When my wife Rosemary and I joined our first MLM company, our sponsor was a great guy who had been in MLM and Network Marketing for dozens of years. He was an older gentleman who had done quite well using traditional MLM marketing techniques and strategies.
The very first thing he told us was this….
EVERYONE is a Prospect For Your Business
We took this to heart.
We made “the Big List” of anyone and everyone we could think of: family, friends, our butcher, our tax accountant, the grocery store clerk and anyone else we could think of (have you been introduced to the famous “memory jogger” – ugh!).
We bought dozens of our company’s business DVD and happily marched off to our local Mall, waited outside Macy’s (only the “well off” shop at Macy’s, right?) and started handing out our DVDs.
At least we tried.
Many people wouldn’t make eye contact with us, wouldn’t take our DVDs and, if they did take one, would deposit the same DVD in the nearest trash can. UGH!
We went by the (in)famous “3-foot rule” – “anyone within 3 feet of you is a prospect” – and pitched our business to anyone who would listen.
No one listened, and many ran the other way.
What was the result of all this “traditional” marketing?
We made maybe a hundred bucks each month — not even enough to cover the cost of the DVDs — and wasted an INCREDIBLE amount of TIME.
And time was something we did not have.
We both worked 50-60 hr weeks in healthcare and had only about 10-15 hrs each week to work on our business.
We couldn’t afford to waste any!
I know there are many people out there shaking their head, “YES!”, and know exactly what I’m talking about.
Its true — it’s probably the Biggest MLM Myth that is promoted by Traditional Marketers who know no other way.
To them it’s just a numbers game… the more people you approach, the better your chances of finding the few who may be interested in joining your business.
Everyone Is a Prospect For Your Business
The biggest MLM myth is also the biggest Time Waster.
We spent hours calling leads who didn’t want to be found.
We spent hours walking the local mall looking for interested people.
We lost friends.
We alienated family.
And we lost Buckets Worth of Time.
But there is a solution…..
If Everyone Isn’t A Prospect, Who Is?
Simply put, you need to TARGET your effort and your prospects.
You do not want to pitch your business to anyone with a pulse.
Rather you need to decide who YOU want to work with, who YOU want as part of your team, and who would be attracted to YOU.
One of the best places to start is to DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL PROSPECT – in great detail.
Who is this person who you would most want on your team? What do they look like, what do they do for a living, what is their financial status, are they married, do they have kids, have they ever been in business before?
Then go deeper…..
What do they read, what do they watch on TV, how do they spend their spare time, where do they hang out on the Internet?
Spend a lot of time on this… it will be worth it later.
You are laying the FOUNDATION of your Marketing Strategy.
Once you’ve settled on your Ideal Prospect, than everything you do in terms of Advertising and Marketing is geared towards this person.
This is the person you wish to ATTRACT.
You are making the switch from being a HUNTER to the FISHERMAN.
The hunter chases his prey… the fisherman attracts his prey.
It’s one the most important and powerful mind shifts you need to make in order to be an effective Network Marketer.
To your success!