No seriously, what happens to your prospecting when you run out of people to talk to in your warm market? Because I can assure you, it happens to all of us, unless we know what to do to avoid it. Let me tell you what I've seen happen more times then I can count, and why most people in Network Marketing will not reach the top level of promotion in their compensation plan. And now that you know this, you don't have to become another statistic, because this knowledge can help prevent you from feeling like you've failed in your home business. With the right skills, you can step back into your business and create a surge of momentum in a day.

Most people when they get started are told to make a list of 100 people they know and start reaching out to them. The trouble with this, is that they think they need to recruit and sell to everyone they know, and they continue to prospect the same people over and over again. They become that person no one wants to invite for dinner, because they don't want to have their friends go through the same thing. Trust me, I know, I went through this. It sucked. Period. 

Now if the new business owner reached out to their warm market to simply share what they are doing in hopes of getting the word out & treated this person to lunch or coffee, the response rate would be different and the resistance wouldn't be as high. People like to help other people when they feel that the intentions are true, and they can decide for themselves the best way they can help. But no one likes to be tricked into doing things.

So let's talk about some of the traditional ways you can teach your team to grow their network, and what many leaders are still teaching in their organization (present company not included)

• Home Parties: A way for your warm market to introduce you to new people and present your products and opportunity. (average time investment 2-4 hrs, not including travel, with the cost of your product demos and gifts for your hostess and guests)
•  Hotel Meetings: An event you can invite your prospects to learn from your leaders about the products and opportunity and to create social proof. (average time investment 2-4 hrs, not including travel, and the cost of member dues)
• Trade shows: A place for you to demonstrate your products to the public in hopes to gain cold market leads for home parties and business chats (average time investment 4-8 hours, not including travel. Can cost anywhere from $60 plus for a table, as well as the supplies you need and a free offer at each event)
• 3 foot rule: Speaking to anyone within 3 feet of you in shops, cafes, restaurants, on the bus, at the playground, social events, work, etc. (depends on how much time you have and how willing you are to spend seeking out the right people to talk. This only costs your time)
• Memberships: Chamber of Commerce, yacht club, book clubs, meet up group memberships, gym memberships, classes and workshops (Minimum 2 hour investment, depending on what and where, plus the cost of membership/event)
• Networking events and Meet ups: Business events where most people are meant to share and refer business to one another. Although often its more people trying to sell their business to you with little interest in what you do.    (Average time investment of an event or meetup is 2 hours, plus travel time, plus the cost of each event)
• Volunteering: For charities, at church, school, special events, organization and boards. (relatively low cost, but can be anywhere from 10 hours + per month of your time)
• Coffee shops and 3 way phone calls: meeting people to review the presentation or do a 3 way meeting/call with your up line (cost of coffee and 1-2 hours, depending on how efficient you are at presenting, demonstrating products, and if your prospect shows up on time)

I have done all of these and more because I was serious about creating success in my business. But here's the thing...none of these methods promote time leverage, and they are a HUGE investment of time and money. So although they are easy to duplicate, the fact that most people don't want to do them makes them un-duplicatable. Not to say I won't still host a VIP event for my clients, meet someone for a coffee if I know they're qualified, or volunteer my time...but I no longer have to do these things, because I've found other tools and strategies that are more affective and more leveraged. I believe the principles of business remain the same but the tactics we use evolve over time. Let's not be left behind.

I remember a month in my business when our eldest was 1.5, I was 8 months pregnant, and pushing to promote to the VP level in our company. I had trade shows booked for every weekend in November to push for my promotion by New Years. From my trade shows I booked out 15 home parties per month. Unfortunately, the events I was attending were 3 hours drive one way, 6 hours return, with 8 hours on my pregnant feet. Turns out, most of the attendees of these events lived in the area, so each of those 15 parties I booked was also a 6 hour trip, plus the 2 hours I was spending at each host's home. 

Our 2 hour monthly team meetings were then held 2 hours from my home, which was another 6 hour investment of my time...and did I mention that each party attendee lived a 2 hour roundtrip away from our team events? So I was asking a cold market prospect to travel 2 hours return, and invest 4 hours of their time to come check out an opportunity that was at best a maybe for them.

So let's do the math here...I spent 182 hours in my business that month, which is more then 45 hours, not including the time I was making calls, booking events, following up, placing orders, and trying my best to coach my team to duplicate. As I write this there is a part of me that wants to laugh and another part that kind of makes me sick reflecting on what I thought was freedom. Did I mention I was pregnant and had a husband and toddler to care for?

Yes, of course some would say, you invest big in the short term for the long term gain, and there was some gain. I absolutely believe that you must be willing to invest time and money in your business, but if there is a better way to get the same results or better, I am all in! The reality for me was, I was selling and sponsoring, but I was not duplicating. The moment someone signed up and I plugged them into our system, they went into the network marketing protection program. Some of my partners would purchase their demos, and hold their launch parties, but they quickly fell to the way side. They realized they were not committed to doing that multiple times a week or teaching others how to do the same. Here I had promised them a part time gig that could be weaved around their full time jobs, but really they were just trading one hamster wheel for another.

Eventually the busy caught up with me, and I burned out big time. I remember calling my up line at the time, exhausted and defeated, trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. My calendar was full, I was working the system, but all I felt was worked. Now keep in mind, no one forced me to do this level of activity, but I had a goal to reach, and I wasn't going to settle for less...until my health took a turn and I was stuck in bed trying to recoup. 

At this point, I had to make a choice...continue my business and be unhappy and unfulfilled with the results I was getting, or find a better way. And the moment I became open to a better way, a new door opened. A friend I had spoken to about my business tagged me inside of a Facebook Group about Anti aging, and from that one thread I had over 50 new prospects requesting samples and business chats from me. For 2 weeks I worked from my bed, cared for my family, my own health, and went back to being a stay at home mom...one of the reasons I had started my HOME BUSINESS in the first place. 

Here's what I learned in this process...consistent practice and activity in your business makes you good at it, and that's what I took from this lesson. I also learned that I had to work my business in a way that worked for me, because ultimately, I was my biggest asset to my business. That's when I stopped doing home parties and trade shows,  commuting to monthly events, plugging my team into systems that they weren't interested in duplicating, and doing all the things that weren't paying off. I stopped trying to fake it till I make it, and took a dose of reality of what I needed to do to have the kind of business I could feel proud of.

Social Media Prospecting is what we call active marketing. This is the  "high touch", in "high tech, high touch". This is what most people are doing, often with the right intention but the wrong skillset. They simply aren't being taught the correct reach out methods, what to post, and instead of inviting, they are presenting. Done poorly, it's like asking someone to marry you before you ask for the first date. 

These are the skillsets you need to learn for social media prospecting:

• Establish your personal brand
• Create curiosity
• How to reach out using social media and nurture relationships
• Facebook Groups and Networking online through social platforms
• Having a system to duplicate this in your team

Attraction Marketing is a passive form of marketing that allows you to create a system to gain leads on autopilot. This is the high tech part of "high tech, high touch". This is truly where the freedom lies in having a well oiled internet marketing machine, because you do the work once, and if you do it well, you can automate to have it done for you on auto pilot so it produces results over and over again. These are the most efficient and affective ways to passively prospect and get the most out of your efforts.

• Video
• Writing Content 
• Ads
• Building an email list
• Nurturing relationships
• Having a system for presenting products and opportunity
• Having a system for duplicate this in your team