Work Online Writing SEO Articles

More and more people are starting to look for online work to either supplement their income or to become their main source of income. Writing SEO articles is one form of generating an income online. The SEO industry is a fast growing one and this means that there is an increasing demand for article writers.

You can easily find work online writing SEO articles by approaching different companies. They often use freelance writers in this capacity and some SEO companies would be willing to give first-time writers the opportunity to work for them.

About SEO Articles

SEO articles are written using specific topics and unique keywords or keyword combinations given to you by the SEO companies for which you write. Articles range from 150 words to 1000 words in length and payment works in relation to this.

The articles are used on the websites of clients serviced by the SEO companies to further assist search engines like Google and Yahoo to find these websites a lot easier. This form of marketing is used to increase the amount of traffic experienced by a website and improve brand visibility and customer acquisition.

It is important that the SEO articles you write adhere to the guidelines of the company you write for and that they are always coherent and free of grammatical and spelling errors. This will ensure a good relationship with SEO companies and you will thus be able to maintain a steady workflow.

The more times a given keyword or keyword combination appears in an SEO article, the stronger the article will be. This means that the chances of getting better results in terms of improving a website’s relevance in online searches will increase exponentially. Understanding how the process of SEO works will make writing articles a lot easier.

Finding SEO Companies

You can find SEO companies by conducting a simple search using a trusted search engine like Google or Yahoo. Try to write for at least two different companies so that if work from one company slows down it will not affect your income too much.

SEO companies will often request that you submit a sample of your writing in order for them to assess your writing ability. Be sure to present well-written work at all times as this will determine whether you find more work writing SEO articles.

It is important that you confirm whether the SEO company you wish to write for is reputable. There are many companies online that are not legitimate and scam people out of money or companies that pay below the standard rate. Understanding the SEO industry and the standard rate for freelance SEO article writers will make this process easier.

Investigate what the industry standard is for payment regarding writing SEO articles and use that as a baseline when researching different SEO companies. This way you will be able to tell the legitimate companies apart from the posers and don’t end up wasting your valuable time.

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Are Affordable SEO Services Effective?

Most businesses, whatever their size, understand the benefits they can take advantage of by hiring the services of an SEO service provider. However, for small companies or for start-ups who do not have a large budget for their SEO needs finding a SEO service that is effective yet affordable can be a cumbersome task. The general perception is that cheap and affordable SEO services are generally ineffective. The statement is not entirely false. However, if you have a general understanding of your business SEO needs and have some time to search for the ideal SEO package, you will be able to find the perfect SEO solution that is not only effective but also affordable.

First, we need to understand that finding the right SEO service for your business is not necessarily about the price. Instead, you have to focus on exactly what you need, and whether or not the service provider you have chosen can offer you that. The first thing you should do is to make a list of your needs – for example, you may need help with the web design, link building, web layout and content, etc. Generally, it is seen that most companies offer such services in a SEO package – which can range from the very basic type of SEO services to specialized packages. Check out if the basic package covers all you need to start and if there is an option to upgrade later if necessary. Different service providers have different packages, so it is best to shop around for a while to find the best one.

Another way to find out about affordable SEO services is by posting your requirements on good SEO forums and community spaces. Many SEO businesses constantly check out these spaces in search of potential clients. Hence you may be able to get a good deal here. However, this doesn’t mean that you should go for the cheapest SEO package offered there, because cheap doesn’t necessarily mean good. Instead, you should check out the reviews of a particular SEO firm or ask them for references from their previous jobs. If you are then satisfied, you are good to hire them.

Another aspect to take into account when determining your need for SEO is your market competition. Do you have business rivals or is your business on a relative par with competitors? If you want your business to shine amidst heavy competition, using a basic search engine optimization service may not suffice. You might have to opt for a specialized and targeted SEO service that may not be as affordable as you want. But, in the long run, the benefits you reap from them may far outweigh the cost.

Affordable SEO services are perfect when you have a business that caters to a specific market and that has no noted business rivals. One important thing that you must always do is to question a company’s SEO strategies and tactics to rule out the use of any negative techniques. Their answers should satisfy all your doubts, and if they don’t you should continue searching.

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Black Hat, White Hat and Gray Hat SEO

Search Engine Optimizers (SEO) can wear many different “hats”. The color of the single hat is determined by the SEO philosophy and the methods, that is used to optimize websites. We usually speak of:

  • Black Hat SEO
  • White Hat SEO
  • Gray Hat SEO

As an affiliate it is important to understand the difference and the risks between the single SEO Hats.

Black Hat SEO

Black Hat SEO is also known as SEO spamming, and is when someone creates websites that have little or no value, that are intended to trick the search engines into offering irrelevant or low-quality search results.

Black Hat SEO will heavily leverage technology and automation in order to create tons of poor quality sites, and gain inbound links from other websites (link spam). Once the visitor has arrived to the website, the owner of the website will often use some kind of cloaking or redirect to show the visitor a sales page of the products, that is the really goal of the Black Hat SEO technique.

Black Hat SEO are all about getting fast results. The method they use to optimize their websites will often get the website to the top of the search engines very rapidly, but when the search engines catch-on, the website will very often crash or get banned.

I do not condone Black Hat SEO for affiliates, because it is very risky SEO business, and it can especially damaging, when it is used on a website, that you have invested heavily resources in.

White Hat SEO

White Hat SEO focus on building quality content first and SEO second. White Hat SEO may use technology and automation to build their websites too, but they use it to accomplish different goals. They write content for people, not search engines. White Hat SEO tend to rely more on their content and marketing skills to achieve a top ranking, rather than automated programs.

White Hat SEO understand that good search engine rankings takes time and don’t try to rush results. White Hat SEO are able to get more inbound links from other websites, because their content is considered valuable. They go by the philosophy CONTENT IS KING.

When you use White Hat SEO tactics you run absolutely no risk of being banned by the search engines and visitors who come to your website will also be more likely to convert.

Gray Hat SEO

A lot of SEO fall into the Gray Hat category, and there are many shades of gray. Some Gray Hat SEO tend to use more questionable tactics and take greater risks. Gray Hat SEO is all about risk versus reward. Some Gray Hat techniques may be frowned by the search engines, but are not necessarily against their rules, while other techniques may be more risky and should be used only after careful consideration.

What SEO hat should you wear ?

The hat that you decide to wear should be determined by your goals and objectives. I would never recommend anybody to use any black hat SEO strategies, because these strategies are short-lived and will almost always get you banned in the search engines.

Everybody should strive to be a white hat SEO and focus on writing quality content. However it may make sense for you in some instances to use Gray Hat SEO tactics to gain a competitive advantage. But when using Gray Hat SEO tactics it is very important, that you measure the risk and reward of each strategy, and determine for yourself, if some of these Gray Hat SEO strategies makes sense for your websites.

But it is important that you never take too big a risk with your most valuable websites, and here it is much more valuable, that you make a more safe and long term SEO strategy for these websites.

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6 Free SEO Tools to Powercharge Your SEO Campaign

Every SEO professional agrees that doing SEO barehanded is a dead-end deal. SEO software makes that time consuming and painstaking job a lot faster and easier. There are a great number of SEO tools designed to serve every purpose of website optimization. They give you a helping hand at each stage of SEO starting with keyword research and finishing with the analysis of your SEO campaign results.

Nowadays you can find a wide range of totally free SEO tools available on the web. And this overview of the most popular free SEO tools is going to help you pick up the ones that can make your website popularity soar.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool

Keywords lay the foundation stone of every SEO campaign. Hence keywords unearthing and faceting is the initial step on the way to Google’s top. Of course you may put on your thinking cap and make up the list of keywords on your own. But that is like a shot in the dark since your ideas may significantly differ from the terms people really enter in Google.

Here, Google AdWords Keyword Tool comes in handy. Despite the fact that this tool is originally aimed to assist Google AdWords advertisers, you can use that for keyword research too. Google AdWords Keyword Tool helps you find out which keywords to target, shows the competition for the selected keywords, lets you see estimated traffic volumes and provides the list of suggestions on popular keywords. Google AdWords Keyword Tool has a users-friendly interface and moreover it’s totally free. You can use some other paid alternative tools like Wordtracker or Keyword Discovery that may be effective as well, but Google AdWords Keyword Tool is the ultimate leader among free keyword research tools.

XML Sitemaps Generators

To make sure all your pages get crawled and indexed you should set sitemaps for your website. They are like ready-to-crawl webs for Google spiders that enable them to quickly find out what pages are in place and which ones have been recently updated. Sitemaps can also be beneficial for human visitors since they organize the whole structure of website’s content and make website navigation a lot easier. The XML Sitemap Generator lets you make up XML, ROR sitemaps that can be submitted to Google, Yahoo! and lots of other search engines. This SEO tool also lets you generate HTML sitemaps that improve website navigation for humans and make your site visitors-friendly.

SEO Book’s Rank Checker

To check whether your optimization campaign is blowing hot or cold you need a good rank checking tool to measure the fluctuations of your website’s rankings. SEO Book’s Rank Checker can be of great help in that. It’s a Firefox plug-in that lets you run checking ranks in Big Three: Google, Yahoo! and Bing and easily export the collected data. All you have to do is enter you website’s URL and the keywords you want to check your positions for. That’s it and in some seconds SEO Book’s Rank Checker provides you with the results on your rankings. It’s fast, easy-in-use and free.

Backlinks Watch

Links are like the ace of trumps in Google popularity game. The point is that the more quality links are on your backlink profile the higher your website ranks. That’s why a good SEO tool for link research and analysis is a must-have in your arsenal. Backlink Watch is an online backlink checker that helps you not only see what sites have links to your page, but also gives you some data for SEO analysis, such as the title of the linking page, the anchor text of the link, it says whether the link has dofollow or nofollow tag, etc. The only drawback of this tool is that it gives you only 1,000 backlinks per a website, regardless of the actual number of backlinks a website has.

Compete

Compete[dot]com provides a large pool of analytical data to fish from. It’s an on-line tool for monitoring and analysis of online competition that provides two categories of services: free Site Analytics and subscription based paid Search Analytics that lets you take advantage of some additional features. Compete an out-and-outer SEO tool that lets you see traffic and engagement metrics for a specified website and find the sites for affiliating and link building purposes. Compete is also a great keyword analyzer, since it lets you run the analysis of your on-line competitors’ keywords. Some other features to mention are subdomain analysis, export to CSV, tagging etc.

SEO PowerSuite.

SEO PowerSuite is all-in-one SEO toolkit that lets you cover all aspects of website optimization. It consists of four SEO tools to nail all SEO tasks. WebSite Auditor is a great leg-up for creating smashing content for your website. It analyzes you top 10 online competitors and works out a surefire plan based on the best optimization practices in your niche. Rank Tracker is a great at your website positions monitoring and generating the most click-productive words. SEO SpyGlass is powercharged SEO software for backlink checking and analysis. This is the only SEO tool that lets you discover up to 50,000 backlinks per a website and generate reports with ready-to-use website optimization strategy. And the last and the most advanced in this row is LinkAssistant. It is a feature-rich powerhouse SEO tool for link building and management that shoulders the main aspects of offpage optimization.

Free versions of these four tools let you tackle the main optimization challenges. You can also buy an extended version of SEO PowerSuite with advanced features to make your optimization campaign complete.

Summing things up we can conclude that there are lots of SEO tools that will never burn a hole in your pocket and let you effectively run your website optimization campaign with minimum of costs and efforts.

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Ensure Your Digital Processing For Marketing Is Done Right

With the guidance and ability of a digital marketing consultant, you can make sure the process is done correctly. There are too many pitfalls and variables to be worried about if you try to figure it all out on your own. It can be time-consuming too, but you can save time and get better results when you have someone with plenty of time and experience to dedicate to your needs.

Every business out there needs to have an online presence and to take part in online marketing. This is the only way to make sure your niche market knows about you and continues to see the value offered. It is also a large piece of the puzzle for successful branding of your business. With digital marketing consultant help, you can go about it the right way and not spin your wheels.

Forecasting

One of the significant areas where digital marketing consultant work is necessary is forecasting. They are able to compile information and use it to decide what the future holds. This can help your business with marketing to the right market and in the right way. They are able to find economic factors, consumer change and trends, and much more to predict what will happen.

Forecasting allows you to customize your marketing strategy so you are always on top of the game. It gives you an edge on your competitors so you are the business those consumers turn to and make a buy from. It is vital for you to be a leader and not a follower. If you aren’t prepared for the changes, you will have to follow and rush to get something in place.

Branching Out

It is amazing how much changes over time, and new methods come to life. A digital marketing consultant can help you branch out. Don’t be afraid of changes and try to resist them. Instead, you need to embrace them and allow them to push your business forward. Branching out with social media and new platforms that come along get you seen.

Your niche market isn’t all in one place, so if you limit how and where you advertise, you also limit who will be able to have access to that information. The more you diversify, the more people you reach. The result of this is more traffic to your website, more people on social media talking about your products and services, and more purchases.

Monitor your Competitors

Your digital marketing consultant can keep a good eye on your competitors, and find out what they are up to. They may not have a better product or service than you offer, but they may be expanding how they connect with your shared audience. It is both legal and ethical for a watchful eye to be on them. Don’t think for a moment they aren’t watching you also!

Affordable Solution

You don’t want your business to be a flash in the pan. You want to be able to continue to gain new customers. At the same time, you want to be able to get repeat business from past customers. Your digital marketing consultant can help you to stay connected in both directions. It is more affordable to get such services too than you may have imagined.

Be selective though as you won’t gain the same benefits across the board. Find out what they can help you to create for your unique business needs and direction. Ask tough questions about why you should hire them instead of someone else. You also need to do your homework and find out about their credibility and reputation before you hire them.

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Situs Nagamenslot: Slot Game Online Terpercaya

Situs Nagamenslot  adalah aplikasi permain judi slot secara online dan resmi yang tersedia kapan saja dimana saja. kami bertujuan untuk menciptkan lingkungan nyaman dan menghibur anda yang sedang bermain game slot Nagamenslot. Nagamenslot menawarkan berbagai variasi permainan. Game yang dapat anda pilih permainan slot, hingga ke permainan lain seperti Rolette, poker dan banyak lagi permainan meja. Kenyamanan adalah motivasi dan fokus utama kami untuk menjadi pilihan nomor satu dalam industru judi online seluruh dunia.

Hadirnya agen Nagamenslot  bertujuhan untuk sering merilis game baru dapat anda instal atau perbarui dengan mudah agar produk permainan kami menjadi pilihan terbaik dan permainan menyenagkan. Tujuannya adalah untuk menarik semua peminat agen casino Nagamenslot memberikan taruhan casino online dan berkualitas tinggi dengan menggunakan teknologi terbaik dan terbaru untuk menciptakan produk dengan gambar dan grafik yang sangat bagus, gambar fantastis, juga efek suara yang interaktif dengan suara yang bagus. Bergabunglah bersama kami pasanga taruhan casino yang fair play dan jujur, karena permainan tersebut di buka terang-terangan secara online oleh live dealer game terbaik dan cantik jelas permainan tersebut menjadi yang terbaik tidak akan anda temukan di tempat lain.

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Memilih agen judi yang melayani member dengan professional dan terpercaya tidak semua mempunyai skill seperti itu tapi hadirnya situs nagamenslot yang siap melayani dan memanjakan member kami yang tercinta dengan itu pelayanan kami pastilah yang terbaik. So untuk kamu yang ingin dafta bisa langsung konfirmasikan data-data untuk keperluan mendaftar ( data-data yang diberikan 100% privasi dan sangat aman ), jadi anda tidak perlu repot dan ribet lagi dengan adanya customer support agen judi terpercaya situs nagamenslot siap melayani dan membantu anda dengan senang hati.

Dengan bermodal uang 10ribu saja anda dapat ikut bermain dan merasakan sensasi di situs nagamenslot, tembak ikan, allbet live casino, asia gaming livecasino, dan masi banyak game yang dapat anda mainkan dengan 1 user id saja, anda akan langsung mendapatkan bonus menarik yang di tawarkan oleh customer service, jadi jangan ragu lagi bergabung bersama situs nagamenslot.

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Why Facebook Has Become an Important Networking Tool

I think God had me in mind when Mark Zuckerberg helped start Facebook. If you are in college or university right now you need to focus on building meaningful relationships and working on providing solutions using what God has given to you.

Building networks is hard, especially when you come to a big city like Nairobi and all you have is a CV the size of a razor blade’s breadth and a thick skin developed from attending Homegrown University. I discovered this when I joined Facebook. I still think the word ‘mutual’ friends is misrepresented because there is nothing mutual about the mutual friends I have on Facebook. Yet, because of it, we are becoming a close-knit family.

And because I didn’t know anyone, I would log into my account and hit the search button. My target was to get a total of 26 friends from A-Z. By the time my friend list hit 226 I discover that there was nothing mutual between me and my friends. I met most of them at a time when I was embarking on a new phase in life.

I look back to the days I would call total strangers for all kinds of help. I did not know where to turn to at first. But then I remembered the network I had started to build on Facebook. It is Facebook that I turned when I wanted to shave one hundred boys in juvenile prison. It is also the place where I got a pair of shorts, shoes and underwear for a boy who was attending court proceedings.

Because of the network I am building through Facebook, I have been able to meet and mentor hundreds of juvenile prisoners, I have participated in transforming the lives of children by teaching them about reading, purposeful living and God’s love for mankind through Christ.

Do not underestimate the power of Facebook or any other social network, the next time you want to do something like building your network and sphere of influence. Just start with one person and keep building your network. The most important thing to remember is that behind every name on Facebook, there is a real person who is looking and hoping to build their own network.

This means that you should treat them with respect and dignity. Do what you expect them to do to you. and when they share something personal with you, do not betray their trust. Trust me, what goes around has a way of coming around.

Hi, I’m James Odhiambo. I’m a creative writer who lives in Nairobi, where I’m running Lifesong Kenya which mentors children and young people in juvenile prison, rehab and informal schools.

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Dos And Don’ts For Successful Social Networking

As a result of social networking, it has become quite easy for businesses to examine the history of their current and potential clients. Soon, an individual’s online existence will change the requirement of a résumé, and even a single mistake would endanger the opportunities in the future.

Check out these ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ for social media networking, searching for work and socializing efficiently on various social media platforms.

DO: Be mindful about your selection of text
On social websites, anyone is judged via the words and phrases used in remarks and posts. Provoking or annoying words could possibly damage your general public popularity.

DO: Think prior posting
Numerous people use different names, monikers or lingo names for diverse online networking records, and this may bring about befuddling a potential customers. Coordinated records may help organizations to find you on different long range interpersonal communication locales.

DO: Connect every social media platforms
Many individuals use various names, nicknames or dialect names for different social media accounts, and this might result in confusing a potential clients. Integrated accounts may help businesses to locate you on various social networking sites.

DO: Stay up-to-date about privacy
In case you are not aware about the privacy settings on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or other social media platforms, you need to ensure that your expertise are updated to restrict your content reach only to people whom you approve to see the content.

DO: Be Public
Utilising the privacy options, nonetheless, doesn’t suggest that you should be blocking access. Stay public to show up in the search results done by various clients on social media websites.

DO: Filter images & tags
Ensure that a private image of yours stay private. The fun times at college/university may not be the real reflection of your current lifestyle and could spoil your probabilities of getting work in the desire firm.

DO: Use your limited bio space
The bio Place offered on LinkedIn and Facebook are critical sorts and act as your own resume for future customers. You may clarify your capacities in a conversational way to uncover your abilities, information, distinction, intrigues and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

DO: Be impersonal
In the course of a debate or discussion over a social networking site, it’s suggested to keep your views as impersonal as feasible in order to avoid needless fights or arguments seen by everyone. By no means compose something negative just for sake of winning arguments.

DO: Make sharing a habit
One of the most significant items of social websites is the fact it provides a space to promote and communicate about your techniques, creativeness, skills and achievements. However, be certain that everything you share is significant on quality in lieu of only bragging.

DO: Look at your online presence
It is vital to assess your existence on the internet. Google your complete name and examine how consistently your identify surfaces in search engine results. To spice up your internet existence, join internet communities, discussions boards, reviews, blogs and forums.

DO: maintain a balance between your personal and professional posts
Social media is not only for the future clients, but also for your personal interests.So, retain a balance among the personal and professional life on the social media sites to validate it as a real webpage.

DO: Convey your expertise on various platforms
Ensure that you’re highly active on social media websites and establish your online presence. Don’t avoid composing for your individual blog or on your networking WebPages. To boost your visibility to clients, join online public forums and post book, and various reviews boards for movie or travel.

Now, Things to Avoid –

DON’T: Leave your profile empty
It truly is ineffective for those who build accounts to attach with consumers, but don’t update them on a regular basis. An in depth profile can help clients to come across your latest achievements and descriptions.

DON’T: Put up offensive things
People from around the world can browse and read what you write or submit on social networking websites.So, express your views carefully as they could offend individuals that can affect your business directly or indirectly.

DON’T: Post your office boredom
It’s strongly recommended that you shouldn’t post your office activities on social media as it may have adverse effects on your potential clients.

DON’T: Post about your personal life

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Social Networking: Points to Ponder

Given my career background in IT, I still get excited with some of the new technology-creations people come up with and especially get intrigued when things kind-of mesh together so naturally. This means that somewhere behind the code, some really amazing brains created this ~ and this where Social Networking falls-in. Social Networking for me – is a well laid-out map linking (meshing) everyone together in its own mysterious way (for us developers we probably have more of an understanding of what’s needed to make this happen – but in the end; you either enjoy it or you don’t).

Social Networking is still very primitive, from my point of view, I can see Social Networking moving technology in a whole new direction and potentially changing how people interact with the www (Internet) fairly similar to how Google changed how people searched online.

Whether you are new or old to social networking tool it’s important to continue to stay aware of your online presence – being accessible 24/7 to the world. [Unless you’ve made all necessary security adjustments to prevent this – and still this point could be an argued.]

Either way, here are some basic guidelines to review for those of us who have online presence:

#1 Is this Business or Personal?

When you decide to embark within the social networking bandwagon you’ll first need to have an email address. Be careful here which email address you use to register – your registration email choice can have an impact on your business-ethics, or could pretty much potentially cost you your job!

If you are using a social networking site (of your choice) for personal usage, however if you choose to use a work-related email address, just ensure that you are aware of your organization’s policies and/or verdict on Social Networking usage at work guidelines (if any). Pleading the “naive” card doesn’t always ring well with companies – know what your boundaries are and use them wisely.

If your aim is to use social networking sites for personal use – then by all means, use your own personal email address and if you don’t have one, get one! There are countless sites out there that you can register yourself with that will provide you with FREE email access.

Other points to ponder related to #1 is to do some house-cleaning. Once your account is created and that you now have an online presence, not just right now but continuously proceed with doing some house-cleaning of this account. Dust doesn’t accumulate as quickly online as it does in my living room but it can get messier faster since I “kind-of” really don’t see it?! What am I talking about?…

If you don’t want to start receiving (or increase your already existing) SPAM email counts, you’ll have to decide what it is you wish to share with the public (a.k.a. the entire world).

First decide if you wish to make your email address visible on this new social networking site, and if you do – should it be visible to everyone or only to selected few?

Second – go through your social networking site’s settings / options and review all of its settings and options. I’m 100% sure you’ll find some very interesting things here; similar to when you decide to move your sofa to do some “real” cleaning… you always find ‘stuff’ here don’t-cha?!

OK so what to look for… check for setting that will send you email notifications. Do you really want to receive an email every time someone interacts with your social networking site? If not, then by all means – disable these unnecessary notifications! Especially if you’ve registered using your work-related email account! Hello! IT will be knocking on your door (or cubicle) anytime – your dozen if not hundreds of notifications (which are basically spam messages) are taking up room in the email system and is using up what we IT people call useless bandwidth….You’re going to be checking your social networking site anyways so why have redundant messages telling you the same thing you’ll be seeing when you log-in to the site?!

There are countless other sections I could drill into but once you open-up this beast take time to tame it and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how manageable social networking sites can be – but don’t just open this section up once! Return to your options; settings; security; privacy… whatever it’s call – fairly frequently. I make it a challenge to check my settings on my sites at least every 3 months (quarterly).

#2 Friends / Associates

Choose wisely! Friends are the links between you and people. This is what Social Networking sites are based on. The more the merrier (for them!).

What should you do and/or not do?

Well first the obvious – don’t go “hitting” on your friends’ friends. This is a “no-no”. If you wouldn’t flirt with random people when walking through the mall, then why would things be any different when you are hiding behind your social network profile? This goes the same for “poking” – please “poke” carefully. Sometimes what you think is done in good fun or what you think is a simple “Poke – Hey, how’s it going?”, could turn High-School drama on you in a split second!

Another area is counts – some people think it’s important that they have a high number of Friends in their list. They know everyone!…sure you do!? That’s why you’re at home Saturday night “creeping” people’s profiles… [sarcasm gets the better part of me at times, I don’t stop it cause I like it!…what’s that old saying, “If you can’t take the heat then get out of the kitchen!”]

Just because you and Jo-Blow like the same song on YouTube doesn’t mean you should request him to become your friend. If you think you’ve got more than ‘a song’ in common and would like to ‘get-to-know-each-other’ then send him a private message. This way, if he chooses to ignore you (which is fine – really cause liking the song “Don’t-cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me” doesn’t mean he’s looking?!). Sending someone a private message puts the “ball” in their court and presents them with the choice of either “playing” or “turning down” the opportunity. In your private message you can then also state what your intentions are (ex. common interests; live in the same community; participate some similar sports; go to the same University maybe we could meet up for lunch and discuss Philosophy?…).

#3 Think Before you Post!

Back in my day, people didn’t just shout out (yes out-loud) randomly “statuses” during class, or at work, or while walking down the street!? Today, social media sites and social networking sites make “shouting” so easy that it’s almost an obsession. “I need to tell people what I’m doing/thinking right now cause my pose online is just dying to know!”… ya I sit here waiting for you to update your status… sure if I were stalking you! Yes it’s nice to get updates and get interaction with people ’cause that’s what “social networking” is all about, however choose your messages wisely, and especially how you wish to share them.

Example – Mary-Lou wants to throw her husband a surprise party. She broadcasts the event on Facebook to let everyone know when and where. Mary-Lou didn’t check her Facebook account notifications and so all of her notifications are still “active”. Her husband checks their email account, and voila get to read everyone’s comment about his upcoming party.–> Bad judgment on Mary-Lou’s part. <–

Another example – Betty-Jo thinks Susan & her husband are having issues. Instead of posting her concerns on Susan’s Facebook wall (which might be public to everyone to read) she sends her a Private message. Susan replies back and let’s Betty-Jo know that, “no, not everything is fine – John’s work is just going through some restructuring so he’s a little depressed at the moment, but we’re seeing a therapist to help us cope with this. Thanks for your concern.” –> Good judgment call on Betty-Jo’s part. <–

Other common-sense “faux-pas”:

  • Spamming people
  • Flame wars (don’t argue publicly online)
  • Keep it PG 13
  • Busy-bodies exist everywhere, even online (some people just live for drama!)

#4 Privacy

Don’t forget to check your privacy settings regularly. As stated in rule #1 – Return to your options; settings; security; privacy… whatever it’s call – fairly frequently.

Be aware of what it is you are forward-facing out publicly. Is it too much? Is it inappropriate? If you are friends (online) with all of your work colleagues, and at the same time are bashing your work or your boss… how long do you expect this to go on prior to them finding out?

#5 What’s your Purpose / Mission?

Are you promoting something? Are you selling something? Is your site topic specific? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then maybe creating a social networking site specific for your business or product would be more appropriate. You could have two sites, one for personal usage and one more topic/business related. You could even create “Fan Pages” so that some of your friends can acknowledge your product or topic and provide feedback without seeming like your friendship is intertwined with you topic/business.

Bottom line, social networking sites can be fun and are full of “did you know…” gossip-like details. Social networking site’s “news feeds” will pretty much (one-day) replace our local papers and who knows maybe even tv and radio live-media sources. Everything will just be online since news is shared faster (in live-time) this way and can be changed/updated in real-time. No make-up prep; hairdressers; cameramen; lighting; and all that jazz… heck maybe even our taxes will go down, yeh right?!…Was worth the mention, right?!

Just remember – whatever you choose to do online, choose wisely. It’s easy to forget the picture you posted of your friend in high school puking in the backyard [cause that was funny??] – only to find it 8 years later, re-posted online by someone else just when he/she is completing his/her Political Science degree. Think about it…

What you think is funny, is it REALLY? Would you go out of your way, print this out and send it as a postcard to your friend in Australia, and would they actually laugh about it, really?!

Be smart. Think twice. And remember, do onto others what you would want done to you. If you wouldn’t want someone to share something about you, then by all means – don’t share it about them. If you wish someone would have “minded-their own business”, then mind your own too (or if you are really concerned, contact them directly – privately.)

Social Networking – use at your own discretion….I think if you read some of the fine print, in the terms of agreement – somewhere – it states that you should have some common sense to use their product…, I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere…;-)

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The New Era – How To Use Social Networks to Build Your Network Marketing Business

At first the only social networks were free to join major networks like MySpace and Facebook. Their networks are open to absolutely everyone from anywhere and they have grown like wildfire across the web. Even network marketers joined these networks and still do in order to market their opportunities or products through these sites. It is definitely smart because it is a great free way to get that extra exposure even though the audiences of these networks are not necessarily targeted. In recent months social networking has become even more so a big topic, and especially among network marketers.

However, the value of marketing on Myspace and Facebook is quickly dropping. This is due to the massive release of new and niche focused social networks. The fact is that this year alone I have seen an increasing number of professional social networks geared towards network marketers launching and becoming increasingly popular. To name a few: TalkMoola, Zenzuu, Friendswin, Yuwie, and Wowzza. A couple older ones are DirectMatches, AdLandPro, and even Ryze. Honestly I wouldn’t even be the least bit surprised to see a few more start-up this year – that is how much it is catching on! It is also obvious why they do become so popular among network marketers, because there is no better advertising than targeted advertising. Exposing your business opportunity, system, or product to other network marketers is simply the most effective thing to do. Once a network marketer joins you they already have had their foot in the door and are somewhat knowledgeable about the industry and can greatly help your business. However if a random person from MySpace sees and joins your business they are not nearly as valuable to you because they most likely have no idea what they are doing or what network marketing is even about.

So when network marketers are invited with the ability to join a social network full of network marketers it is almost a no-brainer. Just to clarify why I said “almost”… It is because not all network marketers have caught on to the power of social networking yet or how to properly use social networking to explode their businesses. But the ability to further expose themselves and their business to other like-minded people is extremely valuable and profitable for most. The old way of network marketing is out, and I see the future holding tight to social marketing through professional social networks. Even so, many of these new business social networks are offering incentives for those who join. These range from revenue sharing, direct affiliate commissions, and various MLM pay plans. Through this supporting these new business social networks they will experience the increased awareness and exposure that they deserve.

All professional social networks, however, are not created equal. Here are a few things you need to look out for when deciding which ones you will utilize in exposing yourself and your opportunities.

1) Somewhat Targeted or Extremely Targeted?

When looking over your social networks find out if the people involved in the social network are the type of people who would be interested in what you have to offer, or are like-minded to you. This means that if you are a network marketer looking to provide an opportunity to other network marketers then the people involved in the social network should be strictly network marketers. Does the social network you are considering include members looking for a date or love? If the social network includes this or niches totally unrelated to you then this weakens the potential of that network for you. However, if the social network is only network marketers or business opportunity seekers then it is an incredible source for you.

2) Are mass communications possible to your friends list?

Increasing your friends or contact list on social networks is the one major thing you must do in order to maximize your exposure and reach. This means accepting friend invitations from those within the social network and also seeking out other like-minded to add to your network of friends. The larger your list of friends the more active you will appear to be and the more people will take heart to what you have to say. It also means more people who you can send messages to through the social network. Some social networks limit the amount of people you are able to send a message to at once. Let’s say you have 200 friends but you are limited to sending to only 30 people per message and you can only send one bulk message per day. Well this is a very negative restriction and even more so if you have a much larger network of friends. On the other hand, some social networks will let you add unlimited friends and you can send them a bulletin or message to all your friends at once anytime with ease. This is what you should be looking for because whether you have 100 friends, 1,000 or even 10,000 you can send them all a message just as easily as if you were sending it to one. This means potentially huge exposure for you. If you want you can even consider it like an instant contact list of targeted prospects! However, I do warn about sending too much unwanted messages to your friends, you should try to connect with them and send them as much quality information as you can instead and then lightly introduce what you have to offer. If you consistently send what they would consider as spam messages they will just block you or remove you from their friends’ network, so using the social network properly is important.

3) Are the members free, paid, or both?

The quality of the membership is another factor. If the membership is mostly free then they are less likely to be purchase ready. However, if the membership is all paid and everyone is used to paying to be a part of the social network then these are the highest quality members you can get in touch with because they will have the money to invest in working with you. Mixed is fine though as this factor is not as important as the first two.

4) What are the other site incentives?

Overall this is the least important factor to be discussed. Other incentives could be the pay plan such as revenue sharing, affiliate commissions, or some type of matrix structure. It could also be other services provided with your cost of the membership such as training, tools, or other bonuses. Keep in mind, even if they do not offer great incentives but the rest of the above factors are positive I would still be excited to join.

Right now there is not a huge selection of targeted professional social networks but I am positive that the future will hold true for more and more becoming available. Personally I like to take advantage and join any social network because that is extra exposure for me, and any extra exposure is always a good thing. However when choosing to be most active in select networks you may want to consider the above factors. I have created many strong relationships, learned a lot, taught a lot, and profited a lot from those relationships within social networks. You should take at least some advantage of every professional social network available, even if it is just setting up a profile to gain some extra exposure. If they are a niche social network that have like-minded individuals similar to yourself then you should definitely be more open to actively using that network. The benefits can be enormous.

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