Finding Leads: the Lifeblood of your MLM Business

Leads are the lifeblood of your business, make no mistake about it. Your long-term success depends on your ability to recruit a large number of prospects, as many of them will decline your offer, or will join, only to drop out in the first few months. You need a constant supply of fresh, new leads who are interested in a business opportunity, and/or in Network Marketing.

So where do we get these leads? If you're lucky enough to have a large circle of friends, or know a great many entrepeneurial types, you can start there, if you haven't already alienated all of them with alot of previous offers. Most people, however, find that they need to pay for leads sooner or later. They might run newspaper or ezine ads, distribute business cards, or join a leads co-op (a service that sells you the names of people identified as opportunity seekers).

In SFI, for instance, you can join the leads co-op and receive a monthly list of names of people who have responded to their print ads. You also get some free monthly leads as part of your IAHBE membership. Most successful Team and Group Leaders, however, spend quite a bit of money each month on leads. Some are even doing well enough that they can afford to "seed" their new recruits with some new recruits in their downline, giving them an initial boost.

You might as well face it. If you want to rise to the top in any MLM, sooner or later you're going to be paying for leads. It's a cost of doing business successfully.

What do you look for in a leads source? Several things. First, you want to know that the source is reputable, and delivers what is promised in their advertising to you, their customer. Second, you want leads that are fresh. You want people who have very recently expressed their interest in an online business opportunity, so you can "strike while the iron is hot". Leads that are not fresh will be much less responsive, because many people have lost interest, or moved on to other things in the meantime. Whenever possible, you want exclusive, non-shared leads. Why pay for the privilege of calling or sending e-mail to someone who is simultaneously being recruited by a number of other reps for the the same or different MLMs?

Many people who are new to online business don't even know that leads and co-registration services exist. Educate yourself, and educate your downline, and then budget a montlhy amount for leads production. It pays off.