Maybe You Should Go Where The Fish Are

Fishing is one of my great loves.  I’ve had the privilege of fishing both saltwater and freshwater over the years, but one truth remains no matter where you go…

If you’re going to catch fish, you have to go where the fish are!

When it comes to marketing online, I see so many marketers who are using the “drive by” method.   Simply put these people just pray and spray their message all over the place, whether they hit their intended target or not.  In the end, the message gets ignored and these folks find their list of personal friends dwindling by the day.

Marketing With Precision

Back to my original fishing analogy.  If you intend to catch fish, you need to go where the fish are.   Don’t waste your time fishing in places that aren’t filled to the brim with your desired catch.   For anyone looking to build a network marketing business online, our ideal candidate is other network marketers and those looking to build a business online.   If you will focus on marketing in these prospect pools you will find that your receptivity increases substantially.

My favorite prospecting pools are niche oriented groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, plus niche centered social networking websites.   When searching for groups on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, search for some key words that people might develop groups around.   My personal favorites include:

• Online marketing
• MLM
• Network marketing
• Work from home
• Home business

A quick search on Facebook alone will reveal several hundred groups that fit these criteria.   Once you’ve got your list of target groups selected it is time to join those groups and become a part of the conversation.   Ideally you will want to post once a day, with the best times for posting being in the late afternoon.   This way your posts are fresh as people are winding down their day and towards the top as they spend time online during the evening.

As I mentioned earlier, my second favorite fishing pond is the niche oriented social networking site.   My personal favorites are:

• Better Networker
• MyNetworkingPro
• MLM Social
• IBO Toolbox
• ApSense

Crafting Your Marketing Message To Your Target Audience

You can be fishing in a great location filled with fish, but if you use the wrong bait, you will still come away empty handed.  All too often I see marketers go into these great prospect pools casting a non-stop barrage of their opportunity link.   In the end the marketer either gets ignored or banned from the group.   Making this type of marketing work requires some class, skill and  leadership.

It is important to recognize what your target audience is really looking for.   They want to make money!   Unfortunately for you, most of them already have a business and therefore, they are not interested in yours.   On the other hand they will go into a feeding frenzy for business building tips, tools and strategies.   Toss out a free training on Facebook marketing or a technique for generating 30% more leads this week and people will beat down your door to see what you have.   Once they take the bait, you now have ample opportunity to present your business and other products or services as a part of your follow up process.

If you want to become more skillful in your marketing, take my favorite marketing system for a test drive…