Over the past couple of days several popular bloggers are discussing the value of social media services like Twitter. They are asking themselves and others to evaluate their goals for the service and decide if it’s a marketing tool or a just social interaction. Or can it really be both?

The beauty of a service like Twitter is that it becomes what the community wants it to be. And like any community, as it grows, smaller groups and sub-communities separate themselves, mix, overlap, and continue to evolve. I think we’ll all be able to find the balance that works for us.

In her post, Social Marketing Pitfalls & The Twitter Time Suck, Lynn Terry’s definition of “social” explains exactly how I’ve tried to conduct myself in business all along; by being personable and not so personal. Lynn wrote,

“…But when it comes to marketing or networking, the word ’social’ pertains to being personable (vs personal), which – in my opinion – should be accomplished while still retaining an appearance of professionalism.”

It’s how I’d like to continue to conduct myself in the social media services.

But for others, online social media holds a much different appeal. In part, I think it’s just another aspect of a whole new communication era. Personal communication is becoming less and less private. The cell phone often makes at least one half of what used to be totally private conversations, public. Video cameras are everywhere and events that once might have been a temporary embarrassment witnessed by a few, can become a worldwide humiliation replayed over and over again. It’s a chicken and an egg question. Are our expectations of privacy so diminished that we’re willing to share more? Or has our willingness to share more led to the proliferation of opportunities to do so?

As others have suggested, we each need to define our social media goals and find a balance. While I wish I had done more planning before I started, I’m not sure I could have clearly defined what I wanted until I had some experience. I’ll approach the services differently now and hopefully find my balance.

Where do you stand? Are social media services marketing or socializing?

Follow me on Twitter

The Direct Selling Women’s Alliance just released a new audio series called, “Mentored by the Masters: Proven tips and strategies for greater passion, purpose and profits.”

It’s a monthly audio series featuring industry direct sales leaders on topics including selling, sponsoring, coaching, running you business and more. In addition to the monthly CDs there is also a special website resource area for subscribers.

Get more information and subscribe to “Mentored by the Masters: Proven tips and strategies for greater passion, purpose and profits” here.

If you have any kind of an online presence, you most likely get spam email. Spending any more time on it than you have to wastes precious time and money. Spam is frustrating and costly in and of itself, but rather than spend any time chasing down spammers or turning them in, minimize your frustration and wasted time by reducing incoming spam and installing a good spam filter to deal with what does get through.

Here are three tips for efficiently and effectively dealing with spam.

1. Make sure you do not have a “catch-all” email account on your email server. A catch-all address is one that receives all email sent to your domain whether or not it’s addressed to a set mailbox.
2. Don’t publish your email address on your website (or anyone else’s), either in text form or in the HTML. Of course, if you’re in business, you need to make yourself available to you customers, but there are many ways to make your email address available to humans and not spambots. To hide your email address from the spambots you can display it as an image rather than text or disguise it with JavaScript. Alternatively, use a contact form instead of providing an email address. (Be sure the contact form you use doesn’t include your email address in the HTML.) You can use a free form generator like Master Feedback or for more complex needs and more protection, we recommend MasterForm V4.
3. Use a good spam filter for your incoming email. We use and recommend MailWasherPro because it works while still giving me complete control over my email.

As long as it’s inexpensive and effective, spammers will continue to spam. Don’t give them any more time than you have to.

For more tips on preventing spam and to learn more about protecting your website from other vulnerabilities, read my interview Will Bontrager, an expert CGI programmer and author of some of my favorite scripts.

Affiliate link (Why tell?)


Joel Comm just released a new version of his Adsense Secrets Guide and is selling at the unbelievable price of just $9.95. If you have any interest in using Adsense to monetize your website, grab your copy now!

Previous releases of the Adsense Secrets Guide sold for as much as $97. But Joel is practically giving away this version because he wants to “give back,” and to introduce you to his monthly Internet Marketing newsletter “The Top 1% Report”.

Grab your copy of Adsense Secrets 4.0 now for immediate download.

Note: You’ll be getting one issue of the bonus newsletter for free, but if it’s not for you or not in your budget, cancel your subscription before the next issue to avoid being charged the monthly fee.

Editor’s note: Guest blogger Chris Carroll runs a successful direct sales business and helps others do the same. In this article she explains how her business model has helped her achieve success.

Are you a sales based direct seller or a recruiting based direct seller? Is there a difference, really? Allow me to explain.

I am a sales based direct seller. I am of the belief that sales is the basis of our business in direct sales and by using customer sales and the growth of your business through sales as the main basis of your income, than you will have a stronger business overall. This can be seen in the customer base and the $ in my pocket from sales. I am also of the belief that strong sales will lead to strong recruits who also use sales based business model.

One other reason that I use a sales based model is that you actually make more money in recruiting as you are getting paid on sales not just bringing in the recruit. Sales drive the whole system of getting paid, bringing in recruits, who also sell and make money and start recruiting. And the circle continues.
Recruit based selling is a hard concept for me sometimes. By putting the most eggs in your basket based on recruits and hoping that you will build your team that will support you is tough. How do you make a living in the mean time, while you are building your team?
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From MondayCafe.com
– The Direct Sales Movie — “Today!”

This morning I read a couple of blog posts about time management. TheWahmBlog.com has Tips for the Newbie Entrepreneur about managing time. And at the InternetBasedMoms.com Staff blog Annette mentioned an article about the health hazards of 24/7 online writing and blogging in her post, Too Dependent on Technology and Computers.

One of the challenge of running a home business is that it can be difficult to walk away from the work… it’s always there in the next room. When you work at a job somewhere else, you go home and get away from it every day. Here are a few tips that help me manage my day.

• I use a calendar/daily planner program with pop-up alerts to move me through my daily to-do list.
• I set my email client so it’s not continually checking email and alerting me to new messages, because I can’t resist looking when I hear that notification.
• I try to clear my email inbox first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon.
• Repetitive tasks are automated as much as possible. For example, I use autoresponders to send reminders when memberships and listings expire, I manage spam with a great filter, and I use a program to type repetitive phrases and paragraphs with just a few keystrokes.
• I do the work that requires the most focus in the morning because by the afternoon I’m much less productive.

For more on managing your time, pick up a free iRepNetwork membership and find a time management email series in the members only resources section.

How do you manage your busy schedule?

Inspired by Lynn Terry’s Webinar yesterday, I signed up for Twitter. I’m still trying to figure it all out so I’m not yet sure I know what I’m doing, but I can see how it can be a lot of fun. My goal is to use it as another business tool; it’s part of my plan to become more “social” online.

The whole idea of using social marketing came about as part of last month’s “Be A Better Blogger” challenge over at ClickNewz.com. I blogged about the social marketing task here.

Do you Twitter? If so be sure to leave your link in the comments and I’ll come by. What other social media are you using?

Follow me on Twitter.

When researching how to start an Internet business you will likely be advised to find your niche or to find a business you can be passionate about. But what if your passion isn’t profitable? How do you find a profitable niche?

The first rule of niche marketing is that it is advisable to begin by researching a market to try to determine where a marketplace shortage exists. Once identified, find a product to fill that shortage. That approach is much more likely to succeed than trying to find a market for a product.

Before doing any research, decide on the type of market that interests you. The Internet provides access to an abundance of markets. Start your research on a broad theme and then dig down into the market. The following is a good starting point to find your potential list of markets to review.

1- A market following one of your passions.
2 – A market within the Internet Marketing (IM) niche.
3 – A market that follows the big spenders.
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Here are 10 sites where you can make personal connections and build relationships with friends and business associates.

Edited October 30, 2009 to update the list. The original list is below.

Facebook.com – Number one in popularity by number of monthly visits and number of registered users.
Find me on Facebook

Twitter.com – Twitter, which wasn’t even on the original list, has enjoyed tremendous growth in popularity over the past year.
Follow me on Twitter

MySpace.com – Popular with the younger crowd (18-24), MySpace continues to be one of the most visited social media sites and ranks among the top visited sites overall.

LinkedIn.com – Primarily a business and professional network, LinkedIn is often used to connect employers and job seekers.

Orkut.com – Owned by Google, Orkut is popular with young people in South America and India.
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