Just over the past 10 years, the network marketing industry has changed drastically and thus emerged a whole new breed of marketers: The Internet Marketer.  If you have ever spent years building an organization by contacting friends, family, cold calling, cold contacting, etc. then you would gladly welcome attraction and direct response marketing.

For me, after spending 4+ years building an MLM the old school way, it was refreshing to run across information in which I would use systems to build my business.  Though I have transitioned out of MLM and into a top tier program, I still find myself always keeping my eyes and ears peeled while in the public marketplace, looking for opportunity to help others.

It’s funny because the network marketing industry, at least the online marketers, are always figuring ways to maximize their recruiting efforts. The game is constantly changing. For a whole year, I spent all of my time marketing strictly online and wouldn’t even talk to anyone I met out about my business.  Why?  Because I had transitioned to an online model and was doing just great with it. It was exciting knowing that I was making sales and recruiting new reps solely online.

After thinking back, I wonder how many opportunities I passed up to impact someone’s life that I had met out in the marketplace.

This brings me to the next point.  You should have a balance of both online and offline marketing in your marketing plan but have a strategy in place that will yield the greatest results.

Through studying some of the greatest marketers on earth, I have learned that both online and offline marketing used together, can produce unreal results.

The whole key to offline marketing is the quality of people that you approach about your business.  In the past I would talk to anyone that would talk to me about my business.  Big mistake.  Why?  Because I was not qualifying them and wasted a lot of time talking to the WRONG PEOPLE!

Through educating myself and being coached by some of the top recruiters in the industry, I realized that the people I was looking to talk to and who I had the greatest chances of partnering with were high level executives, Real Estate Agents/Brokers, Doctors, Lawyers and high commissioned sales people.  People who were already successful at what they are doing are the people I have learned to target.

I think it had a lot to do with my self esteem and I felt that those people were already well off and would not be looking for another opportunity.  I couldn’t have been farther from the truth.  By talking to those types of people I found that they are way more open to talking about a business opportunity than the guy at the carwash or the drive-through at Mickey D’s.

Now I probably spend 15% of my time doing offline marketing and 85% of my time online and so far seems to be working great.

In closing I think it’s important to have a balance in your online and offline marketing and be very consistent and persistent in your efforts.

Network Marketing is not what it was ten years ago.  Quite frankly it’s not what is was five years ago.  I am going to go over the pros and cons of building your business online vs. offline and you can make your own determination of what makes more sense to you.

After doing both, I know the answer.  You will have to make the determination for yourself, but I think once your done, you will see things in a whole new light.

Getting Leads

Offline – You are going to build your list manually through making lists of friends and family, talking to strangers in malls, stores, Barnes and Noble, gas stations, etc. This works awesome if your a type “A” personality. Most people don’t. This takes a lot of time.

Online – Traffic is automatic, once it’s built.  Your going to build your list online through a lead capture page or “squeeze page”.

Connecting With Leads

Offline – You have to physically call every one of your leads.

Online – Your going to use an email auto-responder in which your going to add value to them.  You are also going to call your leads, but by the time you call them, they know who you are and are interested in your offer.  After all, they opted in for more information.  Your not having to bring them up to speed like you would in an offline scenario.  Your system does the sifting and sorting for you so all your left with is a qualified lead.

Business Presentation

Offline – You have to physically show up to show the plan. I personally remember when I first got started in network marketing showing 1 hour plans.  Can you imagine? And I drove all over my state doing it, sometimes out of state. WASTE OF TIME. Why? Because they were not pre-qualified and I was just using the plan as a filter to check their interest.

Online – How about a webinar or video doing the presentation.  How about a PowerPoint presentation or a Bamboo drawing session to explain your business plan online?  You can do it from the comfort of your own home.

Follow Up

Offline – This sometimes can be done on the phone, but most of the time it’s in person. Once again, leaving your home, spending precious time away from your family.

Online – We use email, the phone, Skype and other online communications.

Sign Up

Offline – Traditionally to sign someone up your going to have to give them a number or a specific website to send them to.  You have to guide them through the process.

Online – Your sales funnel will sell almost everything for you if it is set up correctly.  Sign-ups are automatic and there is little effort involved.

Training

Offline – You have to meet weekly in hotels, homes, etc. to do training with your team.

Online – You can automate your training through videos and teleconferences.

Conclusion Offline

Pros: Offline business building in the network marketing industry is more stable and you can create real long term relationships with people.

Cons: Very time intensive and it is limited to what you can do on a daily basis.  It’s solely up to you.

Conclusion Online

Pros: You can reach way more people in a shorter period of time.

Cons: Will dissipate if you don’t build relationships

As you can see, there are pros and cons to both ways of building your network marketing business. There is no right way or wrong way, there is just quick and slow.  With that said, how long do you want to wait to build your business.  Are you on the 6-12 month plan or the 3-5 year plan?

PS. Ready to learn how to automate your lead generation and business building process?  Visit MLM System On AutoPilot for your FREE Information on how the top earners do it.

There are many ways to generate leads in your network marketing business.  Some hold on to traditional techniques as this is what they are comfortable doing.  Is there anything wrong with it? Nope.  It all depends on what kind of momentum you want to have in your business and how fast you want to grow your organization.

I have built my business both ways.  I used to spend every spare moment I had in what I call “contact mode”. I was always talking to people everywhere I went. I simply started conversations and looked to find out a few things about a person. I wanted to know if they were happy doing what they were doing for a living, if they were making all of the money they wanted and living the life they wanted.  I would guide them down a path in a conversation to find out what made them tick.

Did I have success using these techniques?  I had some success, but could never create enough momentum, nor have others duplicate what I was doing to build my list of potential business partners.  I learned a lot about people during this portion of my life. Mostly, I realized that most folks were comfortable doing what they were doing, or, were afraid and skeptical about starting a new venture in which they were unfamiliar.

The funny thing is, when you got done interviewing someone or showing them your business plan, they first thing they would do is call either their best friend or significant other to try and explain what it is you showed them and ask for their opinion.  This is the downfall of most people.  They listen to others who have no experience in business and take financial advise from them.

NEVER TAKE ADVISE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IN LIFE FINANCIALLY!

I learned this early on.   Learning how to generate leads for my network marketing business was a science.  I quickly learned that there were way more people online looking for what I had to offer, than in my town.  Sure you could tap into lists of other people, but you had no credibility with those people.  When online, a cool thing happens.  Your message can reach the far ends of earth with the click of a button and you can control your sales funnel, meaning guide people through your system at the rate in which you want them to go.

For me, there has never been a better way to generate leads than online.  Some people laugh and don’t understand how I can build a relationship with people online.  They don’t understand they powerful systems and tools that we as online marketers use.

Most people are real good at promoting their business, however, fail to realize that people are not looking for businesses, they are looking for leaders.  I see it all of the time.  People send me to their company replicated web pages and there are only two options, join their business or contact them for more info.  I am not saying this is wrong, however, what separates these folks from every other Tom, Dick and Sarah that are using the same exact replicated site?  The answer is nothing.

You have to separate yourself from the masses.  Stop doing what everyone else is doing and be unique.  Use the road less traveled.  Step into unfamiliar ground and learn a new skill set.  Learn how to tap into the billions of people that are online looking for what you have to offer.  Have a system in place to help people get exactly what they want out of business.

Network marketing lead generation is crucial to your having a thriving business in the 21st century.  Your either going to be the hunter or the hunted.  I prefer the ladder of the two.  How about You?