Social Networking: web 2.0 online social networking

Social networking as a way to increase business is really nothing new. People have been connecting socially and recommending products or services and gaining referrals from those social connections probably since the concept of commerce began.

Social networking groups like BNI, chamber or commerce meeting and the like have also allowed people to use social networks to enhance their business. However, the the development of web 2.0 sites, social networking has been taken to a whole new level. Now you can network, attract people who are interested in the products or services you offer and gain referrals without leaving the comfort of your home office.

However, there is social marketing etiquette and rules of the web 2.0 sites you need to know, if you want to be able to use online social networking effectively. This Monday, July 7th 2008, The WorksTeam will be conducting our regular Monday Night Training webinar on the topic of Social Networking and you are welcome to join us:

Title:   The WorksTeam Mon. Night Training Call

Date:  Monday, July 7, 2008

Time:  9:00 PM - 10:00 PM EDT

Social Marketing – Web 2.0

Blogs, Squidoo lenses, YouTube, bookmarking - and social networks, like LinkedIn, Facebook, myspace, etc., are all ways to get information out there that links back to you and attracts your target market to you. But if you don't play by the rules, you can be viewed as an online “spammer” which will hurt your marketing efforts, and can even get you kicked out of the social networks.

On this webinar we will be discussing what social marketing really is, how it can be used effectively as part of your marketing plan, how you can leverage off your connection with the WorksTeam to the benefit of everyone, and how to avoid being seen as an online “spammer”.

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/521088712

Simply register for the webinar and you can copy the details into your calendar so you can join us at 9:00pm EST on Monday. When you register you will be required to state the name of the person who invited you, so just enter: Wendy Mills. Since there are limited spots available, I recommend registering now before the webinar fills up.

Enjoy the webinar and if you have any questions or need help with your business, just complete the Contact Wendy Mills form or call 715-514-8858 to schedule a complimentary consultation.

SiteBuildIt Summer Sale

SiteBuildIt has a Summer Sandals sale running right now that ends, appropriately, on the first day of summer, June 21 at midnight.,(sale held over until midnight July 6th!) For only a $100 you get an extra website that you can keep and activate up to 9 months later, give as a gift or split the cost with a friend or business associate. Even at $299 a year, SiteBuildIt is a great deal for all you get - hosting, domain name, web building tools, website analysis tools, tracking and statistics, autoresponder and capture forms, email and the step-by-step Action Guide to walk even a novice through the process.

When I first came across SiteBuildIt, I thought it was a great value and something I would recommend to my downline and the people I help to more effectively build their businesses. I knew it would have a much smaller learning curve than the way I learned to build websites. However, as associates of mine started using SiteBuildIt I became very intrigued and wanted to check out the tools and resources myself. The reason SiteBuildIt caught my attention was that the people I knew who started using it had no website building experience - in fact many consider themselves "technology-challenged - yet they were getting websites up in a relatively short period of time, and most importantly - getting traffic to their sites!

You see there are lots of website building tools out there these days that make it simple to put up a website. The problem is having a website does you absolutely no good - unless you are getting found! Often people want to have a website, but the truth is a lot of websites end up as expensive business cards because the only visitors are the ones being sent to the site. People end up spending a lot of money advertising their website instead of getting free organic traffic.

Now there is nothing wrong with using Google Adwords or other online advertising - if you know what you are doing, but a lot of people don't - and waste a lot of money trying to drive traffic to their website.

SiteBuildIt walks the person through keyword research and unless the person "cheats" and doesn't follow the steps, the SBI Action Guide literally ensures a quality site built around good keywords that generates organic traffic, that is people find you through the search engines rather than you having to pay to get them there. Now there are other things you want to do to generate more organic traffic, increase your website's ranking, etc. but SBI takes a person step-by-step through the website building process to build a quality site.

As you are working on your website, I also recommend utilizing the principles in The Renegade Marketer and getting step-by-step directions on how to implement the marketing methods in Renegade University. You can even join Renegade University for free to get an idea what attraction marketing is all about. Together - SiteBuildIt and Ann Sieg's Renegade System make a powerful combination that will allow you to attract your target market to you, rather than chasing after them or spending a fortune in ineffective marketing methods.

If you have questions or would like to schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss ideas to help your business or start a business, complete the Contact Wendy Mills form or call 716-514-8858.

Ann Sieg's Renegade Marketer - One Year Anniversary

Ann Sieg's Renegade Network Marketer Ebook and Renegade Marketing System debuted just one year ago on June 12, 2007, taking the network marketing industry by storm. Ann Sieg and her Renegade Marketer have rocked the boat of the “old school” marketers who would prefer to have their downline following their “cookie cutter” business plan that may have worked 20 years ago, and still can work for a small percentage of people – depending on their personality and environment, but is generally not very effective or as efficient as using the power of the internet.

The thing is, these days people are just too busy to be dragged to meetings and go right to the internet to do their research. Also, since most people starting a network marketing business are usually still working a regular job and working their network business around their job and family obligations, they need to work smarter and have the time spent on their business be effective.

Ann Sieg's Renegade Marketer Ebook and system shows people how to promote themselves, determine their niche market, and attract interested people to them, rather than chasing down prospects in the “old school” manner. Now Ann Sieg has gotten a lot of flack from some people who claim that the information in Renegade Marketer is not new or that the Renegade Marketer Ebook is a “scam”. However, the truth is although some of the principles of sales and marketing are not new to the marketing industry, and the internet marketing community in particular, they certainly aren't taught within the network marketing industry. The truth is most books you read these days are not “new” in the concepts they discuss, but are of value in the way the concepts are presented. How many “ah ha” moments have you had when reading something? Most times it is not that the idea is new to you, but when presented in a certain way – you “get” it.

And the claims that the Renegade Marketer is a “scam” is absolutely ridiculous. For a mere $67, you not only get the Renegade Network Marketer Ebook, but access to an entire system that allows you to generate your own leads , while generating a marketing budget instead of paying for leads. Not only that, but the Renegade Marketer ebooks comes with a 90 no-questions-asked guarantee. So if you buy, decide for whatever reason it is not for you – you get your money refunded.

Since I have been involved and utilizing the Renegade Marketer system since pre-launch I have not only seen an increase in my own business, but have had countless people tell me how big a difference the Renegade Marketer has made in the way they run their business and the positive results they have seen.

You can read comments from just a few of them in my squidoo lens, Ann Sieg: Who is Ann Sieg, really? People have shared some of the results and impact Ann Sieg's Renegade Marketer has made for them. For $67 and a money-back guarantee, there is nothing to lose. But for those who are just not sure what this attraction marketing is all about, they can get a free membership to Renegade University and get an inside peak into what the Renegade Network Marketer is all about without having to give anything but their first name and email address.

After one year, Ann Sieg's Renegade Marketer is going strong and helping struggling marketers everywhere, many who had given up hope of being successful. Thank you, Ann Sieg!

If you want more information on how to impliment the Renegade Marketing system in your business, you can schedule a complimentary consultation or contact Wendy Mills by completing the contact Wendy form or by calling 716-514-8858

SendOutCards: Great Tool To Send Out Cards and Build Business Relationships

If you are not familiar with SendOutCards, it is a fantastic tool to make it easy to keep connected with your customers, associates, potential business associates or potential customers. Emails can over get overlooked or not even make it past the spam filters, even though you are contacting someone who requested information from you. Because people lead such busy lives, you may end up playing “phone tag” and not reach people. As sales guru, Danielle Kennedy says,

“In today’s age of electronic communication, a thank you note, with a stamp, gets more attention than ever” - Danielle Kennedy

What is unique about SendOutCards, is that you can create a personalized card, in your own handwriting, with your own signature, in about a minute or two on your computer. You click the “send” button and SendOutCards prints it, addresses it, stamps it and mails it out for you for less than the cost of a card you would by at the store.

You can also create direct mail campaigns, by creating a personalized card and mailing it out to the groups of people you specify, again with just a click of the mouse.

This Monday, we conducted a webinar on this topic:

Using Card Campaigns to Build Value & Keep Connected with Your Customers, Prospects or Associates

We showed how easy it is to create a series of personalized cards that get mailed out automatically at the times you have chosen. We discussed how to use SendOutCards effectively to create personalized cards that get attention, provide value, and bring people back to you. We also shared ideas on how to keep your customers, gain more referrals, increase your business, and improve relationships - both business and personal using the SendOutCards system.

Hightlight of some of the ideas discusss on this webinar:

• A Balanced Approach To Marketing



• Putting A Face To The Name



• Are You Standing Out from the Crowd?



• Keeping Connected with Customers All Year Long!



• Creating Groups & Importing Contacts Easily



• Card Campaign Ideas and What to Say



• How to Put yourself in the other person's mindset



• Showing you Care – expressing your Appreciation & Gratitude



• 5% increase in customer loyalty will yield 20%-80% to our bottom line profit



• How sales expert and author Tom Hopkins had 98% of his business came from referrals by sending cards within 3 years.

The good news is, if you missed this webinar it was recorded and you can view it here:

http://www.yourcardsmadesimple.com/

Just enter your email address and then complete the short registration by entering your name and who invited you – in this case, me, Wendy Mills.

You will be able to view the webinar immediately. You will need the latest version of Windows media player, version 10.

After you have viewed the webinar, give me a call, at 716-514-8858, email or complete a gift acount request form to receive a free SendOutCards gift account and schedule a gift account walk through. I'll walk you through the system, let you send a card or two on me, and discuss some of the best ways the system could be utilized for your specific needs.

The Renegade Network Marketer Training: Renegade University

If you have either purchased The Renegade Network Marketer Ebook or are considering doing so, I highly recommend joining the Renegade University free membership. All you need to do is sign in with your first name and email address and you can access a lot of free videos which walk you through the principles of attraction marketing, setting up the Renegade system, and starting with some of the free marketing methods discussed in The Renegade Network Marketer.

If you have not purchased The Renegade Network Marketer Ebook yet, this gives you a free inside "peak" into the principles so you can decide if it is what you are looking for. If you have already purchased the Ebook, Renegade University is a great time-saving in getting you started utilizing the marketing strategies within the Renegade marketing system.

For anyone not familar with the Renegade Network Marketer Ebook, it is not just a book, it is an entire marketing system. Ann Sieg has really shaken up the network marketing world with the launch of her ebooks, The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing, The Renegade Network Marketer, and this System in June 2007.

She has expose the ineffective, outdated marketing methods so often promoted and passed on to new network marketing reps, and provides a solution that allows marketers to generate their own quality prospects, while bringing in a passive income to fuel your marketing budget. This system really promotes and teaches how to be a truly independent marketer, and that is one of the reasons the system has caused a stir within the industry.

For a one time purchase of only $67, , you not only get this fantastic ebook, but you can register at no additional cost as an affiliate and have lifetime access to a panora of marketing resources and affilate programs to fund your marketing for your primary network marketing business. 60% of that $67 is actually paid back to Renegade affiliates, so the value is excellent.

Although targeted to network marketers, this system actually teaches you how to market ANY business. Once you get the concepts explained in the book and affiliate resources site, you could apply it to ANY business.

The Renegade University was developed by a Renegade affiliate, Mike Klingler, who saw the value of the Ebook and system, but put together some basic training to help new people utilize the system more quickly. Because of the wealth of resources and professional marketing strategies within the Renegade, new people without much computer experience could be a little overwhelmed, so Mike walks the new person through the system step-by-step with his videos in Renegade University.

I knew Mike was working on putting this resource together the later part of 2007, but when one of my downline leaders told me Renegade University was really helping new people get started with the Renegade Network Marketer system, I decided to check it out myself. I have been impressed by Mike Klingler's skill in breaking things down into simple terms and walking even the techology-challenged through the Renegade sytem, yet still getting to the "meat" of marketing principles.

Mike's success is using the Renegade Network Marketer system is not only shows that attraction marketing works, but is also a good reason to tap into the Renegade University. Read one of his HubPages, The Renegade Network Marketer: How to Attract MORE Prospects with Ann Sieg's Renegade Network Marketer E-book , to see how he's earned over $10,000 with The Renegade Network Marketer e-book, while ATTRACTING hundreds of high-quality prospects into his 'business network' at the same time

Although Mike has included a lot of resources and help to get anyone going in the free membership of Renegade University, there is also a Professional Membership and the library of resources is rapidly growing. Look at the upcoming training available to Professional members:

Setting Up Your Own Auto Responders -Tues., April 22, 2008 9:30 PM - 10:30 PM EST

About the Event...

When you begin "Internet attraction marketing" one of the first things you learn as a priority is to start building your own email list. But it can't be just any email list, it must be an opt-in list (that someone ads themselves to voluntarily).

And you can't just stop at having people join your list... that's just where the fun starts...
You must provide content (promoting events, sharing your ideas, providing value) to that list in an ongoing way in order to attract those prospects to you and your offers.

To leverage this process fully, it's important you know how to technically and conceptually set up an auto-responder for maximum results. You also need to know the best tool to use (particularly if you're building lists using other people's lead capture pages).

Even if your list is small and you're just getting started, this event series is going to be extremely valuable to help you create a complete Internet marketing attraction process that brings maximum results.

This will be an introductory class. This course is only open to Renegade Professionals.

Getting Started with Video Marketing Thurs., April 24, 2008 9:30 PM - 10:30 PM EST

About the Event...

Video Marketing is powerful for several reasons...
1. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo love video... they rank it higher automatically because they know people like to see video. Blogs and sites with video are also listed higher if they have video. There are other search engine advantages as well such as being able to 'trick' the search engines with many key word listings without being penalized like you would with written content.

2. It has the potential to build a stronger relationship with potential prospects, which leads to more people taking action on what you're offering (whether that be to join your list, buy from you or join you).

3. It's easier for some people to create video content than written content. Although this isn't true for everyone, some people will find it easier to just be yourself and share your ideas than to write them down into content for a web page.
Note that you don't have to be the one in front of the camera to benefit from video. We'll talk about all of this at this introductory event. This will be the first of a series of Webinars available to our Renegade Professionals.

Attracting Product Customers with Attraction Marketing Sat., April 26, 2008 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM EST

About the Event...

Attraction Marketing is Bigger Than E-books and Systems.
How to Attract Product Customers to You...
Everything we've been teaching in the Professional training area at Marketing Merge (Squidoo, Hub Pages, Blogs, Ezine articles) can be used to attract product customers to you.
We'll go over specific examples of how you can do this. We'll also give you some fantastic ideas you can start running with right after this event ends.

The best part is you can join Renegade University for free, after you check it out, upgrade to the Professional membership for only $1 for a 7 day trial, attend all these events, and if you decide you don't want to continue the Professional membership, you can downgrade back to the free membership and all it has cost you is a buck! It doesn't get much better than that!

Access your free Renegade University membership now!

If you want more information about The Renegade Network Marketer Ebook, the system and Renegade University, including a interview with Ann Sieg and I, go to http://www.renegade-pro.com/

And if you have any questions or would like to schedule a complimentary consultation, complete a contact form or email me.

To your success!

Wendy Mills
http://www.ahomebusinessworks.com/

Creating Marketing Videos that Get Attention and Using them Effectively in Marketing Your Business

Using video marketing can make a big impact on your business. Whether you are new to some of the social marketing and attraction marketing methods, video marketing is something you can add fairly easily.

A week ago Stephen Anderson, a member of our WorksTeam and resident of Australia, was presenter on our weekly Mon. Night WorksTeam Training webinar and gave fantastic, information-packed presentation. You may have seen some of Stephen's creative Renegade Marketer videos on YouTube. He is very creative, has a great sense of humor and has a passion for helping others.

Stephen walked step-by-step through some simple techniques for creating video by creating two different videos on the training webinar. He demonstrated how to use a basic webcam and Windows Move Maker video to create a video clip. In his second video demonstration, he showed how a simple powerpoint presentation and audio could be used to create an effective marketing video.

Certainly as your business progresses, if you decide you want to utilize video marketing in more depth, you can invest in some useful software, like Camtasia. But the great thing is you can utilize video marketing to grow your business even if you are on a limit budget.

A few things to keep in mind when creating marketing videos:

• keep them short definitely under 10 minutes - 30 seconds – 2 ½ minutes is ideal
• make sure you include your url at the beginning and end of your video so you are pointing people back to your site
• be creative and use your sense of humor – people will direct others to your video
• use good relevant keywords in your title and description

Here is the YouTube Marketing Video Stephen created during our WorksTeam Training webinar. As you can see Stephen Anderson enjoys the journey and keeps it fun. He also excels at teaching solid marketing concepts in an understandable way.

This coming week, Mon. April 21st, we have another training that will focus on how to leverage video marketing by making it viral.

The topic is: Viral Video Marketing Strategy: Using Video to Market Your Business

We'll be discussing what viral video is, and how to leverage it in marketing your business.
This training is complimentary to a prior training on 4/7/2008 and will give you specifics on how to get your video out to a huge audience. If you are currently utilizing video in your business, or are considering doing so, you won't want to miss this training!

If you would like to attend this webinar, you can register HERE and enter Wendy Mills as the person who invited you for that required field.

Also, if you are new to the concept of attraction marketing, social marketing and other methods of using the internet to bring people to you instead of chasing them, you can tap into the Renegade University at no cost and get a better idea how these strategies can help you grow your business. Just go to http://www.renegade-pro.com/ for more information and the free membership link.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule a complimentary consultation, just email me or fill out the contact form.

To your success!

Wendy Mills
http://www.ahomebusinessworks.com/

Leaders Read and Readers Lead - in Marketing, Business and in Life

"Yet, if I could give you a recommendation
as to finding a good organization to help you
get over to the right side of the Quadrant, the
key is not so much the product but the education
the organization offers."
- Robert Kiyosaki The CashFlow Quadrant

The truth is learning is the key to success, and I don't necessarily mean higher education. A self-directed learner – one highly motivated to learn - will often learn far more than someone just taken college classes to get the piece of paper. I know because I went through years of college earning a M.S. Degree but learned far more valuable lessons in network marketing than all the years of college courses.

“Leaders Read and Readers Lead” is so true. A leader is continually learning and growing or he is left behind - especially in the fast-paced, quickly changing Internet world of the 21st century.

Which is one of the reasons that BookWise caught my attention about a year ago. I love books and am an avid reader – particularly of business, self-development and inspirational books. At the time I thought it was a great concept for a business.... but dismissed it because I felt they didn't have enough selection of books at that point - and they were only just starting. I know from being in the industry for over 7 years, the growing pains a new company can go through and the high failure rate in the early stages. So I just put it on the back burner and went on building my other businesses.

Recently though, BookWise was brought to my attention again and I was informed that they had recently partnered with Baker and Taylor, the world's largest distributor of Entertainment, and are rapidly expanding the bookstores. So...I took another look and was impressed with what they have to offer.


Low Start-up cost - affordable to the average person, even
those on a limited budget
Product of value that people don't need to be 'sold' on
Continual tax education from renown tax expert Ronald Meuller
Website and Marketing tools included
Educational Resources in the virtual office for continual
learning
Generous Compensation plan
Portion of profits go to worthwhile children's charities
...and more


Plus BookWise has an impressive group of founders and leaders. Just to name two –

Richard Paul Evans - winner of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award at age 31 and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of “The 5 Lessons A Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth”

Robert G. Allen – well-known financial advisor and bestselling author of: Multiple Streams of Income, One Minute Millionaire, and other best-sellers



For the educational value alone, BookWise would be a good additional resource to anyone in a business or wanting to start a business. So if you are looking for a business you may want to look at BookWise and.....

If you are already in a business, you may want to take a took at BookWise too - for its educational value and as a secondary income stream.

I have learned the hard way the importance of not having 'all your eggs in one basket' and strongly believe the best way to be truly independent in network marketing and direct sales is to develop multiple income streams.

For those who are serious about building a strong residual income and financial independence, our team has the training and resources to learn how to be a professional, independent marketer.

To learn more about BookWise, go to:

http://mybookwise.com/wendy
http://winninginthemargins.com passkey: wendymills


One important thing to note - on the Winning in the Margins
video at the end, Richard mentions face-to-face marketing. If
you LIKE face-to-face marketing, by all means you can build
that way, but if you are wanting to market online, rest
assured that we have the knowledge and resources to help you
buid a successful internet business too.

And to learn more about me and the team of leaders I work with go to:
http://theworksteam.com

You can also access a lot of resources to help you in whatever business you choose at my personal website, www.ahomebusinessworks.com


After you have looked over the sites, write down any questions you have and give me a call at 716-514-8858, complete a contact form or email.