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Digital Marketing Skills Are Requisite for Marketing Jobs, Find Out Why!

So you are a fresher and looking for marketing jobs? Here is a good piece of news for you! As per the India Skills Report 2014, there would be an increase of 18-23 percent of fresher hiring in sectors across. Companies are readily seeking fresh graduates to bolster productivity and growth. Also, the India Skills report is the joint effort of teams from Wheebox, PeopleStrong, HR Services, LinkedIn and Confederation of Indian Industry.

Let us now take a closer look as why a marketing aspirant needs to be familiar with the world of digital marketing.

As per the survey of industry body, Associated Chambers of commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), only 10 percent MBA’s in India are employable in reality. The prime reasons behind such a situation are the gap between industry specific skills and education. These days, marketing employers are not interested in candidate’s internships or grades; all they want is industry specific skills.

Today, the marketing landscape has changed drastically. If we talk about the present scenario, digital marketing is the booming industry that is expected to create 1.5 lakh jobs in the next five years. There is a huge demand of digital marketers, but still there is paucity of talent and professionals. Below listed are the five compelling reasons as why a marketing aspirant needs to have skills in online advertising.

Digital marketing is the future of marketing

There have been ample surveys and reports which claim that online marketing would be the future of marketing. This is a digital age. The tech savvy present age generation and the ever-growing internet population has the paved the path of digital marketing.

The rising popularity of Smartphone’s, tablets, smart TVs and so on have compelled the businesses to target and engage their potential audience through these digital channels.

Digital marketing skills are high in demand

Online marketing has been recognized as the top five careers to look out for. The hiring managers are readily looking for marketing candidates with the knowledge and skills in digital marketing. Be it real estate, hospitality, B2B businesses, retail, consultancy, manufacturing, export-import and many other industries are keen on hiring professionals with relevant skills in this domain.

Better pay in digital marketing jobs

Online advertising is indeed a lucrative career domain. I will tell you how. In online advertising, you can directly connect with your prospective client/customer and generate leads and sales in real-time. Since, professionals in this industry are involved in revenue generation, they are paid handsome salaries.

Wide variety of jobs in digital marketing

The prominent areas of employment include search engine optimization, social media marketing search engine marketing, content writing and so on.

So if you wish to land in your dream marketing job, make sure that you’re armed with digital marketing skills as it will give you an edge over your competitors. On a conclusive note, it would be good to say that a job in booming online marketing field will help you to carve a niche career.

How to Find an Internet Marketing Company Offering the Best SEO Services

If you’re running a business in today’s competitive marketplace, it will be no secret to you that the internet plays a vital role in the success of your brand. But while most entrepreneurs and business managers know the theory behind online marketing, many of them don’t have the time or technical know-how to put it into action.

If you’re looking to build or improve your brand’s online reputation, the best place is to start is by outsourcing an internet marketing agency who can use their knowledge of SEO, internet branding and social media management to help drive more traffic to your website and encourage browsers to convert to customers.

If you’re not familiar with the terminology – don’t worry, an internet marketing specialist will be able to help recommend the best solution for your business. But, in layperson’s terms, SEO stands for search engine optimisation: a term that describes the process of getting your webpage to the top of unpaid search engine results.

There are a number of ways of achieving this, including keyword research and analysis, landing page optimisation, SEO content writing, link building and social networking, to name a few. A professional SEO service aims to improve the overall user experience of your website, as well as bringing targeted traffic to your website.

An internet marketing company can do all of this for you, helping to build your Google page ranks and create back links to your page from other relevant web pages or influential blogs. But in terms of hiring the right company for the job, how do you know what to look for?

The best place to find an SEO service is online, using your Google search engine. The results will present you with a list of companies in your area, and those that operate globally. Look for those with high rankings, but spend some time considering your options – you don’t have to hire the first agency you land on.

Thanks to the nature of the internet, you won’t need to find a company that is local to your area in order to get help with your online marketing, as most consultants work remotely. This means they have a global reach of customers, so will likely work with businesses both big and small from all over the world.

Some agencies will display a portfolio or list of their clients online, however it is quite unusual for them to divulge all of this information, so don’t be concerned if you can’t see a list of existing clients displayed on their website. It probably means that those companies wish to remain private.

One thing you can check out online, however, is their reviews and testimonials, as well as a list of any awards or accreditations they might have received. This will give you an idea of their reputation and what they have achieved for previous or existing clients before you hire them to help improve your business.

Look for a company offering a turnkey approach, as this means you will be able to pick and choose the services best suited to your business requirements and budget. This way, whether you’re looking for a whole new website design, or a simple social media strategy, you will get an entirely tailored approach that meets your unique business needs.

Lastly, make sure you find an agency that offers a free quote, as some will charge you for this. Some websites will have a simple form for you to fill out that will automatically generate a quote for you using just a few simple details. You will probably have to input your website details, as well as your monthly budget and which services you require.

What Is Digital Marketing? A Guide to Marketing in Today’s Digital World

In the world of business development and branding, going digital is all the buzz. So just what is digital marketing and how can we use it to grow our businesses?

Digital Marketing Defined

Digital marketing is the advertising and promotion of businesses and their brands through digital media channels. Digital media, at the moment, includes websites, social media, radio, television, mobile and even forms of traditionally non-digital media such as billboards and transit signs. Essentially any marketing media that is delivered electronically is considered digital marketing.

This leaves only various forms of person-to-person (P2P) marketing, print advertising and direct marketing outside of the digital marketing umbrella. Even then, print ads, direct mail, print directories, billboards and posters are all starting to connect to their digital counterparts. With items like URL landing pages, QR codes, web banner advertising, online directories and text codes, traditional marketing and advertising almost always has a digital marketing connection.

Why the Focus on Digital Media?

The shift to digital media is being driven by marketing agencies, business owners and consumers alike. The ever-increasing demand to show quantifiable results makes going digital a dream for the digital marketing agency. Most digital media, including websites, social media and mobile advertising is much easier to track than traditional marketing media such as print advertising.

For business owners, many forms of digital advertising are very low cost. Having a web presence, engaging customers in conversations through social media and e-mail marketing are low cost alternatives to print advertising and direct mail. These digital channels are available to businesses of any size, and help to even the playing field for start-ups, small businesses and independent consultants seeking new business.

For consumers, the fast pace of life makes digital advertising a must. When consumers are in need of goods and services, gone are the days of thumbing through a phonebook to find them. Now, we whip out our mobile devices or head to our computers for answers – and we find them fast.

Using Digital Media to Build Your Business and Brand

No matter what size your business is – large or small to medium sized business / enterprise (SMB or SME) – you can effectively market your business through low-cost digital channels. The foundation of your marketing efforts will be your website. Invest wisely in your website, and be sure that it does the following:

Adequately represents your business and brand (look and feel, messaging)
Adequately speaks to your target audience
Can be found by searchers on top search engines
Is up-to-date and easily navigable
Provides multiple channels for customer communication
Connects to other marketing efforts

It is recommended that you work with a professional web design firm that is skilled in web development and search engine optimization. Because your website is the foundation to and from which all other digital channels will lead, it should be considered one of your top business investments.

Once you have your website complete, the next steps would be to launch regular monthly or bi-monthly e-mail campaigns, and connect with customers via social media. If you are truly on a shoestring budget, these are efforts that can be done in-house (by someone with the proper knowledge) or for a low cost by an outside digital marketing agency. Be sure that all of your efforts lead customers back to your website where they can fully engage with your business, products and services, and choose the channels through which they contact you.

If you’re interested in getting aggressive with search marketing, you can set aside some digital marketing dollars for search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising. Many businesses today rely heavily on being found online to gain new customers. A common misconception among business owners is that simply having a website means that customers will find it. Not so. Your site must be built with specific key words and phrases, meta data, page content and linking strategies that will help it reach top search rankings.

Because many key words and phrases have stiff competition for top search rankings, you will need to supplement your organic search engine optimization efforts with pay-per-click advertising. Getting established with pay-per-click advertising campaigns can be a little daunting, but with a little time, effort and instruction, that too can be accomplished in-house, or for a reasonable cost through an outside digital marketing agency.

Beyond e-mail, social media marketing and search engine marketing, you can venture into a host of other digital marketing efforts. Mobile advertising, radio, television, electronic billboards and much more are available as marketing outlets. Whatever digital efforts you choose, they should all connect and tie into your foundation – your company website.

If you have the means, a wise investment would be to engage the services of a digital marketing agency to assist in your marketing efforts. Today, many digital agencies offer multiple levels of service to accommodate businesses large and small.

Franchise Marketing Essentials

Compulsory centralized marketing programs are probably one of the supreme strengths of franchising. Pooling funds from all of the franchisees in a system gives them communally much greater marketing power. This fundamental fund can be used to do things that no individual franchisee could afford. The fund can also be used to hire professionals to produce advertising materials of far better superiority than what an individual owner could create. It is essential for anyone considering a franchise investment to know prior to becoming a Franchisee that the Franchisor’s marketing system is a good one. The essential qualities of a good franchise marketing program include these actions.

The first priority in any marketing system is knowing that the results will be more people using the products or services of the Franchise.

Second, allow franchisees to offer their opinions. They work in the market in which they operate and know what works and what does not. The final decision can be made by the franchisor, but franchisees will appreciate your allowing them to become involved. Create a franchise advisory group consisting of representatives of all of your franchisees. They should meet with the franchisor’s marketing group and provide input into future projects and campaigns.

Marketing funds should be directed primarily toward covering the costs of controlling the marketing effort (internal expenses, agency fees, etc.). Next they cover the expense of producing advertising resources (print, direct mail, radio and television ads, etc.). Finally, they pay for media purchases to place these advertisements for the advantage of the contributing franchisees. A frequent franchisee criticism is that too much is being spent in one of these area and not enough in another. Clearly there must be a practical balance between these needs.

Don’t spend more on brand advertising than on efforts to bring in more customers. Building the brand is very important but so is bringing in customers. A powerful brand is only as good as the customers in brings in. The marketing system should be carefully documented. A franchisor most likely won’t provide all of their proprietary internal marketing documentation, but you can ask for at least the table of contents of the marketing support manuals they provide to franchisees. This will give you a good idea of the extent of the strategies they provide in training franchisees to market successfully. It will also validate that they have improved their systems to the point where they have record them in manuals and other support and training tools.

The undisputable way to determine how the marketing program is working is to start asking the existing franchisees. You’ll find that they will be very accommodating on this topic since few things are closer to their hearts than marketing. Be precise and ask them how well the marketing works in terms of bringing customers to their business. Also ask if they think they’re steadily getting good value from their contributions to any required marketing fund. If you find a franchise system where the greater parts of the existing franchisees are unhappy about the way their marketing dollars are being administered, you can presume that others will be unhappy as well. If most of the franchisees are satisfied with the way the marketing fund is handled then you will often find that franchisees are happy about most other factors in their business as well.

Franchise Marketing Ideas for Explosive Growth

To expand your franchise you must use marketing techniques which will help to reach your target audience. Franchise marketing involves two areas. Customers are first and of course Franchisees. Both can benefit from the same marketing ideas and techniques, but the results differ significantly. Unfortunately, many franchise companies miss this little fact and focus their marketing methods too heavily on one cause over the other.

Search Engine Marketing (PPC & SEO)

Search engine marketing means bringing increased traffic to your company on search engines through paid search billboards or other ads as well as natural search earned through SEO practices. Distinguishing between how this helps your franchise grow and how consumers will react is an important difference:

Consumer: PPC and SEO techniques will help drive eligible traffic to your franchisee’s local page. This eventually helps you generate more leads or sales because your franchisee location or information pages will hopefully be shown to a direct and relevant audience that is most likely to become a long-term client or customer. It saves consumers time because they are instantly taken to the page that means the most to them because of your ads and to SEO efforts.

Franchise Development: Each type of marketing will help drive traffic to your website which in turn will help create more leads. This essentially benefits franchise development the same way as with consumers. Your ads and organic search submissions are optimized for this audience and deliver prospects attracted to starting a franchise.

Encourage Online Testimonials.

Testimonials are a strong method for showing your success and satisfaction amongst franchisees and customers. Because you manage the reviews you display on your site nevertheless they can make a big difference:

• Consumer: Testimonials provide opinions submitted by satisfied customers and it is important to include them on your site.

• Franchise Development: Testimonials are important to franchise development because they permit prospective franchisees to see how current franchisees’ businesses are functioning as well as their experiences with the corporate office.

Franchise Development

The objective is to invite franchises in the locations where you don’t already have a franchise. Social media can help make this a likelihood by showing the opportunities your business offers next to your target market. Those who are seeing your social media crusade are your target market; consequently your products and services as well as those who relate are all in one place. Once you see who is the most active on social media, you can start generating more personalized content and emails to ultimately start up a conversation.

Build familiarity in the media.

This is one facet of franchise marketing that has become more imperative in recent years. Building familiarity of your brand in the media is a great way to find that stability for your two goals:

• Consumer: Local newspapers and TV stations want to know what’s happening in the neighborhoods they cover. Connecting with publishers, editors and producers with press releases of anything newsworthy at your business will always be of interest to media professionals. Offer to write a free column that benefits a news outlet’s viewers. Many local media sources will show interest in your business. Always make sure you’re offering pertinent information and have something you can offer back to these media outlets.

• Franchise Development: Build relationships with media outlets and provide them with in-house research performed about the industry you operate in and how the franchise system operates in general. The information you provide should be valuable and interesting that the general public.

Infographics

An infographic is an eye-pleasing portrayal of intricate data. Gather your data, and statistics, and create an infographic to transmit your company messages. They can be used in print, on blogs or on social media platforms.

Preparing Your Message

Create a budget to make your infographic. When creating an infographic, using various free programs and templates is not a bad idea. The collecting of data and creating charts and graphs can be time consuming. However, the payout could be substantial.

Choose your message.

The infographic should provide details about your business while not being overly complicated. Keep away from messages that are sales-focused. Buy our product is not a good communication to present. Stating how a product expands quality of life or helps to improve business is a better choice. Non-profits, universities and individuals can profit from infographics, in addition to companies. Infographics can present a story to potential customers more easily than you can by speaking.

Assemble data that sustains your message.

Choose between assembling your own data or finding reliable data from other sources. The following are good places to find statistics if you can’t collect them yourself:

• StatPlanet provides worldwide statistics.

• Search government websites such as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics or the EPA to get dependable statistics.

• Trade journals and scientific studies provide study-based data.

• Make sure to list your source(s) for your statistics at the bottom of each graphic section. Use the most trustworthy sources that you can find.

• Use industry reports from Ibisworld.com.

Input your data into an Excel spreadsheet. The data that you gather can be entered into an Excel spreadsheet where you can create charts of varying types to use in your infographic.

Choosing Infographic Tools

A graphic designer. If you want a fully personalized infographic, you should consider hiring someone who can produce it. Rates vary by designer so make sure your budget is adjusted accordingly. If you want to use your final infographic to improve web traffic or social media content, then you should hire a graphic designer. A graphic designer with experience will be extremely beneficial. Use a large headline. Don’t try to save space by making the font smaller. Use a big font that is easy to read, so that it catches the reader’s eye.

Use your logo.

If you want your website found, make sure your logo, website and social media URLs are prominent in your infographic. If you have a general message that you want to go viral, you can skip this step.

Use photographs.

If you prefer you can use photos over illustrations. Use between one and six photographs. Make sure to leave plenty of room to separate the images and add text.

Marketing Without Money – How to Build Your Business Influence Through Community Speaking

One of the fastest ways to become established as a regional expert is through the process of offering community workshops and seminars. I’ve spoken to hundreds of these groups through the years and have made some wonderful friends, as well as experienced some remarkable opportunities by volunteering time to add value to others. Yes, I said volunteer, since you don’t get paid in dollars to give a community speech, but you can be well paid in other ways. How? Through influence, network, multiple referrals into your business, opportunities to give full fee presentations to other groups and wider media exposure, especially on the Internet.

Still, there’s another huge benefit to you – free advertising. Consider how much you would be willing to pay in advertising dollars to be featured as an expert in front of a group of key decision makers, successful business people or community leaders? I suspect a lot because of the incredible return on investment of being in front of key people who have the capacity to hire you or refer you to other key people in the community who can. Treat these opportunities like a public audition that features you in front of 15-30 people who can meet you to learn more of your desire to help in your area of expertise. And the best news is that you don’t have to pay to be in front of these community leaders, but you do have to be strategic.

There are opportunities to give community presentations every day in your backyard if you know where to look. These events often take place during a breakfast or lunch time on a weekday all over your town. Consider the following as a sample of the type of groups in your area that need communicators to get your thinking started about targeting the key groups looking for you right now to line up as the speaker at their next event.

___Business groups such as a chamber of commerce or Female executives

___Service or Civic Clubs, like Rotary, Sertoma, Lions, or Kiawanas

___Medical groups, like nurses, interns, residents or hospital committees

___Networking groups, like BNI, Focus International or Babblebee

___Faith based groups, like churches, ministries or the retreats they sponsor

___Health groups, such as the American Heart Association or Red Cross

___Political or Political Action Committees, (PAC’s) focused on issues

___Emergency Services, like police, fire, EMS groups or safety committees

___Women’s clubs, like the Junior League, Curves or MADD

___Athletic groups, like master swimmers, soccer clubs or hunting groups

___Education groups, like parent/teacher organizations or school volunteers

___Fraternal Orders, like the Elks, Eagles, Moose or Fraternal Order of Police

___Senior’s groups, usually found at senior centers or retirement centers

___Youth groups, sponsored by churches, Youth for Christ or Jr. Achievement

___Parenting groups, especially young parents such as Mothers of Preschoolers

___Trade Associations- which requires a longer explanation, since there are over 22,000 professional trade associations in the United States.

Most of these trade associations have a national, state and local chapter pushing the number of professional associations into the multiple thousands in every region of the country! Each level has to have a speaker at every event and writers for their monthly newsletters and websites.

This creates a HUGE opportunity for communicators to make a positive difference. If your background is in education, look for teachers associations. If it’s in real estate, look for realtors or brokers associations. If it’s in giving care for the elderly, look for agencies on aging or the professional associations that care for the aged.

You don’t have enough time to speak for every group, but you will have the time of your life if you can get in front of the right trade association and knock their socks off with a great presentation. Plus, at the local level these are always going to be free talks, but if you can ‘wow’ your audience, you can often be suggested to speak at the national trade association’s annual meeting and they do pay speakers at that level. So it pays to always speak as if you were giving the most important talk of your life. Excellence always comes back to bless you after it blesses your audience.

These groups need your input, they need your expertise and you need to help. It’s a perfect fit, so begin searching now to find the groups where you can make the biggest impact and once you have identified your key target groups, then make some calls to see who’s in charge of scheduling speakers to begin the process.

How do you find them? Search out your local newspapers under community events, do web searches on specific topics, or ask around to see who belongs to community groups, which are always looking for effective communicators.

Here are a few important principles to keep in mind as you begin to reach out to make a positive difference using the strategy of community seminars that serve others while positioning you as an expert.

1) It’s not about marketing – it’s about the message

The goal isn’t to market you, your book or your services… it’s about the message to help answer people’s questions, solve their problems and basically give information to help make their day or week go a little better. You want to give as much user-friendly content away in your presentation as possible. If it ‘smells’ like selling- it won’t work. You have to really care about your audience and helping make their lives work better. To quote motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, “You can get anything you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.” If you have a book, you could use it as a door prize. If you have business cards, you can leave them in the back, or another technique is to offer a special report via email in exchange for a business card or email opt-in. This rapid follow up builds your e-list, (which should NEVER be shared or rented in my opinion to respect the privacy of those who trust you), while showing that you are a professional who believes in giving as much away as possible to build value into every presentation you give. You can build in a very mild marketing follow up, but only after giving a ‘killer’ presentation that adds greater value to each member of the audience. Remember, if you ‘wow’ them, they will find a way to find you for their future events. Mostly give a great speech and somewhere have a business card, or memorable way to share your website with the audience and then let the power of your presentation plant the seeds that will grow into them remembering you for their next paid event.

2) Build on your communication strengths

If you are passionate about a particular subject, then this is your place to shine, however, if you aren’t really strong on a given topic, then stay away from it. Talk about how to solve problems in the areas where you can make the greatest difference. Usually this will come out of your existing career, or an avocation that you really enjoy discussing. If you are building on a strength the writing and speaking will come easy, and your sincerity will come through to show your audience that you are an expert they can trust to add value to their lives. If you love to tell stories, then build on that strength, if your style is more instructional, then create an interactive hand-out to make it a training time of greater learning.

3) Focus on creative topics to catch your audience

Avoiding financial ruin, getting out of a bad relationship, secrets of living to be 100, fast ways to regain health and wellness, prevention of disease, how to stay out of therapy, when to kick your kids out for good, how speed reading creates lasting wealth, recession proofing your business, how to gain a #1 ranking on Google- basically use a great title to excite your audience that it’s going to be a fun time of learning. Another technique I like to use is a title/sub-title process to capture the right and left hemispheres of the brain, (logical/rational vs. emotional/creative).

For instance, title- ‘Relationship Renewal’ (right hemisphere), sub-title- ‘How to recover, rebuild and renew with the people you care about most.’ (left hemisphere, which is often about a lengthier description of ‘how to’ do what it is you have described in your main title). This way you catch the attention of a much wider audience and your specific topic keeps your own thoughts in line for a more powerful presentation. Remember, you can often give the exact same speech, since you will be going from club to club and group to group, so you can strengthen it every time you give it.

4) Be professional and be prepared

Arrive early, know that frequently you may not get the full time you were allotted due to other business the club may be taking care of, so be flexible. The more prepared you are ahead of time, the easier you can ‘edit’ on the fly to end on time, (which is important since people on a tight schedule will actually get up and leave in order to stay on their schedules. You must finish on time, no matter when you get started). Have a printed introduction in large print to give to the meeting planner that outlines your credentials as an expert and encourage them to read it aloud ahead of time to get comfortable sharing this important information to let the audience know of your background and expertise. Hand-outs are a great way to reinforce your message, as well as add your contact information at the bottom of the sheet. (I’ve found that people will keep these for years if you 3- hole punch them or print on pre-drilled paper, which adds greater value to the sheet by suggesting that it’s important enough to take home and put into a notebook). If you have professional marketing material at a back table, that’s great, but in this communication setting the main strategy is to give an amazing talk first and foremost. Dress one level above your audience and be as polished as you can be for maximum impact since you really don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

5) Give a great talk and get a lot of great PR

Once you are comfortable with the process and are giving great presentations on a regular basis you can leverage your talks several ways that bring in new opportunities by taking your message to new audiences. Ask to professionally record or video tape your presentation. This can be turned into a new CD, podcast, DVD or online webinar. These can become bonus items to add greater value to your website, or stand alone products that you can add to your shopping cart of online resources for purchase by other groups.

Get quoted by the media, (especially if you send out press releases ahead of time which can be done with online services that offer free press releases), since your local newspapers and television stations have to fill news time and a clever topic given in a public seminar can often lead to media quotes which are quite valuable in establishing you as a regional expert. And don’t forget to ask that someone takes your picture with a digital camera while you are talking, so that you have some ‘action shots’ to use on your website, or with your blog of recent presentations.

The more you think ahead on how to leverage your community talk into a great community event, the more likely you will receive positive public relations and on-going referrals into your ‘day business’. Community workshops add value to everyone involved. To you, to your audience and to those who will meet you in the future because they heard about someone who cared enough to take their message to the marketplace to share with others. Do that long enough and you’ll be the busiest professional in your region… and it all started with a free speech.

I dare you to be the one who adds the greatest value in your regions by sharing the message entrusted to you with the most people possible. And then I look forward to hearing the success stories of how free speeches turned into fee for services because you cared enough to tell your story to some people looking for answers. Get to it!

Network Marketing and MLM: Are You Being Told The Truth? (3 Dirty Little Secrets About MLM)

What do you want from a network marketing company?

If you are like most people looking at home based business opportunities, you want an opportunity which offers you a really good chance at success, right?

Please put everything you have ever heard or read aside for a minute and consider the following 3 dirty little secret about MLM you have never heard or read:

Dirty Little Secret About MLM # 1:

This secret is about products and how long any network marketing company may last.

A company which has products that are solid performers with a good sales history, but that are not cutting edge can be good – you can be sure that you will be able to sell some of the products.

Conversely, you may find it harder to sell products which are widely sold and consumed by many different companies – and for the obvious reason – competition.

A new “buzz” product – one people can get excited about can fly out of your hands – at least in the beginning. It is possible that a new product will sell fast for a while – only to fade if it becomes apparent it isn’t performing as advertised. Nothing can destroy your business faster.

What can you do?

If you can find a company with a product that is relatively unknown in the market, but that is quickly growing in popularity – and that product has already caused many people to talk about it and write about it, you may have found a product “rave wave.”

A past example of “rave wave” would be liquid minerals during the 1990s.

My wife and I joined a company in 1996 which was relatively new and had a new product. After using the product with our family we quickly experienced real results. Nothing is better.

Once we had results with the product, we were easily able to find others to share the good news with – and that resulted in sponsoring 300 people in just over one year – and our group grew to 10,000 over the next few years.

Yes, we had tried to build a business with another MLM company that did not have a new and exciting product before we marketed the liquid minerals. We worked super hard with the first company for a year. Our income was $1,500 after 12 months. It was too slow and not much fun.

Should sharing a product be fun?

If the product is exciting and gets results, sharing it with others is exciting and fun. If the product (no matter how good it is) is not new and doesn’t get relatively exciting results, your business will not be fun – it will be WORK!

The end result of our second network marketing or MLM experience was earning over $1 million in 4.5 years – even though we stopped actively “working the business” after just 14 months.

What did we do?

Our children were young. We home schooled them. We did 4H. We took them on a 5 month vacation. We felt almost like “aliens” walking around in a society that was “living for the weekend” because we didn’t have to work…

Did the product sell for a long time?

We still use that product today, 17 years later… and we still get results with it. The opportunity to sell the product through network marketing faded because eventually, the product was everywhere. The company no longer exists. We got our last check a few months ago – it was $89. Our peak check during the third year was $24,561.

What is the dirty little secret here?

Many network marketing companies succeed fast because of a hot product, but don’t last because they fail to find new and exciting products as each product enters the mainstream of the market place and competition rises.

Does that mean network marketing is a bad idea for a home based business?

It is a bad idea if you expect a company to provide you an above average income for life. Yes, there are a few exceptions in the industry. Were we dissapointed when the excitement stopped and our group faded away? Yes, of course we were. We decided we would never “do” MLM again. That was 17 years ago.

In the time since, we built a large real estate company which peaked at 148 agents.

What happened? The boom that collapsed in 2008 put an end to our office. Suddenly, no one was buying real estate, but we still had to come up with $30,000 a month to pay the bills of the business. We “fed” the business hoping for the market to change – it didn’t change!

Hindsight is 20 / 20.

What did we learn? We learned that conventional business contains more risk and more down side than network marketing.

If you join a company that eventually fades away, you don’t have to spend a ton of money desperately pushing on a string. And of course, you don’t need much money to start a network marketing downline in the beginning either.

Sure, we made a lot of money with the real estate office – and lost a lot of money too! When our MLM business faded away, we still made money until the last check.

Yes, we still sell real estate – but the thrill has been gone for a long time… and so, we have reexamined our years in network marketing – they were the best years of our lives.

What about the people we got involved in MLM? Yes, we made relatively good money, but what about our downline?

You (and we) cannot control everything.

What about all the agents we had trained who could no longer make a living selling real estate? They found other work. Were they better off for having learned to sell real estate? We think so. Many are still selling real estate. Most are grateful for the education and for the relatively easy commissions they earned during the boom. They know the crash wasn’t our fault.

As for our old MLM downline – what happened to them?

80% of network marketing distributors never sponsor more than 2 people and they never get a check. However, our MLM group was the exception to that rule. I’ll tell you why in “Dirty little secret about MLM # 2.”

Dirty little secret about MLM # 2:

There is ONE feature about the compensation plan that matters above all else.

The network marketing industry promotes infinity pay features, cars, sign up bonuses and front load packages on which you’ll be paid big commissions. Forget all that stuff and forget the company you are looking at if it doesn’t offer the following features.

Why?

It is because the following features build stability in your group and pave the way for relatively easy (and fun) growth of your group.

Can a product user join for free?

If not, run! MLM “gurus” will tell you to promote “the opportunity” (the chance to make big money from home). That is putting the cart in front of the horse! The driving factor in any MLM is the PRODUCT – and the VAST majority of people who join you will (initially) be primarily (if not totally) interested in getting and using the product.

Are the products competitively priced?

As you can see from the paragraph above, if the price of the products is “out of school” you will be out of luck because no one will continue to buy a product that has a crazily high price tag.

Assuming the products are fairly priced and they work, you still need insurance against eventual competition.

That “insurance” is the mouth of your product using customers. Many of your product users will tell you, “I don’t want to do the business.” However, people love to tell others about the good things they find. Once they have a friend wanting the product, they WILL (in many cases) contact you to get help signing up their friend.

If the company you are looking at makes it easy for product users to sign up a friend – and the company will pay them for that, you will be building on a solid foundation.

If the company insists that product users become a representative to get paid, run! However, if the company has a system that allows a product user to overcome their monthly product cost by signing up a few friends – that is the basis of a winning combination.

Why? When a product user over comes the monthly cost of the product they are using, they are “bullet proof” because all competition is eliminated – they won’t ever find the product somewhere else for free… and some will be converted to business builders at the micro level and a few at the mega level.

The logic goes like this:

Product user: “If I can get my product for free by signing up a few product user friends, what could I do if I became a distributor and started treating this like a business?”

We had many people making $300, $600, $1,500 $6,000 and more a month who started out as pure product users. The key is to help product users like they matter (because they matter MOST).

The only thing better is if a product user gets a check (no matter how small) after signing up just one friend who orders – again, this is because 80% of networkers never ever get any check. Just getting any check (or electronic payment) is shocking for most people.

How did we sponsor 300 people and build a stable group?

In our former MLM experience, it was the above features which allowed us to sponsor 300 who became 10,000 people – the vast majority being product users or small builders. Out of 300 people sponsored, only a few were hard charging heavy hitters.

Dirty little secret about MLM # 3:

As you can see, the vast majority of our former group were product users – many who became micro builders, typically making $300 a month.

What is the 3rd dirty secret about this?

The network marketing industry guides you to go after existing network marketers. The problem is that many existing network marketers are victims of the “next shiny object” syndrome – they fly like a parrot to the next shiny bobble in networking.

Product users come from the general public.

They are NOT looking for a network marketing gig! They don’t know what you are talking about. On the other hand, 7 out of 10 people on the street (and online) want to know about a hot new product. We (you and I – the general public) are always interested in hot new products, aren’t we? Were you interested when the first iPhone came out? We were.

So it follows – building your network marketing business by gathering product users is the way to go. MLMers are NOT doing that – they take what they THINK is “the easy road” – they think they’ll sponsor “seasoned network marketers.”

It is a huge and often repeated mistake. Take the path of sponsoring network marketers and you’ll be in for a lot of rejection and you’ll have a hard time building stability.

Conclusions:

Life is about taking calculated risks. Business is about taking calculated risks without risking a lot of money to start. Don’t spend any money for a while on any company you join. Join for free and check it out. Ask people you know for their opinion. If everything feels good, take the next step and order the product. If you get results, consider “doing the business.”

The redeeming factor about network marketing is exactly that – no to low start up cost. Don’t bet the house. There is not another business model on the planet that offers so much upside for so low an investment – and offers very little down side risk.

Again, we were MAD that our network marketing company because it didn’t last – but neither did our real estate office last. The BIG difference? We KNOW the amount of money we earned net from MLM.

We also knew the pain and financial loss from conventional business when the real estate market shifted – it was not pretty. AND we didn’t get 3 years to play and do anything we wanted to do while we operated a conventional business!

What should you do next?

New Book Teaches Readers Keys to Network Marketing Success

Ripple Marketing by David Skultety is a concise and up-to-date book on everything that network marketing offers the aspiring entrepreneur who wants to work part-time to earn a few extra dollars, have a home-based business, or go all the way to create a full-time, lifelong, and fulfilling business career.

We’ve all heard bad things about network marketing, but despite those stories, the truth is that it works for many, many people, and it works because people make the effort to make it work. David Skultety himself has led two different network marketing teams, taking them from 1 to 100,000 in membership, so if anyone knows about the benefits and the woes of network marketing, it’s him, and in this new book, he reveals how people can use network marketing to their advantage, avoid its pitfalls, and reap its rewards.

The book begins with a foreword by David Litt, a network marketing corporate executive, who states “There are people in my life who have lots of money and very little time. There are people in my life who have lots of time and very little money. But the only people in my life who have lots of money and lots of time are my friends who are network marketing professionals like David [Skultety].”

David Skultety then takes over and walks readers through the entire process of finding the right network marketing company for them, how to build up their network by finding other people to join them, and how to help the people below them as they build their networks so those people can succeed and still benefit the people above them; after all, network marketing is about far more than sales-it’s about creating residual income based on other people’s efforts. As David Litt says, as a result, “ultimately this book is a blueprint for long-term financial freedom.”

David Skultety impressed me from the first page, and I quickly understood why his friends call him a “networker’s networker.” He has always had an entrepreneurial mindset, as he tells us through stories about how when he was twelve, he had a coffee and lemonade stand at a gas station during the 1979 oil embargo when cars were lined up there. In the sixth grade, he was making $20 a day selling candy to classmates so he could buy a moped. He’s always been involved in some sort of business since then.

Ripple Marketing is far from being like an infomercial of hot air about the benefits of being in network marketing-though those benefits are worth mentioning, such as: the low investment, having a home-based business, tax advantages, ability to sell without borders, working part-time, time-flexibility, and eventual financial freedom. Beyond that, David Skultety gives practical advice and information about how the entire process works and how the reader can become successful.

Various chapter topics include how to find a mentor, accepting that building a business will take time, and how to focus on income-producing activities rather than getting caught up in the minutia of items like building your website and continually improving it or reading up on your products-important activities, but also things that people sometimes focus on in a pretense of working when they should be out selling and networking.

My favorite discussion in the book was about how to overcome fear and develop the three proper mindsets you need to succeed, including the mindset of success. David also gives his top five tips for how to develop the proper mindsets beginning with learning how to feel good about yourself. I appreciated it when he was honest and straightforward about what people have to do to succeed and how it all boils down to motivation. At one point, he states:

“Over the years, I’ve watched countless people talk a good game. They talk about building it big. They claim to possess all the skill sets necessary to succeed. They show up at events and set goals. But they can’t seem to get out of their own way because they have not made one simple decision-the decision that they are going to use the model of network marketing to achieve their dreams, goals, and aspirations.

“In order to make that decision, you may need to overcome your limiting beliefs, you may need to become fearless in talking to people, and you may need to be forever dedicated to working on yourself and helping others do the same.”

David talks a lot about the importance of getting out there and talking to people-you can’t succeed otherwise. He talks about how this can be done numerous ways, including by hosting a series of home launch parties, setting up conference calls, and using social media. In all these cases, you are able to connect with people, and when you understand their needs, find their pain, and put yourself in their situations, you can find out how your product can be a solution to their problems. David also walks the reader through how to make each of these types of connections successful.

Another key point David makes is that when you are selling your products, you can also be introducing people to the idea of entering network marketing themselves so that you can add to your residual income through their efforts. I was impressed by how David pointed out here that we cannot prejudge people, thinking someone will or won’t be interested in our product or business, and then only sticking with the safe people like our family and friends. Instead, we need to go out and sell both our product and our business to the brightest and best people we know if we really want our business to grow and create ripples.

I was also impressed by the information David shares about the importance of learning how to duplicate your products so that you can keep producing them and earning income from them without a lot of extra work.

There is so much more in Ripple Marketing, but I’ll just conclude by mentioning that David believes in servant leadership. He believes in serving the people below him in the network chain so that they can succeed. And, of course, that only benefits him and everyone else in the network.

The back of the book includes additional resources such as “Selecting the Right Company for You,” “The 10 Deadly Sins of Network Marketing,” and recent statistics on network marketing.

Of course, network marketing isn’t for everyone, but if you make the investment to read this book, I think you will be pleasantly surprised that as long as you’re willing to talk to people, it can be a lot more exciting and fulfilling an opportunity than you imagined, and before you know it, the ripple you make can become a wave you can ride for a lifetime.

Can Network Marketing Help New Entrepreneurs Learn Vital Business Practices

As the corporate United States starts to decrease people seek a new way of earning an income. Many rush into a business, and due to lack of understanding about how to make a business successful they fail. There is a way to get into business and work at home all with a small investment. Can MLM Network Marketing be the best way to learn how to run a successful business?

Points covered in this article:

* Why start business from home?

* MLM Network Marketing defined?

* Plusses of joining a MLM Marketing opportunity

::: Why start a home business? :::

You may want to become financially free or be able to set your own work schedule. Some of the reasons people choose to work at home are:

– Save time from travelling

– They have small children and want to be at home with the children

– They have small children and can’t afford nursery care

– Make more money then in day job

– Live in a remote place where transport is hard

– Disabled and homebound

Starting a home business does have many benefits. One of the many drawbacks with starting any kind of a business is that of finding an idea, creating a lengthy business plan, and one of the hardest ultimately getting finance for your business idea. Not to mention the headache with worrying how you are going to pay that finance back.

::: What is MLM Network Marketing :::

MLM Network Marketing is a system of business which allows people to market the products. In effect you become the salesman for the company. This has the added benefit of cutting out the middleman and putting you in its place. MLM Network Marketing allows you to earn more profits with this system. The biggest earners are sales people. Even Bill Gates from Microsoft wouldn’t be a billionaire if it weren’t for the good sales people bringing us their great software.

::: Benefits of joining a MLM Marketing opportunity :::

Network Marketing opportunities can come to the rescue. With a low investment required to get started, MLM Network Marketing can be one of the best ways to get into business much more easily. When you decide to join a MLM Marketing opportunity, you are given the ability to plug into a proven business with a proven product.

Network Marketing opportunities give you a blueprint you can follow to become successful. When you join a MLM Marketing opportunity you are starting a new lifestyle. A lifestyle which is part of a downline of people who are committed to success, not just their own, but your success as well.

One of the biggest benefits I have seen with being part of the MLM Marketing opportunity is the whole ethos about how MLM Network Marketing works and why it works. MLM Network Marketing fundamentally says “I win – only when you win”, and this is a fantastic model to follow. When you buy products which promises to make you wealthy, even though the person producing that product may have your interest in mind, it still doesn’t fully create the win-win which we see in MLM Network Marketing.

MLM Network Marketing does require work. MLM Network Marketing is no easy ride, but with commitment to achieving your success, a MLM Marketing opportunity can be the best thing you decide to join. MLM Network Marketing promises so much, and MLM Network Marketing can deliver as long as you commit to your success. With consistent effort you can find financial freedom with MLM Network Marketing, as long as you put in the effort necessary to succeed.

To your success,

Kozan Huseyin ~ Network Marketing Expert, Internet Marketer, Life Coach, Writer.

The 7 Wonders Of Social Media Marketing To A Brand

The universe of digital marketing is wide and varied, but the one factor that is dominating it is social media. Through online platforms, companies can reach a global pool of customers that are in billions. Any corporation that is not utilising this source is not only skipping on a fantastic growth window but a cash cow of profitability.

Be it mere PPC services or sharing content on social media, when a company utilises any platform, they spread awareness of their service or product. Furthermore, they indicate to search engines that the brand is reliable, valid and consistent. Let’s take a look at how else social media affects an establishment, positively.

Get the customer engaged.

Marketing is about winning the attention of a person and then conveying your message. Social media is the easiest and ideal way of interacting with customers. It is the one path that allows for two-way communication at lightning speed. Catering to the wishes or interest of the patron is fast paced with online platforms. When more consumers are engaging with your brand, there is a bigger probability of conversion.

Get more customers aware.

Facebook, Twitter or Instagram are not just avenues to converse with current customers. They are pathways to reaching an added audience in real time. Unlike most other marketing stratagems, social media is a hassle-free way to enhance the visibility of a brand. Just a few hours every seven days has shown, in more than 90% of companies, a greater awareness of product or service in customers.

The gist is to create all social media profiles, use them regularly and begin networking to generate a wide audience

Make customers more loyal.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the one benefit social media has for customers is the ease with which they can find brands. The convenience of connecting heightens user experience and benefits the company. How? A patron becomes loyal to a brand when they receive satisfaction. When a customer is able to communicate with the corporation within minutes of facing an issue or wanting to know more about a product through social presence, it ups satisfaction. This, in turn, leads to brand loyalty.

Gain understanding of the marketplace.

The reason social media is considered the MVP of digital marketing is not that it gives brands the freedom to introduce their products to a broader audience but because it offers a comprehension of the marketplace. When a company is able to talk with their patrons through online avenues directly, they get to know precisely what is needed.

Over and above, a brand can observe the online activities of consumer and get to know their opinions and interests. This would not be possible without pages and handles on social media. Think of social media as a research tool which can be employed to know the demographics when the brand following becomes large.

Be more economical.

Advertising, in the traditional sense, is not an inexpensive strategy. But promoting through social media marketing is hugely cost-effective.

Creating an account on any platform is free.
Developing a brand through your own handle costs zilch.
Even paid advertising is dirt cheap on social media.

To top the cake with a cherry, a company can invest the smallest amount and get a high rate of return. Significantly raising conversion rates is not hard with social media adverts, you need a little capital and the right time.

Gain a brand voice.

Through an online platform, a brand can create a voice that speaks directly to patrons and generates a healthy brand image. When a customer receives a tailored reply to their query on social, instead of a cookie cutter reply, they appreciate it more. It shows that the company values the consumer enough to take the effort to write a personal response. A brand voice, therefore, allows for effective communication, networking and healthier satisfaction in clients.

Become an authority.

Every time a small or big business posts an original content on social media or each time, they resolve a question posed by a customer, they establish authority. As more and more original posts go up and resolutions occur, in the eyes of the patron, the brand becomes an expert on the subject or topic. Just like satisfaction and loyalty affect the bottom line of an organisation, authority touches it too. Why? Because it leaves an optimistic picture in the mind of the consumer. It makes them more probable of buying a product and talking about it to other potential customers.

A Succinct Layout

No marketing guru or entrepreneur can deny that media is a magic wand. It creates miracles for budding and established businesses. When you post consistently, the benefits the trade accrues are:

better SEO
increased traffic
improved brand loyalty
healthier customer satisfaction

Remember, chances are the competing businesses is already exploiting social marketing to reach probable patrons. Don’t miss out on the opportunity.

Top 4 Digital Marketing Trends in 2021

If you are an experienced digital marketer, you may want to stay tuned to digital marketing trends. This is important for professionals who want to continue to improve their skills. Every year, many changes are taking place in the world of digital marketing. Therefore, you must have a solid knowledge of algorithms and other features if you want to launch effective marketing campaigns. In this article, we are going to talk about some digital marketing trends in 2021. Read on to find out more.

1. Chatbots

This year, chatbots are among the top digital marketing trends. Basically, this is a technology that is powered by artificial intelligence. This allows customers to chat with the bot to get answers to some common questions.

As a business owner, you can use this feature to engage with your clients and customers. Since several visitors may visit your website simultaneously, you can benefit from this technology as it can chat with hundreds of customers at the same time. In other words, chatbots can work 24/7 without costing any amount.

2. YouTube Shorts

Recently, YouTube launched another great feature known as “Shorts”. Basically, it shares a lot of similarities with Instagram Reels. The idea is to create a video that’s around 15 seconds in length.

This type of short-form video is increasing in popularity day by day. This feature is an ideal choice if you already have a lot of subscribers on YouTube. For others, they will have to wait until their channel grows to be eligible for YouTube Shorts.

3. Voice Search Optimization

According to a research study, around half of teenagers of today use voice search on a daily basis. This can give you a pretty good idea of the popularity of voice search in the future.

Google claims that its systems have achieved up to 95% accuracy when it comes to voice search. According to another prediction, half of all online shopping is going to be done through voice search by 2022. This provides lucrative opportunities for digital marketers. Therefore, it is important that you optimize your website for Easy Voice search.

4. AI in Marketing

According to the news, Artificial Intelligence is going to control several aspects of your life down the road. Therefore, we can say that big changes are going to take place in the future. Today, 6 out of 10 internet users interact with artificial intelligence chatbots to get answers to their queries on many apps and websites.

As a matter of fact, most of the content on social media platforms is categorized based on AI to make sure users remain engaged. Therefore, it is a great idea to make artificial intelligence part of your tools.

Long story short, these are some of the latest digital trends that you must be aware of if you are unaware of these stands or you may not be able to compete with your competitors. Therefore we suggest that you consider this article and update your skills accordingly.