MLM and Network Marketing - Social Media - Facebook Part 2

In Facebook, you want to stand out from the crowd. So once you have a really good picture and profile page set up and have started adding your friends (especially from groups in which you are interested), it's really important that you're consistent, have a good message, a powerful unique stance and that you network effectively. Take the time to build relationships with your new friends - and always add value!

Sure, it's a social site, so by all means chat with your friends a bit, but don't get bogged down and addicted. And don't try to do too much at once. Leverage your time. Trickle in your photos and videos, tag people appropriately. Set up links from your blog, You Tube and Twitter (but be careful - if you tweet a lot on Twitter, you probably don't want to link Twitter to Facebook). And make sure you stay up-to-date on your Inbox.

One of the first things you should do on Facebook is to create your own Fan Page. It's easy to do, just click on the pages and ads icon at the lower left of your Facebook page, click on pages and create a page). The beauty of Fan Pages is that you can do things on your page that you can't do on your Facebook profile. And you can have an unlimited number of fans, though I believe Facebook limits the number of pages that you can join to 500. Make your fan page updates interesting and informative, but still do not focus on your new business opportunity - you can be reported for spamming here as well, so be careful. Use you page to direct people to your hub (blog). And remember to invite people to join your fan page when you're thanking them for confirming you as a friend (add your Fan Page link to your thank you note). You can even buy ads for your fan page if you wish.

Another very important aspect of Facebook is its Group feature. You can join groups (I believe the current limit that you can join is 200). Join groups in which you are interested, especially groups with like-minded business people. It's an absolutely ideal way to find new friends and develop relationships with other business-oriented people or those who share your personal hobbies and other interests.

Better yet, create your own group. Again, click on the group icon at the bottom left of your Facebook page, click on Create a Group, and set up your very own (remember to invite new friends here as well). You are the administrator of your own group (you have the option to give that authority to others as well but I don't recommend it). That means that you set up and control the criteria for your group. You want to give this some thought, so draft out your basic purpose and criteria for your group, and what you want to allow members to do. I'd recommend checking out a few similar groups to see what others have done in setting them up.

I use my group to add value and provide informational business content, to announce webinars, post my notes on those webinars and to alert my members to things I find that might either be useful or income-generating. It can be a very handy way of marketing through the sharing of information and free items (e.g., webinars or other presentations).

There's lots more about Facebook that can be extremely useful. And I have another source book that you might find valuable to help you along the way - it's the fifth printing (2009) of Steven Holzner's Facebook Marketing - Leverage Social Media to Grow Your Business - as usual, it's in bookstores or available through Amazon.

MLM and Network Marketing in Social Media - Facebook

Facebook! The mega-gorilla of the social networks, ranked second among sites with 350 million users. Some say it will surpass Google in the not too distant future. So of course, you want to build relationships there if your serious about developing your new business through social media. It's probably the most viral social media site. And it's fun.

Setting up your profile is key. I've talked about it before. Your picture should be professional and friendly, and the information you put in about yourself needs to be transparent, complete, interesting and informative. Don't make the 'About You' section too long, but keep in mind that your profile page is how people get to know you. So you want to convey a likable, trustworthy and personable portrait of you on your profile. Let people get a bird's-eye view of you and your life.

Facebook is an ideal place to post pictures - it's a photo scrapbook. And you should post videos there too. Both are very important tools to grow your circle of friends by showcasing you, your family, your pets, your hobbies and what you are interested in. (More about this later.)

Keep in mind, however, that Facebook is SOCIAL. So don't start beating your new friends over the head with your business opportunities. You'll be designated as a spammer and lose your account. Facebook's rules are quite strict, so be careful. You want to use Facebook to draw people to your hub, your blog - that's where you'll market directly.

Facebook currently limits you to 5,000 friends (there's some indication they may expand that number, but for now, that's the limit). Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Well, quite a few people I know are at that level, and many more are closing in. It's not that hard to build a large circle of like-minded friends. There are plenty of ways to expand this - through Fan Pages and Groups, about which I'll also talk more in a later blog.

Your Facebook page has four labels in the upper left: Home, Profile, Friends, Inbox and to the right side, Your Name, Settings, Logout and a box in which you can Search for people or groups. Once you get set up and select your settings, get started by adding a few friends (you can import your email address book, if you like, or former classmates). But if you are trying to build a business, you want to add friends who are like-minded. So I recommend you use the Search feature. Type in areas in which you are interested professionally - mlm, mlm groups, going green, health, wellness, photography, etc., etc.

Groups are a great place to find friends who have similar interests. So if you type in 'mlm groups,' a list of those groups will come up. Click on any of the groups, join it, go down to the list of group members, click on 'see all' and start adding those group members as friends. But remember to send a message with your friends request (you can set one up on your word files and copy it into your message box)- keep it short and personal, something like "I saw you in the XYZ group and wanted to connect with you. I hope you'll confirm me as your friend." And when they confirm you (and most will), send a direct message back thanking them and starting a conversation (not a sales pitch!). And from here, just repeat the process, but don't do more than 30-40 per day - Facebook won't like it if you add too many friends at once.

Regularly check your Home page and it's NewsFeed and Live NewsFeed and make sure you participate in the conversations. and don't forget to monitor your Inbox and stay up to date on your messages. But, a word of caution. Facebook can be addictive, so don't let yourself get too hung up. Spend an hour or so in the morning and maybe a bit more occasionally throughout the day or evening. But remember, you're developing a business and you need to be focused on that.

More Facebook detail will be forthcoming in my next blog.

Twittering Tips to Build Your MLM & Network Marketing Business

Happy New Year to all of you! I got a bit distracted by all the holiday festivities. But I'm back in gear and ready to move this Basic Guide to Thoroughbred MLM and Network Marketing along briskly this year.

In social media, it really is all about building your relationships with others. And Twitter is a great place to start. It's your billboard - a great vehicle by which you can attract people to you and direct them to other sites and, most importantly, to your blog.

I found a great general resource that has helped me get started on Twitter. It's Joel Comm's book, Twitter Power - How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time, published by John Wiley & Sons in 2009. You can purchase it on Amazon.com (new or used) for under $20, some used versions are around $10 (it retails for about $30+ in bookstores). I strongly recommend it.

As you get started, remember that your goal is to be a quality Tweeter. So use your own name and brand yourself. Set your profile and background up with careful thought - and make sure you have your key link there (your blog or website). Start tweeting with real, personal information about you - you can tweet about your location, what you like to do, food that you like (recipes are great), childhood memories, dreams and goals, pets, music/art/movies/books/politics. Find things about which people are talking and get involved (a good site to use to see what is attracting the most interest is popurls.com). Most important, be yourself and talk back to the people with whom you connect - that's key to relationship building.

Finding targeted people to follow is important and it's easy to do (but keep in mind that you shouldn't follow more than 50 people a day to start and then keep your additions to 10% of the number of your followers each day - Twitter will shut you down if it thinks you are spamming). You can do a general search on Twitter, for example, on mlm, or network marketing, or any area of interest to you. Click on the tweeters who come up and follow them - most people you follow will automatically follow you back. Also, when you follow people, you can see who else is following them and add those people as well.

And start to retweet other people's tweets that you find interesting or informative - that's hugely important because you can get many people to retweet your crucial messages to their followers (it's sort of reciprocal) - it's an incredibly effective way to expand your own reach.

You'll want to be able to shorten and your links on Twitter because of the 140 character limitation to all tweets. Bud.url (open a free account) is a simple tool that will enable you to shorten your links - there are many others that you can also use that also track clicks. Twitpwr.com is one which Joel Comm cites because it not only shortens urls, tracks all clicks and also ranks accounts according to their power. Twittergrader.com is another site I like because I can see my ranking readily.

And you'll want Tweetdeck (to group tweets and followers by subject) and Social Oomph (formerly TweetLater), which allows you to set up automatic follows to people who follow you and to schedule your tweets in advance. One word of caution on Social Oomph, Twitter has discontinued allowing recurring tweets, so all of your scheduled tweets need to be original.

You can get a bit lost wending your way through all the stuff on Twitter, which is why I recommend Joel Comm's book as a starting point. It's got a ton of detail and you can work through it steadily and easily.

Social Media in the New Year - Tips on Setting Up Your Twitter Site

Everyone is looking toward the New Year. I've learned from experience to keep my New Year's goals simple and achievable. Foremost for my mlm and network marketing business is to have a rational mix between my action and learning plans. Taking action is paramount to success, but you really need to have time to learn and evaluate. Most mentors suggest a ratio of 90-10. But I think a start-up in the industry needs a bit more learning time. So I recommend 70-30 for the first few months and a shift to the 90-10 as you gain experience.

Setting up effectively on your social media sites is crucial for your new business. But a word of warning: be careful not to get so immersed in these sites that you don't leave time for critical marketing and other efforts. I limit myself to no more than an hour in the morning and another hour later in the day to make sure I stay in touch with my followers and friends. Now to some specifics:

I really didn't see the value of Twitter at first. The 140 character limitation to my tweets and the text of other peoples tweets impressed me as pretty dumb and useless. I was wrong.

Why Twitter? It's your billboard. It's quick and easy to join and build, and you can point it anywhere. And it's growing FAST. Alexa.com currently ranks it 14th among the top websites and I think it boasts around 7 million users. It's a perfect place to get started. Just go to Twitter.com and join up - it's free and you can set up your account easily.

Remember that your profile is key. Use your own name and brand yourself. Get a quality smiling picture of you - and keep in mind that you probably want to use the same photo throughout your social media sites. Your Twitter profile description is limited to 160 characters, so you need to keep it short, informative and focused. A key is that you can link Twitter to your other social media accounts - but be a bit careful because if you really tweet a lot and you've linked Twitter to Facebook, you can really annoy people and run the risk of being deemed a spammer. Mine is linked to Facebook, but I use Twitter carefully.

What about a background for your Twitter page? Twitter offers several free backgrounds that you can use, or you can develop a customized background. I opted for customization and used twitterbackgrounds.com - it cost me about $100 but I really liked the way they executed what I wanted - and it was easy to get them to correct the copy (if you'd like to see it, go to twitter.com/pamhemmings and note that I include the locations of all my other social media sites).

Start tweeting (remember your limit is 140 characters). Keep in mind that Twitter is a social media site, so focus on getting personal information out that shows your personality and interests - and get some humor in too. People really do enjoy laughing.

Ok. That's it for just getting started. My next blog will focus on some basic tools and building followers. Stay tuned.

And a Happy New Year to all - may we all enjoy success!

Merry Christmas to All My Network Marketing Friends

It seemed more appropriate this week to focus on wishing everyone joy, peace and prosperity than to launch into more details on my basic guide to mlm and thoroughbred network marketing. The spirit of Christmas and the joy of being with family and friends is paramount as we approach Christmas Day, and so I want to share a heartfelt wish for a very

Merry Christmas to all my Christian friends in social media - and the happiest and most peaceful holiday season to all my friends everywhere.

Social Media - Building a Presence for Your Network Marketing Business

Social Media is booming. It's likely to be THE dominant force of 21st century business marketing, with well over a billion people already present on the various sites. And it's growing by leaps and bounds. The sites are multitudinous - Facebook (ranked 2nd in Alexa global rankings with over 350 million users), You Tube (4th), Blogger (7th), My Space (12th), Twitter (14th) Wordpress (20th), LinkedIn (37th), and many, many more.

If you are building an internet-based, mlm or network marketing business, you need to establish a solid presence in as many of these sites as are appropriate for you. Of course you can't do them all at once and you need to keep in mind that 'social media' is, first and foremost, social. Facebook, for example, frowns mightily on people who attempt to sell their business opportunities directly and repeatedly - it's regarded as spamming and can cost you your facebook page. So you need to focus on developing your skills and drawing people to you to grow your business.

So where to start. A good friend of mine, Eric Williams, once described Twitter as your billboard and Facebook as the 800 lb gorilla of social media. I think that's a very apt tag for each site. And I'd recommend you start building your presence on each. And if a picture is worth a thousand words (and Facebook is great for pictures), what price a video? So add You Tube to your repertoire (what's that, you say? "I can't make a video" - nonsense. I was afraid of it too but now that I've made several, I look forward to them - and they're getting a good response too.)

And perhaps most important, consider what your hub is - because that's where you're going to be directing your traffic. And in today's world, your blog is almost certainly the best answer. Even most websites now incorporate a blog or direct visitors to their blogs. And that's where all your links will be, including your business opportunities. Each of your social media sites should link to your blog, and your blog should link back to them. Don't be afraid - you're not expected to be a Pulitzer prize-winning author. Start writing about what you know, keep it simple and try to give it some direction. But get started on a blog now. Remember the Little Engine That Could from one of my earlier blogs - 'I Think I Can, I Think I Can ... I Knew I Could!"

As you get started setting yourself up on social media, I strongly urge you to remember that a good picture of YOU and a transparent, interesting and comprehensive profile are the most important starter steps. Once you have those in place, you can start adding followers on Twitter and friends on Facebook regularly to build your lists - and build relationships with your lists. Concentrate on developing your foundation, master it - and then expand your efforts over time.

MLM and New Business Opportunity Prospecting

You're ready to start looking for mlm or other new business opportunities to promote and generate income. So what to do? Well, first think about what interests you - are you geared to the going green industry, wellness products, energy, athletic drinks, investment products - whatever it is that appeals to you, that's where you should look first. You do not want to promote products or services with which you are not comfortable. Second, consider the products and services themselves and ask yourself: Are they things that people need or want?

Start searching for companies in the field you like that offer quality products or services. For example, you can do a google search on mlm opportunities in the energy savings or going green industries and a whole bunch of stuff will come up. Select one or two companies at a time and start exploring their websites. If the companies are public, check their annual and other reports. But if they are privately held, the info available will be more limited. See if they are affiliated with the Better Business Bureau and check their rating and history. Another great source to use is alexa.com - this web information company can give you great insight into the rankings of both companies and professionals in the network marketing or other industries.

A critical aspect of any company is its leadership. So check out the profiles of their principal executives, explore their backgrounds and discover if these are executives with whom you would be proud to be affiliated. If everything comes up positive, that's fine, but if you start to come across people with questionable practices in their backgrounds, it's time for you to get lost right away. You want quality - and solvent - companies with excellent products/services and top-notch leadership to drive growth - the company's and your own.

Check out the company's policies and procedures. See what their compensation plans are and how deep the layers go. In MLM, you really want downlines that extend to no less than six, and preferably seven or eight. And be sure you understand the costs. Does the company provide you with full support and analysis of your business? Is there 24/7 technical help available? Does the company restrict and control advertising?And do they offer training and help to get you under way. Good guidance from your upline can be important to building your business. (One aside: Keep in mind that most mlm marketers still use the old belly-to-belly, chase your friends and family. So if you prefer attraction marketing or some other technique, you may find yourself in a bit of a conflict.)

But what do you do if the company you're looking at is new or you're trying to evaluate a new internet product offered by a network marketer? New companies should not be immediately discarded. You could miss a really exciting opportunity. But search the available info closely and diligently investigate the executives' experience and reputation. Their leadership will be crucial

And for the new network marketing products that come along, well be careful. Check out the individuals involved. Have they introduced other successful products? Are they reputable leaders in the industry? Scan the sales pages closely. Are the claims rational and reasonable or ridiculously promissory? Is the cost of the product clearly stated and is your purchase price refundable over a reasonable period of time? Are there hidden costs? What are their policies? Find out what kind of support and training is available. Look carefully and closely before you sign on.

Above all, take your time and do your due diligence research thoroughly. Know exactly what you are getting into and make sure it fits with your standards and within your budget. Remember that people buy from people they know, like and trust, but you do need a quality product/service to promote.

Budget Building for Your MLM, Network Marketing Business

Building your budget can be dull work for many - but this important step is too often ignored - possibly because people don't think of on-line marketing as a real business. So they don't bother to plan it out properly. And failure to budget and understand costs are likely major contributors to why over 90% of people struggle in this industry or fail and leave it altogether.

Now, I don't want to scare anyone away. But people who figure they can just dive in and make money right away, without putting in any cash and hard work, are dreaming.

Even the most basic business requires some up-front spending. Your kids' lemonade stand, for example, requires a table, chairs, lemons, a lemon squeezer, sugar, a couple of pitchers, cups or plastic glasses, a tablecloth, napkins - and, hey, maybe you want to put out a plate of cookies for them to sell too, so you need to figure out the cost of those ingredients also. Perhaps you want to use a water filter too. So, cost it out. And then you'll have an idea how much that lemonade stand needs to sell to cover its costs, hit break-even and reach profitability.

So, here you are at the start of a major change in your lifestyle and career. You're an entrepreneur in social media, mlm or network marketing. You're working on your motivation, your why, your mindset, and trying to figure out what to do next. Well, your question at this point should be: How much do I have to invest over, say, the first six months?

Maybe you've decided you have $500, $1,000, $2,000 or more to invest over the next six months. OK, let's take $2,000. That might seem like a lot to some. But it's not a lot at all, if you look realistically at the costs of establishing a traditional business.

And just to cover that basic $2,000 investment and get to break-even, you'll need to make about $340 each month

Say you've found a business opportunity that interests you and has a product/service that you think offers value to people. So you decide to join this mlm opportunity. Well, you'll probably have to pay anywhere from $30-$50 a month for the company's website. At $50, that's $300 for six months. If you use the old school belly-to-belly, contact all your friends, family and acquaintances, you'll need business cards, promotional flyers, CDs, a consultant business building kit and other stuff to hand out and leave in malls and other stores. By the time you've got everything you think you need, maybe you've spent at least another $300. And if you're promoting a product (juice drink, wellness products, cosmetics or whatever), then you're going to have to participate as a customer too, and buy the requisite items each month - a one-time annual membership (say $30-$50) and monthly orders (say $100 each month). And maybe you want to buy some basic learning books to help you get started. Well, you've pretty well used up your budget right there. And we haven't even got around to the topic of potentially very costly advertising.

And there's more. If you want to really make your presence felt in social media and network marketing, there are other things you'll probably need or want. Domain names (about $10 a pop) personal websites or professional program websites you use - most of the professional sites cost around $50 per month), customizing your Twitter and other site backgrounds and personal websites ($100 or more to get a professional to do this), affiliate programs to help you earn income, an autoresponder (around $20 per month), a link protector such as viralurl.com or listjoe.com (you can join for free, but you'll need to upgrade at a cost of about $200/yr), training courses and other specialized information ($300-$1,000), and so on.

If your dollars are tight, start with just the very basic stuff and expand your budget bit by bit as you begin to bring in some money. But do understand that you'll need to make some investment to get under way.

It's All About I CAN and I WILL

Well, I couldn't find the Little Engine that Could, so I went for the Little Red Train chugging along through the countryside. But if you remember the little engine, it was "I think I can, I think I can, I knew I could." And in social media marketing, that's what it's all about. I CAN, I CAN, AND I WILL. Your mindset is so important. And it's got to be positive at all times. There's no room for "I can't", "I don't really know how to do that", "I just don't think that's for me", and "maybe tomorrow."

I did a deal with my mentor. Every time I say "I can't," I have to put $0.25 in a jar and take him out to lunch on the proceeds next summer (when I hope he'll find time to visit beautiful Saratoga Springs). It's probably going to be at McDonalds 'cause I don't plan on having too many quarters.

So get rid of the negatives in your approach to mlm and network marketing and building your business. Work on developing a positive mindset - I CAN, I CAN, I CAN. And, guess what, YOU WILL.

It's All About You in Social Media - Your Motivation and Branding

In social media, it really is all about you - your motivation and commitment, who you are, whether you're trustworthy, and whether you have something of value to say or offer that will help others.

If your motivation in social media marketing is just about making money, you probably won't be around long. It's why you want to make money: For your kids' education, to change your lifestyle, to gain financial freedom so you can do all the things you want, and maybe to allow you to work at your real passion, which doesn't generate income. You can't survive in this business unless your motivation can keep you going - and you'll be totally discouraged if all you want is dollars. Money doesn't flow in that quickly.

It takes commitment and hard work to develop your own on-line business. To get started, you have to build your presence throughout the major elements of social media. And the first step there is to develop your profiles. Start with a professional looking picture. People want to see who YOU are, not your cute little logo, pets, family, and not even your husband, wife or partner. So get a nice smiley profile picture of yourself - just of you. That's the first - and maybe the most important - step to get your new business efforts under way on-line. I'd recommend you use the same picture throughout the various media sites - it's your identity.

And here's a useful site if your picture is too big and you need to resize it: Just go to http://resizepic.com.

Next set up your written profiles on each site. Focus on making them as complete and interesting as possible - they should describe who you are and what you're about - what you're doing in network marketing, how you can help others, the things that interest you, golf, tennis, theater, animals, movies, books, etc. People should be able to get a clear view of you, your personality and your goals. And add picture albums of your family, friends, pets, trips, and whatever else interests you to share with your new social media friends.

Remember always that people aren't interested in your business. So build your friends lists and build relationships with them - exchange ideas and thoughts, but don't hit them over the head with your opportunities. People buy from people they know, like and trust.

Fear Can Kill Your Network Marketing Dreams

Fear seems a timely topic, given that it's Halloween, but haunted houses, witches and gremlins can't be worse than the fears that you allow to govern yourself. It's so easy to give in. You just tell yourself not only that you can't do it, but that you don't want to do it and, hey, you can get around it by doing something else. And there goes your potential for success in MLM and network marketing.

One of my favorite books is Dr. Tom Barrett's Dare to Dream and Work to Win. Understanding the Dollars and Sense of Success in Network Marketing. I recommend it to all. Dr. Barrett says: "You will face the fear of doing this business or you will face the fear of not doing this business." If you dream of succeeding as an entrepreneur, then you need to confront your fears head on. Take each one at a time and work to overcome it. How? You just have to DO IT and keep on doing it til you're comfortable. You can't succeed in social media marketing, or in any new business endeavor, if you don't. And avoidance only increases stress, derails your goals and sabotages you.

You need to nurture your dream, protect it, be committed to it and give it a chance to grow. Dr. Barrett says: "...an intact dream, when properly fueled and cared for, gives enormous light. Protecting the dream is your responsibility. Be careful not to let others damage or steal it....Do not let the inability of others to see what is immediately in front of them cause you to doubt the reality of your vision."

Every 'guru' I know or follow will tell you that your mindset is what ultimately governs your success. A positive, confident bearing is communicated to others and will help you close the deal. And you need a personal commitment to do whatever it takes, and that includes, first and foremost, taking steps to deal with and overcome fear. If fear is in charge, you will slowly sink into the quicksand and disappear from the industry.

Managing Your Time in Network Marketing

Managing your time can be a real challenge in MLM or network marketing. But it's a key element of successful business development. The massive amount of information on social media sites is just plain overwhelming. And you'll be buried if you don't take charge right away.

I build a very simple schedule. It's basically two by two by all. Every Sunday night, I select two things that I absolutely MUST accomplish on Monday. Then I note two more things that really need to be done as soon as possible. After that, I prioritize and list all the things I'd like to get done that week. And I factor in some learning/information review time. So when I get started on my work week, I review my mail, answer what requires attention (I never spend more than an hour on this in the morning) and then I move on to those two things that MUST get done. And once I've finished those, the next two tasks become my priorities, and so on.

That schedule gives me a sense of accomplishment each day. And that's really important to your success. It allows me to manage my available time efficiently. It doesn't matter whether I have two hours or eight hours to spend working each day. I can build a schedule that will fit into my life and keep plugging away without feeling overwhelmed and burning out from trying to do too much. I can always do more if my schedule permits.

And what about the information glut in network marketing? I allocate some specified time, maybe two or four hours per week, to review information that's interesting to me and to spend some time on training. And I limit myself to one or two webinars. I can't read everything that comes in, so I'm pretty stringent about what I look at. I've selected two mentors that I always read and then look only at other things that I think might noteworthy.

This schedule works for me. And I recommend you try something similar, based on the amount of time you have to put into your business. Keep your tasks from being burdensome and you'll soon realize that you've accomplished quite a bit - and done it without making your life miserable and burning out before you can achieve your goals.

Building Your Foundation in Network Marketing with Patience and Persevance

You wouldn't build or buy a house with a flawed foundation, would you? So why would expect your MLM or network marketing business (or indeed any business) to produce instant results? It takes time and some money to get things started. And if your foundation isn't sound, you're not likely to get anywhere

Your foundation is YOU, not your business. So how you develop yourself is crucial in social media. First, you need to present yourself as a valuable, trustworthy person - a leader with concrete ideas and guidance. And you want to present yourself on your social media sites with a professional picture and a good (short) bio. That's really important because before I even think about discussing your business, I want to see who you are and what you're about. I want to know that you are sincere.

Second, you need to apply patience and perseverance to develop and hone your skills. And that means you need to take the time to go through the necessary training and learning. Too many people just don't seem to realize that business development takes time. Think about it. Doctors and lawyers are in school for years. Your kid took a year to walk and talk. So what's wrong with investing a few months in training to get your MLM or network marketing going the right way. Everything you go through adds to your store of knowledge and builds your ability to lead. And if you share your training/learning experience and thoughts with others, you will really establish yourself as someone with the qualities that people need when considering a business venture.

Remember that even after one day of training, you'll be ahead of every newbie. Multiply that day by a month, and you'll have passed a lot of people and developed a real foundation for your network marketing business, making it one at which you can really be successful. And you'll have plenty of insight that you can share with others. And that's what social media is about - information and the exchange of ideas.

Managing Fear and Marketing in MLM and Social Media

You can be the proverbial 'deer in the headlights' and run from everything you're afraid of. Or you can bite the bullet and confront your issues head on. One of the first things to understand is that you are not alone. Many people are afraid of blogging, making a video, getting on the phone, building social media relationships or network marketing the right way. And I'll bet that 95% of you would quickly identify with at least one of those issues.

Social media marketing is really about how you integrate the many different channels (Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, Digg, and your blog) together to build your lists, develop your relationships with your lists and convert your prospects into clients. (Go to pamela.hemmings.com, fill in your name and email and get your free flow chart - there's an animated version also - to see how social media really works.)

Nothing works in isolation. So you need to be present in as many aspects of networking marketing as you can. And that means you're likely to run into something you're afraid you can't do. I did. I put off making videos for weeks. Kept telling myself that no one would want to watch and listen to me. I mean, why would they? Nonsense. It really came down to my own fear of doing it. So, I went out, got a web cam and a digital video recorder and got started. The first video was a real struggle. I must have cut about 16 videos, trying to get a good one-minute intro on who I was and what I was about. But once I got it, I found the response was great. And the next one was much easier. I stopped worrying about it being perfect and just tried to state what I was saying clearly. Now I'm pretty comfortable making a video.

That's the way I work to overcome fear. Once you recognize what you're afraid of, tackle it. Get comfortable - it only takes some effort and determination and, bingo, you won't be afraid to do that again.

And it's all so important. Network marketing is an integrated process and you need all the pieces to play in the game.

Branding and Blogging in Social Media

OK, so it's a cute picture of Remy and Martin as kittens. But, as I wrote to my fan page today, why in the world would I want to use it as my profile picture. Network marketing is all about branding yourself as a person of value, a trustworthy colleague, and someone of interest. So it always puzzles me a lot when I see people put up pet pictures, logos, group photos and what I call squiggles and wiggles for their profile pictures. That tells me your interested in social media, but not for business development. I love cats, dogs and horses, and cute logos are neat, but I don't do business with them. I want to see who you are. I'll look at your photo albums to see your family, friends, and pets.

Yes, the 'social' part is what social media is about. It's not the place for business promo. But most of us are there for exactly that purpose. What you need to do in network marketing is to draw people to your business site. And that's where your blog comes in. Blogging is one of the fastest-growing segments of this industry. It's where the action is now. And your blog(s) can be the central hub for your business activity. People come to your blogs to see who you are in detail, to evaluate your content and to look to see if your opportunities are of interest to them. You can develop both a personal blog to put up good content or elaborate on who you are and also create a business blog to promote your activities and add your links. Start by writing simply in your blogs. Write about what you know and love and maybe explain a bit about why you're in the business you've chosen. Let your enthusiasm show. It will pay great dividends.

Blog to Stand Out From the Social Media Crowd

In social media, you really want to stand out from the crowd. And most people just don't do this. Blogging is hugely important to set you apart from the masses. A good blog provides a safe haven where your friends and followers can come to find out more about you and see your content. It builds your presence and your credibility in the industry. You build trust, brand yourself and position yourself as a leader. And that's the name of the game. Your blog is your primary asset to building your network marketing success. It is the center of your social media universe, your hub. Without a good blog, you have no brand and no authority - and probably no money either. Your blog is key to your conversion ratio.

Most people don't have a blog at all. And many of those that do (like me at the moment), don't own their blogs. Pundits say that people will spend three to five minutes reading a blog. And if it's got good content, they'll come back for more. Moreover, if you use the right key words, the search engines will find it too. Even more important, though, is the impact your blog can have on your list building and conversion efforts.

So, why aren't more people creating their own blogs? I think it's mostly fear. "I don't know what to say." "I can't write." "I'm not making any money really, so how can I be an expert?"

The most important thing to remember is that you are unique. And that's your most potent weapon. Set your blog up professionally. Use a good picture to identify yourself. Set up a background design that's attractive, simple and clean. I'd suggest you start with a personal blog that's all about you, what you like, where you live and why you love it, your family and friends and pets. Start building your presence. Let people see who you are. Start writing simply about things you know. You don't need to be a best-selling author. You just need to be writing with enthusiasm. And if you start writing about things you know, it will be much easier for you to get started.

I recommend both a personal and a business blog. And I'll have a lot more about some breakthrough technology that will take care of the business side for you. But for some valuable info about where to set up your self-hosted personal blog, go to the postings on my Facebook group, MLM Marketing Thoroughbreds. Or contact me directly through Facebook. I'll be glad to chat with you.

Taking a Bath in MLM & Social Media Marketing?

Horses usually like their baths and Turnup is no exception, especially with Sara to give him carrots. But you sure don't want to take a bath in MLM or Social Media marketing. And the plain fact is that most of us do - 97% inadequate or dismal failure results. It's not the products themselves that cause this, although if you haven't done your research and got a good product/service, your results will probably be poor. The problem really lies in not knowing how to set up your approach to developing your business, and how you execute your task.

So many people try to promote their products directly on the social media sites. And they are most likely doomed to failure. They forget the point of 'social' in social media. It's not about business opportunities. It's about you and your friends getting to know and trust one another. But you can develop any number of friendships and establish relationships with them - and still fail to develop your business. Why? Because you haven't developed a center, a hub, to which you can bring your interested friends so they can explore your opportunities.

You need that hub. It's your office, your center for converting your efforts into money-making endeavors. It could be your website, but in today's world, more and more people are developing blogs as the hub for their activities. Why a blog instead of a website? Well, once you've set up your website, it's pretty static. But a blog is alive, it changes and moves, allows for constant creativity and can be linked to your social media sites.

Many people are intimidated by the thought of developing blogs. They don't think they can write well or just don't like to write, they don't have any confidence that they can keep a blog going and they don't know how to do it. Since the language in social media is predominately English, a non-native faces a real problem if they can't write English well - or think they can't. But most of those obstacles can be overcome - even the inability to write English very well. It takes a bit of work but it can be done. And I'm working with some innovative people who have developed a blog that can really revolutionize the industry - and eliminates virtually all the problems that a blogger novice faces.

My own blog isn't set up properly - not because I don't write well or have good content (she said modestly). But because I don't OWN it. So before you go rushing out to start a blog, wait a bit. I'm going to have a lot more about blogging. In the meantime, keep building your personal presence in social media, via Twitter, FaceBook, and You Tube. Brand yourself as a person of value and people will start to respond to you.

It's All About How You Manage You in MLM

Brother Richard's ball sat comfortably on the green, but I hit my tee shot fat and popped it to the right. Tricky shot ahead over the sand and onto a small portion of the green that slopes off a bit at the rear. Ouch. Took a lot of thought and pretty near perfect execution - plus some luck. Did I make it? Yup. Got it right up to the flag for an easy gimme putt and split the hole with Richard, much to his chagrin.

One maxim in golf is that you have to set yourself up comfortably and consistently. And it sure applies to MLM too. How you manage yourself and your activity is crucial. And with social networking, it is very easy to become distracted - and addicted. You can spend hours tweeting and chatting without accomplishing anything that you had planned.

The most important thing is to maintain balance in your life. And to get yourself set up the right way. All social media is entwined and you want to gradually build your presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, You Tube, Digg and other social media. But don't try to do it overnight. And don't forget that they won't help you or your business at all unless you brand yourself as a person of value and entice your friends to look at your hub - generally your personal blog. That's where it all comes together, where you're going to convert and sell to interested people - not on the social media sites.

It all takes time and patience. But you have to maintain a realistic approach to yourself. It really isn't about managing time. It's about managing you. Keep yourself in shape. Get up from your computer and take a walk. Play with your kids and your pets. Get out and meet people. You can still get plenty of work done. And set yourself up for the payoff you want.

Managing the Information Deluge in Your MLM Business

As you expand your relationships on FaceBook and other social media, the deluge of information from friends and groups you've joined can be overwhelming. You will quickly be buried - and confused - if you don't take steps to control it.

Focus on what you want to see. Filter out individual and group messages that are bombarding you with 'you've got to see this' and 'I made $000; join me.' Look for infromation, messages, webinar announcements, and suggestions from your mentor, from a group that offers good content and value, and from a few individuals whose comments you really respect. Create folders in your email and move messages that don't require immediate attention into those folders until you're ready to review them. Politely ignore the rest.

Allocating time to learn is crucial. Don't spend hours every day perusing your email, FaceBook Wall and Twitter, and neglect other important action tasks. Set up a daily or weekly calendar, use your notepad, or whatever works for you. Include time to complete your training. Assign yourself tasks each day, but make sure you accomplish your daily goals. You need to create a sense of achievement.