Work At Home Business Options

Posts Tagged ‘message boards’

I firmly believe in the power of networking as I have seen first hand how this has helped me grow professionally and personally. You need to be consistent with your networking efforts and this holds true for both online and offline networking.

There are a few basic tips you should remember when it comes to networking and they are as follows:

1. Networking is not about selling your business or products to
everyone you meet.

2. Don’t come on too strong the first time you meet new people.

3. Share about yourself, not just your business. “People do business
with people they trust and people they have gotten to know.”

4. Ask people what they do and invite them to share about themselves
and their business.

5. Listen more than you talk and ask questions that will get people
talking — not just a yes or no answer.

6. Make notes on things people have that might be useful to
yourself or others.

*tip* I keep index cards on business contacts in a file box. I will write down information about this business contact on the index cards.

7. Find common ground with the person you’re getting to know. “People
do business with people just like them.”

8. If asked what you do don’t give someone a long sales pitch. Keep
it short and informative. If they want to know more they will ask.

9. Always tell the person you were talking with it was a pleasure
meeting them and ask if it is ok if you add them to your contact
list.

10. Ask for their business card — that way you can be sure that there
will be follow up. You can exchange cards if you wish but always get
their card or if online, their email or IM name. Ask permission to
contact them again.

This article is copyright 2008 by Shelly Hill, All Rights Reserved. This article can not be reprinted without Shelly’s permission and/or proper credit with live links given to the author who wrote the content who is Shelly Hill.

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?

I have been networking my home business online since 1997 and I have been working from home since 1989…so I have been networking for a long time.

It never ceases to amaze me how poorly home business professionals act online in regards to networking on forum boards and on social networking groups.

Let me just say this…when it comes to networking, first impression is everything!

When you are networking on forum boards and social networking sites (facebook, twitter, ning, myspace, linkedin, etc) you need to remember to act appropriately on these groups.

Way too often I see folks only join these groups to just spam advertisements and then they leave. They come back and spam another ad and it becomes routine to them.

Networking is not about spamming your business ads 24/7 to those you meet online. Networking is about building quality business relationships with others who are also running and promoting a home business.

To build a quality relationship, you need to communicate effectively, participate in non-business and business discussions and more importantly, limit the ‘in your face’ advertisements.

~ Shelly ~

When it comes to promoting your business online, I see way too many people promoting their businesses the wrong way. Here are a few things you need to be aware of in regards to spam.

1. Do not join online forum boards aka work at home mom communities to just spam business ads. If you do this, you will be labled as a spammer by everyone who participates in the wahm communities.

2. You never send out sales promotions or business opportunity information to people via email, unless they have specifically asked for the information. Manually adding folks to your email list is not the way to go. Furthermore, sending out all your business information to people who are in your personal address book is another big mistake.

3. If you are participating on social networking sites such as facebook, myspace, linked-in and twitter and do nothing but post business information…again you will be labled as a spammer. You never send a private message via a social networking site with business information in it…to someone who didn’t request it.

These days I am seeing way too many home business professionals marketing and advertising thier businesses the wrong way.

The quickest way to ruin your online business reputation is to run around spamming other people.

Take the time out of your schedule to learn and educate yourself on the proper way to advertise, market and network your home business online.

~Shelly~

As a home business owner I spend a lot of time online networking as it’s an important part of my Direct Sales Business.

What is Business Networking? According to wikipedia, “Business networking is a marketing method by which business opportunities are created through networks of like-minded business people.” If you can’t go out to local business events, networking online can be a viable alternative.

Why should you spend time networking your business online? By networking online, you can meet new home business professionals and learn from them. Those who have been running a successful business can share with you…what works and doesn’t work. These discussions are usually based around advertising, marketing and recruiting ideas. In return, you can share with others what has worked for you. Networking is a 2-way street, it’s better to give…than to receive.

In addition to learning more about business, you can make new contacts which can lead to new recruits, party bookings and new customers. If you are looking to expand into the online market, you will need to learn how to network and advertise online.

What groups should you join? I recommend going to a major search engine and doing a keyword search for the following: business networking groups and/or work at home discussion boards. A list will come up with the most popular online sites. You will want to join a few groups and fill out your online profile. Once you have that completed, post an introduction to the group and join in on some of the business discussions.

When you network online, you need to be consistent with your efforts. You will want to participate in the groups, 2-3 times a week. By being consistent, you are being visible…which means you are allowing others to get to know you and your business.

When business networking is done properly, you will increase your business knowledge and make new business contacts. These contacts will lead to new sales and new team members. Success doesn’t happen over night, but you will see positive results if you keep at it.

This exclusive article is copyright 2009 by Shelly Hill. All Rights Reserved. This article can not be reprinted without Shelly’s Permission & it is exclusive to this web site.
NOTE: This article is Exclusive to Work At Home Business Options and can not be reproduced without her permission.

Copyright © 2009 Work At Home Business Options and Shelly Hill

Have you considered starting your own online forum board? If so, have you thought about everything that would be involved in starting a new online community?

These days, there are thousands of online message boards for just about any subject matter imaginable. When thinking about starting your own community, there are a few things you need to consider before getting started.

1. What kind of community would you like to have?

example: work from home, business, craft and hobbies, blogging, sports, general chit chat, etc.

2. Is there a need for this type of forum board?

Let’s use Work At Home as our example. These days you can find hundreds, if not thousands of work at home message boards.

Problem: All of these web sites are trying to attract the same type of members.

If you are considering a work at home forum board, how can you make your board unique from the hundreds that already exist?

Solution: Narrow down your focus! Have your work at home message board geared towards one of these areas:

a. City and State
b. Grandparents who work from home
c. Single Parents who work from home
d. Independent home business owners
e. Telecommuting
f. Virtual online businesses
g. Direct Sales businesses

3. Do you have the time to run an online community?

As an experienced forum owner, I can tell you that I spend a minimum of 1 hour a day, 6 days a week, managing my online community. I spend a minimum of 2-3 hours every week just advertising my community so that I can attract new members to my forum boards.

4. Can you afford to run your own online community?

There are some free online message board providers online, however, I personally think you should avoid them. The majority of them have unwanted advertisements on the forum and limited administration control.

I recommend getting your own domain name and web hosting. You can do this affordably for around $110 per year. With this option, you will have complete control over your community.

5. Have you educated yourself about the technical aspects of installing and running your own forum boards?

There are several great articles and How-To guides on the Internet. Go to any of the major search engines and do a keyword search for ‘How To Create A Forum Board’ to find them.

6. Are you in this for the long haul?

Building an online community is not a short-term thing. Members who spend their time on your forum board want to know that the community will be there for years to come.

If you have answered YES to all of the above questions, then it’s time for you to become a forum board owner. With some hard work and patience, you can have a very successful online community.