Starting Your Journey, How to Get Started on Facebook,

I’m assuming that by now you’ve already signed up for a Facebook account. If not, simply visit www.facebook.com and sign up today. It’s easy as pie and really, it only takes a few seconds to create an account.

All you need to do is provide your name, email address, birthday, and password. Then click the  button located on the bottom right section of the Facebook Welcome Page.

Once your account has been activated, I highly recommend that you use Facebook’s Friend Finder feature to check if any of your email contacts have a Facebook account already.

The Friend Finder feature will help you connect with friends, family, colleagues, and customers more easily. This feature automates the process that you would otherwise have to do manually (i.e. typing in the name or email address on the Search bar of your Facebook profile and searching for friends).

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with a regular Facebook account, you can create another account. This time, you can create a separate Facebook account for your business. As I mentioned before, all you have to do is click on the link below the “Sign Up” button:  Then provide the requested information. In a few minutes, your new Facebook page is ready to go!

Facebook Tutorial for Business

According to the latest statistics from Facebook, this social networking platform is not an exclusive haven of teenagers. If you’re thinking you have to please teenagers to get some business on Facebook, think again: the leading population on Facebook belongs to the 26 to 34 age bracket.

That means you have a large population of users who have the capacity to frequently buy with their own income. And if you are marketing digital goods, it becomes that much easier to directly connect with your market because once people press the “Like” button on your Facebook page, you gain instant access to people’s Facebook walls. In an instant, you can send product offers and press releases to improve brand awareness and brand loyalty.

The Facebook Page

To create a Facebook page for your business, simply press Create a Page for a celebrity, band or business on the Facebook home page at www.facebook.com

A regular Facebook account provides a way for individuals to personally network with each other. A Facebook page, on the other hand, provides an easy-to-use platform for businesses to establish a direct link with a growing market on Facebook.

Facebook pages are automatically set to “viewable by the public” and can begin amassing fans and supporters on the first day of operation. Once you have been able to set up a Facebook fan page, you’re all set to receive contacts and feedback from your market.

A person can connect to a regular Facebook profile as a contact; people connect with Facebook pages by becoming a Fan. To become a fan, one simply has to press the “Like” button that can be found on every Facebook page.

Coca-Cola, undoubtedly one of the biggest soft drinks brands on the planet, is also harnessing the power of Facebook to get even more fans. Coca-Cola’s design is simple, eye-catching, and based on its 20+ million Facebook fans, truly effective.

A simple “Like” button can do so much when you’re amassing members of your niche on Facebook. Even multinationals like Coca-Cola are getting in on the social media bandwagon. As you can see from the previous image, Coca Cola is also tapping into other social media outlets like Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr.

Twitter is one of the most resilient micro-blogging websites around, while YouTube is considered the 2^nd largest search engine in the world.

Flickr on the other hand, features millions of images and is regularly used by people around the world to share images with each other and with the general public. A combination of social media outlets can make a business that much more visible to its customers.

Now some of you may be wondering: why should anyone bother using a Facebook page if a regular profile can be used to connect with people?

First, regular Facebook profiles have a contact limit of around 4,500+. Once you hit this upper limit, the profile will cease to accept new contact requests. Second, Facebook profiles are usually personal in nature; you don’t want to mix your public life and private life in Facebook.

Third, you will not be able to add third party applications to a regular Facebook profile. Third party applications and plug-ins can help make a Facebook page really shine.

A Facebook page is good; an interactive and interesting Facebook page is even better. We strive for excellence whenever we open up channels of opportunity in Internet marketing – the same principles of excellence apply to Facebook marketing.

Let’s briefly explore the different components of a Facebook page:

1. Wall. Both Facebook profiles and pages have walls. The wall was designed to act as the central activity hub of the Facebook page. Both you and your fans can upload material to the Facebook wall.

 You can post pictures, text, and videos on your own Facebook page wall. Your fans (people who click “Like” on your page) can do the same. When you or a fan posts material on your wall, these bits of activity will be published on the news feed.

 2. News feed. The news feed is the endless roll of “stories” that is generated by activity on your Facebook page. Any new activity on your wall will automatically be reflected on your news feed.

So with a single glance on your news feed, you’ll be able to tell how interactive your market is. You’ll also be able to communicate with members of your niche or market by responding to comments posted on your page’s wall.

 3. Status update. Regular status updates are not limited to folks with regular Facebook profiles. As the administrator of your own Facebook page, you can easily post status updates, too. Fans of your page will automatically see your status update on their own news feed when they open their Facebook profiles.

Posting status updates is a quick and convenient way of informing your fans of promotional events, changes in operation hours, etc. Be brief though; a Facebook status update is limited to just 160 characters. If you have a main website, you can direct your fans there to find out more about a new promotional event, sale, etc.

The important thing here is that you were able to inform them all at the same time. You can also use status updates to help boost a viral video campaign. By asking people to repost your status update, personal contacts of your fans will be able to see your viral video. There is also a chance of attracting more fans for your page.

 4. Discussions. The Discussions feature of the Facebook page allows people to create individual threads so that specific topics can be discussed on the page.

Some of you might be a bit nervous about having a forum about your business on your own Facebook page, but don’t worry – unless a social media crisis suddenly emerges from your own discussion board, it’s perfectly fine for people to have genuine dialogs about your product.

People normally post positive feedback on dedicated product/business pages. However, there will be times when some irate customers will post their negative reviews.

As the administrator and owner of the Facebook page, you have the power to respond to these irate posts and clarify points and issues. As the owner of the page, you also have the power to remove posts that might damage your business’ reputation.

5. Applications. Nothing makes a Facebook page more interesting than the right Facebook applications or “apps.” There are many websites on the Internet that feature Facebook apps for businesses — just make sure that these apps are completely compatible with a Facebook page before using any application. RSS feeds are the most commonly used apps on Facebook pages.

We all have a responsibility and the ability to make our lives better. Everything we do is a choice. We are all in the position we are in weather good or bad, because of the choices we have made.

Now I certainly can look back for example, in my rental property endeavor that I jumped head first into. I made many mistakes by just trying to do too much at once. Now looking back at some of the mistakes I have made in my life when it comes to business I can take away from it a learning experience and then just move on. Don’t get bogged down in self pity.

But I can also focus on some of the wise choices I have made, though many have been risky by some peoples standards. I still took the chance anyway. That is why I have had the successes in my life.

Regardless of the economy or where you are in life, there are people out there making money that have come from worse failures than you or I have had in our lives, what ever they maybe.

For as bad as the media makes the economy to be, there is still money to be made out there! You and I can be part of what can be an economic recovery.  That is as long as the government or governments don’t screw everything too far up there is no recovery. But we best not dwell on that. We have today to change our future!

You Have 3 Choices (Ok maybe more than that, but we will start here)

Choice 1: Now what is it that you can start to do today? It is up to you to make your life better or worse. Sure there are tools, products and people out there that can help, but it ultimately it is up to you to take action to better your future today.

Choice 2: Ignore what is going on with outside distractions. Like the economy, negative thoughts or looking back on past failures. Look up! Look forward, don’t look back! Basically get rid of distractions namely negative thinking. What matters is what you put in and then turn around and give back what you have learned. To get out there and help others based on lessons learn, life experience and things you have studied to improve your situation. Like the saying goes, ” If you help others get what they want you will ultimately get what you want.”

Choice 3: Develop your leadership skills. Take a look at yourself, maybe there are circumstances in your life that have held you back. Or you thought they have. There are many leaders, famous and successful people that have risen out of many bad situations and have achieved great success. I think sometimes that’s what drives them. Its all about how you handle what life throws at you or what kind of mess you get yourself into. Its all about how you handle failures, that is what will make or break you!

When you change you, that’s when you can begin to change you situation and improve your life. I will say it again, the choice is yours. Like Zig Ziglar says “You were born to win!”

Ask yourself “What can I do better tomorrow?”

A few years ago I never thought that social media would become a significant development in Internet marketing. But social media has become one of the top outlets for advertising, brand awareness, and direct marketing. It’s hard to ignore it, let alone be left out in the cold. And being on a new marketing trend is not a bad thing, not at all!

When I first started marketing my own business online, I did not know where to begin. With the fast pace of development of Internet marketing, there is no fixed starting point. There is no ‘starting line’; there are hundreds of starting lines, instead. There was no single entrance to online marketing. Instead, I found myself exploring door after door and opportunity after opportunity.

I’ve had my fair share of difficulties through the years. But like you, these failures did not drive my passion for online marketing to the ground. Instead, these difficulties and stumbling blocks showed me which avenues were not good choices. Eventually all those dead ends led me to strategies and avenues that did work for my needs as a businessman.

I’m not going to pretend that I knew what to do at the beginning. But over time, social media marketing (specifically, Facebook marketing) became one of my favorite avenues for growth and profit. The simplicity of Facebook’s platform and the sheer volume of potential buyers or niches that you can reach with Facebook are just two of the things that I had to take advantage of, because to an Internet marketer, these traits made Facebook marketing look like pure gold.

And Facebook marketing can be pure gold to any Internet marketer who knows how to do it right. That’s why I wrote this book. Heaven knows that if I just had someone to teach me how to market with Facebook when I was starting out, I would have accomplished so much more by today.

But now that I’m in the position to share my knowledge, I’m going to have the satisfaction of knowing that you, my friend, will have the advantage that I did not have when I was just starting out with Facebook marketing.

Why Bother Marketing Using Facebook?

Some of you may not be impressed at all with Facebook because at first glance, it just looks like a polished version of older social networking websites like MySpace.

It may have been built using some of the foundational principles of older social networking sites, but it’s certainly unique in the sense that it has been able to successfully combine regular social networking activities (sharing posts, images, videos, and other online media), gaming, relevant advertising, and active networking in a neat, easy-to-use package.

Apart from the technical features of Facebook, this social network is growing every day. To date, Facebook has over five hundred million active users. By ‘active’ we mean individual Facebook users who log on to the social network every day to interact with contacts, play casual online games, click ads, etc.

According to the most recent Facebook statistics, the average Facebook user has at the very least 130 contacts. Five hundred million Facebook users also spend an aggregated seven hundred billion minutes doing the stuff they love on the social network.

Whether you’re targeting a local market or an international market, Facebook is the right place to be.

Thirty percent of Facebook’s members are from the USA. The larger chunk (70%) is from other countries around the globe. To date, it is estimated that over 2.5 million commercial, nonprofit, government, and private websites have already linked directly to Facebook to reach more people in a more convenient and speedier manner.

With one click, a person can “Like” a Facebook page or a linked website. This information is flashed instantly on that person’s Facebook wall and on the Facebook walls of that person’s contacts. Facebook is the definition of viral, right next to YouTube (another social media outlet worth exploring).

What about people who are constantly away from their home computers? No problem. Facebook has foreseen this particular need and has established a speedy and satisfactory extension of the original Facebook website: Facebook Mobile. Anyone with a basic Internet connection and a cellular phone can access Facebook mobile.

It’s doesn’t matter what type of device you have. Whether you have a Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Samsung, or Nokia – they all work. Just log on to Facebook and you can actively interact with people and even play games with your mobile device.

The mobile version is constantly being improved and special focus is being spent on giving people more freedom with applications available on the Facebook platform.

In my analysis, the goal of Facebook Mobile is not to create a mirror of the original Facebook platform for personal computers and laptop computers, but to create a whole new Facebook experience for mobile users.

I have put together some good pointers on how to increase business sales. Consider them a good foundation for you to start with.

Action Steps to Get More Sales for Your Homebased Or Network Marketing Business

1. See yourself as the the boss, the president or CEO of your own personal sales corporation. You are completely responsible for all of the results of your business. You need to be a self motivator, get out there and learn what you need to learn and start taking action immediately. If you started your own company,  or like me are involved in a network marketing  opportunity, how would you go out and get more sales? Make it happen like it all rests on you and your results will skyrocket.

2. Set clear income goals for each month for the next 12 months and WRITE THEM DOWN.

3. Determine how many sales you would need to make to hit those income goals if it all rested on your shoulders. This is contrary to the network marketers that hope each person will make them a ton of money.

4. Based on the above, determine how many prospects you will have to talk to each day to make the amount of sales required to hit those income goals above. Very few marketers do this but if they did, they would realize they have NOT been talking to enough people. If it takes you an average of 10 people to get one sales, calculate that in. If you do not know how many people it takes to get one sales, well, figure it out by talking to people and tracking your results.

5. Dedicate yourself to self improvement every day. Attend the events for your company or the events where you feel you will gain valuable knowledge. Make sure you have a set schedule each day to personally improve yourself in the ways you need to hit those goals.

6. Spend the majority of your time NOT in your head or on a webinar or ebook but in front of, either by phone or face to face, with people that may be open to buying your product or joining your MLM company. Your time management will dictate the velocity of your success. Spend more time prospecting than studying and you will build a network marketing empire.

7. Focus and Then Action! You must determine the methods you will use to get you opportunity or products out in front of people. Start by researching ways that will fit your talents and or skill level. Then learn what needs to be known about the method you pick and immediately start to apply it. That’s were focus comes in. You want to focus on that one method and perfect it then start adding other methods of getting traffic to what you have to offer. Don’t get caut up bouncing around different ways of getting traffic generation, I promiss you will slow yourself down. Just fosus on one thing at a time and start applying it as soon as you learn it. Now For the Action. Be consistent, set a certain amount of time each day to perform your tasks and just take action every day!

If You Do Not Have Written Goals..

I can tell you that if you do not have written goals, there is a very high chance you will not accomplish the things you hope to accomplish. Be not addicted to results per say but be addicted to your ritual and schedule. If you talk to people about your business every day, you will start to get better at it and start getting better results but if you do not have written goals you may forget why you are doing all this. Keep your mind focused on what you want and be specific and you will unlock the power of your mind to come up with ways to reach those goals.

Some Strategies Of Leadership

It’s funny, I am very grateful to all my past uplines as they taught me ALL the things I did not like and a few things I did like. I am reading Tony Dungy’s book “The Mentor Leader”and there are a ton of nuggets that I think more leaders in network marketing need to understand and more importantly, practice. Here are 7 tips I got out of his book.

What Were Some of the Mistakes My Past Uplines Made?

Again, this is not me complaining, this is my celebrating the series of events that led me to become the number one earner in my company. Without these bad experiences I would never have made it here. Here are some of the things I experienced from my past, not so great, uplines:

1. Chastising on marketing. Feedback is important but telling me how I am doing things is stupid is not the best language to use with your downline.

2. Not calling me back, not being there when I needed help.

3. Promising the world and delivering sheer crap.

4. Managing Me versus leading, developing and working with me.

5. Not teaching me the real world stuff that works but instead telling me to re-approach my family and friends.

7 Action Steps Every Network Marketing Upline Should Start Right Now

1. Engage – Be engaged with those you work with to show them that you support and care about their success. Leadership is a contact sport, not a managerial position. For Example: I am starting a private webinar for those in my team that are ranked 4 star manager or higher where we will mastermind each week (contact me for details if you fit that description)

2. Support – Reply and respond to EVERYONE in your team, even if they have not had success yet. Some folks are slow starters, give everyone a shot at making the grade.

3. Equip – Create an empowering atmosphere and community. Social media has made this very convenient and easy to do. Facebook groups are a great place to put new team members in so they can connect with other teammates and share experiences and get feedback. You also want to have a fast start training that is reusable and recorded that any new teammate can go through.

4. Encourage – This can look differently to different people. Me, I am more of a tough love guy. I think more people need a kick in the pants than a pat on the back. I help people strive for their greatness by challenging them and being tough on them. Know that every teammate has the potential for success, no matter where they are mentally.

5. Empower – Be the leader but then step back and let your team shine. Do NOT be the focus of all of your marketing, presentations, etc. Bring out some of your leaders to run webinars, presentations, meetings, etc. Strive to create a leader incubation environment and you will build an empire.The MLM upline leader SHOULD NOT BE THE SUPERSTAR. It is the up and comers that deserve the recognition as they are working harder than they are getting compensated typically. The biggest reward you can ever receive in life is seeing one of your teammates have massive success.

6. Believe – Believe in your team. Understand that they will almost always run into people that do not believe in them. They may have a non-supportive spouse, non-supporting friends and non-supporting family. You have to believe in them 100% to help them start to believe in themselves. This is a sacred honor of the network marketing leader.

7. Strategize – Do you want to be doing what you are doing in 20 years? Well, it is actually lazy to say yes to that question. As you develop leaders it will allow you to continually work on new people, new teammates and empower them to work with others and other groups. The highest honor of a leader in network marketing is to know that your business will run without you but making the choice to find new ways to energize, empower and assist your growing team members and leaders.

Funtime!

Post a comment if you have a funny experience with a past (or current, god forbid) upline. I will start it off. My past upline would chastise me in front of a group all the time. One time she asked my then girlfriend what we talked about in bed to better understand where I was coming from. Yep, pretty crazy right? What is your story?

If you enjoyed this post please comment and share if you want more content like this

PS: If Your Upline Does Not Have a Step-By-Step Blueprint For Success, Check This Out (Unless You Already Have Too Many Leads) – Click Here For Instant Access