If not, you may be losing out on some very valuable business. First, let me explain What the term ‘5-Point Prospecting’ means. It means that, at any one time, you are using 5 different marketing methods to get your name and business known. Now, there are many more than 5 ways to market your product or service, and if you want to use more than 5, great! Here are my top 5 Prospecting Methods:

1. PURCHASED LEADS: Purchased leads are not all equal. I like to purchase the ‘top of the line’ Leads, the ‘surveyed’ leads. These people have answered a short survey, stating when they can start, how much they have to invest, and if they’ve ever been in business before. Now, when I get these leads, I DON’T email them. I CALL them on the phone. People love to hear a live voice. The important thing to remember about purchased leads is that they don’t know you, so why would they do business with you? You need to make a connection with them. Don’t try to ‘sell’ to them on the first call. Ask them about their life – their job, their family. People love to talk about themselves! When you show genuine interest in them, they will be much more willing to do business with you. My favourite lead company is Leaders Club. Not only do they provide top notch leads, they teach what to do with those leads! They have some of the best Network Marketing training out there, with over 200 hours of audio training, live training calls, articles, and lots more! You can find out more about Leaders Club by visiting: www.leadersclub.com/26908

2. EZINE ADVERTISING: Ezines are a wonderful and cost-effective way to get your name and business in front of hundreds of readers. Obviously, some Ezines are better than others, but don’t assume that bigger is better. You can get great results with smaller ezines as well. Paid advertising, like a Solo or Top Sponsor will generally get better results than a fr*ee classified at the bottom of the newsletter. A Solo means that your ad is the only thing that is sent out – no other ads, or content. A Top Sponsor means that your ad will be at the top of the newsletter issue. The general rule is that the higher up your ad, the more likely it is to be ‘seen’. For optimum ezine advertising, I recommend SDTAdvertising. You can find more information here: http://momsworld.sdtadvantage.com and http://coordinator.sdtadvantage.com

3. SAFELISTS AND FFA’S: I’ve grouped these two together because the approach is the same. Simply broadcasting your ad to a hundred safelists and ffas is becoming less and less effective. It’s important for people to know that you are REAL, not just an autoresponder or website. You Want to make a connection with them first, before ‘selling’ to them. I suggest sending out an initial email asking first to exchange contact information. Tell them your name, where you’re from, and your email address where they can make initial contact. For more details on how to effectively market to safelists and ffas, I strongly recommend you download the “Contact List Builder” by Janet Legere. She has some wonderful ideas and methods to make online prospecting successful! To download your copy, click here: www.contactlistbuilder.com/affiliate?ref=scorpio2

4. NEWSPAPER ADS: These can be very effective, but are generally much more expensive than Prospecting online, especially a paper with a large circulation base. But if your budget allows, newspapers are a great way to prospect. Check your local paper for rates. There are also some online ‘classifieds’ like www.citynews.com and www.usfreeads.com , although they are not quite as effective.

5. EMAIL BOUNCEBACKS: These can be effective, if you use them properly. I try to do 5-10 bouncebacks a day. This doesn’t mean replying back to sp*m with sp*m. Just because someone sp*mmed you, doesn’t give you the right to sp*m them. Instead, send them an email that says something like, “Thank you for sending me your info, your offer looks interesting. I would like to send you some info about my opportunity as well. I think we could both benefit by working together. If you would like more information, please reply back to this email.” See the difference?

Are you starting to see the underlying message here? You need to connect with people, before you you sell to them. Prospecting and Selling are NOT the same thing. Once people get to know you, and know that you genuinely care about them and want to help them, they will be much more willing to do business with you!

Maryanne Fitzgerald is the publisher of "Mom's World" Providing the tools and resources you need to balance working at home with raising a family. To subscribe, visit www.homeincomesolutions.net

mfitzgerald@iglide.net