A couple of weeks ago I emailed a Direct Sales consultant with one of the beauty companies a particular question that I had about the company’s mascara line and she did promptly respond with the answer to my question.

About 2 weeks after that I started getting spammed by her once a week with her weekly customer email newsletter. Wow…I was shocked! I immediately clicked the unsubscribe link in the newsletter and realized it was disabled and not working! I then emailed her (nicely I might add) and asked her to unsubscribe me from her customer newsletter as I did not sign up for it nor did I tell her to add me to it.

The following week…I got another newsletter in my email box from her! ugh! I then fired off a second request for her to remove me. This entire back and forth process took a month or so before I was finally removed from her list!

When it comes to email marketing, customer newsletters and building your email subscriber’s list it is VERY IMPORTANT to never…ever…add a subscriber to your newsletter subscription list without asking their permission first! Better yet, don’t add anyone at all…have an online sign-up box so folks can sign-up for it themselves if they are interested!

Not only does this unprofessional behavior “irk” off customers and potential customers but it is also WRONG and ILLEGAL. You can not fire off emails and sign up folks to your newsletter just because you want to market your business to them. It is considered to be “SPAM” if that person did not sign up for it or request it.

A few weeks ago a very nice person emailed me to let me know that a competitor with a blog similar to my own had stolen and published 3 posts that they swiped from my blog and this competitor was not naming me or crediting me as the author of those posts. I was really “floored” that this blog owner was out swiping posts from other blogs instead of writing their own material or using free reprint articles.

Needless to say…my process began on getting the stolen content removed from their blog and here is how I did it.

The first thing that I did was email them an official email requesting that they had 48 hours to either remove the 3 stolen posts or edit them and list me as the author with a link back to my original post & blog. I then filed that request.

I waited 48 hours and fired off a second email to the blog owner stating that I was serious and that it was illegal for them to swipe content from other people’s web sites and/or blogs and they now had only 12 more hours to correct the situation or I would contact some of the advertisers on their blog to let their advertisers know that they practice stealing web content from other sites.

Wow…that finally got this persons attention! Within 3 hours of me firing off that email to them…the 3 posts were removed from the site and they replied back with a simple apology. I replied to that telling them that if they ever did this again to me…I would legally file a complaint and brief with my business attorney and come after them again.

If you find people swiping your original blog posts or web content you do have the LEGAL RIGHT to have that stolen material taken down and you should take the time to follow up and go after anyone who swipes content from you. If need be…report them to their advertisers and if that doesn’t work…get legal services involved!

Has anyone ever stolen your original content? If so, what did you do about it?

6 Email Marketing Tips that Build Trust & Increase Sales by Ms. Liz

Having an opt-in email list is more than just sending subscribers your newsletters, tips, promotions and sales letters; it’s about establishing a positive relationship with your readers. People rarely buy from those they don’t trust but by fostering fond relationships with your subscribers you’re increasing their confidence in you which in turn will dramatically increase sales.

Here are 6 tips that will create reader confidence, build lasting relationships with your subscribers, lessen your opt-out rate and best of all, boost sales.

Tip #1 – Set Expectations for Your Subscribers

Be clear about what your subscribers are signing up for. That means telling them exactly what kind of emails they’ll get such as a newsletter, tips, ecourse, special report, etc. Also specify how often they can expect an email. Also, for easy recognition it’s a good idea to indicate what email address your emails will be coming from.

Tip #2 – Help Viewers Learn About You

Before asking for a sign-up, direct your viewers to your personal page where they can learn about you and your business. Share some personal trivia about yourself and include some pictures and a personal signature. Let your visitors see and relate to the ‘real’ you. The more they come to know and like you the more trust they will bestow in you.

Tip #3 – Respect your Subscribers Time

Your subscribers granted you permission to email them; this is a privilege, not a right so respect that. Send them only information and content that relates to what they signed up for. Introduce new products gradually. Sending blatant sales pitches are a sure way to increase opt-outs.

It’s also important to note that even though it may not be costing your subscribers money to opt-in to your list, it is costing them time to open your emails, read them and take action. Keeping your content relevant and to the point is recognizing that their time is valuable and they will appreciate that.

Tip #4 – Email on a Consistent Basis

Never flood your email subscribers in box, but don’t ignore them either. When you get a new subscriber send them a welcome letter but don’t wait a month or more to send them their next email. People subscribe to things all the time, so without consistent communication they often forget they signed up. Waiting long between emails increases the chance they’ll opt-out or worse yet, hit the spam button. Instead, use a good email autoresponder and send messages consistently.

Tip #5 – Always provide an Unsubscribe Option

No one wants subscribers to opt-out but you must give your subscribers the option. It not only shows your professionalism it also indicates that you’re a legitimate business and not a spammer. Use the double opt-in feature provided with most email autoresponders, it will considerably reduce the number of unsubscribes.

Tip #6 – Promote Less and Help More

People don’t like to be sold to; they like to buy on their own terms. Before they buy they need reasons, benefits and most importantly, trust in who they’re purchasing from. The “buy this because I like it” approach rarely woks and will annoy your readers.

If you have a product to sell use a slow paced approach by demonstrating how your product will benefit your viewers. A subscriber is not likely to stick around if they see you as someone only interested in making a quick sale. Your subscribers have come to you as a resource for help and information so be respectful of that. The more you help them, the more they will see you as genuine resource, then when the time comes for them to buy; they will look to you first.

In summary, don’t target your subscriber list as a way to make money, instead focus on building a strong relationship with them. Treat your subscribers well and they will treat you well.

Check in with Elizabeth for More Free Yet Dynamic Email Marketing Tips that will instantly boost sales no matter what size email list you have.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

For the past year I have been seeing a slew of advertising online from various direct selling companies and direct sales consultants all “touting” their company or business opportunity as “Recession Proof” and when I see that…it really irks me!!!

My post today is a big OLD VENT on those who run around “touting” their direct sales or network marketing business as “Recession Proof” which is a big old FAT lie!!! Nothing in life…no business large or small, home business, retail store business…whatever…is Recession Proof!!!

It really “irks me off” when I see people and companies throwing around the “Recession Proof” like it’s no big deal and it is!!! People and companies should not be “tricking” people into thinking that the company and/or it’s business plan is recession proof when NO business is 100% recession proof. Goodness people…wake up and quit “touting” that around!

I have seen 30+ year old direct sales companies who were profitting and stable before the recession hit totally fold and go under once we got into the current recession so it doesn’t matter if the company is new, old, big or small…nothing in life is “recession proof” and those who “tout” around that slogan in their advertising should be ashamed of themselves because most of us are not stupid people and we know there are no guarantees in life.

So there you have it…my vent today dealing with folks who “tout” around their “Recession Proof” slogan to try to entice people to join their teams or their companies business program. That is a terrible slogan and should not be used in any form of advertising.

Work Life Balance: Help for Busy Moms by Aurelia M. Williams

As a mom you probably go through times in your life when you think you can’t possibly manage work and taking proper care of your family. In fact, there are probably times when you feel you’re not doing a good job at one or the other or maybe even both. Don’t despair! There is help for you whether you work from home or outside of the home, your family is large or small or you have other commitments like volunteer work.

Time Management – Knowing where and how you spend your time is key to balancing your life. Start by keeping a calendar of all your activities. You can do this online, on a paper calendar or in a journal. Track everything from showering, exercise, meal preparation, driving time, and so on. You will probably see areas where you can cut some time out by doing certain activities while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store or riding in the car. There are lots of useful ways to spend idle time and you can figure those out as you fill out your calendar or journal.

Set Priorities – As women we often have a hard time saying “no” because it is in our nature to help others and want to be useful. However, you must know when to say “no” to those activities that don’t help you reach your family, personal or business goals. And even if the activity does in some way help you reach your goals, you will need to prioritize the activity according to its value or importance.

Don’t be Afraid to ask for Help – Another trap women tend to fall into is the “I can do it all” syndrome. For some reason society has taught women that they have to be “Super Mom” otherwise you’ll be seen as lazy or a bad mother. That is a lie! When you are feeling overwhelmed by work, family and kids, have a friend, relative or neighbor give you a hand by helping you clean your house, or taking the kids away for a couple of hours while you get some work done. Whatever the situation may be, don’t hesitate to ask for help.

These are just a few of the suggestions you’ll find in my report, Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family. The “Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family” report shows you how you can find a balance between work and family, without letting any of those balls you are juggling fall on the floor. This report gives you real life solutions, and the best part is that you can get started right now.

Not only are there tips for everyday life, but inside The “Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family” contains valuable insight for work at home moms and moms who work outside of the home.

In addition, I also show you how to get started and then keep the momentum! So don’t wait another second. Stop doing the juggling act and get your life in balance now with the Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family report.

Looking for tips to get your life in balance now. Get ‘em right now… 24/7! Real Life Guidancetoolkits are available for easy and instant download to your computer.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

When it comes to having a home business it is very important that you don’t over-charge your customers when it comes to shipping and handling fees as it will drive those potential customers to do business with retail stores instead of you!

What do I mean? Well, I contacted a rep with one of the cosmetic companies as I wanted to order a mascara and I asked her what my total would be if I ordered the mascara through her. (after all, I like to support work at home moms/dads).

This rep emails me back and tells me that it will be $9.50 for my mascara and $8.25 for shipping & handling. Are you kidding me? I will not pay $8.25 to have a light-weight mascara shipped to me and I am sure that most customers will not pay an outrageous shipping & handling fee like that on a light-weight item.

A few days later I emailed a crafter online to inquire about ordering a personalized toddler-sized pillowcase that she was selling for $10.00 and asked her what the shipping charge would be. This person emails me back stating that it would cost $8.68 to mail it to me. What? We are talking about a light-weight toddler-size pillowcase that is 1/2 the size of a standard pillowcase!

My point is this…if you are a home business owner…whether it be a crafter, Direct Sales Rep, whatever…you have got to bring the shipping & handling fees down as customers are savvy shoppers in this economy and they won’t pay ridiculous prices for shipping & handling, especially when the items are small (like jewelry) or light-weight. I understand shipping rates are up…but surely it doesn’t cost $8.25 to mail a mascara 2 states away or a toddler-sized pillowcase within the same state as the seller. By over charging customers on shipping & handling you are LOSING business which means you are NOT making as much money!

Keep your shipping & handling in-check so that you are not losing sales to offline retail establishments. Customers will indeed go elsewhere to purchase the items they want & need if they feel you are being ridiculous with your shipping & handling fees.

If you are thinking about joining one of the Direct Sales companies it is very important to check out the leader of your team to make sure that he or she is the perfect leader for your business needs.

What do I mean? Well…is most cases (not all) you will want to choose a leader that displays certain business qualities so that they can help you to succeed in your business. A good strong Direct Sales team leader will have certain qualities that you need to look for before signing up and joining a particular team.

Today let’s take a look at a few qualities that I feel are important.

1. Leads By Example: Does this leader go out and book & hold parties? Do they attend company sponsored meetings, conventions and training events? Are they out there working the business in a professional manner?

A good team leader will be out there booking parties, recruiting new team members, attending company sponsored training events and they will have a good strong business that they are actively working.

A bad team leader will be one who sits at home and pushes their team members to do all the “work” while they sit at home and reap the rewards.

2. Longevity: A good leader will have been in the business for several years and most of these leaders intend on working their business as a full-time career. The more time a leader has worked in Direct Sales the stronger their “training skills” will be and this in turn can help you to be a successful consultant.  

3. Leaders Availability: A good leader will make him or herself available to you as often as possible when you need help with your business. Don’t get me wrong, they won’t be available 24/7 as that is unrealistic and you shouldn’t expect that from them…but they will make themselves available several times a week to assist you.

4. Professionalism: A good leader will behave and act like a professional when they are around their team members, party hosts, customers and while attending business events.

If your potential leader has a bad reputation in not assisting his or her team members in a timely manner, pulling out of party bookings often, canceling team meetings often or other things that one “might” consider to be unprofessional…you might want to “join” another team.

I want to give you a personal example of professionalism that I encountered about 12 years ago when I was considering joining a particular team. I called up the team leader to “interview” her as I wanted to make sure I would be on a good stable team. During this phone call she whined & complained to me that her current team members were lazy and not applying themselves and even mentioned a few by name. This was my very first time speaking with her and that immediately set off “alarm bells” with me as NO team leader should be gossiping or putting down the members on their team to other people. I quickly decided to join a different team after that 30 minute phone conversation. I do highly recommend that you “interview” your potential upline’s team leader before signing on the dotted line as many Direct Sales Companies do not allow you to switch teams once you have joined.

There are many qualities a good strong team leader should have but the four I outlined here in this post I feel are the top four you should be considering before joining anyone’s team with any of the direct sales companies.

What are your thoughts? What do you look for in a good quality team leader?

Are you marketing a Direct Sales or MLM business on the social media networking site called Twitter? If so, There is a right and a wrong way to do it.

Every day I get home business owners sending tweets to me and I don’t even follow them on Twitter. These tweets are considered SPAM if they contain your home business information and/or links in them and if I didn’t ask you directly for the information it is indeed spam!

Just recently I had a consultant with a Direct Sales company who I am not following over on Twitter send me 2 Tweets and BOTH of them contained her business information. The Tweets were:

@Ravish30 I heard you were looking for a job. Did you know our company (company name) is hiring?

First of all…I am not looking for a job, not sure where she got that information. Second of all, I am not following her nor is she following me. She simply sits on Twitter and looks for certain keywords and then spams out her message to hundreds of people who are NOT following her. (I checked her Tweet Stream…all of her tweets are @ mention business spam).

So, I tweeted back and called her out on this spam. She replies back that it’s not spam to give people info that her Candle Company is hiring. Sadly, a lot of consultants believe this and it simply is not true.

Any time you send your business info via email, tweets, private messages, etc. and the person receiving the info from you did not specifically ask you for the information it is indeed considered spam! Spamming folks over on Twitter is not the way to grow your Direct Sales business. Matter of fact, people are tired of Twitter spam and have been reporting people left & right for this practice.

My suggestion…Stop spamming folks on Twitter immediately! Networking is about you trying to make a connection with another person and it is about you acting like a professional while networking. Obviously sending spam tweets is not accomplishing either of those 2 purposes.

Shelly

7  Quick and Easy Tips For Building Backlinks to Your Website Or Blog by Loretta Oliver

It has been said that links are the currency of the internet. While many marketing and traffic building methods come and go, this seems to hold true. Links make the internet go around. So, naturally you want to have as many incoming links to your site or blog as you possibly can. The more relevant they are the better.

There are many kinds of links and link programs out there on the web today. You’ll hear terms like one way links, three way links, do follow links, no follow links, SEO backlinks, .edu links, link wheel, and so on and so forth. It can be overwhelming and confusing to say the least.

Let’s simplify this and just look at 7 ways to build links to your website without ripping your hair out. Don’t worry about the technical details of things, just think of a link as a link and block the rest from your mind for a moment.

* Blog Commenting. This is a fast easy way to get relevant incoming links. Visit blogs that are about the same topic as your site and leave a relevant comment on a recent post. That’s it. You’ll get a link back from the comments section and hopefully you’ve found a great new blog to read regularly.

* Build a Squidoo Lens. This seems to scare some folks, but it’s really easy to do. Building a Squidoo lens is mostly point and click plus drag and drop. There are no special technical skills needed and you can have a lens up in 20 minutes or less linking back to your website or blog.

* Comment on a Squidoo Lens. Maybe you’re not feeling up to taking the time to build a Squidoo lens right now, or you’re in a bit of a hurry. No problem, you can still harness the link power of Squidoo by commenting on an already existing lens about your topic and including a link to your website as the resource. Easy peasy.

* Submit an Article to Directories. That sounds simple right? Write an informative article about your topic and submit it to article directories. Not only will you get an incoming link from the article directory, but also whenever someone republishes your article on their site. Again, super easy and non technical.

* Be a Guest Author. If articles and comments are a great way to get links, then being a guest author at another site or blog is just pure brilliance. Being a guest expert not only gets you a nice in content link to the page of your choice, it establishes you as the go to person on the topic and gets you in front of an entirely new audience.

* Bookmark It. While not my personal favorite method for link building, it is still a backlink. Bookmarking on social media sites like Digg, Delicious, Facebook etc…. I don’t really recommend bookmarking your own stuff, but instead putting a few select social media icons on your site to allow your visitors to choose which content to submit to those places. Don’t worry, they will.

* Help Someone on a Forum. Message board communities are powerful and amazing places online. If you find a forum that is based around your niche or topic, sign up and get active. Helping someone on a forum is like handing out free cookies. People will love you for it. Be honest, be yourself, and don’t forget to link back to your website in your signature and profile while you’re there.

Now go out there and get some links! If you’re looking for a step by step daily action plan for backlink building the easy way check out 5,000 Backlinks from Lynn Terry and Paul Short. The powerful daily action plans in 5,000 Backlinks make it easy for you to get at least 15 or more links back to your sites in an hour or less per day. It’s so easy you can even outsource the work to your kids!

Check it out and grab a copy of the amazing package at http://www.squidoo.com/5000backlinks
Article Source: WAHM Articles

A few days ago I posted here on my blog about some inappropriate behavior I saw going on over on Twitter with some so-called business professionals. Well today…I would like to address some mistakes I see professionals making on their business blogs.

In today’s world…blogging is hot! You will find current event blogs, personal blogs, hobby blogs, business blogs…just about a blog on any topic that you could ever imagine.

When it comes to personal blogs…by all means, post whatever you want, as often as you want and use any type of language you want to use. However…if you have a business blog…you really need to watch what you are posting on it as posting the “wrong” thing can indeed reflect poorly on you and your business.

You do not want to trash talk other business and/or blogs on your business blog and you certainly don’t want to use foul or offensive language. I think for most of us that is common sense but apparently there are those out there that feel that it’s their blog and they can post what they want to post. While that is true (it is their blog) if it’s a business blog…your postings can and do relfect on you as a business professional.

I know when I visit business related blogs I don’t want to read about your “partying experiences”, posts about your naughty neighbors, fights you have going on with fellow consultants/competition, inappropriate language and other nonsense. I feel if you want to post those type of topics you should make a PERSONAL blog and post them there.

I have unfollowed many blogs the past month due to inappropriate postings on their business blogs. Yes..this is my personal opinion but I do know that it’s also a popular opinion with those who visit & read business blogs.

Your thoughts? Is it okay to post things like I described above on a business blog?