Today, I’d like to take a few moments and discuss your best MLM prospects.
This seems to be a taboo subject in our industry. To be honest, many reps and companies teach their reps to prospect anyone and everyone. Or they tell you to exclusively work your warm market.
While those two strategies are not shady or unethical, they aren’t very practical or effective either. You see, every business has a target market. This is a group of people “most likely” to do business with you.
If you act like everyone is a prospect, you are going to end up frustrated and quit. Why? Because most people you approach will NOT be interested in your products, services, or business. You will experience constant rejection.
Instead, you want to be laser focused with your retailing and recruiting efforts so you can work smart and be productive.
One Caveat
On a side note, you never know who is going to join your business or build it big. Even with 20+ years’ experience in this amazing industry, I am fooled more than I am right when it comes to “guessing” who will do well in my business.
At the end of the day, it’s the desire and passion someone has, their willingness to learn and grow, work hard, and change, that dictates their success. And you can’t “see” those things when you are talking with a prospect. This is why you shouldn’t pre-judge anyone.
However, there are groups of people “MORE LIKELY” to join your team and build it big than other groups of people. Those are the groups you should focus on.
Your Best MLM Prospects
I believe your best MLM Prospects are current and former network marketers. When I look at my own team, EVERY SINGLE successful rep has PRIOR MLM Experience.
Current and former network marketers have a few things going for them.
First off, they believe in the industry. You don’t have to convince them that the industry is lucrative or works. At some point in the past, they decided to get involved. They sold themselves on the idea of network marketing, which means you don’t have to spend hours convincing them why our industry is so great.
Next, they have experience. In most cases, it’s a lot easier to work with these folks than train someone with no experience. They already know the fundamentals. They know what to do. They have some basic knowledge and skills.
Finally, they know other network marketers. Of course, people who have been involved in our industry know other people who are or were involved. This means they have people in “their target market” they can share the products or business with.
Our Industry is Weird
What’s weird is people act like recruiting other network marketers is immoral or unethical. To that I say baloney. Let me give you a few examples to put things in perspective.
When a professional football team has an open spot on the roster, how do they fill it? Do they go to the bar, or on the street, and look for someone who has never played football before? No, they look for a free agent, someone they can trade for, or someone they can draft to fill that open position. They want someone with proven experience.
When a sales manager is trying to fill a vacancy with a salesperson, do they look for anyone and everyone? Nope. They look for someone with proven, past sales experience that is either in between jobs or is looking to switch to a new job.
When a corporation is filling a vacancy for a senior management position, do they just hire anyone randomly? Nope. They look for someone with the credentials and experience to fill that vacancy.
So, here’s my question to you.
Why should network marketing be any different?
Honestly? Why is it wrong to look for free agents or people with prior network marketing experience? I don’t see anything wrong with that. Do you?
Of course, I am not telling you to pillage people from other companies. There is no need to only reach out to people already involved with a MLM Company. That is bad business for everyone involved.
But you can buy genealogy lists of defunct MLM Companies. You can run ads designed for other network marketers and respond to people who reach out to you. You can send direct mail to current and former network marketers. This is a smart way to do the business. This is how I build my business. It works!
One Other Group of Good MLM Prospects
Before I close out this article, there is one other group of prospects to consider: HAPPY CUSTOMERS. Happy customers, especially product advocates, can become great business builders. If someone is over the top passionate about the company’s product line, they will be eager to share the products with others. With a little bit of training and support, they can become great business builders.
What Others Are Saying
I love to prospect people in other network marketing companies or that have a history of liking network marketing. You may be thinking to yourself, “If they are already in a network marketing, why would they want to see mine?” To be clear, some are not open to looking at yours, and are completely happy with their current company. However, most people in network marketing lack good leadership, don’t like their communities, don’t get support, and struggling to make progress. It’s always good to ask if someone is open to take a look. These are people that have already said “Yes, I want to make money in MLM” and are ready to go to work with you. ~ ILC University
Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe current and former network marketers are your best MLM Prospects. Of course, not everyone in this category will join your company or build it big, but there is a higher likelihood they will get involved and get to work than some random person off the street.
What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with me? Who do you think are the best MLM Prospects? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.
Suggested Reading
- 34 Ways to Get More MLM Leads
- My System for Building My MLM Business
- Top MLM Books to Read
- MLM Prospecting
And here are a few books on Amazon you might enjoy:
- How to Prospect with Postcards
- Icebreakers: How to Get Any Prospect to Beg You for a Presentation
- Social Media for Network Marketing Professionals

Sincerely,
Chuck Holmes
Network Marketing Professional (21+ years)
Top Recruiter & Top Rep
mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
I absolutely agree with you that people who have prior MLM experience are great to get to join your company with you. I just don’t know where to find those kinds of people? I did see your link you attached regarding defunct companies, and will check that out. Do you have any other tips on where to go looking for people with this kind of prior experience?
You can buy leads and mailing lists of current and former network marketers and then mail them, email them, or text them. I’ve found when talking with experienced network marketers, it’s better to lead with a system, leads, or training program, since that is something so many people struggle with. Then you can position yourself as an expert and backend some of them into your primary program. I hope that makes sense.