This is an age old question, but one that is still very present with a huge chunk of network marketing home business owners.
It's not that there is a lack of leads or a lack of opportunity seekers out there; it's the fact that there are now so many so-called lead generation companies and even individuals marketing to the industry that it's almost impossible to know who to trust and who has the best leads with the best price with the highest quality.
Well, let me save you a bunch of time, money, and effort and explain what is actually one of the BEST ways to get high quality leads from a trusted source:
It's to generate your own leads!
To some of you that may be very obvious, but to many people that thought has never crossed their mind.
Now, I'm NOT talking about getting 'leads' by making cold calls, using the 3 foot rule, going through your warm market, collecting business cards, or talking to someone at the store and getting their number.
I'm talking about ATTRACTING people to you using effective marketing principles.
If I may, let me share with you my opinion on the quality of leads that are out there using 3 stages:
Stage 1 Leads: These are so-called leads you may generate by using old school mlm prospecting techniques as described above. Which I refer to as 'Interruption Marketing'. This basically says that what you have to say seems so important that you must track people down and vomit your pitch on them and hope that they receive your message with joyful delight. I know, that's sounds terrible, but it is what it is. I myself have been there, done that and speak from experience, so I can laugh about it now.
So, Stage 1 leads are typically the lowest on the scale, and do not help your reputation as a true business professional either. You don't see regular business owners out beating the streets for prospects do you? There's no need to when you get educated on EFFECTIVE marketing.
Sure, you can get people involved by using these methods, but why put yourself and most of your prospects through these degrading and rather ineffective tactics?
Stage 2 Leads: These are the most popular form of leads, which are generated by lead generation companies or lead brokers. This category contains multiple varieties of leads such as opportunity seekers, home business leads, mlm leads, etc. that can have different degrees of type: phone interviewed, phone verified, surveyed, exclusive, infomercial, radio response, non-exclusive, email, opt-in, direct mail, long form, short form, etc.
Now, some of the highest response rates I have personally seen from this category are the fully phone interviewed and surveyed leads combined as one type of lead. To say the least, there are varying degrees of response rates among these leads and the people who purchase them, as well as their skill level in working with these leads.
That being said, Stage 2 Leads are a step up from Stage 1 Leads and I know people who have built big businesses just by working purchased leads. This is also a step up because it allows you to be a true HOME-BASED business owner. Meaning that you can actually work out of your home in your shorts and talk on the phone and build a great business without driving around town trying to find people to bump into or meeting someone at Starbucks or doing presentations at someone's house!
The main challenge with these leads is finding a reliable source of good quality leads for a good price, and hoping you have the time and the skills to make the calls necessary to convert the amount of people you need to actually turn a decent profit. In fact, many people who buy purchased leads never even make more than what they spent on the leads themselves. It can create a vicious cycle similar to slot machines and gambling: 'Maybe if I buy one more set of leads, then I'll get some good ones this time and hot the jackpot.' It doesn't work that way.
Stage 3 Leads: These are my favorite! These are leads that you generate yourself by using highly effective marketing techniques that ATTRACT YOUR TARGET MARKET to you 24/7 on autopilot with or without your presence. As in the other 2 stages, there are varying degrees of these leads and how you can generate them.
My personal favorite are leads you generate yourself using FREE niche avenues of online marketing, where you actually GET PAID for each lead you generate AND each lead has been qualified by making an educational infomation product purchase BEFORE you ever speak with them!
So, you get paid (instead of paying for) a lead that has actually invested a few bucks into their education of this industry and is actively looking for something (as opposed to just kicking tires), and has been drawn to and completed this entire process while you were out playing golf, or hanging out with your kids at the park, or working your day job, etc.
This way you can actually spend more time with serious prospects (who you are getting paid to talk to) instead of wasting time trying to find or convince suspects. This will also free up a huge chunk of time for you and allow you to spend you time doing what gets you RESULTS.
Which stage of leads sounds better to you?
The good news is, that it's just about proper education and then simple implementation of a predictable plan that can allow you to start doing business this way. It's easier than you think.
Personally, I will never go back to the old hard ways of building and prospecting. There's no point!
So, get the correct education and develop your own gameplan for success in lead generation!
by Scott Rogers
Scott Rogers is a Network Marketing Consultant, Trainer, and Independent Marketer. He Helps Networkers Learn How To Succeed in Their Chosen Business Using Very Effective and Leveraged Means of Marketing. He Offers a FREE Newsletter at: http://www.NetworkMarketingEssentials.com You can check out his blog at: http://blog.NetworkMarketingEssentials.com
