A few posts back I listed 7 tools I use to strengthen my marketing campaign and promised you a more in-depth explanation on each one. So here we go!

Number one on the list was Twitter. For those of you who don’t know what twitter is, it is a micro blogging platform. You know, to be honest, the first time I heard micro blogging, it was like a foreign language to me. What the heck is micro blogging?

Well, the easiest way to describe it: You know what blogging is. Blogging is writing posts like this one, and are kind of lengthy. Micro blogging is the same thing but with shorter posts of a just a few lines. Twitter, allows you to enter 140 characters packed full of useful information, links, etc. Okay, so how the heck is this information useful?

For me, I use twitter in two ways, to Give and to Get. The give is when I send out a tweet, or a micro post, that offers resources and links for my followers. The get is the exact reverse of giving useful information, instead you get useful information. Part of giving information is promoting your product, service, blog, business, etc. If what you offer is of value, you will benefit as will as your followers.

Here are some tools associated with Twitter that you can check out:

1. TwitterFox – A Firefox plugin that allows you to tweet and receive tweets as you browse.
2. Twitter grader – Used to find new people to follow, grades your account authority, and provides stats and useful info about your account.
3. Tweetdeck – A free software that is very useful in organizing your followers and who you are following. You can also type in keywords you may be looking for and have a list of tweets and tweeters who are tweeting those keywords. Very cool!
4. Tweetlater - Useful for sending automated and delayed tweets to your followers.

Twitter is a very addicting and powerful promoting and learning tool. I have found many uses for it and know you will too. Feel free to connect with me on twitter by clicking on the icon in the top right corner of this post. Also, for more information on how to use Twitter, you may also want to visit Twitip.com.

These are just a few of the tools I use and some of the reasons I enjoy twitter. I’d like to hear from you. What are some tools you use with Twitter and some ways you use twitter to promote, learn, or benefit from it?

Looking to start a home based business? Is this your first time or have you tried something in the past?
Did it work for you? If so, what happened and why are you looking again? How do you know if you have found a home based business that is going to be profitable for you? How do you know if it is actually going to work before you jump into it? How can you know that you will do all that it takes to create the success you desire through this new home business of yours?

Here is an interesting fact: Thousands of people start a home based business every single day! Thousands! That is a huge number. How many of them actually experience the success they desire? How many of them can actually make a living at what they do? To tell you the truth, I have no idea what the actual stats are, but I can tell you that most home business owners are not able to support themselves without some other source of income. Many people quit before they even get into profit and this isn’t just true for a home based business, this is true for all businesses.

The only way to fail, in a home based business, is to quit. Why, because you can do it on your own time. You can work the business around your schedule until you are profitable. But, there are traits to look for in finding a successful home based business opportunity to start. Allow me give you some guidance:

1. Who is paid first, you or the wholesale company? Make sure it is you!
2. Do you have to stock inventory or pre-purchase your product? Make sure this one is a big fat no! There are home businesses out there that will ship, stock, do customer service for you and all you do is collect the profit!
3. Is it MLM? Now this is up to you, but know this, those you assist in signing up into the business will never make as much money as you do. Normally, the commissions are small, you have to stock and warehouse products and you have monthly quotas to meet. However, they are residual.
4. Are you choosing your home business to have the product or to make some money? Please, please, please say to make money! You go into business to make money. The product is the way to make money and most products are outstanding. Keep your focus!
5. Large commissions! Do you want to sell your product to half the world before you are profitable or would you like to do less work, sell a few, and make more money. Enough said!
6. SYSTEM! Is there a turnkey system in place that you can follow? This is a must. More people fail when there is no system to follow!
7. Look for the success the business opportunity has had. This is a big one. If you are looking for fault, you are sure to find it, even in paradise! Every, I repeat, every successful business has someone talking negative about it or trying to get a freebie. I mean Walmart is sued every half hour! DO NOT base your decision to get started in or not to get started in a business because of what people say in negativity forums. There are two classes of people who fail, those who fail and blame others and those who fail and take personal responsibility for their own actions. The ones who blame others are the comments you read on forums! The ones who take personal responsibility will one day succeed and the ones who are successful, are the ones still working their home business. Talk to two or more of them and ignore the failures.
8. Go on your “gut feeling.” The best way to make a decision is by following your heart! The head will just get in the way. Starting a business is about chance, confidence in yourself, and risk. You can’t rely on logic for that. It is about you! Can you succeed? Do your research and jump in with both feet!

Home based businesses are creating millionaires and there is no difference between you and those who have  already done it. Well, I guess there is one, time!

Can you generate a significant amount of leads with blogging?

The answer to that questions is a definite YES! Blogging is one of the best ways to generate the most targeted traffic that in turn will produce the highest quality of leads you will ever have.

I built this website to educate Entrepreneurs through Personal Development and to find those who are looking for a Business Opportunity to teach them how to become successful. I have my static pages that provide general information about the opportunity but have a blog as well.

So how do you connect your blog to your opportunity and what do you blog about?

Your blog is the GIVE. Your static pages and lead capture forms are the TAKE! So in your blog posts give your thoughts, your advice, your expertise, what you have learned, strategies, results, polls, etc. In order to be effective at blogging for leads you must have great content. Content that brings value to your readers yet enticing them to want to learn more. For example: I wrote a blog post called Top 3 Ways How I Make Money. In that post I speak of ways that someone looking to generate an income doing something similar to what I am doing can gain from my content. So I offer free advice. There is no reason to hide my knowledge from anyone. Chances are, if they read the post and want to know what I do, they will contact me. Bingo, there’s a lead. It seems as the more open I am with my results and my expertise as an Entrepreneur, the more traffic I get and the more leads come in. Give and Get!

Also, if I have a blog post that I feel is good article content, I will submit it to article submission sites such as Ezine Articles and Article Base. Most article submission sites allow you to add links into your text that point back to your site. Find the appropriate keywords that fit your blog post and link it back to that post or a post with similar content on your blog. They will visit your blog and chances are, will get curious and look around your site a bit. If you have a contact form or lead capture form that is visible and user friendly, they just might fill that sucker out. Also, you have your author bio and your authors box just below your articles with links pointing back to your site.

So where do I put my contact forms and lead capture forms you ask? I have a contact form directly under each individual blog post, right before my Adsense ads. How simple have I made it for my readers to fill out the form? I also have forms in the sidebar of almost every static page I have. Also, I have a “Contact Us” page with a link for that page in my header. If someones interest is spiked, they feel they would like to learn more, it is very simple for them to request more info.

The easier your blog is to navigate, the more user friendly it is, the more leads you will get. Some visitors get overwhelmed with content and will leave the site within seconds. So make your blog content visible, legible, free of errors, and with value and after some time and consistency your blog will be a lead generating fool!

As I sit here watching my 7 year old and 4 year old daughters attempting to wrap presents for their friends and cousins, I just have to laugh! They are wrapping the gifts the best they know how and plastering the wrapping together with massive amounts of tape. It will be a miracle if the intended recipients of those gifts will even be able to open them!

I absolutely am grateful for the birth of the Savior and would like to remind everyone to remember the true meaning of Christmas. Santa Claus is alive and well in the hearts of every child throughout the entire world and will be for time and all eternity as a symbol of giving and kindness.

Give all that you can, spend time with those you love the most, and be grateful for all you have, even the small things. Remember our Savior who is the Master of all giving.

Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy your Holidays!

There are a ton of “tools” out there on the net that can be used to strengthen your marketing campaign. Some are useful for getting the word out and others will let you know where you stand via statistics and feedback. Here are a few that I use consistently:

1. Twitter
   
2. Wordpress Plugins
3. Mint tracking
4. Website Grader
5. SEO Tools
6. Google Adwords
7. Feedburner

In the next few posts I will go into depth on how I use each of these tools to market my Business Opportunity and how they work!