MLM and Network Marketing Leads

The very first people to approach about your opportunity are in your cell phone: your friends and family. The people who know you, and who trust your judgement and opinion, are more likely to get started with you early in your business.

To facilitate this process most network marketing companies provide tools and training on list making. Many companies have "Make a List" worksheets — some even make a game of it — which are usually accompanied by a list of "memory joggers" that help people think of names.

"Who is your auto mechanic? anesthesiologist? appraiser? baker? babysitter? beautician? ..."

This technique, known as warm market recruiting, was first made popular by Amway in the 1970s and is the "de facto" method of building an MLM team. It's popular because everyone can do it — even if they only put in their Mom and their best friend.

But, it does have some drawbacks.

Untrained and unrestrained, as most new network marketers start out in the business, many quickly find themselves honorary members of the NFL (or No Friends League.) You can quickly get into hot water with friends and family if you come off as too "salesy," and you can quickly upset Mom and Uncle Steve if it appears you're doing this to profit from them (as it should — your focus should be on helping them be profitable first.)

There is a right and wrong way to approach your warm market. So, ask your warm market for help and referrals with your new venture, rather than try to sell them, and help the interested ones get started and succeed in your business.

This strategy works exceptionally well for people with a large sphere of influence. One of my top producers is a real-estate agent who recruits entirely from his warm market. It doesn't hurt that his rolodex is full to the point of bursting with the names and numbers of people who know, like, and respect him.

But, it doesn't work well at all for people, like me, who were locked up in an office with a computer for the last decade. My list was like 5 people, seriously. Yes, that's sad, but it's true and I want you all to know I've been there. ;)

My advice is to be real with yourself. If you have a large circle of friends, or your career gives you a large sphere of influence, use this as your primary recruiting style. If not, choose a different strategy that leverages your unique strengths.

Either way, this strategy works best when you have strong upline support and credibility. Rather than you talking to Mom and Uncle Steve about the business, it should be someone in your upline (who's making great money) talking to them in-person or on the phone (with you on 3-way.) The credibility they bring to the discussion can often make a huge difference.

Some people prefer to focus more on their companies' products, sponsoring people onto their team only after they've used the product and expressed interest in the business.

If this sounds like your style, Kim Klaver has an excellent training program called, "3 Scripts: 100 Customers, 100 Days." On this 8-CD set, Kim goes through the process of developing a natural, conversational script for talking to people about their business.

In the process of working on these scripts, she routinely points out "salesy" phrases and company lingo with pinpoint accuracy. You can't get a script past Kim Klaver that contains the words "synergistic," "income opportunity," or "sharing." She forces you to develop a script that talks to people in plain language that a twelve year old child could understand.

Klaver teaches her students to focus on finding retail customers. By building your team with people who find genuine value in the product, you will have more long-term loyalty. Professional network marketers often hop between various opportunities as the market changes, but product users continue using the product for years. Amway still sells a lot of laundry detergent.

Will it take you longer to build a big organization this way? I think so, but there's an upside: you'll have a very high reorder percentage, meaning your team will generate great sales volume.

In my opinion, whether you use this as your main style of recruiting or not, it's worth having in your repertoire. The scripts Kim teaches are so natural and conversational, they make working cocktail parties and other social events much more productive:

"So, Jeff, what is it that you do?"

"My company is bringing a product to market for people like me who love to eat chocolate but can't because we want to stay fit and healthy. I love chocolate — seriously, it's an addiction — and have always felt guilty indulging in my favorite treat. Then, a friend introduced me to healthy chocolate.

"At first, I didn't believe it could be good for me. But, within days of starting to include the chocolate in my diet, I felt amazing... I had much more energy throughout the day and, after a week, I noticed I was sleeping through the night. Apparently, I'm not the only one noticing these benefits. And you know what? I like the product so much, and believe so much in the company's future, I decided to go into business distributing it.

"So, do you know anyone who might benefit from a product like that?"

Click here to learn more about "3 Scripts: 100 Customers, 100 Days."

The Renegade Network Marketer is an eBook written by Ann Sieg to educate network marketers on the importance of true marketing, and of branding yourself, or "You, Inc." Ann certainly didn't invent attraction marketing, but she's applied it with devastating success (and caused quite a stir in the industry in the process.)

The Renegade eBook, while an important read for most network marketers, is only one piece of the Renegade puzzle. In addition to writing her eBook, Ann has put together quite a sophisticated affiliate marketing system. In the same way that Robert Blackman urges us to "sell pick-axes to the gold miners," Sieg offers purchasers of her system with many products and services to sell to other networkers.

For example, almost any network marketer growing their business online is going to need a few things: a domain name, a website, and an email auto-responder. If you purchase anything through those links I get paid, and that's just three of the many affiliate links I have through the Renegade system.

This whole concept, selling an eBook and other products and services to fund the marketing of your primary business, is called a self-funded proposal. When run correctly, and Renegade commissions exceed your advertising expenses, you have a "magic slot machine." The more money you put in, the more comes out. It's not a bad place to be.

As you might imagine, Ann Sieg is one of the big names in attraction marketing. Her eBook, though controversial for its candor and tone, is written to attract a specific market: networkers who are already in a program, and believe in network marketing, but are frustrated by their lack of success.

Ann has smartly determined that these people are the most desirable prospects... after all, talking to happy networkers who are extremely successful in their current business is not going to grow your primary team. But, get someone who's not doing so well on the phone, show them the light, and you might just convert them to your team and make the world a better place at the same time.

So, how does the Renegade help you build a list of such people? Simple: each time someone purchases the Renegade system from you, you get a commission of 50%, and (perhaps most important) you get the contact information of the purchaser. This allows you to follow up with them, develop rapport, and build a relationship. In time, if you add value to their life, they will add value to yours. It's the law of attraction.

Click here to learn more about Ann Sieg's "The Renegade Network Marketer."

After purchasing the Renegade system, new marketers are often confused and overwhelmed about exactly how to get started in promoting their capture page. Renegade University, created by Mike Klingler, is a training system for attraction marketers designed to fill this gap.

If you've purchased the Renegade or Magnetic Sponsoring and been left wondering, "Well, what now?" Renegade University will go a long way towards giving you practical It answers the question, "What next?"

You can sign up for free, and right away the first eight lessons will give you a tour of your Renegade system, help you set up your Renegade back-end affiliates, set up a domain name, advertise for free, and track your advertising. Not bad for free.

Renegade University is targeted at beginners and intermediate students of attraction marketing. Each of the strategies and tactics discussed are detailed in step-by-step videos, making it practical for anyone to apply the lessons.

It's not "simple-minded," though. Far from it. The content teaches concepts that are "advanced" for most network marketers. Are you making pages like this on Squidoo? How are you promoting your business on Facebook? What should you write about on your blog? Renegade-U answers those questions and more.

Just like the Renegade system it's designed to enhance, Renegade University provides a generous affiliate program. For every subsciber ("Professional") member you refer to the University you make $18 per month.

To be honest, I had trouble getting traction with the Renegade system prior to Renegade-U. I've learned some things from it that have helped my own marketing efforts, yes... but more than that, I have an incredible training resource for my team which is helping them to get traction.

Click here to learn more about Mike Klingler's Renegade University