Save Your Valuable Time by Using A Prospect Filter

Do you have qualified prospects banging down your door? If you had all the qualified prospects that you desired you probably wouldn't be reading this article. Either you are successful and like reading pieces like this to keep your $50,000 a month business going or you're a hard working individual who is sick of wasting time with unqualified prospects, and want to do something about it!

If you fall into the first category, enjoy the piece. But if you fall into the second, grab a pen and paper, bolt the door and turn off the ringer. You will get more out of the next few minutes, than you will at some weeklong seminar about "how someone else has made it"! Let's see if that bold statement can be backed up.

If you are at the point where you are still learning how to get any type of prospect, then you will also benefit from what you are about to read. If you haven't gotten many prospects, then the way you should start is by getting the most qualified ones to look at whatever you have to offer! That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

What is a qualified prospect? It is a person who you have pinpointed as having a strong interest in your program. Plain and simple! Let me illustrate with an example. My wife loves music. She turns the radio on about as much as any person I've ever seen! She loves all types of music, but she is not a big fan of jazz. Now, let's say that XYZ Music Company bought a list of people that loved music, and my wife Nancy happened to be on that list. How successful do you think they would be trying to pitch her and others like her on the greatest jazz hits of the 80's? This happens all the time. Is my wife a qualified prospect? Unqualified prospects are pitched till they are blue in the face. Just because they raised their hands and said they may be interested in a home-based business! Read on to see how to address someone like my wife.

Remember that there are many companies and individuals trying to get prospects into their program too. You are going to have a leg up on them because of the following secret! Prospects become more qualified the more they show an interest in what you have to offer. This idea sounds so simple, but many marketers overlook it. It still amazes me when I see people trying to sell a product, known as one step marketing, from a small display or classified ad. Qualify, qualify, and qualify!

Let's look at what XYZ Music Company can do with prospects like my wife to give you an idea of how to "filter" qualified prospects. Let's say that my wife was 1 of 1,000 names that were purchased from a list broker, of people that have bought music repeatedly from ABC Records. One thing they can do is to mail a lead-generating postcard that would ask the prospects to check off the music they like, and mail it back to them. This is a filter. If someone takes the time to fill out a card, and then mails it back, do you think that they are better qualified now? Is it possible to qualify even more? Yes, but let's look at examples that will help you more directly!

There are many filters that you can use with today's technology. You will see that several can be mixed and matched to get you your desired results. Here are several: postcards, voicemail, fax-on-demand, websites, e-mail programs [such as auto-responders], tele-seminars, conference calls, and more. Are you creating a picture in your mind? Here is a fact: The more filters your prospects go through, the better qualified they are! How is that picture looking now?

You have to have an initial way of getting prospects to raise their hand. That's where you start. Running a classified or display ad in an opportunity magazine, or mailing a lead-generating postcard are two of the most popular ways to get those initial leads. If you're on the internet, you can run ads in ezines, do banner exchanges, offer free newsletters, etc. However you start, you need to have your first filter in place before you begin generating leads. Remember, if you don't know where you're going, any path will take you there!

You may even have 2 or 3 filters in place. The second filter can be a voicemail message that explains your program in depth, and asks them to leave their name and number. If you want to get a better quality lead, then at the end of the voicemail message, instead of having the prospect leave their information, have them call a fax-on-demand for even more qualifying information. If you are online, use auto-responders, or basic e-mail, and have the prospect going through different filters to gauge their seriousness!

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope the picture is becoming crystal clear. Don't market to a big mass of unqualified prospects, but rather to a small group of qualified ones!

It will take much longer to explain the details of what is contained in each filter, but once you understand the basics, the rest is easier to understand. This process works, and the people making the big bucks understand it. Go out, and join them, and remember, the next time you're making a pot of coffee, the grounds are unqualified, and the coffee is qualified. Just remember what you used to turn one into the other!

Tiji Thomas is the President of The Wealth Network, Inc. He specializes in helping individuals find success in their business endeavors with no-nonsense marketing methods. He has 15 years experience in the network marketing and direct response marketing industries. For a FREE report on "How To Beat The Odds And Put Tons Of Money In Your Pocket By Driving Qualified Prospects To You By The Herd!" write to: The Wealth Network, Free Report, 14504 Briar Forest Drive, Suite 318, Houston, TX, 77077. You can find some of his systems at http://www.ewealthnetwork.com or http://www.megaprospecting.com and you can contact him directly at service@ewealthnetwork.com, or 713-221-3202.