Which Types Of Prospecting Techniques Do You Use?

Prospecting is an integral aspect of growing your list of leads. These leads can be used for both offline and online marketing purposes.

Basically when we talk of prospecting, be it for an online business like network marketing or affiliate marketing or for traditional offline business, there are two main techniques, the online as well as offline methods.

It is only in recent years that more people have started to use the online method of lead generation through the use of internet marketing. So which technique works best and which is more effective?

Let us take into account the network marketing industry. Traditionally, ninety-nine percent of network marketing business owners have learnt how to prospect from their uplines and pass on the same information to their downlines.

Generally they teach you to build your master name list by literally requiring you to write down every name in your phone book. This list would include your family, friends, relatives and acquaintances. Some companies will go a step further to provide you with a list of memory joggers… “who do you know”. This is a very extensive list and covers almost everyone and anyone with whom you may have had contact. Emphasis is placed on creating a long list as the belief is ‘the longer the list, the greater the success’. The list is supposed to be your best asset.

For those who are not able to generate a long list, they are taught how to approach total strangers which can be scary for some individuals. When the master list is ready, you will be taught how to invite these people to attend opportunity meetings which are normally held in hotels or homes. These network marketing business opportunity meetings normally last between one to two hours and the prospect is then sold on the dream of succeeding in a home business like network marketing and thus finding the elusive financial freedom.

Some people who attend such meetings are not even aware that they are at a network marketing opportunity meeting. They are not informed until the very end because of the fear that they will close off their mind towards the opportunity if they know that they are actually attending a meeting related to the network marketing industry.

Not many people succeed in the network marketing industry if they follow exactly the above. The problem with the traditional way of prospecting is that:-
 The prospects are from a vast market and are not targeted
 Some prospects feel tricked upon realizing in the end that they are actually in a network marketing business opportunity meeting especially if they have not been informed earlier

With advanced technology, there is now an easier, rejection free method of prospecting. No cold callings required as well. A great & simple tool that everyone can benefit from.

Using the internet, prospecting for leads using the internet marketing method will gain you a prospect in your target market. You are able to gain targeted traffic through the use of various tools on the internet, namely:-
 Article marketing
 Search engine optimization
 Pay per click
 Email marketing
 Banner ad
 Podcasting
 You tube

A great advantage you will find when using internet marketing as a form of prospecting is that these leads or prospects are willing and eager to find out more about what you are offering. As you engage in online marketing you will come to realize that you need not be a ‘pest’ and approach people who are not interested in what you have to offer. This therefore allows you to avoid having to face loads of rejection.

Not only that, you do not need to resort to unscrupulous tactics to be the first to snare the prospect (which can happen in traditional prospecting when you and your sidelines may share the same group of friends) and you can be very upfront with your network marketing business opportunity with each and every single prospect.

How To Get Free Leads

Many network marketers whom I know actually pay for leads. As we are fully aware, without leads who are converted into prospects and finally into customers or business partners, a business cannot survive. Thus in order to boost their sales and profits, many resort to buying targeted leads in terms of sex, age, income, interest, etc... and this can be a costly campaign. Although this is an easy and popular way to get traffic to your website, if you are willing to put in some time and effort, you will be able to effectively get free MLM leads.

FREE??? And how, might you ask, is that possible?

In this day and age of the internet, we need not resort to the obsolete lead generating methods that were used in the 70s and 80s when free leads meant making friends with strangers at parties, networking events and motivational seminars. If you have never heard of free leads before today or have had problems trying to get these free mlm leads, let me share with you my top recommendations in getting these free mlm leads.

If you would like to find an effective way to build your list of leads who will turn into your prospects, you need to take full advantage of the internet and what it has to offer. This will help you generate a long list of qualified leads for your home based business. Basically, these leads are your leads and if you build a strong relationship with them, they will follow you even if you move on to other opportunities. The more value you offer them, the longer they will stay with you, the more willing they will be to listen to you and the easier they will part with their hard earned cash when you have a great suggestion or exciting opportunity for them.

Here are some of my recommendations showing you how you can generate your own list of your very own free leads:-

- Create a blog
A blog is basically a diary that you maintain. The exception being that it is published on a website and available for all to see if you so desire. If you niche is mlm, then start an mlm blog and become an expert authority in your field. Brand yourself on the internet as people basically follow leaders. Nobody wants to follow 'a follower'.

- Participate in forums
Again, the idea is to brand yourself and this is a good way of getting to know many people and making more friends. If you are in the mlm industry, then join the many mlm forums and contribute to the discussions that abound. Just remember not to spam. This is another good alternative to generating free leads.

- Make use of social networking media
Social networking platforms like Facebook and MySpace are some of the most visited sites on the internet with millions of visitors every single day. If you are able to tap into the massive traffic there and start an MLM community, you will always have free mlm leads pouring into your sales funnel.

- Article Marketing
No matter the niche you are in, if you can deliver attention grabbing and traffic pulling articles, you will be able to generate lots of free leads. You can drive traffic from article directories. Article marketing is also a great way to tap on the traffic from search engines as they tend to rank very well on Google.