MLM Blog – Warm Verses Cold Market Prospecting – Which One Gets Results?

Prospecting is the single most important task that a network marketer engages in; success in MLM absolutely depends on it. Prospecting, or sponsoring reps into your primary home business opportunity, is the way the industry’s top earners build their businesses into residual income empires that offer financial security and stability for their families.

The Good and Bad

There are some MLM professionals who have already been involved in the industry for years, even decades. These individuals run their organizations the old-fashioned way – they tap into their “warm market.” They prospect largely using their own personal contact lists, sharing their business opportunity with loved ones, close friends, colleagues at work, fellow church parishioners, social groups they belong to, and fraternities and sororities, among others. These MLMers hold home meetings or parties several times a week and regularly attend company conventions along with other large events.

MLM Success 101 - Warm Verses Cold Market Prospecting - Which One Gets Results

There is a group that many describe as internet network marketers. The main factor that separates this group from the first is that these people do the vast majority (or, in some cases, all) of their prospecting using the internet – in other words, they tap their “cold market.”

They prospect their business opportunity by advertising on internet forums, social network sites, and on the major search engines like Yahoo and Google. They may also engage in another cold market prospecting, like purchasing lists of potentials and then contacting them by phone or e-mail.

Is Approaching your Warm Market a bad thing?

A few of these folks are completely closed to the idea of prospecting their family and friends, while some simply don’t give it much thought or focus. Here’s the argument: The old-school MLMers insist that they prospecting friends and family is definitely the method in which network marketing has always been done, and many large fortunes were created by sharing household cleaners, cosmetics, and such, on a person-to-person basis.

Also, the old-school folks insist that this technique is highly duplicatable, and duplication has traditionally been a huge selling point to illustrate that “anyone can do this business and be successful!” (I’m sure you’ve heard this nearly as much as I have!) Conversely, the internet money people assert that prospecting friends and family is the formula for a network marketing disaster.

They cite that leads generated from friends and family members are untargeted (meaning they may or may not be looking for what you have to offer), and they do not convert into successful business owners or loyal customers.

Additionally, the internet MLMers note that prospecting becomes a serious problem once a business builder has gone through their entire list of potentials and there are no more people to sponsor. According to internet marketers, internet prospecting solves these problems by targeting people that are actively looking for a business opportunity and providing a virtually endless list of leads using the world wide web.

Internet-Network-Marketing

So which prospecting strategy is the best?

BOTH!  Prospecting both Offline and Online is the way to go!  You will set yourself apart from your competition by mastering both of these skillets.  You are leaving money on the table if you are not prospecting both offline and online.

Let’s apply some common sense here! It’s pretty hard to argue with a person who made his fortune in network marketing by signing up friends, family, and acquaintances.

And let me tell you, there are lots of these individuals out there! However, this is the 21st Century, and we are in the Internet Age. And there are many folks out there that are running incredibly successful empires by marketing themselves to people searching for an MLM opportunity.

The secret is to successfully marry the two philosophies so that you’re “showing the plan” to as many people as possible. The bottom line: Combining both warm and cold market prospecting techniques is a great approach to expanding your MLM organization.

This way, your business doesn’t have to die when you run out of friends and family to prospect (and you don’t have to continuously bug the heck out of them either!). You also don’t have to remove the “network” from network marketing by automating the entire process. After all, the “networking” and “prospecting” are part of the business that offers one of the best personal growth opportunities.

It’s your turn!

What’s your opinion of building your business around a warm market and cold market?  I would love to hear your feedback on the topic.  Please leave your feedback in the comments section and I look forward to reading them!

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17 responses to “MLM Blog – Warm Verses Cold Market Prospecting – Which One Gets Results?”

  1. Sojourner says:

    It makes sense to search both online and offline.

  2. Nicole says:

    Marketing is what we do. So…a wise idea as well would be brushing up on your skills and knowledge as it pertains to everything involved in the act of moving a good or service to an end user. Anything that helps you capture the attention of individuals, generate more interest, increase their desire and move them into action is critical.

  3. Amar Naik says:

    i feel ultimately what is needed most is the combination of both strategies as you suggested.

  4. The only way I think I would approach my warm market about anything like my product or my business is to break the ice which Tom Big Al Schrieter taught me:

    If you have been in the business for a while and haven’t notified them it doesn’t matter.

    You can say this: “I just found out how we can earn an extra paycheck each week, if you’d ever like to know how I will be glad to tell you, meanwhile pass the peas.”

    Or if you are marketing a weight loss product you can say “I just found out how we can lose weight by eating cookies, if you’d ever like to know how I will be glad to tell you mean while pass the remote control.”

    By saying that phrase to your warm market and the friends that you have recently made, mainly eliminates rejection. They will still be friends with you even if they are not interested in the business. But the main thing is that they will not ask you to do not contact them anymore.

    Lawrence Bergfeld

  5. Cindy Eidahl says:

    Wow! lots of great advice on prospecting.
    This is my weak area but I keep at it everyday and these
    tips will hep=lp. Thank you for sharing.

  6. Definitely sprinkle both warm and cold markets together. You really never know who will be interested. Sometimes it’s the ‘least likely’ family member who is gung-ho. Don’t limit yourself. Show everybody! Thanks, Nate!

  7. Ryan Biddulph says:

    Hi Nate,

    Approaching both warm and cold markets seems to vibe with me. Vary your prospecting approaches to see the greatest returns.

    As you noted present to as many people as possible.

    Thanks for sharing!

  8. Maggie Owens says:

    I do some marketing offline but probably not as much as I could. May be something I should start looking into. As usual, Nate, great info. Thank you.

  9. David Haines says:

    Great post Nate. We need to tap into both our warm and cold markets in order to be successful. You make great points for both. Good job.

  10. Esha says:

    I reckon we should go for both, never know what could work! Nice post as usual!

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