Archive for February, 2009

By Tammy Embrich

Forum marketing has some tough competition now that social marketing such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace (just to name a few) is on a steady rise on the social networks.

I see so many promising networking possibilities on Twitter as I log in each day as much as time will allow me to. I also see my friends and forum owners state that the other social media…Facebook and MySpace are quite effective as well.

So…what is this doing to forum marketing?

Message board posting has resulted in some amazing success in the past and continues to do so. But I have seen first hand that some of the forums have indeed experienced a slow decline in activity. I also have seen forum members that have actually made the statement that the social networks are slowly taking over.

I personally feel that forum networking will continue to be an effective way to market your business but…it will take some hard work and consistency. And it is true…as a forum owner myself and from personal experience, the social networks are proving to be some controversial competition these days.

However, networking on forums will certainly NOT be effective if the member participates in the following manner.

* Sign up on a forum and immediately start making posts without making an introduction post
* Spam the boards with ads and leave
* Spam the members with ads via private message
* Don’t participate in discussions and get to know the other members
* Continually answer numerous posts with just one word or two and not contribute any good-quality information. For example: Great post or I agree.
* Includes their website or affiliate links in their posts when not allowed to
* Ignore all community rules
* Make posts with foul language or posts with offensive content

I just don’t get how some people believe that the above examples will yield them sales or website traffic. In fact…doing these very things in most cases, will get their account deleted and banned. Do they not realize this?

I do believe in not putting all your eggs into just one basket…meaning don’t just use one form of advertising. Using the many promotion resources given to you and utilizing them properly will give you the desired results.

I was just reading on one of the forums and found this quote: “The forum market is pretty much over-saturated.” I know this topic will and can be controversial…people have distinct opinions and they are entitled to have them.

So what is your opinion? Do you think forum marketing is on it’s way out? Do you think it’s a waste of time?

You be the judge.

Article Written By Tammy Embrich

You can find more articles written by Tammy at Work At Home Articles.
Tammy also offers free work at home job leads, business tips, and other work at home resources at Work At Home Jobs.

By Audrey Okaneko

Quite often I’m asked if there is a “secret” to building a direct sales business. The answer is both yes and no. I say no because there is really no one secret. I say yes, because there are many things you can do on a regular basis to build your business. I’d like to share five things you can do that will help you in building your business.

1. Learn about the company and the products. When you speak to others about what you are selling or joining your team, you’ll sound much more professional if you know about the company and about the product line.

2. Take an interest in self-development. Direct sales is a relationship business. We improve our relationship skills when we begin working on self-development. I attend seminars, take classes and read books all devoted to helping me become a better person. Even those who teach the classes I attend will share that they continually take classes to learn more themselves.

3. Make a one year commitment to your business. It takes time to find customers, build a team and develop a base for your business. While I always hear and read the words “businesses aren’t built overnight”, the reality is many people don’t really believe these few words apply to them. Commit to one year in business. After one year you’ll have enough experience and knowledge to make a new decision if a new decision is necessary.

4. Set an example for your team. As you build a team, your team members will look to you for guidance, support and training. If your team sees you market on a regular basis, they too will market. If your team sees you attend trainings and other company functions, they too will realize the value in these events. If you communicate regularly with your team, they in turn will learn to communicate with their teams.

5. Return phone calls and emails just as quickly as possible. Understand that not every communication will result in a sale or new team member, however each communication will aid you in building your own brand and your own reputation. If you get a complaint, take care of it immediately. If you get a product question, get an answer just as quickly as you can. You want your reputation to be one of a person who responds in a timely manner.

As you can see, there is no magic answer on how to build your business. The answer is to take steps daily to build your business and to build your name and reputation.

About The Author

Audrey Okaneko has been in direct sales since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or you can Become a Tupperware Consultant.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

By Tammy Embrich

Have you heard the term “Article Marketing Is Dead?” Many of us have. Well…nothing can be further than the truth!

Showcasing your knowledge, personality, and voice in your articles is your ultimate foundation of your business. That’s quite a bold statement there, don’t you think? Well, think about it…when you’re article marketing, you are representing your respective industry with informative content and establishing yourself as an expert. You are also preselling your products or services.

If you own any kind of online business or you offer a service…article marketing is an excellent, (if not the best) promotion tool that you can utilize for your success. You will find it beneficial on so many levels. It gives you the chance to let your voice be heard as well as reach your target audience and overtime…generates good quality website traffic. It results in backlinks, it helps your website’s search engine placement, and also improves your over-all site page rank.

So…you have done the work and research and have written articles relating to your business. Well, the next step is WHERE to submit them?

The best place to promote your articles is in directories…they are in big demand and new ones are being created everyday. There are some established directories I’d like to share with you.

Be sure and visit these top 10 article directories

ezinearticles.com
wahm-articles.com
goarticles.com
greatarticlesformoms.com
article-buzz.com
isnare.com
workathomearticles.net
articlesphere.com
articledashboard.com
waharticles.com

There are other excellent places to submit your words of knowledge. There are many message forums that will allow you to post your articles. Ezines and newsletters are ideal as well…especially if they have a large membership base. You can also get in touch with other webmasters and see if they would be willing to exchange articles with you. Most often webmasters will find this invaluable to their readers.

If you haven’t been promoting your business with articles…my suggestion is to start. All it takes is proper sentence structure, some research, and some knowledge about what you are marketing. Is article marketing a get-rich-quick strategy? Of course not! But, if done properly and consistently, you will be extremely pleased with the results.

Hope to see you at the directories!

Article Written By Tammy Embrich

Tammy owns and operates two work at home websites, a work at home forum, a recipe site and three blogs.

She offers free work at home job leads for the job seeker, business work at home articles, tips, and more. You can visit Tammy at Work At Home Jobs and Work At Home Forums.

By: Kimberly Christensen

1. Create a business plan. In order to achieve your dreams and goals, you must first write them down. If you don’t know what you’re working towards, how can you measure your progress? On average, approximately 67% of people have specific goals. Of these 67%, approximately 10% actually have those goals written down as a business plan. Surprisingly, only 2-3% of them go on to achieve their goals.

What did the 2-3% do differently? Their written plans were more than a simple statement of their end goal. You must go beyond that and break it out into the steps required to achieve your goals, including deadlines and benchmarks. Once you determine what steps need to be taken, you also need to decide which tasks you can do yourself and which ones are better suited for outsourcing to a virtual assistant or some other resource. You can’t do it all yourself.

2. Organize your workday. Work in blocks of time rather than jumping from one thing to another throughout the day. Multi-tasking has its virtues, but your entire workday shouldn’t be a juggling act. Too much of a good thing can actually decrease your productivity due to errors and back-tracking.

How do you decide how to structure your day? Keep a journal of your daily work activities for at least one week. At the end of the week, sit down and review your notes to see which activities can be grouped into categories (e.g., writing blog articles, answering emails, social networking, etc.). If you work with multiple clients, you can group the work you do for each of them into a block of time as well.

3. Find your target market. There are literally thousands of marketing programs floating around online for entrepreneurs… it can be overwhelming. Before you spend your hard earned dollars on the “latest and greatest” marketing plan on the web, do some good old-fashioned research.

Think about your target market – write it down. Who are you selling your products or services to (include age range, geographic area, etc.)? How does it help them solve their problems? Do they belong to certain groups or forums online? How do they find out about your product or services? Who else is offering a similar product or service? What makes your product or service unique?

4. Build trust and credibility. Easier said than done, right? The best way to accomplish this is by becoming an expert in your field. Learn new skills, read articles, attend teleseminars and workshops. Once you are confident in your own knowledge and skills, it’s easier to convey that confidence to others. Write helpful articles, design your own teleseminars and workshops to educate people and share your insights. Create and give away some free ebooks that have real value. Communicate regularly with your customers through a blog or newsletter. All of these things build trust through familiarity and by providing useful information to the people who need it.

5. Be patient. Making a quick buck is always nice, but it shouldn’t take the place of your long term strategy. If you try to “trick” people into buying second rate products or services just to rake in a few dollars, it will come back to haunt you. It’s much better to slowly build up your customer base with people who like and trust you – they will reward your efforts by being repeat customers who refer all their friends and family to you. Being a successful WAHM takes time, hard work, and persistence (Rome wasn’t built in a day!), but the long term benefits are worth the “blood, sweat, and tears!”

To find out how more about creating your own successful WAHM business, download your free ebook, WAHM IT! The Masters Course. Kim Christensen is the owner of Virtual Admin Pro, providing cost-effective administrative and online marketing support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. Visit Virtual Admin Pro to learn more.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

By: Sandy Sopin

Writing a quality articles is not enough for it to sell; you have to have a great resource box. Your resource box is what sells you and after all, isn’t that why you write the articles in the first place?

A quality written article can benefit your business by generating targeted traffic but it can also benefit you as a writer.

Besides promoting your business, a reader may sometimes be looking for a good copy writer. If you write a quality article but your resource box
doesn’t sell you, the reader may go on and look for another writer.

Your resource box should contain all the information about you the writer; it is your internet calling card. With so many people on the internet employing good writers, you can also make extra money by writing for someone else.

To make a great resource box, here are some of the important items that you should include:

•Your full name: It is surprising how many people who write articles and post them in article publishing websites forget to put their name on it, or don’t use a name that they would recognize on your website. Your name should be the first thing you should put in a resource box.

•You should also include your website URL. People who want to see more of your articles, really want to visit your website. People who are looking for writers may go to your website to see your other articles and your writing style. Help them get there with a full URL.

•Including something about yourself, that will interest your readers. Put 1 to 3 sentences that say something about what makes your offer different from others.

•Now that you have their attention, you now have to make a reason for them to visit your website or buy from you. Since your submitted article contains only some few pieces of information about your product or service it is best that you should invite people into your website. Remember to give only one specific reason to visit your website.

•Include a free report if you have one to give, this again gives people a look at what you are all about and helps build a relationship with your readers.

These are the most important content bits you will want to remember for a great resource box that people will notice.

About The Author

Sandy Sopin has been helping women start their own home-based businesses for years. Her websites are dedicated to help you find an easier, faster and smarter way to build your business. You can see her WAHM site at www.workathomemom247.com or you can visit her home party plan website at www.pinkrenegade.com. Be sure to sign up for her free newsletters on starting your own online business.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com