5 Ineffective Tactics on Work At Home Forums

There are still many people who join work at home forums and have no idea when it comes to forum etiquette. It’s so important to read the forum rules before doing anything as that will tell you what’s expected from you.

Here are five tactics to avoid when you’re participating on a work at home forum.

1. Don’t pretend and don’t post you have found a cool site when the site is yours.
“I found this really cool site with tons of great information. I couldn’t believe how well-thought out this website is. It’s truly amazing and you should check it out. http://www.iownthissite.com”. Credibility and trust is what you want to earn, not lose. There is a place for links and they belong in your signature.

2. Posting for the sake of posting.
Experienced members can tell if you’re just a spammer. Show your intelligence, not your ignorance.

3. Copying snippets of other people’s articles.
It’s obvious to people when you post a snippet of someone’s article because it’s not “conversational”. It reads as an introduction to an article. What would be more impressive is if you interpreted in your own words. What would be super impressive is if you brought something to the table from what you actually know and practice.

4. Know your audience.
If you sell cuban cigars, you don’t join a health and wellness forum. That doesn’t make sense and if you do, once again you will be frowned upon. Know who’s your target market and then cater to their wants and needs.

5. Say what you mean and do what you say.
If you say you’re looking forward to networking, then make the effort of visiting the forum at least once a week. I’m sure you have lots to share and people want to know what you know.

Keep it real and be yourself. Honesty really goes far and it’s expected. There are a lot of great and smart business people on work at home forums that may help bring you and your business to another level.

~Sophia

Advertising: Know Your Target Market

One question many beginners ask is what is the best advertising methods. There are many to choose from and not one method is better or more effective than the other.

The key point is who are you catering to? In other words, who is your target market? It’s not about trying out every possible advertising method although there are the most common ones that are effective for the majority of people.

Let’s take for example way, way back when I started online I went the “get paid to” route. It was get paid to read emails. I had joined several get paid to sites and most if not all have a referral program. In order to get referrals, I used other paid to sites and traffic exchanges to find my referrals and it worked beautifully for me. When I tried using traffic exchanges for another online endeavour, it didn’t work very well. Honestly, it was awful. Why? Because I wasn’t hitting my bullseye aka my target market.

So when people say this particular type of advertising doesn’t work at all for me, the question you have to ask yourself is, “Are you marketing to the right people?” because there’s no point in trying to sell dog biscuits to cat owners.

Start out with a few different free advertisng methods first so you can see which one is working for you. Stick to an advertising budget as it can easily put you in the negative without any rewards.

Be consistent and patient because it takes time to really gauge what is working and what is not.

~Sophia

Don’t Jump Before You’re Ready To Leap

Before you jump into any business it’s wise to do your research, but even doing your full due diligence there’s no guarantee it will be successful.

When you work outside the home, the norm is a three month probationary period. This time is not only for the employer, but for the employee to determine if the job is the right fit.

Your new business shouldn’t be any different. Too many people give up too easily. Three months is just barely scratching the surface and yet some people think one month is enough time to determine if they are succeeding or not. Until you have exhausted every avenue, sought help or really feel the business you’ve chosen is not right for you, then you can throw in the towel.

Be sure you’re not bailing out because of fear…it’s too much work, there’s too much learning, I can’t do it etc. Success is built on consistency, faith and perseverance.

~Sophia

A Business/Personal Blog Is Not A Good Mix

Big Mac and fries go hand-in-hand and so does a cold and cough. When it comes to blogs, generally it’s not recommended to combine a personal and business blog unless it meshes well.

Shelly and I share this business blog and a pet peeve blog. Shelly has a cooking/baking/foodie related product review blog. She also has a crafting blog, a direct sales/product review blog and personal blog and I have a health blog.

What all these blogs have in common is they are standalone blogs that are used for business or for personal. One thing many people make the mistake of is mingling their personal life with a business blog. In my opinon, it doesn’t work because do your family and close friends really want to read about your business or do you think your potential customers want to read about your toddler smearing poop on the wall?

It’s not hard to build a new blog, but it’s hard work to promote it, maintain it and work it and maybe that’s a reason it can be scary for some people, but it shouldn’t be. By not separating a personal blog from a business blog it can be detrimental to your business.

Another reason some people may be hesitant is not having enough material to write about their business. I think there are plenty of things you can talk about your business because there are a lot of blogs out there. You can focus on your products, but that’s not the only thing to focus on. It’s giving them the knowledge, the information and explaining why and how it can change their lives for the better.

Like a lot of things it’s best to just keep your personal life out of your business.

~Sophia

Social Media Profile Images

When it comes to networking online for your home business on various social media sites, it is important to fill out your profile pages correctly and professionally. It is equally important to add an image to your profile page aka an avatar.

If you are doing personal or business networking, I feel its important to add an avatar (picture) of yourself into your profile. I really dislike seeing business buttons or business logos. When I am talking back and forth with someone on a forum or social media site ie. twitter, I really like to see the face of who I am chatting with.

Here is how I look at this issue. If I went to an offline networking business meeting and walked into the meeting, you would see my face…you wouldn’t see my business button/logo. I can see you using a business logo if you are a large company like Kelloggs or General Mills on your twitter sites…however, if you are a small home business owner, it makes no sense to me, to use a company logo as your avatar instead of a head shot of yourself.

How about you? What is your preference?

Re-Evaluating Your Website Presentation

It’s amazing what things you read make you take notice of you or your business. Some times I feel the article is talking directly to me, but that’s probably due to my paranoia and it’s really not a bad thing, but a helpful thing.

People interpret others in different ways through different things.

- How you are viewed by your website
- How you are viewed by your online behaviour
- How you are viewed by your articles
- How you are viewed by how you network and communicate with others

While these are all legitimate views, they are not always necessarily a true reflection of a person. Thank goodness for that!

A website can tell a lot about you.

If you have a spammy-jammy-scammy looking website, you’re either a scammer, a poor website designer or you have poor taste. Think about it for a moment. Remember the last scam website you looked at? What did it look like and I’m sure you can imagine what kind a person a scammer would look like.

How about a traditional, private person? Their website looks conservative and simple using a monochromatic scheme with a hint of colour. A person who’s not detail-oriented or organized may have a website that looks thrown together without much thought.

Your website is a store front. It either welcomes people or pushes them away. It does say a lot about you, your business or your work ethics or maybe it doesn’t say enough.

But does it say what you want it to say about you?

~Sophia

How Product Reviews Can Benefit You and Your Business

When it comes to having a home business, it is very important to market your business and your business products towards your targeted niche. When it comes to Direct Sales, Crafts and other type’s of small home businesses, the majority of time this niche is women and/or moms.

One way to expose your business products to online moms is by participating in a product review. By sending your product to a reviewer, you are giving the reviewer the chance to use and inspect your product. This reviewer will then write up a professionally done product review and post it online for others to read.

However, let me give a caution of warning with this…You will find online reviewer’s who only care about getting free product out of you! You need to do your research before sending any type of product to a reviewer. You want to find one that is going to be actively promoting his/her review on numerous social networking sites such as work at home mom forums, Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in etc. You don’t want a reviewer who just posts a review on their site and that is the end of it. You want that product review to be seen by as many ‘eyes’ as possible.

Furthermore, you want your product reviews to be professionally written and posted by someone who is highly regarded in their niche.

A bonus to participating in a product review is that you will get a quality link back to your web site, Blog and social media profile pages. This quality link back will be a great way for visitors to find you for years to come…plus, it will help you with search engine ranking.

When potential buyers read product reviews they are looking for the review to come from a trusted non-bias source…a truthful opinion about your product will help to entice buyers to buy your product or to visit your web site to check out additional products and/or services that you provide.

Product Reviewers can help you to create an online presence and to help create a positive buzz about your business and the products you are trying to sell.

~ Shelly Hill ~

This information can not be reprinted without my permission. Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.

Privacy Policies, Disclaimers, Disclosures

It’s easy to forget the little things when you’re creating your online business website. Privacy policies, disclosure statement and disclaimers are important because you don’t want to run the risk of getting into any legal trouble with anyone plus you’re also protecting yourself.

I’m sure there are many different types of policies, but here are a few policy suggestions you may want to implement on your website:

- Blog Disclosure Statement
- Privacy Policy
- Advertising Policy
- Forum, Chatroom or Social Media Policy
- Employee, Independent Contractor or Volunteer Code of Conduct
- Disclaimers
- Terms of Service/Terms of Use
- Etc.

Take the time and think of what you need to put into these policies because it can save you a lot of heartache.

You can also use this template to create a privacy policy Free Privacy Policy

~Sophia

How Do You Stay Motivated?

One of the many challenges work at home people tackle with is staying motivated. Since you have no boss looking over your shoulder or co-workers walking by your desk, how do you stay motivated each and every day?

Some people work out before starting their day
Some people meditate or do yoga
Some people are discipline enough to follow a strict schedule
Some listen to motivational or inspirational tapes each morning
Some people set rewards

Leave us a comment and tell us what you do to stay motivated each day. We love to hear from you!

~Sophia

Work At Home Job Tip: Use Twitter To Job Hunt

The longer I’m on Twitter the more I discover how you can use Twitter to find a work at home job.

I’m often coming across tweets in my Twitter stream from various people looking for someone to complete a job for them. Not only are there independent owners looking for help, but corporate companies are also using Twitter to find employees or Independent Contractors.

First of all, create a Twitter account. It’s preferable to use your name as your Twitter username if your account is for job hunting. If you have a portfolio online add the URL to the website field and then sell yourself in your bio.

Upload a good and clear photograph of you. Forget the cutesy avatars. If you have time customize your Twitter background and use this added space to include your credentials or experiences.

Start following experts in your niche by using the search function in Twitter. Tweet about what you know so you add value, tweet about telecommuting job news you have read, share tips about your industry and help answer other people’s questions that relate to your field.

You have to be consistent in your networking efforts and you have to engage with your followers. Remain professional at all times and never say anything bad about a previous or current employer or company.

By combining social media sites with your other methods of finding a work at home job it can only be of a greater benefit for you.

~Sophia

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