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Tools for InterNetwork Marketers
In my last article I introduced you to the new model of InterNetwork Marketing and highlighted some of the reasons why it is superior to the old way of doing things. I would like to continue that discussion by explaining some of the specific tools you can start to use today to build a home based network marketing business. By choosing from an assortment of tools based on your own interests and strengths, you will be able to leverage your time more effectively and begin to attract prospects to build a huge leads list.
Contents at a Glance
SOCIAL MARKETING
It is important to give a brief explanation of what Social Marketing is, because most of the tools discussed in this article fall under this classification. Social marketing is a way to put yourself out there in front of a large group of people, by having your social community help spread the word about you and the things you've created. In turn, you help others in your community gain exposure by highlighting them and their content to others.As people get exposed to interesting and useful content, they will spread the word to their personal communities, and you can benefit from rapid exposure in a short period of time. This is known as Viral Marketing.
To truly succeed with social marketing, you must always keep the social aspect of the relationship in mind. If you forget that you are part of a larger community, and focus solely on yourself, then you will soon find that you are the only one tooting your horn. If you help others to succeed, then they will begin to help you in return.
CONTENT SHARING
This lens is an example of content sharing, and is one example of social marketing. Using resources such as Squidoo and HubPages, as just two examples, you can use your unique knowledge and perspective to create content that other people will find relevant.The most important thing to remember about content sharing is to always keep your target audience in mind. Who are you speaking to, and what message are you wanting them to take from what you have created? After you've given this some thought, write it from your unique perspective. This will help your reader differentiate you from others who are writing about the same topic.
To ensure that you are reaching your target audience, you'll want to get familiar with the use of keywords in your content. Keywords are specific words or phrases that people are typing into their search engines. The search engines then go hunting for websites that contain those keywords, and spit out a list of results. The results are ranked according to a whole lot of different algorithms within each search engine, but you don't really have to worry about those right now. Just make your content as meaningful and useful to your target audience as possible, and people will want to read it.
ARTICLE MARKETING
Articles are a lot like Content Sharing, but they are more formally written, and are more specifically focused on text. Sites such as Ezine articles allow you to submit your original articles after you have signed up for an account.This can be a great way to gain exposure, because the publishers of various e-zines (electronic magazines) are constantly looking for great content to offer to their subscribers. If they use what you wrote, they have to give you credit as the author. This could potentially expose you to a HUGE list of subscribers who would have an interest in what you have to say.
BOOK MARKING
Book marking sites allow you to publically recognize pages you feel have some value, and share those pages with other users. Digg and del.icio.us are examples of book marking sites.You can go to these sites and quickly create an account. Once you do, you have the ability to 'mark' or 'tag' websites you come across. You can also invite friends into your community, and then make friends with their firends, and so on. Other users in the community can see what you have marked, and might go read and then mark the site as well. If your extended community is large enough, an article you marked could be seen by hundreds, or even thousands of people within hours of you marking it.
SOCIAL SITES
Social sites are probably the most well-known of the social marketing tools. The most popular are MySpace and Facebook, but there are more popping up all the time.A couple of the interesting new ones are Yuwie and Zen Zuu, which promise to share the advertising revenue with the community that helped create it. It's an interesting concept, since it is free to join. Both of these sites are relatively new, so only time will tell how successful the idea will be.
Social Sites are a great way to help people get to know the real you. They can usually be highly customized so your page reflects you as you want to be seen by your visitors. You can upload all kinds of personal content to your page, including photos, videos and links to articles you have submitted to other sites.
By doing this, you are creating a personal web of content on the internet. For example, if someone doesn't find your Squidoo lens directly, they might find it through a search on Google or Yahoo, or through your MySpace page. The more people click on a page from these outside sources, the higher the search engines will rank them on the search results lists. This doesn't happen overnight, but the more content you create, and the broader web you weave by using multiple tools, the more exposure you will enjoy.
BLOGGING
Blogging, also known as web logging, is a tool you can use to create regular commentaries, descriptions or other timely material. Think of it as an online diary that you can share with the world via the internet.There are many choices when it comes to setting up your blog. There are sites that will host your blog for you for free, but their services are generally limited and you'll have to grant them advertising space. I recommend using Squarespace. They are very professional and offer a two week free trial that is VERY easy to sign up for, with no obligation. They don't even take your credit card information. Once signed up, the site walks you step-by-step through the process of setting up your own blog.
The best thing about blogs is that search engines really seem to like them, in terms of search result rankings. You'll often find several blog listings on the first page of a search engine result for many popular topics.
One thing to be aware of is that search engines also favor fresh content over old content when it comes to blogs. To keep getting traffic coming to your blog from the search engines, you'll need to keep adding new content. By effectively utilizing some of the other tools in this article, though, you won't have to suffer the stress many bloggers face trying to come up with new content every day.
Blogs are websites without all of the functionality that a website offers. If you don't have the time or money to get your own website started, blogs are a necessary component to tie all of your other tools together.
VIDEO MARKETING
Video marketing can be a really fun approach to reach your prospects, and lets them get to know you in a very different way from your other marketing strategies. This is your opportunity to show who you really are to people. Plus, it's one of the BEST ways to get ranked on the first page of search engine results.As seen in the video clip below, it has become very easy and affordable to shoot your own high quality videos. You can now distribute them VERY quickly across the internet to multiple sites, such as YouTube and MetaCafe. There are MANY more sites than these two, and video content has a distinct advantage over written content when it comes to distribution across the internet, because it doesn't get flagged as duplicate content the way written submissions do.
If you're building your business on a budget, a great video recorder for you is the Flip Ultra. Even if you're not on a budget, it is so lightweight and easy to use, it's ideal for recording video on-the-go, as in this video, or the follow-up seen below.
The Flip Ultra is very compact, lightweight and takes surprisingly good video for the low price. Plus, it connects very easily to your computer with a built-in USB connector, and has software in the recorder itself which means you can hook it up to any computer and be uploading your videos in minutes.
Video Marketing Example
The Flip Ultra gives you the flexibility to shoot video on the spur of the moment
Carrying the Flip Ultra in my pocket gave me the freedom to enjoy myself without being encumbered by a large video camera. It also gave me the opportunity to shoot this video.
Work from Home to Create YOUR 'Year of a Million Dreams'
Working for yourself offers the freedom to set your own schedule. You still have to work, but you can decide when it's time to take a break. Go to www.LaneReiss.com to learn how to take control of your life and live your dreams.
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TRAFFIC EXCHANGES
Traffic Exchanges are sites used for advertising, and you get credits every time you view other people's ads. Those credits can then be exchanged to place ads of your own, which will be viewed by other users of the system.This concept is not as effective as some of the others, because most of the people viewing your ad are doing so simply to earn credits. However, you can get a lot of people to see your ads this way, and some might just have an interest in what you are advertising. It's free to do, so it's worth adding to your list of tools.
One such traffic exchange is Traffic Swarm. There are many ways you can earn credits through this site, so check it out and see if it works for you.
ONLINE CLASSIFIEDS
Online classifieds are a little different than the social marketing tools above. There really isn't a viral component to the classifieds, and your ads will get buried very quickly as they are replaced with newer ads. That being said, it is possible to use online classifieds to attract people to your business, if you follow proper etiquette.Most online classifieds don't allow people to post opportunities for their network marketing businesses. That doesn't mean people aren't reading the classifieds looking for home based business opportunities.
A good strategy to use would be to offer free information for anyone interested in a home-based business who hates the idea of approaching friends and family. Set yourself up as a consultant for the readers.
One good online classified source is Craig's List. They have a very dynamic reader base, and you can reach people who might not find you through the other tools you are utilizing.
Summary - Choosing the Right Tools for You
Don't think you need to start using all these tools at once
The tools available today will allow you to run your business as you see fit. Many of them have or give you the ability to incorporate affiliate marketing programs. When used effectively, these can really add to your income stream.
With all these choices, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed. Don't be. Think of this like a good Sunday Brunch Buffet. Just pick what appeals most to you, and start with that. You can always go back for more. Just as any good meal should consist of a variety of food choices, your marketing plan should incorporate several of the tools listed above. They really work best when complementing one another.
Everyone has different strengths, and article writing will be perfect for some people, whereas video submissions will appeal to others. Start where you are most comfortable, and build your confidence. When you want to develop your skill in an area you're not so comfortable with, find someone who is already using that resource in a way that you would like to, and study what they are doing. You can even contact them for more detailed advice.
This is not an overnight process. It will take time to develop, but once you do you will be empowered to take charge of your life and your business. Just take it one step at a time, and keep moving forward. You'll get there.
Renegade University covers every one of these tools in easy to follow step-by-step tutorials. They are recorded so you are free to proceed at your own pace. You are always assigned a personal guide, so if you have any questions, help is just a phone call or e-mail away. It's free to join, and you can even get full access to the professional level for a week for only $1. You really have nothing to lose and potentially a whole new life to gain.
With all these choices, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed. Don't be. Think of this like a good Sunday Brunch Buffet. Just pick what appeals most to you, and start with that. You can always go back for more. Just as any good meal should consist of a variety of food choices, your marketing plan should incorporate several of the tools listed above. They really work best when complementing one another.
Everyone has different strengths, and article writing will be perfect for some people, whereas video submissions will appeal to others. Start where you are most comfortable, and build your confidence. When you want to develop your skill in an area you're not so comfortable with, find someone who is already using that resource in a way that you would like to, and study what they are doing. You can even contact them for more detailed advice.
This is not an overnight process. It will take time to develop, but once you do you will be empowered to take charge of your life and your business. Just take it one step at a time, and keep moving forward. You'll get there.
Renegade University covers every one of these tools in easy to follow step-by-step tutorials. They are recorded so you are free to proceed at your own pace. You are always assigned a personal guide, so if you have any questions, help is just a phone call or e-mail away. It's free to join, and you can even get full access to the professional level for a week for only $1. You really have nothing to lose and potentially a whole new life to gain.
Which Tools Would You be Most Likely to Use?
After reading this article, check ALL the tools that you would be likely to use yourself by clicking on the 'up' arrow. If you feel you definitely would not use it click on the 'down' arrow for that tool. If you're not sure, just leave it blank.
Feedback is Always Welcome
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taniawilliams
Well i have bookmarked this lens to refer to in future! Brilliant- a benchmark for me. Posted September 07, 2008 |
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taniawilliams
Well i have bookmarked this lens to refer to in future! Brilliant- a benchmark for me. Posted September 07, 2008 |
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Travelpartners4u
Very nice lens I gave this 5 stars! Thanks for the great content people are looking for good stuff like this to view other that shoving things down their throats with promotions of the same product day after day. Posted May 30, 2008 |
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barbarasilva
Lane, I love your stuff! This is a terrific article and very helpful - love the widget! Posted May 22, 2008 |
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Craig_Seabaugh
Excellent lens! Very well put together and a benchmark for the rest of us. Posted May 22, 2008 |
