California Here I Come

My husband and I are going to California for a visit at the end of this week.  We’ll be staying for about a week.  Both our families and friends live in Southern California, so we have quite a few people we want to see.

I’m pretty good about preparing a work schedule, but planning who we are going to see on what day and time and where we will see them has turned into quite a challenge.  We will be there for only one weekend, and some of the people we want to see work during the week and are only available on weekends. 

While we are in California, we’ll be celebrating Independence Day – with whom and where, we do not yet know.

We will be staying with one of our sons in Pasadena.  If you know Southern California at all, you know that it is really spread out, and the traffic is horrible.  Of course, it is worse during “rush hour,” but there is rarely a time when the freeways do not have a great deal of traffic.  Whoever coined the term “rush hour” anyway?  No one is rushing anywhere.  The freeways in Los Angeles become a parking lot, not a racetrack.

We have family and friends in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys, both of which are over thirty miles from where we are staying in Pasadena.  Driving 30 miles where I live in Southeast Arizona would be a quick trip, but in Southern California, depending upon the time of day, it will likely take 45 to 90 minutes.

People in California love their cars.  There is decent public transportation – trains and busses - but the vast majority of people choose to drive their own cars to and from work.  When we are sitting still on an L.A. freeway, I always, wonder “What is wrong with these people?  How can they do this day after day?”  At least car pool for goodness sake!

It is very fortunate that my husband is retired and I have my Xpress Healthcare home business and can work it anywhere I go.  Have laptop, will travel.  So, if this coordination of visits becomes too crazy, there is nothing stopping us from extending our trip to be sure we see everyone.  We can stay an extra day or two – or more.

Those of you who read my blogs regularly may notice that I will not be posting any while I am gone.  We will be leaving either Thursday or Friday, so I’ll get one or two more written this week.  After the trip, I imagine I’ll have a lot to write about. 

Wish us luck in the insanity of Southern California.

http://julie.joinxpress.com/overview-2.html?=blogger

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Successfully marketing a home business can be challenging.  I would like to share a few of my own marketing tips, and I invite comments with your own suggestions.

It is important to target your market.  If you try to target everyone, it actually will undermine your marketing efforts and will produce fewer responses.  For those of us who are IBOToolbox members, our emphasis should be on recruiting, because most people who read our posts and blogs either are business owners themselves or they are seeking a home business.

Be sure that your marketing message is clear, not too complex, too clever or too long.  If no one “gets” your ad, you are wasting time and effort.  I have found that when placing ads on Craigslist.org or Backpage, brief ads produce the best results. Be sure to include your website.  Other contact information is optional, because they should be able to find it on your website.

Do not rely on only one form of marketing.  Social networking is definitely among our most effective marketing tools, but it should not be your only method.  Online ads, distributing flyers locally, handing out business cards, word-of-mouth, mini ads for your email signature are all still good methods. 

One shot marketing to reach out to your prospects does not work.  You must expose yourself repeatedly in various mediums. Some psychologists suggest that it takes 15 or more exposures of an idea or concept before we really accept and understand it.  If you want people to remember you and your business, keep yourself and business in front of them as often as possible and in as many places as possible.

I have people get tired of a certain ad or message they are using, thinking they must change it because it is getting. If you are getting responses from certain ads or wording on a network marketing site, continue using them.  You can add new and different ones, but don’t eliminate an effective one.

It seems obvious, but I occasionally see ads with no easy way to contact the person placing the ad.  I have seen a few posts on IBOToolbox saying, “Contact me for more information,” with no link to do so.

Your marketing message will be competing with many others, so seek ways to make

your stand out.  Be creative and try to pique your prospects’ curiosity.  You can do 

this with a powerful, attention-grabbing headline to attract your reader’s attention.  It can be a question to challenge the reader or provoke a response. 

Be sure to track & measure the results of your marketing efforts.  Nearly all network marketing companies have a “back office” where they can check site stats to see which of your ads or forum posts are working best for you

When placing recruiting ads or posts, let your prospects know how joining your team will benefit them. Besides just earning money, you may want to remind them that they will have home business tax deductions, spend more time with their children and avoid fighting traffic.

Your ads and marketing should always include a call to action.  “Join now!” “Visit our website for additional information.”

Ads should include an attention-grabbing headline, short sentences of two to three lines per paragraph, and on certain sites (where appropriate) bullet points indicating the benefits of your offer, bold, italicized or colored text.  Always remember your call to action telling the reader what you want them to do.  You may even want to add a P.S. (postscript) to reiterate the main benefit for taking your call to action.

These are things I have learned over my years in network marketing.  I would love to see what marketing tips others recommend.

Oh yes, if you’d like more information about the business opportunity I am offering, please visit my website.  http://julie.joinxpress.com/overview-2.html.