the key to making prospecting easy to do. Some methods will fit you like a glove and others will feel uncomfortable at first. Some will take you out of your comfort zone but that is not a bad thing. It just means that you are growing and will be paid very well in the future for this kind of personal effort.
The key again is to use more than one method to have success. Why? Because in doing so, it means you are doing more, which will increase your odds of meeting the people who have a need for what your offering. When you are using many different methods for prospecting, you will always have people to connect with.
If you are using only one method, it says you are hoping it will work for you. When you use many methods, it says you have a strong core desire for building your income and if these don’t work, you will simply try other methods until they do.
Of course, this does not guarantee everyone success. No matter what prospecting method you use, how many you use, or the combination that you use, it will come down to your attitude and belief level as to how effective they will work for you. Remember, people are buying you much more then your product or MLM.
The key here is to just have fun as you test the different methods. When you do, one thing is for sure. By using more than one method, and being consistent each week, month and year, you will get better.
That I can guarantee you!