The Internet is vast and it is a gold mine for people who know how to harvest its vast resources. Gone are the days of having to scramble for business cards and network marketing prospects in the real world. If you want to increase the number of downlines you have in network marketing, then you must learn the method of online prospecting.

There are two ways to get prospects or traffic on the Internet – the first way is using free traffic while the other way is using paid traffic. Both ways are equally effective and it is up to your budget that usually determines your approach.

Free traffic usually consists of organic search results, forum posting, blogging, article directory submission, free press release and viral marketing.

Paid traffic usually consists of Pay Per Click (PPC), paid banner advertising, CPA advertising, paid press releases, sponsored reviews, Co registration lists and also includes (but not limited to) hiring and outsourcing the traffic generation method such as E-book or viral report creation.

Most people start out with free traffic generation because they are still trying to overcome the learning curve and they don’t have the stomach for risks (they are still testing things). You can start with a free blog and drive traffic there. You can even invest in your own domain name to brand yourself. Using blogs is a very good way to appear on the search engines for your network marketing product – especially for longer tail keywords with less competition. You can write your own articles to drive traffic to your blog and get traffic through forum posting and commenting on other people’s blogs.

When you have made some money using free traffic you can start investing in paid traffic. One of the biggest advantages of paid online prospecting is that you can get as much traffic as you want. With Google AdWords, you can get traffic as quickly in as quickly as 15-minues to half an hour. You can use your money to invest in banner advertising on other people’s blogs or websites. You can even buy sponsored reviews those blogs as well or go through a third party service such as Pay Per Post.

Once you have traffic, you must be sure to link them to your lead capture pages that give the prospect a free e-book or special report (highly related to your network marketing product) in exchange for their name and e-mail address. You can send a series of follow up emails to pre-sell your business opportunity and when the time is right, they will turn into your long term partners as well.

Network marketing has evolved since the internet has become a major resource for lead generation and no longer is it necessary to create a names list and continually pitch your family and friends. Don’t be surprised if your upline still hasn’t moved over to the new style of network marketing, however, more are more there are leaders in the industry who are taking responsibility for their own success and pursuing an education in internet network marketing in order to achieve their dreams and goals.

The old style of network marketing where you were taught to create a huge names list and learn to create opportunities for conversation everywhere around you clearly worked for those that have successful upline that started in business 10 or 20 years ago. However, like everything, things change. Before the internet, a network marketing or MLM Business was built on trust and loyalty and face to face marketing was perfectly acceptable and perhaps more appealing. People lived more simple lives and had more time to go to meetings and enjoyed dealing with people on a more face to face level.

Since the internet has now become the place to shop, the place to chat, the place to do your banking and even the place to watch a movie, people who live much busier lives are much more happy to do everything online. Most people who are looking for extra income and create a financial future for their families wish to do so from the comfort of their own home. They are usually busy with a full time job or a mum at home looking after children and do not wish to be running all over town doing meetings or cold calling all their friends and family. In fact, most people who fail in the first 30 days in MLM do so because they do not like approaching family and friends and trying to convince them of the benefits of the products. Understandably, if you truly believe in the products you are promoting, it makes this task easier, however, the prospect needs to be actually looking for what you have in the first place. Think about all the times you have been enjoying your dinner and a telemarketer phones up and tries to convince you that you need a new mobile phone plan, when you really are not looking for one. It is extremely frustrating and so far from good marketing, that it is an embarrassment for the person doing the selling.

Because of the poor marketing strategies taken on by MLM companies, it has created a stigma for the industry and can repel serious entrepreneurs from joining the industry due to a dislike of the marketing practices. However, the MLM or Network Marketing model is perhaps one of the smartest ways to create financial freedom if practiced correctly. The industry has recently evolved with an influx of savvy marketers prepared to share their internet marketing secrets to others who are willing to do the work and educate themselves in internet network marketing. Web 2.0 or social marketing has become a very acceptable and professional way of marketing yourself as opposed to your opportunity, so as to offer more value to the world and average person looking for a way out of the rat race. The home based business industry has become a dog eat dog world on the internet, and the only way to stay above the fray is to offer value and a real solution for someone who has some dreams and goals.

This type of marketing, however, will separate the doers from the whiners and complainers as some people who join an opportunity in hope of making money, really, never get themselves out of that ‘employee’ mentality and only can manage to do what they are told without having to think. The doers will literally do whatever it takes to succeed and read every book and educate themselves thoroughly in order to achieve their dreams and goals. Whilst the whiners and complainers expect to be given everything on a platter and all they have to do is to sign up and get paid. Which category are you?

Jenni Ryan is an internet network marketing coach who has embraced the training of the Renegade University which offers step by step video tutorials to help you get your marketing up and running , even if you are a beginner. The training provides extreme value for any network marketer in any company and will teach you how to monetize your lead generation as well as creating free leads. For more information on the free training at Renegade University, go to:

http://www.jenniryan.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jenni_Ryan

In traditional MLM lead generation, you come up with leads from conversations and referrals. When you buy MLM lead lists, the leads usually come from a collection of names and contact information from people who have expressed an interest in a certain kind of product or in a business opportunity.

There are tons of companies that advertise on the internet who would happily sell you a MLM lead list. You can buy network marketing leads for an expensive price, or you can go for the cheapest lists available. What is the difference?

It may be disheartening to you to find out there really isn’t a difference! The companies that are in the business of selling MLM lead lists are not just selling the contact information to you. They are selling the exactly same names to everyone who is willing to purchase them. They are in the business because it is profitable, not because their MLM mailing list is spectacular. 

When you buy MLM lead lists, you may just get lucky and get one or two quality leads. However, it is more likely that you will find the leads to be swarmed by the competition and they will be tired of being contacted. Some will even be rude to you if you, by chance, get their phone number and call them.

You may want to buy MLM lead lists just to get practice when you are first starting out; however, don’t put all your eggs in that basket. You can use the MLM lead list to learn how to handle rejection and you might just get a chance to make presentations, but most likely it won’t be a fruitful experience. 

For a MLM lead list or network marketing mailing list to be effective, they have to be made up of high-quality leads. High-quality leads come from generating your own prospects. You have to talk to people. More importantly, you have to listen to people and learn if their needs match your opportunity or product. Always be on the outlook for interest in your products or business opportunity. 

Paid advertising may bring you some good leads because people who respond to your advertisement actually have an interest in your products or business opportunity. Referrals from people you know or come in contact with can also prove to be high-quality leads. 

Always consider the quality of the contacts and the cost per lead and pay attention to your conversion rate. If your leads are costing too much or you have a hard time converting prospects to customers or recruits, your MLM lead generation activities need to be questioned. If you buy network marketing lead lists and depend solely on that to build your business, you are barking up the wrong tree. You will waste hours of time and a lot of money marketing to contacts on a purchased MLM mailing list. 

Now, to answer the question at hand, “Should I buy MLM lead lists?” 

If you buy leads consider it to be a learning experience, not the secret to building your network marketing business. High-quality leads do not come from a purchased MLM lead list.

James Dillehay is a network marketing trainer who writes about useful tools for multilevel marketing (MLM) success. His latest book, Guerrilla Multilevel Marketing has been praised in Networking Times and by reviewers on Amazon.com. Download a free chapter at network marketing resources.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Dillehay

Do you need a low cost lead generation method for your MLM business? Are you tired of either having no leads or having to spend money you can’t afford on high priced leads that seem almost worthless?

If the above describes you, then reading this article could give your business an important boost.

MLM leads sold by online lead providers are normally generated through advertisements and lead capture pages that are targeted to opportunity seekers. These ads and pages do not name any specific product or service, but instead entice the visitor to enter their contact name into an online form in exchange for a promise to provide the visitor with information on how they can build a fantastic business of some sort (however, the business is not defined).

These leads are called generic leads. The individuals providing their contact information have not signed up for any particular business, business plan, or opportunity, but rather have simply identified themselves and possibly being interested in some type of business opportunity (usually without any work on their part).

The lead companies, then sell the leads to a number of different businesses who are seeking potential recruits for their downlines. When the person who purchased the leads then contacts the names on the list, they are usually greeted with a hostile response because they have been contacted by a number of companies they have never heard of or are not interested in, trying to push their business opportunities on them.

With these types of leads, positive responses are extremely rare and rejection is exceedingly high. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to build any kind of business using generic leads.

But what if you could create your own list of targeted leads…leads that were interested in what you have to offer, and leads that you were able to contact a number of times without rejection? And what if the cost of generating these leads was very low and positive responses to your offers relatively high.

There is such a method and process and it is becoming much more popular in the MLM industry today, replacing the old method of contacting all your relatives and friends and creating a warm list of everyone you know.

First you target your offers to only those who are interested in what you have to offer. Then, using a funded proposal, you sell them information that offers a solution to a problem they have. The sale of the information product provides you with dollars you can recycle back into your advertising budget while at the same time providing you the customer’s contact information so you can contact them again with additional information, establish a relationship with them.

Once a relationship is established in a non threatening manner, your prospect will take an interest in what you are doing in the MLM industry and you will be able to present information about your opportunity to them at their request.

Is this method fast? No, but it is very effective. After all, building relationships is at the very nature of building a successful MLM business. There is no need for high pressure tactics and no need to worry about having to cold call someone and being rejected. Let the prospect come to you.

For further information on this method and how it can work for your MLM business click the link in the resource box below.

George Dodge, an Internet MLM Coach and Mentor, shows Network Marketers how to easily create a passive residual income online and generate targeted MLM leads at Make MLM Profits Online Now

In the past, I have been in network marketing with minimal success and lots of failure. Over my years being in and out of the industry, I have discovered mistakes that I and many of my fellow network marketers made before quitting or making it big in the multi-level marketing (MLM) industry.

The following is a list of the four (4) biggest mistakes that network marketers make:

1. Trying to convince untargeted prospects: Something they tell you in network marketing training seminars is to talk to anybody using the 3-foot rule. No matter how good you think you are in face-to-face selling, you can not convince somebody to accept an idea if they are not sold on that idea themselves. If you DO have good face-to-face or belly-to-belly selling skills, then, by all means, close the sale and get them signed up into your business. In corporate America, making a one-time sale works. However, in network marketing, you, as the sponsor, should then guide your new recruit in the right direction to success in network marketing. Otherwise, your new distributors will end up dropping out of the program and never speak to you again. Your relationship with your new distributors is an ongoing process and never stops.
2. Starting a conversation off about their business opportunity: The fact of the matter is nobody is going to give a hoot about your network marketing business opportunity. What prospects ARE interested is how a particular business can benefit them or help them solve a problem. Does your business have a unique weight loss formula that is sure to work? Does your business have a very powerful cleanser to clean out the gunk in their gastrointestinal tracts? If prospects view you as somebody who gives them value in their lives and who helps them solve their problems, then they will have no problems signing up with you. Therefore, focus on what is going to benefit the prospect and not benefit you.
3. Wasting time doing follow-ups on prospects that show no interest: Following up is a good thing with network marketing. However, following up on uninterested prospects is a definite waste of time. If you call a prospect to do a follow up once or twice, go no further. Many times, I have seen newbie distributors call their prospects up to 7 or 8 times to join their business. Believe me, I did this too. If prospects do not call you back after your second call to them, don’t even bother with them. Some network marketers say not to go any further past the FIRST follow-up phone call. It is your choice.
4. Trying to build their network marketing business by branding their own sponsor as the expert: I have seen newbie distributors make this mistake far too often. They get on a conference call with their prospect and their sponsor or upline. I do not like this idea because if you let your sponsor do all the talking to your prospect, you are branding your sponsor as the expert and not you. Then your prospect is more likely to work with your sponsor and NOT you. In network marketing, what you really want to do is brand yourself as the expert in the industry so that prospects will be more focused on you as the expert. An expert is that somebody who can help them solve their problems either in weight loss, nutrition, getting leads for their MLM business, etc. The more that people view you as an expert, the more you will have prospects signing up into your downline to do business with you. If you feel you are not an expert, then attend those MLM training classes that your company offers. You can also find a training system that trains you on how to do network marketing over the internet. That is what those courses are for. Don’t be afraid to invest in your education in network marketing.

Think of network marketing as a profession. It is a profession that requires you to study, read up, and/or teach others how to become successful. After all, the best network marketers never stop learning. Learn from the mistakes I have spelled out here or learn from your own mistakes. Everybody is going to make mistakes when they first start out in network marketing. I should know. I’ve been through a ton of MLM companies with little success because I never corrected my mistakes or did anything new. However, it is those, who learn not to make those mistakes again, that will succeed.

If you want to know more about Marco Abanico or DoctorLighthouse, click on the links below.

Marco Abanico is a expert in internet network marketing and runs the website, DoctorLighthouse. He lends his expertise on internet marketing by writing extensively on getting free MLM leads for your business, employing strategies for internet marketing, and generating network marketing leads on the internet.

There is a lot of talk and coverage from the media the last few months about the current financial problems the US economy is facing that threatens to drag the whole world into a global recession. But what will be the consequences of that crisis to the MLM industry?

Actually, the MLM network marketing industry is to benefit from all this turmoil for many reasons whether we dive into a recession or hopefully manage to avoid it. First let us take the worst case scenario that we do get into a recession or even a depression.

In that case, many corporations will start lay offs in a big scale and many people will find themselves unemployed, while others under reduced salary. Such things could lead to an increase in the people who are looking for opportunities in order to start a home based business and supplement their income. Of course the great increase won’t come for those who lost their job, as they would be desperately looking for a new job to survive, but from the rest. It would come from people who will keep their jobs, but would keep feeling a constant threat that their job is the next in the line if another round of lay offs would happen. Probably a percentage of them would be working under reduced salary, so they would have another incentive to start looking for alternatives to supplement their income, as probably their paycheck wouldn’t suffice.

Many MLM opportunities are poised to benefit from that influx of new members and many distributors would manage to fill their downlines fast and build networks that would give them passive income in the years to come.

But even if we hopefully manage to avoid a crisis and things would go back to normal, many people took their lesson from what little we have experienced till now. While not in a big scale we still had lay offs, and many people saw their investments in the stock market falling. Investments that were supposed to provide for them when they reach the age of retirement. Add to that that the decline in the house prices hurt a lot of people that were relying on the increasing value of their homes in order to draw equity from them through refinancing to cover a part of their expenses, and you realize how hard people were hit.

Under all this, it is natural that many people learned how dangerous is when you rely on others for your economic future and are going to seek for alternatives. Alternatives like having and running your own home based business instead of relying exclusively to employment for a source of income. And of course a percentage of them will get into MLM as it is offering many advantages that is very difficult to be found in other business models.

Learn the tips and tricks that can help you succeed in [http://mlmspot.com/]MLM and build a big downline in any network marketing opportunity. Knowledge is vital when it comes to building your home business in any multilevel marketing company and you should always allocate a percentage of your time to your training as it would define your future success.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Kosman http://EzineArticles.com/?MLM-and-the-Current-Financial-Problems&id=1546037

Professional networkers know that MLM thrives when the economy tanks. In effect, network marketing offers a way of surviving a financial crisis.

One of the secrets of network marketing is finding the people who are looking for you. In times of economic distress, a larger percentage of people are searching for extra income.

The key is helping those people find you. Here’s six ways to make sure you make those connections:

• Build relationships. Listen closely to the people you meet. Ask questions about their life and their livelihood. Inevitably, they will let you know if they’re looking for an opportunity.

• Don’t treat people like they’re a number. When you start connecting with someone allow the relationship to grow. Don’t rush your presentation on them. If you’re patient, they’ll let you know when they’re ready to hear what you have to say. Move any earlier and you’re likely to turn them off.

• Get close to people. People join people they know, like and trust. So, be knowable, likable and trustworthy. One good way to accomplish this is to show that you know, like and trust other people. If you want to make friends, be friendly.

• Point to the near future. During shaky times, most people don’t need to be reminded of the possibility of losing their job. Make sure, they also understand the importance of having something else on which to rely.

• Point to the distant future. Most people have a negative net worth when they retire. Help people see the wisdom of preparing for that now.

• Be positive. When people constantly hear gloom and doom, a hopeful word goes a long way. You can help people recover their dreams, but they must remember them first.

These strategies provide professional networkers will the tools they need to navigate through tough economic times. Michael Dlouhy’s book, Success in 10 Steps, serves as a source for such methods.

Dlouhy has 30 years of experience in the network marketing profession. He knows the ins and outs of how MLM companies work and what it takes to be successful.

Many networkers have used the book to learn how to get ahead in network marketing. They use it to train their downlines to experience similar results. It’s especially valuable to anyone looking for ways of surviving a financial crisis.

You can get a free copy of the classic “Success in 10 Steps” ebook at the http://lifechangingebook.com/ web site.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Devane http://EzineArticles.com/?Surviving-a-Financial-Crisis—A-Personal-Rescue-Plan&id=1540222

While the lists that Kim compiles won’t tell you which companies are better than the others, they are pretty good indications of the popularity of the different companies at this particular point in time.

Here are the 20 top business opportunities as of August 2008 from Kim’s blog here:

1. Avon
2. Quixtar
3. Ytb Travel
4. Mary Kay
5. Melaleuca
6. Market America
7. Usana
8. Nu Skin Enterprises
9. Pre-paid Legal
10. Isagenix
11. Arbonne International
12. Take Shape for Life/Medifast
13. Tupperware
14. Shaklee
15. Pampered Chef
16. Herbalife
17. A C N
18. Success University
19. FreeLife International
20. Trivita

Kim also has a list for top network marketing companies which are less than 5 years old which you can find here:

1. Mona Vie
2. My Power Mall
3. Agel
4. Max International
5. Wealth Masters International
6. Talk Fusion
7. Freedom Rocks
8. Waiora
9. Vemma, Liquid Vitamins & Minerals
10. MXI Corp
11. Lifewave
12. Acai Plus
13. Ignite
14. One Group
15. Xooma Worldwide
16. BookWise
17. Citizenre
18. IGONET
19. MyVideo Talk
20. Candlewealth International

If you’re looking for a top mlm company or if you just want to see how your company ranks, I encourage you to find the most current list from Kim’s blog.

The fact is prospects usually care more about the person presenting the product than they care about the product itself. When I was starting in network marketing I wanted to know if the person behind the ad or the webpage was somebody likeable and worth working with. My main question was could they help me succeed in my business?

Most people looking into network marketing businesses are thinking the same thing. That’s why the number one reason someone will join your team is you–how you act, what you say and who you are–not your product or service.

Ask yourself this:

• Are you someone worth following?
• Do you have passion?
• Do you have vision?
• Do you have an objective (other than “make more money”)?
• Are you constantly improving yourself?
• Are you open to learning new skills and enhancing your current skills?
• Can you mentor others?

If you feel like you might be lacking in any of these qualities, are these areas you’re willing to make an effort to improve? If so (and you actually make those improvements), that is a characteristic of a leader.

Success in network marketing isn’t just about how many products you sell. And it’s not only about how many people you recruit–it’s about how many people you help raise up to a higher level than where they were before you met them.

The surprising truth is that long-term network marketing success is largely based on how many leaders you find and develop, more than on how many products you personally sell.

At their core, all super-successful network marketers are great trainers. Likewise, most great network marketing trainers have constantly growing network marketing businesses–and that’s not a coincidence!

For instance, did you know that Tom “Big Al” Schreiter, one of the greatest network marketing trainers of all time, has his own network marketing company? (Ask me what it is sometime and I’ll tell you.)

He never mentions his company in any of his training materials but I’ll bet he has people out of the blue joining his team regularly because he is well-recognized as a friendly, sincere, knowledgeable network marketing leader who people want to work with.

Big Al, Dani Johnson, Mike Dillard and other network marketing trainers have mastered the art of having a constant stream of fresh prospects coming to them, asking how to join their business. They aren’t in the situation that 99% of all network marketers find themselves in: desperately looking in all the wrong places to find someone, anyone, who might be interested in joining their team.

The trick to attracting leaders is YOU must be a leader. You need to get trained by those more successful than you, put those lessons into action, learn from your mistakes and pass on your new knowledge to others.

Think about the type of leader you want to attract: passionate about the products with a never-ending stream of eager prospects and happy customers–and BE that leader. By being the leader you want to attract you will naturally attract those who aspire to be leaders, too.

Here are 4 ways to generate free network marketing leads on the Internet.

(1) Use blogs

The blogging phenomenon is one of the easiest ways to generate free network marketing leads. When you go on blogs, you can easily get people to spread the news via word of mouth. The reason is because there is this thing with blogs that spread buzz. It adds a touch of personal touch or recommendation compared to a sales letter or reading a sales brochure. Not only that, you can become an authority on a subject and brand yourself easily using your blog.

(2) Use e-books

There are many ways to use E-books to market your network marketing opportunity. One of the ways is to write your own and distribute your E-book on network marketing through your website, blog or membership site. They don’t even need to belong to you. As long as you can write good content, people will be more than happy to distribute your book all over the Internet. If writing is not your flair, you can even outsource the writing process to a ghostwriter or use Private Label Rights to let you brand yourself as the book author.

(3) Build a mailing list.

Most people do not buy into your business opportunity on the first try. It’s like asking someone to marry you after the first date. It doesn’t work this way. Let the process of courtship teach you how to woo your prospects into becoming your long term partners. After all, network marketing is a long term business. You don’t want to use unscrupulous tactics to force people into your network marketing. You can build a solid relationship with your prospects using a series of follow up E-mails. You can build a mailing list to keep in touch with them and offer them promotions, tips and latest updates.

(4) Article Marketing

Another powerful way to get free leads. Write a single article about network marketing or about your product and submit those articles to article directories like E-zine articles and Go Articles. These article directories have lots and lots of readers and they will also give you a good search engine boost in rankings.