I was updating the layout of my blog today, and I came across an amazing Wordpress plugin that anyone using social networking (Twitter, Digg, Stumbleupon, etc) to build their business MUST have.

This plugin looks at the referrer URL and displays a greeting and viral marketing link depending upon how the user found your site. So, if the person found your page through Digg, for example, this plugin adds text to your post that encourages the reader to “Digg” the article. If the user does click the link, your ranking on that particular site goes up.

Get the plugin here: http://omninoggin.com/projects/wordpress-plugins/wp-greet-box-wordpress-plugin/

In my last installment, I discussed using your company provided website to promote your business. Today, I am going to talk about why it is so important to establish your own website.

As I mentioned in my last post, your company probably provides some sort of website for you to use in your business. It will have a url with your name in it somewhere (e.g. daryl.bizopp.com), but it will be the same content as every other website of your fellow distributors. This is a bad thing for a couple of reasons.

First, search engines like websites that offer unique content. If your site is the same as everyone else’s in your organization, you have no unique content. (I will go into this in further detail in later posts, but search engines are very important in helping to build your business.)

Second, business opportunities are plentiful. And the distributors in your organization are probably plentiful as well. I do a search and find a bunch of websites that are all the same. Sure, it is duplicatable, but it is uninspiring.

You need to stand out from the crowd. You need to show that you have something more than an opportunity. You need to show that you can  train and guide your downline to success. It establishes you as someone who knows what they are talking about. You can only do this by establishing your own web presence with it’s own content and with a unique, memorable name.

Let me give you an example:

Let’s say I have been looking for a network marketing company to work with, but I have no idea how it really works. It’s just that the thought of having my own business really appeals to me. So, I search the internet, read some blogs, read good reviews and read bad reviews. Then I stumble upon a website that has information about HOW to build a network marketing business. And it’s not located at daryl.bizopp.com, it is www.a-real-persons-name.com. And I start to think that I need to find out what company this webiste’s owner works with. Because they have the best opportunity out there? NO! I don’t really care what company they work with. I am interested because this person can help me build the business. They have crediblity and value in my eyes as someone I want to work with.

By producing this content and offering it free to the public, I have created prospects that WANT to join me, whatever my business opportunity. I am not chasing them down, asking for twenty minutes of their time to “show the plan”. They are coming to me.

Now that is what I call leverage.

Please leave me a comment to let me know what you thought of the article.

Until next time.

In my last installment, I discussed some of the traditional ways  network marketers utilize leverage in their businesses and promised to give an overview of how to maximize leverage by using tools available on the internet.

First let’s make sure we are all on the same page. I am talking about maximum leverage. Leverage that works while you are not. It works while you are sleeping, eating, and spending quality time with your family.

The first tool I’d like to talk about is the internet itself. I’m sure you already see why. The internet is always “on”. It never stops broadcasting. When you establish a web presence, your prospects can consume your content at their convenience, not yours. A website can introduce potential prospects and customers to your opportunity and your products or services. It can provide contact information. It can provide a means for you to capture contact info so you can follow up with people who visit your site (there will be more on this in future installments). Establishing a website is one of the single most important things you can do.

Now, I know some of you are thinking “What?! I can barely send an email. How am I going to get a website?” Not to worry. Many, if not all, business opportunities have some sort of website available to distributors in their company either for free or a small monthly fee. You will get a URL (the address you type in your browser) that reads something like “yourname.youropportunity.biz” or “www.youropportunity.com/yourname”.  You can send prospects to the site where they can learn about your business and contact you for further information. They can also sign up for the opportunity and be placed in your downline because they signed up on your page. If you have no knowledge about how to put together a site, this is an easy way to get started.

A word of caution however, these types of sites are “cookie-cutter”. It is customized enough to have your distributor ID and info on it, but the content will be the same as any other distributor using the service. And the customization options will be very limited. You will be able to choose from a few different themes (colors, pictures, etc.) and put a heading with your name, but that is about it. That being said, this is still a great place to start.

In my next installment, we will take a look at why you might want to get your own website.