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The Best Part Of Going To Company Events

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

The view from my hotel window in Vegas.

I just returned from two back-to-back marketing and financial education events at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The first was an elite four-day, all inclusive wealth conference hosted by Wealth Masters International for their M2 members. It was four days of intense education on the economy and how we can amass wealth while most people are going down the tubes. And it had NOTHING to do with picking stocks or opening a brokerage account. Refreshing stuff, considering that I’m totally burned out on mainstream investing and following the greedy wall street deceivers.

Okay. Off the soapbox. Let’s just say that I know something you don’t know, unless you were there… or you have some very savvy connections.

The next event was a one day Internet marketing event for Carbon Copy Pro members. CCPro is an educational program which focuses on teaching small business owners how to market any product or company online. They are turning out some of the world’s best Internet marketers, including yours truly. (I am both a perpetual student of marketing and a trainer.)

Lena Bjorna is a member of my mastermind group. She has great style online and in person!

The information at these events was totally outstanding, but the best part of attending is getting to meet new associates, and being able to connect with old ones. Those of us who work online look forward to these events as a counterpoint to what can be a very solitary occupation, no matter how many tweets and phone calls we make throughout the day. Let’s face it, the energy of being face-to-face with someone is totally different than an instant message!

That said, here’s some photos of me and the people I spend the most “electronic” time with, masterminding on the phone and emailing and webinaring, etc. It’s always fabulous to be with them. If you’re an Internet marketer, I hope you have such a great group, too!

Justin Woolf, Anthony Busciglio are part of my mastermind group and Greg McMahon is a great buddy.

Todd and Cheryl Davis and Tom Johnson are new members of my WMI team.

Todd and Cheryl Davis and Tom Johnson are new members of my WMI/CCPro team.

It's great to get together with Gregg Davison, but impossible to keep up with his hair style!

Brian Fanale is my best artist-friend in the group.

Kirk Patterson is a fun member of my mastermind group. We compared marketing techniques and tequila.

James Hickey is one of the first people I met at a CCPro event in Dallas. It's great to stay in touch!

Posted in Business, Investing, Marketing | 4 Responses »
Tags: internet marketing, marketing event, online home business, wealth conference

Newspapers Are For Burning.

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Are You The Owner Of A Small Business? What happened when you last advertized in a newspaper? Did it get the results you expected, or not?

In many households, including mine (and maybe yours), newspapers are subscribed to out of habit and embedded tradition. However, most of the editions stack up unread and end up in the recycle bin, or in the fireplace.

There is no way, if you have been in business longer than a week, that you do not know about internet advertising. Have you ever tried it? Got any results?

As owner of several stores, my original thoughts on internet marketing all centered around having a great website. Eventually I had several. The shops had websites, but it seemed that only our existing customers visited them.

I had no idea how to drive traffic to the sites, and the professionals I consulted with only knew about web site design and advertising, not marketing.

You see, there is a huge difference between advertising and marketing.

What I learned is that having a great web site is a form of advertising. But it’s like advertising in the middle of a newspaper which is never opened. If no one goes there, what’s the sense?

It takes marketing to get new customers to your website.

If you advertise, and the business traffic doesn’t pick up, it’s time to learn about marketing or to hire an agency to handle the problem.

How’s traffic on your websites? Is anyone finding them? Have you considered hiring a professional internet marketing company to help out?

Before You Hire A Marketing Company To Handle Your Online Presence,

Ask Yourself A Few Questions:

1. How many thousands of dollars will you spend on marketing each year if you contract with an agency? (Not advertising, just marketing)

2. Do you know the difference between marketing and advertising?

3. Are you willing to trust the future growth of your business to “professionals” who are not specialists in your industry?

4. If you do not market your business, what will happen?

5. How can you grow your business on a tight budget?

6. Are you willing to learn a new skill set which can easily save you thousands of dollars and get new customers for your business?

Internet marketing can be easily learned. It is not rocket science, and several online training courses are available for small business owners who want a do-it-yourself solution to promoting their businesses.

One training program can be found here.

Posted in Business, Marketing | 3 Responses »
Tags: internet business training, internet marketing, online marketing, small business marketing

Why Network Marketers Are Afraid Of Working Online.

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Why are many network marketers afraid of the internet? Working online could make their teams grow, right? So what’s the problem?

There are many network marketing companies to choose from. Most follow a multi-tiered compensation program, and are commonly referred to as MLMs. And, the majority build their teams using traditional methods, offline.

The reason for the focus on traditional prospecting techniques is obvious. The people who started the companies modeled them after companies which were already successful. It is the business model they are familiar with. It is their strength.

Until recently, there was no alternative to the tried-and-true traditional methods. There were no companies formed by internet marketers, simply because there was not a precedent.

However, that situation has now changed. Several new MLM companies have sprung up which operate exclusively on the internet. They are mavericks, but their training programs usually range from rudimentary to excellent. They are mostly strong on product, and weak on internet savvy.

But where does that leave network marketers who do not want to jump ship and join one of the newer online opportunities? Many of them are totally intimidated by online technology, so if they are looking for a change, it will most likely be a lateral shift into another traditional MLM. Others who are trying to find a way to market their traditional companies online, really have very few options.

The proliferation of self-professed gurus also confuses their choices for learning online marketing. Usually the gurus have set up shop, it seems, as a ruse to lure unsuspecting followers into a network marketing company they covertly endorse.

On the surface, the only choice for network marketers to succeed online is to jump ship and start over. However, a handful of new companies have emerged which provide expert online marketing training and a generic platform which can be adapted to any marketing company.

The new training-oriented generic marketing systems can remove the fear of online marketing. The best programs explain every step in terms which newcomers to online marketing can easily understand. They offer video tutorials, live training, and in-depth instructions.

The new training sites are a major opportunity for traditional network marketers to expand their lead generation efforts and move their team-building efforts to a new level in their current company.

The generic marketing and training company which I use is PrimaryBusinesses.Net

Posted in Business, Marketing | 1 Response »
Tags: home business, internet business training, internet marketing, online marketing

Funded Proposals Online: Old Kid In New Clothes?

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

Funded proposals are used in online attraction marketing systems, but they have been around longer than the Internet.

A funded proposal is a small item which is sold as a “leader” in many sales businesses. In retail businesses, the funded proposal is often referred to as a “loss leader,” which is something being sold at an attractively low price, for a small profit, or sometimes even being sold for below its wholesale cost.

Funded proposals and sales leaders are used to attract customers to a business and to qualify them as customers. The object is to increase a company’s customer base, and allow further marketing with the goal of having the customer buy more profitable items in the future.

An example of employing an off-line funded proposal is a high-quality, framed art print which was offered in art gallery for thirty-seven dollars. Prices of other original art in the gallery start at six hundred dollars and go up into the thousands. Many people visit the gallery to “browse” and some of them buy the small framed print.

The small sales pay much of the gallery’s expenses, and give the buyers a comfort level with the business. They return as “customers” instead of “browsers,” and many upgrade to buy thousands of dollars of art over the next months and years.

Online network marketers use a funded proposals in a similar way. A marketer who has a program costing hundreds or thousands of dollars, may first introduces his leads to a capture page which offers an attractively priced e-book. Those who buy the e-book experience the quality level of the network marketer’s offerings. They also become part the marketer’s email-list, and receive information about other products and the primary business.

The small sales help pay for the online marketer’s operating expenses, and build his customer base. The customers get a chance to become acquainted with the marketer, and they go on to buy more products or join the primary business.

Funded proposals are valuable tools for any business. Using them consistently will help build customers and profits.

Network marketers can find a pre-made funded proposal marketing system at PrimaryBusinesses.Net

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: funded proposal, internet business training, internet marketing, Marketing, online marketing

How Will I Get Paid?

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

It is a big mystery to a lot of people how money exchanges hands on the Internet.

Basically you need a “Merchant Account” which is a service which allows you to accept credit cards. The merchant account is connected to a page on your web site which is an “order page” where your customer can pay you by credit card.

You need this service because that is how money exchanges hands on the Internet, via credit and debit cards. You need you own merchant account to process the cards, or your company needs to provide one where they handle the transactions for you.

The advantage of having your own merchant account, if you are working with a company which allows you to have it (some don’t) is that you are handling the money.

That means that you are getting paid first, and then you give the company their portion.

If you must use the company-provided merchant account, then you will be in the position of having to wait for your money. So the issue will be how often they pay. Do they pay every week, month, quarter? And what is their accounting period? For example, do they pay for sales made in the previous week, or is there a delay? Some companies hold the money for several weeks or months for it to “clear” before paying their consultants. “Clear” generally means that the company’s return policy has expired, and customers cannot get a refund.

Also, what system does the company have to get the money to you? Do they send a check? Direct deposit? PayPal?

To get a report outlining other questions about network marketing online, subscribe to my newsletter.

There are so many different ways which you can be paid. Many Internet business owners get discouraged because of the long delay in receiving their funds. So ask the question and make sure you are comfortable with the answer.

Posted in Business | No Responses »
Tags: home business, internet marketing, making money online, merchant account, mlm business, network marketing business

Do I Need Computer Skills?

Friday, August 7th, 2009

The Number One question that I get asked all the time is “What if I don’t know much about the Internet?” and “What if I don’t know how to do business online?”

(Which is basically telling me that someone is not comfortable using a computer.)

People tell me that they have a fear of the computer, and of doing things “wrong” and ruining the internet or their computer, or both!

There are a couple of answers to this. The first is that yes, you should have some rudimentary Internet skills. I like to say that if you have the basic ability to send an email, and attach a photo to an email, and to do simple word processing (which is basically being able to write and edit an email and use spell-check) that you have the start of what you need to get you going.

But you do have to be open to the idea of learning a few things. So don’t be afraid of it! Internet marketing simply requires learning a new skill set. No one is born knowing it!

People think that kids know this stuff, but the reality is that everyone learns by doing things over and over again, and learning things that they need to know, as they go along.

I made a report about this and several other points which I think are important for anyone interested in doing a network marketing business online. You can get the report and subscribe to my private marketing newsletter by signing in here.

So that’s how you should approach this. Just keep in mint that you will be learning things as you go. You’re going to be involved in a lot of new concepts. So be open to that. Treat it like you’re back in school, and you will learn these skills that you need to know — one by one – and get along on the Internet!

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: home business, internet marketing, MLM, network marketing business, online business, online marketing, report

Bruce Wood

Artist, Entrepreneur & Business Coach