How To Use Social Media To Grow Your Network Marketing Business

What is Social Media?

Social media is a large group of tools and applications available on the internet that allow you to interact "socially" with a very large diverse group of people.

According to Wikipedia, " Social media are primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings.[1] The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and "building" of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM)."

Social media is part of the Web 2.0 explosion and the cutting edge in New School methods for growing a network marketing business. In this post we will briefly cover a variety of tools and methods for utilizing social media to grow your MLM business.

Attraction Marketing is the Key to MLM Online Success

If you have not yet heard about attraction marketing, then you must take time to do so. The idea of attraction-based marketing has been around for awhile, but it was not until Mike Dillard synthesized all the information and created his Magnetic Sponsoring course, that the majority of people knew what it was or how to use it.

The idea behind attraction-based marketing or Magnetic Sponsoring is that you use social media to create an strong online presence. You offer value, information and the uniqueness of you in a form that people can grasp. As you develop yourself online and your leadership abilities in the real world, you will attract others to you. This is how you grow you business. People come to you and want to know you, work with you and join you. This is the opposite of old school network marketing where you went after them. It is powerful, clean, refreshing and fun.

The best place to learn about Attraction Marketing is by getting your hands on Dillards Free 7 Video Boot Camp. Once you've worked your way through that the next thing to do is to set up an account on a website called Better Networker. This will be your first step in using social media and also the best introduction to attraction marketing in action.

Get onto Better Networker and just look around for a few days. Read the forum posts and the replies. Read some articles. Watch some videos. Take a good look at people's profiles prior to creating yours. They had a profile contest a few months back with a great tutorial..watch it. As you are finding your way around this site you will be beginning to understand how people present themselves in the social media world without pitching their product or biz. Better Networker is social media. It is a social networking website devoted to network marketers. In many ways it is similar to Facebook or MySpace (also social networking sites), but the audience and participants are hightly targeted.

You can also become a student of Renegade University. Renegade U. is an online "school" where you learn all the aspects of attraction marketing from a philosophical perspective. Then you have a vast selection of online videos that teach you everything that you need to do from a technological perspective, step-by-step. You'll also learn how to use Social Marketing Etiquette, which is as important to know as the techie stuff.

Twitter (and Social Bookmarking)

There are presently hundreds of sites on the internet that you can use to present youself to your target audience. I use a variety of social bookmarking sites that I post to every time I write a hub or a blog post. Some examples are: Digg, Propeller, Reddit, Stumble-Upon. The list is almost endless. Visit a site called Social Poster.com and you can see a long list of social bookmarketing sites and learn how to post yourself on them.

My favorite place to hang out online these days is Twitter. Twitter scares people initially because it is fast and live. I like to think of it as a big, world-wide online cocktail party/chat. When you first approach twitter it is hard to know what to do. So first (after you creat your twitter profile) visit twitter search and put in a keyword that interests you. Read what comes up and then click on the name of the person who posted(tweeted) click on "follow" under their name. Now whenever you log onto twitter you will see whatever that person has written, appear on your screen. Generally, if you follow them, they will follow you back. This is good.

When you create your Twitter Profile, make sure that you enable direct messaging and email notifications. When someone follows you, follow back and say thanks in a direct message. Soon you will log onto your page and see a flurry of different tweets and conversations going on. This is good. Join in once you feel comfortable. Don't pitch. Don't spam. Don't sell. Just be a real person and interact with the people who are tweeting. Once you get the hang of this you will see that there is a time and place to include links to your blog or website. (Watch the video above for a great analogy explaining twitter and blogs).

Twitter is the fastest growing social media on the internet. It can now even interact seamlessly with Facebook if you set it up that way. Many people do a lot of business on Twitter. You should be one of them if you want to grow your network marketing business using social media.

OK..I'm Totally Confused!! What Do I Do Next??

Total confusion is often the reaction to all of this information. Do not worry. You are not lacking in brain cells. Using social media is very confusing initially and only gets clearer as you work your through it, step-by-step. This is where a good coach/mentor comes into play and a training system. Luckily a man named Mike Klinger saw how confused people were getting and sought to remedy the situation. He created the best social media training that I have yet to see in this industry. It is appropriated called a " University".

Renegade University is an amazingly complete online classroom. There are step-by-step video tutorials for every aspect of using social media to create your online presence and grow your network marketing company. The beauty is that you can work through the training at your own pace AND do the steps on your computer while Klinger is walking you through them in the video. It is almost like having a teacher sitting next to your computer with you.

Renegade University did not exist when I began my social media journey. I learned each step by trial and error and honestly it took months to really feel a conceptual and practical understanding of the whole thing. By using Renegade University, if you put your mind to it, you can have the basics of your social media system up and working for you in a month. But remember..it is like going to school You have to learn, study, and take action.

Social media is changing the face of network marketing. You will never need to sell to your family and friends again. You will meet people from all over the world. You will be amazed at what can happen..if you are diligent and patient. Growing you network marketing business using social media is a process. You start at the beginning and add on over time. The results start slowly and increase faster and faster as you become more and more competent. This is a New World. Welcome!

Prepare Your Business For 2009

Regardless of what your present focus is, you can be better prepared for success in 2009 by doing this one simple thing:

Spend the week between Christmas and New Year's organizing all your business receipts and expenses from 2008. Even though it's still four months until tax time it is best to do this now. Then your mind will be free to focus on the present and future with regards to your business, in 2009.

With regards to the Perfect MLM By Design. We are having our first meeting with the Founders and the Field Advisory Board, in early January. After that meeting we will have a clear idea as to when we will begin pre-enrollment and ultimately the shipping of product...Which reminds me..we will also be releasing the details of our product, in the weeks following this initial meeting. At the moment our tentative time schedule sees us pre-enrolling in February with product being shipped sometime in March. It's very exciting to be a part of something unique and beneficial to all seeking to achieve their financial goals in the Network Marketing Industry.

Why You MUST Understand Compensation Plans

Taken on it's own (that is, separate from how it is presented and the motivations of the presenter) the compensation of a company is crucial to understand and necessary to your decision making process about joining that company. Yes, people are making money with every different plan under the sun. And people are also failing miserably with the same.

The difference between the efficacy of compensation plans to fairly compensate distributors at every level of the plan cannot be summed up in simple terms such as, "How many people does in take to make $10K per month?" That's a great question to ask, but the answer depends on how many are active, how many are purchasing the minimum AS, how many are purchasing more, how many have dropped out. By all means, use that question as one part of your research, but go further.

The best compensation plans are those that focus on retention. It is far better to recruit 100 people and have 65-75 of them still be with you 1-2 years later, than it is to have to recruit 250 to have 65-75 still with you after that same amount of time. The industry standard it 65%-75% attrition. The reason for this is that many compensation plans are not designed to reward the average person looking to break even on their auto ship and make a few hundred to a thousand or so extra dollars per month, part time. So you need to seriously look for a compensation plan that makes it easy to cover your monthly costs and makes it easy for your down line to cover their monthly costs. With that alone, you create retention. People are using a product they love, for free. Add to that the ability to make some extra income and you are there.

Then there are the people who are more serious about the business. Their goal may be $2k per month up to $5K. Understand what it will take in your plan for them to achieve that goal. Those people and the first group will make up the majority of your organization. You'd do well to have a comp plan that supports them and creates retention. The very serious business builders who are looking for $10k per month and more will be a minority in your organization.These are the full-timers, the people who embrace network marketing as their career. These people have the drive and focus to do well in most compensation, as long as they can motivate and retain their down-line..which leads us back to the majority--those who are looking for a reasonable part time income. Remember, retention is what allow long-term residual income to happen.

So...understanding a compensation plan is crucial. Knowing how many active enrollees let you break even on your auto ship is crucial. Knowing what it takes to reach the upper levels of the plan is crucial. Don't take anyone's word for it. Get out your calculator and run the numbers yourself. If that scares you, it good to start now and get used to doing it.

Bill Farley (Zrii) Interviews Peter Thomas (Century 21)

Bill Farley, the Founder and CEO of Zrii ( Original Amalaki) had a special interview conference call tonight with Peter Thomas..former owner of Century 21 Real Estate for the entire country of Canada. The focus of the call was primarily on what makes a good salesperson.

As an internet attraction marketer, some of the shared information felt very "old school" to me. But there were tidbits of information that were also pieces of gold for anyone in business for themselves. Here is Peter Thomas's list entitled "Rules For Success"

1. Keep it simple
2. Ignore those who say it can't be done
3. Work smart not hard
4. Become a student of your career--learn EVERYTHING you can about what you are doing
5. Don't be an innovator--learn from those who came before and do it better
6. Emulate the best but keep your own spin and personality
7. Write down everything
8. Stay focused--visualization, inspiration, reflection
9. Act enthusiastic--even if it's a bad day--your acting will change the flow of the day
10. Be persistent
11. Practice delegation--this is good leadership
12. Avoid extensive meetings
13. Don't be afraid to make mistakes
14. Have at least 5 mentors
15. Get up early
16. Have fun

I think we'd all agree that this list is relevant whether you're a door-to-door salesperson or a an internet marketer..and whether you're selling a single health product or a series of educational workshops. Please feel free to contact me for mentoring information and assistance in putting these ideals into action.

The Snowball Effect

It's cold. It's snowing. I've been thinking about the development of snowballs. You remember how it's done--you begin with a very little ball and then gradually pack snow around it and then eventually roll it go create an ever bigger ball. The process then yields all different sizes of snowballs from throwing size to snow person size. But no matter how big you want your snowball to be in the end, you must begin with a little glob of snow which you pack together into a dense structure to form the foundation.

Doesn't this sound a lot like network marketing? Especially network marketing done well. You must begin with a very stable foundation. It can be small, but it must be sturdy enough to support that which is going to grow from it. As you develop your skills in both marketing (attraction marketing is my favorite) and your knowledge base for your particular company, you begin adding to your organization. Just like a snowball, you need to roll evenly and keep supporting all the new additions.

Have you ever seen what happens to a snowball that is kind of mushy to begin with? Start rolling one of those around, or add snow and try to pack it. What happens? Yes..the ball crumbles. Have you ever seen what happens to a network marketing organization that does not have a solid foundation? If you begin adding on to your organization without making sure your initial foundation of people is well educated and standing tall in their ability to grow their organization, in my book you are risking the big crumble. You want to create a structure in your organization that will continue growing and functioning even if you weren't there. That is the true definition of residual income. If your foundation is mushy..you will not see this happen.

So, remember the snowball. Start correctly from the beginning. Build strong leaders from the start and then teach your leaders to duplicate the process. (Read this article on duplication if interested). You will then be creating the snow person (or snow people village) of your dreams.

(Apologies to those who live where there is no snow. I'm sure your imagination can go with the analogy.)

Social Media Attraction Marketing

Where to Find a Job

"Citigroup, one of the world's biggest banks, is to cut about 50,000 jobs as the bank struggles with heavy losses amid the current financial crisis.The cuts come on top of a further 22,000 job losses announced by the firm in October, of which it said 13,000 have already gone.The company said on Monday its workforce is being reduced by about 20 per cent from a peak of 375,000 in 2007.Al Jazeera's John Terrett in New York said: "This is an astonishing number of workers, on top of those announced earlier this year."It is a measure of the struggling nature of the banking industry ... and of just how grim things are in this economy and that of the wider world."" Quoted from the Global Research Site

Grim news from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics as the numbers of unemployed increases beyond anything seen in the last 34 years.

The government and new agencies are talking about creating jobs and bailing out industries. What about moving one's thoughts and expectations outside the box? It is the 21st century and we need a new paradigm. The economic structure of the 20th century is over. We can clearly see that now. The future is not going to be found in secure corporate jobs with benefits. It is going to be found in home businesses, in entrepreneurship, in thinking and creating income outside of the old structure.

Just listen to this interview a few months ago with Robert Kiyosaki. Those who will thrive in the upcoming years will be those who can shift to a new relationship with money and with the means to create it.

There are industries poised to capture this new world economy. There are those already in these industries who can teach others and benefit from good karma and good business. Learn more about what is coming next by listening to this recorded interview.

Success Mentoring System (21st Century Version)