My afternoons are spent driving my kids from one activity to another. I spend a good amount waiting -  either in the car or in the lounge for them.

Today, I’m chaperoning my daughter’s field trip. Although my priority is watching the kids but I’ll have some time to check in on my mobile phone and tend to urgent emails, if needed.

Having a mobile phone with data keeps me in the loop for urgent emails; follow up on a new lead, or touch base with a new customer while on the go.

If I’m working with a hot lead, I want to respond as soon as possible. If there’s an issue wtih a team member or an unhappy customer, I want to take care of it sooner rather than later.

My iPhone gives me the flexibility to build my business while on the go and instantly. This could be the difference between signing up a new customer or not because people want answers quickly.

The other day I was chatting with a mom about my business while waiting to pick up our sons at taekwondo. In the past, I would have handed her a business card or a flyer and maybe it’ll transpire into something.

But she too has an iPhone and was able to check out my website right on the spot. There we were, both of us on our iPhones, looking at my website.

Granted this doesn’t happen often but being able to gauge her levels of interest on the spot allowed us to talk about it in the moment. In the past, she may or may not  have checked out my website on her own or bother to call.

People get busy, lose interest, and move on to the next thing that catches their attention.

Using mobile to build my business is another way to reach and connect with potential customers and meet them wherever they are. This is important because not everyone sits at home but if your target audience has  mobile data and you do too, it’s a great way to reach them, while they’re on the go.

Here’s what Ziamond, an online jewelry company, has to say about mobile marketing …

Mobile users were making purchases from their mobile devices and we wanted to make their mobile shopping experience faster, easier and better. (internetretailer.com)

These days, I Google the person’s name, company, or whatever I need and more often than not, while I’m on the go with my kids.

If you’re a marketer, reaching me on my mobile phone is sure to get my attention. Likewise, I imagine others just like me, that are in your target market you can reach with immediacy if you’re using mobile to reach them.

There’s no doubt texting/mobile marketing has grown significantly in recent years.

ABI Research says sales increase to $3.4 billion this year from $1.4 billion in 2009. (internetretailer.com)

Even if your prospects don’t have mobile data but most likely has a phone and texting option. Texting is an alternate option to follow up and stay in touch with your prospects faster.

Not everyone reads their emails right away and sometimes they end up in the spam folder.  Texting is another option to reach your prospects in addition to emails or phone calls.

Reaching people by phone can be time consuming and some people don’t like being called on. I prefer getting a text or email to remind me of any upcoming event than a phone call.

It’s convenient and saves me time because most of my time I’m not at home which means you’re more likely to reach me on my mobile.

There are so many ways to use your mobile/texting to build your business while on the go. You can quickly text a message to remind your hostess about an upcoming party or your potential recruit about an opportunity call. More companies are adding shopping apps to make mobile shopping even easier.

You can either use your smartphone to kill time or use it productively to build your direct sales business while on the go.

’til next time,

Janette Stoll

P.S. Would love to know how you’re using your mobile phone to build your business.

I was thinking about the recent changes to Google’s algorithm and its impact  on spammy, content sites. 

Evidently, the new changes affect some high profile article directories such as Ezine Articles, Hubpages and Buzzle, have seen a decline in search queries.

The reason behind Google’s algorithm changes is to clean up spammy, duplicate content. Thus offering more relevance with search results.

On one end, this is great news for online marketers that create quality and relevant content for their sites.

On the other, it’s bad news and perhaps a death sentence, for those that use article directories purely for traffic to their affiliate sites. Or any sites that are notorious for copying or producing “thin” content.

More importantly, this re-affirms for me, the importance of owning your main site i.e. your blog or website. And using your site to create original content that serves your particular target market.

Any other sites you use – whether it’s article directories or Facebook – should  be used to create visibility and drive traffic back to a site you own.

It’s also equally important to diversify your online marketing efforts.

Any business that relies solely on another business will be greatly affected just like we’re seeing the almighty Google weeding out  content farming from major article directories.

Similarly, any direct sellers that rely on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn solely for building their business needs to consider potential fall out.

For example, if you use Facebook Page exclusively to build your business, you have no ownership over your page. Your page is yours as long as your account is in good standing with Facebook. Facebook owns your page and essentially your business.

If you’re going to invest your heart and soul into building your direct sales business online, make sure it’s a piece of online real estate that’s in your name … and that is, your blog or website.

You have no ownership in your company replicated website, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn account. These are just one of the many online marketing methods to promote your business.

Yes, you still need your company replicated website to sign up new reps and sell products. But I wouldn’t count on your company replicated sites to drive organic traffic to grow your business.

If you’re going to blog, you’ll need to do more than copy and paste your company’s content on to your blog. 

Personally, I don’t know why you would because you have a unique voice and blogging is personable, and a great platform to use your voice to connect with your potential customers.

There’s no doubt using social media is one of the best ways to expand and grow your online contacts faster than traditional methods. However, you need to drive traffic  back to a site that you actually own and that is your blog. 

With the recent changes to Google and Facebook, which seems to tweak things, I wouldn’t rely on any one source of marketing to build my business. 

Things can change quickly online and by diversifying your marketing portfolio, your business is not dependent on any one giant to dictate your relevance.

Your thoughts?

’til next time,

Janette Stoll

P.S.  Share your opinion and join the discussion.

photo credit: freedigitalphotos.net

With LinkedIn recently hitting 100 million users and going public, there are  buzzes surrounding the expansion and what to expect.

LinkedIn’s continued growth is hardly surprising even if it’s in the shadow of Facebook and Twitter.

Seems appropriate (and about time) I write another post on how LinkedIn has helped grow Marketing Direct Sales blog. And why you should consider using LinkedIn to boost traffic to your direct sales online business.

There are many reasons why I prefer LinkedIn over Twitter and Facebook. The most obvious is that traffic from LinkedIn outranks Twitter and Facebook based on Google Analytics. This makes it one of my favorite sites. 

The applications such as a Wordpress RSS plug-in, Twitterfeed, and adding a video to your profile, are some of the best features of LinkedIn.

Here are 5 ways to use LinkedIn to boost traffic:

#1 Your Profile. I love the profile on LinkedIn. You can gather enough info about someone and decide whether to connect or not based on this snapshot.

If you want to connect with other professionals- make sure you have a real picture of you and not your company logo, dog, cat, kids … LinkedIn is a professional network.

#2 New Contacts. Once I’m connected with a new contact I can see her/his contacts which gives me an additional view of my new contact’s contacts. 

#3 LinkedIn Groups. Use this feature to find people that share similar interests as you and become a member.

#4 Weekly LinkedIn Updates is a summary of what my contacts have been up to i.e. new groups they’ve joined and new contacts they’ve made. I’ve joined new groups and made new connections based on these updates.

#5 Skills & Expertise, a new feature I recently discovered. This allows you choose the area of expertise that you want more info on - let’s say attraction marketing – and the profiles of members that best fit this category  are displayed.

It’s a great resource to connect with people in your niche market. Or reach out to experts.

Also listed are the groups associated with skills and expertise. This feature zeros in on your specific area of interest so you’re connecting with people in your niche business.

Once you’re a member of the group, you can interact on the group’s discussions, check out the member’s profile, reply privately to a comment they’ve made, or ask to be connected.

Other ways I use LinkedIn …

You can share your latest blog posts on the News tab. Become an expert by answering questions from other members. Or start a dialogue based on the books your contacts are reading.

Unlike Twitter which can be “spammy” with strange auto tweets and robots following you. Or Facebook’s “social” gathering which seems like a big cocktail party at times, and too many updates to keep up with- LinkedIn has always been business-oriented which keeps me focused on business-related activities.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t be focused on other social networks but when you’ve got a combination of friends, family, and casual friends mixed in with business contacts … it’s easy to get distracted on other social networks.

How are you using LinkedIn for your business? Share your tips.

’til next time,

Janette Stoll

P.S. Check out Lewis Howes, one of the best trainers on LinkedIn. His blog offers great tips!

Creating content for my blog and promoting it using social media marketing has been my #1 go-to strategy.

By optimizing title posts and content that are keyword-rich in my target market, it has consistently delivered traffic and converted visitors into hundreds of leads. 

Which makes me wonder … why aren’t more direct sales consultants using content marketing to grow their business online? I’m partially biased because creating fresh content is working brilliantly for Marketing Direct Sales.

If you think about it- content is what makes the internet what it is.

People go online to find content to learn something new, research  before they buy, find business opportunities to start …  it’s where people go to find information.

This is evidenced in my family and probably yours too …

We look up restaurants and read reviews on Yelp. We order pizza online and have it delivered without having to talk to a live person. I read book reviews on Amazon before I buy. I can list more examples on how I use the internet to find content to serve my needs but you get the point.

An optimized, content-rich blog or website is what drives traffic to your business.

It’s the first step in your sales funnel. Traffic is the first point of contact before a visitor turns into a lead. But a visitor isn’t going to opt-in and subscribe to your email list if the content is irrelevant.

This is why content alone isn’t enough but optimized content combined with social media marketing are proven formulas in boosting traffic to your site. Leads are built on targeted traffic.

Without traffic, there are no leads, and no leads = no business.

If you’re in direct sales and think you don’t need a content marketing strategy, you might want to re-think.

The latest news on Google’s official blog is the impact social search results have on how relevant your brand is online. 

What does this mean to you?

In the past, social search results from your network showed up on the bottom of Google. Now, it’s mixed in through out the search results based on relevance. This means the search results could be moved to the top or in the middle.

This latest social search enhancement has significant implications for search engine marketers and website owners alike. Social media marketing as a part of your SEO strategy is more integral than ever. (searchnewz.com)

This is great news for small business owners and direct sales consultants.

With an optimized content-rich blog focusing on your niche market, your site can skyrock to the top of search engines. This is possible if your site’s content is geared to a specific group of people you’re trying to reach (target market).

The keys to your success:

Focus on creating content for your target market. I know “target market” gets thrown around online but some people have no idea to whom they’re trying to reach.

In the new world of content marketing online, focus is vital. That’s true both in terms of defining a niche and making sure that your website reflects that niche. (contentmarketingtoday.com)

Here’s an example from my new blog Janette Stoll: my target market is direct sales and my niche business is helping direct sales consultants generate leads with article writing and internet marketing.

With clarity on whom I’m reaching (direct sellers) and what I’m offering (article writing/marketing services) have helped me to create content for direct sellers on article writing, content, and internet marketing.

The point I’m hoping to drive home for you is that it’s an exciting time to get online, create optimized content, leverage social media and web 2.0 marketing, to build massive leads to grow your business.

Those of you that are already creating content on your blogs know the many benefits and probably can’t imagine not having a blog to build your business (like I do). But for those that haven’t … what are you waiting for?

Your thoughts?

’til next time,

Janette Stoll

P.S. Have you visited my new article writing and marketing blog yet? Love to hear your thoughts, comments, questions. Go say “hi” to me over there .

photo credit: freedigitalphotos

**This is a special treat for you gals and guys on Valentine’s Day. A guest post from my friend, Brett Duncan, at Marketing In Progress. 

Brett had this brilliant idea to create an ebook featuring 33 marketers and how to rock your business in 2011. The ebook is awesome and it’s free to download. Yours truly is on page 45 .

I love Brett’s idea so much that I asked him to write a post on the inspiration behind the ebook. Enjoy and share with your friends.

5 Things I Learned from Creating a Free Marketing eBook

So as 2010 was winding down, I, like you I bet, found myself conjuring up some new ideas for 2011. It was the same old pattern I’ve stitched before, reinventing myself just for the sake of having resolutions. It dawned on me that this approach has never been too effective before, so why should I even bother now.

Then a simple idea popped into my head: “I wonder what some of my colleagues would say is their best ‘idea advice’ for an entrepreneur in 2011?”

Typically, this is where I would smirk, grunt a bit and then let the idea disappear between my ears. But for some reason, I decided to act on this little whim, and immediately. I jumped into my email, shot a message out to about 60 folks I’ve met in person or online, and asked them to send me their one big idea, in 500 words or less. 

32 people immediately responded with an “I’m in.” The result is something I’m very impressed with, a free eBook titled Rock Your Business: 33 Mind-Blowing Ideas from Today’s Top Marketers. You can download it now for absolutely free (I don’t even ask for your email address).

You see, after I received each marketer’s idea, I collected them into an eBook and made it available for anyone. My thought was rather remedial in motivation: I bet if I would like something like this, others would, too.

And boy, have they. In just the first four days it was available, the eBook was download by more than 500 people.

But while the book is targeted to entrepreneurs, direct sellers are going to enjoy it even more, because there are folks like Janette Stoll who are proven experts in our industry included.

There are several corporate marketers (like myself) from some of the biggest direct sales companies in the world. On top of that, the eBook also includes some of the top trainers in the industry, sharing their specific tips for direct sellers.

What I’m saying is you, the direct seller, are kinda getting bonus material in this thing. Cool, huh?

What I Learned From Creating an eBook

Probably more importantly, though, is what I’ve learned in the process of this whole process. Ideas like these:

1. It’s easy and complex all at the same time. For one, putting an ebook together isn’t necessarily difficult, but it is tedious. The formatting, the proofing, the layout … it’s more than just a copy and paste job, that’s for sure. And yet, it’s so accessible for all of us, and should be seriously considered, especially if you’re building your business online.
2. eBooks are great for attracting inbound links. If you know anything about search engine optimization, you know inbound links are the golden egg. Offering a free eBook (especially one with multiple authors) is a great way to increase your inbound links quickly. Given that it’s a free resource that doesn’t even require an email address to access, people are quick to link to it from their own website.
3. It’s great for traffic. I’m sure it’ll die down, but I’ve seen the traffic to my website spike by about 150% on average.
4. It’s great for list-building. Interestingly, even though I’m not asking for an email address, people are still voluntarily joining my email list at a much higher rate. That’s always good.
5. Crowd-sourcing is fun. I don’t know any other way to describe it. Getting like-minded people together, all doing a small thing that becomes a very big thing when combined just feels really good. And it’s so efficient.

I could go on and on about the process, but suffice it to say that I see creating eBooks as a very important part of any online strategy now. Yes, it’s great all the analytics-related stuff, but even more importantly, they’re extremely helpful in brand-building.

And if it’s ideas you need, I know where you can get 33 really good ones … for free! Download the Rock Your Business eBook now. And be sure to check out Janette’s contribution on how direct sales is changing, and what you can do about it.

Brett Duncan shares marketing ideas and tips regularly at MarketingInProgress.com. He currently serves as the Sr. Director of Global Online Solutions for Mannatech, Inc.

Go download this free ebook and soak up the knowledge. Love to hear your thoughts. I hope this inspires you to start one too.

’til next time,

Janette Stoll

P.S. There are a lot of folks that will benefit from this free ebook … will you share with your pals? Thank you.