Recruit without calling a single lead?

 

How many times have you heard that by marketing your

MLM business on the Internet you will be able to recruit

thousands into your organization without calling a single

lead?

 

Well the fact is that the reason the Gurus use this approach

in selling their membership, course, system or book is that

they know… without a doubt… that picking up the phone

and calling a lead scares the holy snot out of most folks.

 

However, I am here to tell you that if you truly want to be

successful in your Network Marketing business… you must

learn to get over your fear of calling leads.  After all…

you really know deep inside that anyone joining a business

opportunity is going to want to get to know and trust the

person they will be working with. And as the person they

will be working with it is up to you to make contact… by

phone… and make the personal connection, to build the

rapport and trust that will seal the deal.

 

I know… I know… you understand it’s what you need to do

but that doesn’t alleviate the fact that you are still

scared to death of actually picking up the phone and doing

it.

 

Well, you can rest easy now, because that is exactly what

this article is about. How you can overcome your fear of

calling leads… in fact… by this time next week you will

actually be enjoying the process.

 

Here is your step by step approach to overcoming your phone

fright.

 

Tip #1: Adjust your attitude

 

First of all most of us think that our goal is to call this

lead and sell them on joining our opportunity. Your fears

are well founded if you take this approach. Most of you

won’t get very far into the phone conversation without a

response of how did you get my number, I’m not interested,

don’t call me again or just a slam dunk, hangup.

 

As I said… you need an attitude adjustment.  First of all

you must understand that you are not in the business of

“selling anything”.  “Huh”, you say, “of course I am, I’m

selling a business opportunity in XYZ company or at least I

am selling the XYZ amazing nutritional products.”

 

NO YOU’RE NOT!  You are in the business of recruiting.  You

are looking for some good business minded partners to help

you in your efforts to market the XYZ opportunity and to

market XYZ’s amazing products.

 

So, with this attitude change… do you begin to see the

difference in how it will feel to be able to interview your

prospect as if he or she were applying for a job rather than

you trying to sell them something?  This puts you in the

position of being the one to reject them rather than being

rejected yourself. Just approaching your calls with this new

attitude will give you more confidence. Whole different

ballgame now, isn’t it? 

 

Tip #2: Let them know you’re not selling anything.

 

With all the calls they may be getting they may already be

weary of people calling and trying to sell them the latest,

greatest product or opportunity. So start right out by

letting them know you are not calling to sell them

anything.

 

Hi, this is Dave, I’m calling because you requested

information on a business opportunity… don’t worry, I’m

not going to try to sell you anything, I just need to ask a

few questions to make sure we get you the proper

information.

 

Tip #3: Ask questions

 

If you have never read “How to Win Friends & Influence

People”, by Dale Carnegie, it is a must read for anyone in

the business of friendly persuasion.  I won’t go into great

detail about the book but will touch on the main focus. That

is this; The thing that people want to talk about most is

themselves. And the key to getting them to talk about

themselves is this… ask questions… then shut up and

listen.

 

I have a personal story that emphasizes this point. Shortly

after I had re-read “How to Win Friends & Influence People”

I was attending my oldest daughter’s wedding reception where

there were many people I had never met. I decided to put the

book’s methods to the test.  The whole night I had

conversations with people I had never met. I asked questions

about them and even when they asked about me I gave them a

short answer and then turned the conversation back to them,

“but tell me more about your occupation, that sounds really

interesting”… etc. 

 

The next week my daughter called and told me that everyone

was talking about what a great conversationalist her father

was.  I had to chuckle because I probably hadn’t uttered any

more than 5 sentences to any one person all night. I had

just asked questions to draw them out and then shut up and

listened.

 

So this is the surest way to build rapport and building

rapport is the way to establish trust. Ask questions that

relate to whether they would be a good candidate for your

opportunity.

 

What do you do now?

How long have you been doing that?

What do you love about it?

Have you ever been in business for yourself?

Tell me more about that?

Is your present income meeting your needs.

Do you want to make a lot or a little?

 

I could go on but I’m sure you get the drift.  This is an

interview… not a sales call.

 

Tip #4: Have fun and Make new friends.

 

Now that you have your new attitude and have developed the

confidence and posture that you have something they need…

and they have to qualify to get it… you can really start

to have some fun with calling leads.

 

When people see that you really care about what they want

and what their needs are they will really start to warm up.

Every call you make you should do it with the attitude that

you want to make a new friend.  Now this is important… you

must genuinely care about whoever you are talking to… this

is something you can’t fake.  They will know if you are not

sincere. If it is real it will come across on the phone.

 

When I made the attitude adjustment in my own lead

calling… I immediately began having fun with my calls and

instead of dreading lead calling I really started looking

forward to that time of day I had set aside for calling

leads. I was a headhunter looking to connect with a few

qualified applicants. It became a game and it was fun to

keep score because my signups started to increase rapidly.

 

Tip #5: Adjust your expectations

 

Now I’m not saying that you still won’t get a lot of

rejections but here’s the deal… you will be rejecting

them… not the other way around.

 

It still is a game of numbers and you will have to go

through a lot of duds before you get to the studs.  Soon, by

asking the right questions, you will learn how to spot the

the winners and separate them from those tire kickers who

really won’t take the steps needed to change their

circumstances.

 

So don’t expect to sign up every lead you call but you will

find your attitude adjustment will help reel in more of

those who do qualify and are truly looking for a way to

better themselves.

 

Don’t spend a lot of time with those who would not enhance

your business… get off the phone and back into the search

for Mr. or Mrs. right.  Once you have a good prospect…

spend as much time as it takes to build that rapport and

trust before you try to take them to the next level.

 

Tip #6: Always respect their time

 

Once you get past introducing yourself you should always ask

if this is a good time for them. This shows that you respect

them and know they have other things going on in their

life.

 

Respect is another Dale Carnegie trait you need to

develop if it is not already natural to you.  Genuinely

caring about people is a definite “Win Friends & Influence

People trait.

 

If it is not a good time for them schedule a time for

another call.

 

Tip #7: Practice…

 

I find it amazing that people will start a home based

business and not take the first step in preparing themselves

for their new occupation. Hello… think about any other

profession. Most require schooling of some sort if there is

any expectation of doing well in your occupation.  Well it’s

not any different in your home based business… learn all

you can about your company and about the industry you are

in. Study the presentations and even learn to do your own

presentations.

 

This method has always worked for me. Whether it’s a Power

Point presentation, a talk I’m going to give or just a

telephone script… I write it down, record it on video or

audio and then play it back over and over again. If you do

this with your phone script it will become second nature to

you and you will have much more confidence when on the phone

with your prospects.

 

If you would like more information about phone scripts go

to www.danijohnson.com  Dani is one of the best at recruiting

on the phone and she has over 100 hours of free audio on her

website.

 

————————————————————

 

So if you follow these 7 steps you will overcome your fear

of calling leads.  Not only that but you will begin to have

fun calling them. That is when you will see your business

begin to take off.  The personal connection you will create

with your highly qualified recruits will get you to the

leadership ranks of your company and your bank account will

start to swell like an over ripe melon in the hot August

sun.

 

OK there it is… I have given you the solution to the fear

of calling leads. Now it is up to you. Can you make the

attitude adjustment that is needed to crank up your signup

stats or will you continue to avoid the phone like the Swine

Flu virus is plastered all over it?

 

One of the best direct routes to get you where you want go

is through the telephone… You know it… you have always

known it… now you just need to get started.  Your future is

totally up to you.

 

Until next time…

Live the Dream,

 

Dave Carter

www.automated-sponsoring.com

 

 

(c) Copyright 2010 by Dave Carter

This article may be reprinted as long as credit is given to

the author.

 

Home For The Holidays… or… Home For All of The Days

The extremely valuable benefits of having a home based business

 

I don’t know about you but I sure think the holiday season is special.  Thanksgiving arrives and reminds us of the blessings of family and of all the things we have to be thankful for.  But that’s just where it starts for me.  All the way through… from Thanksgiving to New Years, I am constantly reminded of how blessed I really am and how my life has never been better.

 

It certainly hasn’t always been that way.  There have been times in my life when I didn’t understand how important it was to put things in order of priority, or indeed, what those priorities should be. I spent many 18 hour days and 60 plus hour weeks chasing a career that at the time I thought was the most important thing in my life.

 

This focus put a tremendous strain on my family and frankly, didn’t win me any awards as Family Man of The Year.  Many times I would show up late for my children’s Christmas play or family functions and sometimes I didn’t show at all.  My priorities were all business first and even my social life consisted of networking and business related functions.

 

So needless to say, my first marriage didn’t work out. 

 

Some time into my second marriage I came to the realization that I was on the same track.  I was still chasing the elusive golden ring and in the corporate world… that ring is only for the chosen.  You see, I was never one of the chosen because, to be honest… I was way too honest.  What do I mean by that?  Well, I’ll tell you.  I was always considered a renegade because I called it like I saw it.  If bad decisions were being made I was always the one to express my opinions and offer alternative, better options.  Of course upper management didn’t like to be challenged about their strategies and I was always ruffling feathers.

 

Some corporations have executives who welcome input and surround themselves with top level minds who don’t always agree with them.  They understand that this is the avenue to achieving greatness.  Unfortunately… those corporations are very rare and are usually found at the top of the list of Forbes greatest companies… or… on the fast track toward that lofty pinnacle.

 

So… where am I going with all this?  Well you probably guessed by the title of this article that I have found my home… at home.

 

A home based business was the answer to my dreams

 

So a few years back I started a home based business and after some trial and error I finally got the hang of it.

 

The benefits of having a home based business are too numerous to cover here in this short article but here are a few;

·        No commuting to work. I can now roll out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and bagel and be in my office… all in just a few minutes.

 

·        Less money spent on gas. And speaking of commuting, with today’s gas prices, my walk from the bedroom to my office is sure easier on the wallet.

 

·        Professional Growth.  This is a real winner for me. Being able to run your own business allows you to learn and apply all aspects of business management.  I am sales director, marketing professional, strategist, business development manager, and more. No longer do I have someone looking over my shoulder and criticizing my every move.  I succeed or fail on my own… and I like it like that.

 

·        No limits on creativity.  Wow, this is huge.  After being stifled all those years under know it all bosses, the creative dam has burst allowing a wave of creativity that has elevated my spirit to levels previously unknown.

 

·        Tax advantages.  Another biggie. I had no idea how much money I could save on my taxes by having a home based business.  Tax savings were way more than the start up investment and each year in business I discover additional ways to legally reduce the government’s take.

 

·        Less stress. There is sure a lot less stress when you know you can juggle work and family. For instance, there’s no worry when one of the children has the flu and needs to stay home from school.

 

·        Less risk. Running a business from home takes less start up capital than any freestanding business or franchise.  My start up cost was less than 500 dollars yet I have access to millions of dollars of inventory and I can build a giant sales force without dealing with payroll and all the other headaches associated with employees.

 

·        Advancement.  Hello… what a concept.  The harder you work… the more you make.  You don’t have to wait for someone to decide whether you have jumped through all the hoops and kissed all the right a—-, your raises are directly proportional to your efforts.

 

·        Extra Time.  According to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, the average American spends 348 hours each year commuting. With a home-based business, I have used those extra hours to regain control of my personal life.

 

·        Family Time.  And here is the one that prompted me to write this article.  Because of the extra time my home based business has freed up for me, my family life has blossomed like a flower in springtime.  To have so much more quality time with my family is such a blessing that I have trouble finding the words to express my feelings about it.  To be there for my daughter Kayla’s 13^th birthday, or share in the excitement of my 11 year old D.J. when he first learned to ride his rip stick… invaluable! The relaxed atmosphere when spending time with my lovely bride of 19 years and the luxury of time off for more family vacations… are just a couple more benefits that come to mind.  But overall, my home based business has given me a life, a real family life.  I would never have known this kind of complete satisfaction with who I am and where I am going… if I were still chasing that corporate brass ring.

 

So yes, I’m home for the holidays… but more important… I’m home for all of the days.

 

Here’s wishing you all the best for the holidays and may you become as fortunate as I in realizing your wildest dreams.

 

Dave Carter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can The Recession Be Good For Your Business?

Depends on how you look at it.

 

Someone said to me the other day, “Dave, it’s impossible to sign up anyone in my opportunity nowadays… this recession is killing us… nobody’s got any money.”

 

Well, it’s true… this recession is a tough one. I will be 68 years old in January and I’ll tell you this, I can’t recall a worse economic climate than the one we are now experiencing.  Many folks are losing their jobs, their homes, their life savings and watching their hopes for retirement go down the toilet.  The job market is bleak and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.

 

So my question to you is this; Is this a good time or a bad time to be promoting your business opportunity?

 

Now before you answer the question… consider the following story.

 

Many years ago an American shoe company sent two salesmen to the Australian Outback.  They wanted to find out if there was any market for shoes among the Aborigines.

 

They received telegrams from both salesmen.

 

The first said, “No business here, the natives don’t wear shoes.”

But the second telegram proclaimed, “Great opportunity here, the natives don’t wear shoes!”

 

So what is the lesson?  The second salesman understood that where there is a problem… there is always an opportunity.

 

OK, now we can get back to the current state of economic affairs.

 

People are losing their jobs, their homes, their life savings and watching their hopes for retirement go down the toilet.  The job market is bleak and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.

 

In this economy… it should be

Crystal clear… to you and me

Everyone needs… a good plan B

 

Great opportunity here… EVERYONE HERE NEEDS SHOES!

 

The recession has created an acute awareness that the old methods of getting where you want to go… just flat out don’t work anymore.  It’s your job to paint the picture of what their life could be like with your business opportunity… show them your plan B.

 

 

Will your retirement look like this?

Or like this?

It is entirely up to you.

 

Until next time,

Live the Dream

 

Dave Carter

 

 
 

Why is MLM a Dirty Three Letter Word?

How can I use the current state of the economy to help my MLM business?

Now this post is a little off point but as my friend Melanie Milletics so brilliantly put it, sometimes you just have to lay it all out there and tell your own story. Admit you have had some rough times and tell folks how you found your way back.

The current economic crisis is putting record numbers of folks out of work and devastating family savings. After having laid off thousands of employees, Chrysler and G.M. are now closing hundreds of dealerships across the country. People have mortgage debt that is twice what their homes are worth. Bankruptcy cases and home foreclosures are breaking the banks and Government intervention is only putting us, our children and our grandchildren further and further into debt.

Tough times bring tremendous opportunities.

Tough times indeed…but listen up…tough times bring with them tremendous opportunities. As Earl Nightingale said, “You are standing in the middle of your own field of diamonds”.

I will explain later how these devastating times can turn into diamonds in your own field. But first… my story…or as I like to call it… my rant.

In the year 2000 (after a long career) I was downsized and drummed out of a Corporation simply because I made too much money! The following year I watched in amazement as my 401K was sucked into the largest freakin’ black hole in the Universe!

 

Well shucks, one of the principles of The Freedom Formula is to have the right attitude. My attitude tells me to believe that all bad things happen for good reasons. With this in mind, I set out to find the silver lining.

 

I started another business that was able to generate about one half of my previous income. HOWEVER…with two little ones to put through college in ten years (and me only 60 years old) there just wasn’t enough money coming in to secure the kind of future I wanted for my family.

 

So, to try and supplement my income, like many of you, I tried a few of the “get rich now…global economy…gift this…matrix that…MLM…monkey cluster…orangutan gangbang…wonderful money making opportunities”! Guess what. More black holes sucking away my hard earned dollars faster than Mr. Oreck’s famous vacuum cleaner.

 

What did I do then? I gave up. I just flat quit chasing what I had determined was “pie in the sky”.

 

Then one day I was approached by a long-time, well respected friend who asked me to partner with him in a new business. Now I knew enough to listen to Mike because over the years I had watched him find many gold nuggets among several different fields of opportunity. He always seemed to have the knack of coming up a winner in most areas he tried. I later found out that the reason was mostly because of his amazingly thorough research before he took on a new project.

 

Network Marketing in the 21^st Century

 

So guess what…yes it was…another MLM program. But this time I started with a new understanding about what Network Marketing in the 21^st Century should be all about.

 

I accessed the website, watched the movie and understood immediately…WHY THIS WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT!

 

First of all you must understand this…MLM should not be a dirty three letter word. No… MLM is not a pyramid. In fact it is probably the best business model there is for the average person. Where else can you get a turnkey business that has millions of dollars of inventory available for an upfront investment of usually under $500? If you want to see a pyramid just take a look at Corporate America where those at the top do earn most of the money while those at the bottom do most of the work.

 

According to Donald Trump and Robert Kyosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and of course you know who the Donald is), Network Marketing is the business model of the future and the best business model for the average person to catch the brass ring.

 

Now personally, one of the problems I always had with MLM was this. You had to convince people that they needed some kind of pill, potion or lotion that they had never heard of, didn’t know they needed and usually could care less about.

 

And then there was the method of recruiting. Make a list. Bug your friends and family, the three foot rule. Well…you know…most of you have been there done that. Am I right?

 

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking MLM. I’m not even knocking those recruiting methods. If it works for you…go for it. And I’m not knocking the pills, potions and lotions either. As a matter of fact… I truly believe that Xango cured me of congestive heart failure. But that’s another story for another time. I’m just saying that for me, pills potions and lotions are difficult to sell.

 

I just know now… there are easier products to promote and a better way to market them.

 

Network Marketing and the Internet…
A Marriage Made in Marketing Heaven

MLM or Network Marketing and the Internet were made for each other. The internet has made it possible for ordinary folks to earn an extraordinary income because they have access to the largest marketplace the world has ever seen.

 

Internet marketing works for me and it is working for thousands of others. So in my opinion…this is my opinion only…if you are still using those outdated methods of recruiting…you might as well be drawing pictographs on the cave wall. Cause guess what my friend, you are living in the stone age.

 

So Mike showed me a business that overcame the drawbacks that I had encountered in MLM.

 

First of all, he showed me a product that I didn’t have to convince people they needed. In fact they already loved it. That product was travel. Travel is now my main business. www.travel-with-traverus.com . I could go into a hundred other reasons why travel is a great business but that’s not the point of this article. Besides, if you are interested, you can find out all about it on my website.

 

The point is this. Here was a brilliantly conceived and well implemented system for success that was already finely tuned. All I had to do was plug in and let the automated system do the work. The reason it can be so automated is because it is totally Internet based.

 

Think about it. A business you can run from anywhere with just a phone and a computer. A business where you get to keep 75% to 90% of the booking commission! This is a business where well over 90% of the work is automated.

 

Blessed with blinding ambition and the right attitude, I had stumbled into the perfect program. Add a good portion of fabulous dumb luck and my sponsor turned out to be none other than Melanie Milletics who taught me the insider secrets about marketing online.

 

One of those secrets was how to use Social Networking for Internet Marketing. If you haven’t heard about the phenomenal success of sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter, read some of the other posts on this blog.

 

It’s time to pick up your diamonds

 

As I said before…devastating economic times equal diamonds in your field. Here’s why.

 

If you have heeded my advice and have chosen network marketing as your method of putting your family on the road to financial freedom, your timing could not have been better.

 

The key to winning at network marketing is recruiting top players to your team.

 

As I look back at those days when my 401K was demolished and I entered the world of Network Marketing, I realize that it was a time very similar to the present. Back then I was not the only one looking for a way to supplement or replace my family’s income. There were many others with skill sets similar to that of my own whose 401K’s had also been decimated and their careers were uncertain. Therefore, I was fortunate to have a large pool of talent to recruit from.

 

It is very rare that so many leaders are available for recruiting to the direct marketing industry. Usually Corporate America has taken the cream of the crop and is using them to grease the wheels of commerce. So what happens when the wheels of commerce come grinding to a halt?

 

Now… as when I began my networking career… millions of top notch professionals are finding themselves out of work with their life savings dwindling and hard times staring them smack in the face.

 

There has never been a better time to recruit top quality leaders for your specific network marketing business.

 

Your field is overflowing with diamonds… so get on out there and start harvesting.

 

Now that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. The only thing left to say is… I wish I would have discovered this dirty three letter word, MLM , many, many years ago. Sure beats the snot out of Corporate politics.

 

 

Until next time

Live the Dream,

 

Dave Carter

How To Cash In On The Phenomenal Popularity Of Twitter

Using Twitter for Internet Marketing

Unless you live under the porch and only come out when the moon is high…or maybe you’re one of those mushrooms that is kept in the dark and covered with shhhh…you have certainly heard about Twitter. The world’s all a-twitter about Twitter…and for good reason.

If you thought MySpace and FaceBook were hot…well reach over and grab hold of your Argyles my friend, cause this is going to blow your socks off!

Twitter.com continues to have phenomenal growth in popularity and importance. We’re talking…in both the consumer and corporate worlds. No longer is Twitter just a way for friends to stay connected in real time, it has evolved into an important component of brand marketing and is an absolute genius way to brand yourself.

Twitter members increased 1,382 percent in one year, that bears repeating…yes I said One Thousand Three Hundred and Eighty Two Percent… from 475,000 members in February 2008 to 7 million in February 2009.

Folks, this thing is HOT! This rapid growth makes Twitter the fastest growing site in the Member Communities category for the month of February, 2009.

Now I admit that I came a little late to the Twitter party but the more I see of it the more I see the potential to increase your marketing results by a similar percentage.

What’s does Twiter have to do with Internet Marketing.

“So Dave. I get it. Twitter is growing fast…so what’s that have to do with Internet Marketing?”

Well my friend…the answer is everything or nothing. “Huh…what you talking bout Willis? You just gave me two answers and they are 180 degrees opposed to each other.”

I know… on the surface my answer doesn’t make much sense so let me explain myself. Let’s tackle the “Everything” answer first.

If you haven’t realized it yet, social networking is a great way to get traffic to your website and to build your list while doing it. It is also a good way to get your name out there on the electric internet and brand yourself.

Getting name recognition, website traffic and building your list means everything to your Internet Marketing business. If you don’t understand the importance of building a list, you really do need to stay tuned to this blog. In future posts we will be covering how important a list is and all the different methods you can use to build it.

Now let me explain the “Nothing” answer. Social networking sites can be a boon to your Internet Marketing business…unless you go about it the wrong way.

If you try to market your business through Twitter the wrong way, not only will it not work for you but it may even be detrimental to your business.

Let me explain it this way.

Back when I was in high-school there were some, what I call silly jokes going around.

Example;

How do you know when an elephant has been in your refrigerator?
Answer; By the footprints in the cottage cheese.

But the one silly joke that is very apropos to the present topic is this one;

What does a 2,000 pound Canary sound like?

Answer; TWEET TWEET.

“Oh that’s cute Dave but where are you going with the tweet, tweet stuff?”

Well I’m glad you asked cause I was about to tell you anyway. The point I am trying to make is that when using social networks for marketing purposes you should be very subtle. You can’t jam your opportunity down everyone’s throat post after post after post. There are plenty of marketers who are ignoring this rule. I’m talking page after page of the same guys pushing their product, opportunity or service until you want to scream bloody murder and tear your eyeballs out.

I would be willing to bet that the results of the marketers who do that are much less than those who follow… the following rule of thumb;

The rule of thumb is that your posts should be strictly social 90 to 95 percent of the time. The key word is social. Best thing to do in your social posts is to offer valuable information from time to time.

For example, a helpful hint I recently tweeted was this; Here’s a tool that has saved my bacon a number of times. If you already use RoboForm you know. If not..it’s free http://tinyurl.com/robotform

Here it is in a nutshell…if folks get used to receiving social and helpful tweets from you, they won’t be so reluctant to occasionally receive a suggestion on a service, business opportunity or affiliate program.

So what I am saying is “DON’T BE A 2,000 POUND CANARY!”

Be a little Tweety Bird, tweet, tweet, tweet.

Oh, and by the way…you can follow me at http://twitter.com/autosponsor

I have a lot more on the subject of Twitter but this is getting a little long winded so I’ll save it for another post.

Until next time

Live the Dream,

Dave Carter

 

 

How To Cash In On The Phenomenal Popularity Of Twitter

Using Twitter for Internet Marketing

Unless you live under the porch and only come out when the moon is high…or maybe you’re one of those mushrooms that is kept in the dark and covered with shhhh…you have certainly heard about Twitter. The world’s all a-twitter about Twitter…and for good reason.

If you thought MySpace and FaceBook were hot…well reach over and grab hold of your Argyles my friend, cause this is going to blow your socks off!

Twitter.com continues to have phenomenal growth in popularity and importance. We’re talking…in both the consumer and corporate worlds. No longer is Twitter just a way for friends to stay connected in real time, it has evolved into an important component of brand marketing and is an absolute genius way to brand yourself.

Twitter members increased 1,382 percent in one year, that bears repeating…yes I said One Thousand Three Hundred and Eighty Two Percent… from 475,000 members in February 2008 to 7 million in February 2009.

Folks, this thing is HOT! This rapid growth makes Twitter the fastest growing site in the Member Communities category for the month of February, 2009.

Now I admit that I came a little late to the Twitter party but the more I see of it the more I see the potential to increase your marketing results by a similar percentage.

What’s does Twiter have to do with Internet Marketing.

“So Dave. I get it. Twitter is growing fast…so what’s that have to do with Internet Marketing?”

Well my friend…the answer is everything or nothing. “Huh…what you talking bout Willis? You just gave me two answers and they are 180 degrees opposed to each other.”

I know… on the surface my answer doesn’t make much sense so let me explain myself. Let’s tackle the “Everything” answer first.

If you haven’t realized it yet, social networking is a great way to get traffic to your website and to build your list while doing it. It is also a good way to get your name out there on the electric internet and brand yourself.

Getting name recognition, website traffic and building your list means everything to your Internet Marketing business. If you don’t understand the importance of building a list, you really do need to stay tuned to this blog. In future posts we will be covering how important a list is and all the different methods you can use to build it.

Now let me explain the “Nothing” answer. Social networking sites can be a boon to your Internet Marketing business…unless you go about it the wrong way.

If you try to market your business through Twitter the wrong way, not only will it not work for you but it may even be detrimental to your business.

Let me explain it this way.

Back when I was in high-school there were some, what I call silly jokes going around.

Example;

How do you know when an elephant has been in your refrigerator?
Answer; By the footprints in the cottage cheese.

But the one silly joke that is very apropos to the present topic is this one;

What does a 2,000 pound Canary sound like?

Answer; TWEET TWEET.

“Oh that’s cute Dave but where are you going with the tweet, tweet stuff?”

Well I’m glad you asked cause I was about to tell you anyway. The point I am trying to make is that when using social networks for marketing purposes you should be very subtle. You can’t jam your opportunity down everyone’s throat post after post after post. There are plenty of marketers who are ignoring this rule. I’m talking page after page of the same guys pushing their product, opportunity or service until you want to scream bloody murder and tear your eyeballs out.

I would be willing to bet that the results of the marketers who do that are much less than those who follow… the following rule of thumb;

The rule of thumb is that your posts should be strictly social 90 to 95 percent of the time. The key word is social. Best thing to do in your social posts is to offer valuable information from time to time.

For example, a helpful hint I recently tweeted was this; Here’s a tool that has saved my bacon a number of times. If you already use RoboForm you know. If not..it’s free http://tinyurl.com/robotform

Here it is in a nutshell…if folks get used to receiving social and helpful tweets from you, they won’t be so reluctant to occasionally receive a suggestion on a service, business opportunity or affiliate program.

So what I am saying is “DON’T BE A 2,000 POUND CANARY!”

Be a little Tweety Bird, tweet, tweet, tweet.

Oh, and by the way…you can follow me at http://twitter.com/autosponsor

I have a lot more on the subject of Twitter but this is getting a little long winded so I’ll save it for another post.

Until next time

Live the Dream,

Dave Carter

How To Keep People Interested In Your Blog

OK so you now have a blog…How do you keep people coming
back?

 

A key factor to attracting a lot of regular visitors is keeping people interested in your blog. It doesn’t matter whether your blog is a business blog, a personal blog or just a “My Dog Has Fleas” blog.  If it boors them until their skull shatters they more than likely won’t be coming back for more of the same. Many blogs have died and gone to bloggie heaven because people have lost interest.

The main reason for the lack of interest is usually just a lack of posts by the blogger. Regular, frequent posting, which will also boost your blog’s ranking in search engines, is essential to the survival of any blog.

“So Dave, what exactly is frequent posting, you ask?  What are the reasons for me to post frequently? How many blog entries should I make on a given week? How do I make frequent consistently good posts? How do I know what to write?”

Well, don’t fret my pretty…soon you will put on the ruby slippers and all things pertinent will be revealed to you, right here, in this post, on the electric internet.

What is frequent posting?

Frequent blog posting is posting enough to keep your readers interested. Duh! Well exscuuuse me…I have to make this simple enough for my homies back there in Rogue River, Oregon to understand.  You see, in Rogue River they don’t even have elevators…much less ones that go all the way to the top floor.

Obviously, people will not want to come back to a blog that hasn’t been updated in months. They want to see consistent posting so that they know coming back to check the blog next week to see if there are more posts won’t be a waste of time.

How many blog entries should I make each week?

Now you’ve got to ask me the tough questions, huh!  This is a tough one to answer. It really depends on the purpose of your blog. If it’s a personal blog, a weekly or twice weekly update is an excellent idea. A political, sports, music or religion blog should have 3-4 posts per week. Business blogs should have at least 2 posts, but preferably 4 each week.

“But Dave, I don’t see you posting 4 times a week!”  I know, I know, I was just about to explain that.

You see, the thing to remember is that quality counts. Posting frequently just for the sake of posting frequently tends to result in subpar posts which people won’t care about. Why create 4 poor quality posts each week when you could post 2 quality posts per week?  It is important to find a balance—frequent, quality posts that won’t result in burnout. I mean what good would my brilliant mind be doing you if I was hiding in a closet with a gun in my mouth? Kapish?

How do I create quality postings on a consistent basis?

It’s all about following a consistent pattern of writing. Maybe you’re not a natural writer and this is difficult. That’s why we’ll give you an outline to help you.

1.       Pick a topic that is interesting to you and to your readers.  Maybe if your blog is a sports blog, you could write about the latest happenings with steroid influence in Major League Baseball.  Don’t write about something most people wouldn’t be interested in like steroids influencing the outcome of the arm chair luge championship.

2.       Carefully think about what it is about the topic that you’ll write. It’s easy to make quality blog postings if you know exactly what you’ll write. Plot out everything about the post even before you begin to write it.

3.       Before writing your content, pick out some keywords that are relevant to your blog. If you use keywords throughout your post in a natural way, you will please search engine spiders resulting in getting your blog ranked higher on search engines. Your visitors won’t mind the use of keywords if they are used in a tasteful, sensible way. 

4.       Begin writing your post. Don’t limit yourself to a particular amount of words. Just do what comes natural. And if any blog post is hard for you, just take a timeout and relax. You should be able to finish the post a bit later on, after you’ve had some time to think things through, you should be able to finish the post with no problems.

5.       Don’t try to be Shakespeare, write like you talk…in a natural conversational way. That’s the secret to good writing…ala Hemingway, Mark Twain or Stephen King..

So frequent blog posting can be an easy task as long as the person who is posting takes the time to plot out what they’ll write about.  Take a few minutes to think about your post and then just do it!

Why is frequent posting important?

Gaining and maintaining visitors isn’t the only reason to post often in your blog. Catching the eye of a search engine—and achieving a high ranking—is another valid reason for posting frequently. Make sure each posting in your blog features some keywords or keyword phrases scattered throughout it. Logic says that the more natural keywords you have on a blog, the better.  Thus, the more posts you make on your blog, the more keywords you have on there. And the more keywords you have, the more likely a search engine bot is to crawl your site. The more your site is crawled by bots, the more likely it is that you will have a high ranking on a search engine.  High search engine ranking means higher traffic and after all, whatever reason we are blogging for…we are all after traffic.

 

 

Live the Dream,

Dave Carter

 

Making Money Blogging

Blogging for Dollars
How to Monitize Your Blog

 

Believe it or not, it’s actually possible to make money from blogging. Many internet entrepreneurs are earning $5,000 and more a month on their blogs! Is there a method to making this kind of income or is it just pure dumb luck? Well my fellow bloggers, it does take some skill, and it also takes some luck to make money from blogging. “OK Exalted One,” you ask, “how exactly am I going to generate income just by posting blogs?” Whoa, hold on there Captain Under-pants, don’t lose your leotard.  That is exactly what I am about to disclose to you in this here post. You are about to learn that it does take a bit of knowledge to make money blogging and today, you will learn about three specific methods of making money on your blog: Adsense, Pay Per Lead, and Affiliate Links.

So how exactly will I make money on my blog?

You will make money with your blog by working with other companies that want to use your blog as a form of advertising. “Oh no, Dave, that sounds like selling out, I don’t want to ruin my blog with a bunch of cheap commercials?”  Well don’t fret amigo, the advertising can be as in your face or as subtle as you want it to be. And it can still make you money, provided you have enough visitors to your blog.

What is Adsense?

Adsense is a program offered by Google. The program, if installed, will display ads on your website provided by Google. Google AdSense is the program that can give you advertising revenue from your website—It will take you very little time to set up and it will cost you zip…ziltch… nada… zero.

AdSense delivers relevant text and image ads that are targeted to your sites type of content. Plus if you add a Google search box to your site, AdSense will deliver relevant text ads that are targeted to the Google search results pages generated by your visitors’ search request.

 

How do I get Adsense?

First you need to go to Google.com. At the bottom of the screen, click on the link for “Advertising Programs”. Then click on the link for “Adsense”. Scroll down on the page that comes up and find “Click Here To Apply!” Click there and fill out the form with information about yourself. After 12-48 hours, Google will send you an email informing you whether or not your site has been accepted. When you’ve been accepted, you will set up your ads by doing either of the following:

1. If your blog is hosted on Blogger.com, you can set up your AdSense ads by going to your profile, selecting settings>template>add an element. Then select AdSense and login with your account info. Next, you’ll configure your ads and save the template. That’s it you’re done.

2. If you are self-hosting your blog, you’ll have to set up AdSense in more of a manual way. You’ll create your ads (which can be as small or as tall as you want) and then copy the HTML/Javascript code Google gives you. Then you’ll paste it into your blog (on the left, right, or top of the screen).

For the first few days, the ads displayed by Google will be Public Service Announcements. After the ads have been up a few days, though, the ads will switch to ads that are relevant to your blog.

How does Adsense work?

Every time a visitor clicks an Adsense ad, you get a little bit of money (usually around 30-60 cents). The amount you get for each ad clicked depends on the number of unique visitors you receive on your blog. The more visitors you get the more money you can earn.

Google will send a check or pay you through Paypal once you’ve made at least $100 from the ads.

Remember…. Google will penalize you if you click your own ads, don’t do it! Also don’t ask visitors s to click ads for you.

Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click is basically just like AdSense, except you work with multiple companies you don’t just work with Google—.  BidVertiser is one such company you can sign up with to do Pay Per Click advertising.

How do I get Pay Per Click

You sign up with a site like Bidvertiser and then follow their
instructions to set up the Pay Per Click ads on your site.

How does Pay Per Click work?

Pay per click works by paying you money each time someone clicks an ad that you display. You only get paid for legitimate clicks. You won’t get paid for multiple clicks from the same user in the same visitor, nor will you get paid for someone simply visiting your site..

Affiliate Links

Affiliate links are basically links which people pay you for.  Companies will actually pay owners of popular blogs to post links on their blog. You can do as much Affiliate linking as you want.

How do I get Affiliate Links?

You can get Affiliate links by searching for “Affiliate Link Programs” on the internet. Once you find an Affiliate link program that fits your criteria and looks good to you, sign up for it. Then you can follow their instructions for putting the link(s) on your blog.

How do Affiliate Links work?

Like the other two methods mentioned above, Affiliate links work by paying you money each time they are clicked and the person doing the clicking buys something. You then receive a commission for the sale of the product or service.

So that’s it. There’s three legitimate ways to make money from blogging. “So, how much money can I make Dave?”  Well… keep in mind that the amount of money you are able to make is directly related to how many visitors your blog draws. If you draw a lot, you’ll make a lot. If not, the money you earn will be modest. But extra money is extra money… so why not do it?

So if you’re blogging anyway, why not grab some of the money that’s available by using Adsense, Pay Per Click or Affiliate Link programs. It is an easy and effective way to start monetizing your blog today!

See you at the top…sooner than you may think,

Dave Carter

 

Deciding What Type of Blog You Should Use?

Self Hosted Blog or Free Blog

 

 

 

 

With the information I am about to give you on both types of blogs, you should be able to choose the one that is right for you. In this post, we’ll go over services like blogger.com and others. We will also talk about software that allows you to host your own blog. I’ll also cover the pros and cons of each. After reading this, you will have a better idea which is best for you.

Now if you’re like me you enjoy getting things for free. Well guess what Sponge Bob…with blogging you have hit the Mother Lode.

Free blog hosting?

 

What software can I use to host my own blog?

Like free blog hosting, there are many options for software that will make hosting your own blog easy. Most of them are free to use. These include:

WordPress(the most popular software)

B2evolution

Geeklog

 

Nucleus

Textpattern

LifeType

 

One drawback about using software and hosting your own blog is that the process can often be complicated. You have to download the software and install it to your server, which isn’t always a snap. It’s particularly hard for those who don’t have a lot of experience installing things on servers. (Huh! What’s a server?).

Why should I use a free host like Blogger?

Places like Blogger allow you to host your blog there. It’s a good option for many people.

The Pros

·        It’s friendly for beginning bloggers. Someone who is completely new to the concept of blogging can do it easily by taking advantage of the good tutorials on how to start your blog and make your blog postings.

·        All you have to do is sign up for an account and start posting. It’s easy to set up and maintain a blog. You don’t have to go through the trouble of installing software and configuring it to work on your server.

·        Most blog hosting sites are completely free to use. There is no need to pay for a domain name and hosting.

·        Monetizing your blog is easy. Rather than having to manually put HTML/Javascript codes on your blog to manually set up things like AdSense and Pay Per Click advertising, you can select an option on most blog hosting sites that will do much of this work for you.

 

The Cons

·        You have to stick with what is provided to you with looks and features.

You don’t have as many options to customize your blog. Remotely hosted blogs are a bit limited in terms of what you can actually do on them. The URL you get is always username.BLOGSITE.com. You don’t get to have a custom domain name like YOURNAME.com. This can possibly hurt traffic to your blog.

·        Blogs hosted on free blog sites don’t look as professional as self hosted blogs.

 

Self-hosted blog – Pros & Cons

The Pros

·        You will have the ability to make your blog look more professional. Blogs that are hosted on sites of their own tend to have a much better look than those hosted on free sites.

·        You will have more options and much more flexibility. You will be able to design the blog to your own style.

·        You will have more space. Free blog sites usually place a restriction on how much space you are allowed for things like music and photos. By self-hosting your blog, you will have as much space as you need.

·        You want the search engines to find you not WordPress.
Your own URL is your address for your blog. Rather than having go to where your blog is hosted to read it, the search engines can read it right from your site.

This last reason is why I choose to host my blog on my own site. If you have an internet business it’s all about driving traffic to your site. When you host it on your own server, you can get a better page rank, PLUS, you can add other pages on the server.

I know this would be a big step for many of you and the thought of it might be giving you a lot of heartburn. Here’s some help. My friend and associate in the travel business, Melanie Milletics has an excellent video on launching your blog. Congratulations Melanie on being featured in Travel and Lifestyle magazine. You can view the video here.
http://www.mlm-list-building.com/webinars/launchyourblogvid.html

The Cons

·        There are sometimes problems with setting up blog software to run on your site and server. If you aren’t experienced when it comes to working with mySQL, the process will be rather difficult.

·        Updates aren’t as easy to post.

·        You have to manually set up programs to monetize your blog.

However, if you are good with HTML/Javascript, this shouldn’t be too hard.

·        You have to pay for your own hosting and domain

 

As you can see, there are many pros and cons to both. Which method should you choose? Well, it depends on who you are and what you intend to use your blog for. If you intend to use it for business, then a self-hosted blog is the best idea. If it’s a personal blog, then a free hosted blog will probably be fine for you.

To your success,

Dave Carter

 

Next Post – Blogging for Dollars

 

Introduction to Blogging

In case you didn’t get the point in my first two posts, Automatic Sponsoring and Attraction Marketing are all about getting people to come to you to sign up for your product or program.  Here’s the rub – if you want folks to come to you, in some large way you need to establish a presence on the internet.

The fastest, cheapest, easiest way to establish a presence on the internet is by blogging.

Blogging, what is it?  You’ve heard talk about blogging but frankly you don’t have clue one what it is. In fact with all this techno-jargon buzzing around your head like a squadron of annoying mosquitoes, you feel like you may be missing out on something big but don’t quite know what it is..

.

That’s alright, no stress here, loosen the drawstring on your jammies and relax, we’ll go over what a blog is, the history of blogs, what they are used for and why they are important to your online business. And what’s more Kemo Sabi, we’ll make it easy to understand.

 

What is a blog

A blog is essentially like a journal where people can post their thoughts and have them read and commented on by anyone.

What is a blogger

A blogger is someone who creates a blog and posts on it. What’s posts on it mean? Simply writing an article and posting it.

See, I told you we’d make it easy to understand.

Brief history of blogs

Weblogs, simply known as blogs now, haven’t been around for that long. The roots of the blog can be traced back to 1994 when people kept online journals (diaries) in which they wrote about things going on in their life.

The current blog has been around for an even shorter period of time. In 1998, Open Diary created a site in which its users could post blogs. The cool thing they introduced was that their articles had the ability to be commented on by other people.

The popular free blogging site called Blogger was created in 1999 by Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan. Blogger was later purchased by Google in 2003. Side note; Don’t ever wonder why Google is so successful – when you have an in-house brain trust that is able to identify new trends and jump in ahead of the curve – you simply cannot fail.

Despite the fact that blog sites have been in existence since 1998, they have only been popular for 5 or 6 years. In 2001, how-to-blog manuals were published and the phenomenon has only taken off since that point.

What are blogs used for?

Over time, the use of the blog evolved. People began using the blog to post their opinions about everything from politics to religion to sports to music, among other things.

Nowadays, blogs are even used to make money—one 20-year-old makes $5,000 from Google per month because he has Google Ads on his blog. In the very beginning, blogs were usually used to talk about a person’s life. People would make blog posts about things happening in their life, thus using the blog as a public journal.

Businesses have also begun to effectively use blogs for their own purposes.

Why are blogs important to your online business?

Millions of people from all over the world read blogs every day.  Those who have a blog are given a lot of exposure—there is the potential for them to have millions of unique readers each day.

Can you imagine having a million people see your business’ name each day? That sounds pretty incredible, doesn’t it? Yet, that’s exactly what could happen if you create and maintain a successful, well-read blog. And that’s actually a pretty easy thing to do.

So how exactly can you use the blog to help your online business? Well, you can use it in a variety of ways.

You could:

·        Use the blog to discuss things related to your field of business. For instance, if your business provides web hosting services, you could discuss things related to web hosting, thus showing potential customers how much of a guru you are.

·        Let your employers have their own blogs to talk about your services/products. The more active blogs that reference your business, the more exposure you’ll get.

·        Use your business blog to keep current customers updated on new services/products available.

·        Post news about your business, as well as start rumors about potential happenings in your online business.

·        Get feedback from current and potential customers on your products/services. For instance, you could make a post on a new product, giving details about it. Then your existing customers or potential customers could give their opinion on it.

·        Promote your online business on your blog by making blog posts with information on what your business offers.

·        Install Adsense on your blog and make extra revenue from ads clicked, thereby helping your business to be more profitable.

 

There are really a lot of possibilities to how you can use a blog to help your business, even more than those listed here.  Blogs that are hosted on your site (by using a program like WordPress) can help your site achieve a higher ranking in search engines. This is because blogs are search engine friendly (Google is known to list them after only a few days, whereas it takes regular web sites weeks to appear on a search engine).  Having a high search engine ranking is crucial to having a successful online business. Blogs help you to increase your ranking, which will increase your business.

The great thing about blogs is that they are easy to use and also very effective. Start a blog today and watch your business’ notoriety grow.

Blogs offer your business the chance to be known by millions of people. If you’re looking for a surefire way to gain customers and increase revenue, try business blogging!

To your success,

Dave Carter

 

P.S.  Stay tuned for my next post – What Type of Blog Should You Use?