Get in the Game or Stepping up to Bat

To play the game of network marketing, you've got to first find leads… or find people to talk to.

Pretty obvious, isn't it? Before you can expect anything to happen in your business… you've got to find people to talk to about your business.

Imagine a baseball game where there was no pitch. You would never get the chance to hit the ball and advance to 1st base. And, the pitch won't come until you step into the batter's box indicating you're ready to play.

Okay… let's play Ball

The single most important thing you must do to build a thriving business is to EXPOSE your business to as many people as you can. No one will ever buy your products or join your business if they don't know you exist. Using the baseball analogy… if you want to score some runs, you've got to step up to bat and take a few swings. The more often you get the opportunity to swing at the ball (getting leads), the greater your chances are of hitting a few.

"Easily the most puzzling incident in the sports world occurs in baseball when a batter steps up to the plate and lets the pitcher throw three strikes without taking a single cut at the ball. . . . Even more disappointing is to see a person in the ball game of life step up to the plate and never really take a cut at the ball. He is the biggest failure of all because he doesn't try." –Zig Ziglar

This step is fundamental in a recruiting system – generating a steady flow of leads. Without a fresh supply of leads regularly for you and your downline, your business will not grow.

Did you get that?

A steady flow of leads into your prospecting pipeline is the lifeblood of being successful in your Follow Our Lead business… or any business for that matter.

To use another analogy, you might think of your business opportunity as the vehicle that can transport you to where you want to go… but, you need to put gas in the tank to make your vehicle go. Your gas in this business is leads. The more gas (or leads) you have, the further you'll go… and conversely, no gas (or no leads) or too few leads, and you won't go very far.

MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS: Too much time spent chasing the wrong people will put you on a one-way street to disaster! As a rule of thumb, I believe the 80/20 Rule applies: 80 percent of your leads will not have an interest in your product or service. Only 20 percent will even be open to new opportunities. That means you’re wasting valuable time on 8 out of every 10 people you talk to if you call all your leads. With odds like that, it’s no wonder so many MLM distributors get discouraged.

You must CONSISTENTLY load NEW leads into your prospecting system in sufficient numbers to overcome the 80/20 Rule if you are to expect success. Then use a filtering system to qualify your leads to sort out the "tire-kickers" from the serious prospects as you move them to 1st Base.

Did you get that? Let me repeat it because this is a critical concept you absolutely must grasp if you're going to be successful.

You must consistently load NEW leads into your prospecting system. Buying a 100 leads now and expecting something to come from them just is not going to happen. Finding a handful of prospects every now and then isn't going to work either. You've got to commit to your business for the long haul followed up with the financial and time commitment to work your leads CONSISTENTLY if you want success.

PERSISTENCE + COMMITMENT = EXPONENTIAL GROWTH
If you will be persistent and committed over the longer term, you will experience exponential growth in your business. If you don't see your income explode in your first months of working this business, don't worry… that is normal. There is a normal learning curve (and an earning curve) in any new business and it takes some time for the momentum to begin. How much time it will take will largely depend upon how seriously you take your business and how committed you are to playing the game.

If you don't sponsor anyone in your first month, that doesn't mean the business isn't working… it only means you need to develop new skills or learn what people are doing to successfully sponsor new people. Or, perhaps you need to become more knowledgeable about the product.

Now… here's something interesting. Information is great but without taking focused action based on that information, nothing is going to happen. You can read all about the game of baseball… watch it on TV or live… learn about all the great players… analyze their stats… and on and on. That stuff is all great and interesting… but will NEVER make YOU a good ball player. If you want to get good at playing baseball, you've got to step into the batters box and begin swinging at the ball. You've got to get into the game!

The fastest way to failure in your business is to quit!

Okay, enough of that. Hopefully you've got the idea. Let's move on to "where" you can find people to talk to.

Where do you find people to talk to?

They are all around you. You talk to some of them every day. There are literally millions of people out there waiting to hear from you. You only have to go out and connect with them.

The best place to start is with your warm market.

Oh, I know what many of you are saying right now. "I don't want to talk to my friends, family, or neighbors."

Let me ask you this… "why not?" Don't you like them? or don't they like you? Wouldn't you like to help them?

And besides, who better to have as a partner than somebody you know, like, and trust?

If you're thinking to yourself that the grass is greener elsewhere, I would encourage you to read the ebook called, "Acres of Diamonds" by Russell H. Conwell and you may change your tune.

Folks, if you ignore your warm market, you're making your first mistake in this business and my best guess is you're setting yourself up for many more.

• Your "Warm" Market of people you already know can be an untapped goldmine.Sometimes people who get into your business don't have a lot of money to buy leads. You can Exchange Capital Equity for Sweat Equity and still be successful. It may take a little longer but that is OK. You have to start somewhere. Once you start making money you can start buying leads.
• Build Alliances with people you know (or would like to know) who has a relationship with your ideal prospects. What about YOUR accountant or your attorney? Who do you know that owns a small business? What about that person who works in a human resources department? Don't box yourself in by only thinking of people who might want to start a home based business… many more would be interested in our products only and perhaps later would see the value of starting their own business. Instead of making home-biz prospecting calls each day, make calls to people who can make you rich overnight.
• Your Chicken List is a list of those people so big and successful, that you are too "chicken" to call them.

Your leads can also come from any one of a variety of sources including purchased leads or from your own prospecting efforts either online or offline.

 

Following are some of the lead systems I've been using. You should be using – at a minimum – one of them and when you've mastered that system and have it fully stocked with an adequate number of leads consistently flowing in to it, you could then add another source.

• Instant Messaging puts you a click of your mouse away from millions of people when you sit in front of your computer. Millions of people have discovered Facebook and each of your FB friends are just a click away. Creating FB pages and groups is a great way to accumulate "like-minded" friends in whatever niche you're working. If you're not already on Facebook, it's time for you to learn this this powerful resource to expand your business. It's FUN and you can meet some wonderful people.
• Writing An Email Newsletter is a powerful way to build your list of prospects and as these relationships develop so will the trust with your subscribers. Your subscribers will begin to identify with you and eventually contact you to do business.
• Promote web site in search engines is pretty much a "no-brainer" as far as I'm concerned. It's quite simple to submit your site to the major search engines and should be done ASAP.
• Create a BLOG. While email marketing is great, with the advent of spam filters it is getting increasingly difficult to get your email delivered to your prospects. A great alternative to an email newsletter is the BLOG. Think of it as an "on line" newsletter where you can share your personal experiences and provide tips for your readers. GVO offers a simple to follow Blogger Builder to help you get your blog online in just a few minutes.
• Generate Your Own Leads
  There are people every day using search engines and the Internet to find information about working from home. They are Looking For YOU! Doesn't it make sense that if they are looking for you, it might be a smart thing to do to make it possible for them to FIND you?Using a personal web page, splash pages, and lead capture pages can literally open up to you a steady flow of leads coming into your prospecting pipeline every day. Talk to your sponsor and/or upline coach for more information about this powerful strategy.

While buying leads is an easily duplicated system, there are many other ways to generate leads for your business. You can use traditional off-line marketing methods as well as online marketing methods to build your list. See the Business Building Tools: Leads section of this website for other online and offline methods for generating leads.

How many leads do you need?

 

Sifting and sorting is a "numbers game". The MORE leads you sift… the more prospects you'll find.

The S.I.N.A.L.O.A. Principle: Safety In Numbers And The Law Of Averages.

KEY: The number of leads you consistently load into your pipeline will have a direct impact on your success or failure.

"Life seems to reward those individuals that work hard and don't quit, on the other hand it seems to penalize those who are lazy and quit easily. With few exceptions, you can determine how much an individual earns by the number of people they serve. If you serve only a few the chances are excellent that they will not be earning much. If you find a way to serve thousands, you will earn a good living, but if you find a way to serve tens of thousands you can become wealthy. That is the beauty of network marketing. If you make the investment of time and effort you can create an organization of tens of thousands you can reap huge rewards because of your service. The opportunity to serve tens of thousands has typically been reserved for company Presidents and CEO'S, but networking allows you to become your own CEO. " — Kurt Wilkins

Read The Leads Enigma by Paychecks For Life Pres/CEO, Kurt Wilkins

MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS: Regardless of the system you use, what's important is that you obtain a sufficient number of leads to keep your pipeline full – or even better overflowing. Only when you have an abundance of leads, will your prospecting attitude or posture change from one of discouragement to one of empowerment. Conversely, having a scarcity of leads or too few leads will result in frustration and discouragment.

To get started playing the game – I recommend you commit to consistently putting a minimum of 300 leads a month for the next six months into an automated prospecting system. You might even want to choose to mix the leads sources making up your 300 leads – or use the same source, either way is okay. The point is you want to be exposing your opportunity to at least 300 NEW people every month.

I like what Kurt Wilkins says in, The Leads Enigma, "Leads are like the accelerator on your car. Put in more leads if you want to go faster, less leads if you want to go slower." I suggest that 300 leads a month is what's required just to keep you moving forward. Fewer leads will result in your car sputtering to a stop, and more leads will get you to where you want to go much faster.

Consider your first 100 leads to be only "training" leads. The next several hundred (up to maybe 500) can be considered "skill building" leads. As you continue to work additional leads you will further refine your approach and become more effective in your prospecting.

The 80/20 Rule Applied: 80 percent of your leads will not be interested at all… 20 percent will move to the next level. The challenge for us at this point in the prospecting pipeline is how to identify the 20 percent who are willing to consider our business opportunity. If you can afford to buy tens-of-thousands of leads and have enough patience, perhaps a passive approach can help you identify those few people to move to the next step. For most, they will need to use a more active approach to call their leads on the telephone to determine who is qualified to move forward.

One successful networker I've worked with suggests you need to have at least 65 "contacts" with people a month in order to find one good representative to join your business.

NOTE: A "contact" is more than simply plugging a lead into an automated email system. Contact means that you actually talk with the person on the phone, in person, or exchange personal emails.

Since you'll likely only reach 20% of your leads, in order to have 65 "contacts" (or 20 percent) you'll need 325 leads to begin with.

 

Of those 65 "contacts" you should find about 13 (or 20 percent) who will be interested in learning more and will move to the next step in your recruiting pipeline. That might be to watch an online presentation, attend one of our online webinars, sign up for our Yahoo forum, visit your FOL website, or do a 3-way call with your upline.

 

Of those 13, you can expect two or three of them (again… 20 percent) to be seriously considering your business opportunity and generally one of them will eventually join your business.

Once you understand this powerful 80/20 rule and how you can apply it to your business, your success simply becomes "working the numbers."

Remember…
The S.I.N.A.L.O.A. Principle: Safety In Numbers And The Law Of Averages.

How many people are you "contacting" or talking to every month? If it's only a dozen or so, the 80/20 rule says it will take you longer to find your enrollments. If it takes you 6 months to "contact" 65 people, it will take you 6 months to find your FIRST enrollee. If you "contact" 65 people every week, you'll be enrolling reps an average of 4 or 5 a month. You see, it's all in the numbers.

MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS: Keep in mind that you are NOT selling. You are sifting and sorting – or culling the wheat out from the chaff. You are exposing people to your products, services, and income opportunity… and then, collecting decisions. It's like mining for gold. You have to move allot of dirt in order to find that precious and valuable metal. Your leads are like the "mine," and you have to work the mine in order to get to the gold. You will be going through allot of people, many who are not at all interested – and some obnoxious – looking for those few who are really interested.

Learning and applying the 80/20 business rule will make you wealthy… ignoring it or breaking it will break you.

DON'T MISS THIS…
Your leads, your database, your list… is your most valuable asset!
Both the quantity of leads you have and the quality of leads you have will determine your results. Build your lead list wisely and continually enlarge it with fresh leads.

Many people struggle and eventually fail in this business because they simply don't have enough people to talk to. They might say they quit because they didn't make enough money… but the truth is they didn't make enough money because they didn't talk to enough people.

Did you get that?

The difference between the rep who makes lots of money and the rep that doesn't is that the successful rep talked to alot more people than the unsuccessful rep.

Master Your Pipeline! Understand the process you are going to move a prospect through.

Regardless of the approach you choose to build your business there is a sequence or process that is universal in building your business. There are several ways to describe the process:

Prospecting… Presentation… Duplication,

Find People to talk to… Talk to the people you find… Teach others to do the same.

I've used the baseball diamond analogy to describe this same sequence in slightly more detail.

Find Leads… Qualify Your Leads… Make your Presentation… Follow up… Sign Up & Duplicate

Learn this sequence… follow it… and you will begin to experience more success. Why? Because it works!