One of the biggest lies being taught to business owners involved in Melaleuca is the crazy idea that everybody they meet is a prospect. Upline distributors will often make comments like, "This is such a great opportunity that everyone will want this" or they might also say directly that anyone you talk to can be turned into a prospect.

Ever heard of the "three-foot rule"? This "rule" has Melaleuca distributors prospecting anyone that comes within three feet of them. You might see this kind of prospecting at the mall or in local restaurants and its all hogwash! Really, the thought of using geography (three-foot rule) as a method for pre-qualifying your prospects all seems rather ridiculous. When Melaleuca, Inc. promotes this prospecting concept to you, "Run!"

People wonder why network marketing has such a negative reputation. I can't imagine why. Maybe it's because these pre-historic methods of recruiting have placed Melaleuca the wellness company on the same level as that one bum outside your gas station peddling "real gold chains." It's hard to take him seriously when he's offering you a "piece of jewelry" for only twenty bucks. The same can be said for Melaleuca business owners who try to recruit anything that moves and breathes into their down-lines.

In reality, you have to get it clear in your mind that not everyone will be your prospect! That might seem like a hard pill to swallow, but it is the truth! Everyone doesn't have the skills or motivation to become a business entrepreneur. Not everyone is looking to change their financial condition and they could very well be happy right where they are at!

Convincing people to become involved in your business is not only a waste of time, money and energy, but it is this "convincing" that causes people to see network marketing in a negative light! You have to start working only with the people that want this opportunity.

You might already have the perfect Melaleuca lead already in your midst. You know this person will skyrocket your business towards financial freedom. You know this person has what it takes to build this business and best of all you know that they have the time to build this business. While you can approach them, just keep in mind that you want to work with people who want to be worked with!

Your credibility is essentially on the line when you approach "anyone" about joining your business. It basically screams that you're unprofessional and definitely not successful enough to use credible methods of marketing. Think of it this way. How many Fortune 500 companies have their top CEO recruiting additional business and employees from the street? It's just unprofessional. With that in mind, we go back to the issue about the negative perception about the network marketing industry and we can really begin to see why we aren't taken more seriously.

It's all in the approach. You can't be chasing anyone and everyone and giving them a desperate plea to join your business. This doesn't work because it's unprofessional - an image you don't want to have. You want to give your real prospects opportunities to find you and seek your professional expertise. You'll find that it's much easier to work with them and you'll find that you'll also have more success recruiting for your business.

We have to get out of the mindset of headhunting and force-feeding people who aren't ready to get involved in our business. We've got to change our ways of working! Now this might come as a shock to you but there lots of people who actually do want to have their own businesses. These are the people we should be working with and looking for. When we begin to work this way, we'll begin to start seeing real results in our own business.