Old Fashion Prospecting Is Tiresome AND Unfruitful

by John Bland of The Contrarian ( 31-Jul-2009 )

I hope you are ready for some plain talk. I've never learned to cloak what a think is true behind rose colored glasses or velvet gloves. Take what is written in this article as my educated opinion -- an opinion nurtured by age and experience. Those of us that have experienced any kind of network marketing for any length of time can identify with the title of this article. Back when the "flagship" of multilevel marketing appeared -- better known as Amway -- America was a different place. Neighborhood families were closer. Most children still played predominately out of doors and parental interaction was the rule rather than the exception. No personal computers and no Internet existed. In this environment, the OLD way of building a home based business was much more effective. I'm not saying it was easy! ALL successful enterprises require work and dedication, whether at home or "downtown". I'm speaking of antiquated methodology. I'm talking about home meetings. I'm talking about working one's warm market until they "head for the hills" at your approach. I'm speaking of making countless phone calls and listening to endless conference calls. Oh, and lest I forget, I'm speaking of placing fliers on parked cars, door hangers, etc. And shame on me if I fail to include the necessity of 3 way calling to your up line guru. In today's environment, neighbors are not generally close. Parental interaction is the exception rather than the rule. Children play outside much less, choosing instead to occupy themselves with television, computer chatting, and video games. Adults and children alike are bombarded and saturated with an unbelievable amount of information -- most coming from their computers.And this information is free, a point that you need to keep in mind. In 2008, personal computer use reached 1 billion households world wide. This avalanche of on line information has changed forever the methodology needed to build a home base business. Those that want to hold onto the old marketing system find themselves comparable to generals that always want to fight today's war with the last war's technology. The fore mentioned home meetings, endless phone calls, working one's warm market, fliers, door hangers, and 3 way up-line calls have for the most part ceased to be effective. Furthermore, it is as difficult if not more so to keep a convert as it was to sponsor him to begin with -- those sponsored don't last to help build the business because they can't handle that old ways, if they ever could. In this market atmosphere, you must be willing to GIVE before you take. People need to see YOU as the expert, rather than your up-line guru. No matter what you are selling, the individuals you recruit are buying YOU not the product. This fact needs to be etched in your brain. It needs to adorn your every endeavor. YOU MUST LEARN TO PROMOTE YOU! Consequently your warm market needs to be left alone. Of course, if you're like me, they have already learned to run like hell at the "smell" of a potential business op. Calling opportunity seeker lists, genealogy lists, are also ineffectual because most of the responders --  even those who say they're ready now -- are really looking for a J.O.B. rather than a business of their own. Hard earned money is wasted buying these lists, fliers, mailer cards, etcetera.This money can be spent on proper prospecting -- prospecting that will cause people to hunt you rather than the other way around. If you intend to be successful, educate yourself in the methodology of self promotion. Learn what it takes to turn YOU into the perceived expert -- a person desirable enough to be followed. I would recommend (I receive absolutely nothing from this recommendation) everything Seth Godin writes. Search him on Amazon or your favorite bookstore. His books are inexpensive but are priceless at the same time. There are many other tools. There are free videos that will educate you free, written by people that have made a fortune online. They GIVE in order to get, so be prepared for them to refer you to things that they have for sale. Just remember, that the free stuff they have to offer is of great value. My intention for this article was not to teach you how to be successful but to point you in the right direction. It's up to you to act on anything you've heard me say. Ultimately, you are responsible for your successes and your failures. Only you are to blame for both. John M Bland