Part 2 – Attracting offline prospects to your website without using outdated methods like flyers and cold calling.

At the end of the day we have people we already know to invite to review our MLM business and/or people we don’t know (yet!)

Hopefully you are excited enough about your opportunity to feel positive about sharing it with your key contacts when you first join, and you have some good 3rd party tools and training to plug into to do this.

(3rd party tools just means a DVD, a website, an audio etc. that you can use as a first exposure to see if you have a real prospect and to avoid you having to be the message)

So let’s say you’re just getting started with building your online presence with social media but you’re also out and about, ‘living your life on purpose,’ networking.

How can you get these nice people you’re meeting at local networking events or in your day to day life to take a look at your business, without feeling pushy and salesy?

If we really believe in our MLM business then in this new economy we bear a certain responsibility to give people an opportunity to take a look at our MLM business right?

The majority of people out there in the big world are completely oblivious about ‘old school and new school MLM debate!’ They just don’t care!

What they may care about is finding a business model to plug into that they can use to change their life in this difficult time so I feel it’s important to move through this transitional period in MLM so you feel you have a complete system that works both on and offline.

Let’s look at three scenarios that we may have here:

1) Business networking events such as networking breakfasts etc.

Here people expect to exchange business cards. They come to ‘do business’ and meet new contacts. This is an ideal setting for you to meet professional people in your local area who are business minded.

Over the years I’ve attended so many of these events I’ve pretty much experienced every kind of scenario so nothing would surprise me but the usual format is either you officially pass your business cards around in a little box during the meeting, or you informally network with people and exchange cards with whom you want.

Both are great, the latter tends to be more environmentally friendly and time efficient because you’re not politely accepting cards that you have no interest in!

2) Day to day informal events

You meet an interesting person at a local event for example with your child, or pursuing a hobby of yours, and you are unsure what to do or how to build a relationship with that person although you think you’d very much enjoy working with them and they could be suitable for your business.

3) The ‘one shot’ prospect that would be ‘perfect’ for your business!

The ‘one shot’ prospect is the one you meet at the airport or the underground and will probably never see again. Ok with those guys rather than taking a deep breath and pitching them with all your buzz words, on your business (which I admit I would have done without the blink of an eye in the not too distant past) now you can simply chat about social media and see where they ‘hang out.’

How can you develop these relationships?

It’s probably best if you don’t even mention your business. (If you’re coming back from an International convention waving flags and high on life and jungle juice then you may need to physically hold yourself back!)

With all 3 of these scenarios you can now be less urgent in ‘pitching’ them because social media has opened up communication and the world for us in a dramatic way.

When you meet a great person at a local networking event or you get stuck waiting in the dentist’s surgery for ages and get chatting with a really cool person you can just talk about fun things.

There is no huge urgency which usually turns people right off. To meet someone for the first time and to start chewing their ear off about your business, and yes I know it is probably THE best one, and NEVER been done before.. But let’s face it, it’s a huge turnoff.

Ask questions and just relax into building relationships. Exchange cards if they have one and say you’ll look them up on, wherever it is they said they hang out.

Are they members of ‘Linked In?’ That’s a very formal and professional networking site where you’ll find thousands of interesting candidates.

Or they may be a lover of Facebook, or perhaps they are already into Twitter.

So doesn’t that make it easier and take the pressure off? Discuss the phenomenon of social media, discuss anything and everything that is fun and just connect up with them afterwards online.

No more heavy phone for first ‘follow up’ after the networking events. Phew.. I’m pleased about that.

So back to the main point of this article today; this is how you attract your prospects offline to your online sites. You start by inviting them to be a friend on the social media fun spots or fishing pools such as Facebook, and as a natural progression of your new friendship you’ll be able to expand on what you do as you connect up further.

They will see you are in business and if you position yourself well with an attraction marketing website and a little bio about you, and what information they can get free at your website they may very likely click on it without an invitation. That is so smooth when that happens.

If you need to formally invite them to take a look then once you’ve had a little look at there ’stuff’ online you are a lot more informed about what their interests and passions are. You know who you’re dealing with and can easily connect up with them and send them your link to check out to see if there is any interest there.

Attraction Marketing is not about being online, although that’s where it’s easiest for the majority to practice it. It’s about being a friend and having an attractive offer that encourages people to network with you and want to find out more about what you do.

Okay I’m wrapping this up now. I do hope that’s given you some enthusiasm to get social networking both on and offline and start leveraging your time with your website.

No flyers as I promised! Such a blessing for Network Marketing in the UK because it rains so often we are just not suited for flyering.

p.s this is a GREAT way for contacting your ‘chicken list!’ You know the guys that you feel you need to notify that you’re in business because in some way they could be an asset to your team, but perhaps you are intimidated by their success or position. These are usually the best prospects in your network circle so don’t ignore them through fear – just touch base with them using social media if you can’t bring yourself to call them.

p.s.s All of this works 100 x more efficiently when you have an attraction marketing website, branding you and your business and that offers a value based giveaway for people to opt in to receive information from you. If you have no customized funnel in place to build your MLM online and want to attract prospects to you, now is the time to get one! To set up your MLM online funnel the easy way you can go here:MLM online funnel