Pursuing Cold Leads - Is It Worth the Time and Effort?

One of the first things I learned as a new business owner was the difference between "cold market" and "warm market" leads.  A cold market lead is someone who has not expressed any kind of interest in you or your product and/or business opportunity.  Frequently, this refers to a total stranger.  Warm market leads are those who either already have some kind of relationship with you, or have an established interest in your business. 

When you start out with your mlm company, they are likely to encourage you to approach your warm market - i.e., your friends and family.  These are the people who are most likely to trust you enough to follow you into a new business venture, or at the least become customers.  Beware: push these people into something they don't want to do, and they won't remain your friends for very long! 

I was sure I would never be guilty of hounding friends and family with my business so I didn't worry about this too much.  But when I look back, I was so excited that I did, albeit inadvertently, put pressure on more than a few.  I honestly thought so much of the products I was selling, that I was obnoxious about it all.  If your friends start rolling their eyes when they see you coming - you've gone too far! 

Going out and "getting names" was the epitome of cold lead hunting.  I approached both men and women, everywhere I went to give them my card.  At first I just gave the cards to people inviting them to call me for information on my product line.  Of course, I never heard back from any of them.  After three weeks, my sponsor took me out with her so that I could watch her in action.  She would introduce herself, tell potential clients how striking they were, and ask them to participate in a makeover session.  She would get their phone number and promise to call with further information.  She was so genuine in her approach, few people refused to give her their contact information.

Filled with confidence and enthusiasm, I went out on my own.  I went to malls, restaurants, business courtyards, grocery stores, you name it.  I was so excited, I guess it was infectious, because people readily gave me their information.  I stayed out each day until I had ten new names.  Sometimes this would take an hour, sometimes four hours.  When I had gotten 365 names, I looked to see how many I had actually booked for a meeting.  It came to a grand total of 40 people!  Out of that 40, 5 of them signed up to be team members.  I had five more team members that came out of my warm market. I made three sales as a follow-up to the initial meeting.  Hmmmm...not much payback for all the time and effort I had put into it. There had to be a more efficient method for lead generation.  Five months and some six thousand dollars later, I realized I needed to learn about marketing!

 The best resource I came across which addressed all of these concerns was Ann Sieg's "The Renegade Network Marketer".  It was only after Ann's advice and multiple tools and resources that I began to see my business take off! If you are unfamiliar with her work, download her free ebook, "The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing" to get an idea of what she is all about.