Are You Starving Your Home Business Of Lifeblood?

Copyright © 2004 Mal Keenan

If you've seen Kevin Costner's film the "Field of Dreams" you will remember how he was inspired to build a baseball field with the words "If you build it, they will come". He built the stadium, and with a little faith, streams of visitors were coming to see his dream.

Sorry to bring you back to the REAL world but this isn't "Field of Dreams" and you aren't Kevin Costner. If you want visitors to your dream website and you want some measure of success online, you need to take some important steps to do so.

Without a regular supply of leads to your business then you just aren't going to make it in internet business, period.

How on earth could you? It would be like setting up an offline business and expecting it to succeed without anyone picking up the phone to call you or walking in through your companies' front door.

Makes sense doesn't it? Of course it does but the majority of prospects I deal with respond with shock horror when I tell them that now that they have set up their business websites they will have to buy leads or work hard to obtain them.

Leads are the lifeblood of your business and a highly targeted prospect can be worth $1000s, especially if you are involved in network marketing.

The way I see it, there are a few things you need to do to qualify leads and turn them into your customers or downline.

Firstly you need to obtain them, and as I can only share my own experiences, I will tell you what I do.

1) I buy leads - This is the simplest way to get leads and obviously will take the least amount of work to do this, because you are buying them from other sources and sending them to your business. These are usually raw leads, meaning they are people interested in starting an online business but not sure how to go about it nor with which company to proceed. It is up to you to convince them to use your product or service to do this.

2) I add them to my followup system - After buying leads you MUST add these prospects to some sort of followup system. This is basic stuff and if you don't do it you won't succeed.

There is absolutely no point in buying leads unless you followup with them. You COULD buy them and send them one email with a link to your business. A very small % will actually visit your site, what about the rest? Adding them to a followup system with at least twelve further messages will help turn your leads into HOT prospects. Some of my autoresponders have up to fifty message with articles, tips and recommendations.

3) I send targeted prospects to my business websites from the search engines - Many of my leads come from top rankings in the major search engines. A full e-book could be written on this alone but basically I set up a domain - obtained hosting - optimised my website with keywords related to my business - submitted my site to the major search engines - added quality home business related content and began a reciprocal linking campaign which boosts my sites web ranking more than anything else. The greatest thing about these leads is they are HIGHLY TARGETED and they are of course free.

Again I have set up a web form at my sites to encourage my search engine leads to add themselves to my followup system. I can then get to work on turning them into my customers and downline affiliates.

There are of course many other forms of sending customers to your website but the two above combined with an effective followup system can virtually put your business on autopilot and free up your time for other projects. They are also the most effective ways that I have found to reach a successful income.

Take the steps as outlined above and let me know how you get on.

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Mal Keenan is editor and publisher of Home Business Tips
Newsletter: http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/
For a comprehensive leads package and followup system in one visit here:
http://www.homebusinessnetworking.com
Home Business Solution:
http://www.eliteteamireland.com/

Does Your Website Make The Grade?

Copyright © 2004 Mal Keenan
If you aren't making money after sending any quantity of visitorsat all to your website then you may be making simple mistakesthat ARE costing you money and affiliate signups. I remember myown first marketing website it was like a night on the strip inLas Vegas, banners flashing all over the place hoping to attractprospective buyers and affiliates. Needless to say it didn't dotoo good and I moved on.
Today I own many different websites and domain names and they alltry to follow simple rules that will ensure my visitors don'tclick off before the site content reaches their toolbar. Have alook what I believe to be a perfectly structured site and onethat I have found great success with:http://www.eliteteamireland.com/
Did you look closely? The reason for the success of this site isthat it doesn't contain many of the marketing errors that new andnot so new online business entrepreneurs will make in todaysmarket. If you are a member of an affiliate program that containsthese erros then you need to take action immediately. If youdon't have the option to create your own site for affiliatepromotions then you need to find a new program to promote. Thisor continue to suffer losses in sales and team members.
Here is a quick overview of how to structure a :successful marketing site:
1)Clearly define what your website is about. Patience is a virtuebut unfortunately it is not an attribute prevalent in 99% ofonline surfers and if they don't know the purpose of your sitealmost immediately, they will move on.
2)Focus on one or two services or products. A website going intoo many different directions will leave your visitor feelingconfused and more likely to click on to something less cluttered.
3) Include a follow up form AND let your prospect know exactlywhat is is for. Most people visiting online business websites aredoing so for the first time and they are very untrustworthy,rightly so given the amount of scams that have been perpetratedonline, so it is important that you tell them why you want theircontact info.
Explain what they are going to get for providing their detailsand in what form it is going to come (ie You will receive anemail course over 30 days etc. etc. etc.).
4) Provide your full contact info on your site preferably withyour own photograph prominently displayed. Again this is down totrust, people need to know that there is a REAL person behindthis website and the more you can convince them with your owndetails the more trusting they will be. More trust equals moresales.
5) If you are going to make statements about your business thenit is much better to back them up with testimonials. With thetestimonial, like with your own contact info, provide as manypersonal details as possible and for maximum effect provide aphoto aswel. Look at the website above again to see how it's done.
6) Explain the compensation plan clearly. If you are running anaffiliate program or are promoting one then you need to state howpeople will get paid in an easy to understand format. The mainreason people are at your site is because they are looking for away to create further income, you need to state in clear termshow and when this is going to happen.
Take another look at how the comp. plan is clearly set out here:http://www.eliteteamireland.com/
The above website works so well because it allays many of thefears and answers the questions that people setting off on a newbusiness venture will have. It does this by setting out clearlywhat you must do to get started and backs it up with testimonialsfrom people who have followed the exact same methods to gainsuccess. If you follow the same strategy with your own websitethen you will gain the same success as far as getting people onboard.
What you don't see in the above model, but will be explained in asubsequent article, is how effective followup and a duplicatablesystem can virtually eliminate any chance of failure if youfollow the steps outlined.
There are people out there who will succeed at whatever venturethey happen to come across but for us mere mortals it depends somuch on the quality and layout of a company backed up with soundsupport and a duplicatable system that our financial successdepends upon it.
If you don't want to fail then ensure that you do choose aprogram that follows the steps above when supplying you with asite to promote. Either that or build your own.

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Mal Keenan is editor and publisher of Home Business Tips Newsletter: http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/ For a company that DOES provide support, easy to follow training and a duplicatable system join my team below: http://www.eliteteamireland.com/

Home Business Newsletter

The most recent issue of my Home Business Tips Newsletter can be found online here:
http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/current.html

This issue as always is packed with useful articles, tips and free downloads.

I am also giving away many Internet Marketing secret in this and previous issues

I also maintain a forum here:
http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/forum/

And another blog:
http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/blog

Why All Your Marketing Efforts Have Come To Nothing

Have just written an article below which you are welcome to use as long as you keep the byline intact and in it's original form.

Why All Your Marketing Efforts Have Come To Nothing

Copyright © 2004 Mal Keenan

How often have you responded to email from those in your downlines asking for advice on how best to run their online businesses and finding it increasingly frustrating that things JUST aren't working out as planned?



I myself see the same problems day and daily and it always point back to the same core issues. Let me explain one of them...

The very ethos of network marketing is based on sharing the products and services that you have found helpful in your journey towards success. The fact that you get paid for this is definitely a BIG bonus but networking can be found in everyday examples where people aren't being paid. For instance when people see a great movie, they tell others who in turn pass it on to create a blockbuster hit.

Word of mouth definitely is the best form of advertising and networking. The main point in the above example is that folks are being honest about their observations and this is picked up on by their fellows and so and and so forth down the line.
The problem with many network marketers is that they ARE NOT being honest in their dealings with online prospects. Their emails or telephone conversations are promoting something that they don't really believe in and this belief is being transferred to the people they are trying to recruit.

You cannot sell something that you don't absolutely believe in yourself, or at least you will find it extremely difficult to do so and all your efforts will result in ultimate failure.

The words coming from our mouths are actually a very small percentage of what is actually being communicated and even the tone of our email ads can scream "Scam" at prospects without us even knowing it.

This has been a fact in all my online dealings and yet it is something that is not easy to explain to newcomers who come online and believe that it is only a matter of "click send" and a ready acceptance of multiple checks in the mail.

Obviously the way around this problem is to promote those products and services that you actually DO believe in. From I have come online I have to say that the companies out there that inspire confidence have been by far in the minority.

Many companies will take your money and run and when you are the type that hands out money hand over fist with no money management skills, it is a welcome surprise to find a company that will actually teach you such skills and allow you to earn as you do.

I myself am a member of such a team and it is a perfect example of something that I truely CAN believe in, and this belief like mentioned above, is exuded to those I come in contact with through email promotions and online ads.

In conclusion, if you are choosing to promote products or services online ensure that they are something that you can honestly pass on to prospective affiliates and feel good in doing so. Your success ulimately depends upon it.

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Mal Keenan is editor and publisher of Home Business Tips Newsletter: http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/ For a company that you can believe in join my team below: http://www.eliteteamireland.com/