Friday, October 30, 2009

How to Use Facebook Correctly to Build Your Business

With the sudden rise in Social Media in the past 12 months, Facebook has become one of the most visited websites online.

it’s now been reported that Facebook gets more visitors every day than even Yahoo.

So with all these people to be-friend on Facebook, the question is, “how do you use Facebook to build your Home Based Business?”

The answer is quite simple.

You make friends first.

Then, you attract followers by providing them good value in the form of thought provoking questions, comments, quotes and dialogue.

You’ll know who your followers are because they will read your status updates and comment on them or let you know that they like what you have to say.

Then, those followers will become a fan of yours, meaning that not only are they your friend and follower, but they will reach out to you and thank you for your contributions to your community and perhaps might even ask you what you do or how they might be able to work with you.

This might even result in a new customer, business partner or both.

This is called Permission Based Marketing and it makes for the best transaction between a seller and a buyer online.

Now, the worst thing you can do on Facebook, is pitch your deal.

Not only will people ignore you, but many will remove you as their friend if they feel that the only reason you are on Facebook is to sell your product or service.

Imagine going to a doctor and before they even ask you any questions, they are writing you a prescription.

Not only didn’t they ask you anything about yourself, but they didn’t even find out if you even have a need for one.

To suggest to someone on Facebook that they should look at your company, product or service is considered rude, pushy, even annoying. This is otherwise known as spam.

Nobody likes to be sold, but everybody loves to buy.

So, brand yourself as a leader first – someone that people will come to know, like and trust.

Then, if people ask you about your business, that’s great. Let them engage you and then you can provide them with more information.

Now, if you contribute to your community on Facebook often, with great value, it’s fine to include a link to your personal blog or hub page or any other Social Media that you’ve created or that has been written or spoken about you.

Just don’t keep posting the same status that reads, “Make a Jilion in a Jiffy” with a link to your website.

Nobody cares about your business opportunity until they see that you are someone they’d even want to work with.

If all you post is business information, your intentions speak loudly on their own and you will alienate yourself.

If you treat your Facebook friends with respect and courtesy and contribute often, chances are that you will attract great people who ask what you do and how they can get more information.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

"That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well."
- Abraham Lincoln

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Human history begins with man's act of disobedience which is at the very same time the beginning of his freedom and development of his reason. Erich Fromm

Monday, October 26, 2009

"When you focus on being a blessing, God makes sure that you are always blessed in abundance."
- Joel Osteen

Friday, October 23, 2009

"If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else."
- Yogi Berra

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Reverse-Marketing Twitter Checklist: 8 Steps to Marketing Success on Twitter

This article was written by Jeff Machado, an Inbound Marketing Implementation Specialist with Modern Marketing Support, an Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant company.

One of the hardest things about marketing on Twitter is that it doesn't even look like marketing.

In fact, the closer you watch those who have made a success using inbound marketing techniques, you'll see that it seems that they're not doing much of anything at all. Sure, they're talking to people and sharing some great resources, but that can't be marketing ...

But it is marketing - and it's a powerful kind of reverse-marketing. It's relatively easy, it's fun, and it's really effective.

Looking for ways to tap into this almost effortless style of business promotion? Here are eight easy steps you can follow:

1. Choose Topics Outside Your Niche
As hard as it may be to swallow, you are not your niche. A niche is something you have. But it is not who you are. Choose 5 other things you could possibly Tweet about. On my list are cooking, origami, personality tests, colors, and office supplies. Find more opportunities to Tweet and talk about other things than what your business is. Getting people to like you first is a great place to start on Twitter.

2. Define the Personality You Want To Reach
Thanks to David Meerman Scott, we have the concept of buyer persona and a method for applying it to marketing. Thanks to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, we have a tool for getting inside that buyer persona's mind. It was easy for me to choose ENFPs (Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving) as my target market. They're the types who get lots of ideas and are natural entrepreneurs but struggle with things like internet marketing implementation. 4 little letters can give you a lot of potential Tweet ideas.

3. Use the Search Button at Least 3 Times Per Day + Tweet at Least 15 New People
Lots of Twitter help articles will say "Join the conversation!" but if the people you're following don't seem to engage in conversation and only promote themselves or send out quotes for Re-Tweet bait, what are you supposed to do? That's where the search button comes in. Search for something you're interested in. Find someone you'd like to talk to. Then repeat as much as possible. Use your @ function more than anything else. Engage, don't broadcast.

4. Ask 5 Questions on a Daily Basis
Once you start to find more followers, just ask questions. Will they always get answered? No. But did it cost you a ton of money to ask? Absolutely not. You can't take it personally if no one answers the first time around. But if you're focusing on your buyer persona, you get closer to getting inside their mind. You'll know you're asking the right questions when you start to get responses. Easy to do, easy to measure.

5. Answer at Least 3 Questions Daily
The fewer questions someone has on their mind, the more at peace they are. Questions, especially ones that don't get answered, are the things that keep us up at night. Though it might seem extreme to say, it's very likely that anytime you answer someone's question via a Tweet, you're helping them sleep better at night.

6. Send Out 10 Useful or Entertaining Links (But Be Sure To Track!) Every Day
While desktop applications like TweetDeck or Twhirl offer convenient URL shortening, they are not necessarily the best. You're missing out on one of the best features of Bit.ly and other URL shortening tools like it: click tracking. This is the simplest way to find out if you're Tweeting things that your Followers actually want to know about. Just sign up for Bit.ly's service and Tweet from there when sharing articles and blog posts.

7. Share at Least One Blog Post, Article, or Video Per Week
There are so many options for connecting your blog posts, articles, videos, and all your content to your social media venues. But self serving promotional content just doesn't cut it. Remember the question theory? Use it to your advantage. Think of the questions your target market (or even better, your buyer persona) has and make sure your content answers those questions. Provide content that makes it easier for that person to sleep at night.

8. Test a Different Landing Page from Your Twitter Profile Weekly
If you're doing everything above, you're getting closer to people being more interested in what you have to offer. What will they find when they visit you? Are they going to know exactly how you're going to help them sleep better at night? If not, you need to create landing pages that express just this. As with all good landing page practices, keep on testing.

So what do you think? Is Twitter about as reverse-marketing as it gets? And what other ways are there to measure your success on Twitter? Let's get the conversation rolling in the comments.

"Expect your every need to be met. Expect the answer to every problem, expect abundance on every level."
- Eileen Caddy

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

"A man's life consisteth not in the abundance
of the things which he possesseth."
- Luke 12:15

Monday, October 19, 2009

"When you are grateful fear disappears
and abundance appears."
- Anthony Robbins

Friday, October 16, 2009

Sales and Marketing - Different and Powerful

People often confuse the two or assume they are one and the same. They are different and powerful.

You use marketing to bring you qualified prospects and use sales to close the deal and build relationships with people. In other words, the definition of marketing is everything you do to reach and persuade prospects to give you a chance to sell them. Sales is what you do to close the sale and get a signed agreement or contract.

In the world of internet marketing, the marketer drives people to the website, and the sales person is the one who forms a relationship with the prospects and closes the deal.

Good marketers and sales people have one thing in common: they both begin by putting their customers first and developing strong customer relationships.

To be effective at both marketing and sales, you need to identify your target market and understand their needs.

What are their hot buttons and core emotional desires? People buy with their emotions and justify with logic. So before you start rattling off a bunch of features, ask yourself, ""what does it mean to them specifically and how will it benefit them?"

Seven Reasons People Buy
Good marketing and sales start with understanding what your customer wants.
If you know what people want, then you're 90 percent of the way there.
So how do you find out what people want?
Talk to people one-on-one. Listen to the requests they make, the questions they ask and their complaints. Also, look at the information they make public on forums, blogs and other social media. These are a goldmine of information about what people want.

Supplement your research with an understanding of the 7 reasons people buy:
1. Make money
2. Save money
3. Save time
4. Save effort
5. Improve health
6. Increase pleasure
7. Elminate pain

Why Don't People Buy from You?
In most cases, negative emotions are a lot more powerful than positive emotions. Too often, sales focuses on why people should buy from you vs. why people don't buy from you.

There are typically four reasons people won't buy from you.
1. They don't know you
2. They don't want what you're selling
3. They don't want what you're selling more than what they would have to give up to get it
4. They don't believe you

Make their concerns and doubts the focus of your attention first.

This is especially important in network marketing, given how skeptical most people are about this industry.Its funny that most network marketing companies say "we don't sell products we just share information". That helps people who are afraid of sales feel less intimidated by the process. But the truth is that network marketing does involve sales. It also requires marketing.
Be honest, upfront and straightforward with people. Not only will this earn trust, but it will allow you to differentiate yourself. The bigger you make your claims (about your business or product), the more you blend in with everyone else. Tone down your claims and show genuine concern for people's interests. Its a win-win solution.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Expect your every need to be met. Expect the answer to every problem, expect abundance on every level.
Eileen Caddy

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into. Wayne Dyer

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

What was hard to bear is sweet to remember.

Portuguese proverb

Friday, October 9, 2009

"Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown."

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Ten Keys to Success in Network Marketing

A high percentage of people fail to make a full-time income in network marketing, because they either don't know what to do or aren't willing to do what is necessary to achieve success. In this article, I'm going to eliminate the excuse of not knowing.

Here are ten keys to achieving high success in network marketing:

1. Purpose - you must have a strong "why" for this business, otherwise the negativity from the dreamstealers (those people in your life who will try to save you from the pyramid scam). Are you interested in more time freedom? Extra money every month? Helping other people improve their lives? Financial freedom? A strong purpose will keep you focused and ensure your success in network marketing and all aspects of your life.

2. Goals - you must have written steps that will help you achieve your purpose. Set written goals for the next 5 years, 1 year, monthly, daily. Set goals for # of new contacts, # of retail customers, # of distributors, income, pin levels, etc. Make sure these goals are written. Read them daily.

3. Plan - you must have a written plan for achieving your goals. The great eastern philosopher, Yogi Berra, once said, "if you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up some place else." In other words, if you don't have a written plan to achieve your goals, you won't!

4. Belief - you must believe in network marketing, your company, the products, the compensation plan, the leadership, the marketing programs, your upline, and yourself. The stronger your belief, the greater your commitment.

5. Commitment - you must be committed to your company for life! Not, "I'll give this a try for 6 months and see how it works." I can guarantee you will fail! You must know that this is the best company, with the best products. You must believe that this opportunity is perfect for yourself and for others. If this is not the case, find another company where it is.

6. Positive Attitude - bad things will happen. The media will cover our industry, and your company negatively at times. Prospects will tell you you're crazy for being a part of one of those pyramid schemes. Even your family will think your nuts! Keep in mind that they are ignorant of the facts. You have the facts! This is a great industry.
It will revolutionize the way products and services are distributed throughout the world. You are a part of the greatest industry in the world and the greatest company in that industry. Be positive about the company, industry, products, upline, downline, etc. It's up to you to spread positive and hope everywhere you go.

7. Lead by Example - people will do what you do, not what you say to do. They will look to you to lead by example.
If things aren't going well, ask yourself this question, "how happy would I be if all my downline worked like me?"
Are you doing what's necessary to be successful? If you aren't, you can't expect your downline to. Keep prospecting and recruiting people. Give your downline leads and placements. Use the company training system and promote it's use to your downline. If you do the right things every day, your downline will do the right things every day, and good things will result.

8. Love People - in our harried world we forget to love people. I'm not talking about romantic love, but rather caring love. Love your sponsor for introducing you to this great company. Love your upline for helping you. Love your downline for committing to you. Love the company for providing these fantastic products and incredible financial opportunity.
Love your prospects, even those who are mean and nasty. In fact love them even more, because they probably need it more.
If you love people, they will love you back. Wow! What a feeling. It turns this from a business into a big loving family full of members who are willing to do anything for you.

9. Daily Action - this is a business, not a hobby. If you invested a half million dollars in a McDonalds franchise would you work it in your spare time - when you didn't have anything else to do - when there weren't any good T.V. shows on? Of course not. You'd be working 15 hours a day to get your money back. You probably didn't invest much to get into your business, but the commitment level should be the same, because the long-term benefits are much greater in network marketing than with McDonalds.
Work your business every day. Plan time into your daily schedule to prospect, contact, follow-up, work with your downline, conduct training meetings for your downline, conduct business briefings, work online, and study. Daily activity will produce daily results, which build into monthly results, which build into yearly results.
Do you know that if you made up a list of everyone you have ever known and started to contact them, you would recruit at least 10% of them without trying very hard. If you become proficient, you would probably close 30% or better. Just think, if you contacted one person every day, 7 days a week, you would contact 365 people each year. At a 10% close ratio you would have 36 new distributors every year. If they also duplicated, you would add another 1296 the second year, 46,656 the third year and so on. That is the power of 1 contact each day.
Plan it into your schedule to call or see one new prospect every day (and I mean every day, not just when you have a spare moment!) and commit to doing that for the next month. You'll be amazed at the results! Then teach your downline to do the same thing.

10. Cultivate leaders - find natural leaders in the warm and cold markets. Find leaders in your current networks. You will need to find and cultivate at least 3 leaders in each leg in order to secure them. A group of strong leaders under each leg will enable you to have more independence and eventually result in true walk-away income.

Network marketing is a great business. You have chosen a great company. You are a great person. Follow these 10 steps to further greatness!
Post inspired by Rod Nichols.

There is only one real failure in life that is possible, and that is, not to be true to the best one knows.
John Farrar

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.
Louisa May Alcott

Monday, October 5, 2009

"Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
-Benjamin Franklin

Thursday, October 1, 2009

“Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time” Margaret Bonnano