Work At Home Business Options

Posts Tagged ‘Networking’

Twitter is one of the hottest online social media networking sites and if you want to conduct an online business you need to have a business and personal presence on Twitter.com.

However…I am seeing way too many direct sales consultants, network marketers and even so-called direct sales coaches/gurus inproperly using Twitter to market themselves or their business.

With that said…you never want to sit over on Twitter and hammer out self-promoting links to your articles, blog, business site, etc. 24 hours a day, on weekends and/or on holidays! C’mon now…everyone needs a break and that includes your followers! No one wants to read tweet after tweet after tweet of you spamming out your business info, links, articles, blog posts and blah blah blah continually!

Twitter is not a classified ad site…it is a social networking site and that means you must socialize with the people who are following you on twitter! (socializing means having a 2-way conversation often with your followers).

Thousands of people are getting fed up with the constant self-promotion going on over on Twitter and they are blocking those who practice it. If you get yourself blocked by numerous followers that defeats your purpose of being over there to network for your business.

My advice…at least 50% of your tweets on twitter should be conversational tweets with your followers or random chit-chat! Like I said, marketers and direct sellers are irking off thousands of twitter users by constantly spamming out self-promoting garbage 24/7.

Twitter will ONLY work for you if you use it properly! So please if you are in direct sales…calm down on the self-promoting and interact with others who are following you on Twitter.

Often times I see consultants giving customers discounts if they purchase products from them. When I ask them why they are giving them these discounts they tell me that they want the customer’s business so giving them a discount will entice the order from the customer.

Well..that might be true and I say “might” because if you are just blindly giving out discounts to people to just get their order it is REALLY going to take a “bite” out of the amount of money that you earn.

In my honest opinion you should not be placing a slew of advertisements (in-print online or offline) offering customers a big discount if they come buy their products from you because you are in a direct sales business to make MONEY. With most direct sales company you earn 25% to 40% in commission and if you are giving a slew of people 10% to 20% off their purchases with you…well…that adds up and that big chunk of discounts takes a huge bite out of your wallet.

I think if you are going to give discounts out to folks it should be LIMITED…like 10% off their FIRST order from you or 10% off their 10th purchase from you or something along those lines. However, I wouldn’t be placing a slew of ads all over the place allowing every Tom, Dick and Harry to take advantage of that discount.

In addition…it should never be a discount with NO expiration date!!! If you really want discounts to work for you they should have an expiration date of 60 days or less so that it encourages the customer to order sooner than later (later…they could forget).

I do believe in giving discounts but on a very limited basis because in direct sales we are not like big retail stores that can take big cuts into our profit line. So my advice…don’t sell yourself short. If you are going to give customer’s discounts…give it to only a few of them at a time and make sure they have a 60 days or less expiration date.

Your thoughts?

When you are on social media networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and you are on those sites to help promote your business it is very important that you conduct yourself in a professional manner at all times.

For most of us that is common sense but for others…well…I am not really sure what kind of sense they have!

A few days ago I was over on Twitter and I was following a girl who has been in direct sales for several years now. The majority of this girls Tweets on Twitter were professional and I enjoyed those tweets. With that said…for the past few weeks I have noticed a change in her and she has been tweeting out offensive language several times a week. I am not sure what is going on in her life (if anything) but if you are using these sites for business you can not use curse words or offensive language in your posts/tweets. While some of your followers are not going to be offended by that type of language, I assure you that others (like myself) will be.

In addition…I have seen a lot of people the past few months sit on Twitter and bash other people and sling mud. Again, that is not appropriate behavior for a person who is on Twitter to network and promote their business.

So today…my post is just a friendly reminder that it is important that you remain a professional on social media networking sites and keep the potty mouth to yourself. Nothing says you are unprofessional more than you using offensive language and it is a quick way to lose followers which means you are losing potential business!

Shelly

10 Ways to Enhance Your LinkedIn Profile by Terri Seymour

Social media sites are more popular than ever and with over 100 million users LinkedIn is in the top five most popular. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network and is an extremely resourceful tool for job hunters, recruiters, business owners, etc. Once you sign up for a LinkedIn account, you must create your professional profile. The more effective your profile, the more professionals can find you and connect with you.

Below are ten things you can do to enhance your profile so it is the most effective it can be in building your network of connections.

1. Complete the Profile – This is very important in that you do not want a half-done, unprofessional profile. This will not accomplish much in the way of building your network of connections. Complete each section, completely and professionally to make the most of your online professional identity. According to LinkedIn, you are 40% more likely to be found in a LinkedIn search with a 100% completed profile as opposed to one that is not completely finished.

2. Always Use a Photo – There are many people who do not want to use photos for various reasons but you need to post a photo on your LinkedIn profile to get more results. You do not have to have a professionally taken photo but you do want it to look professional. People will be more likely to remember your profile if you present a photo of yourself. Photos can also increase the chances of people trusting you.

3. Use a Persuasive Headline – Don’t just plaster your name and title as your profile headline. Add a short slogan or benefit you provide. Compare the two headlines below and decide which one would capture your interest more.

Jane Doe

Virtual Assistant

Jane Doe

Virtual Assistant – I will free up your time and grow your business.

You don’t even have to have your title, you can just stress the benefits you provide or the skills you possess. Use something that makes you the one to choose.

4. List Your Websites – Be sure to add your URL and/or blog to your profile. You can add up to three urls. Customize the tiles of your links as opposed to My Site, My Blog, etc. You can do this by choosing the “Other” category in the Edit Profile section.

5. Get Recommendations – Having people give you recommendations will increase your chances of being found as well as give people more reason to choose you and/or your business or connect with you. You can ask people who have worked with you or past customers for recommendations. If they like your work/service, they will be glad to give a testimonial. You can also trade with people you would recommend but always remember, your reputation is on the line every time you recommend someone so don’t ask random people to trade recommendations.

6. Video Presentation – Add a video presentation to your profile highlighting your skills, services, products, etc. You can do this by going to Google Presentations under “More” in the toolbar at the top of your profile page. Click on More Applications….. then scroll down to Google Presentations. Add the Application and follow the directions on creating your presentation. Be sure to check out the other apps as well for a more productive profile.

7. Experience and Skills – Be sure to list all your experience and skills using relevant keywords. Be thorough, precise and complete when describing your skills and your experience. Be sure to be grammatically correct and proofread every sentence.

8. Professional Summary and Specialties – When writing your summary, let people know what you are about and what you can do for them. Use short precise paragraphs. Get to the point and be convincing. List your Specialties so they are much easier to read and capture attention quicker.

9. Keep Active – Do NOT fill out your profile and never come back. You need to keep updating regularly and be active on your profile. Get involved with LinkedIn and become a participant. Nobody wants to connect with a dead page!

10. Join Relevant Groups – Joining groups is one way to stay active and become involved with other LinkedIn users and professionals. Participate in the discussions and offer help, advice, support whenever you can.

When joining networking sites such as LinkedIn, you have to take the time to create productive profiles and pages. Put the time and effort into all the above enhancements and your LinkedIn profile will be much more effective.

Terri Seymour has over twelve years of online experience and has helped many people start their own business. Visit her site for resources, $1 and $2 resell ebooks & software, informative articles, and affiliate programs. Sign up for the RSS Feed for a free business ebook with MRR. http://www.SeymourProducts.com

Article Source: WAHM Articles

One of the most popular online social media networking sites happens to be called Twitter.com and when you visit and use Twitter.com you will quickly see why it has become one of the favorite online networking sites for those who are in Direct Sales or a Service-Type of home business.

When you are marketing your business on Twitter, it is very important that you NEVER do any of the following things that I am going to list for you today. Why you might ask? These are the top pet peeves of experienced marketers on Twitter and they absolutely hate it when newbies do these things. With that said, if you want to lose followers and not gain them…then by all means, do these things!

1. Do not send out automatic direct messages to people who follow you. People who follow you view this as Direct Message Spam. Not sure what this is? Let me explain. Some people set up their Twitter accounts to send out automatic direct messages to those who follow them and it does nothing but junk up their message inbox and it “irks” your followers with business spam.

2. Do not set up your Twitter account to automatically spam out numerous Tweets for your account every hour of the day, 24/7 as it is considered to be Tweet Spam. Your account should always have MORE real-live tweets made by you than prescheduled spam tweets. People want to network and chat with a ‘real live human’ and not some set-up spam factory Tweeter over there on Twitter.

3. Do not post unprofessional photo’s of yourself as your business avatar on your Twitter profile home page. Whatever graphic you decide to use as your company’s avatar does reflect on you and your professionalism so please choose an appropriate avatar graphic.

4. Please watch your language when Tweeting on Twitter!!! I have been spending some time this past week reading a lot of people’s Tweet streams and I have been “disgusted” with some of the language I have seen used on Twitter this past week. Please…keep the trash talking language to yourself.

These are 4 very important things you should avoid doing over on the social media networking site called Twitter. If you ask me…they are pretty common sense but apparently…they do need to be repeated since a lot of people are still networking incorrectly on Twitter.

Take your time with your business networking tactics….learn to do things the right way so that you avoid mistakes down the road. Happy Networking!

Twitter Abbreviations to Shorten Your Marketing Tweets by Tammy Embrich

There have been so many times where I wanted to say a whole lot more than 140 characters on Twitter. We’ve all been there! And honestly, that amount of space IS quite a bit to convey a message. However, there are many that simply don’t agree. Still, we all have to abide by that one limit.

There are many clever abbreviations we can use to shorten up tweets. Most people like short and to the point. Make it a long, long message and folks often get lost in it. And what do they do? They move on!

You of course want people to stay long enough to read your post. I know for myself, on a website for example…if there is a super long welcome message, I will most often click away. However on Twitter, the platform takes care of that issue. We have 140 characters, use them wise!

Below is a handful of abbreviations, link and tweet shorteners, for your use

DM = direct message

RT = retweet

LOL = laugh out loud

BTW= by the way

b4 = before

1 = one, won

2 = to, too, two

fab = fabulous

fave = favorite

GR8 = great

FB = facebook

FYI = for your information

LMK = let me know

peeps = people

plz = please

TYT = take your time

L8er = later

thx = thanks

TY = thank you

2u = to you

Tweeple = twitter people

JK j/k = just kidding

K = okay

IMHO = in my humble opinion

IC = I see

fwd = forward

Shortening Links

The links we use on Twitter can be very long. Fortunately there are many link shortening services at our disposal. I prefer bit.ly, as I have it in my favorites so all I have to do is click and enter my URL, and click shorten, and it instantly gives me the shortened version.

However, there are various shorteners I see others using, as there are a lot of alternatives. Below are a few I have listed for your convenience.

bit.ly

twitpwr.com

ow.ly/url/shorten-url

su.pr/

is.gd/

tinyurl.com

Need to make your tweet less than 140 characters?

140it

Tweet Compressor

Twonvert

TweetShrink

TwitterEyes

Twitblogs

shortText.com

BigTweet

Twittermail.com

Twitlonger.com

tweetitin.com/

Hopefully the resources I’ve provided will be of some help with your marketing, and also make your Twitter experience a better one.

Article Written By: Tammy Embrich

Tammy has been successful in the work at home industry for many years now. She is an Internet marketer, article marketer, and ghostwriter. She offers free job leads for the job seeker, as well as other free resources, work at home articles, tips, and more at Work At Home Jobs.

You can also find Tammy at her Grandparenting Articles and Tips blog, offering grandmother’s experiences, brags, recipes, tips, photos, and more.

Article Source: WAHM Articles