Why should I blog?

Blogging improves your Search Engine Optimization, bringing more prospects to your website.  Your SEO will only improve only if you keep the content fresh.  It is necessary to add new, updated posts frequently.   If your blog site is inactive, your SEO ranking will not increase. 

Most people already use Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.  To improve your Social Media Optimization, write and maintain a blog.  Creating relationships on social media sites can drive traffic to your website.  However, writing a blog can drive even more.

Blogs can be an important way to generate high-quality leads.  People who follow your blogs will discover that you sell a product or are offering a business opportunity.  Some of those people will ask you for information or visit your website. Some of those people may become customers or team members.   

By using keywords and phrases in your blog, it will extend the reach of your brand.   Branding both yourself and your business is important to the success of your business; by using keywords in your blogs you’ll bring more people to them, thus further promoting your brand.

Using quotes, poems or miscellaneous material from others’ websites is not against any rules, but you MUST credit the original author and website.  However, until you grow a following with your blog, it is not a good idea.  Even then, the majority of the content on your blogs should be original.    

Social media is great for brief interactions.  Blogging allows you to connect more with your friends, followers, readers and prospects in more depth.  If you’re active on social media sites, it is likely that your connections would like to know more about you.  A blog offers the opportunity to reveal more about yourself so people will begin to feel more like they “know” you.  You can include a link to your blog site in your email signature, on your Twitter bio and Facebook profile.

If you have never written a blog and don’t think you can, make a commitment to yourself to begin writing a blog this week to help you grow as business person.  No one will grade your writing or judge you.  You need not blog every day.  Once or twice a week is sufficient, particularly if your time is limited.

The benefits of blogging to you and your business go beyond those I’ve written here.  Try it, you’ll like it!

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com

The Importance of Social Media Marketing

If it works for them, no one should stop marketing in the “traditional” ways.  However, for those who are not yet doing so, the following statistics show how important social media marketing has become over the past few years.  Since you are reading this, you obviously visit social networking sites.  If you are not yet using social network marketing, I must ask, why not? 

I have been using social media marketing for a couple years, but still, I was surprised by these figures.  Compiled from a variety of websites, you will see a list of stats below regarding marketing via social networking sites.  These statistics were gleaned from websites of Experian, HubSpot, Socialbakers, Syncapse, Compete, Twitter, American Express, Ipsos, and Nielsen.

·        On Facebook, 85% of fans of brands recommend them to others, compared to 60% of average users.

·        Of all the time spent on the internet in the U.S., 27% of that time is spent on social networking sites.

·        Among marketers, 74% say Facebook is an important source of their lead generation.

·        48% of women and 43% of men regularly check out a brand's social page.

·        Trade shows, telemarketing, direct mail and PPC’s produce about half the number of leads as social network marketing.

·        In 2013, 43% of all marketers have found a customer via LinkedIn; 52% of all marketers acquired a customer through Facebook; and 36% of all marketers found a customer through Twitter.

·        U.S. mobile internet time spent on social networking sites accounts for about 15% of the total time spent.

·        The conversion rate for social media leads are 13% higher than the average lead conversion rate.

·        When making a purchase decision, about 46% of online users refer to social media.

·        Brand posts on Facebook get half of their reach within 30 minutes of being posted.  

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com. 

They Don’t Make ‘em Like They Used To…

I bought a new printer in April.  It is a pretty basic multi-functional printer that does the things for which I need a printer.  Except when it doesn’t.  Three months!  I’ve had it only three months, and it stopped working.  I called their “tech support,” and the rep had me go through a couple tests.  Then, he tells me he’ll be sending me a replacement printer in three to five days!  Hey, I’m running a business here.  Three to five days!  The rep spoke to his supervisor, and then he told me they’d ship it overnight and I’d have it tomorrow.

So until I get a workable printer, I am emailing everything I need to print to my husband for him to print on his printer.

I never heard the announcement.  Exactly when did companies begin producing products that were not meant to last?  If the item is electronic, it is a good possibility that another product will be released soon after you purchase yours that is a better version.

Last year, 40 years after I purchased it (with Blue Chip Stamps), my Pressure Cooker broke.  I used it for 40 years! The one I purchased to replace it is not nearly as good.

I have a rice cooker that I purchased in 1970.  I still use it about once a week.  It looks and operates exactly the same as it did the day I bought it.

I bought my washing machine, clothes dryer and refrigerator about twenty years ago.  I am still using them all.

I believe the use of plastic instead of longer-lasting metal contributes to various products being built with no intention of them lasting very long.  Has quality control been reduced so much that companies no longer care whether or not their merchandise is durable?

Whatever the cause, it is a real shame.  Plastic will continue filling up our landfills until we’re buried in it.  Mind you, I don’t pretend to have the answer to this situation.  But I am seriously having difficulty adjusting to disposable everything!  How about you?

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com. 

I am TRYING Not to Get Overwhelmed…

Those who have read my PR’s regularly know that my husband and I want to leave Arizona and move to Southern California where our family lives.  Our house has been on the market for 17 months.  Today the SECOND person looked at it.  (We don’t yet know what that person thought of the house.)  Two people in nearly a year-and-a-half!

Since we are already “Seasoned” Citizens, we know that moving will be physically tiring.  I have health issues that would make it even more challenging. If we wait much longer, it will be even more difficult.

I recently learned about Reverse Mortgage Purchase Loans.  I was familiar with Reverse Mortgages, but not for the purchase of a home.  From what I’ve learned, the borrower must put nearly ½ the cost of the home down.  Then, they have no mortgage as long as they live in the home.  There would still be the expense of taxes and homeowners insurance. Their heirs pay off any remaining portion of the loan upon the owner’s passing. 

What about our current house?  We still haven’t sold it, and we’ve seen many houses in our area trashed when they’ve been rented out.  My biggest concern is our floors.  We have beautiful wood laminate floors throughout our house.  If not maintained properly, they’ll be destroyed. 

I learned some others things that MAY help resolve that problem as well.  I am revealing my lack of knowledge in the area of real estate here, but it is a fact, so why hide it?  I learned that:

1) I can place restrictions on a rental agreement stating that only those older than 55 may rent the house, or that we will not rent to anyone with children… Whatever restrictions we wish (which would, of course limit the prospective renters);

2)  We can insist on a large security deposit to at least partially cover any damages caused by renters; and

3)  We can require that the renters have renters’ insurance so that, if they cause damage their insurance, not ours, would pay for repairs.

So, here we are today, trying to research how much we could pay for a house in California when we have to put ½ down.  We are researching to learn more about the Reverse Mortgage Purchase Loan.  Should we look locally, online or in California? 

Another HUGE decision is exactly where in California we want to move?  Southern California is a very large area, and our family lives in various cities throughout Los Angeles County.  The housing costs have begun to recover, so we could not afford to live in many areas, and I wouldn’t want to live in some others.

So, as you can see, I have a lot on my mind.  I am trying to work my business and still find time to do research to help us make these decisions.  As I mentioned, I am not knowledgeable in this area, but my husband is even less so. (I at least handled my mother’s finances the last few years of her life, and I was the executor of my parents’ estate.  I handled the sale of her home, fulfilling the conditions in their wills, etc.)

Our contract with our current real estate agent expires on July 24^th.  We have to know what we want and need to do by that time (assuming our house isn’t sold).  If any readers of this blog have knowledge in this area and care to offer suggestions, I’m open to them!  Meanwhile, I am trying very hard not to let all these thoughts racing around in my head overwhelm me. 

I think I’ll go try to get some work done now.

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com. 

What Do You Know About Your Competition?

You could say that every network marketing company is competition to your network marketing company, but that would only be vaguely correct.  Every reputable company in the industry must offer a product or service.  Those that do not are illegal.  Therefore, your true competition is any other company that sells the same or a similar product or service that you promote.

Do you know which companies actually are your competitors?  We all should know this, because we want to be sure our marketing plans shows how your company is superior to your competitors.  We do NOT do this by “bashing” the competition, which is totally unprofessional. 

Instead, in our advertising, we must state something about our company that we know is better than our competition’s.

Here is an example of how I do this.  My company’s main competition has a very complicated compensation plan.  Each of their reps is paid differently based and receives different benefits based upon how much they pay their company each month.  Many prospects have told me how confusing they found that company’s policies.

My ads often say, “EVERYONE receives the same benefits, the same residual commission and pays the same low monthly fee.”

Our competitor also charges fees for various tools they offer their reps.  So, my ads may also include, “Websites, lead capture pages and autoresponders are all included in your one low monthly fee.  NO other fees are required to build your business.”

It was not necessary for me to say anything negative about our competitor, but if a prospect was researching both companies, my ad demonstrated why my company was the better choice.

To understand this part of my message, you must know that my company sells discount benefit plans that help people save money on health and dental care, roadside assistance, pet care, and much more.  My company’s competition sells many of the same services we offer, and they are good services.  However, their services are provided by a network of providers about which most people are unfamiliar.  My company’s provider networks are well-known, nationwide companies.  We even see one of our provider networks advertised on television!

So, my ads often name the well-known provider networks to make our products stand out from our competitors.

It is very important that we know how our competitors operate their business, how they resolve problems with their reps and how their products or services compare to your own.  Visit their websites.  Look on forums and perform a search engine inquiry to see if you find complaints against them. 

I repeat that you should NEVER say anything bad about your competitor or their products.  Instead, by showing how your company stands out from the crowd, the wise prospective customer will compare your company with your competitors and select yours because of how you presented it.

By always posting positively about your business and on forums, you will gain far more new reps and sell more products than your competition.

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com. 

Adjusting to the New IBOToolbox

If you are not already an IBOToolbox member, you’ll want to check it out!  It is a FREE unique marketing platform. No upgrades are even available. Join, participate, enjoy.  http://www.ibotoolbox.com/invited.aspx?jid=11454

I have been an active IBOToolbox member since September 2011.  I love the many tools offered to us free and how, by participating on IBO, my business, my name -my brand are distributed widely by other members and IBO.

Although the new version of IBOToolbox looks dramatically different, I haven’t found much different about how to use it or the tools available. There is nothing wrong with the new version, it simply doesn’t seem that “new” to me.  I might be missing something. 

I have noticed a couple different things that are not, in my opinion, necessarily improvements.  Now, when we prepare a press release, depending upon what software you use to type your original text, when you copy/paste it into IBO, the formatting changes. Unfortunately, it appears that many IBO members do not look at their final product once published.  I have noticed that there are many PR’s with no paragraph breaks, and the title has no spaces.  If we look at the completed PR once published and discover these formatting errors, we can go back to IBOToolbox and revise the formatting. 

To create paragraph breaks, AFTER pasting the PR into IBO, put an extra space between each paragraph, and an extra space between each word on the title.  It only takes a couple seconds, and it solves the problem.  (I do not believe this formatting problem occurs if you type your PR in WordPad.  I personally prefer using MS Word although I realize IBO recommends that we not do so.)

Another change I have noticed is that individual folders within our associate lists are no longer available.  I contacted IBO, and I was informed that people found it too confusing.  I used those folders to categorize my associates.  For instance, I had a folder for my team members so I could be sure to read their posts each day.  Now, I have to look for them through the list of nearly 1000 associates I have.  I have discovered, however, that we can sort the list by "last post" date, which does narrow down the search a great deal.

One-thousand associates may not seem a lot for someone active on IBO for so long.  However, what I have always done is periodically review my list of associates.  Some with whom I have associated never complete their profile or have only one star after months as an IBO member. To keep my associate list more manageable, I un-associate with those people.

I have had some people new to IBO ask me how much time they should spend on IBO each day.  The answer varies, depending upon whether the member is working their business full or part-time.  I work my business full time, and I have been active long enough to have many people that I follow and many who follow my posts. Considering that a big part of IBO is to drive people to our company websites or our IBOSocial profile pages, I set a daily goal for myself.  When my daily IBO stats show at least 200 profile visits, I know I have put in a good amount of time and effort for that day.  For those who work fewer hours, they could set a goal of 25, 50 or 100.  It is, for me, a good way to measure my activity each day.

If anyone else has tips that make using IBO easier, it would be great if you shared them as well.

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  

Do You Have What it Takes?

A large percentage of the population would like a home business, but not all are qualified to do so.   Network Marketing, in particular, requires certain qualities/characteristics.

One characteristic I find missing with many network marketers is Self-Motivation.  When they have no boss assigning tasks, they cannot seem to get started on their own.

Passion is needed to be successful with any business.  We must love our product or service and use it ourselves.  Passion for our business, the company, helps us to sell the business opportunity to others.

Those with an Entrepreneurial Spirit are the most likely to achieve success.  This simply means they have focus and perseverance, and that they can be innovative. 

A network marketer must like people and enjoy socializing, or the industry is not a good match for them.  Even more than their products, they must be able to sell themselves. 

Network marketers must be willing and able to Step Out of Their Comfort Zone.  For example, I dislike being in front of a camera, but I know that videos sell.  So I create marketing videos periodically and have recorded about a dozen.  Viewers of my videos can see that I am nervous, even looking down at my notes while speaking.  As uncomfortable as I am, I force myself to create videos, because they work!

Be Coachable.  Some people don’t know what it means to be coachable.  “'Coachability’ is the willingness to be corrected and to act on that correction. When we are coachable, we are prepared to be wrong... We are willing to let others evaluate… even plumb the depths of our performance because we understand that the journey of personal development cannot be traveled alone.”  Timothy R. Clark, from the article, “On Leadership: Are you coachable?”

Those not yet in the industry should ask themselves whether they actually have what it takes.  If they do not, they will save themselves and others a great deal of time by seeking another type of work.

There is no test to give prospective team members to see if they qualify.   All we can do is interview them to get “a feel” for their background, experience and skills.  The attrition rate in network marketing reflects the fact that we can never be certain who does or does not qualify to be a network marketer.

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.