I received an very interesting email this morning that I would like to share with you. It really displays how far some network marketers will go to find free leads for their business. It really is a great example of what NOT to do. Unless of course, you have nothing but time on your hands and you don’t mind wasting it. Here’s what happened…
I checked my email this morning to see that I had gotten an email from what appeared to be a gal that is a member of my Mahjong group. I thought that there might be another game coming up soon that I may want to join.
For those of you that may not know what Mahjong is let me give you a little background. Mahjong is a game for 4 people played with tiles. It’s similar to the card game “rummy” but it’s played with tiles that have Chinese characters. You are probably more familiar with the solitaire version that you can play on your computer. Our Mahjong group gets together a few times a month in order to play with other people that like to play the game.
What Does Mahjong Have To Do With Network Marketing
Well if you have something to sell that Mahjong players may be interested in, then I would have to say that there is a big connection. So, I opened the email to see who when and where this game was taking place. But instead, I read that Marcia lost 40 pounds after having 3 kids and wanted me to check out her diet blog and tell her what I thought of it. Well, my first thought was that Marcia is a network marketer in real need of some education in the art and science of marketing. And since I provide that sort of thing I should give her a call to see if I could be of any assistance. Of course, she doesn’t actually leave any contact information on her website so there is no way to call her to even buy her product if you were so inclined to do so.
What Did Marcia Do Right
I don’t want you to think that Marcia totally missed the mark when she sent out this email to me and I can only guess to how many other people in similar groups. Here are the characteristics of a typical Mahjong player:
- 3 out of 4 will be women
- Typical age will be 40-65
- Most are or were blue collar workers
- Most have children
For the most part there are very few men in our group and you know what happens when you get a bunch of women together in the same room. Yep, they talk, share ideas, secrets, good books, recipes, and how they lost a bunch of weight. So, Marcia wasn’t completely wrong to think that Mahjong players might be her target market. However, she went about it all wrong.
What Marcia Did Wrong
It’s a lot easier to fix something when you know what went wrong, so let me share a few things with you that you may want to consider if you are looking for free leads like my friend Marcia.
- Share your MLM product and your expertise only with people that are actively looking for a solution to a problem
- Design a marketing strategy with your target market in mind (if you are targeting Mahjong players, then your strategy should be based on a face to face meeting while you are playing the game)
- Make sure that your prospect can reach you for more information or to purchase more of your MLM product
- Don’t lie or stretch the truth in order to create “hype”
Prospecting lottery by talking, emailing, calling random people is inefficient, unprofitable and frustrating. Talking to people that have either asked you for more information or have done (or bought) something in the past that lets you know they may be interested in what you have is are far more effecient use of your time. Trying to build your lead list with random people that don’t even qualify to buy your product is not a good way to build your network marketing business. Remember, you can always make more money but you can never make more time.
