Prospecting Sucks

Let me say this: prospecting sucks. For 4 years I have been an avid student of network marketing. I’ve listened to hundreds of tapes and filled my library with all of the right books. I got into the right mindset, put affirmations all over my home office, and I’ve worked – HARD. I purchased opportunity seeker leads, learned how to set up an autoresponder and tweaked those campaigns for YEARS. I tried every recommended lead provider I could find and jacked up my credit card bills to buy said leads. I pumped those expensive, and not so expensive babies through my autoresponder and watched as my live leads poured in, WOW! Now we are getting somewhere, I thought…

I called every one of those hard-earned live leads. I sponsored upwards of 50 people relatively quickly. But they dropped. 99% of those people dropped. They couldn’t duplicate what I was doing. They especially couldn’t pick up the phone and make the calls, because prospecting sucks.

And did I mention the ‘powerline’ fiasco? What a waste of time and money that was! Those folks didn’t want a business, they wanted a handout.

Somewhere around my third year I got enough guts to start calling other networkers to see if they’d be interested in looking at our opportunity. I made 50-100 dials a day for weeks on end. I’d get totally burnt out and take a few days off, then go back to it. I faired no better than I had before. The only difference was that the networkers were nicer to talk to!

Finally, in June of this year my business changed forever. I learned exactly why I had been ‘spinning my wheels’, and why I was only making a fraction of what I should have been making after all of those years of hard work. Most importantly, it was as if all of the bits and pieces from everything I’d ever read came together and it was like ‘Ah HA!’, I get it. I immediately stopped doing all of the silly crap I’d been up to- and went to work with the knowledge that my work would actually pay off!

So what did I change about my business? I decided I would make money, not spend it! Seems obvious, but if you realize that most home businesses fail because they are too expensive to maintain, I think you’ll have to agree with my changes. I changed the way approached my business in three fundamental ways:

First, I made the decision that I would NEVER spend more on my business than I would receive as a check for said business. That meant that I would even cancel my autoship if my check did not exceed the cost of product.

Second, I realized that I could not buy a single lead, or place a single paid ad. I had to generate my own leads, for free. I had to do the legwork to find out where the best advertising spots were, and I had to take the time to post in these spots on a daily basis.

I learned to use free ezine ads, forums, and networking sites.

Third, I learned the best way to construct an ad so that people absolutely have to click! I learned about psychological triggers and how to apply them in different ad types.

After taking the time to learn these new tactics, I developed a system and found that I could effectively work my business without making 100 dials a day or selling my first born to the leads companies. I still have leads to call, but they are exclusive, live leads that I generated for free. I am making money, not spending it. I share these tactics with my newly sponsored folks and get them started making money right away, instead of spending it. This has dramaically increased my retention rate.

So yes, prospecting sucks- but it can be easier, if the right marketing tactics are used. When you work smart, not hard, the end result is time and financial freedom…what was promised to you when you first signed up!

Happy Networking!