7 Tips for Networking at Local Events

One of the strategies that I experimented with to gain a marketing edge is connecting and engaging with entrepreneurs on LinkedIn. Getting involved in the networking groups is where the potential clients in my niche market are hanging out. This process landed me a few leads, and a couple of clients, one of which I have developed a long term relationship. Taking the idea a step farther I decided to attend a local networking event.

As a business owner that had been lurking behind my keyboard for years, I soon came to the realization that if I wanted my business to grow I needed to come out from behind my computer screen and do more networking even if it meant being found out. Networking is about establishing connections that are mutual and beneficial in the growing of your business, I knew this but was not using this information to grow my business. Let’s face it, we live in a time of sharing information and that is the benefit of being a part of a network.

I have put together 7 Tips For Entrepreneurs Who Get Overwhelmed with the thought of Networking at Events. You know them, they hang out in corners at the local events.

1. Be True To You:

This simply means don’t try to be someone else, be true to you. You will need to know your potential in order to be present, otherwise going to a networking event will be useless for you. Besides, you are the best person to represent you, no one else qualifies. No one can represent you better than YOU. Which means if you are on a path and know who you are, know your brand, and want to get started marketing yourself, networking is the next step. As you began networking, you may find that you enjoy the experience. My natural instincts started to kick in again, I realize the same tools that I had used to network with people before the internet became our drug of choice was clear again. Before the internet really began to took off, in the early 200, 1 I was the queen of marketing and connecting with people. So realizing that I had the strength and the abilities gave me more confidence. When networking with others, my preference is the one on one approach. This gives me the space needed to get to know the other person and what their business is about. It’s a win for each of us, they get to know me, and I them, and we each move on to the next person.

2. Plan Your First Impression:

Plan this first impression carefully, recognize that first impressions are just that, and you only get one chance to present your best self as you want the people you meet to remember. Keeping in mind that you don’t need to be decked out in your best suit or dress, but present yourself professionally. After all, you never know who you are going to meet. Show up with nothing less than the best version of you at each event.

3. Realize Less Is More:

A good practice is to be very selective in the events that you attend, you should have an idea client in mind that you want to work with. Connecting with small business owners and consultants was my goal, so establishing myself among this group of people was important. And of course picking up a possible client or two during this connection. This group of people hangs out at a number of events locally, namely they are usually found at any Chamber of Commerce meeting event, or some other local events where there are speakers present. This is where you can find a diamond if you are careful.

4. Take action volunteer your time:

Successful people invest their time instinctively, rather than following their urges, this is where volunteering is another way of networking because you get to meet new people daily while you volunteer at local events. This way, if you are the nervous type, you won’t have to suffer from anxiety while you connect with new people. A great idea is to volunteer at the event, and you can meet them as they enter the event. This positions you as someone helpful. This will be proof to those you want to connect with that you are indispensable. Volunteering also demonstrates your social skills in real time, they see you in action, and there is no question about your networking skills.

5. Do Some Research:

Don’t get caught off guard, do your research about upcoming events in your area. Find out who the speakers are going to be, this helps you pinpoint your target market. Knowing what types of businesses will be at the events helps you to better organize your strategy. This strategy gives you the opportunity to spend more time with fewer people. Planned correctly, the research that you have done will payoff in a great way. You get to impress key targets with knowledge of knowing who they are and why you are a perfect match.

6. Listen:

So you’ve made the connection with those you would like to do business with and everything is going great, they know more about you, you know more about their business and what challenges they face RIGHT? Be sure to focus on the business professionals you meet, asking thoughtful questions, doing this gives you information to develop a strategy to work with them. Networking means that you value the person you are talking with and you show a sincere interest in them rather than promoting yourself.

7. Follow Up:

The one strategy that needs to be implemented to attract the kind of clients you want to work with is follow up. The professionals that you connected with at the event need to hear from you. Studies show we forget half of what we hear within a 48 hour period. Create your personalized follow-up messages and email them within two days or risk having your brilliant remarks erased permanently from the minds of those you wowed. If you’re not following up, you’re not networking. Again, don’t wait to be contacted, get those emails out. Stay in contact with any potential clients for future business dealings, which means work for you.

Conclusion:

Let’s be clear, this is not the only place to find potential clients. This was the start for my networking, plan, which took me outside of my comfort zone.One of the best lessons learned from this is you have to take action. Taking action gets you noticed, and people are curious about you, and want to get to know about you and your business. Most are happy to answer any questions, and will gladly talk with you about their business.

Lastly, connecting with fellow entrepreneurs is a given these days, and you must partake upon this adventure if you want to be found out. Yes, the internet allows for social networking, through all the social platforms. However, nothing beats the ole tried and true face to face hookup. We need human contact which gives us a sense that we belong, we get feedback, one on one inspiration, and gives you the courage, strength and power to keep things moving in your business.

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Facebook Pages Or Facebook Groups For Your Business

There are many business owners who are now facing the dilemma of finding out which of the Facebook style of pages is going to be the best one or them. There are Facebook pages and there are Facebook groups, they both provide different features and they serve different purposes. The most important thing to realize is why you should or should not use either one of them for your business or product. I will give you a rundown of what they both do and how you can take maximum advantage of the one that is right for you.

The Facebook page:

This page allows the user to get fans and they also count as likes to a page. There is no doubt that the most popular way for a business to get to be known online is to see a Facebook fan page as the main method of communication and delivery of posts and messages. The advantages of using a page are that you are the one who controls what kind of content is posted. The users will be able to comment on the publications you make, but you can moderate them and delete them if necessary.

Another important aspect of using the Facebook page is that it can be customized quite well with very a good header and profile picture that are both going to make it much easier for you to get people to notice the page. You can also create a call to action on the header to get visitors to give their like to the page and start posting their opinions.

The Facebook group:

Facebook groups are really not meant for people to use them as business pages because there is really too much freedom involved for anyone who is a member of the group. People can post news on the group wall by just becoming members of it and this is a situation that could easily turn ugly for a business page that is not strictly screening their members for quality. You could get someone who is a spammer who will flood your wall with spam links from outside source and it could be even worse than that. This is why you need to consider the fact that you will not be able to keep things monitored easily and your customization of a group is not as detailed as that of a fan page. There is a group member count on display but there are no page likes at all.

The Facebook group is recommended for those people who have a page about a specific interest. This is perfect to create a forum like environment that is going to make it much easier for them to start posting anything they want without having to be monitored for it. This is the main reason why you need to be aware of the big difference that having a Facebook group provides in comparison to a Facebook page.

In the end you can always create a group after you have created a page and vice-versa, but the ideal situation is to be able to work hard to get a fan page moving forward with likes and activity and then jump into a group to create a complementary option for your business or products. This should be the standard for you to follow. Just remember that groups and pages have very distinct functions that you cannot have in one of them alone. The Facebook page is the best move you can make in most cases for a business.

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What Is Social Networking Today?

What is Social Networking? Before the Internet we would probably have said that we were talking about a group of family and friends getting together or keeping in touch. However, the Internet has changed how we think of “getting together” and “keeping in touch.” Today “getting together” can mean meeting in a chat room as easily as it can mean meeting at Starbucks. Keeping in touch is done online as much or more as talking on the phone, unless you include texting over the phone which has replaced talking.

When we talk about “social networking” we most often are talking about online socializing. O.K., so what is socializing online? It is millions of people across every social, economic and geographic barrier sharing information and experiences with each other. Facebook alone has over 500 million registered users. Social networking Websites have become sophisticated communities that provide their users with information, friendship, advice, entertainment and the list goes on and on.

When we discuss online social networking and ask “what is social networking?” We have ask “what is social networking” globally. And the answer is that it is very exciting; we can become online friends with people we will probably never meet off line. It is also the place to be for local and international commerce. Online services like Amazon and Craigslist have changed the way we buy, sell, exchange, hire and volunteer. While we may not consider ecommerce sites social networking venues we do expect to see comments from others on these sites. Let’s face it, shopping has evolved to a social experience and the mall is now online.

My point is that while online networking encompasses everything, general sites like Facebook, business sites like LinkedIn, educational sites like this one, TV series addict sites like Miso, Cyclists sites like Pedal room, blood donor sites like i-Blood, you name it, it’s there. Most people consider social networking sites a place to socialize.

However, entrepreneurs follow the buyers and the buyers are online. More people over 50 are joining online networks than any other segment of the population. The over 50 generations, due to their sheer volume significantly influence every market they touch. Online entrepreneurs have taken notice and are making the online social networking experience acceptable to the senior population. Why do the online marketers care so much about the over 50 set?

Aside from the fact that they control the majority of the purse strings, they tend to be loyal to a brand or service. Online that transfers to a more stable market, that is, these generation don’t surf the net as much as others. Therefore marketers can make their advertising more effective. Why do I bring all this commerce activity up when the question is what is social networking? Because social networking exists because advertisers are willing to pay big bucks to reach online buyers. So be nice to the advertiser and older newbies because they are a big reason that we can enjoy the social networking experience.

And it will only get bigger because online buyers have found that online commerce is safe and convenient. Obviously, just as you have to be careful about individuals online you have to be careful with companies. However, companies providing goods and services online have found that their customers have a huge audience available to them online and, if they are not treated fairly, they let everyone know about it through their social networks. Actually, it’s a great system that works very well.

As you can see, it’s difficult to say what social networking is because it is evolving so quickly. Rather than try to define what social networking is, consider what you can do with social networks before you jump in. These networks are complex because people are complex and social networks are networks of people not computers. As you look to become involved in a social networking community keep these thoughts in mind:

Always remember why you are there. Whatever the reason stay consistent to that purpose.

Use your time wisely and do not waste other people’s time or you may find yourself on the outside looking in.

Keep your communication informative, short and simple.

Be positive. A “thank you” for help or information provided will go a long way to establishing you as someone who belongs.

Slow Down; establishing relationships takes time. Get to know people, let people get to know you. Work on building a relationship with them.

A social network is a group of like minded people sharing. You can be doing business together, sharing community experiences, family experiences, whatever. Remember we are all people, we want to contribute, be helpful, learn, grow and feel we have value. That’s what social networking is or soon will be.

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The Social Network King

It’s hard to dethrone the king. It’s not because the king is necessarily best, or even the most beloved. Sometimes the king was just the first on the scene, or maybe circumstances just fell that way.

Facebook is the current king of social networking, and despite some faltering steps doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. It has many lessons to learn from its predecessor, MySpace. But so do its competitors.

A Noble Background

Facebook won’t last forever. MySpace certainly didn’t. But Facebook was designed to be a king of social networking. As was MySpace. And so will whatever comes next. All social networks are designed to be kings, provided they ever get the opportunity to rise to the top.

Other social networks took the more clever approach by filling a different niche, like Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest. But what about those that are trying to battle Facebook on its own turf? There’s Google+, Ning, Path, and countless others that the mainstream public haven’t even heard of.

What set Facebook apart from the others? Really, just circumstance and precedence. You see every social network, by virtue of its design, is meant to secure its own dominance. Just whichever has the most dominance, wins.

Built to Win

The heart of the matter is this: all social networks are designed to be mutually exclusive; or in other words to be used at the expense of others. By using one social network, you shun the others; unless they occupy different spheres of influence, of course. Using Facebook and Twitter? No problem. But Facebook and Google+? Now there’s some awkwardness.

The question is why?

There is no question that some people don’t like Facebook, and would even go so far as to stop using it altogether. But they like the networking afforded to them by a social network. So for them, the quest becomes to find another social network that has the features and policies they like. Nowadays there are some alternatives, chief among them being Google+.

But there’s just one little problem, or rather potentially hundreds of them. Friends.

Why do you chiefly use a social network? To stay in touch and communicate with friends and contacts. So not having all those friends and contacts would essentially defeat the purpose of a social network, wouldn’t it? And therein lies the problem.

Even if you decide to hop ship and use another social network, the exercise becomes moot once you discover that none of your friends have too. Though you’ve left behind the frustrations of the mainstream social network for the liberties of another one, trying to convince your fellows to follow suit is usually no easy task. Why? Typically it’s because they don’t want to leave their own friends behind.

The price of leaving behind the king, or of being an early-adopter of a new social network, is loneliness and frustration. And inexorably, the king draws you back in to his kingdom, and remains the largest in the land.

To Dethrone A King

But we do have one glaring instance where a king was dethroned. MySpace was the first massively popular social network. It had secured its audience first, and therefore should have been able to keep it. Again, why leave to another social network since everyone you know is already on MySpace?

And yet, people left. And Facebook took over. So again, the question is why?

The former king fell victim to poor business decisions, technical inflexibility, and bad press. A perfect storm of bad luck combined with the worst crippling blow of all, a worthy competitor watching from the sidelines. The users on MySpace were becoming increasingly frustrated with the website, and the allure of a cleaner, more feature-packed, more focused alternative was definitely appealing.

People started to migrate over to Facebook. But what sealed MySpace’s fate was the fact that people’s friends migrated as well. Individuals weren’t just leaving, entire social circles were. Soon enough, staying on MySpace became it’s own liability as the majority of a person’s friends were now found on Facebook, leaving the MySpace loyalists the deprived and isolated ones.

Repeating History?

So can history ever repeat itself? Certainly. All it would take is another perfect storm to dethrone Facebook: increasingly technical inflexibility due to business demands, increasingly cluttered and unfriendly user interface, bad press to scare away new potential users, and a worthy competitor as an appealing alternative. This concoction isn’t as rare as it would seem.

With Facebook now publicly owned its direction is dictated by its shareholders, not by what is technically sound or appealing. Its interface is constantly undergoing redesigns, and while many complain but eventually adjust to it, more intrusive ads and privacy worries easily mirror what happened on MySpace. Bad press can come from any direction, from any source; all it takes is a big enough scandal.

And as for worthy competitors? There are several. Right now they seem insignificant because there’s little reason for the masses to emigrate from Facebook. But if Facebook’s ship begins to sufficiently list to one side, like MySpace once did, then the users will flee.

Once the mainstream user base wants to abandon Facebook, they’ll follow the trails blazed by the early-adopters who first explored other competing social networks. Once people find something they like, the word will spread and everyone will converge on that one social channel, thus making it the new king.

Long Live The King

Now that social networking exists as an mainstay of the Web, it isn’t going away anytime soon. Possibly never. The cat’s out of the bag; Pandora’s Box has been opened. Now that people have experienced social networking, they must always have it.

Consequently, this means there will always be demand for it. And by its own nature, whomever happens to be most dominant in filling that demand will be king, to the detriment of all others. But should that king falter, everyone will just flock to another, and then make that one the new dominant kingdom.

There can only be one king. But there must always be a king.

Do you think Facebook will ever lose the crown, and if so, how? Who do you think is likely to replace them, an existing competitor, or something we have yet to see? Let us know in the comments.

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3 Success Secrets on How to Manage Social Networks Effectively

The discussion whether or not to use Social Media Marketing has died down.  By now, the business community agrees that social networking is a must for every business.  But using online networks is not an easy and fast fix, like thought before.  In fact, a recent study has found that people who use social networking successfully spend an average of 6.5 hours a week on it.  That is a long time in order to be successful.  Now the issue is to find a way to manage the networks better in order to recoup some of the time.  Let me introduce you to 3 secrets on how to manage your networks effectively.  You will be more successful and save more time on top of it.  

The first success secret is to link your social networks effectively.

It will not be beneficial for you to link all of your networks to each other.  The result will be that you have a lot of double (or even triple) content in each of your networks.  You really want to have each piece of content only one time in each network.  For you to achieve this goal, you have to think carefully about how to link your online networks.  Consider as well in which network you are more present and in which not.  Another important point to consider is the question if all your posts fit in each network?  You might have a more personable approach in Facebook and Twitter, but a more businesslike approach in LinkedIn.  I link my Facebook Fanpage to Twitter, Twitter to LinkedIn and my Blog to my Facebook Fanpage.  It works well for me because I am mostly in my Facebook Fanpage.  This way, I do not have any double posts, but everything I put into my Facebook Fanpage will be distributed to all my social networks.  But just like I said before, consider your particular strategy first before you link your social networks.  After you have linked your social networks effectively, you should use a social networking management tool.

The second success secret is to use a social networking management tool like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.

The main reason why you need a social networking management tool is to save time.  You do not have to sign in and out of each network every time you want to check your messages or you want to post something.  Instead, you just sign in to you management tool and you can do everything right from that platform.  That alone is a huge time saver.  In Hootsuite, for example, you can put your Twitter account, your Facebook profile and your Facebook Fanpage in different tabs.  You simply switch from tab to tab to see what is going on in your network.  You can also post status updates in all your social networks you have registered with Hootsuite.  But be careful with that – you do not want to have double content in your networks.  Remember how you have your networks linked together before you post.  Just try it out and you will be amazed how easy managing your networks can be.  Now, off to the third secret.

The third success secret is to use automation without losing authenticity.

Social networking can only be effective if you are authentic.  That is a fact.  Now, you could argue that automation is not authentic and goes against this very important fact.  The solution is that it depends on how much and what you automate.  Spending 6.5 hours a week in order to be successful in Social Media is nearly one complete workday of the week.  That is a lot of time to use for effective social networking.  In order to manage your time better, you don’t have another choice but to automate certain steps of your online networking.  Some of the tasks in online networking lend themselves perfectly for automation, like sending DMs (direct messages) to new followers on Twitter.  Additionally, you can schedule just a couple of Tweets a week to go out automatically.  As long as you still go and check your Twitter account in person and answer your DMs, you are still authentic.  Another area that lends itself for automation is to send out your blog post to all of your social networks.  You should not automate more than 20 % of your social networking.  If it is more than that, authenticity is just not there anymore. 

As you can see, you can save time by linking properly, using a social networking management tool and by using automation in moderation. 

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The Importance Of Solo Ads For Any Online Business Person

Solo ads are becoming a very popular way of online marketing. The basic premise behind the use of solo ads is finding another marketer who already has a trustworthy mailing list, and then paying for advertising when they send out mail to their subscribers. This is an effective way of email marketing since it allows you to gain access to a well-established mailing list without having to spend the time building it. Doing the latter is possible, and you could even buy the mailing list entries. However, building high quality lists often takes time which you may not have.

Finding the right solo ad provider

When interested in using cheap ads for marketing, the quality of the provider should never be compromised. Ideally, one who has been providing the service for a long time and who consequently understands the dynamics of the market is usually preferred. Some of the methods you can use to identify such a marketer include depending on reviews from other parties that have used their services before. The goal is to make sure that once you pay for the service, you will end up with very good value for money.

The importance of tracking

When investing in cheap ads, it is important to come up with a means of tracking. Some of the metrics that need to be assessed include the number of visitors that visit your site as a result of the ads, subscription rates, sharing of information on social media and many more. Most high quality marketers offering cheap solo ads will also provide software and tools for tracking. It is important to verify that the one you are thinking of working with provides this capability.

Making sure that your performance will be what you expect

In addition to getting the cheap solo ads from high quality marketers, other measures that can be put in place to guarantee high performance of the ads include being very specific about the types of subscriptions or opt-ins you are interested in. If you only need traffic from tier 1 countries such as the USA, for instance, it would be vital for you to buy the cheap solo ads from a marketer who can filter out any other traffic. This helps one get more value for money.

In summary, when used properly, using solo ads can be a very cost effective method of marketing for any type of online business person. It is cheap and very potent when in the right hands.

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Cara Mendapatkan Keuntungan Bermain Di Situs Judi Online Terpercaya

Ada banyak cara untuk mendapatkan keuntungan dalam jumlah yang besar. Anda dapat membuat akun permainan dalam dunia internet untuk mendapatkan keuntungan. Tentunya, hal ini karena ada situs permainan daring yang dapat Anda pakai untuk kemenangan permainan.

Permainan judi sudah menjadi pilihan semua orang untuk mendapatkan keuntungan dalam jumlah besar. Anda punya kesempatan untuk mendapatkan banyak uang dengan langkah sederhana seperti ini. Ada banyak orang yang memakai langkah ini untuk meraih keuntungan. Anda dapat membuat akun permainan untuk meraih keuntungan. Banyak orang yang menjadikan permainan judi sebagai sebuah prioritas.

Cara Untung Dalam situs judi online terbaik

Anda dapat meraih keuntungan dengan beragam cara yang mudah. Tentunya, ini adalah salah satu alasan hampir semua orang membuat akun permainan di situs judi online terbaik. Ada beragam macam keuntungan dalam permainan yang dapat diperoleh. Anda dapat memakai cara mudah untuk meraih banyak keuntungan. Anda dapat memakai beberapa langkah ini untuk mendapatkan keuntungan sendiri.

Pilih Situs Judi Online Terbaik

Langkah pertama yang dapat Anda pakai untuk mendapatkan keuntungan permainan adalah memilih tempat bermain yang tepat. Ada banyak sekali situs permainan yang tersedia dalam dunia internet. Anda dapat menggunakan cara mudah untuk meraih keuntungan besar. Ada banyak orang yang memakai langkah ini untuk mendapatkan keuntungan. Anda dapat memakai cara sederhana dalam permainan dengan memilih situs yang sesuai.

Anda tidak akan mendapatkan keuntungan apapun tanpa pemakaian pada situs togel online terbaik sendiri. Penting halnya untuk melakukan pemilihan pada situs permainan sendiri. Kamu dapat meraih keuntungan dengan pemilihan yang sesuai. Gunakan situs yang tepat karena dapat memberikan penawaran fairplay. Selain itu, tidak akan ada penipuan sama sekali dalam permainan dengan menggunakan agen yang sesuai.

Pelajari Permainan

Langkah lain yang dapat Anda lakukan adalah mempelajari permainan dengan baik. Ada banyak media yang dapat Anda pakai untuk mempelajari permainan. Anda dapat menggunakan media video untuk belajar permainan yang tepat. Selain memakai media video untuk belajar, Anda dapat menggunakan media yang sederhana dalam permainan. Ada orang yang menggunakan artikel dan beragam media lainnya untuk belajar yang mudah.

Fokus Dalam Bermain

Dalam permainan sendiri, Anda harus pastikan untuk selalu fokus dalam permainan sendiri. Hindari melakukan kesalahan dalam permainan sendiri. Anda hanya dapat mendapatkan kemenangan jika paham akan seluruh alur dalam permainan. Pastikan tidak menyulitkan diri karena permainan ini penting. Anda dapat melihat langkah lawan dalam permainan dan mendapatkan kemenangan dengan langkah sederhana juga.

Ini merupakan beberapa hal yang berkaitan dengan permainan dalam situs judi online terbaik. Anda dapat meraih kemenangan dengan beragam cara lainnya. Pastinya, beberapa cara ini dapat membantu Anda untuk mendapatkan keuntungan dalam jumlah yang besar. Jika kamu ingin bermain di Agen togel 4d Terpercaya yang bagus untuk kamu mainkan, kamu silahkan kunjungi situs resmi milik togel 4d  Bandar togel 4d  banyak menyediakan jenis permainan yang mudah untuk mendapatkan kemenangan, silahkan di coba dan daftarkan diri kamu semoga hoki kami bagus di saat bermain di togel 4d .

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The Best Internet Marketing Training Program Online

Are you wondering what the best internet marketing training program online is? Well I have to say, being an internet marketing consultant, I’ve came across a wide variety of programs out there. I’ve being practicing online marketing since 2004, so I’ve seen the old school gurus, and the new school heroes of today’s current time. And I can honestly say, the program quality is VASTLY different.The old school internet marketing training programs aren’t as software and technologically driven as today’s programs are. Back in the day, you would learn hard hitting strategies that really improved your website sales immediately. I want to share a personal story about a free internet marketing program I came across while I was in college – and it changed my life completely.So I was in college trying my best to make money in between classes, and I was doing the direct linking method of marketing. Back then you had traditional pay per click advertising search engines such as Overture, MSN Adcenter, and Google AdWords. Those were the top 3 – before Yahoo and MSN (currently Bing) merged. So I was in college linking directly to my ugly sales letter page, and getting no results. Well actually, the only results I was getting was bad results.I read every single article you could think of, and I came across a guy named Terry Dean. I read his article, was intrigued, and saw a link for a free book he had. The book was called something like, “10 Quick And Easy Ways To Boost Your Website Sales In A Week” (or something like that). I read it, and it changed my entire marketing completely.1 week after implementing his ideas and applying changes to my website, I got my first 2 sales ever. I fell out of my chair. I couldn’t believe it. I said this “internet thing” is real and I wanted more. Now fast forward to this day of age and the internet marketing training that I see is ridiculous. Everybody has a new secret or a new technique. Everybody’s trying to get rich overnight WITHOUT a website.There are a lot of internet marketing training programs these days that teach people to get started with affiliate marketing and just “share” their link on Facebook, forums, and search engines. This doesn’t work, and the old school marketers look at these promotional tactics and authors as if they are scammers. Why do I use the word “scammer”? Well it’s simple.Everywhere you go, everyone has a “new” way of doing something. Everything has to be faster, better, and more supreme than the proven way of making money. This is why so many people fail, because they think they can just put up a website, put their link into an autoblaster, and get rich overnight. It doesn’t work like that. Even worst is when people join an affiliate network, sign up to promote a particular product, and then just blast their affiliate link all over the place.And yes, there are high priced internet marketing training programs that advise this kind of marketing. It’s frightening isn’t it? It makes new age marketers like myself look bad and frowned upon, because my methods work, and it doesn’t take a genius to implement them and see results. Whenever you come across an internet marketing training program, you have to keep an eye out for a few things.You should look to see if the person has something free to offer you – to sample. This way you can “test drive” their expertise, and take a peek to see what they have to say. Then you should be able to take what you’ve learned from their free sample, and be able to apply it to your business. This is crucial, because just because you pay for an internet marketing program, doesn’t mean you’re going to learn the important stuff.There’s a well-known marketer online (who’s name I won’t disclose) who had an online business program. He had tons of testimonials from people who used his strategies and were making thousands of dollars per month. Some of them were making thousands of dollars per day. Actually… some of them were making over $10,000 per day – and they attributed their success to this guy’s course.So I bought the course for $39 (out of intrigue), and what did I find? I found a glorified sales pitch to purchase his $995 “advanced course” about making money on the internet. The material in the course that I bought only talked about why most people aren’t making money online, and how people promote products that they want to promote – INSTEAD of selling what people are looking for.Who doesn’t know that? What business owner would sell something that nobody desires? This is simple market research. So I bought the $39 course and was highly disappointed, and quite mad because of the testimonials that I saw that were associated with this course. So these are some of the games and gimmicks some of the new age “gurus” like to play in order to boost their bank account, and take advantage of people.So this was certainly not the best internet marketing training program I’ve seen. The old age internet marketer’s actually delivered when it came to value, and that is why they are legendary and are in the “hall of fame” of marketing. Nowadays you can go to YouTube and find over 100 gurus who have an internet marketing “success system” that is unique from everybody else’s. If you take a look at the ads, they all sound the same. And when you buy the products, most of them is just rehashed information.There are a lot internet marketing training programs on the internet, and you can’t trust just anybody. If you’re going to follow someone, make sure they have a real website – and not just an ugly affiliate link. Make sure they have an email newsletter that you can subscribe to and learn from. Make sure they have training articles and free materials that you can learn from. Make sure you can reach them by email and via social media. And make sure they are current and on top of the latest trends in the internet marketing industry.Be careful who you buy from, because you might end up disappointed like I was.

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Home Internet Marketing Business ABCs

Almost everyone nowadays wants to have his very own profitable home internet marketing business that can ease his financial burdens and help him sail smoothly through the ravages of the global financial crisis currently engulfing the economies of the world. Understanding of the ABCs or fundamentals of internet marketing is essential to the success of any online home business.Internet MarketingDifferent people of different profession and stature have view internet marketing in different perspectives. People in one hand consider internet marketing as simply the act of placing banner ads or inbound links on other websites. On the opposite hand, there are many companies claiming that it is the secret to exponentially increasing one’s wealth overnight. Caution should be exercised however, because most of these many companies only try to make you buy some sort of internet marketing program that they proclaim will make you rich by morning.At the present, internet marketing or online marketing has successfully evolved to a higher stage which now involves a combination of many components a business can utilize to increase sales regardless whether the said business is being executed fully online, partly online, or fully offline. Internet marketing is fully discretionary and it can’t be fully said that it is strictly needed for success but its recent popularity has caused those who don’t use it get left behind by those who do. It can provide a vast and unique competitive advantage to any company. It is for this reason that some companies even rely purely on online marketing to promote their business, its products, and services.Internet Marketing ObjectivesInternet marketing is being employed to make use of the Internet to do at least one of the succeeding:1. Communicate a company’s message about itself, its products, or its services online.
2. Conduct research as to the nature (demographics, preferences, and needs) of existing and potential customers.
3. Sell goods, services, or advertising space over the Internet.Internet Marketing ComponentsInternet marketing is made up of many components which may be summarized into the following:1. Making a business website and getting it launched and published over the Internet. It may consist of text, images and possibly audio and video elements that broadcast the company’s message to visitors, informing current customers and prospects of the features, benefits, and value-for-money of its products and services. The website may also include additional features that extend its capabilities like the ability to capture and store leads from potential customers or the function to directly sell a product or service online. A website may very well be the best way to establish a company’s own internet persona and business entity. Websites can always outperform their offline equivalents – brochures and mail order catalogs.2. Marketing a website over the World Wide Web via search engines otherwise known as Search Engine Marketing or SEM is the process of helping a website shop up in the top search engine pages whenever one makes a search with certain defined keywords through search engine optimization or SEO, pay-per-click or PPC advertising, or pay-for-inclusion or PFI advertising in which a website is listed in online website directories, the same way as with yellow page listings.3. Email marketing is the technique of getting information about a product or service out to customers or getting feedback from customers about a product or service through the use of emails. Email addresses of customers or potential customers can be collected through the use of the company website or purchased from lead generation specialists. Email marketing is simply the online version of direct mail marketing. There are different methods that can be utilized to do this form of online marketing like the regular distribution of newsletters or mass mailing of offers related to the company’s product or services.4. Banner advertising is the online marketing equivalent of the traditional ads in newspapers and magazines. It is the free placement of ads on a website usually known as free ad directories.5. Online press releasing is the placement of a newsworthy story about a company, regular distribution of newsletters or mass mailing of offers related to the company’s product or services on online wire service or online press release directories.6. Blog marketing is the process of posting comments, expressing opinions or making online announcements in a discussion forum or blog directory that can be done by hosting your own blog or by comment and link exchanges with other blogs whose content is related to your product or service.7. Article marketing involves the syndication or online publishing in article sites or directories of freshly written or unique articles that tackle things related to your business, products, or services. These articles have the potential to spread and circulate over the internet since online article hosting services allow the re-publication of articles so long as all links in the articles are maintained. Traffic boost can be the primary result of article marketing, together with the promotion of your brand to a wider audience through the syndication of these articles.Internet Marketing and Home Business
A website is an element that all internet marketing components, prospective customers, and clients anticipate a business to have. Through the years, having a website has become one of the best ways to get a consumer’s trust and interest in a company and its products and services. Having no website may even cause a prospect to lose interest and head to a competitor. Up-to-date information available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week something that can best come from a website. And the all-encompassing use of online means has cased many prospects to decide to transact only with companies that have a good and useful website.Engaging in online marketing and having a website is so comprehensive in scope that it can benefit even a business that only has very local customers like a single location food store or clothing store. Internet marketing offers a very cost-effective and comprehensive way of attracting customers and it also gives a business a worldwide reach with its own Web presence that can be very hard to get from other methods especially in the case of businesses whose customers are not restricted to ma single geographical area only.A website though in some instances is not a complete necessity, can definitely provide a home business operator various benefits due to the virtual nature of most home businesses. A website can act as a storefront for direct selling of products and services as well as serve as a very inexpensive means of getting prospects as well as clients know what your business does or what products it sells especially to those home-based businesses that do not have a physical location.The internet has been one of the primary drivers that fueled the growth and expansion of home based businesses because it has paved the way for starting and maintaining a web presence with reasonably low cost. It is therefore a must that internet marketing becomes as integral part of your business plan and marketing strategy.Finding the Right Internet Marketing MixDetermining and utilizing the right marketing strategy is essential to business success. Defining the percentage of marketing efforts that should be done online, the needed Internet marketing elements and the amount of focus to be given to the website are all vital to the formulation of a marketing plan that will work. The nature of business, the budget, and some personal traits may all affect the marketing mix. All these, and many others influence the development of an internet marketing business blue print.Using Offline Elements with Internet Marketing StrategiesOnly businesses that transact 100% of their business online can make use of a fully online marketing scheme. All others should utilize a marketing mix made up of both online and offline efforts. Traditional methods can greatly supplement the effects and benefits of web marketing. In fact, there are even businesses that conduct all their operations completely online and yet employ the placement of traditional ads on newspapers and magazines to drive prospects to visiting their website and participate in online transactions with the firm. Perfect examples of business that integrate offline elements as components of their internet marketing strategies are Expedia, Travelocity and Monster.com. These firms shell out huge investments in radio and TV advertising as well as other traditional means of advertising to get consumers visit their sites where the real businesses dealings are being transacted.Develop Internet Marketing Strategies You LikeOnly incorporate in your strategy the marketing techniques you like or those that do not annoy you whenever someone does them to you, because most people probably feel the same way. The most hated marketing tool as regarded by many is spam. This is why many companies nowadays do not include email marketing in their arsenal of promotion methods.Many forget the fact that email marketing does not necessarily mean the sending out of unsolicited emails to every email address you can find. Email marketing can also be accomplished by incorporating a visitor registration webpage on your site. This page then works as a tool to gather email addresses of interested prospects. You can then create a newsletter which you can send to all who have registered in your site. You may also consider updating your newsletter and sending it periodically to your prospects. You may also create a schedule for sending regular emails just to see how your prospects are doing, if your company can be of assistance in any way, or if any of their wants or needs has changed since when you last had a conversation. This is a very efficient way of utilizing email to boost your business promotion even without engaging in email marketing.Your Budget and Internet Marketing StrategyThe budget plays a very important role in any marketing strategy as it lays out which components and techniques you can develop and exploit. A website for example needs you to select a domain name and then register and purchase it from a web hosting service. Due to the growing demand for web hosting services, the competition has greatly tightened and many now offer discounts. There are those that offer domain name registration for as low as $1.99 per year – provided you also purchase other services, like hosting, which is now also available for less than $10 per month. Next is the design and content of your website. Your can design and write your won content or your can hire a graphics artist for the design and a web content writer for the content. You can also opt to make use of the online website builders that can be found all over the internet.After your site is all ready to go, getting it found is the next task, because no matter how good or useful a site is, it is of no value if people cannot find it. This is the point where search engine optimization or SEO comes in. SEO is vital to every website. You can either learn and do the SEO yourself or you can hire search engine optimizers to do it for you.Web content should be search engine optimized from the time it was written. Same goes for the web design as the manner in which a website is designed can either enhance or limit the site traffic it will be receiving in the future. SEO should definitely be a major part of any internet marketing strategy. You can opt to do things faster but more costly or vice versa, depending on your perspective and your budget.Once your website is up and running, you’ll either need to maintain it yourself or outsource the duties to an independent Webmaster to do it for you.Google AdWords and similar pay-per-click (PPC) advertising services can be a good choice as they go easy on your budget due to the fact that you can specify the maximum amount you are willing or able to spend. You also get to decide how much you will be paying whenever someone clicks on your site as well as the limit of how much you will be paying per day. You also get control over whether the pay-per-click ads appear only on major search engines or on other related websites as well. Geographic and time restrictions regarding when and where your ads run are also at your disposal, making the said ads quite easy to update. Real time tracking of the benefits is also possible with PPC services. You can also use images and/or videos with PPC advertising, which may even be less costly than placing banner ads on other websites. You can also, on the other hand, utilize pay-per-click advertising to earn money with your website to such programs as Google AdSense, Yahoo Publisher or Microsoft AdCenter.Tracking the Results of Internet Marketing StrategiesPutting up and operating a successful home-based business is not that easy especially for the average home business operator. Tracking is very important especially when you spend money on strategic Internet marketing initiatives. You should know the effectiveness on such initiatives to be able to make the right decision on whether to go on or discontinue with them. If you are satisfied with the performance of the currently implemented techniques, continue using them. If you are not satisfied, learn from your mistakes. Determine why such approaches did not work and find other means that can work better. Such practice is sure to improve your skills and enhance your chances for success.Your business will mature and grow faster and more efficiently if you know which internet marketing strategies are worth spending your money.Remain patient in tracking the performance of your internet marketing efforts and they will surely pay off. Always keep in mind that effects do not occur overnight and a significant amount of time is usually needed before you can feel the benefits. The same is with revenues, at first your efforts may seem to be in vain but after some time, more revenues will surely materialize.Strategic Internet Marketing Needs to be FlexibleThere are millions of people wanting to succeed with their own home internet marketing business and most of these also engage in strategic internet marketing. It is therefore vital that you make your marketing strategy flexible. It should be ready to quickly absorb changes and necessary adjustments. However, some knowledge, some capable assistance, and a well-managed strategic Internet marketing plan can increase your chances for success.

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Link Structure – Know the Ingredients of Link Popularity

Link popularity isn’t about simply increasing your “links.” And it’s definitely not only about exchanging links with your business partners. Major search engines have hundreds of factors with which they measure it, like internal, outbound and inbound link etc. But, whenever people talk about link popularity, they emphasize more on inbound link. Why so? If search engines are to be believed, all three have equal contribution in it . Let us discuss their individual impact in link Popularity.Internal Linking- One of the major components that often gets overlooked is Internal Linking. Let’s say a user found your site through an external link, but they didn’t land on the homepage. Starting from any page on your site, make sure that they easily find their way to the homepage and/or other relevant sections. Your website’s text content should be filled with opportunities to potentially pass link juice to other pages of your site and to help users find their end destination. Internal Linking serves in two ways:
Compatible linking structure enables website visitors to find out what they are really looking for.
Improve link popularity of your website by indexing each and every internal page.
Outbound Linking- Link from your website to other websites is called outbound or outgoing link. Have a look on advantages of having outbound link:
Offer visitors your unique observations on existing resources.
Provide your readers in-depth information about similar topics.
Show that you have done your research and have expertise in the subject manner.
Make visitors want to come back for more analysis on future topics.
Sending visitors to other sites for more information can build a good business relationship.

Some argue that linking out to other sites isn’t worth it because you drive people away from your website – but the general theory is that if you direct them to useful information often chances are that they’ll keep coming back to you for more.Inbound Linking- Links from other sites pointing to your site comes under Inbound or Incoming Linking. Following are the few benefits of these links:

Links from quality sites clearly indicate that your site is valuable.
Sends traffic to your site.
Anchor text “click” optimize site in search engines and move up the rankings.
Helps in brand recognition.
Hence what is important is not only the number of links pointing to your site, but also your internal link structure and linking out. Now we can say that internal linking, inbound links and outbound links are the key ingredients of Link Popularity.

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