Like a giddy schoolgirl, I ran to my mailbox, pulled out the priority mail envelope, and ripped it open.

Mike Dillard’s new book, Building on a Budget, was inside.

The long-awaited manual that purports to be able to generate 20 MLM leads per day to your email in-box had arrived, less than 48 hours after I ordered it. This book has been hyped for weeks, and finally, I had my very on copy in my hands.

I was so excited, I began reading it as I walked back in from the mailbox. But the more I read, the more disappointed I became.

The book was touted as a beginner’s guide to building your network marketing team on a budget using the internet. For less than $500, anyone could start today using Mike’s 5 proven lead generation methods to create online MLM success.

Mike’s suggestions are insightful, and potentially effective, but I would hardly classify them as beginner tactics.

When I think of a person just starting out, concepts like capture pages, and video equipment are not the first things that come to mind. This is not to say that they aren’t effective. It’s just that from my experience, most network marketers that are new to the Internet, are still trying to figure out how to set up a web page, let alone trying to figure out how to upload a video to youtube.

So I wouldn’t recommend Mike’s book if you’re not familiar with terms like auto responder, capture page, and split testing. Mike promotes his other courses (Magnetic Sponsoring and MLM Traffic Formula), as sources for additional information. At this writing, MLM Traffic Formula sells for well over $500, which puts that recommendation clearly out of reach for the beginner.

Building on a Budget appears to be more of an intermediate book for online network marketers. There are some basics you must cover BEFORE cracking the pages on Dillard’s new book.

First, you need your own website. Not a company sponsored site, but one of your very own in which you control the content.

Second, you need to secure an auto responder service (there are free ones available – do your research), and create a landing page where you can capture your visitor’s name and email information.

If all of this sounds like gibberish, there are free resources to help build your MLM online. Once you’ve covered the very basics, Mike’s book is a great source of “what next” information. The online, private, resource page acts like a quick reference for the sources cited in the book.

My biggest disappointment, however, was the free sample issue of Mike’s new “inner Circle” newsletter. The bulk of the content was pulled verbatim from the Magnetic Sponsoring community, so it was a rehash of information already available for free. At $29.95 per month, I expected more original content. That is not to say the content wasn’t valuable, just not original.

Warning: This trial issue comes with the Building on a Budget book, and is a recurring billing item. You will be charged $29.95 every month for this subscription. It’s in the fine print on the order page. It’s a very clever way for Mike to promote his subscription based product – simply include it with a book you’re already interested in buying. It makes for sticky headaches for the buyer on the back end, though.

So let’s find out if Mike’s suggestions work. They must be somewhat successful, because I’ve seen several people in his company using these same techniques, but will they work for a regular joe like me? Keep your eyes posted for the next article in the series.