Has your direct sales company innovated a new product or service that your customers enjoy using and that you happily sell to them? Products and services aren't the only things that experience innovation. Words are constantly being innovated as well.

Today, you might have "nuked" your lunch in the microwave, checked your email for "spam," or "surfed the Web" to find some "bling bling" for your spouse's birthday. Another word that has to fall on the list of innovated terms is "outreach."

It's not known exactly how the term outreach came into existence, but it is commonly used by nonprofit organizations who have created outreach programs. Outreach embodies the work that they do: they outreach to touch people's lives and communities, to spread messages of hope and offer help, and to generate donations and supporters.

It isn't enough to reach out. They value outreach - going above and beyond the average reaching out methods - in order to capture their audience's attention.

The network marketing industry can learn a lot from the nonprofit world's outreach philosophy. In the past, it might have been enough for MLM companies to rely heavily on word-of-mouth and do a little advertising here and there and still manage to stay in business. Many companies are aware that this is not enough in today's competitive marketplace.

Now, things have shifted into high gear: developing new revenue streams through reaching out doesn't cut it anymore. Companies must outreach to attract new independent distributors and new customers. They must be assertive not only on a local and national level but on the global playing field also.

In this context, outreach means that marketing must be a primary function within direct sales companies. It must also be a primary function in your own network marketing business. Incorporate the term outreach into your vocabulary. Allow it to push you past the traditional marketing roadblocks and introduce your products/services and business opportunity to new customers.

A motivational tip for highly successful network marketers is to contact three new prospects every day. You can contact them by telephone, face-to-face, online, etc. Being consistent at outreach is critical to get more customers and recruits and to glean information from prospects to improve your selling and recruiting strategies.

So, make three new contacts per day a part of your outreach. It might not give you overnight success, but over time it may empower you to soar beyond many boundaries.

This article may be reprinted as long as the About the Author resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked.

About the Author:

Fran McClough is the author of "The Ultimate Marketing Plan Workbook for Network Marketers," a comprehensive how-to guide for network marketing success, which reveals marketing strategies to increase your sales and recruit more people into your downline. Claim your copy of the workbook and other resources for network marketers exclusively at MLMMarketingSpot.com.