Today we are going to discuss where to find network marketing prospects.

Typically when you join a network marketing company, you will be taught to make a list of at least 100 people. Your friends, family, doctor, mechanic etc etc.

Then you will be taught to talk to these folks about your business with the goal of either selling them products or recruiting them into your MLM business organization.

The problem is, many people (at least the ones who take their business seriously) tend to burn through that list quite quickly.

They’ve talked to all the people on their list and maybe they’ve now acquired a few customers. Maybe they even recruited 1 or 2 people…

But they are certainly not making that life changing income that they were promised.

The truth is, you will recruit a very small number of the people that you talk to. Most people are frankly not interested in starting a side hustle (although that might be changing in the midst of current economic turmoil).

Look, network marketing is simply a numbers game. There is a small percentage of people in society who will take network marketing seriously…

And it’s your job to work through those numbers so that you can find those quality people and add them to your network marketing team.

So in order for you to have long term success in this business, you need to know where to find network marketing prospects so that you will have a stream of people to talk to for years to come.

I want to share with you 34 places to find network marketing prospects… Some of these sources I use myself, and others I don’t.

There are 3 main categories of MLM prospect sources that we’ll talk about today:

• Traditional sources
• Online sources
• Tacky sources

So let’s dive in.

Traditional Sources

When you join an MLM, they will teach you where to find network marketing prospects from traditional sources that are well known in the profession.

These are methods and strategies that have been used for decades. They have been means tested and used successfully by millions of distributors all over the world.

And they should not be overlooked.

1. Your Warm Market

Your “warm market” includes all the people who already know, like, and trust you. It includes family members, friends, coworkers, and any other associates that you have regular interactions with.

It can be quite difficult for a new distributor to pitch a business opportunity to somebody that they know well.

You might feel silly about it, and you don’t want your loved ones to judge you or think less of you.

First of all, this is a fear that you will need to get over. If you are serious about changing your life and building a massive network marketing business, your top concern can NOT be what others might think of you.

But here’s what you need to understand about talking to your warm market:

Most of them will say no.

And that’s OK. 

Just be ready for it.

Something that you might want to consider is not pitching the business opportunity to your warm market at all… at least not initially. 

Just focus on acquiring customers.

It will be much easier for you to convince your warm market to buy your products than it will be to start their own home business.

And it can be a great opportunity to build a loyal base of customers and create a stream of residual income. 

This can serve to build momentum in your business quickly and fortify your conviction in this business model.

2. Referrals From Friends & Family

Just because members of your warm market may not be interested in your business or products does not mean that they don’t know people who are.

If somebody from your warm market seems completely disinterested, don’t push it. You should never ever beg anyone to buy from you or join your business.

But you can politely ask if they know of anybody who might be interested.

Almost everyone knows somebody who is always looking for ways to earn a bit of extra money.

Getting referrals from loved ones can greatly expand the network of people that you can talk to… and it is called network marketing after all.

3. Referrals From Customers

If you have a base of loyal customers, you could always reach out to them and ask if they know of anyone who might be interested in starting their own side hustle.

Your existing customers are already familiar with what you sell and are positively predisposed to your business.

And they’ll have a pretty good idea as to who in their own network might be interested in starting a business like yours.

It’s just one more way to expand your network.

4. Host A Public Seminar

If you have some experience with teaching and/or speaking publicly, this can be a great way to get a boost in customers or distributors.

Keep the seminar education based. Do not make it all about pitching your products or business opportunity.

The folks attending your event need to feel like they’ve received value from attending your seminar.

Provide good, valuable, useful information and show people how your product or opportunity can help them achieve what you taught them, faster or better.

Even if somebody leaves the seminar without buying anything, they should still feel as though it was worth their time.

5. Networking Events

Networking events are hosted in communities large and small all over the world. 

Professionals from a wide range of careers attend these events. Financial planners, real estate agents, investors, and sales people are just a few of the professions you’ll find represented at these events.

When you’re at a networking event, don’t pitch anything at all. Simply mingle, get to know people, and focus on building relationships.

Be sure to get plenty of business cards and you can follow up the next day to talk more about your own business.

6. Meetup.com

Meetup.com is a program that allows you to find people in your area that have similar interests to your own.

If, for example, you are looking to meet some people who are interested in something like Bitcoin, chess, or business, you can create your own group and wait for people whose interests align with the topic to join.

You will need to pay in order to create your own group, but you can join any group for free.

In order to use Meetup.com to find network marketing prospects, you will need to identify local groups that are related to your business opportunity or product.

Join the group and focus on making a positive contribution. Mingle with the members and focus on building relationships.

After getting to know some of the people, you can introduce your product or business opportunity.

7. Church Events

Another place to potentially find network marketing prospects is at church events.

Now let’s be very clear…

You should not be attending church with the primary goal of soliciting your business opportunity or anything else. The same way that (in my opinion) a single person should not specifically attend church to find a mate.

Church is a place of community and worship and that should always be your priority when attending church.

With that being said, you can build some strong and amazing relationships through church organizations.

And once you’ve built those relationships, you can and should certainly introduce your products or opportunity to your new friends.

8. Charity Events

Attending charity events can be another excellent way to expand your personal network. 

You will find quality people at these types of events. People who are kind, generous, and a real pleasure to be around.

Exactly the kind of person that you would want to work with or have as a customer.

Like a church event, your primary objective when attending charity events should not be to solicit your MLM business.

Try to find charities that you genuinely support so that you can actually do some good in society while simultaneously meeting some amazing people that you can add to your social circles.

And down the road, you could introduce them to your products or business opportunity.

9. Community Events

Community events are often filled with generous people who have a heart for the community they live in.

They tend to spend time volunteering in the community to make it a better place to live.

They truly want what’s best for the people around them.

This is exactly the kind of person that you want in your business. Not only should they be ambitious go-getters, but they should truly want to help others, not take advantage of them.

Building quality relationships with the people in your local community is a no brainer and can be an excellent source of customers or business partners down the line.

10. Parents At Sporting Events

If you have kids that play sports, then you’re already attending these events, right?

You should be making a conscious effort to build relationships with the other parents in your children’s peer group.

You will have plenty to talk about since you have the sporting events in common. 

And think about this…

Every last parent at any given sporting event would love the opportunity to free up their time so that they could spend more of it with their children and attend every single event that their children are involved in…

And network marketing is exactly the right solution.

11. Trade Show Booths

You might think that I’m going to suggest that you run your own booth at a trade show…

But I don’t actually think that’s a very effective strategy for network marketing. It’s not duplicable and most people will not join your business on the first exposure.

Instead, I suggest you go to trade shows and gather the business cards of the folks that are running their own booths.

You know that these folks are ambitious and entrepreneurial.

They’re very likely to be open minded and think outside the box…

Making them a perfect network marketing prospect.

Gather business cards from the various booths at a trade show and follow up the next day.

12. Restaurant Owners

The restaurant business is extremely difficult. And it’s only become more difficult as the global economy suffers from the COVID-19 actions taken by governments all over the world.

But restaurant owners are extremely hard working, ambitious, and love serving people. They are natural candidates for network marketing.

And it’s up to you to show them how they can do network marketing in addition to their restaurant business.

Network marketing could allow a restaurant owner to build a large income stream that no virus or other emergency could ever stifle.

13. Car Lots

I am not personally a big fan of actively recruiting salespeople into my business. The reason being that network marketing is not really a selling business… 

It’s more of a recruiting and teaching business.

And car salesmen (or women) tend to be quite aggressive, which is simply a losing strategy in network marketing.

With that being said, they are ambitious. And many of them are willing and able to think outside the box.

Additionally, they are often paid on a 100% commission basis.

So network marketing will not be a completely foreign concept to them.

14. Doctor’s Offices

It can be quite intimidating to think about recruiting your doctor into your business. 

But just imagine having a successful person like an educated medical doctor in your personal downline…

Doctors tend to be extremely intelligent and hard working. People like that could do wonders for your network marketing business in the long run.

But don’t necessarily restrict this just to doctors…

The point I’m making is that you should consider speaking to highly successful people in all sorts of careers. It could be real estate investors, lawyers, bankers, or any other professional you could think of.

Many people involved in network marketing will put a lot of focus on recruiting people who look up to them.

Well I say, why not focus on recruiting people that you look up to?

Sure it’s intimidating.

But it’ll be worth it!

15. Go Where Your People Are

Do some brainstorming and figure where your ideal customers or business candidates hang out. What hobbies do they tend to have? What events or clubs do they go to?

Then go out and get involved in similar activities. Meet new people, build relationships, and prioritize expanding your personal network.

Instead of hoping that you’ll magically stumble across your perfect business candidate, I encourage you to be more intentional.

Hope is not a good strategy, so don’t rely on it.

Be intentional.

16. Everywhere Else

The truth is, you are constantly running into amazing people every day.

At the post office, the grocery store, the park, your mechanic, etc…

If you want to truly expand your personal network so that you have people to talk to about your business for the rest of your life, you’ll need to learn how to intentionally build relationships everywhere. 

And every day.

It’ll take practice and will likely push you way out of your comfort zone.

It’ll be easier for some people than it will be for others…

But I believe everybody is capable of being radically friendly.

Don’t think of it as constantly being in recruiting mode…

Instead, view it as simply expanding your personal network. That’s what you’re doing, and you’re doing it because you love people.

So get out there and meet people intentionally, even when you’re doing the boring mundane life stuff like errands.

Online Sources

Many new MLMers turn to the internet in their search of where to find network marketing prospects due to their fear of speaking with other people about their business.

This is the wrong reason to use the internet to build your business.

Before turning to online strategies, you should simply plug into the system that you’re taught after joining your network marketing company.

It might be scary and it’ll certainly push you outside of your comfort zone…

But that’s a good thing.

The system that you’re taught within your company has been specifically designed to achieve a balance between effectiveness and duplication.

So before turning to the internet, just do what you’re taught by your business leader.

But as a network marketing professional, you should not overlook the internet, either.

It’s a very powerful technology that allows you to communicate with individuals all over the world and build a huge, profitable business that spans the globe.

But if your company does not teach online strategies, I would encourage you to focus on just following the system that you’re taught. At least initially.

After you’ve built a decent sized team that you’re experiencing some duplication, then you could consider adding some new strategies to your MLM practices.

And the internet will be an invaluable tool to add to your business toolkit.

So let’s talk about where to find network marketing prospectus online.

17. Facebook Friends

This is an obvious place to start. 

Your Facebook friends list is likely filled with people that you know, but no longer see on a regular basis. And your friends list likely spans the globe.

So it’s an obvious source to tap into.

Check out this guide to using social media for MLM for a detailed plan to effectively build your business on Facebook.

18. Facebook Groups

Facebook groups are a great place to find people who are interested in the same things that you are.

You can use Facebook’s search engine to find groups that align with your interests or the interests of the type of person that’s interested in your products or business opportunity.

You can join some of these groups and begin building relationships with the people in it.

Don’t be a nuisance though…

Folks in Facebook groups are very sensitive to being pitched or even spammed products…

So you must be different.

Make yourself valuable. Before blatantly pitching what you have to offer, you need to make folks want to get to know you or work with you.

You do this by focusing on providing value, helping people out to the best of your ability, and building real, genuine relationships.

19. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an excellent place to find quality network marketing prospects. The platform is filled with professionals who are ambitious and extremely intelligent.

They will not respond to unprofessional and spammy strategies, so you will need to learn how to behave like a true professional…

Which will serve you well for the rest of your life.

20. Twitter

Twitter is another good source for finding prospects online. Learn how to use the platform properly to build a large audience. 

If you are a content creator, you can share your videos or articles on Twitter and potentially generate a large amount of traffic.

As your audience grows, you can start directly messaging the people who tend to interact with your posts.

Again, focus on building relationships first.

If people trust you, they will be more likely to buy or join what you have to offer.

21. YouTube

YouTube is an untapped resource when it comes to actively prospecting for network marketing. Most people focus solely on creating content with the hopes of attracting people to their business.

This is a good strategy, but I’m specifically talking about actively reaching out to fellow YouTubers and building one-on-one relationships.

This is quite effective on YouTube because most people aren’t doing it. 

You’ll stand out from the crowd.

22. Instagram

Instagram can be a great place to showcase your MLM products and build your personal sales volume.

It’s a very visual platform so you will want to learn how to create appealing images. Also consider learning how to use videos to increase your follower count and engagement.

Like Twitter and other social media platforms, the real selling and recruiting will happen in the direct messages.

So don’t be shy.

Focus on engagement and building strong one-on-one relationships.

23. Reddit

Reddit is unique in that users on this platform can smell a marketer from a mile away.

And so even though this is important on all online platforms, you will need to put an extraordinary amount of energy into providing a ton of value, education, and entertainment to your Reddit followers.

If done correctly, it can be a good source of quality network marketing prospects.

24. Internet Forums

This should go without saying, but do not ever pitch your product or business on a forum…

This applies to all social media strategies.

People come to forums in order to have their questions answered. So if you want to really stand out from the crowd, you will need to put more energy into providing value to the community than anything else.

Over time, you will become known as someone who is reliably helpful and goes the extra mile to give the people what they want.

You will build trust.

And that’s what it takes to successfully acquire customers or distributors.

25. Internet Marketing

Internet marketing all comes down to building an email list and providing a ton of value to that list.

Your goal with your email marketing is that people should look forward to receiving and reading your emails. 

So don’t think that blatantly pitching your product or business will work… because it won’t.

You will need to be tactful.

Focus most of your emails on building trust and providing a lot of value. Give your readers what they want.

But every now and then, you will need to recommend products.

You are running a business after all and you need to make money, right?

But keep at least 80% of your emails completely value based so that you don’t drive people to unsubscribe from your list.

Remember, people should want to receive your emails.

So how do you build that email list?

There are many strategies.

Blogging, YouTube video marketing, PPC, social media, and solo ads are all strategies to consider.

Just don’t expect internet marketing to be easy. It takes hard work, sacrifice, patience, and financial investment.

If this is a road you want to go down, check out this full digital network marketing guide.

Tacky Sources

The last few sources of network marketing prospects we’ll discuss are a bit on the “tacky” side. 

I don’t particularly like these techniques, but there’s no doubt that some people have built successful MLM businesses using these methods.

26. Classified Ads

There are 2 main ways in which to use classified ad sites like Craigslist.

First, you could post an ad on a website like Craigslist. This strategy is not particularly effective because the vast majority of the public is quite skeptical about network marketing. So they don’t usually reply to ads that they suspect have anything to do with MLM.

The more effective strategy is for you to actively seek out ads posted by other network marketers. 

These are perfect prospects for network marketing because they are obviously sold on the business model…

And the truth is, they are not likely experiencing that much success from their classified ads.

So you can reach out to the folks posting these ads and start building and nurturing a relationship. 

Don’t be too pushy with your own business though. Remember, they are already in a network marketing business and trying to build it. They’re not looking for another business at this time.

But it’s an excellent contact for you to add to your own personal network. You’re both interested in network marketing so you’ll likely have a lot of things in common. 

Focus on building a long term relationship with them and perhaps you can work together in the future.

27. Cards On Bulletin Boards

Another strategy to add to your toolkit is leaving your business cards on public bulletin boards. There’s always a chance that somebody might reach out to you.

But another thing you can try is collecting the contact information from other business cards left on bulletin boards by other people. 

These are professionals who are building all sorts of businesses. They are often open minded and would likely be open to creating a secondary income stream using something like network marketing.

28. Google

Google is a great source that you could use to find quality professionals in your area.

Just Google “your city name” professionals. For example: “your city name” realtors. Or financial planners, lawyers, salesmen, etc…

Then give them a call to see if they might be open to discussing an opportunity to build another income stream.

This will take guts, a thick skin, and probably a lot of practice. 

But certainly worth a shot if you’re looking for another source of MLM leads.

29. Dropcards

Dropcards can be a way for you to have people calling you about your MLM business. 

But instead of just leaving them on public bulletin boards, try being a bit more creative. 

One idea is that every time you mail out a check, stick one of your cards in the envelope. You never know who might open up that envelope at the other end… it just might be somebody who is looking to improve their life.

You could also leave your cards in certain books at the local library or bookstore. Be selective in the books you choose… think books about wealth creation, money management, self development, or entrepreneurship.

Always think about the type of person that you would want to have in your team.

Don’t be afraid to get creative with this.

30. Realtor Signs

Realtors tend to intrinsically understand network marketing. They are already used to working on a 100% commission basis and they tend to understand numbers and exponential growth.

So you could collect contact information from realtor signs in your area and directly reach out to the agents.

31. Bandit Signs

You may have seen these signs on light posts or other public areas trying to get people to inquire about a business opportunity…

The truth is, they really don’t work that well.

But if you ever see one of these, you could consider calling the number and build a relationship. Odds are, the person on the other end is trying unsuccessfully to build a network marketing business.

Perhaps you can work together in the future.

32. Advertise With Your Clothes

As somebody who likes to dress nicely, this is certainly not a strategy I personally use.

But some people do.

You could wear a shirt that says something like, “Wanna earn passive income? Ask me how!”

If somebody asks you about your shirt, you should always be prepared to ask a question back.

If you want to build connections with other people, you should always put the focus on them, not yourself.

33. Car Decals

Car window stickers, magnets, or decals are another way to raise awareness about your business. 

Again, this isn’t a strategy that works all that well and certainly not something I do in my own business.

But it’s an idea.

34. Leave Samples

You could also leave product samples in public places such as your dentist, mechanic, accountant waiting room, etc.

Of course you should always ask for permission before doing this.

Honestly though, this can get quite expensive over the long run. Most people will not call you after trying your sample, although some might.

Plus, most network marketing products require a distributor to personally explain how to use them correctly. 

Depending on what you sell, this might be worth a shot.

Let’s End This Thing

My hope is that after reading this, you’ll at least have some creative ideas for where to find network marketing prospects.

As I mentioned, I don’t necessarily recommend all of these strategies…

But hopefully this article got your creative juices flowing.

Whether you choose to focus mainly on offline tactics or online, you will need to strike a balance between 2 types of prospecting: active prospecting and passive marketing.

Active prospecting is when you are actively reaching out to people in order to build relationships and ultimately introduce them to your business or products. When you’re first starting out, this is where most of your focus should be because it’s going to be the fastest way to bring in money.

Passive marketing is when you put out a piece of marketing material that you hope an unnamed person responds to sometime in the future. The marketing material could be in the form of a dropcard, bandit sign, online video, blog post, or social media post.

Passive marketing is more of a long term growth strategy and it’s important for sustainability over the long term.

But again, most of your focus should be on actively prospecting… at least in the beginning.

Because you gotta bring in that cheddar.

2 Types Of Prospect

There are 2 types of people that you’ll be speaking to… your warm market prospects and cold market prospects.

Your warm market are the folks who already know and trust you. They include your family, friends, co-workers, and other close acquaintances.

Cold market prospects are folks that you’ve never met. If you are a skilled recruiter, you may be able to get them to check out your business opportunity before getting to know them.

But most of the time, you won’t.

But “no” does not have to be the end of the relationship!

In fact, it most definitely should not be.

Instead, you should focus on building a long term relationship with any cold market prospect that you would like to work with.

Over time, your goal should be to turn that cold market prospect into a warm market prospect. Because your warm market will be much easier for you to recruit into your business.

If you pick a handful of the network marketing prospect sources we talked about today and implement effective recruiting strategies, which you can learn from this in-depth tutorial, then you will be well on your way to building that dream MLM business you’ve been told about.

And after reading today’s article, you’ll know exactly where to find network marketing prospects that you need to grow that MLM business.