After you join an MLM business, it's usually smooth sailing for a few days or weeks. You have plenty of leads--well, you have your family and friends--but those leads don't last forever. When you've exhausted your list of leads, what do you do?

The lifeblood of your business is leads. If you don't have interested prospects to email and call, then you don't have much of a business. So the question is, how do you get leads beyond your family and friends?

There are many network marketers out there who have more leads than they know what to do with. They get to the point where they don't have to look for leads at all--the leads come to them. How are they able to pull this off? Let me tell you, it's not with some simple conjuring trick. They use a variety of lead-pulling techniques that anyone can use.

Here are a few of the top lead-getting techniques used by network marketers:

1. Content - Put up a website that not only has information about your business opportunity and products, but also features content that people search for, such as articles, free tools, business and marketing tips, etc. Many of the people who end up in network marketing do so by accident. They didn't go searching for an opportunity; one just sort of fell into their lap while they were searching for useful information.

Just because people don't go searching for your opportunity doesn't mean they aren't interested. If they come to your site because they did a search for information on a certain topic, or free marketing tools, what does it matter? They are still at your site, where they will have to view information on your product or opportunities, along with what they were actually looking for.

2. Dangle the Carrot - Once you've drawn visitors to your site with free content, you have to get their information so you can follow up. You've already led them this far; you just need to dangle the carrot and lead them a little further. The carrot could be a free report on email marketing, an e-course designed to help them start their own business, or an e-book on how to build a website. Make sure it pertains to the content they came searching for. That way, since they wanted to see what your content was, they will also want whatever freebie you have to offer.

Here's the trick. They have to give you their contact info--at least their name and email address--in order to get the freebies. And as soon as you have that information, you have leads!

3. Create a Newsletter - The promise of helpful information sent directly to you on a regular basis is a tempting offer for most Internet users. So why not create your own? You don't even have to write all the content. You can ask other authors if you can use their articles, so you don't have to spend all your time on the newsletter.

But sure to include information about your products or opportunities in each issue, but don't display the ads too prominently. Otherwise subscribers will think your newsletter is just one big ad.

To get subscribers, use the methods above. Draw visitors to your site with free content and then offer the free newsletter. Use Topica.com or Yahoo Groups to send it out for free.

4. Buy Your Leads - One of the easiest ways to get leads is to buy a leads list. Of course, this is also one of the most expensive. But it works well if you have a good lead source. Ask other network marketers who use this method to point out the best sources for buying lists. Make sure the lists you're buying are of people who have truly expressed an interest in getting information. Otherwise, you'll be wasting your money because they will delete your message without bothering to read it. What's more, you could be accused of sending unsolicted email.

5. Offer an Email Course - You can turn yourself into an instant MLM expert, as well as promote your opportunity, simply by offering an email course via multiple autoresponders. If you don't feel comfortable writing your own course, find a good copywriter to do it for you. Make sure the course is not just a bunch of sales letters. They have to contain information your prospects really want. Pitch your products or opportunity briefly at the end of each course letter, or mention it occasionally in the body text.

For the best no-cost autoresponder system I've ever seen, visit SendFree.com.

6. Talk About It - Never pass up an opportunity to talk about your business or products. I don't mean talking to people while you're standing in line at the grocery store; you don't want to annoy people. But there are plenty of other ways you can talk about your business. For instance, you could give a presentation on starting your own business to local groups or on talk radio. The subject of your business is bound to come up, but don't force it. Establish yourself as an expert by talking about business and marketing related subjects, and when people find out what you do, they'll automatically be interested. Save your MLM pitch for private conversations with participants or prospects who contact you later.

You may also find many opportunities to talk about your business in chat rooms and on newsgroups. These are places where people who want to talk will, so throw the subject out there and see who responds.

7. Rank High - Use pay-per-click search engines to their maximum potential. Choose keywords that will get you ranked high so you can get people to your site. But don't just focus on keywords about your business. Use keywords that will draw the people who want to sign up for your newsletter or take advantage of the free content on your site. Let your newsletter and content do the selling.