If you are new to Network Marketing, one of the first things you will need to do is create a prospect list of at least 100 names. The reasons for this are explained in another article I've written, called "Your #1 Secret Weapon".

Once you have written your prospect list, it's time to classify your list. There is a difference between prejudging, pre-qualifying and classifying the people on your prospect list and it helps to understand these differences.

You should not prejudge people, as there is no way you can predict who is going to seize your network marketing business opportunity and use it to transform their lives for the better and who is going to do absolutely nothing with it, despite having shown all the signs of being a potential "hot" prospect.

Also, do not pre-qualify the people on your list. This step can only be done AFTER you have presented them with your business opportunity. People will then qualify themselves "in" or "out" of your business. Your job is simply to present the information, then allow people to make an informed decision as to whether your business opportunity is right for them or not.

Classifying the people in your prospect list is different. What you are trying to achieve here, is to find the people that you believe would be worth approaching first, either because you can approach them first (i.e. you may have a close relationship with them, or they may live in your local area), or because you feel that they would make a significant contribution to helping you grow your network marketing team.

Some of the criteria you can use to classify the people in your contact list are:

Location - Are they close by (can you drive out to meet them within, say, 1 to 1.5 hours?), or are they living interstate or overseas?

Character - Are they positive and open to new ideas? Are they coachable and can they follow a system? Are they people who take action when presented with a good idea? Do they have a large circle of influence?

Remember that in Network Marketing, as the CEO of your own company, you will definitely want to recruit the very best team that you possibly can. I suggest that you go after potential new partners who share your values and build your "dream" team with people who have the qualities that you strive for, or admire.

Other Criteria - Are there people in your prospect list who are currently in a Network Marketing business opportunity, or have been involved in multi-level marketing before? This can be a good thing, as they may already be open to the concept of Network Marketing. Or it may not be such a good thing, if, for example, they were given poor training and no support from their upline, as they may still be carrying some negative feelings or misconceptions about the Network Marketing industry.

To read the rest of this article and learn more ways to classify your prospect list, visit my business training website