Leads. Are they the live blood of your MLM business? Some uplines will tell you that they are, but are they really? My take on it is NO, they are not. In fact, I think it’s a lie. CASH FLOW is the life blood of your business. Without cash, you are out of business.
But to get cash flow, you need to sponsor people into your downline who regularly purchase product and sponsor other people who regularly purchase product. In order to sponsor people, you need prospects who want to join your business. In order to get these prospects, you need to call people who’ve volunteered to give you their contact information – that is, leads.
Therefore, leads are actually 3 steps away from what you really need to keep your business going and thriving. But somehow, the heavy hitters have convinced you that you need leads, leads, leads. And the easiest way for them to make a quick buck is to sell you a ton worthless leads.
In my last post, I talked about buying leads and how it’s the biggest scam of the MLM industry. That’s mainly because the leads that the lead brokers source are not specifically targeted and therefore of very little use. When you’re buying leads, effectively you’re outsourcing your marketing.
Marketing is not something that you want to outsource. Marketing is something that you must learn and develop yourself.
Why?
Because business IS marketing. I’m not just talking about network marketing here. It’s true for all businesses. Peter Drucker, the great management professor and author of “The Effective Executive” once said “Business is Innovation and Marketing.”
You NEVER want somebody else to do your marketing (especially the dodgy lead brokers), because nobody else knows more about your business than you do.
You can generate your own, highly targeted leads for very little cost. In most cases, you can generate them for free, if you learn how to market.
So what’s the best source of these highly targeted MLM leads? The best source of fresh MLM leads, especially if you’re new to marketing, are people who are already participating in a network marketing opportunity.
Why?
First of all, you get the best prospects when you focus in on a narrow target market. If your target market is too broad, you won’t get the quality of leads you’re looking for. For instance, if you’re targeting people who want to start a “home based business”, this is a very broad market because a home based business can include selling clothes on eBay, affiliate marketing, freelance writing, network marketing, day trading, all sorts of things. If you target these people, you’re more likely to get tyre kickers, people who aren’t interested in MLM.
That’s why it’s better to narrow your marketing message to people who are already in network marketing or seriously looking into network marketing. Remember, network marketing is an industry with a very high failure rate. And that’s a huge opportunity for you because there are people in this industry who want to be successful, but don’t know how.
People in network marketing are looking for answers. They are looking for leadership. They are looking for a coach and a mentor who have achieved the level of success that they want. They are looking for a new home. These people are your hottest prospects.
The only way to attract them to you is to advertise.
I can hear you say…”Ok. So where’s the best place to advertise, if I’m just starting out?” Great question. Answer: The internet. The internet is the easiest, and fastest way to get started in marketing yourself. The reason being, you can get your message in front of the right people very quickly, for very little cost.
There are plenty of advertising avenues that are absolutely free. Think EzineArticles, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo. These are all free and highly effective resources you can use to get your message to other networkers.
People who are on the internet are, by definition, searching for solutions to a problem.
In network marketing, your business is YOU. It’s not your company, it’s not the products. Brand yourself as someone who can point others in the right direction. But please note, you don’t need to know everything – all you need to do is give people access to the right tools.
Build relationships and give people the right tools, and they will build the business with you.
To your MLM success,
Wayne Wu
P.S. I would love your input! If you have an opinion that would contribute to this discussion, please leave me a comment below.
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