Inbound marketing is a buzzword that is used in two different ways; the former, in the online marketing industry (and overused in the network marketing arena). It’s a synonym for “lead generation,” in the sense that you “attract” potential customers who are looking for what you have with some kind of offer that’s attractive to that market…usually for free.

The problem with inbound marketing is that it is promoted as the “be all, end all” of growing and developing a successful organization. While generating leads is critical to any business, what happens when someone magnetically and irresistibly attracts 500 new people who are interested in what you have? If you don’t have the skills to prospect, close, and train those people, then all you have is 500 people (who probably cost you time and money to attract) that you can’t help or monetize.

It’s the answer for people who still use friends and family as their primary source of leads (hint: they’re not leads. They’re friends and family. Leave them alone and market to people who are already looking for what you have), simply because it takes a networker out of the mentality of having to tell everyone about what they have. With the right lead generation, they can simply focus their efforts on the people who have shown they are looking for the types of solution that the marketer offers.

Learn Inbound Marketing from the People Who Are Using It Right Now: Study lead generation principles like reciprocity, curiosity, and urgency, and you can reap the rewards of this powerful concept.