Blogging is crucial to online network marketing success. Yet too many network marketers don’t do it, or they don’t do it effectively. While there are a variety of reasons why, the number one reason I hear from people is that they have tried but just couldn’t do it without going crazy. Here are some tips on how to blog without going crazy.

1. Create a blogging plan. This is a must and too many people don’t do it. If you need help. I highly recommend the ebooks by Darren Rowse on blogging.

2. Have a specific niche market. This is another key one. You can’t just blog about anything and everything and expect success.

3. Set aside a few hours each week to blog. It won’t just happen. You need to block off time on your calendar to write your blog posts and to work on your blog.

4. Work on improving your blog and increasing traffic a little each day or each week. You won’t get a ton of traffic all at once, work on making your blog better a little bit at a time.

5. Celebrate your small successes.

What other questions do you have about blogging without going nuts?

Article marketing can work quite well for generating leads online for network marketers. However, it can also take a lot of time and can waste a lot of time if not done correctly.

A few years ago I did a teleseminar on how to make article marketing work for network marketers. While a few things of changed, most things have stayed the same.

Here are some of the key points.

1. Select the right keywords.

2. Choose 2-3 niches to work with.

3. Find a list of websites where you can publish articles. Include article directories such as ezine articles as well as other heavy traffic sites.

4. Create a powerful capture box with a strong call to action to include at the end of each of your articles.

Listen to the 35 minute audio.

Many people ruin their online reputation in network marketing either by ignorance or out of desperation. If you want to be successful with online network marketing, then you must guard your online reputation like it is gold. How you are perceived online has a huge impact and you must be careful that you are viewed like you want to be.

Here are some things that people do that ruin their online reputation in network marketing:

1. They spam on social networks. This includes putting links on people’s walls on facebook, sending messages with links or promotions, sending out links and spam via twitter etc. People hate spam and it just makes you look bad.

2. Promoting more than one network marketing company at the same time. This sends the wrong message to people because it implies that your time and efforts are divided and that one company isn’t good enough.

3. Jumping from network marketing company to company. While it is normal and understandable that things happen and people change companies. If you leave your company without staying in it for at least a few years assuming that they are still in business, it looks bad on you and when marketing online, it makes you look especially bad. People are smarter than you think and they will figure out all of the network marketing companies that you have been in.

4. Promoting every latest and greatest marketing system and affiliate product. Yes there are ways to make additional income online with these but the more you promote these systems and products, the more you send the message to people that you are not a serious network marketer, that you are looking for the quick buck, and that you are not a serious leader with whom they should want to partner with for success. You also send the message that you are not making any or not much money with your company because if you were, then you wouldn’t need to promote all kinds of other stuff.

What else have you seen people do that ruins their online reputation in network marketing?

I’m looking for a few good people to join me. If you are looking for something different and exciting. Check out Work From Home with AnnaLaura.

Marketing with fan pages on facebook can be a great strategy for generating a large amount of leads. Watch the video below and learn how to use fan pages for facebook marketing.

Many network marketers make the mistake of not setting up their linkedin profile for maximum benefit. Watch the video below to learn how to do a better job of marketing yourself on linkedin with your profile.

Connect with me on linkedin.

Have you ever used a funded proposal to help promote your network marketing business? If not, you have no doubt at least heard of them. There are lots of them available with Magnetic Sponsoring by Mike Dillard and Ann Seig’s the 7 Lies of Network Marketing being two of the most popular and more recently the Empower Network.

So how do they work and why are they good? Why are they bad and ugly?

The basic concept of a funded proposal is that they are supposed to get you making money with your network marketing business fast and to give you an additional stream of income before you are making residual income or as a supplement once you are making residual income. Funded proposals assume that you do not have enough cash flow and that you need to make money now. In many cases they also have great training that nearly ever network marketer can use and benefit from. Their sales pages are usually also very high converting and you can make great money fast with them.

So why then shouldn’t every network marketer use them to grow their business?

Well there are a couple of reasons. First, nearly every funded proposal brands the leader who created the system and not the individual network marketer. For example, the empower network while the concept is great, it has David Wood’s picture on all of the pages. So you are branding David Wood and not you. Long term this is a big problem since you are also building his list and not yours. The same problem exists in nearly every funded proposal. You don’t build your list and building your list is crucial to long term success. The second problem is that while in theory the concept is that you are offering value to people and so they will be attracted to you and your business, in reality most of the people who purchase or become a lead through a funded proposal are either not looking for another business because they already have one, or they are contacting so many other network marketers that your chances of actually sponsoring them are quite slim. Last but not least the amount of time it takes to promote a funded proposal effectively is valuable time that distracts you from the main thing in your primary business which is prospecting and selling products for your main opportunity. It also can create a problem when it comes to your credibility especially if you are promoting multiple funded proposals. So yes you can make a lot of money with them in the short term. I’ve done it but I’ve stopped because it isn’t what is best for business in the long-term.

Comments? Questions about funded proposals.

There are lots of lies about online network marketing that people hear and that people tell either because they are looking to make money or because they are ignorant.

1. A system will make you rich. While this may happen in the short term, over the long term using an online system is not the best idea. Furthermore, in most cases you brand someone else and build their list rather than your own.

2. You can work your business only online and make six figures. This is very rare. Most if not all network marketers who are six figure earners work their business offline too. That is just how it is.

3. You can get all of the new recruits you need to reach the top level of your company on facebook. This is another common fallacy. Yes facebook is great and you can get new recruits but you will not and cannot rely exclusively on facebook.

4. You never need to use the phone. Absolutely not. You still need to call and talk with people. Using the internet does not eliminate the need to become comfortable with talking on the phone.

5. You can blast out a bunch of emails and make a lot of sales. This is rare and if you hear about someone who did this there is a lot of information that is left out. Anyone who has done this it is because they have a large list and they have taken a lot of time and spent a lot of money to make it happen.

6. It is easy. Again no it isn’t. If you are looking for easy then online is not it. In most cases it is just as hard as offline.

7. You will get a lot of results fast. Actually online network marketing is usually slower than offline.

8. You can talk to everyone and get great results. Offline this works but online having a clear niche or target market is a must.

9. SEO is the most important thing. Forget SEO until you are generating results. I’ve been on the front page of Google for my company name and the amount of work it took to get there was for the most part not worth it.

10. It takes hours a day to generate leads. Done correctly you can work online for 1 hour per day and generate all the leads you need.

Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years are upon us. Many people stop marketing their businesses during the Holiday season and this is a big mistake. The reality is that people are still looking even on Christmas Day. Yes I said that correctly. I know several people who joined their network marketing businesses on Christmas Day. I actually signed up a new distributor myself on Christmas Eve three years ago and December is usually my highest profit month.

So how do you take advantage of the holiday season to get more prospects and sales?

1. Remember that while fewer people are looking online on the days of the Holidays themselves, a lot more people are looking online in the days before and after. Many of them are on vacation and they have extra time to search and browse. Not only that but a lot of home business owners and network marketers go on vacation and don’t work and so there is less competition for you if you are working.

2. Keep making calls. The only days I don’t call are on Christmas and New Years Day. Otherwise I call everyone who becomes a lead or contacts me and if someone calls me on Christmas or New Years Day I answer the phone unless I am in the middle of doing something.

3. Keep blogging, creating videos and posting content. This is crucial and you will often find that your content will get more attention during the month of December.

4. Post content that is relevant to the Holidays and things that people think about in January such as Goals, New Years Resolutions, making more money, loosing weight, staying healthy from colds and flu, planning for the New Year, giving gifts etc.

1. Why am I doing network marketing online? This is important because having goals and a vision is important. You also want to be certain that you are not going online to avoid offline or calling people because that will not work. You cannot hide behind a computer and make network marketing work for you.

2. How am I going to make online network marketing work for me? You must have a clear plan or you will struggle.

3. I am prepared to invest up to $50 a month on hosting, domains and other necessary tools? While you can do a lot online for free, you will still need to spend some money. Online network marketing is not completely free.

4. Do I have 2-3 specific niches in mind that I want to focus on? This is crucial to your success. It’s the number one mistake that many online network marketers make and you have to focus on a couple of niches in order to make online network marketing work for you.

5. How are my conversational, leadership and other skills? This are crucial to your success, even when working online.

6. How will I plan my schedule to make sure that I am still doing offline networking too? You cannot do only online and you must avoid getting carried away with wasting time online.

7. Do I like to write? Writing on blogs, capture pages, and other content is a must for online network marketing success so if you like to write you will be much more successful.

8. Am I patient? Online success is not immediate and it does not come fast.

What other questions do you have about online network marketing?

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