Low cost lead generation is a desperate need amongst MLM Network Marketers.

Being able to “stuff your sales funnel” full of targeted MLM leads at LOW COST is the name of the game.

Those who do it (and are able to convert them) win.

Those who don’t learn the art, never make it.

Its as simple as that.

This is the first article in a Series of low Cost Lead Generation Methods.

This one deals with Squidoo as the first of our low cost lead generation methods.

I’ve called it low cost, because although its FREE to use, there is a cost involved:

You will have to pay with your Time- both to learn and to implement.

Squidoo is a powerful social site that is free to join.

Low cost lead generation with Squidoo is a powerful strategy Network Marketers can use.

Here’s why:

Anybody can write and post articles there about literally any topic.

In fact, it is one of the few sites that encourages you to shamelessly promote yourself and your business.

Most social sites have elaborate rules about how many links to your site you are allowed and ban
you if you are overly promotional. Not Squidoo.

An article is known as a “lens”, and because Squidoo is a very highly ranked site on Google, lenses that feature on Squidoo often come up high on the search engine rankings easily and quickly.

Of course, the thing to do, as always, is to choose your keywords first and then write some unique, interesting content!

Don’t be discouraged if your lens is not immediatley given the green light (published).

It sometimes takes a couple of days to be accepted.

Squidoo Modules

Lenses are made up of different content pieces known as modules.

Generally speaking, the more modules -including pictures, writing, video, links lists, RSS feeds etc that you have on a lens, the quicker your lens gets accepted.

Squidoo Drives Traffic to Your Site

You can use Squidoo to encourage your reader to visit your business site or blog.

This will increase traffic.

Your individual lens on Squidoo can actually “pull” your business site up the rankings and generate traffic.

Google loves squidoo lenses and often you’ll find your Squidoo lens will rank higher than your blog
or site.

You can create as many of these keyword-targeted lenses as you want!

So try to dominate as many keywords as you can (each lens focuses on one keyword)

by creating links to the different pages on your site.

Squidoo is also a Social Networking Site

Squidoo is a site where there is a social side to it.

It has features that allow you to become a fan of another lensmaster, send emails (promoting your new lens) to your fan club, rate lenses, offer comments on lenses and generally build an audience.

People can click on your bio and find out more about you or be taken to your site. (Its a good idea to have your blog in your profile!)

There are great traffic and tracking tools (click on dashboard>> my lenses>> tracking>> choose a lens and a time period,>>choose traffic)

Learn from Other LensMasters

A new feature I learned about recently is to do with tagging.

I learned it from Lewis Smile, who has loads of squidoo fans!

He has a giant Squid icon and a star under his name, so I think he must be a hot shot Squidoo lensmaster!

Anyway, I found his lens very helpful.

It’s all about how to get more traffic and increase your search engine ranking using only tags.

You can check to see what keywords were typed in on the search engines that brought up your page.

If you haven’t included those keywords into your tags section, you can include them with one easy click- making your chances even better of getting more hits.

Squidoo Tagging

Here’s how: (Thank you Lewis Smile)

* Go to your Squidoo Lens Dashboard.

* Click ‘Stats’ to the right of one of your lenses.

* Now click the ‘Traffic’ tab under the title of your lens.

And now you will see a list of words or phrases that Google surfers typed in to get to your lens.

* The ones with the crosses next to them are the terms you DO NOT have as tags on your lens.

* Its easy to get the word or phrase added to your lens tags. Just click on the cross (+)

This should strengthen your search engine ranking for that word or phrase.

Just remember to republish the lens afterwards!

Here is a great squidoo lens that explains everything about tags and tagging on Squidoo.

Squidoo Lens Promotion

If you want to know how to generate traffic from outside your Squidoo lens, this lens tells all.

Click here for more on Squidoo lens promotion.

Be prepared- it will take some work, but it’s a goldmine of information!

Low Cost Lead Generation: Squidoo Training Course

I have found an excellent resource on EVERYTHING you need to know about doing Squidoo Lenses.

It’s called “Squidoo Secrets” by Bob the Teacher.

Its part of his Internet Marketing Success Library Membership Site.

You can sign up at his site for free here, but if you want the real training you need to upgrade from inside the site.

Its one of the best resources I have come across online.

Check it out FREE here.

Enjoy!

“Oh I’d love to attract a targeted MLM lead” my friend said to me the other day.

It’s the dream of most Network Marketers.

How would you like to  attract exactly the right kind of people into your MLM (Network Marketing) Business, over and over again-for free?

The kind of people who are interested in exactly your products or your MLM business opportunity?

Where you don’t have to pay to generate them at all?

Many of you may already have realised that the methods used in traditional MLM don’t seem to generate enough prospects- and those that do come in are very often the wrong type.

They are not a targeted MLM Lead.

Worse still, these methods take up alot of time and very often leave a hole in your wallet!

There are many reasons for this, and Ann Sieg’s groundbreaking book, The Renegade Network Marketer outlines them very clearly.

If you haven’t already read the book, I suggest you pick up a copy and read it!

Suffice it to say that the book has caused a revolution in MLM with the result that modern day network marketers are moving online to attract their leads to them.

They’re dumping their names lists and putting an end to cold calling.

They’ve stopped spending thouands of dollars buying leads.

The internet is a fantastic tool for targeting the right people and sifting your prospects.

This makes lead generation almost a science.

It cuts out the time wasted chatting to people who really have no interest in what you have to say.

Best of all, you can generate your own targeted MLM leads for free.

So, exactly HOW do you attract a targeted MLM Lead? Read on, because I’ll give you a starting point.

8 Tips for Generating a Targeted MLM Lead

Generate a Targeted MLM Lead Tip No 1-Use a Funded Proposal/ affiliate marketing to sift them:

We all know that the right prospects are people who have a high chance of buying your product and/or bizz opp. To keep it simple, the two things that really make for good prospects are:

1. They want what you have, because it fulfills a need or solves a problem.

2. They find you and are attracted to you because of the way you have positioned yourself:

As an expert in their field of interest.

Using a funded proposal or affiliate product is where you present a lower cost product or training course to your prospect, before asking them to join you in your MLM or buy your MLM products.

If you’re attracting business builders and you present them with an affordable home study course that’ll help them build a business, three things happen:

1. If they buy it, you know they are serious about building a business because they’re prepared to pull out their wallet and actually buy something!

2. You make a commission on the sale and earn upfront cash BEFORE they even sign up into your MLM/buy your MLM product.

2. You’re seen as a trusted advocate. (You refer them to good stuff to help them) without pitching your MLM opportunity.

Using a funded proposal is the BEST way to sort the tire kickers from the serious prospects.

Once the leads are in your  MLM Sales Funnel , you’ll see clearly who the serious people are and you can call them to further develop the relationship.

What’s more, you don’t mind doing that because………..

1. You’ve been paid already

2. You know they’re serious so it’s less chance of wasting your time.

Generate a Targeted MLM Lead Tip No 2 : Know what the need or problem is in the first place.

This is what “defining your target market” is all about.

In Network Marketing traditionally there has been a gross lack of training in this area.

Most of us were taught to pitch our deal or hard sell our products to everybody and anybody.

Ann Sieg outlines this old School myth “that everybody’s your prospect” well in her FREE Seven Great Lies E book.

The secret is taking your time to really get to know what your target market’s needs are.

What are they thinking about, dreaming about, wishing for, finding hard in their lives?

What books and articles to they read?

What do they want to change and how are they going about it?

You need to know what their unique problems may be.

A useful way to define your target market and generate targeted MLM leads, is to think of roughly four target markets in Network Marketing:

The 4 major target markets are:(There are literally 1000′s of sub niches)

1. Product leads

2. Company specific opportunity leads

3. Home business & general opportunity leads

4. Existing network marketers

Now lets take a look at generating targeted MLM product leads.

Lets take an example of skin care products.

You might want to be selling to people who have never looked after their skin, they’re getting older and are more concerned about appearances.

Perhaps they are into anti aging in a big way, and wrinkles and skin blemishes happen to be their topic of interest.

Or maybe you want to sell to people who have already bought skin care products in the past and were not happy with the results or are looking for something to improve on what they’re using.

This is a great target market because it’s likely they will buy similar products again.

You’ll find that there are many target markets (niches) within a broader target market.

And you’ll need to get to know each target market intimately.

There are great sites like www.About.com and www.eHow.com where you can scope out your specific target market’s needs.

Its a bit of extra work, but well worth the effort if you want a targeted MLM Lead.

Generate a Targeted MLM Lead Tip No 3: Use the Power of Education and Pre Selling

It’s a good idea to educate your prospects. Depending on what target market you’ve chosen and what their particular issues are, that’s where you’ll step in to provide useful information.

Say you’re going for customers who want to have healthy glowing skin and remove wrinkles. (And are repeat buyers in this market!!)

It’ll be a good thing to talk about about why their products didn’t work before.

You might write something on how oil based skin care products can’t be absorbed into the skin.

You might explain why it is important not to use cleansers with the wrong PH balance, as it stresses the skin and strips it of its natural lipids, making it more dehydrated.

You might outline some reasons why some products are not effectively absorbed into the skin- and some treatments known to effectively help with absorption.

Then you offer ‘real” solutions that will attract them.

Perhaps your products are water based and have the right PH balance.

Perhaps you have a home treatment system that can optimise absorption, removing dehydration and thus preventing wrinkles!

In this way you have really “hit the spot” by relating to their unique needs and solving a real problem for them.

Generate a Targeted MLM Lead Tip No 4: Position Yourself as a Trusted Expert

By educating your prospects, like in the example given above, you have effectively positioned yourself as a helpful expert, educating them along the way.

They have learned to know and trust you.

And all you’ve done, is really enter into a conversation they’ve been having inside their heads already.

People love to buy, but they hate being pounced on and sold to.

This is the art of pre selling.

Generate a Targeted MLM Lead Tip No 5 : Use  Social Marketing- its FREE

Ok, now that you understand how to become intimate with your target market and position your self as an attractive expert, you need to actually set up your marketing to bring them to you!

There are many online techniques that can advertise your link, but by far the most cost effective is to use social marketing methods.

You can get your message in front of thousands of targeted MLM leads for free.

For beginners, I advise putting content up at various social sites and marketing your link that way.

Good ones to start with are Squidoo, Hub Pages, FaceBook, Ezine Articles, YouTube and of course Twitter.

Generate a Targeted MLM Lead Tip No 6 : Submit your educational, enlightening and entertaining content to article directories and content sites- for maximum exposure!

When you post your article at Squidoo or Hub Pages etc, you need to make  sure your content is relevant and interesting to your target market.Ask yourself- “Is this educational, enlightening or entertaining?”

One thing that will go along way, is if you have a catchy headline that draws them in.

Here’s an Example: Your title could be “Why your skin care products could be doing more harm than good”. (Educational, slightly controversial)

When you  submit it to a site like Squidoo or Hub pages, or an Ezine directory many publishers get to see your article.

Ezine directories are great.

It’s where publishers go to search for relevant content to publish in their Ezines.

An Ezine is an electronic magazine which is delivered to people who ask for it (subscribers) via email. Also known as a newsletter.

They are delivered to a very targeted group of readers.

People who want to know more about skin care and anti aging, buy skin care products and they read ezines about skin care and beauty.

Find an Ezine that publishes articles (publishers are always looking for good quality free content), and if your article is well written and talks to publishers target market, they will publish it in their Ezine.

Generate a Targeted MLM Lead Tip No 7: Use  Keyword Research

If you’re posting to Squidoo and Hub Pages, you will want the communities to find you from within the site, and the surfers to find you on the search engines. You’ll also want Google to rank you high up on its pages for the keywords your target market types in.

This is where it becomes important to use the right key words.

Think of the key words your target audience might be typing in.

Do some research on those keywords using a keyword tool, like Wordtracker’s Free Keyword Suggestion Tool.

Tip: When you use the free keyword tool, your results should lie between 20-300 (thats the number of people searching for your key word per day).

If you come up with a score of 500, look for a more specific term. (Chances are this word is too competitive)

If your score is 2000 (for example the keyword “network Marketing”)- don’t even go for it!

Its way too broad and highly competitive (meaning there are too many other marketers bdding for high search rankings on that term)

If its under 30 per day, there are simply not enough people typing in that key word!

So here you can see the demand for the word (how many people are typing it in) and the competition for the word (how many people are trying to optimize on it, to compete for first page ranking on the search engines).

You can also get ideas for using other, less competitive but related key words.

Generate a Targeted MLM Lead Tip No 8: Use Search Engine Optimisation

When you write and post your articles, make sure your title, tags and content “tell” the search engines what keywords you are optimising for.

• It’s a good idea to “say it first and say it often”- but make your text read naturally.

• Sprinkle keywords throughout your text and use them in headlines and sub headlines.

There are further linking strategies you can get your content up on the search engine rankings so that your article pops up when your prospect types your key word in!

Click here for a more comprehensive article on Search Engine Optimisation.

Our MLM Home Study Course teaches you step by step how to attract targeted MLM leads.

Click Here for the complete 5 step system training course, savvy mlmers in training course

Network Marketing (MLM) Lead Generation Videos

Network Marketing Lead Generation

To generate MLM leads they have to find you first.

And then, you’ve got to be able to seduce them….

Once they find you they need to be compelled to opt into your MLM squeeze page (landing page/capture page), so you can continue to develop the relationship with follow up emails and telephone consultations.

These three videos show you how to get found online by people interested in what you have to offer.

They also show you how to create the customised marketing funnel you need to hook them into giving you their contact details.

This is the essence of the online marketing capture mechanism you’ll need to grow your business using the power of the internet…

Enjoy these MLM Lead Generation Videos! I made them for you.

Get The Videos Here

Low Cost lead Generation: Possible in MLM?

Absolutely!! Especially now that we have the internet and social media marketing available to us! But don’t forget about offline lead generation either….Here are Ten (10) Low Cost Lead Generation techniques or ways to collect Leads For Your MLM Home Business!

We all know that your business’s bottom line depends on a steady flow of leads- in fact you need tons of leads.

Most people’s problem is they don’t have enough people to talk to, let alone convert into sales and sign ups.

Trouble is, you don’t want to pay out a lot (or any!) money to get those leads.

Here are a few low or no cost ways to attract customers and sign ups to your Network Marketing (MLM) business.

Here goes- 10 ways to collect leads, save money and up your profits.

Low Cost lead Generation Method 1. Flyers.

We all know this, but did you know you need to distribute about 1000 a day for 90 days before you get any results? Put them on toilet doors in the shopping mall. Drop them into post boxes. Go to bulletin boards and post them there.

Remember you need a catchy headline, that enters into the conversation your prospect is already having inside their heads!

Here’s an example of a flyer I used with GREAT success!

Low Cost lead Generation Method 2. Buying and Calling leads.

Make sure they are somewhat targeted (e.g weight loss leads, or home based business opportunity leads). Check how “fresh” they are- anything older than a month is not really a hot lead anymore. Make sure you get replacements if the leads are “bad” (incorrect numbers/contact details)

Use 3 forms of follow up (postcard, phone and email.) On the phone, don’t prospect them immediately. First ask whether they’d like more information on whatever it is they’ve opted in for.

Then send an info pack.

Low Cost lead Generation Method3. Newspaper and Magazine Classified and Normal adverts.

Here you need good hard hitting copy writing skills. Also it’s best to choose a niche magazine or industry publication. Works well if you have small hometown newspapers and local magazines.

Do it for at least 3 months before assessing results (even better if you can commit to a year).

Low Cost lead Generation Method 4. The Dreaded List of 100.

Yes, make your names list- but for goodness sake DON’T pitch them on your Network Marketing deal.

Rather let them know what you’re doing- you can ask them if you could email the info to them (so that they are “in the know” about your new business and ask them to support you by keeping you in mind in case they come across anyone interested.

See them as a resource – connections who can refer people to you that might need your products or business opportunity.

If they are knowledgeable in a certain area (e.g printing, copywriting, hosting/events, advertising, presenting, web design etc), ask them to help you and enlist their support on your project.

That way they’ll know exactly what you’re doing and will ask you if they are interested (or at least refer people to you).

Low Cost lead Generation Method 5. Trade Shows are another good way to collect leads.

Make sure you know what kind of marketing has been done to advertise the show and what kind of traffic was achieved in past shows. Talk to other traders and get a feel of the return on investment of time and money you can expect. Work out before hand what you need to sell to cover your costs of the booth/stand.

Targeted shows like “Home Business Opportunities” or “Health and Wellness Shows” (if that’s your target market) are obviously better than more general ones.

Low Cost lead Generation Method 6. Video Marketing:

There are hundreds of sites online where you can upload your video, and have links back to your website. Now with the new free LinkedTube website that your video can be hosted on, clickable links can be placed in the video itself – (before it was only in the description box).

This makes it very convenient for your prospect to click, be taken to your blog/capture page- and there they can fill out a form and become a lead. Youtube, Metacafe, Zoopy, MyVideo, Vidder are good business video uploading sites.

Read How To Add Marketing links To Your Video Clips

Low Cost lead Generation Method 7. FaceBook.

This is huge! Social Media Marketing is the hottest thing on the internet (growing 10x faster than any other internet usage. You can join groups related to your niche, post events, write notes, add videos and photo’s and make friends.

It’s the most viral website today, so the potential for getting your message across to many many people is huge. There is an art and a skill- so don’t just go in there pitching your deal- you’ll destroy the power of social media marketing for yourself. Learn first how to do it. (See below for training details).

Low Cost lead Generation Method 8. Twitter.

This is a huge very fast growing micro blogging site that is great for building relationships and driving traffic to your site. Most “tweets” are 140 or less in length and contain a URL. Once again, there’s an art to it. What a fantastic way to build your list.

Free Twitter Training Videos Here

Low Cost lead Generation Method 9. Blogging.

Blogs can be used to communicate with your audience- it’s great because you get customer buy in and they become part of the process. If your blogs are optimized correctly for the search engines, they can rank high for certain keywords you are bidding on, and this can be a powerful pool from which to collect leads. (SEO)

Make sure you write well and authentically, drawing your reader in. Also you’ll need to have a form for them to opt into to receive your propaganda! (And so you can capture their details)

Blogging is actually very easy. My clients have their blogs up and running within a weekend-when they go through my click by click video tutorials showing them EXACTLY how.

Low Cost lead Generation Method 10. Content Submission/Article Marketing.

Cool places are Ezine Articles, Squidoo and Hub Pages and eHow.com

You write about a topic of interest to your target market, optimize for those key words and get traffic from the sites themselves (people typing in the words they’re looking for), as well as the search engines.

Squidoo and Ezine articles rank very highly with Google, so your pages on these content submission sites have a good chance of being highly ranked with Google.

Also there’s a social aspect to it. People leave comments, become your friends/fans and get emailed whenever you post a new article! How’s that for exposure.

You get to leave an author’s bio and can link from inside your article to your blog/website or lead capture page too.

Here are some more Low Cost lead Generation Methods

· Car Wraps (Printing on your car)

· Direct Mail and Bounce backs

· Road Signs on Poles (watch out for the Law!)

· Pull Downs/Tear Offs

· Knock and drops

· Free Online Ads

· Ezine Advertising

· PPC/Google AdWords (By search or by content i.e. on a site) (Costs money and there’s a learning curve, but its VERY powerful)

· Link Exchanges

· U-stream.TV (your own TV show for free)

· Blog Talk Radio (your own radio show for free)

· Niche Social Networking sites (www.ning.com)

· Webinars/Conference Calls/Podcasts

Each method is an art form in and of itself. Don’t try and do all of them. Choose 3-5 methods that you know how to do well and that YOU LIKE doing. Do it every day for 90 days. Then do another 2 x 90 days of lead collection.

Watch your business GROW!

PS  Want to know how to join the Savvy MLMers in Training Club?

Click Here