Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Top Social Networking Sites You Need to Be In
Boosting traffic using social media sites is a growing trend in network marketing. These sites can help introduce your business to a vast audience and help promote the products or services that you offer. In other words, you would get exposure to a huge database of people who may be looking for content similar to your niche. So which of these social networking sites can give you an advantage? Practically, you should not stick to one. Getting you presence known to several social sites can help you with your online business because of the existing traffic in these sites. The following are considered to be the top social networks that you need to be in. So check them out and see what caters your interest.
• Myspace is among the top social networks that continue to receive high ratings from users. Targeted to the general audience, it became the most-visited site worldwide a year or two after it was launched in 2003. It has a billion visits per month and is now the most popular social network. The system is simple and works by adding friends to your network. It also has other features like customizing profiles, blog entries, mp3 music tracks, groups and discussions.
• Stumbleupon is another social media site that can help you generate traffic to your site. This site functions like social bookmarking, wherein users can “tag” sites to point out whether they like it or not. If you content is good and people like it, they’ll share it with other users, give you a “thumbs up”, or include your webpage link on their site. In the long run, it would increase the number of people whom your site will be exposed to.
• Another well-loved social networking site is Digg. It is famous because of its quick response system. If you post a quality and interesting story or article, you can get hundreds of immediate responses within the next 24 hours. Those who read your content and loved it can vote for it or “digg” it. You can also place a Digg button on your blog or site so readers can readily vote for your content.
• Facebook is a social network site that has experienced phenomenal growth ranking and popularity since it was opened to the public in 2006. Basically, it uses connections of school and work to build social networks among people. It also caters to the general public but is now becoming a trend among yuppies and the older crowd. Facebook also offers widgets that cater to the individuality of people in the network. Fun and curiosity is what makes people attracted to this site.
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Twitter is described as a mini-blogging service that lets your friends know where you’re at. It is a blog, instant messenger and social network all rolled into one. It had incredible growth months after its launching. Twitter offers nothing but great fun and can be quite habit-forming. It’s a great way for users to share bits of their daily lives, and for many a good way to fight off tedium. No wonder why it is one of the most-liked social media sites today.
Social networking is open to people of every age, background and profession. It has become a means to connect with people regardless of time and space. Social networks have multiplied in considerable numbers within a few years, and obviously many continue to benefit from these expansions. Home-based entrepreneurs can utilize these sites to reach their targeted market, increase traffic to their sites and SEO rankings; these top-ranking social networks are the network places they need to be in.
Integrate Marketing into Social Networking The Right Way
As an online marketer, you need to be smart and know how to use social networks wisely. Getting the idea of how sites for social networking operate can give you an edge and enable you to maneuver your online business to the next level. These are smart ways on how you can effectively integrate your marketing prowess using social networks.
• Set up live accounts. One of the best and easiest ways to get people into your business is to use great social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or LinkedIn. If you don't already belong to these sites you should join now. There are lots of other social networks where you can sign up but these are a good start. This would work just as well for your network marketing business or your brick and mortar business because of the available traffic and low cost, so you can create a page all about your business at each of these sites without having to spend a dime.
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• Find social networking sites with the same niche as your business and learn to build relationships with people whom you share the same interests with. This way, you will begin to increase the people that know about you. You can also make use of social network features like avatars, profile editors or widgets to make your site more interesting but that can wait. The important thing is to just get started for now and learn as you go.
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• Be active and participate. After setting up an account, you can participate in campaigns by making votes, comments or content ratings on other people’s blog posts. Build and establish trust and respect among other members by joining forums or community groups and reaching out to them. This would allow them to know more about you and your business as well. As you begin to widen your circle of new friends, people within the group will start to plugin, rate, and vote for your content. Remember that effective social network marketing is more than just selling, it is about building relationships. People will know if you’re only there for the money.
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• Make relevant and reliable content. Be in the know of what the majority of the community members are interested in and contribute to their interests. View the profiles of other members and take note of the kind of content they are sharing in the network. Engage with people who have the same niche as the blogs you publish or post. To effectively utilize social networking sites in marketing, you need to provide relevant content. This will be the main factor for you to attract a lot of traffic to your site. It is also important to update your site on a regular basis as this will always give your visitors something to look forward to.
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• Invest your time. Social networking sites can leverage your exposure, and a smart way to accomplish this is to invest your time. Generating traffic to your site doesn’t mean flooding every social networking site with ads, group messages or blog updates. It will take you a little time to build your market using this tool. Nevertheless, once you’ve established good relationships, the work pays off tremendously. Consistency is important in social network marketing. As you invest you time, you would see a growing increase in your website traffic.
Social networking can benefit you and enlarge your target market by generating traffic to your site. It also allows you to reach many people in little time without the normal expense. More than that, it also improves your search engine ranking allowing more people to be informed of your product or service. So be a business owner and use social networks to reach your market.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Benefit During the Recession
1) Stay alert as to what is going on in the financial industry. A recession can shake things up very quickly, causing old industries to collapse (like the housing market) and new industries to be born (like the alternative energy market).
2) If you don’t already have a budget, it’s time to create one. Use a budget to reduce your unnecessary expenses (which average 30% in the
3) Pay down your debt and build a savings account of three to six months of your living expenses. This will be a great help if you get laid off and have to find a different job. Get out of consumer debt (credit cards) as fast as you can.
4) Invest in your children’s education. Education is going to continue to be very important as the global economy has little need for unskilled workers.
5) Move your investments to lower-risk securities like bonds during the market shakedown, than move back to stocks after the market hits the bottom – in a few years. Another option is to invest in commodities like gold, silver, wheat and corn, which are returning high profits, but they are also very risks, so be careful and don’t bet the farm. The coming inflation and sinking dollar will push long term interest rates higher, paying good returns for anyone that has cash.
6) Your mortgage payment is likely to be your largest monthly bill. Reduce your mortgage with one of the many options including downsizing, doubling up, renting, refinancing or even letting your home go into foreclosure.
7) Put off dreams with large financial commitments, like remodeling or purchasing a new home. If you have been planning to finish your basement this summer, it might not be a bad idea to wait until next summer – just in case you need the money or run into an opportunity to invest it for a large return or get a good deal on a product being liquidated at a huge discount due to oversupply from the economic slowdown (like an SUV, the lots are full of them).
8) Reduce your food costs, by eating out less and buying more food from the grocery store. Plant a small fresh salad and vegetable garden this summer to increase your health and save some money. Food costs are going up for many reasons, Ethanol, population growth, rising cost of oil (falling dollar), increase in natural disasters, etc. A small garden investment could result in a large savings.
9) Create another income stream, even a small one. Maybe you take a second job for a month to pay off a credit card or maybe you sell your baseball cards on Ebay or look for a good way to start a small business from your home.
10) Instead of going on an expensive vacation, consider an alternative family vacation this year like - sleeping outdoors under the stars. Many
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Most of 2008 is behind us. Where has the time gone? It will be New Years before we know it. Time is the great equalizer! Every one of us has the same amount of time, 24 hours each day. Why is it that some people get more done than others?
The answer is not that they have more time but they manage the time they have more effectively.
Everyone wants success in their business. Listen to what Jim Rohn says, "Time is our most valuable asset, yet we tend to waste it, kill it, and spend it rather than invest it."
How you spend your time is one of the reasons you make it or break it with your business building efforts. Leaders have a plan and work their plan.
Listen to what Zig Ziglar said, "You were born to win, but to be the winner you were born to be you must plan to win and prepare to win. Then and only then can you legitimately expect to win."
How do you prepare to win? You start by realizing you are a winner. You were born for greatness. You have everything you need to be successful. Let these words sink into your inner most being. "Man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.' Zig Ziglar
These are two keys to success. First, realize you are destined for greatness! Then because of this fact, use your most valuable asset, time, to accomplish your dreams.
"You cannot increase the quality or quantity of your achievement or performance except to the degree in which you increase your ability to use your time effectively." Brian Tracy
Time – the great equalizer—how will you use it?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
250 signups per month because people call you
How do we do that?
What we don't do is try to sell our product to people that don't want it.
What we do is to show our product in a way that people see that what we have will help them get where they want to go and they come to us and sign up with very little effort. We call this attraction marketing.
We build trust before we ask anybody to buy anything. We do this with a coordinated campaign of blogging, article marketing, social marketing, and video. You too can learn how to do this.
Learning the principles of Attraction Marketing properly and putting them into practice will lead to a substantial in crease in your business.
To Your Success
David Carroll
President
The Home Business Company
952-544-0117 Office
612-802-8487 Cell
David@thehomebusinesscompany.com
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Why Aren't Your Prospects Buying From You
1. They Don't Know You.
2. They Don't Want What Your Selling
3. They Are not Prepared to Sacrifice to Buy What You Are Offering.
4. They Don't Trust You
To make the sale, you must address all four of these factors.
You must get to know your prospects before you ever even mention your products. You must also develop some credibility first, not after you make your presentation.
The more you attempt to expand on your opportunity before you address the four items mentioned, the further your prospects will retreat from you. Once you have developed a relationship with your customer, only then will they feel comfortable buying from You.
By differentiating yourself from the masses you will position yourself with the buyer as a reputable, knowledgable person that they can trust. You can do this through a conversation with the prospect, a blog or redirecting them to something where you will build crediability.
You can start learning the quality of "attraction marketing" by contacting me at the email below.
To your success,
David Carroll
President
The Home Business Company
Helping People Find Peace and Prosperity
952-544-0117-Office
612-802-8487-Mobile
David@TheHomeBusinessCompany.com
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Don't Let Uncle Sam Have your Money
Since April 15 just recently passed, many people probably haven't thought about filling out another tax-related form, but I want to remind area homeowners and renters about the property tax refund program’s that many states have and encourage them to apply.
If you own your home, there are two property tax refund programs available: the regular property tax refund applies if your household income is less than $93,480. Income limits increase to $113,880 with family size. The special property tax refund is available if your property taxes have increased more than 12 percent and by at least $100 over last year. There is no income limit for this refund program.To qualify as a renter, you must have made less then $50,430 in 2007 and income limits increase to $70,830 with family size.
For anyone eligible (or those wanting to check if they are eligible) for a property tax refund, log onto the Department of Revenue's website at: http://www.taxes.state.(enter/ your 2 letter state abbreviation).us and click on Property Tax Refund form. The directions are listed on the form, which can be either mailed to the Department or e-mailed for a quick response. We have our taxes done through H&R block and they have never mentioned this additional rebate to us. So yesterday I went online, filled out some forms and am now expecting $71 in September. In 2006, 510,000 homeowners in Minnesota alone received refunds and 280,000 renters.
Refunds on the regular property tax refunds averaged $620 and $85 on the special property tax refund. For renters, the average refund was $540. It does not matter if you are self-employed, unemployed, disabled or work 4 jobs0you could be eligible for the refund. Be sure to have your 2007 tax forms handy because you will need to refer to some of the numbers but all in all, for about 20 minutes work it can be pretty quick money!
David Carroll
President
The Home Business Company
Helping People Find Peace and Prosperity
952-544-0117-Office
612-802-8487-Mobile
http://TheHomeBusinessCompany.blogspot.com