MLM Lead Generation: 11 Proven Methods to Generate Network Marketing Leads

What is MLM Lead Generation

MLM lead generation is the process of finding people to recruit as buyers of your products, who would then become sellers of the same products themselves, forming a ‘multi-level’ network. 

MLM networks have been used successfully to sell cosmetics, weight loss and nutrition products, plasticware, and herbal treatments. Popular MLM networks include Avon and Tupperware. 

Due to the success of these networks, other companies have jumped onto the MLM bandwagon and the market is now saturated as a result. It can thus be difficult to find new leads to grow your network, which is why it’s important to use proven MLM lead generation methods.

In an MLM network, everyone is looking to recruit more people because the more people you recruit the more sales and money you make. For this reason, MLM lead generation is highly competitive. You are essentially competing for a shrinking market as with every recruit the potential pool of leads shrinks and the competition increases.

What is MLM Marketing

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MLM or multi-level marketing is a direct selling system where buyers are prospected and then trained to recruit their own buyers from whose sales they earn a commission. It is sometimes referred to as direct marketing or network marketing.

The way it works is the sellers in the lower levels of the network serve as buyers for the people above them, and up it goes like that. All these sellers earn a commission from the sales their recruits make. 

After you recruit your own sellers you become a distributor, and those sellers become your network or ‘downline’. Your recruits can recruit their own sellers and from those sellers’ sales, you also receive a commission. The longer your downline grows the more you collect in commissions.

Every seller is essentially a business owner (independent distributor) in their own right as they are not directly employed by the company that makes the products.

So the sellers who manage to recruit more people earn more money for themselves and the sellers that recruited them.

Who are the Target Leads for Multi-Level Marketing Networks

Due to its relational aspect, the products usually involved, and the gender of the consultants themselves, women are the predominant target for MLM lead generation. However, the gender proportion shifts significantly in the case of financial and/or insurance companies.

Developing a financial portfolio or considering a life insurance policy is usually a joint decision made by both couples or by the head of the household, regardless of gender.

However, in terms of economic background, MLM customers are profiled according to the products or services offered, but it generally trends toward a middle-class audience.

At the corporate level, MLM professionals develop an easily communicated mission and image and create resources that facilitate that communication.

With the sales and customer information generated at each presentation, companies can better figure out what products to acquire and/or develop, how to portray them to their audience, and how to tailor their message to better suit different market segments.

After reading all that you are now probably asking, where can I find network marketing leads?

How to Generate Leads for Network Marketing

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Multi-level marketing must focus more on selling products to end-users and less on recruiting buyers to buy products that they have to sell to other buyers. 

In the case of the latter, the network is in danger of straying into pyramid scheme territory, which is illegal. So as you strategize ways to generate MLM leads, be sure your goal is to sell more products and not necessarily to grow a large network of recruit sellers.

Before we share some of the best ways to generate MLM leads, we should point out that there is a right and wrong way to go about it. Top of what not to do is to buy MLM leads. 

Buying a list of contacts that you have not verified to have a need for what you are selling is a waste of money. Rather invest in one of the strategies we will share below. With those methods you have better control of the quality of the MLM leads you generate.

With that said, there are several ways to generate network marketing leads that you could try starting today. We will discuss 11 of them below:

1 Network on social media

Social media is a good place to search for MLM leads, but it can be tough if you’re not on the right platforms. You can look to tap into discussions about your product or solution. We will use the example of plasticware or kitchen storage solutions in general.

But the real trick with using social media as a channel for MLM lead generation is in choosing the right social platform. Between TikTok, Snapchat, Twitch, LinkedIn, and Facebook, where are you most likely to find middle-aged women hanging out?

I would think it is Facebook. If you choose to look around on Twitch or Snapchat, you may be in for a very frustrating time. If you chose TikTok, you would need to be very creative and comfortable in front of the camera.

2 Join forums and online groups

There are plenty of forums that focus on MLM, so you can find some great discussions and build relationships with people who have been in the industry for a while. MLM Infopages is one example.

People join these forums for different reasons. Some want to learn how to generate more MLM leads and others are researching MLM networks to join. So as well as learning some new MLM lead generation strategies, you could find a lead or two.

3 Invest in content marketing

If you’re knowledgeable about MLM, you’re in a great position to share your knowledge with others. You could start a blog, vlog, or newsletter. I subscribe to a newsletter about side hustles that share examples of people crushing it with network marketing and other side income streams.

Remember that content marketing is about selflessly sharing information of value with others as a way of building a relationship. You can then use the trust generated by the relationship to recommend products that you believe can help your audience in meaningful ways.

At its heart network marketing is about helping, teaching, and sharing value. That is what content marketing is about too, so in a way it is similar to MLM lead generation.

Depending on the company you are working with, you may not be allowed to start a website directly related to your network. In that case, you could start your blog on a topic or hobby related to the products you are selling. For example, if you sell makeup products, you could start a blog on makeup or beauty in general. 

4 Network on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the single biggest social network where professionals come to meet and build connections with other professionals. Depending on the product you’re selling, the ‘social network of professionals is made for MLM lead generation.

As with any social outreach campaign, you are going to fail if you approach LinkedIn networking specifically as a vehicle for generating network marketing leads. 

Use LinkedIn to build a network, which you do by selflessly sharing your expertise. People are attracted by value, so give it more than you milk it. Only after you have built a reputation as an expert in your product/solution can people be interested in anything you pitch.

5 Publish E-books and courses

The best MLM leads are those that are knowledgeable about your product and the problem it solves. That is why training is a big part of MLM lead generation. New recruits have to be trained to sell and recruit other sellers. That’s how you grow your network.

So you have to devote a lot of time and resources towards creating content an delivering it in formats and mediums that are most accessible to your audience, and courses and ebooks are great options for this.

Sharing your knowledge and expertise through a course or ebook is also an excellent way to build your reputation and credibility among other sellers.

6 Start a Facebook group

Facebook groups are a great place to meet new people and share ideas. The good thing about them is that these groups are formed around specific interests, products, and hobbies. So it is easy to search and find the right groups to network and generate leads.

Some groups have members running in the 10’s of thousands. But if you are thinking you can simply join a group and immediately start posting and asking people to join your MLM network, think again. Most Facebook groups have rules against this. Before you post, the admin must approve your post. 

In fact, before you join most groups, you have to answer a set of questions so the group admin can establish your reasons for joining. To get around this, can’t you form your own groups and make your own rules? 

You could but growing a Facebook group takes a lot of time and effort. Be prepared to invest a lot of time and effort in content creation and marketing.

7 Host events

Hosting or attending a seminar, conference, or other kind of event presents a fantastic network-building opportunity that can be leveraged to generate MLM leads. And as we have reiterated already, there is a right and wrong way to network.

The right way is to share value. To share your expertise and knowledge with others in exchange for building a meaningful relationship. Again the choice of events you choose to attend determines how successful your MLM lead generation effort will be.

You should choose events that your ideal recruits are likely to attend. But in the MLM world, these can be difficult to find. That is why many MLM network companies host their own events where they train new recruits and honor their top sellers with prizes and trophies. You may have to host your own where you invite the people you are prospecting.

8 Podcasting

A podcast provides another platform for connecting with people online – whether they’re listeners or potential partners within your industry. The best thing about podcasting is that it does not require any fancy equipment or complicated techniques. You can be up and running with very little investment.

Be sure sure to choose a topic that your ideal audience cares about because, with so many podcasts available for people to listen to, it can be tough to stand out. 

You can choose a topic specifically about the product you are selling and use the podcast to educate your network and introduce new products. Or you can choose a hobby or problem that your products can solve and make it the topic for your podcast.

9 Start a YouTube channel

Youtube is used by millions of people each day. Influencers use it to build audiences and consumers use it for entertainment and research purposes. You can use it to find MLM leads. Content is what connects marketers and consumers.

By making your own YouTube video content, you’ll be able to get in front of new audiences who may not have known about you. But success on YouTube not only depends on your ability to create to content that people will want to consume but on how well you choose the topics you cover in your videos. Some topics are more popular than others.

YouTube is a search engine in its own right that, like Google, uses keywords to organize content and an algorithm and index to rank and serve the right content to its users. So to get the best MLM lead generation value out of the video publishing platform, you have to master YouTube SEO.

10 Email marketing

An email list is a valuable asset that can help you to create conversations with prospects and customers. It is a gated digital asset that you totally control, unlike social media groups and profiles that are controlled by an algorithm whose rules you cannot influence in any way.

But as with many things digital marketing, building an email list takes a serious investment in content and networking. The best ways to build an email list are through your social media or blog. 

And if you have started a blog, you know how tough it can be to grow an audience of loyal readers that can be willing to hand you their email address and access pass to their inbox. It takes a lot of content. Good content. 

Similarly, building a large enough following takes a lot of posting and commenting. But when you have that email list built up, it can be a valuable asset from which to generate network marketing leads.

11 Host webinars

Hosting a webinar is another effective way to build your list of MLM leads. Virtual or web-hosted seminars, webinars work best for training new recruits and nurturing new leads. If you have a website that already has an audience, it will be easy to promote your webinars and get people to sign up.

Because it is virtually hosted, a webinar also opens up your potential market on a global scale as anyone with an internet connection can attend. In this regard, webinars have a reach you could never manage with an in-person seminar.

Software Tools for MLM Lead Generation

The best and most cost-effective way to generate MLM leads is by automating the process using a lead generation tool like LeadFuze. LeadFuze allows you to automatically build lists of new contacts that you can recruit for your MLM network.

LeadFuze uses Fuzebot, an AI-powered assistant to trawl the internet for new leads and their contact data. Our email finder tool uses a double verification system to validate email addresses and make sure they are accurate.

Thanks to its recruiting features, LeadFuze is perfect for MLM lead generation. It allows you to scale your lead generation, ensuring you don’t rely solely on networking at conferences and on social media, among other manual lead generation methods.

Examples of Companies Using a Multi-Level Marketing Sales Strategy

Success with network marketing or direct selling depends a lot on what products you choose to sell. If you are not making the products yourself, your choice of direct selling company to sell for also plays a big part in your success.

Companies that use a network marketing sales strategy typically don’t have sales locations of their own and rely solely on their network of distributors and salespeople. For this reason, they offer a lot of support and training to set their salespeople up for success.

But at the seller’s level, it’s important to choose a product or solution you are passionate about. If you are a healthy living practitioner, you will do well selling for a company like Herbalife, for example. 

You need to sell a product you believe in and can speak confidently about. If you choose such a product or company, it should not be too difficult to network and do what you must do to generate MLM leads.

Here are 10 examples of companies that have been very successful with an MLM sales strategy.

1. Amway – USA
2. Herbalife – USA
3. Avon Products – USA
4. Vorwerk – Germany
5. Infinitus – China
6. Natura Cosmeticos – Brazil
7. Mary Kay – USA
8. Coway – South Korea
9. Melaleuca – USA
10. Nu Skin – USA

Top 10 Leading MLM or Network Marketing Companies

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Ready to Build A MLM Lead Generation Machine?

Multi-level marketing is an old direct sales strategy with many lead generation strategies – like hosting networking events and training seminars – that have been proven to work. But digital technology has opened new methods of generating MLM leads that you can use to quickly grow your network of sellers. 

Among the more modern network marketing lead generation methods are networking on LinkedIn, writing a blog, email marketing, investing in lead generation software like LeadFuze. 

But how well you do generate MLM leads depends on the market you target and the products you choose to sell. If you do your homework and choose your target market well, the strategies we have shared should give a solid base on which to build your MLM lead generation machine.