MLM Home Based Business - Generating The Leads You Need

The biggest challenge for most any MLM home based business has nothing to do with selling its products. The chief hurdle a MLM home based business usually faces involves building a successful downline. Just how do you find recruits who are genuinely interested in becoming part of your MLM home based business sales team?

Well, before you rush out and start trying to generate leads for your MLM home based business, you need to have a plan. It isn't enough to tell people about your MLM home based business and its products and expect them to sign up. You need to know as much as you possibly can about your MLM distributor, the products, and the compensation plan so that you can answer any questions a MLM lead may have.

The more you know and the more comfortable with it you are, the easier it is to make people want to become part of your MLM home based business. Not knowing the answers to their questions or giving vague answers is more likely to make any MLM leads you do generate mistrustful of you and your MLM home based business. And be sure to have a follow-up plan for what you'll do after you've generated some leads and started making contacts because it generally takes several contacts before people take action of any kind, whether buying a product or signing up for a MLM home based business opportunity.

Once you know your MLM home based business inside and out, you're ready to start generating those MLM leads. One of the first places to look, of course, is to your friends and personal acquaintances. Make a list of everyone you know. You'll likely be surprised by how long that list is, and the people you know are a good place to start looking for MLM recruits. A lot of the time, even if your friends and acquaintances aren't interested in a MLM business themselves, they can give you names of people they know who will be interested in your MLM home based business opportunity. And if they don't volunteer any names, don't hesitate to ask them, politely of course, for names of people you can contact.

Another thing you should do to generate MLM leads for your home based business is start collecting. Business cards. Email addresses. Phone numbers. You never know who may or may not be interested in an MLM home based business of their own--and you won't know unless you contact them and ask. Again, the person you contact may not be interested in a MLM home based business himself, but more often than not, the person will know someone else who is. Cold-calling isn't necessarily easy when you first start doing it, but as you gain experience, you'll get more comfortable and confident, and that confidence will ultimately pay off. Just be prepared to hear no and don't take it personally.

MLM trade journals are another good place to generate leads for your home based business. These journals are read by people who are already interested in MLMs which makes them a "warm" market. Including a press release with your ad will greatly improve the number of inquiries you get. And make your ad for your MLM home based business as different from the other ads as possible. This is important so that your home based business MLM ad doesn't get lost in a sea of others.

Buying MLM leads is one of the most popular wayw to generate leads for your MLM home based business. Many companies have email lists and phone number lists for people who have expressed their interest in getting information on MLM opportunities. Often you can even buy MLM leads who want to be involved with your particular type of MLM home based business opportunity. This makes purchasing leads a great option for most MLM home based businesses.

When buying MLM leads for your MLM home based business opportunity, you want to be sure you're getting them from a reputable company. You don't want to buy an out-of-date MLM leads list or one that's been sold over and over. So do some research on the list selling company before you buy. Also, be sure to check any phone numbers you buy in the Do Not Call Registry. Doing this is your responsibility, not the company's you buy the list from, so you need to be sure to check them before you call. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

author: Charles Fuchs

MLM Business - The 7 Business Factors Test of a Multi -level Marketing Business

So many people ask the same question: Is Multi-level Marketing a REAL Business? Is it truly a business that can produce a living and income? Is it a REAL distribution business? It is a business that operates for the customer's satisfaction, and always looks to gain new customers?

Here is the answer: YES.

How and why does it qualify as a business? Every business has certain traits and functions that are needed to do business and stay in business. We have developed what we call the "7 Business Factors Test", and you have to ask these questions to see if it qualifies as a business. All businesses, no matter whether it is a traditional business or a non-traditional business, (such as MLM), answer these questions in the affirmative.

What are the "7 Business Factors Test" Questions?

1) Does the MLM Business distribute goods and services of some type?

Answer: Yes.

In MLM, there are goods and services that are distributed through personal distribution methods, and they are distributed directly to the customer, with no middle man. These goods and services can be manufactured by the MLM company, but usually are not. The goods and services many times are manufactured by an outside source, and then shipped by the MLM Business to the customer or distributor. Then the distributor can take the goods, and re-sell them to their customers as well.

2) Does the MLM Business have an official Office, headquarters, or structure that the business is operated out of, and with an address of some type?

Answer: Yes.

All MLM businesses should have some kind of office or headquarters that the goods are shipped from, or at least in charge of the shipments getting to the customer. This does not have to be a fancy office, but one that can get all the tasks needed to run the business done in a timely fashion. They should have a visible address on all communication.

The distributor's business is usually operated out of the home, and that counts as a structure that the home business is housed.

3) Is there an accounting structure that is set up to run the business effectively and legally?

Answer: Yes.

All MLM businesses should have an accounting function and people set up to handle all business transactions. They not only keep the books for the MLM Business itself, but also the MLM distributor as well. The MLM Business from the home should have some form of an accounting system, for tax purposes, and for profit and loss statements. Accounting also helps keep the Company and distributor aware of the health of the business and how it is doing, or not doing.

4) Does the MLM Business have easy communication to get a hold of someone if needed?

Answer: Yes.

Communication is the lifeblood of any business, and MLM is no exception. MLM Businesses usually not only have an order line, and a distributor line, but a general public telephone number that the public can get in touch with them as well. Usually at the MLM Business Office, there is someone to answer the phone as well.

And the MLM business should also have an email system that is watched, and taken care of, on a daily basis. This is not only for the distributor base, but also the customers and public as well.

5) Does the MLM Business have the needed business licenses and legal structure to do business in the states and countries they operate in?

Answer: Yes.

All MLM Businesses that have been in business for any amount of time, must have the needed legal structure and licenses to operate in every state. If they do not, they will eventually be forced to cease doing business in that state. And most MLM Businesses have some form of a corporate structure that the company operates under. That could include being a C Corporation, an LLC, or a Sub S Corporation.

Even MLM distributor needs a business license to do business in their city, so they will not be penalized if they do not have one and are caught.

6) Does the MLM business operate on a FOR PROFIT basis?

Every successful business structure, traditional or non-traditional, should operate on a FOR PROFIT basis. Even the MLM distributor needs to operate on a FOR PROFIT basis. If the MLM business does not operate in a profit mode, and loses money continually, the MLM business will not be in business for that long.

It is the same way for the MLM distributor. If the distributor does not make any money, then they will not stay in business long.

7) Does the MLM business perform all of the needed business functions to increase business, including marketing, promotion, campaigns, running specials, advertising tools, customer service, brand extensions, research and development, direct marketing, increasing brand awareness, and keeping their vendors at an honest price?

Answer: Yes.

Every MLM business operates to increase business, using all of the functions mentioned, and more. Even the MLM distributor needs to perform some of those functions, to increase their own business in their marketplace. These are functions any business needs to do, in order to stay in business, and enlarge it's operating capacity.

Yes, an MLM Business is a TRUE business that operates to service the customer's needs, bring products and services to the marketplace, and show a profit at the end of the year.

MLM or Multi-level Marketing, has passed the "7 Business Factors Test." If an MLM Business you are considering does not answer all of the above questions YES, then you may want to consider seeking another MLM company that can pass this test as a Multi-level Marketing business.


author: Doug Firebaugh

Online MLM Promotion - The 3 Wrong Ways and 3 Right Ways of Doing it

Contrary to popular belief (or what most MLM people would prefer to believe), online MLM promotion campaign is somehow different from an offline MLM promotion campaign. You can not simply try to apply the same successful offline MLM campaign online and hope that it will be as successful online.

There is basically one major difference between offline and online MLM promotion: one-on-one approach versus one-on-many approach. In offline promotions, one-on-one approach and follow up on each lead is a very crucial factor. If you can follow up on a prospective lead and succesfully educate him about you MLM program, you've got yourself a downline. If not, you'll have to wipe the tears off your eyes and try your luck with the next prospective lead.

An ideal online promotion in the other hand, relies very little on one-on-one follow up. With the power of the internet, it is possible to find people who are already interested in MLM, willing to spend money on promoting it and train them about your MLM program all automatically. This way it is possible for you to have many prospective leads at the same time, train them all at the same time automatically and therefore makes your chance of recruiting downlines significantly bigger.

To do a successful online MLM promotion, it is best to know first what to avoid in doing it. Here are the wrong ways most people are doing in promoting their online MLM program:

1. Promoting an online MLM in an offline media

By offline media, we mean regular magazines or newspapers you usually subscribe to or sold on bookstores. Some people may think that if they promote their MLM program in TIME magazine or Wall Street Journal, they will instantly get thousands of leads who will easily turn into downlines. Anyway, almost everybody read TIME magazine, right? True, but to tell you the truth, almost nobody who is reading a magazine or a newspaper will put down whatever it is they are reading, dash frantically to the computer and type the URL you promote to check it out.

Most people will think "This may be OK to try. I'll browse the site when I get to my computer" then read on. When they finally get to their computer a few hours later, they most probably have totally forgotten about your ad.

2. Promoting an online MLM in an online classified ads site

There are two reasons why this is a bad move: First, because there are now literally thousands of classified ads sites on the internet. None of them is a major player in the field, which means you must try to post to all of them for maximum exposure. Second, because most of the sites don't charge anything to put ads on their sites, a lot of other people are also promoting there.

To get a decent number of people viewing your ad, you must put your MLM promotion ad in at least several hundreds classified ads sites. There are softwares out there that can do this automatically, but if everybody's using a specialized software to do this, then your ad will be competing against tens of thousand of other advertisers' ads, and as soon as your ad appears it will be pushed downward by other ads from other advertisers. The chance of the right kind of lead seeing your ad in the right time and the right mood is very slim if you try this approach.

3. What could make all those 2 mistakes even worse: using long and forgettable URL

This 3rd mistake can only make the previous 2 mistakes even worse. If you are very lucky and an eager lead finally reads your MLM ad and decides to visit the URL you're promoting (let's say it's something long and ugly like yourmlmcompany.com/cgi-bin/prospect1.cgi?sponsorid=1192349&message=1192. If he decides to sign up right there and then after reading the promotional material, you are to be congratulated as one of the luckiest MLM distributor in the history of the industry.

However, if he doesn't sign up directly (which is very normal), he may want to revisit your site later after some deep contemplation. Unfortunately for you, he may not remember your long URL when he gets back from his contemplation. He may only remembers the yourmlmcompany.com part and type it in into his browser. This will bring up the same exact page he visited, but this time you won't be his upline if he signs up. Sad, isn't it?

After looking at the wrong ways to do an online MLM promotion, let's take a look at the correct ways of doing it below:

1. Promoting an online MLM in an MLM/Internet business related ezine

An ezine is an electronic publication sent out by its publishers on a timely basis via email to its readers. Readers of MLM/Internet business related ezines are very interested in the topic, and they are a very responsive market to your MLM ads. Your ads will be put before/after or between articles, depending on how much money you are willing to pay.

Put your ads in one of the MLM/Internet business related ezines, and you are guaranteed many qualified leads who will be easy to convert into downlines if your MLM company has a good follow up system.

2. Promoting an online MLM with pay per click search engines

This is one of the most powerful online MLM promotion method known today. Many well known search engines such as Google now "rent" a portion of their search result page to be used by paid advertisers to put their ads on. For every "click" to your site, you must pay a certain amount of money (starting from as little as 5 cents).

With this promotion method, your MLM promotional ad can show up on the search result page of Google if somebody types in MLM related queries in the search box. Imagine the power of it. A lead wanting to join an MLM program, typing in the word "MLM program" into Google, and reads your ad when the search results are displayed. Will he click to find out more? Most likely.

3. What could make all those 2 right methods even more successful: using short and memorable URL

Which URL is more likely to be remembered by first time visitors to your MLM site: yourmlmcompany.com/cgi-bin/prospect1.cgi?sponsorid=1192349&message=1192 or myownmlm.com?

It is possible to direct every prospect visiting myownmlm.com to yourmlmcompany.com/cgi-bin/prospect1.cgi?sponsorid=1192349&message=1192 without they ever knowing the difference. This way, your prospect can remember your URL much more easily, and whenever they visit your URL again, you'll still be their upline of they sign up.

This very useful feature is now available from as cheap as $8 per year on the internet. Just search in the search engines for "cheap domain name with frame forwarding" (without the quotes) and you'll find many options to choose from.

CONCLUSION:

Most of the wrong ways of doing online MLM promotion are free methods. Avoid this seemingly money free methods. They seem to be free at the first glance, but in the end they bring you very little result and consume very much of your time.

All of the right ways of doing online MLM promotion are paid methods. Most beginners in MLM try to avoid these methods, yet they bring in the most result with no wasted time on your part.

author: Johannis Seumahu