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[Dave Kotecki Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 5]

DarkSide here

I've been around the Internet and attraction marketing
for a good long time. When it comes to this business, I'm
an old-timer.

Wanna know why?
Because I made enough money to survive.
Oh no, not through any of the amazing internet marketing
techniques I learned. I just happened to make a lot of money
on the job. Enough to sustain me.

Do you make that kind of money?
Without going into details, let's just say I blew right
past the initial 6 figure mark and made a hefty chunk
after that.

Why is this relevant?
Because I'd have gone broke and had to get another job
long ago if i hadn't learned this secret:

BUYING LEADS TRUMPS ATTRACTION MARKETING EVERY TIME

I can hear you coming out of the woodwork to prove me wrong.
But let me explain...

A very effective marketer and 8 figure earner told me at
an event one time "Dave, use paid advertising. Nothing will
get you leads faster and you can track everything. See what
works and scale it. You'll be on your way."

I didn't get it.
So I didn't do it.

Why is this relevant?
Because when you use paid advertising, you're buying
leads. But you're doing it the hard way. You have to have
good copy in your ads and an effective squeeze page to
persuade the prospect to enter their email address.

Oh yeah.
Then you actually have to get people to your squeeze page.
In other words, ya gotta learn to drive traffic.

It's far easier and cheaper to hire a professional to gather
leads for you and then you pay them for their effort. In
other words, just buy the leads from a reputable lead
company.

You can get as many leads as you want, whenever you want.

And you wanna know what the HUGE secret is? The lie that
everyone believes just because it's been said so many times?
The lie is that it's a bad idea to buy leads.

Here's the reality:
Bought leads are just as good as a lead that opts into your
capture page. What's the difference? Know, like and trust?

Gimme a break!

The most effective capture pages I've ever seen don't mention
the marketer, their program or much of anything else. They're
basically a headline with some graphics and an opt in box.

They're no different than the ones the professionals use to
gather the leads that you buy from them. The only real
difference is that they know what they're doing, and you
don't. They can bring in millions of leads A DAY. That's why
you get them so cheap.

So why one Earth would you beat yourself up learning
copywriting, capture pages, autoresponders, blogs, and
on and on when you could just pick up the phone or go
to a website and get as many leads as you want for far
less money?

When you understand this, you'll see why you'd be crazy
to try to generate your own leads. Especially if you want
to build your network marketing team quickly.

Another couple of years go by and I discovered the real
secret behind all of this attraction marketing hoopla.
Every single top earner in network marketing is devastatingly
effective on the phone.

Yes, every single one.
Unless they're just churning prospects that join their
team, pay the guru til they're broke and then drop off.

I'm sure that happens.
But the huge downlines that pay legacy income for
decades are built through REAL training and mentoring.
And most of it happens on the phone. At least at first.

Webinars are great folks, but until you've been coached
for real, one on one by a professional, you really don't
understand what coaching is all about. My buddy
Adam Holland just sent me an email with a 30 minute
training explaining the levels of coaching. Look me up
and I'll send you a link.

This is getting a bit long, so I'll stop right here.
I feel there will be a Part II.
So stay tuned.

If your objective is to become a professional
networker, I can show you the things that people
never talk about. I'll teach you how to grow a
networking business. It may have less to do with the
Internet at first, but believe me. When you learn to
properly combine an effective offline strategy with
the Internet, you'll be unstoppable.

Until next time...

DarkSide out

[Jagan Krishnan Contribution Level: 2]

Very interesting post.

I have a few general comments to make.

1. How many good lead providers are out there? If it hadn't been for the crappy quality of purchased leads that many had to endure all these years, concepts like attraction marketing (which is misunderstood by many) wouldn't have come into play.

Which brings me to the next point.

2. There is nothing called as universal responsiveness of leads. People respond differently to different people.

No, I am not talking about the whole SILLY know, like and trust concept.

That's not it.

What I am talking about is being the FIRST POINT OF CONTACT once a lead is generated. I believe that it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE in the end (at least to those who know how to properly follow up).

Buying a lead from someone else and calling them

Vs

Generating a lead, giving them some information (through video or webinar or emails) and then calling them

I think the latter would be more responsive even if the lead quality is the same in both the cases.

Truth be told, we don't necessarily have to depend on the third party lead sources once we learn how to do it by ourselves (better way is to hire out experts to get leads for us where we are the first point of contact).

Its absolutely possible. The problem is that this whole online marketing game is being unnecessarily complicated by many people.

All that is required is 2 steps.

Step 1 - Get the damn leads.

Step 2 - Follow up consistently and get them to either call you or email you or attend a webinar or whatever.

Throw away all these social media, blogs, blah, blah, blah nonsense.

I am not saying social media, blogs and all that are useless but this whole fake branding thing is destroying many people. People who clear $1 million/year focus on the above 2 steps only.

1. Pay and get leads like crazy.
2. Follow up like a madman to convert them.
3. Job done.

If you are building a network marketing business, add in co-op marketing where many can pool in money together and advertise as one entity.

Getting 1000 leads a day through co-op marketing is very much possible.

At the end of the day, its all about huge lead flow and effective follow up process. Unfortunately many have neither which is why they struggle.

[Harry Fassett Contribution Level: 4]

Right Darkside, I do a combination of things, and buying leads is a quick and dirty way to get up and running fast, and there are different ways of going about that, (yes I used to be in the leads business about seven years ago as a database admin and we processed about 1,000,000 leads a week for various Co's), but that's another discussion.

Bottom line, branding, no branding, attraction marketing, no attraction marketing. One has to learn how to nurture a lead to a qualified prospect, and close the sale/deal as quickly as possible, yes we are in the direct sales industry (ya know, commission only), and many don't "get that" and play around socializing, but never making sales bottom line. I like socializing and making sales too, not just socializing and going broke in the process. Chaio. HF

DarkSide here

I've been around the Internet and attraction marketing
for a good long time. When it comes to this business, I'm
an old-timer.

Wanna know why?
Because I made enough money to survive.
Oh no, not through any of the amazing internet marketing
techniques I learned. I just happened to make a lot of money
on the job. Enough to sustain me.

Do you make that kind of money?
Without going into details, let's just say I blew right
past the initial 6 figure mark and made a hefty chunk
after that.

Why is this relevant?
Because I'd have gone broke and had to get another job
long ago if i hadn't learned this secret:

BUYING LEADS TRUMPS ATTRACTION MARKETING EVERY TIME

I can hear you coming out of the woodwork to prove me wrong.
But let me explain...

A very effective marketer and 8 figure earner told me at
an event one time "Dave, use paid advertising. Nothing will
get you leads faster and you can track everything. See what
works and scale it. You'll be on your way."

I didn't get it.
So I didn't do it.

Why is this relevant?
Because when you use paid advertising, you're buying
leads. But you're doing it the hard way. You have to have
good copy in your ads and an effective squeeze page to
persuade the prospect to enter their email address.

Oh yeah.
Then you actually have to get people to your squeeze page.
In other words, ya gotta learn to drive traffic.

It's far easier and cheaper to hire a professional to gather
leads for you and then you pay them for their effort. In
other words, just buy the leads from a reputable lead
company.

You can get as many leads as you want, whenever you want.

And you wanna know what the HUGE secret is? The lie that
everyone believes just because it's been said so many times?
The lie is that it's a bad idea to buy leads.

Here's the reality:
Bought leads are just as good as a lead that opts into your
capture page. What's the difference? Know, like and trust?

Gimme a break!

The most effective capture pages I've ever seen don't mention
the marketer, their program or much of anything else. They're
basically a headline with some graphics and an opt in box.

They're no different than the ones the professionals use to
gather the leads that you buy from them. The only real
difference is that they know what they're doing, and you
don't. They can bring in millions of leads A DAY. That's why
you get them so cheap.

So why one Earth would you beat yourself up learning
copywriting, capture pages, autoresponders, blogs, and
on and on when you could just pick up the phone or go
to a website and get as many leads as you want for far
less money?

When you understand this, you'll see why you'd be crazy
to try to generate your own leads. Especially if you want
to build your network marketing team quickly.

Another couple of years go by and I discovered the real
secret behind all of this attraction marketing hoopla.
Every single top earner in network marketing is devastatingly
effective on the phone.

Yes, every single one.
Unless they're just churning prospects that join their
team, pay the guru til they're broke and then drop off.

I'm sure that happens.
But the huge downlines that pay legacy income for
decades are built through REAL training and mentoring.
And most of it happens on the phone. At least at first.

Webinars are great folks, but until you've been coached
for real, one on one by a professional, you really don't
understand what coaching is all about. My buddy
Adam Holland just sent me an email with a 30 minute
training explaining the levels of coaching. Look me up
and I'll send you a link.

This is getting a bit long, so I'll stop right here.
I feel there will be a Part II.
So stay tuned.

If your objective is to become a professional
networker, I can show you the things that people
never talk about. I'll teach you how to grow a
networking business. It may have less to do with the
Internet at first, but believe me. When you learn to
properly combine an effective offline strategy with
the Internet, you'll be unstoppable.

Until next time...

DarkSide out

[Tom Bradley Company: Herbalife International of America, Inc. Contribution Level: 3]

Hey Dave,

You bring up a valid point, especially from the standpoint of wasting time spinning our wheels trying to create our own funnels.

As a guy who has bought leads, lots of them, my only asterisk - which I'm sure you'll address in the series - is make sure you are getting leads that were generated with clear intent...

Lead companies take orders they have to fill. If their demand goes up, they can get a little liberal about the qualification of those leads. You are keeping it real...so you have to admit this is true.

Also, I've made the mistake of buying leads from companies (one, a nationally recognized company...) who were running a sweepstakes...offering a free car to someone for 'checking out the opportunity'.

Exercise some due diligence and hold the lead company accountable.

Tom

[Harry Fassett Contribution Level: 4]

I know at least one decent lead source (and I'm sure there are many), but again, you have to know the demographic you are looking for, and make sure the leads are not sold 10 other times on top of your sale, i.e how many times are the fresh leads resold.

The vendor I use sells them twice, and that's about the best you can get and they are 24 - 48hr leads with name, address, and email, and you can pick what states you want if needed. Want the source, just give me a holler and I'll zip it over to you asap. And no, I don't make a commission for referring you, but the vendor may "kick" me some leads for it, that's it.

Plus to elaborate on what the "Darkside" said... he's right on with what he is saying because most end up using landing pages that almost guarantee failer and crappy leads to being with, and the landing page should do a little pre-qualifying for starters, i.e. weed out the bottom dwellers, and something for nothing people that want everything for free, or five bucks.

In other words, get the lead to at least spend a little time to give all information required, and maybe buy a little something like an ebook or some other info like that (they invested in you to start), and when people invest a little up front or jump through one or two hoops to get you their info, that's a much better lead than say a lead that just gives a name and email address for starters and wants something for free. Even a freebee can be a good thing if the visitor will give a lot of good info on them upfront, so free isn't necessarily all bad either, if the process of "why" is thought out carefully and gets results.

Yes, as Darkside pointed out, you have to be good on the phone and be able to deal with many different personalities and be able to ask great questions, and get the call moving closer to a sale asap. That's what too great ladies on our Team United do, and one makes over 8k a week and it took her only 16 months to do, and the other is a millionaire in the industry, so I think they know best what works on the phone, and women are usually better at this business than men are, but the men seem to focus better and make up for it that way.

A good solid phone script is good too, and you can get one from Dani Johnson's site for about 30 bucks and I heard one lady on her call make over 90K using it she said, so it must work along with her great phone, and sales skills.

The Company I work with gives Brand Partners proven telephone scripts right in their back office of intial contact and for follow up so that the new Distributor has just got to get good making sales over the phone and by practicing and having the script down pat. Anyway, enough said. Chaio. healthysnackmoms

Very interesting post.

I have a few general comments to make.

1. How many good lead providers are out there? If it hadn't been for the crappy quality of purchased leads that many had to endure all these years, concepts like attraction marketing (which is misunderstood by many) wouldn't have come into play.

Which brings me to the next point.

2. There is nothing called as universal responsiveness of leads. People respond differently to different people.

No, I am not talking about the whole SILLY know, like and trust concept.

That's not it.

What I am talking about is being the FIRST POINT OF CONTACT once a lead is generated. I believe that it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE in the end (at least to those who know how to properly follow up).

Buying a lead from someone else and calling them

Vs

Generating a lead, giving them some information (through video or webinar or emails) and then calling them

I think the latter would be more responsive even if the lead quality is the same in both the cases.

Truth be told, we don't necessarily have to depend on the third party lead sources once we learn how to do it by ourselves (better way is to hire out experts to get leads for us where we are the first point of contact).

Its absolutely possible. The problem is that this whole online marketing game is being unnecessarily complicated by many people.

All that is required is 2 steps.

Step 1 - Get the damn leads.

Step 2 - Follow up consistently and get them to either call you or email you or attend a webinar or whatever.

Throw away all these social media, blogs, blah, blah, blah nonsense.

I am not saying social media, blogs and all that are useless but this whole fake branding thing is destroying many people. People who clear $1 million/year focus on the above 2 steps only.

1. Pay and get leads like crazy.
2. Follow up like a madman to convert them.
3. Job done.

If you are building a network marketing business, add in co-op marketing where many can pool in money together and advertise as one entity.

Getting 1000 leads a day through co-op marketing is very much possible.

At the end of the day, its all about huge lead flow and effective follow up process. Unfortunately many have neither which is why they struggle.

[Harry Fassett Contribution Level: 4]

"I am not saying social media, blogs and all that are useless but this whole fake branding thing is destroying many people." LOL! Right! Make a sale, then show me what you know.

[Landon Stewart Company: ViSalus Sciences Contribution Level: 3]

Very interesting post.

I have a few general comments to make.

1. How many good lead providers are out there? If it hadn't been for the crappy quality of purchased leads that many had to endure all these years, concepts like attraction marketing (which is misunderstood by many) wouldn't have come into play.

Which brings me to the next point.

2. There is nothing called as universal responsiveness of leads. People respond differently to different people.

No, I am not talking about the whole SILLY know, like and trust concept.

That's not it.

What I am talking about is being the FIRST POINT OF CONTACT once a lead is generated. I believe that it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE in the end (at least to those who know how to properly follow up).

Buying a lead from someone else and calling them

Vs

Generating a lead, giving them some information (through video or webinar or emails) and then calling them

I think the latter would be more responsive even if the lead quality is the same in both the cases.

Truth be told, we don't necessarily have to depend on the third party lead sources once we learn how to do it by ourselves (better way is to hire out experts to get leads for us where we are the first point of contact).

Its absolutely possible. The problem is that this whole online marketing game is being unnecessarily complicated by many people.

All that is required is 2 steps.

Step 1 - Get the damn leads.

Step 2 - Follow up consistently and get them to either call you or email you or attend a webinar or whatever.

Throw away all these social media, blogs, blah, blah, blah nonsense.

I am not saying social media, blogs and all that are useless but this whole fake branding thing is destroying many people. People who clear $1 million/year focus on the above 2 steps only.

1. Pay and get leads like crazy.
2. Follow up like a madman to convert them.
3. Job done.

If you are building a network marketing business, add in co-op marketing where many can pool in money together and advertise as one entity.

Getting 1000 leads a day through co-op marketing is very much possible.

At the end of the day, its all about huge lead flow and effective follow up process. Unfortunately many have neither which is why they struggle.

Hey jagan, how many leads a day do you generate?

[Betsy Vayda Company: Seacret Direct Contribution Level: 3]

Yes, the key is to learn how to talk to your leads.

To qualify them and move to the sale. We are direct sales people. I never understand why so many network marketers keep insisting that we aren't in sales. WE are.

If you force your new team members to confront that fact and get comfortable with it, there were be more success stories.

Getting people to talk to , leads, is critical.

So many purchased leads are terrible.
People who opt-in because they thought they would win something or other.

Far far from qualified leads.

For most I would agree buying good leads is the best way to go. However, finding good leads can be difficult and costly.

I think generating your own leads is the way to go. Creating a capture page where you education your potential recruit,will almost always result in a better lead. If you do it right for the right company, some people sign up without ever talking to you. (Of course, then you need to call them and use those phone skills to inspire them to success).

Again, I don't think there is anything misguided about buying leads. It is just difficult to find a source of good leads.

[Cara Olson Company: Monitium Contribution Level: 2]

Very good reminder on other ways to be successful without attraction marketing being used for lead generation. I use attraction marketing as a part of my marketing plan and not the complete plan itself.

As for buying leads, there are too many companies out there that are not legit so a slight curve to your idea is buy leads through the production of lead generation and paid advertising. Although you touch on this idea slightly, to me it is the real way to go: Create your own leads through paid advertising such as ppc and ppv, as these leads can be set and tracked the best if they are targeted well.

Happy lead generating!

[Jagan Krishnan Contribution Level: 2]

Hey Landon, how are you mate?

As far as your question is concerned:

I have had 100+ lead days easily using solo ads. I stopped at 100 to test out my funnel and see my conversions before I ramp up. The game for solo ads is NOT like Adwords or other programs. Once you get the basics right, you can do 100 a day, 200 a day or even 1000 a day without breaking much of a sweat. The key however is in finding out profitable spots and using them again and again. A perfect method for co-ops.

Of course, one should later tap into paid other methods too (banners, ppv, ppc, etc).