Lets face it. The social media revolution is definitely HERE to stay. People crave interconnectedness and relationships and social media on the internet has allowed folks to communicate through every crack and crevice of their lives.

Twitter is a microblogging service that lets anyone enter and send short messages or “tweets” of up to 140 characters  in length to the internet. Any one who “follows” you gets your tweet . You can send messages to everyone, to a particular person. You can take someones message and resend it to your own group. Having a list of followers is a little like having an email list. Although there are other services out there, twitter is the most well known and most popular by far.

How can you use twitter for your network marketing business? Heres how:

Self Promotion

Twitter allows you to promote yourself, your brand or whatever you’d like to promote actually. As a network marketer you can talk about your network marketing business, or your mlm product or service, and promote events.

Get Network Marketing Business Help

Yup, you can simply ask a question like “how can I attract more mlm prospects to my network marketing business?”

Connect With Other Network Marketers

Twitter allows you to connect with other network marketers which can help you form relationships and partnerships and find potential distributors.

Run A Contest For Your Mlm Business

Ive seen this done very successfully. You can actually take a poll and ask questions much like you might if you had a list. Something like, “help me find the best name for my new product and I’ll give you x”.

Take A Poll – similar to the above. Ask a question like “What are the top mlm training tools you use”?

Twitter is a fantastic social media service. Learn how to use it properly and grow your mlm business!

Yo, if you think that there aren’t any in politics in your network marketing company then please think again!

Have you ever wondered why it seems like some of the TOP mlm distributors in the mlm industry seem to always be at the top of any mlm company?

Did you ever wonder how these mlmers got there? Did you think that they were just THAT GOOD (maybe they were or are) or did something in your gut make you wonder, “hmmmm….. there’s something fishy at work here.”

Well, your gut instincts were right.

Some (not necessariy all) mlm companies sometimes pay to have top recruiters come aboard and literally be their FIRST mlm distributor.

Now, I’m not saying this is necessarily wrong. If you have a traditional company you don’t just hire ANY CEO do you? You go out and hire someone who you think has the best shot at helping your company be successful. I’m all for that. (Except for the idiots in the financial industry that have run their companies into the ground and then WE have to pay for it!)

It just that you may not be aware that this sort of practice exists at all in the mlm industry or in your mlm company.

Again I’m NOT necessarily passing judgement on this, BUT I DO think its important that you’re aware of some of the behind the scenes activities that the top networkers have access to that you probably don’t.

So yes, there are some players that hop from mlm marketing deal to deal,  getting sweetheart offers from the network marketing companies to build a business at THEIR mlm company. In some instances they MAY be paid on a monthly basis to do this. Does it mean the mlm company isn’t sound? No.

Its my job to make folks like us aware of what really goes on in mlm thats all.

So the next time some top mlmer from your mlm company is flashing shiny success in your face, at least now you know what might be going on behind the scenes.

Carlos

Have you ever wished something would change but you just wouldn’t take action? Even some small tiny things? Well you’re alone here. We all do it or have done it in the past and some of us have done it in our very own network marketing enterprise.

And have you ever let fear get in the way of you taking action? Rhetorical question. I know we all have. Other than legitimate situations where you life is truly in danger, fear is generally made of illusory thoughts of something that hasn’t even happened. Its not reality.

I actually thought that I “might” have to replace the whole friggin fridge! I didn’t take the time to figure out what I needed to know because if I did well… I wouldn’t be writing this

But you know what? For a while I was pissed off at the switch for being broken. I mean how do you break a fridge light switch? The fact is that I broke it somehow but I was throwing off the blame to someone or something else. Do smart and successful network marketers blame others or other things when stuff goes wrong? Nope. Successfully network marketers take 100% responsibility for their actions.

But, I kept delaying getting it fixed. To the point where I actually got USED to going into the DARK in the refrigerator! Ever done this in/to your network marketing business? You KNOW you should be taking action on a daily basis, but you DON’T. Then you let stuff go and over time you actually get used to NOT TAKING ACTION which becomes your habit, or your daily plan of INACTION.

Let fear lead to inaction in your own network marketing business and you might as well kiss it goodbye. If you let fear cripple you and you don’t take every opportunity to increase your knowledge to overcome it and then take action, then you do yourself and your business the ultimate disservice. We as network marketers are our own boss. No one is telling us how to run our business. We can be our own best friend and/or our own worst enemy. We hold both the lock and the key to our success and our failure. In my case I let a stupid little fridge switch.

How do you overcome fear. You WORK THROUGH IT. It may be the toughest thing but you must do the thing you fear. If that’s picking up the phone and calling a prospect YOU DO IT. Its the only way to get through the “fear” and if you do it you’ll realize you have nothing to fear not EVEN fear itself.

So a fridge switch, trivial you say? Not in my book. Sometimes its the smallest things that can reward us in the biggest way. That stupid little friggin’ fridge switch taught me a lot about me and my network marketing business. Now every time I open that door I see the light!

Some folks’ll say that network marketing is all about sharing.  Some will say that network marketing is a business model that rewards you with a multi-layered form of residual compensation. Still others say (incorrectly I might add) that its an unethical pyramid scheme!

Here’s what I say: network marketing is a business that enables you to move products and services through a large network of other distributors and consumers and get paid on an ongoing basis for work you do once. The key components of leverage through others and ongoing revenue are probably two big reasons that Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki both recommend network marketing.

So here, IMHO are the essential elements to a network marketing business:

1. Marketing your business to Generate leads

2. Prospecting (sifting/sorting) the leads for business builders

3. Selling/Moving products and services to customers

4. Training people to train others do the same thing

These elements sound so simple right? But here’s the real kicker in all of this: while each of these elements of a network marketing business may seem simple, only a handful of people really understand each element and how to put them together to run a successful business like the pros. And those pros are the folks you keep hearing about jumping pin levels and seeing on stage at your convention.

Generating leads for your business is really all about MARKETING. And marketing is all about crafting an influential and ideally ongoing communication strategy to TARGETED prospects in order to get them to take action. That action could be to download a free ebook, opt into a list, send for a dvd, fill out a survey, buy your product, or join your network marketing business or any combination. The bottom line though is if you don’t really understand marketing, you will spend a great deal of time spinning your wheels in your network marketing business.

Prospecting your leads and sifting for the business leaders with them involves understanding what motivates people but also HOW to talk to people answering questions and dealing with objections. With network marketing, once you generate leads you WILL need to talk to them at some point and build a relationship.The nature of that relationship will determine whether they decide to join your business or buy into your service.

Believe it or not, they aren’t joining your business, they are joining YOU based on how much they know like and trust you and how influential they see you as a leader and how much they believe you can help them succeed in network marketing. Therefore you need to learn how to talk to people and how to influence people so they see you as solution to their problems. This in my book in part of becoming a LEADER.

Selling products and services forms a core part of network marketing because obviously if no one buys your network marketing products or services you have no business. You need to have some knowledge and comfort level around your product/service what it does and how effective it is and why your target market needs to have it. You don’t need to know everything but you need to know enough to be able to represent the product and enough to know where to leverage your time and point people to additional information when they need more detail.

Training others Once someone enters your business – hooray! You’ve gotten past a big hurdle. Most don’t even get THAT far. Here’s your next big challenge. You need to train your new distributor to do what you’ve just done. This is where systems can be extremely helpful. If you have a proven standardized training system then you can and should plug your new distributor right into this program.

Training is key because statistics show that if a new distributor isn’t making any money after 90 days they WILL drop out. Most distributors have a hard time at this point because they haven’t themselves been trained properly by their upline. You need to make sure that YOU have the proper training yourself so you can go ahead and train your own downline and they can train theirs, maximizing your network marketing business success.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

I find only a few people fall into the first category even though they may be saying something different. Even though there are different kinds of freedom, time, financial, etc, theres something you should know about freedom…

Freedom ISN’T REALLY FREE! Thats correct. You must want to sacrifice for it. Those who came before us battled in wars that cost them their lives in the hopes that we could live better ones. In network marketing we don’t fight physically, but we are in the battle of our lives for a happier way of life rather than the life most have controlled by Mr. J.O.B.S.

The American economy and other world economies are in flames right now. Our banks won’t friggin’ lend money DESPITE being given BILLIONS. And folks aren’t spending as much now. If you don’t FIGHT BACK right now hard for the life you want for yourself (using network marketing as an example) you could end up being blown away by the recessionary financial tide.

What are you willing to give up for the network marketing business for the lifestyle you want for you and your family? Many things make our lives easier today like microwaves, broadband, email etc. But faster internet speeds don’t equal better overall lifestyle though. A lot of the easier things like better technology have actually made it easier to work longer hours for the same or less pay.

Considering the stress of our world today, our job demands and relationships, the need to fight for the lifestyle the LIFE you want through your network marketing business is even more important. Heck, being submerged in the office may be productive, but is isn’t a fulfilling way to live out a life. I don’t think anyone lies on their deathbed wondering if they should have spent even more time in the office.

So, after all this, the question is still… Are you putting in the necessary effort in and on your network marketing business change your life? At the end of each day, can you say that you worked hard enough to attain your freedom goals? How badly do you want your freedom?

Carlos Alston is a successful internet marketer, network marketer and software developer.

Stay abreast of the latest, battle-tested network marketing business building tips and tactics. Completely rebuildyour mindset, skillset and your network marketing business the right way with 180DaysToGreatness ]]> http://www.connectednetworker.com/2008/12/24/willing-to-do-what-it-takes-in-your-network-marketing-business/feed/ http://www.connectednetworker.com/2008/12/21/so-wheres-the-marketing-in-your-networking-marketing-business/ http://www.connectednetworker.com/2008/12/21/so-wheres-the-marketing-in-your-networking-marketing-business/#comments Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:51:35 +0000 Carlos Alston http://www.connectednetworker.com/?p=5 Okay.  So you’re all excited about being in your new network marketing business. Congratulations! Or you’ve been in the network marketing business for a while. Congratulations for sticking with it. Here’s a question. What are you DOING or what HAVE you been doing to market your network marketing business? Whats the difference between where you are today and the top guns in the industry? One big difference: They know how to MARKET their business and THEMSELVES day in and day out.

Is your network marketing strategy limited to the old school warm market list and invite-a-friend-and-hope-they-show-up-to-my-opportunity-meeting strategy?
Nothing necessarily wrong with that but the top networkers and waaay beyond that…. Most people don’t have a background in marketing and aren’t told much about how to market either from the network marketing company or their upline when they join.

The top guns in the industry are savvy marketers. They understand fundamental marketing principles and the psychology of marketing. They’ve developed (over time) a skillset that allows them to use multiple marketing strategies to attract, communicate and influence people into their business. That’s why you keep hearing about them and signing up for their opt-in lists and seeing them on stage at trainings and you’re buying their products.

These guys and gals are all over the Internet, marketing themselves with video, audio, blogs, social networks, you name it. You’re probably following them on twitter and on several of their lists. When they talk you listen. When they recommend a product you probably buy it. By the way, they’re marketing themselves offline too.

Many of us just aren’t told HOW to market like this, not even by our uplines. Its unfortunate too, because they generally speaking, these players are incredibly nice, but you need access to them 24/7 to really understand marketing and its just not realistic to get a lot of their time unless, their coaching you specifically. So what do you do? What we all need is convenient ongoing access to a system that will teach you about fundamental marketing principles for your network marketing business.

Well, about 2 months ago, I got an invitation to a marketing experiment that has literally changed how I do my network marketing business. Nadira Haniff invited me to join her 180DaysToGreatness program, which teaches mindset, business and marketing skillset, all combined with real time coaching. I had some skepticism at first, but then Nadira just kept BLOWING ME AWAY with her intense belief, willpower, marketing prowess, and pure willingness to share.
180DaysToGreatness is just one situations that come along once in a great while and you realize it really is something special.  I feel like I’ve been treated to an amazing opportunity to truly understand how to market my network marketing business (or any other for that matter) and now there is no limit to how far I (or you) can go with it. I suggest you see if it might be right for your networking business.

Carlos Alston is a successful Internet marketer and networker and software developer. Stay abreast of the latest, battle-tested network marketing business building tips and tactics.

Revamp your stagnant network marketing business, mindset and skillset with180DaysToGreatness