I was at a network marketing training Saturday and one of the speakers asked, "How many of you were sponsored by someone you didn't know?" There were about 450 in the room and thirty or forty raised their hands.

That meant that over 90% were recruited by people they know–their warm market. This was visual proof of something we have always taught: this is a "warm market business."

Always was. Always will be.

It's "network marketing," after all, not "direct marketing". It's friends telling friends who tell friends. It's marketing via "word of mouth". It's people who are willing to look at the information because they know and trust the people who are showing them.

That's why recruiting in the cold market–people you don't know–is harder. That trust doesn't exist.

And so when you do recruit someone you don't know, your goal should be to help them introduce your business to their warm market. You do that, of course, by plugging them into the warm market system (make a list, share the tools, invite to events, do three-way calls to answer questions, etc.)

The cold market has one big advantage: it's bigger than your warm market. But don't be in any hurry to get there. Stay in your warm market as long as possible. Build your team and build your skills. You don't need to be good in your warm market–you can tell your friends that you're new and bring someone else into the picture. You can depend on the system instead of yourself. That's harder to do in the cold market.

One last thought–the best way to recruit in the cold market is to make it your warm market. That means as you meet new people, you might not expose them immediately. Start building a relationship with them. Make a new friend. Demonstrate that they can trust you and that you have something valuable to offer. When the time is right to show them what you do, you'll know it. And when you do show them the information, they'll look at it because they know you and trust you.