One of the most popular topics for discussion in the industry is the idea of combining network marketing with internet marketing in order to build a hybrid „network marketing internet business.“ When you come across people who have talked to everyone in their warm market, they often want to know how they can use the internet to generate MLM leads for their business.

Let’s start by breaking down the phrase „network marketing internet business“ so you can truly understand what it means. Each of the words is vital. It’s a BUSINESS (not a hobby) and it involves accessing a NETWORK of people (online or on the phone) and MARKETING (promoting your products, services, company, or yourself) while using the INTERNET.

What I’m working to do in this article is to share some ideas to help you in your efforts to build a network marketing internet business.

Building a Network Marketing Internet Business

Secret #1: Step Away From Your Computer

Here’s something important to remember: network marketing is a business about personal relationships. It always has been and always will be. Period. It doesn’t matter if you’re building your business offline or online, you have to talk to people with your mouth and utter words that they can hear.

When you’re working offline, you need to go to networking events and hotel meetings. If your company does home parties, then you need to do home parties.

Your goal online should be to use social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn to start chats and email discussions with new people. If there is a fit for your business, then it would be a good time to arrange face-to-face meeting if the person is in your market.

let’s look at a real example. You’ve got Facebook at your fingertips. A great technique for finding like-minded people such as you, is to use the „groups“ feature of Facebook to find groups of people with similar interests. Start conversations using the chat feature. Then, if the conversation goes naturally, consider looking for an opportunity to get the person on the phone for an „offline“ conversation. Building a network marketing internet business is about interacting with people, participating in discussions, and contributing to the greater good.

Keep in mind that if you would rather poke your eyes out than talk to people over the phone or face-to-face, then you need to get out of network marketing, or hunker down and learn to get comfortable with that.

Secret #2: Remember the Internet is One Tool

There are a lot of ways you can build your business. You can build online. You can build offline. And there are dozens of ways to build in each category. So, let’s be clear … the Internet is just one tool out of many that you can use. Not to burst your balloon, but the internet is not „the answer“ in all cases.

In fact, one tool you’ll use more than specific Internet „how to’s“, is any knowledge you can absorb on the topics of sales, marketing, and human persuasion and psychology.

Secret #3: Capture Information

Regardless of what you do on the internet, you goal should be to generate leads for your business. When you’re generating leads, you must focus on capturing a visitor’s name and email address. The reason? You will want to be able to follow-up with the person because of the general rule that it takes 5 to 7 exposures to message before people will take action. That follow-up can be sequenced to automatically send the person emails on a schedule when you use a service like Aweber.com.

There’s a wonderful saying that „the fortune is in the followup“. This is true offline as much as it is online. Most business transactions result from five to seven exposures to a product, service or opportunity. If you stay in contact with someone and provide value to them, many people will eventually join with you. An email autoresponder makes it easy for you to stay in touch systematically and automatically.

Secret #4: Give Value

Providing value means „giving someone information or assistance that can solve or diminish a problem the person faces, with no expectation of compensation.“

So let’s take an example. Suppose your target market is frustrated network marketers who struggle with how to talk about their business without turning off friends and family. You can offer this market value in a variety of ways. You could do a phone interview with a top producer in your company to get his or her ideas. As you do the interview, you record it. Then, you offer it as a free giveaway on your website to anyone who gives you their email address! You can also offer value by sending emails with topics like „The 5 Phrases That Can Open Any Conversation“, or „3 Things You Shouldn’t Say when Talking About Your Business to Friends and Family.“ Get the idea?

In other words, give first before asking for something. Once you’ve given value first, then you can direct people to something they can buy that provides even more details and value.

Secret #5: Make use of an Attraction Marketing Process

If you’ve never heard of the idea of a „funded proposal“, here’s what it is: it is an integrated system designed to capture leads in your target market, provide value to those leads upfront, and entice those leads to purchase items that can help them solve problems in their life while providing cashflow to your own business.

Someone who taught this system really well is Mike Dillard. Mike was a struggling network marketer until he found out he could use the internet to build his business if he just designed a process to capture leads so he could entice people to buy things and fund his marketing efforts. Mike Dillard’s Magnetic Sponsoring course teaches that in detail. You can also design a system from scratch, or use a system like MLSP (MyLeadSystemPro).

The added advantage here is that you develop an extra stream of income to help pay the bills while you generate leads for your primary business.

Concluding Thoughts

Remember, network marketing is about your ability to get customers to buy products and services, and to sponsor new reps. Sponsoring and recruiting is where you will earn the most money in this business. You will not earn a lot of money building websites or posting fun things on Facebook.

Use the internet as a tool and connect with a proven lead generation system. Then, follow the good old 80/20 rule. Spend 80% of your time sponsoring and recruiting people, and 20% of your time building your network marketing internet business to get more leads.

Abe Vu’s article about building a network marketing internet business can be found on his network marketing internet business site.