MLM Networking Women

If you’re like me, you are constantly searching for the secret of how to create interesting blogs that people will actually read.

I just listened to a Richard Dennis training on HOW TO Use Graphics to get eyeballs interested in reading your blog posts.

Richard Dennis is one of the most respected marketing writers in action today.  His trainings offer incredible free and low cost resources for learning how to write for marketing purposes and how to get your articles & posts noticed.

In his training on using Graphics in your blog, he says it is imperative to grab your reader’s attention immediately so they are drawn to continue reading.

The most effective way to peak interest is through humor or whimsy.

Richard recommends starting off your blog posts with a humorous or eye-catching graphic.

He then gives several examples of opening lines that either pose a question or make a statement about a challenge the reader may be experiencing in their business.

The whole idea is to grab your readers’ curiosity enough to get them to read further.

It is important to note that most people learn visually. 

We absorb more information more efficiently through pictures, drawings, graphs and stories.

We can also read more quickly and efficiently if information is chunked into smaller segments with a lot of spacing between sentences and ideas.

Using graphics not only helps readers learn, but it can also give a readers a positive, happy feeling when visiting your site, which will transfer over to their impression of YOU as a business associate.

To read Richard’s complete article, visit his blog at Net Traffic Machine and download the pdf.

To listen to the audio of Richard’s training, please contact me at mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com and I will be happy to send you the link.

Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen

mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com

Ezine Articles is giving us another opportunity to challenge our literary and marketing skills with the 4th Hundred Articles in a Hundred Days Challenge.

Participating in this challenge is a valuable chance to increase your web presence while polishing your writing and keyword skills.

Why is it important to write?

When you are using the internet to market your home based business, you will need to have a web presence that shows your value as a leader.

These days, when most people want to know something, they turn to the internet search engines.

Writing blogs and articles is a great way to get search engines like Google to recognize you.

So, it is in our best interest to court the search engines when marketing our businesses.

The challenge begins today, May 1st, and ends at 11:59 PM CST on August 8, 2010.

Ezine Articles has made signing up for the challenge a breeze by logging into your member interface.  They’ve written a blog post to guide you through the process.

If you read my previous post about how I did not the make the challenge…how I even fell far short of the goal at 28 articles submitted…you may wonder why I am even trying it again.

Because it is a challenge.

It is challenging me to rise above my current marketing performance and strive to reach a new goal.

This is what growth is all about.

This is what leadership is about.

Step out and enter the race to better yourself.  You are guaranteed to learn something and gain new skills.

You will also be braving new territory that your business associates will want to follow you into.

Believe In your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.net

I wish I had a nickel for every time I was working on the internet and something crashed…either the power, the internet, or a computer malfunction.

Worse is when I’ve lost some project I had been intently working on and was almost finished with.

Arghhh!!

We’ve all been there at one time or another.

A fellow Mentor, Jennifer Fisher, introduced me to a Wondrous FREE program—you all know how much I like FREE business building tools—you can use for your blog writing.

Windows Live Writer.

I was telling Jennifer how I had found a beautiful theme for my WordPress blog, but I didn’t like the difficult to read, grey font color.

I have Windows Vista and Microsoft Office Word 2007.  This version of Word allows you to write a “blog post” rather than a “blank document”.  It converts the characters to the correct format, and then publishes the post to your blog.

The drawback is that I could never figure out how to change the font color and size so it showed up on my blog.

OK, so I’ve never made a secret out of the fact that I am technologically challenged!

But that is one of the goals of this blog…helping anyone—even those who are technologically challenged like me—learn how to market online the easy way.

Back to my story…

So, Jennifer gave me the link to download Windows Live Writer.  I love it!

Some of the features I enjoy are

• ability to change the font color and size (black against white is easier to read)
• work on and save drafts on my own computer (avoids internet problems)
• publish to your blog or your dashboard (I like to add my tags and categories from my dashboard)
• add images and links
• see the draft as it will appear once posted in my theme
• manage drafts for all of my blogs

I’ve been without internet service this week, so this program has been a life saver.

I’ve been able to write drafts and save them to the program on my computer.  I can set a publish date for each post over several days or weeks.  Then, when I can access an internet connection, I publish the whole lot to my WordPress dashboard.

This allows me to keep current with my readers and the search engines.

There are many other features to list, but you can check those out yourself by going to the Windows Live Writer site.

Enjoy this new free tool!  If you need any help with it, give me a holler.

Your Friend and Mentor,
Karen
”Teamwork Makes the Dreams Work”

Is the FTC Monitoring Your Blog?

Blogging has created a lot of opportunities for people to make money online.

Women wanting to stay home and raise their children themselves are able to earn an income from home through their blogs.  Most of the topics our audiences are interested in are about things going on in our daily lives.

Other bloggers are building blogs in support of their businesses….whether bricks and mortor or an online home based business.  Whatever the money making goal is behind the blog, it is important to add value to the blogger’s niche community.   Bloggers should be offering advice, tips, and educational pieces to attract readers.

A blogger can make money with a blog through

1. Affiliate programs like Clickbank
2. Selling space to advertisers
3. Google Adsense
4. Being paid to write product or service reviews
5. Promoting their own products

Recently, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has taken an interest in the money making activities of bloggers.

The FTC plans to start monitoring blogs in the areas of product or service testimonials and endorsements.  The FTC has received numerous complaints from consumers who were looking for impartial reviews of products or services just to find out later that the blogger was paid by the company or received the product or service free in exchange for the review.

So, what could this mean for moms who blog to creat an income for their families?
Take a look at this news video on Mommy Bloggers Cashing In.

Are moms working from home through blogs criminals?  Are Mommie Bloggers breaking the law?

I don’t think so…at least not intentionally.
The concern the FTC has, and the blog readers, is that bloggers are being honest with their readers.  When writing reviews, recommendations, or testimonials, the FTC wants the Blogger to disclose when being compensated in some way by the product/service’s company.

Sounds simple enough.
But how much government regulation actually simplifies our lives?  Every drop of regulation to protect has the potential of restricting our activities and rights.  We must be aware of any unfair restrictions disguised as part of these consumer protections.

It turns out that this law has far reaching consequences beyond anyone writing reviews on their blogs.

Take a look at the MLM Watch Dog website and read what Rod Cook has to say about this FTC proposal at MLM Watch Dog.

According to Rod’s article, the FTC proposes…

• not allowing paid blog reviews
• not allowing product reviews when the product was supplied to reviewer for free if it isn’t disclosed the product was received for free
• posts made on forums or message boards by affiliate without disclosing they are an affiliate
• testimonial section also including negative testamonials

You can read Rod’s editorial notes on the above and on the FTC’s statement at the MLM Watch Dog website.

The concern raised is that the FTC’s monitoring would unfairly restrict the web marketing activities of Network Marketers and MLMers.

The Network Marketing Industry is full of bad deals and scams.  But it is also full of legitimate companies offering realistic income producing opportunities.
Another factor to consider is that Network Marketing (and Direct Selling)  is designed to offer business opportunities to the average person who has no prior business or marketing experience.  This creates a segment of the Network Marketing community made up of novices who do not yet understand the proper methods and ettiquette of marketing behavior.  

Some of these novices…along with a portion of experienced network marketers…may spam or misrepresent themselves, either intentionally or not.  This behavior creates distrust and suspicion in the community, and causes people to file complaints to the authorities.

I suppose the government, the Federal Trade Commission, is doing the best they can.  However, buerocrats are notorious for over regulating industry, especially when they have no personal experience in the field.  Somewhere we have to be able to strike a balance.

My thoughts are that Network Marketers must act as a community to educate each other on how to do this business effectively and ethically and conduct ourselves as examples of effective and ethical behavior.

Lastly, it is easy not to notice our liberties being taken away from us when it is done drop by drop.  Unfortunately, it is only when the gallon buckets are full that we cry for justice.

Wishing You the Success of a Lifetime!
Karen Miller
karen@mlmnetworkingwomen.com
skype ID: karen.j.miller