Just like in any business, failure to attract new customers will inevitably lead to failure. Therefore, it is imperative to the success of any network marketing business to have an effective marketing plan.

There are two marketing models in network marketing. They are:

Sales Model

This approach advocates having a new distributor make a list of 100 people they know that they could introduce to the opportunity. Once the list is completed, the new distributor and his sponsor call each name on the list, attempting to sell the person your opportunity or product. However, 90% of the people who utilize this model fail because the odds of finding a qualified customer in any average group of 100 people is very low. Tom Hopkins, the master salesman, couldn't find more than five customers in this group. That's a 95% rejection rate! What's going to happen when the untrained beginner contacts this same list? He will encounter massive rejection, followed by disappointment and failure. That's why most people quit network marketing within their first few months in the business.

Marketing Model

In the marketing model, you present your opportunity to several people, using various methods, and then let them contact you if they are interested. This helps you to identify people who are truly interested in your business opportunity, and it eliminates much of the rejection of the traditional sales model. First, you make a list of 20-30 sharp, opportunity-oriented people who you think would be interested in earning an extra stream of income. You then ask your sponsor to help you put together a package of the company's top prospecting materials such as video or audio material, brochures, company news reports, etc.

You then mail or give these to each of your best people, and tell them how excited you are about your new opportunity, and tell them that you don't know if this would interest them, but you would like them to read or listen to the material, and interested people that you meet during your daily activities. When you follow up with these people, you simply ask, "What did you thin?" This helps to eliminate a lot of the rejection of selling because you are letting the company's materials present your opportunity, and you are only offering your information to people who find a need for this opportunity at this time in their lives, and if they would like to add another stream of income to the future.

Another way to attract new prospects is to put small ads in the local newspapers, informing people about your opportunity to create income. In your ad you place a special toll free number with a prerecorded message for people to respond to if they are interested. They then leave their name, address, and telephone number on your voice mail, and you send them the package of information and follow up in a few days. This helps you find people who are looking for your opportunity.

When you are involved with a company with excellent marketing materials, it greatly increases your chances for success. You have high quality packages of information to give to your prospects, and you can send them to the company web site, hot lines, or conference calls. You also need a sponsor or upline support to help you to follow up with your interested prospects. Your sponsor will help you present your opportunity with a three-way cal to your prospect.

Although you don't have to be a salesperson and use "high pressure techniques" to be successful in network marketing, you will have to sell some products. You will need to present information about the products or business opportunity and then ask the person for an order. A good upline team will train you on how to properly present, ask for the order, answer the questions, and handle objections. When considering which company to choose, ask yourself if the company has marketing materials to help you present your opportunity. Do they have proven methods to help me recruit? Is there someone who will personally help me present the information and sponsor people? Do they have well-written ads with a good response rate? Are there recorded calls that I can use for my voice mail system? How successful has their marketing plan worked for other people?