Google Pagerank: 0 to 3 in 12 months

Not a spectacular accomplishment, but an accomplishment none the less. Especially if you consider how many websites are out there for years and never achieve any pagerank.

I am not an SEO expert, nor do I know everything there is to know about building websites. I’m an average person with an online business.

My first step was to purchase desktop software so I would not have to rely on the onsite builders offered by most hosting company’s. I wanted to have complete control over every aspect of the design, keywords, content and SEO of this site and the only logical way to do this was to not be reliant on software that didn’t quite do what I needed it to do.

After a bit of research and advise from a mentor I decided on XsitePro. Designed specifically for network marketing it gave me the advantage of being able to check things like keyword density, alt tags, meta tags, total number of words on page as well as other important SEO qualities.

The next step was Keyword Research. Knowing what keywords work for your site and your industry will play an important role in the success or failure of your website. Sure you can get lucky using keywords that are standard within your industry, but knowing which words are good, profitable and niche is what will make your site stand out above the rest.

I limited the total number of keywords for each page to 10 or less. This doesn’t mean I used only 10 or less keywords within a page, I only listed 10 or less. This created a keyword rich page that was very SEO friendly.

I tried to use solid keywords within my industry to name each of the pages within my site. There is some debate on whether this is a good strategy for solid SEO, but it seems to work for my site.

I also spent a fair amount of time on developing my site content. Providing good quality and unique content is just as important as SEO for your website. It needs to flow as if conversational and it needs to provide information. I made it a point not to use the typical hype that is so common in MLM, but did try to inject my own excitement for my business and product line.

I paid particular attention to the Meta tags for each page. Many people use the Meta tag as an advertisement when it’s purpose is to describe the page. Earlier websites I had built never did well and part of the reason is because of how I used Meta tags and the overuse of keywords which tagged the site with the major search engines as a spam site.

Paying attention to your alt tags is also important. Again the proper use of an alt tag is not to provide an additional advertisement, but instead to provide a description of the image associated with the alt tag.

Link strategy has always been an issue for me and my websites. I knew paying for links could harm my site and link exchanges pretty much cancel each other out so I had to find a way to bring in some one way links that were legit.

I currently am using several techniques to achieve links into my site. Articles are a primary source for inbound links to my site. I also use endorsements of other products and services which provide links into my site. And I’ve put other domains I own up as mini sites or landing pages that link to my primary site.

Traffic is another important factor for any website. Simply putting up a website does not automatically mean you will have traffic. When you start a new site you have to let people (your target audience) know that it’s there.

Because of the massive amount of money I had lost in my first two years of business, my husband pulled in the purse strings. This meant I had to find creative ways to drive traffic to my site that did not cost money.

I had used Traffic Exchanges in the early days of my business and I decided to revisit that option. I opened accounts with several exchanges and started surfing. It was slow in the beginning but picked up after a couple of weeks. I continue to use traffic exchanges to drive traffic to my site, and while it’s not “targeted” traffic, I view any traffic as good traffic.

Now that it has been just over a year and I have seen a steady increase of search engine traffic generated by my choice of keywords grow. Natural traffic doesn’t happen overnight and to get it you have to take the time to do the keyword research and find those profitable keywords and niche keywords that will put your site on the first 2 or 3 pages in the search engines.

Amazingly enough, many of the terms used are quality keywords that are not listed in my keyword list. This was surprising to me and helped to reaffirm the importance of providing quality content for my site visitors.

Understand your own industry and make your choices based on what works within that industry. Provide your site visitors with information they are looking for and take the time to do your keyword research. These steps will set your website apart from the others.

How My Home Business Benefited Me when I could not Work my Business

I have had my home business since January 2005. My first two years I spent following blindly what I was told to do. This was not profitable for me or my business and only put money in the pockets of those above me.

I managed to start using my common sense in late 2006, early 2007 and rebuild the foundation of my business based on facts and not hype and have enjoyed a profitable home based business since January 2007.

Clearly a business that is in profit is something to enjoy, but the major benefit was realized late last year when I suffered a catastrophic health event that put me in the local ICU.

You may be wondering how that could possibly be a benefit for my business and the truth is that on the surface it would seem to be a horrible event for me personally as well as for my business.

The fact is that because I took the time early in 2007 to rebuild my business foundation and retrain those in my downline, my business ran without me and continued to make money while I was in the hospital.

The key factors that were changed in early 2007 were my dependence on my upline and sponsor for information on how to run my home business. I also changed my focus from the heavy ad campaigns I was running to building a website that was user friendly as well as SEO friendly.

I also provided my distributor base with usable tools that were understandable and easy to use with the added benefit of being free. Training was implemented and directed towards what my team members wanted and not what had been dictated to me in my first two years.

Because I was in the hospital for a while I asked one of my distributors to maintain my team forum for me and she was able to do so with no issues primarily because of the effort that was put into the forum and the amount of information that was provided to the team on the forum.

My own realization that my home business was built on old school marketing techniques as well as far too much hype enabled me to honestly reassess my business and start the process of determining what was important to me and what my own goals were. The most important goal was to start earning money and get the business into profit.

I tossed out the hype, buzz words and old school techniques and had my home business in profit in less than 30 days and have maintained a profitable business ever since. Because I was able to see the flaws of what I was doing prior to January 2007, I have benefited from a profitable business even while I was confined without the ability to work in an ICU.

Would these methods work for you in your home business? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on you and what your goals are. Use your own common sense and decide what you need to gain from your business. Once you have done that it’s easy to set your goals and start moving forward.

I will also note that I stopped all paid advertising for my primary business and have relied on the knowledge I gained from about my industry and solid SEO for my websites since January 2007. My business continues to grow and earn more profits each month which gives me the freedom to explore other money making opportunities that I can work from home.

Defining Success in a Home Based Business

Success is one of those words that is tossed around the home based business arena quite often. Those of us who start home based businesses generally are able to illustrate clearly the reason we did so. Earning money to contribute to the household income, being able to stay at home with the kids and for some simply as a hobby to fill their time.

Regardless of why you start a home business, defining your success can only be done by you. You see, you know better than anyone what you need out of your home based business. This is not something that should be dictated to you by your sponsor or upline.

Keeping your focus on your own success should always be your priority over helping your sponsor or upline achieve their success. They will benefit from your success only if you achieve the level of success as defined by them.

This simple revelation took me the better part of two years to discover and this journey was not a profitable one for me. I was losing money every month in my business with the majority of my business expenditures going into affiliate programs and purchasing leads from those in the business above me. It’s important to note that a business that consistently loses money is one that will eventually dry up and close its doors while a business in profit rarely closes its doors.

I have often talked about the steps I took to rebuild my home based business into one that was profitable, but the most important step I took was deciding to define my own success.

For me it was as simple as getting my business into profit. This didn’t just mean breaking even, I needed to see cash after the monthly expenses were paid for. This realization propelled me into a new way of looking at my home based business and started a domino effect that has resulted in the realization that I could have a profitable business.

Think about the reasons you started your business, or the reasons you are thinking about starting a business. List them and use that list to help you define what success is for you. For some it could be as simple as generating a hundred dollars a month to help pay for a household bill. For others it could be the ability to become financially independent or the avenue for quitting your day job.

I know that once you’ve made the list you won’t see helping my sponsor or upline achieve their success on your list, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is your business not theirs.

The role of a sponsor is sometimes lost in the hype of a company. A good sponsor will do what they can to help you define your success and provide you with tools and resources necessary to achieve that success regardless of how it benefits them.

Your ability to define your own success also relates closely to taking responsibility for your home based business. While it is great to have a sponsor or upline willing to provide the tools and resources to help you achieve your success, ultimately it’s up to you as the business owner to use the tools and resources provided. Furthermore if those tools or resources aren’t working for you, it’s up to you to find the ones that do work in your situation.

Expecting anyone other than yourself to build your business is irresponsible and frankly not a solid business plan. Defining your own success is just one of the puzzle pieces that will help you to build your home based business successfully and earn you the income you desire.

Copyright Violations Suck

Shortly after writing on this blog about my friends copyright being violated, I got a Google alert. When I check it out sure enough my own copyright had been violated. The lack of ethics astounds me.

I wrote an article about a recent "catastrophic health event" that occurred in my life and my own ability to accept what had happened to me.

Unlike my friend Lori's experience where her article was republished without her resource information, my article was hacked up and now makes no sense.

Example,the first line of my article reads:
In late 2007, I suffered a catastrophic health event that changed my life in ways that I never could have imagined.

On this blog the first line reads:
In late 2007, I suffered a catastrophic upbeat event that changed my chronicle in ways that I never could hit imagined.

It gets worse but I'll spare you the details. Clearly it's wrong to republish anything in violation of a copyright. And the way it was done to my article makes me look like I suffered much more brain damage than I actually did.

I immediately contacted the blog owner and requested that he either remove the article or re post it in original form. 5 days later I've not heard from the blog owner nor has the article been removed or corrected.

So what do you do in this situation? Here's what I've done and intend to do.

I emailed him directly, no response.
I filed a complaint with his ISP, again no response.
I posted a comment to the blog. The comment is waiting to be moderated. I'm sure the blog owner will approve the comment...not!
Because the blog site uses Google AdWords so I will be contacting them. I believe that violating a copyright will cause Google to remove his AdWords account as well as any earnings from those ads.
Last step, contact my attorney.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's had their copyright violated and how they handled it.

Has Your Copyright Been Violated

As mentioned in my previous post about my friends Article being posted to a blog site without the benefit of her resources being listed I have an update.

The owner of the blog that posted her copyright material has responded and provided a link back to her site, however he still has violated her copyright my changing her resource information from what was posted with her article.

I also noted in the last article on this subject that I would post names of other authors who possible were having their copyrights violated. I will update this post as I have time because this site is very large with many months of posts.

I'll give the title of the article and the author's name. If you are the author, or know the author have them Google their name and article title and go through the list to see if your copyright has been violated.

To the List:
February Articles
Myths And Misconceptions About Job Hunting by Tony Jacowski
Brainstorm Your Way To A New Career by Jacqui Mitchell
Dealing With Gaps In Employment by Tony Jacowski
Dealing with Job Loss - Stay Connected by Lisa McGrimmon
Resume Cover Letters - Turn The Toughest Job Hunting Chore Into A Powerful Assetrew by John Groth
Job Search Secret - Sending a Thank You Letter When You Don’t Get the Job by Jane Trevaskis
Building the Executive Resume by Abby M. Locke
Moving on after layoff not easy, but plan is essential by Amy Lindgren
Creative Job Hunting - How To Access The Hidden Job Market by Jacqui Mitchell
Top Tips For Incorporating Your Personal Brand In Your Job Search by Michelle Dumas

Unethical Blogging Practice, Copyright Infringement

Recently I was speaking with a good friend of mine Lori Clark who owns a consulting business called Clark Aviation Consulting. She has started writing articles and found that one of her first articles had been picked up by another website.

Since this is the desired outcome of an article she was happy about it. However when checking out the site that picked up the article she found something that none of us want to see happen with our articles.

The article was picked up from a secondary source which had not included her resources, namely her contact information or the link back to her website. When the article was published on the 2nd site it was linked to the site who did not include Lori’s resources.

There were now 2 instances of her article being picked up with neither of them giving the required credit and link back to Lori’s site.

To make matters worse, the site that is violating numerous authors copyrights has monitized his site using content links. So not only is he stealing copyrighted material, he's making money from it.

She contacted the 2nd person and they rectified the resource issue right away. The original person who posted her article has an entire blog site filled with great content and an excellent PR. The problem is that the excellent content is provided by others who have no idea that their articles are being taken and used without their resources.

This is a blatant copyright infringement and without a doubt the lack of links back to the original author’s has contributed to the high PR for this blog. Sadly this type of thing occurs on a regular basis on the Internet and it’s up to us to be proactive in protecting our copyright material.

When you submit an article for publication as soon as the article is published, you need to set a google alert for the name of the article. A Google alert are a great tool for keeping track of your articles and also provides you the ability to stay on top of any copyright infringements.

There are remedies for this type of infringement. First contact the person that posted your article and ask them to include your resource information. If they don’t comply, your next step is to contact their ISP provider and let them know that this person is violating your copyright. The ISP has it within their power to take these types of sites down.

Another option for you when you find your copyrighted material has been violated is to contact google and let them know. Clearly they can’t take the site down, but if there is any pagerank associated with the site they can and will make adjustments to that pagerank.

It’s important to know that you have to be proactive in protecting your Internet persona as well as protecting your copyright material whether it is your site copy or an article. Doing so will ensure that you will grow your own Internet presense and build your own reputation as an expert in your field.

I will be compiling a list of authors who's work is featured on this site and posting them here on my blog.

2007, My Business Year in Review

I’m a believer in personal growth. Growth is usually the result of your personal experiences and how you relate and react to those experiences. I can tell you from my own personal experience that regardless of how bad an experience seems to be at the time, there can always be something good to come from it.

Your own ability to find the good in each experience is what will truly define how much growth you achieve in day to day life.

Late in 2006 I started to realize that those I looked to for leadership in my primary business simply did not have the skills, tools or knowledge to lead me in the direction I needed to go. They also did not share my business ethics and consistently droned on about working your warm market, the 3 foot rule and all the other old school techniques that don’t work in todays internet marketing environment.

The feeling I had was that I had been taken for a ride for the sole purpose to either build the credibility or line the pockets of my leaders. I’m sure there are marketers out there who have also felt the loss off respect for their leadership.

Many of those marketers will simply drop from their program, give up or start looking for a different direct marketing opportunity.

During that time of enlightenment in 2006 I had to start making some serious decisions and determine if I what I had was worth continuing. Because I did have faith in my product line and had already built a small team which I was already collecting residual income on I decided it would be to my benefit to continue.

The majority of 2007 was spent turning some bad experiences in my business into something positive. I shifted the focus of my disappointment in my leaders to learning and building what I had truly wanted in my own home business.

At first my business overhaul was fueled by my emotions but as time went on I learned how to make logical decisions based on fact and not my emotions. And believe it or not, in spite of the emotional upheaval I felt I now realize how grateful I am that I had experienced it was what put a fire under me and got me started toward the right direction.

Like a child who grows up and finally takes that necessary step out into the world on their own, I needed to do the same with my business. I cut the ties with my own leadership and started on a year long journey to make my business reflect my wants, needs and desires.

The final outcome of my 2007 efforts will be an ongoing process as my own business continues to grow. I now have a solid foundation for my own business and have developed up to date tools for my team to help them build their foundations and get their business into profit.
My personal growth during the calendar year 2007 has also been quite amazing. The largest part of that growth has been learning to trust my own instincts and use my common sense when it comes to my business.

It’s important to always remember why you got into a particular business, for me it wasn’t hard to cut the ties that were holding me down because I did not start my business to be popular or to make friends, I did it to make money.

5 Steps to Making Money in your Home Based Business

Fact: People start a home business to make money. If your business is consistently costing you money and not making you money you should evaluate every aspect of the business.

Evaluate the Product Line

Any business evaluation should start with the product line. Are you marketing a product that is affordable to the majority of your target market? If the product is only affordable to a few then you have a problem. In order for you to make a sale or secure a reliable customer base of repeat buyers you will have to reach more people to find the few who can actually afford your product. This is no easy task and could cost you more money in advertising than you have to spend.

Is the product line a one time shot or will it be repurchased once used? This is key to repeat sales which can be the lifeline of any business. Repeat sales will also keep your business on the plus side of profit with little effort on your part.

Evaluate your Product Knowledge

How much do you really know about your product as well as your competitions products. This is another key factor in your own success. Have you done your research or are you relying on what you were told by your sponsor, upline or company? Your ability to portray yourself as an expert in your business will give you an advantage over other marketers not only when it comes to marketing your product, but also if you are working on building a team to earn residual income.

Take the time to learn as much as you can about your own products as well as those product lines and companies that are your competitors.

Evaluate the Tools of your Trade

Look at the marketing material that you were provided. If you fall prey to the old school marketing techniques filled with hype and buzz words you may need to develop your own tools to market your product and build your business.

Another aspect of evaluating your tools is to look at the actual tools provided by your sponsor or company. Are you looking at paying additional monies each month for websites, autoresponders or landing pages? This will be additional money spent each month and possibly will keep your business in the red.

Evaluate the Focus of your Sponsor

This is another important key to your success. Is your sponsor only looking to pad their own pocket each month by encouraging you to buy additional product or sign up for their affiliate programs? Is your sponsor available to you when you need them to answer your questions or are they hard to reach or keeping business hours that don’t fit into your schedule? Do they provide additional support systems that provide you with answers to the common questions for the times that they are not available?

The most important factor for any business should be getting that business into profit as quickly as possible. This can’t be done if your sponsor’s only focus in on their own business.

Evaluate Yourself

We all need to evaluate ourselves from time to time and doing so when it comes to our home business is what allows us to grow not only our business but also to expand our own knowledge.
Look at yourself honestly and determine if you truly stand behind your products, tools and marketing methods. Do you believe that you can sell the products? Do you believe that you can learn what you need to know in order to portray yourself as an expert? Do you offer your business partners up to date tools and training or are you relying on old school marketing techniques that have been handed down for generations?

My own Road to Success

One of the biggest problems in todays MLM and Direct Marketing industry is the lack of common sense and integrity when applied to your business. It’s up to each and every marketer to apply the same common sense and integrity to our business as we would in our own personal lives.

When I started my home business in January of 2005, I made a commitment to myself and my sponsor to work my business for 2 years. I fulfilled that commitment and then evaluated my accomplishments over that 2 year period.

I did have a small level of success however I also believed that I could have achieved much more had I been provided with the proper training and tools.

I had very few months where my business was in profit, and also had to deal with my husband who financed my business each month. It’s hard to justify continuing anything that consistently sucks money and doesn’t make money.

Late in 2006 I evaluated what I had done as well as the tools I used and changed my business plan to incorporate two key factors. The first was listening to my own common sense and the second was to educate myself in my industry as well as marketing.

These two very simple factors are what brought my own home business from sucking money from our family budget into a business that has made money every single month of 2007.

I am thrilled to say that now my expenses are not paid for through the earnings generated from my home business and I am also able to contribute to our family finances as well.

I am also better able to help my growing team to get their business into profit quickly and provide them with the up to date tools they need to grow their business without draining their budgets. This is key because a business that is in profit rarely closes its doors and by supporting my team I am supporting my own business.

If you are interested in how to get your own business into profit using common sense marketing, visit my Website and request information.

Truth in Advertising, revisited

Back in September I posted a short article on Truth in Advertising. After reading an article today written by Vern How Chan [1], I felt the need to expand my original article and while I don’t like to promote my own business in my blog environment I can no longer sit back while others misrepresent what our product is or is not.

My primary business is as an independent distributor for Scent Sations who makes Mia Bella Candles. If you don’t live under a rock you have probably heard of our products. If you have looked for a home business you have probably seen a multitude of advertisements and websites promoting our products.

This is where the problem has taken deep root. Our candles are not Soy Candles, but you will see them advertised as a Soy Candle at just about every level of distributor from the bottom all the way up to our top distributors.

Technically for a candle to be a “Soy Candle” it must contain 25% soy wax which ours do not. Clearly many of our distributors are told in the recruiting process that our candles are made of soy as that is what is reflected on the different distributor’s personal websites but it simply is not the truth.

Another common claim about our candles is that they are “Healthier” than paraffin (or other types) candles. Again this is not true and no solid research has been done to back up this claim. Our candles defiantly burn cleaner than any other candle I’ve used, but that doesn’t mean they are “healthier” than other candles.

In the early days of my business I also made this claim because it was the information I was given by my sponsor and upline. It is an unsubstantiated claim and could be construed as medical advice which crosses a dangerous line in any industry. My marketing strategy has evolved as my knowledge base has grown and I have corrected my advertising efforts to reflect my products in a truthful light.

In an effort to make sure that I was marketing our products with accuracy I emailed our VP of Marketing about our products with some pointed statements about our product line. My request was for him to confirm or deny my statements, here’s what I got back:

Our candles are not a “soy” candle

We have not promoted our candle as a soy candle since 2001 when we were a soy candle....ever since we have kept the information updated on the websites and the company materials...

Our Candles are made from “vegetable wax”

From Carmen[2]: soy, palm and other natural waxes are called vegetable wax in the trade...we use a vegetable wax blend....if there is any soy in that blend, its a very small blend...we prefer to say there is no soy

Our candles do not contain “beeswax”

Because of the mystery that is wiping out about 70% of the bee population in the USA which has consequences more dire than global warming or terrorism, beeswax is not in our current formula, actually, that is a positive for many vegetarians who wont burn beeswax

Distributors should not make health claims about our candles, i.e. “healthier” than other candles

Correct.....we are now a big and growing company ..we must be very careful of wording that could be construed as a medical claim

Distributors should not promote our candles as a longer burning candle as the burn times of any candle is subjective to environmental conditions and there is no conclusive testing that has been done to prove this statement on behalf of our candle products.

That is correct

With the exception of the beeswax and the burn times of our candles I had been marketing ethically by providing my prospects and customers with the truth about what our candles are and what they do. I have made the adjustments in my advertisements to reflect the new information about both beeswax and burn times.

I am very proud of the gourmet candles that I represent as an independent distributor. It is a stand alone product in the candle industry because of it’s ability to burn clean and it simply smells better than any candle I’ve ever used.

The result of my not using the buzz words and misinformation in my ad campaigns has affected the growth of my team. I recruited many more distributors when I was providing the wrong information, however it is my firm belief that marketing honestly and not using buzz words to describe my products has enabled me to build a very firm foundation for my business.
Providing my team of distributors with accurate information and solid leadership based on facts and not hype will in turn make my team strong and profitable in the long haul.

[1] Read Vern’s Review of Scent Sations and Mia Bella Candles
[2] Carmen is our Master Chandler

Do You Provide Tools to your Team or just Affiliate Links that put Cash in your pocket?

Clearly affiliate marketing is important in the big picture of what we do as Internet Marketers, but is your bottom line to milk every extra penny for every tool you refer your downline to, or to provide tools that will help your team?

I've struggled with this one early in my MLM business, but finally decided that my bottom line was providing my team with every resource I have available regardless of how much affiliate money it put into my pocket.

When I started my business I didn't realize how much money could be generated from affiliate marketing. That changed quickly with my AWeber account. But referring my team members to this affiliate isn't always the best option for them.

I'm fortunate that early on I found some tools that I was able to pay a flat fee for and then provide my team with a few key tools that they could use to promote their business. It was a pretty simple program that provided them with a url rotator, ad tracker and a web page that they could use as their landing page.

I would give these tools to my team to help them get started without having to reach into their pockets and the tools have been well received by my team members.

Over the years these programs have been improved and now include many more very useful tools at no cost to the people I refer to the program. The system now includes a fully functional Autoresponder which has been a stumbling block for my team members on a budget.

Yes I realize that $20 a month isn't much for me, but if I had a couple of kids at home it would be.

I've been criticized and asked if I was setting up a "welfare mentality" with the free tools I provide and I even was asked if what I was doing was "duplicatable". Forgive me, but the ability to duplicate something isn't really what "my" business is about. It's another one of those old school marketing techniques that sound great but in reality work for only a few.

So as the release of the new program was announced providing a multitude of awesome online tools including an advertising module, I had to decide how to present it to my team. It was clear that the best thing to do was give it to them and let them decide for themselves if it was a system they wanted to use.

I did let them know if they were currently using other resources to keep those in place until they had evaluated the new program. Doing this allows my team members to have the tools they need for their Internet marketing without having to dig into their pockets to pay for the tools. It also meant that I would lose some of my affiliate money each month, but the bottom line is always to provide the best tools at the best price for my team. What I will gain in their own business growth by them using the free tools will far outweigh the small affiliate commissions I lost.

And then there's the obvious...

The less they have to spend on websites, autoresponders, advertising and other things, the more money they have available to buy product which they can sell and put money into their pocket as well as my pocket. Win Win.

If you are curious about what I provide my team members use the banner to check it out. No money goes into my pocket by promoting this program.

Marketing Responsibly on the Internet – Social Networking

Now that Social Networking has wrapped it’s arms around the Internet I’m seeing more spam originating from these networks landing in my email box.

My frustration level with these newbie marketers has grown to a point that now I’m turning the tables on them.

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 clearly states that using deceptive emails in order to “pitch” your opportunity is in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act yet for some reason these social networkers think that if you reply to their email, they are in compliance.

Social Networking certainly has it’s place in today's world of electronic marketing, but it isn’t in my mailbox and I’ll venture to guess that it’s not in your mailbox either.

Clearly for those looking for home business ideas or an online business opportunity, a social network could provide them with a plethora of information. But no more information than if they had used Google or Yahoo.

How many of you have received a request for information about your business that looks like this:

Hello,

I am requesting more info on your business ad and how it works. Is an investment required?

Looking forward to hearing more.

Name of Sender
Email of Sender

The first few I got I took the time to answer that question in a thoughtful manner only to get this:

Thank you for the email. I am screening people who have home businesses that would like free advertising in what is the “My Space” for business people. I am associated with many thousands of networking professionals that may also be interested in your offer.

You are invited to post a free profile on my site. And I will send some business contacts your way.

Many serious entrepreneurs, from around the world, will view your contact and business information.
http://www.directmatches.com/XXXXX

Join for free… Advertise for free in The Business Directory.

“As relationships mature, incomes grow.”

Name of Sender
Email of Sender

Clearly I’m not a social networker. I did not start a home base business so that I could grow relationships. I started my business so I could earn money.

So how have I turned the tables? Quite simply. When I receive these requests for information, I reply with a short note that directs them to my website to fill out my Auto Responder form. I tell them that because I am in 100% compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 that this is the best method for them to learn more about my business.

This usually is enough to stop the spam but not always, so I added the CAN-SPAM Act to my website and direct them there. Their curiosity usually gets them onto my website.

Because they have requested information about my business I am now also in compliance with the act and can send them my promotional emails. Technically I could add them to my list, but I don’t because I prefer to have a clean list of only people who have opted in because they are interested in my home based business.

If you are into Social Networking and using the types of techniques included in this article, wouldn’t your time be better spent doing things that actually drive traffic to your website or educating yourself on your chosen business instead of cruising online classified ads archives harvesting email address’s?

Like many multi level marketing business’s, my advertising budget is limited. I have to maximize each dollar I spend to achieve the maximum benefit for my business.

I make a conscious effort to ensure that each method I use in my promotion of my primary business has at least two functions. Showing that I am knowledgeable about my business and driving traffic to my site. Once they land on my site I’m able to build trust based on my knowledge.

This is a more productive way for me to build that “relationship” and by example they have the opportunity to learn how to earn money online with a home based business.

The email used in this article was an actual email that I received this month. Interestingly enough the email address it was sent to has never been used in any open ad campaigns for any of my business adverts, but only as an administrative contact.

MLM’s reputation has suffered over the years, however it is still the best opportunity for regular people to earn extra income or replace the income from their “JOB”. Lets give our newcomers the best chance of actually building a respectable business and lead them by example as well as provide them tools that work in today's electronic world.

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Addicted to Domain Names?

There I’ve said it, I admit it and now I’m doing something about it!

Over the course of my online business adventure, I’ve managed to acquire quite a large number of domain names. You know the different dot.com’s that you use to promote different aspects of what ever you are doing online.

Well I sat down and started evaluating the different domains I had and man did I feel a bit foolish. I had so many that it was costing me a small fortune to renew them through out the year.

I don’t discount that at the time I purchased most of them, I had a specific need. But once those needs have passed…let it go!

The process of weeding out the ones I no longer want to pay for wasn’t too hard. I first checked each domain to see where it was pointing.

Once I knew that I had to evaluate if I really needed a specific domain for that page. Most of the time I didn’t and could house those pages on my main website.

The next step was checking to see if they had any pagerank or value. Much to my surprise several of them did. Those went on my keeper list and I knew I would find another use for them.

I also learned that when you have a domain name with longevity it becomes more valuable. So I had to consider those poorly thought out domain names I had purchased early on in my Internet adventure.

Honestly, most of those were chosen at a time when I didn’t have a clue about how to build a website let alone what keywords were. I’ve learned so much since that time that I let go of many of those cutesy domain names opting to keep the ones that were newer but keyword rich.

I ended up dumping probably 8 domain names and will now keep a watchful eye on the rest of them as they come up for renewal. And I’m putting those with pagerank to use for some of my promotional stuff and information sites.

One thing I also had to learn was that an emotional attachment to a domain name just isn’t a good enough reason to keep it. You know…the first domain I ever bought…I didn’t want to let it go, but the bottom line was I seriously didn’t have a use for it so I bit the bullet and let it go.

And then there are the “deals” you get offered when you are purchasing a domain name…I got a deal on what at the time seemed to be a great idea…instead I’ve come to realize that www.IGotLit.com (for my candle business) actually appears to be the domain of a heavy drinker and it’s mine until 2008!

Take your time when purchasing a domain name. Consider some good keywords to incorporate into the domain name and above all remember to let go of the ones that aren’t working for you anymore.

MLM Soldiers and Sharks

Just looking at that title, which would you prefer to be known as? My guess is that the majority of those who read this will identify with the soldier mostly because of the bad conation associated with sharks.

Soldiers have their marching orders and rarely go against their Generals. Sharks are efficient and exert as little as possible to achieve maximum outcome.

I closely associated with the soldiers the first 18 months of my home business and in the process I learned some valuable lessons which have led me to do things that most in the MLM industry would not dream of doing.

MLM has such potential to be a viable option for so many to stay at home with their family and just be in control of their own financial future. Whether we choose to continue to be a soldier or make the transition to become a shark can have serious implications on the success or failure of our MLM career.

Over the course of 18 months I was a good soldier. Like any soldier I wanted to be recognized as a good soldier and this recognition would come with my success.

Over time I came to realize that my hard work was not benefiting my business but I was building up those who came before me. I was encouraged to purchase leads and buy product or sign up for this magazine and oh you should take my training. The whole time I was never asked if my business had achieved profit.

After hosting two regional events and going in the red for both I came to the realization that I needed to run my business efficiently and get it into profit. I needed to become as efficient as a shark if I was going to survive.

I mustered up the General within myself and laid out my battle plan. I needed to continue to be a good soldier long enough to rebuild my business so I could live the life of a shark.

This meant breaking all the MLM rules. I tossed out my lists, stopped preaching about working your warm market and I set a clear intention to reinvent the wheel. I stepped out of my box and refused to let anyone kick it out from under me.

I came to realization that I could either continue to dream about my life, or I could start living my dreams. My choice was clear.

What I put into place is not duplicatable. I have yet to see a business that you can change the name on the stationary and achieve the same level of success as those who came before you. What I put into place is up to date with the world we live in and it is totally customizable to suit the dreams of each of my team members.

Rome was not built overnight and neither will my business. I am now swimming with the sharks and proud to be there. The payoff of these efforts are I now have a business that is consistently in profit each month and a group of dedicated team members who are beginning to grow their own business’s.

I have also have a firm grasp of my own industry and product line and no longer need to rely on the buzz words or catch phrases (or the 3 way calls) that are common throughout our industry. Instead have learned to use those buzz words to my own advantage and still market my products and opportunity honestly.

Be a soldier long enough to build the foundation for your business. Then make the shift to be more like a shark. It does not mean you have to devour everything in your path, only that you have done your soldier time and now you can work efficiently to accomplish great things.

Stop dreaming about your life and start living your dreams.

Are you an MLM Junkie?

How many MLM companies are you with? 1? 3? 5? More than 5? If you are currently working more than 3 MLM's it may be time for you to take a step back and do an honest evaluation of what you have and what it's doing for you.

Are you using different MLM's as a "Backup" system in case you can't sell a prospect on your primary MLM?

In the course of my own business I've run into many team members who are promoting several home base business or internet business opportunities. At face value it seems like a good idea but the reality is that it can make all of the opportunities look like a backup system in case one doesn't work.

Multiple home business opportunities also put you at risk for spreading yourself too thin and making it impossible for you to focus on any one business. Lack of focus is a surefire way to set yourself up for failure.

Here's what I tell my distributors to do if they have multiple business opportunities that they are promoting.

Take a piece of paper and draw three columns. The first column will be for the business, the second column is for how much that business costs you and the final column is for how much money you are earning from that business.

Get it all down on paper and then start to evaluate each of them. Mark each business that is into profit with a star. For each business that is breaking even use a check mark and for each business that is costing you money (in the red) put an X.

It's important to do this honestly and not fudge on the business's that you think could be profitable.

Clearly if you have a business in profit, you will want to keep that. And if the business is costing you money each month you will want to get rid of those. The ones you will struggle with are the ones in the middle that are breaking even.

You will have to evaluate these based on their product line and the amount of profit you believe you can make from marketing the products as well as building a downline. You also need to consider the structure of the MLM and what you will be required to do to get your residual check each month. Cut out the ones that you have to jump through multiple hoops to collect your residual. Leave the ones that you have a ton of product sitting on the shelf.

Trust me, if you have product sitting on the shelf it's costing you money!

What you should be left with is only the cream of the business's and you should be able to work those without losing steam.

I tell my distributors that find themselves in this situation that every business isn't for everyone. It may mean that they cut out the business that I brought them into, but I'm totally OK with that because the bottom line is that if they can't sell a candle they are in the wrong business.

Truth in Advertising?

Your ability to portray your products and services in an honest and accurate way quite possibly could be the key to your success or failure.

It is my experience that the majority of distributors within my company rely heavily on their sponsor's and upline's (as they should) for information and guidance when it comes to building their websites and how they promote, however this could be a key mistake for those who are not inclined to do their own research.

Sadly much of this information is not accurate and bends the truth of what we have and what it is made of. Maybe it's my years in human resources that makes me stand out like a sore thumb in this industry but it is what it is and I can't bring myself to call it anything else.

Whenever you have key people in any company who are miss leading in their own representation of their products it creates a downward spiral in the accuracy of the information provided to the distributor base as well as the general population. This is especially true when working on the Internet.

If you truly believe in your product you don't have to depend on buzz words to promote it. I know of no business that has been able to sustain itself based on "wildfire" growth. A wildfire burns quickly and feeds on itself until it eventually snuffs itself out.

This is not what I want to rely on in my retirement. If you can not be honest about your products then maybe you should find a different product that you can promote honestly.

Are You afflicted with Iconic Worship Syndrome?

Iconic Worship Syndrome is a common affliction within MLM and Direct Marketing company’s. We put aside our own common sense and follow blindly what we are told to do by our upline simply because we perceive them as successful and knowledgeable in our industry.

The caveat is this, if what you are being told to do triggers that little voice in your head or goes against common sense and your own ethics, you need to take a step back and evaluate who’s business it is, yours or your uplines.

Many of us don’t even realize this has happened to us until it’s too late and by then we are filled with anger and bitterness because we feel we have been taken advantage of. We are then left to evaluate the validity of our business and forced to make the decision whether to move forward and rebuild our business or just give up.

Visit Cherrie's personal website to view the complete article

The Ethics of Sending Your Downline to Company Events

While preparing for the last company function, I had to stop and evaluate my own ethics and leadership in telling my downline to do everything they could to make it to the company function. Ultimately it's not my decision, but it is up to me to be truthful with my downline.

Attending this last event for me was not so much about learning new techniques or being educated on how to market my products or my business instead, it was more about confirming several things that I'd been pushing to the back of my mind for quite some time.

Visit Cherrie's personal website to view the complete article

Downline Appreciation, Time To Lose The Step Up Or Step Aside Mindset

Do you truly appreciate your downline? This is a question we should all ask ourselves from time to time. If you do ask yourself this question it will help you focus on where your mindset is in regard to your downline.

Over and over I have heard sponsors and uplines publicly state that they keep their focus on the team members who are producing and don’t have time to waste on those who only produce a small commission each month. This “Step Up or Step Aside” ego trip makes me angry.
In the MLM and Direct marketing industry, there are generally two types of people that will end up in our downlines. The ones that perform and the ones that make the minimum purchase required by the company.

Visit Cherrie's personal website to view the complete article

Starting a Home Business...things to consider

More and more people are starting home based businesses. There are many things to consider when starting a home based business and I’ll point out some of the obvious and the not so obvious.

One of the most important things you need to consider when looking for a home based business is your product. You have to choose something that you believe in and can have passion for. Whether its a Health and Wellbeing product, a Consumable product or a Service you must have passion for what you sell and what you do.

Here are 5 key things to consider when looking for your home based business…

Low unit cost: If the product line or service is not affordable to the majority of the population, who will buy it?

• 
  Is the product “Consumable”: Choosing a product line that is consumable ensures repete business.
• 
  Mystique or Exclusivity: You should not be able to visit your local discount store and find the same product at a lesser price.
• 
  Management Team: Newcomers or Experienced? Make sure you check out your sponsor as well!
• 
  Profit Margin: Has to be Adequate or BETTER than adequate. In order for a company to be financially stable, there needs to be enough funds to compensate the distributors as well as keep the company running.

Choose wisely and do as much research as possible before you put your hard earned money on the table! Whatever product or service you choose make sure that you are a user of that product or service. This will help you to give personal testimony when you are sharing with others.

Business Building….Luck, Leads or both?

The only time Luck comes into play when starting a home business if you are one of the very few who managed to join when the company was just getting started. Lucky for you that the company and product line took off! This isn’t the best time to sign up with any company because at that point in time there isn’t a track record for the company. Those who do join at this time and manage to build a successful business aren’t necessarly there because of their skill set. This would be a great example of good luck.

Another time when you would need luck is if you are one of those people who are paying through the nose for expensive leads. Sure they told you they were leads that were specific to your business but the bottom line is that unless you generate the lead yourself, you really don’t know what the quality of the lead really is. And worse than that, you aren’t the only one with the leads contact information. Do you really want to pay a premium for a lead that technically you could be sharing with someone else? I know I don’t!

If you understand your products and have a superior knowledge of that product you only need a bit of time to start making serious headway in your industry.

Taking time to build your Business Foundation and learn how to put up a content rich website will serve you far better than spending a fortune on expensive leads. If you think about it logically, you will see that with a little research you could be generating your own leads with any number of methods for as little as .20 each. Who in their right mind would ever have that knowledge and pay for a high priced lead knowing they could generate their own for a fraction of the cost?

Make a decision that your business is worth the effort of going through the learning process. And never rely on one resource for all of your leads. How many times have you been warned about having all your eggs in one basket. That may work for a while, until someone drops the basket.

There are many different ways to generate leads on the internet that you can control. Building a website with great content is one way, or start a pay per click campaign. Explore the possibilities for advertising your business on the Internet. And trust me, the quality of leads you generate yourself will always outshine the expensive ones that someone is always trying to sell you!