Advise to a Multi-Level Marketer

Here's a request for advise I received on a multi-level marketing website from Barbara T. Since I get many inquiries in this field I thought that sharing this information may help other MLM entrepreneurs.

If you are serious about making money with the program you'll need to have your own website (which you do) and you'll need to read carefully the rules the company has put out about having your own site. Many times they will have to review the site for approval (to make sure you haven't misrepresented anything).Once you know what is allowed then you can go to work to make your site successful.

Two things you should know right off the top: 1) Having a website does not automatically guarantee you'll get traffic or make sales (leads) and 2) it will cost you in terms of time and / or money to have a successful website.

The person who told you about putting keywords in the title was right but the title you have is wrong. The title of the page is in the source code along with the description and keyword tags. Write these without hype, be genuinely descriptive and don't include keywords that do not appear in text on the page.

The headline is what you have on the page as a "title." The headline is not for selling. No one is going to come to your site and immediately buy. First they are going to review (scan) the information on the site. The headline should be a compelling statement that will encourage the visitor to go further. Example: "The #1 new year's resolution often fails." Then you could follow it in a slightly smalller text "But you can keep your resolution to lose weight - our product will help"

You also need to have the distributor link and information.

Since it could take a year or more for your site to get good traffic naturally from the search engines, you'll probably need to use pay per click advertising and have a solid landing page to capture leads.

The info above will get you started. . . You'll need a contact form that will generate leads for you as well.

The Magic Formula

The Magic Formula for Online Marketing

What is the magic formula for successful online marketing? That's what everyone wants to know. It's a constant quest for the true "best practice" that guarantees more business online.

Today I got a great comment from one of my long time clients, Get A Move On (I must confess, I love to hear about the great returns my clients are experiencing).
"We are getting lots of contact requests off of our website. Thank you. We book 80% of them vs 10% of our other internet leads"
So what was his "magic formula?" Well it was paying close attention to the keywords people were using to find his site and the top keywords in his business (moving and storage). He already has high rankings for certain terms, uses google local and started using PPC last year. His pay-per-click campaign is geographically targeted using the same keywords that give him results in the search engines and as identified with WordTracker.

Also an important part of his online marketing campaign is the development of ppc ads that grab attention and a corresponding landing page constructed to convert the incoming traffic to paying customers.

Will this work for your business online? Yes because the basic concepts of solid keyword research is an integral part of every successful campaign. Also important is the implementation of a planned course of action that every visitor should take. Taking advantage of local and geographically targeted campaigns will further qualify your audience. But these are just a few of the elements that go into a successful online marketing program.

Another key factor is the ability of the business owner (or website developer) to work in concert with the internet marketing professional. By having a committed team working with the marketing of the website the necessary tasks can be completed quickly bringing even faster results.

How Big is the Internet?

Well, apparently the internet population has reached the billions according to comScore! And, even though that's only 15% to 22% of the entire global populations, that's still a very large number of people.

In the United States alone, 163.3 million people are considered part of the internet populations.
It's interesting to think back at how our world has changed since we first gained access to the internet. This week the President found that the White House was in the "dark ages" when it came to technology. Of course, the technology that the White House had before the new administration would have shocked even Benjamin Franklin!

Last week I read an article about the end of television advertising for Century 21 Realty. The internet has provided them with so much more in the way of leads per dollar that television pales in comparison.

And then consider the number of newspapers that are looking at bankruptcy or folding completely.

The internet has most definitely changed our world.

44th President

Today I watched the Inauguration of our new president. I am pretty sure this is the only time in my life I've ever watched the ceremony and I know it's the only time I've ever been so in awe of the tasks that are now on Obama's shoulders. I'm sure that by morning the full weight of the world will be felt. I know I couldn't do his job.

I am also inspired by the change he has stood for during his campaign and his first speech as president. He has so many people counting on him for so much.

I hope that during his term he will not forget how he touched people through the internet and in person. He really seemed to get on the same level as the people. He seemed to have a grasp on what we were all going through.

I know not everyone is pleased with having Obama as president. Now is the time to put that aside and help him to make the change necessary to bring our nation back from the brink. This year it will be more important than ever to communicate with our congressional representatives and senators. If you don't know who they are and how to contact them, take the time to find out because it is certain that you will have an opinion and want to your voice to be heard.

God Bless our 44th President. May he be well guided and wise in his role.

Why text content is king

I saw an interesting post in Twitter today so I took a closer look. Steve Rubel had written an excellent post regarding the value of true text on the internet and why it is still the king.

Here are the reasons as he listed them and a couple of my own:

• It's scannable - according to Jakob Nielsen users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average site visit and 20% is more likely

• Three letters: SEO - For all that Google Universal Search has done to elevate video, search results are still largely made up of text and everyone wants better SEO

• The workplace - It's much easier for cube-based workers to read text on the screen and get away with it vs. watching long videos. Watching videos (even work related vids) screams "slacker"

• Mobile Devices - Yes, of course you can put a video on an iPhone and iPad. But it's work and requires planning. Text is easier to pull up in a nanosecond

• Distribution - Nothing flies like text. It's so easy to cut and paste it and send it somewhere or to clip and re-syndicate it via email, RSS or social networks
• Content is a core component to social marketing campaigns.  And having unique content on your own website gives people a reason to come back to your website over and over - great ongoing exposure for your business.

Although text is the best, the major search engines are always seeking ways to index alternative web content like videos. While we are seeing that videos are gaining momentum as quality content because, fundamentally, we are all visual people.  The fact is that people want to be able to have something tangible when they are comparison shopping, learning new information and etc. Text content is the best way to "hold on to" that information in a way that allows your brain to digest and your computer to store information.

So if you want to attract attention, get rid of the splash page and add some solid searchable, scannable content.  And remember to add images for distribution across social media like Facebook, Pinterest and Google plus!