photo credit: di_the_huntress

I have been internet marketing for quite sometime now. I have reached many successes as well as reaching many failures. I may not make 6-figures like many of the pro’s out there but I am not disappointed with where I am. Maybe you are still struggling to be one of the folks that “make it” in internet marketing. I know where you are coming from. You research, study, and soak up every piece of information you find on blogs.

You may think the latest product launch is what will take you over the top and finally help you to find success. I know, I’ve been there and done that too.

What You May Not Realize

While you are busy studying, researching, and trying out multiple ways to make money online, you may not realize just how much you have already learned. I was the same way. I realized just how much I had learned when I started my fitness business. I wanted to get my business out there as quickly as possible.

I took what I learned about internet marketing and applied it to my business in network marketing. Network marketing techniques have usually been about face to face interaction, some cold calling, and talking with family/friends. Many network marketers are just now learning about the power of using the internet to reach out to a much larger audience.

As a struggling internet marketer, you know that it is all about multiple streams of income. You can’t place all of your eggs in one basket. If one area dries up, you need to have other areas to fill the gap. Network marketing is a great option to do this and apply what you know to get your business going. You are already ahead of most network marketers who probably don’t even know what Twitter is or how to rank a site in the search engines.

Choose Your Network Marketing Company Wisely

Not all network marketing companies are created equal. You want to promote products that you can believe in and since network marketing is more about promoting yourself, you’ll want to use the products and believe in them.

That is why the health and wellness industry was an easy choice for me. It will never run dry! People are always seeking ways to improve their health and weight loss is one of the major ways that people are after.

When I became an Independent Beachbody® Coach, I didn’t realize how much fun it would be. You see, the money is a motivating factor, but I have a passion for fitness and have fun promoting it. I use the products and the best thing is they are working for me. I am losing weight and getting into the best shape of my life. You can follow my progress on my weight loss blog.

How I Use My Internet Marketing Skills in Network Marketing

I have been receiving constant traffic to my web site since the day I launched it and it’s only growing. Here is a list of some of the internet marketing methods I have been applying thanks to what I’ve learned from trying everything else to make money online:

• Blogging – no-brainer here! Blogging brings natural search traffic.
• Social networking – Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube bring me traffic daily.
• Video – I post almost daily video blogs of my progress (traffic from YouTube as well.)
• Article marketing – Always a great way to drive traffic and it’s free.
• Email marketing – I set up an autoresponder and blog broadcast.
• PPC – I do a little pay-per-click advertising (still learning.)

Those are just some of the ways to promote but more than what most network marketers do. You see, you may feel like you are failing in internet marketing but you are succeeding more than you know. You are building up marketing skills and if you apply them to other areas, you not only create another stream of income, you may just reach the level of financial success you are striving for.

If network marketing interests you, let’s team up. I would love to have more internet marketers on my team!

Watch my video message and get in touch: New Coaches.

photo credit: shawncampbell

One thing I can thank internet marketing for is for the constant reminder that the money is in the list. What that saying refers to is the fact that many internet marketers build up their email lists in order to market to their customers on a regular basis. Many network marketers may not be aware of how effective a good autoresponder can be for their business.

I have dabbled with email marketing in the past but not enough to rake in the big bucks like many internet marketers. Even though I have never spent time building up huge lists, I have learned how to use an autoresponder in combination with my network marketing business. An autoresponder can help you generate more leads by simply placing a sign-up form on your web site.

Below are some tips for using an autoresponder to your advantage for generating leads and helping to have them become a part of your team.

1. Choose a good autoresponder. I personally use Aweber because I read the most positive feedback about them and have not had any problem with them whatsoever.

2. Use Aweber’s blog broadcast feature in combination with your blog and newsletter. The blog broadcast will send your blog updates to your subscribers based on the settings that you set. I have it send out every time my blog reaches 3 new posts. This way, it keeps you active in your subscribers mind in between the times you market to them.

3. Populate your autoresponder with your marketing messages. Create a series of emails to send out every 3 to 4 days. If your goal is to sell your products or to get users to join your team, then create emails which highlight the benefits of doing so. I have read that on average it takes 7 emails before a subscriber will take action (which is hopefully to buy your product or join your team.)

4. Give away something free. You see this very often on many people’s web sites, including this one. Create a free e-book or free 7-day email course that will give users value.

5. Use a real email address for your reply-to email. Most internet marketers use a “do not reply” email address for their mailing lists. I don’t recommend this for network marketers. Simply because you want leads to contact you. You don’t want subscribers to feel like you are difficult to get in touch with.

Besides prepopulating your autoresponder, you also have the option of sending out regular emails if you just want to send a random message.

If you have never used an autoresponder before, Aweber offers really good tutorials to teach you how to use their system.

I must say I feel that I’ve made the right decision choosing to join up with Beachbody as a coach. If you have not heard of Beachbody, it is a fitness company that has created some of the most popular in-home fitness products on the market. Maybe you have seen the infomercials for products like P90X or Hip Hop Abs. Beachbody is a network marketing company and I’m having fun learning about network marketing as I plug away each day.

They have great products that I actually use and have no hesitation in recommending. What I truly love about the company’s vision is that it’s all about getting healthy. As you get into shape, you can use yourself as the ultimate testimonial.

How Being a Beachbody Coach Works

Basically, becoming a coach boils down to this process:

1. You use the fitness programs (your choice), eat healthy (they have meal plans with every program as well as online), and get into shape.

2. You earn money on product sales as well as bonuses on what your team buys or sells.

3. Support your coaches and customers with their fitness/business goals.

4. Share the opportunity with others.

What I’ve Learned About Network Marketing So Far

I’ve only been at this officially a little over a week but within that time I’ve learned the following:

1. It is a team effort. Your upline sponsor should be there for you to train you about the business, answer questions, and support you in general. Part of their success depends on you and the same will go for you as you build your downline.

2. It is a real business and you should treat it as such. Yes, it can be fun, and you can do it part-time, but you shouldn’t treat it like a hobby.

3. Part of being in an MLM requires using the product or service and ordering a certain amount of product per month. This is why it’s crucial to like the products or services. The last thing you want to do is start promoting something you don’t really have an interest in, let alone want to use.

4. It’s all about making contact. Similar to internet marketing, it is a numbers game. The more contacts you make, the more likely you will make a sale or get someone to sign up.

My Progress Thus Far

I am currently using the P90 (Power 90) fitness program and I am hooked. I quit my gym membership and find it so much more convenient to work out at home. I’m highly motivated, following the meal plans, and love how I feel after exercising.

You can keep up with my progress on my Beachbody Coach web site.

Overall, I think getting into shape and earning income is a winning combination. Anyone can do this and it doesn’t require any fitness expertise. You just need to be a good example by improving your own health first. I think that is the best benefit. The business portion (residual income) is just a really cool bonus.

With that being said, click here to learn more details.

I have been known to take some risks in my career and while I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way, for the most part, I don’t regret my decisions. There is a saying, “the bigger the risks, the bigger the rewards.” You can research the history of some of the most successful people in the world and I’m sure you will read about some huge risks they took to get where they are today.

Awhile ago I wrote a post about network marketing. Ever since then I have been considering it for myself and as I searched around for products that I felt I could relate to and be enthusiastic enough to promote, nothing really resonated with me so I put the idea on the back burner once again. Recently, through an interview I conducted on my fitness blog, I came across an opportunity that revolves around fitness.

I have been struggling with weight issues most of my life and this opportunity just clicked with me as I have the chance to lose weight and make money. That is a winning combination for me and I’m sure for others as well. The company I signed up with is called Beachbody.

My Goals for Network Marketing

I have no experience with network marketing so this is going to be a challenge in terms of learning more about the business model and actually growing the business. The part I already like about the business is that you work as a team. The person you sign up under (your coach) will not succeed unless you do, therefore it is an ongoing team effort. Quite a change of pace for those of us who are used to working alone.

My primary goal is to use the products and lose weight. The way the system works is that you are accountable for getting fit. How else can you share your enthusiasm about the products and the business if you don’t work it yourself? I think being held accountable in this way is a huge motivating factor. After all, what is the point of setting a goal or even running a business if you are not motivated about doing it every day.

My Marketing Goals

I plan on marketing my new Beachbody business through many of the same methods I market my other internet marketing web sites. I plan on using most if not all of the following:

• Article Marketing
• Twitter
• Blog
• Videos
• Paid advertising (PPC, Banner Ads)

Stay tuned for future posts about my progress with network marketing. As you may or may not know, not many people succeed at it. Some people are happy earning a few hundred per week and some people go on to make 6-figures. There are also those who give up before making anything. Right now, I just want to learn all that I can and document my success and mistakes here.

If you are interested in network marketing, enjoy fitness, want to lose weight and earn money from sharing your success, then sign up below. I will introduce you to my coach (who is awesome) and we can do this together.

Click here to become a Beachbody Coach.

photo credit: lrargerich

A flagship blog is one in which you blog the most often and keep completely white hat. This means you don’t use it solely for the purposes of making money (however, they can make money in the long run.) You can use your flagship blog for various purposes. You can build your reputation on the topic that you blog about, you can also use it for advertising purposes, and for applying to affiliate programs that require a website to apply.

A blog that you choose as your flagship blog should be in a topic that you can talk about non-stop. You know the type of topic that your friends get sick of hearing about? I only recommend this because if you choose something that you’re not interested in, you will stop blogging and never really get the blog off of the ground.

Traffic Comes Naturally

The best thing about a blog that you love is that the traffic picks up naturally. People who enjoy the topic will begin to link to your blog. Over time, you are getting free, natural backlinks that the search engines love.

You Build a Brand

Branding is important if you plan on making money with your flagship blog. Just take a look at some of the most popular blogs out there. Some make tons from advertising because of their brand. They have made themselves the “goto” in their particular niche.

It’s Fun

Honestly, I have a lot of fun blogging on my flagship blogs because they are in topics that I truly have an interest in. I enjoy reading the comments and replying to them. It has to be fun or you will eventually stop.

How to Start

The best way to start is by purchasing your own domain. Don’t rely on free services. You will want to own your blog. Buy the domain and get your own hosting. You don’t want to leave your content in the hands of another company that can cancel your account for any reason. You will want complete control.

Next, you will need to blog at least 3 to 4 times per week if not more. Great flagship blogs are constantly updated. The best ones are updated every single day. This is another reason it needs to be on a topic you absolutely love.

Make Money

Yes, you can and will eventually make money from your flagship blogs if you really want to. You can charge for ads, use PPC advertising, or even sell it for a huge amount if it becomes big enough.

The key is don’t slack. Create your flagship blog with care. Use good SEO and write good stuff so that people will link back. Most of all, have fun with it and it won’t seem like a chore.

photo credit: surroundsound5000

First off, this post was inspired by my last post which I am sorry to say – I will not be posting an interview with a network marketer. I sent off my questions but never received a reply. Oh well, it happens. The lack of response did get me to thinking how being a flake can affect your business.

No one is perfect and when you work for yourself, it is easy to blow things off more so than if you have to answer to a boss. I have done it a few times and looking back, I’m sure I could have handled the situations a lot better. However, do you ever consider how much your reputation will suffer if you are a constant flake?

Of course people will stop trusting you and stop referring your services. When you promise something and don’t deliver, it places you in a bad light. We all get busy and drop the ball every now and then, but let’s take a look at how you can avoid becoming a flake in your business.

1. Don’t Bite off More than You Can Chew – This is easy. If you are already booked up with projects, don’t take on more until you know you can give them the time they deserve. When you aren’t able to complete projects, you’ve not only wasted your time but the client’s time when they could’ve went with someone else.
2. Don’t Make Empty Promises – This can happen in casual situations where someone may ask you for your help and you say yes just to be nice. When the time comes to make good on your promise and you can’t, it will make you look unreliable.
3. Reply to Those Emails – I even have trouble sticking to this one. It can be hard to reply to everyone when you receive tons of email every day. It is important to reply to your clients because it makes them feel secure and it establishes you as a trustworthy person.
4. It’s the Little Things that Count – What you think may be insignificant can be a big deal to someone else. I am guilty of pushing off easy items until the last minute. I’ve learned to just take care of them right away. Quick turn-arounds will please the client.
5. End It – If there are clients that you cannot deal with anymore, end the working relationship. Chances are if you are holding on, you will keep putting off their projects, making yourself look bad. Put an end to the relationship and you will feel so much relief.

Everyone can be flaky once in awhile but it helps you and your business to try and avoid it as much as possible.

I haven’t conducted an interview for this blog in quite some time. My last interview was with fitness blogger Mehdi of Stronglifts.com. Since I am still fascinated by the topic of network marketing, I was able to get an interview with a network marketer who has been in the business for 8 years.

I think the interview will help dispel any myths surrounding the industry as well as help you decide if network marketing is something you would like to pursue in terms of self-employment.

I will be preparing some questions today and hopefully sending off to him tonight. If you have any questions you would like me to ask, leave them in the comments and I will do my best to work them in.

photo credit: TECH cocktail

Why Network Marketing?

Network marketing remains one of the easiest ways to start up your own business. After signing up with a network marketing company you have an instant business. There are many advantages such as small business benefits (tax write-offs), training by your sponsor, being able to work it part-time or full-time, and being able to run your business from a home office.

It has its disadvantages as well. If you have no sales experience you may struggle convincing people to purchase products as well as recruiting people for your downline. It’s hard work in the beginning as you will need to find new customers and prospects regularly.

Is Network Marketing a Scam?

In my opinion, network marketing itself isn’t a scam but it has received that reputation throughout the years due to scammy companies. You could just as easily call internet marketing a scam but it isn’t. You just have to know the difference between the scammers and those who are offering a genuine product.

I see network marketing as a great opportunity to earn extra income or create a full-time business but it just isn’t for everyone. For instance, I tried network marketing many years ago but I didn’t have the motivation or training to do anything with it. If you can’t picture yourself giving presentations, generating leads, and public speaking in general, then it probably isn’t something you would enjoy doing.

There are tons of network marketing companies to choose from now a days. If you’re considering it, I suggest finding a product or service that you would enjoy using enough to promote to other people. Network marketing thrives on word-of-mouth advertising so if the product or service is truly great in your eyes, convincing other people of its value won’t be difficult at all.

I will probably be devoting a few more occassional blog posts to the topic of network marketing as I still find the business model fascinating in terms of self-employment.

photo credit: Ley_photography

I recently discoverd that my former workplace has become a victim of this terrible economy and has closed its doors permanently. It was my first job as a web developer and I worked there for close to 5 years before turning in my resignation. When times were good, they were really good. I recall meetings about how well the company was doing and we were getting in new hires in what seemed to be almost every month.

Although the company was doing well at the time, I was still stressed out and frustrated with my daily commute. I knew I wanted something different for my life which is why I resigned with no back-up plan (which I would never recommend to anyone.) Fortunately, my skills were easily transferable to freelance work which is what I’ve been doing for 4 years as of this writing.

Starting a Part-Time Business While You Still Have a Job

Looking back and considering how frustrated I was, I would have started freelancing sooner. However, knowing what I know now, I would have actually started internet marketing sooner. I would have built niche sites and PPC sites. I would have been writing articles, link building, and driving traffic to my sites.

While hindsight is always 20/20, the good thing is that I do internet marketing part-time to supplement my freelance income. My goal is to one day have internet marketing as my full-time income but until then, I keep building, writing, learning, and plugging away.

Whatever you are doing right now, it is good to have something on the side that you can develop into your full-time income. No job is guaranteed and if something should happen like layoffs, closing, or even being fired, you will already have something that you can jump into and even make your new career.

Make It Something That You Love

Starting a part-time business is not only something that should supplement an income, it should eventually take over as your bread and butter. You may as well do something fun that doesn’t feel like work at all. Why trade one job for another? Even if someone else thinks what you love to do is “work”, who cares as long as you don’t feel that way?

Creating a part-time business while you are still working full-time is not all fun and games. Every free moment you have will probably be spent working on your business. However, chances are that your part-time business will be something that you love (I highly recommend that it is) and it won’t feel like work at all. Although making money with web sites is a lot of work, I love it. When I spend my free time working on my part-time business, it is so much fun for me, I hardly notice how many hours I spend on it.

For me, that is a good sign because when the day comes that I can do it full-time, I know that I won’t hate it. Freelancing is definitely more fun than working for someone else. I still get to dictate my work hours, who I want to do work for, and I can come and go as I please. Yet, if I don’t work, I don’t eat.

My web sites earn extra income at all hours. Things I built 6 months ago are still working when I’m not. This is called residual income (residual income is getting paid for work you’ve once done in the past.) That is something you may want to consider when developing your part-time business.

Have you started to develop a part-time business? Do you have a success story to share?

photo credit: Mathijs B

There are numerous ways to make money online. Some people stick to one method and make a nice income while others incorporate multiple methods to earn income online. There are no hard and fast rules to how you can do it. Everyone is different and does what works for them. However, everyone starts somewhere and some people don’t have any idea how to use the internet to make money. Below I am going to outline one of the most basic ways to make some extra money without it costing you a dime.

This information isn’t new and any internet marketing forum will have threads dedicated to the subject, but if you’re a beginner, this method is a risk free way of testing the waters and getting a taste of what it’s like to make your first dollar online. The most basic method I am referring to is article marketing and affiliate marketing.

Requirements

The requirements are simple. You will need a Blogger account which you can create over at Blogger.com. I like Blogger.com compared to other free services because they aren’t as strict and there are no distractions in terms of ads. Squidoo is fine for this but there are more distractions in terms of what the reader can click on.

You will also need an account at EzineArticles.com as well as other article directories, however, EzineArticles is one of the top article directories and is in the search engine results more than any other that I’ve noticed.

You will also need an account at either Clickbank.com or your affiliate program of choice. I say Clickbank because it is one of the easiest affiliate programs to start with.

Finally, you will need to start a blog dedicated to the topic of the product which you plan on promoting, or you can use the blog to write a simple review of the product. Reviews are the easiest way to make sales as people generally like to read other people’s opinion on what they are considering buying.

Writing Your Articles

In order for this method to remain zero cost, you will have to write your articles yourself. Writing articles is easy. If you are not an expert in the topic, then it requires some basic research and putting together a useful article without giving away too much information. You want to entice the reader to learn more by clicking in the link in your resource box.

There are ways to write articles to get the clicks and I outline exactly how I go about it in my free short report “Weekly Income Online Using Article Marketing.” You can get the report free by subscribing to this blog using the sign-up form on the top right.  The link for the report will be in the footer of all RSS feeds.

Things to Keep in Mind

Just like anything else, the success of article marketing and affiliate marketing is determined by how much effort you put into it. Keep the following things in mind:

• This is not a “get rich quick” scheme – it takes work
• Do your keyword research before writing
• Writing 5 articles will not cut it, you need to be consistent and write more
• Submit to more than 1 article directory
• Promote the articles that you write

Once you get the hang of this basic method you can then expand to creating your own web sites and using article marketing to drive traffic to them.  Chances are you will also become excited at your first sale and become hooked on internet marketing.

Download my short report by signing up to the right or use the link below. You will find the link to the report in the footer of the RSS feeds.

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