If you’re starting a new direct sales business and feeling overwhelmed with web 2.0, you’re not alone. You’re already busy setting up your business, and now you’ve got to think about having an online presence too. Where do you start, right? I can relate because I was trying to implement everything at once and felt so burnt out. To be successful, you don’t need to do everything, i.e., pay per click, article marketing, video marketing, social media, and so forth. You can always add on. Please keep it simple and implement a few things.
Keep your focus on mastering a few things like setting up a blog or website. It’s better to be an expert on a few topics rather than a generalist and do everything with mediocrity.
Here are 5 tips to have an online presence:
Set up a Blog
There’s a ton of online resources on blogging. Whether to choose WordPress or Blogger, why blogs increase traffic than a static website, and so much more. You will find more info than I could offer in this short post. However, here are three tips: narrow your topic to a few “niche” ones or on topics you have a lot of knowledge of. You cannot be an expert and cover everything! Concentrate on writing great content and continue learning copy/ad writing. Plan on adding at least 2-3 posts a week to beef up your blog’s content. Until you have enough content, some blog search engines like BlogCatalog won’t accept your blog submission. Some excellent blogs to check out are Copyblogger, Problogger.net, and Dailyblogtips. Commenting on other blogs in your niche market is a perfect way to build rapport with other bloggers and learn from them too.
Syndicate Everywhere
Content is king, and so is syndication! Importance of syndicating your blog will increase your search engine rankings and create more visibility for your blog. If you’re not indexed by search engines, i.e., Google, Yahoo, RSS directories, or blog search engines, then you’re not being found by your prospects, customers, and potential business partners that are looking to join your business. Tip: think keywords and search words or phrases whenever you’re writing, but don’t fill every line with keywords. Balancing strong keywords and writing in a way that’s engaging to your audience. Don’t write to fill up space.
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Social Networks
If you search for social networks, your head will spin because there are so many. Invest in building genuine relationships on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Facebook, to me, is more friend-ish, and Twitter can get you spammed by a ton of peeps promoting their business opportunities and products. I’m becoming huge of LinkedIn and the potential of LinkedIn’s groups. Sometimes smaller niche social networks will give you greater visibility in reaching a more targeted audience.
Tip: Don’t get sucked into socializing because it will be counterproductive. You can be productive and socialize by keeping it to 30 minutes a day on social networks. With Twitter, focus on Retweeting if you find something valuable and use @reply to engage with your followers and start having conversations. Do NOT spam your followers or constantly promote your products or business opportunity.
Niche Social Networks
Niche social networks can be a great resource to meet people in your niche market. Ning offers thousands of groups, and LinkedIn is excellent and has huge potential. There are forums for direct sales and network marketing entrepreneurs. Groups are also a good place to meet people that are selling similar products or share similar interests. For example, the WAHM forum has thousands of members that are in direct sales and network marketing. If you’re in the clothing or fashion business, you might check out Stylehive, which has a community, tags, and group for like-minded people. Social bookmarking sites are underutilized and quite effective!
Leverage a Community
Start commenting on other blogs in direct sales. Add their blogs to your Blogroll, link to their posts often, syndicate by Retweeting, or share with your Facebook friends. Your direct sales pals will appreciate it if the content is relevant and valuable. Reach out to your team members and uplines that have blogs. Ask them to link your blog to theirs and network with fellow consultants. As long as your goal is to help build each other’s business, the collaboration will enhance your business, and you’ll develop new friendships too.
