Multiple Streams of Online Income…Secrets!

Personal branding, one of the most important strategies for developing an online presence, is not rocket science. It has been mystified and complicated by so many online “gurus” that many newcomers to network marketing avoid it completely, to the advantage of their competitors and the detriment of their own business.

Put simply, personal branding is using various technological and social media (Web 2.0) tools to develop a unique presence online and connect with prospective buyers. You might use video sites like YouTube (you can check out some of my videos here), or viddler to host short videos that present you, your personality, background and product reviews to potential prospects. Or you could use social networking sites like MySpace or facebook to connect with other entrepreneurs and people seeking new options for working from home.

The network marketing industry has had a bad reputation, frequently well-deserved, as being filled with spammers and scammers. If the new generation of online entrepreneurs using the network marketing model wants to break free from preconceived notions and judgments, it’s time to learn to attract rather than to assault prospective buyers.

Like all effective online marketing methods, personal branding takes focused time to learn. But any personal branding strategy that leaves out the social networking site “Twitter” is missing a great opportunity. Twitter is social networking…on steroids!

Twitter allows an internet entrepreneur, even one with limited experience, the opportunity to connect with people one normally might not usually meet on other social networks, many of them brilliant people with incredible passion for what they do. It’s also a very effective tool to reduce the sense of isolation many who work exclusively online can tend to face from time to time.

And Twitter is one of the best ways to attract the people you are looking for and to quickly learn how to interact effectively in a social networking environment.

Contrary to what some teach, Twitter is not just a bulletin board for you to announce every product you sell with every “Tweet,” promote your MLM with each post or what you are up to every single minute of the day. While it’s fun to post what you’re doing or promoting or writing about, and it’s interesting to know what’s happening in other’s lives between marketing events, Twitter is really a place to connect meaningfully with people. It’s a way for “Tweeps” to get a glimpse of the “real world” others are experiencing throughout a day.

But it’s also a place to share ideas, tips and encouragement to others…to give before you receive. Somehow, Twitter has managed to create a community that thrives on contribution and generosity.

But to discover the usefulness of Twitter, you really just have to try it for yourself! Here are a few key things to keep in mind.

Twitter is considered a “micro-blogging” site. In other words, all posts on Twitter require limiting oneself to 140 characters, including the @ symbol used to reply to specific “Tweeps/Twitterers/Twitter Peeps.” (Yes…there’s a lot of funny vocabulary peculiar to Twitter!)

Let’s get started with your first Twitter account.

1. Create a free Twitter profile at http://www.Twitter.com , then “follow” me at http://Twitter.com/stevieknight .
   

2. You will need to add at least 40 or 50 people that you “follow” in order to see how the conversations flow and how connections are made. So look through the panel on the right side of my profile and start looking through the profiles of the people I’m following and those who follow me.
   

“Follow” a bunch of them, but only if their profile and websites they link to resonate with you. Don’t follow “Tweeps” (Twitter people) who use a spammy name or don’t have a profile picture up. Also, look at their most recent posts and see if they are actively in conversation with others (notice the @ sign followed by Twitter usernames in front of the post) or if they only “Tweet” about themselves, their products and their promos. Skip those peeps…they’re not likely to contribute a whole lot to your understanding of the power of Twitter.

3. When someone follows you back, “direct message” them to thank them. For example, you might write: “Hey (real name)! Thanks for adding me to your Twitter stream! Cheers! (or whatever sounds natural to you)” People don’t have to “follow” you back, so show gratitude when someone adds you. It’s a good thing! Also, don’t feel rejected if someone doesn’t follow you back.
   

4. After you’ve done that, download Twhirl at http://twhirl.org . It will help tremendously to keep track of what’s going on. Install and start using it, setting notifications to alert audibly with replies and direct messages, if you like.
   

5. OK, now that you’re set up (whew!), start watching the conversations going on and join in when you have a question or something to contribute to the conversation. Keep your posts about your stuff to a lower percentage than what you actually contribute in conversation with others if you don’t want to be labeled a spammer!

• Bonus Tip: Google spiders index Twitter all the time. If you want Google to find your Twitter posts, Tweet at least once a day.
  

This may seem like a lot of work, but once it’s set up and you start dipping in and out of the Twitter stream throughout a day, you will find it refreshing, enlightening, rewarding and perhaps even, enriching! Happy Tweeting!

Have an opinion, a question or do you have any cool Twitter tips? Leave a comment.

Expect success!

Stevie Knight

Marketing online offers tremendous opportunities to develop a natural rhythm of daily life where, according to your goals, priorities and situation on the learning curve (and your bank account!), you really can achieve a certain level of balance between family/social life, your business pursuits and your other passions. But there are times where no amount of scheduling with your Blackberry, Palm device or other PDA can compensate for urgent needs and emergencies that simply must take precedence, for a season, over everything else.

My father passed away on January 30, just a couple of months ago. For 7 years, he had been living with me, my dear husband, 5 kids, 3 dogs and various other short-lived small hamsters, guinea pigs and goldfish (not to mention a couple white mice we bought at the pet shop and a few quickly reproducing field mice that got in the house somehow! Yikes!). He had been ill for several years and just “wore out.” The final month, we had a hospice service come and assist us and he died peacefully at home with us.

Backing up a bit…, just after Christmas, it had become apparent that Dad would not be with us much longer. At the same time, I was in the pre-launch phase of a new online business, complete with this shiny new business blogging system, great coaches and some solid marketing strategies I was itching to try out. If the business had already been up and running, there would have been ways to delegate a big chunk of the work I needed to complete. But that wasn’t the case. So here I was, needing to shut off the engine to a rocket that was already on the launch pad.

While relatives and friends came to visit and nurses pattered in and out from time to time, I tried to just “maintain” the foundational progress I felt I had made so far. Although I posted on a couple of forums where I was quite active and I added a few MySpace friends and tried to figure out Facebook a little more, my business was quite glued to the ground. Most of my attention was with my family and all the activities surrounding getting our life ready for someone dear to leave it.

After my father passed away, we had a couple more months of adjusting to a new rhythm of life. We no longer had to take him in for medical care (Kidney dialysis–>4 hour sessions) 3 times a week. In fact, it seemed like we went in circles for awhile, quite unsure what to do with all that extra time after all these years of caring for my dad! One would think that we’d immediately notice all that free time and use it to jump right back into business. But that’s not the way it worked out for us….It was, and still is to some degree, a slow transition back to “normal”…a different kind of “normal” than we’d ever had as a family. It was almost like the whole family had to reassess our lives, our relationships, our business decisions, our goals and our schedule.

Well, here we are 10 weeks later and I’m ready to get “back in the game”. There were some other losses and significant changes in the process of going through this season of life. I’ve made several course corrections and modifications to my business, key partnerships and long-term strategic plans. I have added clarity, focus and direction. I’ve shaken off some old mindsets that held me back. What a great day!

So here are a few pointers I can offer from my own very recent setbacks.

1. When you are going through life crises and business setbacks, don’t make too many critical business choices in the midst of the crises. Focus on dealing with the immediate needs of your business where you must, delegate where you are able, and get extra help if you can. Things will look very different when the crisis has past.

2. If you are already up and running in your online business, especially if you’ve taken the time to develop a solid new media marketing network, talk to those you have connected with and you may be surprised at your online friends’ desire to assist in any way they can. Put your pride aside and accept their offers of assistance. Down the road, they may need your help.

3. Be patient, especially with yourself.

4. If your business suffers because of what is going on, deal with it head-on with grace and dignity, not with shame. Everyone faces challenges and setbacks. How you recover from them determines your future. Determine to recover and get back in the game. Once you are back up again, look for opportunities to encourage others facing similar challenges, setbacks and potential failure.

And remember that failure is not in the act of falling, but in the act of refusing to get back up.

I’m back up and back in the game. How can I help you?

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Disagree or have an opinion to share? Leave a comment…

Expect success!

Stevie Knight