Genealogy Leads: Pros and Cons

 by: Ed Forteau

Working genealogy leads can be an effective method of building your network marketing business. One of the biggest hurdles that you face in recruiting has already been overcome for you -- getting the prospect to buy into network marketing as a legitimate business model.

However, working genealogy leads is far from perfect. The person you call on a genealogy list may be very happy with their current opportunity and not open to looking at anything. They could be a wholesale customer, and not working the business. They could be inactive, and/or out of the industry altogether.

One of the biggest threats to working genealogy leads is the Do-Not-Call Registry. Recently, the number of phone numbers registered with the Do-Not-Call Registry surpassed 100 million. That number is significant, because the Registry has only been in operation for over two years.

We personally ran over 100,000 genealogy leads through a DNC scrubbing process, and found that approximately 1/3rd of the people on the list were on the Do-Not-Call Registry. In the North Eastern states, that number was over 50%.

We've even had several clients contacted by the Federal Trade Commission, because they were turned in by someone on a genealogy list who was also on the Do-Not-Call Registry. They faced the very real possibility of an $11,000 fine. Fortunately, none of our clients were fined, but they were certainly shaken up.

If you are going to call genealogy leads, protect yourself by having your list scrubbed against the Do-Not-Call Registry. Many companies provide this service - make sure you deal with a reputable one. One company we usually recommend to our clients because of their excellent service is www.DNCScrubbing.com.

Even with these downsides, there are still plenty of reasons to work genealogy leads. They are very inexpensive when compared to most mlm lead sources (even after DNC Scrubbing), and if you happen to land a big player, it can be the best thing that could ever happen to your business.

There are many ways to grow your business. Working leads is one of the major methods for this - and there are many types of leads, as well as a plethora of leads companies. No lead list is perfect. There are drawbacks and benefits to each one. Put yourself in charge of your leads - know who you are buying them from, what they are exactly (i.e., genealogy leads), the conversion rate, and if they are DNC scrubbed (to save yourself a headache from the FTC).

Being smart about Genealogy Leads is a good business move.