A Picture of the old methods of Network Marketing prospecting

My husband and I were on a cruise ship to Alaska with a group of Network Marketers who had won the company incentive. As we approached the port of Ketchikan the scene was quite ominous. It was a very dreary day in October with the threat of rain. As the ship released its passengers to the unsuspecting residents I was reminded of a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds'.

You may remember it well. Melanie and Mitch are leaving a small coastal town in California as a huge flock of birds fly overhead. This is after there have been all kinds of attacks by these birds and they have decided to leave the area to avoid further attacks. Hitchcock leaves you hanging because the expectation is that there is no stopping 'the birds'.

In every shop, restaurant and excursion you could find a company MLMer on the hunt to prospect somebody...employees, shop owners...I have to say it was a little bit embarrassing. It was at this point that I started rethinking everything I had been taught to do by my upline.

Network marketing prospecting had taken its toll on my family. My teenage daughter refused to shop with me. On too many occasions she was embarassed when I would strike up a conversation with strangers regarding my business opportunity or nutrition product that everyone needs.

Does any of this ring a bell for you?

As I think back over my four years in network marketing, the most enjoyable times were when someone would call me and want to get started on my product. Since I was a nutritionist, I had credibility and they trusted and valued my opinion. My focus was how my product would help them solve some health problem they were dealing with.

Attraction marketing is the process whereby you lead with value and service. You put yourself in a position to help people by providing solutions to their problems. By doing this, you are building a relationship whereby people trust you and will be more likely to buy from you. Instead of you chasing them they will chase you because you have positioned yourself to have what they want and need

The truth is people love to buy but...they hate being sold.

Everywhere you look someone is trying to sell something. People are overwhelmed by all the hype and sales messages that are out there. It is refreshing to find people who are focused on providing real answers for potential prospects.

So what does this all look like when you are attempting to build a Internet Network marketing business.

Let's start at the very beginning.

Learn the New Way

To be successful at prospecting by leading with value or better known as attraction marketing you will need to learn some new skills.

Get some training on attraction network marketing. This is an area that is sadly avoided by most network marketing companies. The focus is primarily on creating a 200 names list, cold calling leads, the 3 foot rule. Less than 5% of network marketers are successful using these tactics.

Build your Internet Real Estate

Create content that helps your target market solve a problem. You can write an article that you submit at an article directory, write a blog entry, create a squidoo lens or hub page, video...

Your content then needs to have links that take your interested reader to a lead capture page that offers something of value for free (or minimal cost) in exchange for contact information.This can be an e-book that you create, a newsletter, free consultation. Remember, it needs to be really good content. Give your prospect a sampling of the value that you provide.

Be an Invaluable Resource

Once they opt-in you now have permission to send more valuable tips in the process of building a relationship and building trust. This is done using an autoresponder which is sent out on a preset schedule that you pick.

In your autoresponder series you can promote any number of things including: affiliate products, your network marketing business opportunity, your products....but, first you must deliver what you promised in your lead capture page and always deliver value. Always err on the side of overdelivering value.

That's the process of attraction marketing in a nutshell. It is a far cry from the old ways of network marketing prospecting. You'll be able to burn the 200 names list, save money when you give up buying leads ...

You too can give up the old ways of network marketing prospecting and start attraction marketing instead. Training using web 2.0 is available using the most updated strategies. Why wait?