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Internet and Network Marketing Success! Ezine
Sample Issue
   | Introduction to this Issue My intention with this ezine is to do my part to bring the seemingly disparate worlds of Internet marketing and network marketing together so that we can learn from each other and create even more successful home-based businesses. First a little about my background so you know where I'm coming from. Internet Marketing My foray into an Internet-based business began with my discovery of Ken Evoy's Make Your Site Sell! in 2001. That book opened my eyes to the possibilities of earning a living online. It was an education and an inspiration.
During the time that I was learning about Internet marketing, I assiduously avoided anything associated with multi-level marketing (MLM). I had been "Amwayed" during college and had vowed never to get involved in any business that was so deceptive and high-pressure.
Enlightenment: Network Marketing
It was a fellow Internet marketer who enlightened me by explaining the differences between pyramid schemes and network marketing.
He went on to point out that network marketing is structured in a manner quite similar to the real estate and insurance industries, where experienced brokers recruit a team of agents whom they train and support and in return receive a share of the commission income the agents generate.
I also read publications like the joint statement on pyramid schemes by the National District Attorneys Association and the Direct Selling Education Foundation.
I watched the now famous online video clip, Brilliant Compensation, by Tim Sales and Harvard-educated Professor Charles King.
I came to understand that while there certainly are schemers and scammers in the network marketing industry (just as there are in the Internet marketing field) that there were also many legitimate and potentially lucrative home business opportunities.
I have since gone on to research several network marketing companies and to join five of them (not all at the same time!)
One turned out to not have the right products for me; two went out of business (one of them had great products and wonderful management--but they were undercapitalized); the fourth did not deliver on promises to its distributors; and the fifth, USANA, turned out to be superb.
I've been with USANA Health Sciences for two and a half years and have been more successful as a USANA distributor than any other endeavor. And I owe much of my success to the knowledge and skills I had learned in Internet marketing.
In turn, my network marketing experience has helped me to become a more successful Internet marketer.
Cross Training
Based on my experience I began to wonder how many Internet marketers would love to sell something other than information products and software (the mainstays of Internet marketing). I also wondered how many network marketers could benefit from Internet marketing. Well I guess I didn't wonder about that one too much because I think I know the answer: The vast majority of network marketers could benefit from learning more about Internet marketing strategies and principles.
I therefore decided that this ezine would focus on "cross training," e.g., individuals in each of the two fields learning from the other to become more successful.
Internet marketers can learn, for example, the value of building a team; the importance of personal contact with associates; and the income potential adding a network marketing company to their revenue sources.
Network marketers can learn how to market their products or services via the Internet as well as how to attract new team members via online lead-generation methods. |
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 Desktop Lightning Review
by Mark Worthen, Psy.D. Desktop Lightning is the best viral marketing tool of 2006 . . . The article is detailed so it's continued on another page (opens new window)  Free Advertising Resources This issue's free advertising resource is FreeTrafficBar, which has been a good program for me. I'll contrast it with Instant Buzz (iB) since the two programs are very similar:
1) FreeTrafficBar's CTR (Click Through Rate) is almost identical to what I experience with Instant Buzz (0.1%) for the same text ad (0.1% doesn't sound like much but keep in mind you receive a credit every time you open a new browser window on your computer--so the credits build up fast).
2) Better usability (user-friendliness) than iB;
3) Much better customer service than iB--I have received prompt, professional replies from the FreeTrafficBar owner for my inquiries
4) The FreeTrafficBar Forum is closed to new members until they get a bug fixed. That's a downside for now although I have to say the Instant Buzz forum is probably the worst I've seen in quite awhile.
5) You receive a 4:1 ratio for Adsense-like text ads on your own web site if you are a free member as opposed to a 10:1 ratio (!) with Instant Buzz. Pro members of FreeTrafficBar receive a 1:1 ratio.
So far my experience with FreeTrafficBar has been very positive and, as you can tell, I like it more than Instant Buzz, which, despite its flaws is still effective enough that I use it too. 
I publish two blogs, one on my web site, which I am revamping at the moment, and the MLM-News-Blog. The cool thing about the MLM-News-Blog is that if you want to be a journalist of sorts and report news about your network marketing company, be my guest! Just send me an email indicating your desire to become a "journalist" for the blog. Please include your name, contact information, and a link to your web site. Then, whenever you find a news article about your company, post it on the blog, and--here's the best part--link to your distributor web site wherever the name of your company appears in the post! When I receive your email, I will send you instructions on how to log in and post news items. I use Blogger.com, Google's blog creation program, which is very user-friendly.  Conquer Your Niche Forum
Conquer Your Niche Forum was released last week (09 Nov 2006) and already has over 12,000 members! You can expect that number to grow steadily as the value of the site becomes apparent. So far, I am receiving extremely good CTR's (Click Through Rates) from my ads (17 times more than Instant Buzz, for example). I took the one-time-offer upgrade, which allows some HTML coding of ads and the ability to earn credits much faster. The idea with Conquer Your Niche Forum is that you earn advertising credits each time you read or post on the forum. Your ad is displayed in one of four boxes near the top of the page. The ads are prominent enough to see but not so big that they take over the page. There have been a predictable number of spammers on the forums but the owner has recruited more moderators to delete their posts quickly. If you need marketing advice (that's almost everyone), like to help others, and want to get some very cost-effective advertising along the way, I highly recommend Conquer Your Niche Forum, particularly the upgraded version (it's a one time offer for $197 so be ready for it if you want the premium membership). If the one-time-only offer is within your budget, I believe it will provide an very good return on your investment over the next few months. List Lotto
A new viral list-building program was released last week (07 Nov 2006), called List Lotto. I took the one-time-only upgrade offer and have been pleased with the value. Customer support has been very prompt and courteous. The "lotto" part of the name refers to a weekly drawing in which the lucky winner gets to mail out to the entire ListLotto database. Otherwise, you mail to your downline. I definitely recommend List Lotto. I don't think it's near the value of Desktop Lightning but there's a difference in price too: $47 one-time payment for List Lotto (only when you join though--if you don't upgrade then, it's more expensive) vs. a $15 monthly payment ($180 per year) for Desktop Lightning (but only if you take their one-time offer at sign-up; otherwise it's $20 per month). 
Did you just receive a rank promotion in your network marketing company? Launch a new product or service? Accomplish a crucial goal in your business plan? Announce it here! I intend for this section to be like those sections in your local newspaper or business journal where readers can announce promotions, accomplishments, etc. So go ahead: Brag a little! Steve Ayling launched a unique new traffic exchange, Raining Traffic, which features a 1:1 surfing ratio for all members, and reports that membership is growing rapidly. Another cool feature of the exchange is a built-in script, which enables you to create one time offers for your downline members. They see them when they join (it's only $2 per month to be a member) and when they log in. I recommend Raining Traffic, not only for those reasons but, perhaps most importantly, because I am enjoying the highest CTR for text link ads on Raining Traffic! Higher than any other traffic exchange, traffic bar, etc. The banner CTR's have also been among the highest (only WebmasterQuest is higher). 
Have you issued a Press Release recently? Let me know about it and I'll post a link to it here. My most recent Press Release announced the MLM Companies Wiki. 
If you submit an Internet marketing tip for this section, I'll credit you and link to your web site. Tip #1: Carefully review your company's policy regarding Internet marketing. Some companies, such as Silpada Silver Jewelry and Melaleuca prohibit it outright, whereas others allow it and even provide sophisticated Internet marketing tools for your use.
Tip #2: SiteSell offers several free e-books that provide an excellent introduction to Internet marketing. The e-books are designed to introduce you to their flagship product, SiteBuildIt, but the information they contain is nonetheless quite valuable. When you go to the page, you will first see some free services SiteSell provides, followed by the list of e-books--there are 12 in all. Make Your Site Sell 2002! is the oldest but most of the information is still quite relevant and it is the most comprehensive (1500 pages). I recommend that you skim through it and stop at areas that interest you. Then keep it as a reference. Do you think network marketing companies are scams? As I mentioned above, I held that view five years ago. And certainly there are unscrupulous companies and distributors. But the majority of network marketing companies are legitimate enterprises. Consider this fact: Traditional businessman Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the world, recently purchased Pampered Chef. If network marketing companies perpetrated scams, why would one of the most successful, well-respected, and savvy businessmen in the world purchase a network marketing company? Tip #1 - If you think that "traffic exchanges don't work" you might be right, depending on your advertising objectives. If you display your company's replicated web site and expect a lot of new customers or sign-ups, your results will generally not be great. On the other hand, if you launch a coordinated campaign with downline and crossline members using effective splash pages, you will generate leads at a competitive price. Keep in mind that many would-be home business owners find their way to the traffic exchanges before they would ever consider a network marketing opportunity. If you want to connect with newcomers to home business entrepreneurship, the traffic exchanges are one of the best places to find them. Tip #2 - Become a member of the traffic exchange frequently ranked #1 by two different, independent rating sources: Traffic Syndicate 25 (or TS25 for short). MLM Companies Wiki Tips If you are a Contributor to the MLM Companies Wiki, look to this spot in the ezine every so often for updates and tips on how to use the wiki to drive traffic to your distributor or affiliate web sites. If you are not a member, visit the site to read how you can become a Contributor (there's no charge) and be rewarded with links back to your sites. Here's this issue's MLM Companies Wiki Tip: Link to your page on the site. Post a blog entry if you have a blog or link to the Wiki from your personal web page on MySpace or Yahoo360. The more links to the site, the higher it will appear on the search engine results pages (SERPs) and the more traffic the site will receive. Be sure to use the name of your company in the link and the phrase "MLM Companies Wiki" as part of the sentence. For example, "Check out the USANA page I helped build on the new MLM Companies Wiki!" Please let me know if you would like to see a particular topic covered in this ezine. Don't forget that you have opportunities to receive free publicity in this ezine (read again if you missed them ;-) Thank you for your subscription. Until next issue ... Best Regards, Mark  Please feel free to forward this issue to friends and associates--thanks! Anyone can subscribe for free: Just fill out the subscription form at the top left of this web page (above the navigation menu that lists the different sections of this web site) - be sure to "whitelist" my domain: best-mlm-opportunities.com or my email address: markworthen[at]best-mlm-opportunities.com (replace the "[at]" with "@"]. After you submit the form, look for the confirmation email. You must confirm to receive the ezine. To contact me:
Mark D. Worthen, Psy.D.
6601 Harrison Road
Charlotte, NC 28270-2860
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(Add me as a friend)
Yahoo Messenger: markdworthen
MSN Messenger: markdworthen(at)hotmail.com
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AIM: markdavidworthen
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No Toll (USA & Canada): 877-349-1726
Mobile: 704-301-3798
Home Office: 704-841-9180
Copyright © 2006 Mark D. Worthen, Psy.D. All rights reserved.
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