I was thrilled not so long ago when I found a nice plugin that quickly created a great Google Plus Widget for my WordPress blog.  That excitement was quickly replaced by disappointment when I found that plugin was no longer working.  I set out looking for another solution and found one I actually like better than my original Google Plus widget.  I like this widget because you can select the colors and the width so it fits really well with the layout of your WordPress blog.

Follow these quick instructions to get your Google Plus Widget

The site you are going to want to head to is called Widgetsplus.com.  Simple enough to remember and it is easy to use and install.  You can get fancy with it and customize colors to match your site or keep it simple and just add a few pieces of information.   Here is what you will see when you first come to the site.

Your first step will be to select the button on the upper left that says, “get widget.”  Now it is simply a matter of walking through each tab and setting your preferences.    The tab you see below is the basic tab and where you will enter your Google+ id, the width you want the widget to be, your language, font and whether you want the widget to have your Google+ updates or not.

If you don’t know how to find your Google+ id to add to your Google Plus Widget you simply need to go to your Google+ profile and in the browser bar will be the numbers that make up your profile.  You simply need to copy that long string of numbers and paste them where it asks for your Google+ id.

The second tab is where you will set color preferences for your Google Plus widget.  You can keep them as is or you can grab your specific WordPress colors and  make this widget really customized to your blogs look and feel.

This next tab is where you can choose to have a title on the widget, how you want to label that title, title color and you can choose to have the Google+ logo or not by using the check box.

The next option is for your name color and size. 

Now you get to choose the size and preferences for your, “add to circles” button.  You can get custom here to by changing up the color to match your site.

Last step on the widget site is selecting the size and text color for the button and then you are set to finish and get this installed on your WordPress blog.

When you have gone through all the steps you simple click, “get code” and it will create the code with your settings and preferences to use on your WordPress site.

After you have selected get code this is what your code will look like.  Select all this code, copy it and head to your WordPress dashboard.

On your WordPress Dashboard go to your Widgets tab which should be under Appearance.

You are going to choose a Text Widget and simply drag the whole text widget over to your primary sidebar or which ever sidebar you want the google+ widget on.

Last step is to copy the code you got from the Google Plus Widget site into this text widget and make sure to save it.

Once you have it saved go to your home page and make sure you like the look of it.  If for some reason you are not happy with how it came out it is simple to tweak and change.  Here is what my Google Plus Widget looks like.

If you are looking for a good Google Plus Widget this is the one I recommend.   There are others out there but many of the other ones I have seen do not allow you to get this customized.

There is a website that is quickly gaining popularity and becoming an obsession for a lot of people. This site has proved to me that not only can I have a fun with it but I was able to use and literally increases blog traffic to one of my blogs overnight.   Take a look at the screen shots below and you can clearly see when I started using this strategy and how it exploded my blog traffic overnight.  As you can imagine with a spike in traffic I also had a dramatic rise in my opt-ins.  So check out what I did because you can easily do this too!

To make this effective and continue to drive traffic you need to be consistent.  It is something that I have added to my daily things to do because the little effort to do it pays off well.

What I Used That Increased Blog Traffic

The site I used to bring an influx of traffic to my site is Pinterest.   I am guessing you have heard of it and  maybe are already using it.  It is now one of the top ten social media sites.    The site is growing at a rapid pace and it can be a great way to get traffic to your blog and be a nice way to expand your brand.  I have to admit the site is better for some niches than others to drive traffic because right now the demographic is more females and the most popular things I see on the site are food and recipes, home decorating, organization, crafts and fitness.  That being said I think there are ways you can be creative with the site in almost any niche and get traffic.

Since Pinterest is a social media site just like any other social media site you want to be cool, have fun, be yourself,  share helpful and interesting things, give value and be social.

1. Keep it clean.  Create clean boards that are organized and easy to follow.  Nice photos seem to draw attention and get repinned, liked or commented on.   What I found to get me the most traffic was to pin eye catching photos that were paired up with helpful advice.  I increased blog traffic by using helpful pins that then linked people back to my blog.

2. Be creative.  Have some fun with it and create fun and interesting boards.  When you have fun and share interesting things people are drawn to you.

3. Don’t only promote products.  Let’s just say for example you sell clothes on your website.  Don’t only show clothes.  You could create boards with helpful tips on dressing for your body shape, fashion news, how to pair clothes with accessories, etc.  I increased blog traffic for my health and wellness blog by creating fitness boards, helpful tips for working out each area of the body, healthy snacks, fitness tips, etc.

4. Connect your other social media with Pinterest.  A great way to get more people to your Pinterest page is to connect it with your other social media sites like Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and your blog.    The new Facebook Timeline has an app where you can share your pins.  After each pin you can also share it on Twitter and Facebook.

If you are a blogger or own a website and want increased blog traffic this is a site to add to your social media arsenal. 

Follow my personal Pinterest page

Follow my health and wellness pinterest page

“Start from wherever you are, and with whatever you’ve got” – Jim Rohn.

Building a large network marketing team and a large Twitter following are two rather similar pursuits. You have to build a large group of people who find you worth following. That is how you define popularity on Twitter and how you define success in network marketing, and interestingly popularity on Twitter can lead to success in network marketing!

As recruiting is all about reaching more of the right kind of person, and as Twitter now boasts millions of members, it is no longer something you can put off or ignore. Twitter is incredibly popular, the growth rate is exponential, and it’s here to stay.

The same principles apply to both network marketing and twitter success. You have to be someone worth following. You have to be an attractive personality. You have to have good tips and advice. Be both interested and interesting, and don’t just be “all about the business”. Just like in normal life, always taking about your business is boring and selfish. You’ve got to be more than your business opportunity – just be yourself!

There are thousands and thousands of your ideal prospects on Twitter, and you can reach them all. Just follow the simple advice in this article and you’ll be well on your way to regular online recruiting, with just 5 minutes ‘tweeting’ per day!

Growing in Network Marketing and Twitter by finding the right people-

1. search.twitter.com :: Twitter has their own search engine for finding the latest ‘Tweets’ on whatever keyword you type in. The Twitter search engine is great if you want to see what people are saying RIGHT NOW about a particular topic. Just type in Network Marketing or debt or hate my boss or hate my job, or anything related to your business, and see who wrote what in the last few seconds. This tool is excellent for finding people perfect for your business right when they are in a mood to do something about it.

2. The Followers of Big Names In Your Niche :: One of the great things about Twitter’s simplicity is the ease at which you can see who is following who, and how popular someone is. This means you can find a very popular person who reaches your target market (be it Mike Dillard for your recruiting, or a “health nut” for selling your products, etc) and effectively “steal” their followers! You simply click to see who is following them (i.e. who finds them interesting) and add them one by one. You can build your own audience by cleverly finding relevant people using search.twitter.com and following their followers using this method. This is a very simple method for network marketing and twitter success!

3. Google :: You can’t possibly talk about searching online without mentioning Google, the King of Search. Google is very focused on indexing Twitter in its database, with Google monitoring so much of the site on a regular basis that your posts show up in the Google index often within a matter of hours. Using Google to find people on Twitter is slightly different than using search.twitter.com because Google won’t just show you the most recent results. Google will show you what it thinks are the most important mentions of your keyword or phrase on the whole of Twitter. You can search just twitter.com using Google by entering in your search term like this – site:twitter.com keywords

4. Let Them Find You :: It is very important you present yourself in a way that makes others want to know more about you. Use relevant keywords in your posts to show up in the Twitter search results, but don’t forget that your audience is not search robots. You need to be attractive to the people you are trying to attract. You want them to see your profile and think that you look interesting!  Attracting people to you is a very powerful method both in network marketing and Twitter.

Twitter is an excellent social networking tool, and by applying these simple tips you can turn it into an excellent recruiting tool.

Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Be honest with yourself. Are you one of those people that believe that you just don’t have the time to get your network marketing business up and running? Your not alone. Many people I talk to claim they have too much to do and not enough time to do it. They wind up defeating themselves and their business looses momentum and suffers.

Full time jobs, family obligations, maintaining health and too many other distractions are the main reasons for not building momentum for their business. You can wind up feeling that your life is spent catering to every one else’s obligations. However, I have some good news! You can find and maximize time to build momentum for your part time network marketing business.  All you need is to find time and commit to use that time for your business only.

Try the following strategies to make your part time network marketing business flourish.

Document Your Daily Routine. The first thing you will need to do find a quiet place and write down your schedule. Document the start and end time on events like getting ready for work, driving your kids to school, your commute to your day job, gym time and any other weekly commitments you have. Don’t forget to include weekends and family time (this is most important).  After completing this exercise you should have a good visual of what your work week looks like. You should see openings in your week. Make your goal easy: try to find two hours you can commit to spend on your business. You should be able to re-prioritize some time.

Stay with the Schedule You Created and Re-Evaluate.  The next thing you need to do is stick with your schedule. This can be tough because you are creating a new habit.  Once you get the hang of your new routine, you should always re-evaluate your schedule. You may be able to find more time to spend making your part time network marketing business work for you. Sticking with your schedule means you need to discipline yourself to work. This means that you have to find a way after work, after little league games, after dinner and after putting the kids to bed.

Don’t Forget Your Family. Spending time with my family is always a top priority for me. I have a young child so I try to focus on the business when he is in bed. I find that using the evening hours is best for me to spend on my business. It seems to be the most quite part of the day.  If you have to use your family time to spend on your business, make sure you communicate with your family so they have an expectation of what you are doing. However, I would recommend that you set a time limit so you can spend that time you want with your family. This will provide balance between work and family for you.

Embrace Distractions.  As we all know life also throws us off schedule. Try your best to embrace that fact instead of fighting it. If your child stays up late, focus on helping your child quiet down and go to sleep. Try not to focus on what you could be doing. Don’t worry. The work will still be there when you are ready. If you have to stay late at your day job, then choose to work late. Usually, you”ll find that it is better just to focus on one thing at a time. You’ll be more efficient and effective. Having a clear and guilt free mind while working on your part time network marketing business is more effective. To handle new ideas that can distract you while you are working, keep an MP3 Recorder handy so if an idea comes up you can record it or write down the idea in a notebook. You can always prioritize those thoughts at a later time. You will also find that you are using less energy dealing with distractions instead of fighting them.

So there is good news when it comes to finding time to work on your part time network marketing business. Don’t despair and don’t get frustrated. Just remember that you have total control of your time and you alone can change your habits to build your businesses momentum.

Image: posterize / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There are many strategies you can use to build your network marketing business.  I found this one particularly motivating and the best way since I have got in the industry to create a big spark in my business.

Build your network marketing business by spending some time by the fire

Going to company or networking events is a great way to begin to build your network marketing business.  I was doubtful of this for a long time thinking I would not get much more value in person than I could get from online training.  Boy was I wrong.  There is just something about getting around other people in your company or people in the profession that is transformational.  Like someone said at the last company event I was at, “being at a live event is like getting around a fire, if you are around a bonfire long enough you start to smell like it.”  It  really is true because when you get around that energy and meet other people who are fired up it rubs off on you and the energy is contagious.

Live company events are great because they are great places to get the training you need to build your network marketing business.   While I have been on many online trainings for my business none of them held a candle to the amount I learned at a live company event.

Getting around other people in your business is extremely valuable.  Being able to meet others in your company and build relationships with them is what it is all about.  It is a great way to share tips and strategies for what is working and whats not.

While getting to a live event will be an investment of either your time or money it is well worth it if you you want to build your network marketing business.  There is really nothing that can compare to getting around that fire.

Have you been to a live event for your company?  Leave me a comment and let me know if you found it to be of value.

Image: Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As the economy becomes more uncertain more people are moving into the home based business field and looking for ways to make money online. New websites are being built by various service companies. The problem here is that the same website is being built for hundreds of people and does not allow for building a brand that stands out. When I first got started I did one of the “free website offers” and found myself lost in the crowd. Being independent all my life, I decided to design my own website to start building a brand that helped me to stand out online.

How I began Building a Brand

As I began building a brand and creating my blog I knew I had to find good products that not only would make me money but would help out a lot of people.  You see I realized that the site now was my creation, and represented me.  The products would also have to be quality,  and not be full of gimmicks or hype.

The products also had to be things that people were buying and would be helpful to them. So I asked myself the same set of questions about each product before I put them on my site. For instance: “Who wants this product?”; “Who would this product help?”; “Why would they buy it online?”; “Where should I place it on my site?”.

Once I made the switch from a generic site to my own blog I now had something that was unique, separated me from the pack, represented quality and value, and it was a great way of building a brand that was me. It was a business that I could count on to make money whether I worked on it or not.  It was also a great feeling of accomplishment and a lot of fun testing and tweaking.   

Now although the site is the work horse in my marketing program, it is not the complete marketing program. I do still need to promote the products and business. I found a great way of attracting potential customers to my site is by writing helpful articles.   Through these articles I am able to establish my brand and help people out.  Since most people visiting the internet are looking for information, I find that offering great tips for those who are looking to make it online is well received. 

Since the amount of people getting started with home based businesses these days is quite large you do have to think about building a brand that stands out.   When you get started or  if you are already involved take some time and think not only about the products you want to promote but how you want to brand yourself.

Image: vichie81 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

According to Eric Schmidt former CEO of Google, “more content is being produced in 48 hours than was created from the beginning of time until 2003.”  So while you might be out there trying to push your wares it might all be in vein if you don’t know how to stand out online. It is easy to get drown out with all the noise out there.  People are inundated with messages, advertising, links and content and they are doing whatever they can to tune all that out.

As a society we are doing more and more to avoid marketing messages.  People use Tivo to skip commercials, it is growing increasingly difficult to get people to read e-mail messages and the do not call list now tops 200 million. People don’t want to be talked at, they are assaulted with people trying to sell them something.  These days more people are looking to buy from or work with people they like, know and trust.

3 Ways to Make Sure You Stand Out Online

Build relationships

Building relationships is a powerful strategy to help you stand out online because people don’t want to be talked at and they want to do business with people they like , know and trust.   When you have built relationships with people and have earned credibility you have people who are much more willing to listen to you and even re-share your information.  Let’s be honest how many times have you clicked on links or listened to recommendations by people that you don’t know?  Now how often do you check out things people share that you have established relationships with?   I am guessing most likely you are leery of clicking on links of people you don’t know but when you have had interaction or established some sort of relationship with someone you are more likely to trust their link or recommendation.

Share Value  

When you share valuable information it makes it much easier to stand out online.  If you look at the things that get shared most frequently you will see that they are  things that are helpful, useful or enlightening.  When I think of the people who stand out either on social media or with a blog each and every one of them provide tremendous value.

Be a Go-Giver

One of the quickest and best ways to stand out online is by helping other people out.  Share people’s Tweets on Twitter, leave comments on Facebook and share people’s blog posts.    Helping other people out will make them stand up and take notice.  It is a great way to not only stand out but also a great way to establish relationships.

It does not have to be hard to stand out online even though there is a whole lot of noise.  Work to build relationships, give value and be a go-giver and you will find standing out is a cinch.

I would love to hear from you, what have you found makes your stand out online?  Do you have any tips that I have not included here?

Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tribes are one of my favorite ways to get blog traffic.   If you don’t know what Tribes are they are communities of people who work in cooperation to help each other out by sharing each others blog content.   Each tribe operates differently but they are all are built around the concept of a community of people helping each other achieve success.

A tribe can help you get blog traffic and quite literally breathe new life into your blog. You should be building not only a viable business, but a community – one that supports and cares for each other. If you’re just out to make a buck, don’t be surprised if no one leaps to defend you or lend you a helping hand when things are tough.

When you use some  of the old popular blog marketing strategies to get blog traffic you can get “slapped” by Google, you could get your PayPal account frozen,  you could get hacked, robbed, or plagiarized. It happens.

Why use a tribe to get blog traffic

When you join a tribe, you’ll have a whole community on your side. But one thing to remember: The people who do the best in a tribe are the people who create friendships, give without expecting getting in return and are not doing it only for their own reward.  A tribe is a great way to build great relationships and you get out of those relationships what you put into them.

The benefits of a tribe are meeting other bloggers and networking, syndicating and learning from tons of great content and having your content syndicated by others.    Syndication is powerful because your content can reach a much larger audience than you would reach on your own and that will help you get blog traffic.

There are 2 tribes I use and highly recommend.  Tribe TSA and TribePro.  Both of these tribes are unique and have different advantages.  If you are looking to join a tribe you might find one to suit your needs better so be sure to check them out.  One thing is for certain though, they both will help you get blog traffic.

P.S.  Want to learn even more about tribes and how they will help you get blog traffic?  Watch this free recorded webinar that explains the power of tribes in detail.

Simply put, you can improve your business with the Magnetic Sponsoring strategies. There is no doubt about this. If you learn the Magnetic Sponsoring strategies, and if you’re willing to put the effort into making some very positive changes, you’ll see positive results.

Benefits of the Magnetic Sponsoring strategies

Your existing network marketing business can benefit from the addition of the Magnetic Sponsoring strategies because you’ll learn how to use attraction marketing to grow your business and increase you list of prospects. You’ll also learn about funded proposals, which helps you increase your list of qualified prospects.

Cold calling, pestering your friends and family, and doing other things, like printing and posting flyers will be a thing of the past, and this is good, because those methods aren’t very effective and certainly aren’t enjoyable.

When you learn the Magnetic Sponsoring strategies you’ll learn methods of getting leads that are effective and a lot more pleasant to use than bugging your friends and neighbors only to discover that you’ve alienated everyone who lives on your block!

Here are some of the Magnetic Sponsoring strategies you will learn:

Funded Proposals – The funded proposal is a way of creating an ongoing cash flow, even before you bring the first person on board for your downline, and from people who may never join your downline! Funded proposals create not only cash flow, and thus, momentum, but a list of prequalified prospects. These are people who have already shown genuine interest in your business. And they’ve already given you some of their hard-earned cash by making a purchase. So with funded proposals, you’ve got an opportunity to build an excellent list, that keeps building itself, and to earn money from those on your list regardless of whether or not they join your downline! Funded proposals are extremely effective.

You will learn how to brand yourself as someone worth following, turning yourself into someone who is viewed as an expert. Having expert status automatically gives you an edge with customers and prospects. They want to buy from and go into business with someone that they view as being a real expert. With Magnetic Sponsoring, you’ll learn exactly how to gain expert status on the Internet.

You’ll learn how to educate, train, support and encourage your downline. Without a strong leader, an MLM business won’t go anywhere. When you learn how to help your downline be the best they can possibly be, everyone will benefit, including you!

You’ll have access to tools that will help you strengthen your business like you wouldn’t believe.

Want to learn how to build your business on a shoe-string budget?
Or about recruiting a downline of top performers?
Do you want to have a better understanding of how you can use and leverage all the tools that are offered to everyone on the web?

If you’re wondering if Magnetic Sponsoring might have some negative effects on your existing business, the answer is a great big NO! The beauty of Magnetic Sponsoring is that it can be bolted on to the side of your business and used as an additional set of very useful tools and ideas for ramping up your recruiting efforts and your cash flow.

It’s not designed to take away from your existing business, only to add value to it. It’s like giving your business a vitamin shot in the arm!

And while some of the ideas in Magnetic Sponsoring might seem a little different, they are all built around using the Internet to your best advantage.

There is a free online course that you can start with. It will give you the education you need to start moving your Network Marketing business into the age of The Internet. This is a fantastic starting point for using Magnetic Sponsoring to give your business an advantage and to help you create the network marketing success you desire.

Put the NET back in network marketing, get paid to prospect even if nobody joins your business, turn yourself into an expert and a leader, and finally achieve your network marketing dreams.

If you want to learn the magnetic sponsoring strategies you can watch the free videos here.  If you want to immerse yourself in an attraction marketing system based on Magnetic sponsoring strategies check out My Lead System Pro.

Keys to success online-Action

One of the biggest keys to success online is taking action.  One of my favorite quotes by Chris Widener says it best,  “your short term actions multiplied by time equals your long term accomplishments.”   Everything you do either takes you closer to, or farther away from your desired result.  Consistent action in the right direction will produce results.  It is the law of sowing and reaping.  You reap what you sow.  In other words, you get what you deserve not what you need.  Plant enough seeds and you will find growth.  Ask enough people and someone will join or buy what you are offering. Never leave the sight of a goal without taking action.  Plain and simple, consistent action is one of the keys to success online.

Keys to Success Online-Discipline

This one is not just one of the keys to success online,  it is one of the biggest keys to success in anything you want to accomplish in life.   Discipline is what you need to get you to where you want to go.  If you want to lose weight you need to be disciplined in how you eat and in your fitness, if you want to be good in a sport you need to be disciplined and practice, if you want to find success online it is no different, you need to be disciplined.  Success online does not just happen overnight contrary to what some people lead you to believe.  It takes hard work and dedication.  You can’t build any sort of business or presence online by doing it inconsistently.

Keys to Success Online-Risk Taking

Of the 3 biggest keys to success online this one is the hardest, you have to be being willing to take risks and even be willing to fail.  Failure can actually be a good thing because failure is one of our greatest teachers.    Some of us never even get started because we’re so afraid we might fail. We’re afraid to even try to make our dreams a reality. It seems safer to stay in our unhappy circumstances, because even though we aren’t satisfied, at least they are familiar and comfortable. The unknown is scary. But if we don’t try, we’ll miss out on the chance to make our lives better. Progress and advancement in life is not gained by sitting meekly on the sidelines; we need to actually get in the game and start playing! The only true failures in life occur when we give up or don’t try at all.

If you are looking to become successful online it is within your grasp you just need to be willing to take action, be disciplined and be willing to take risks.  While these are 3 of the biggest things that I think are keys to success online there are a whole lot of other things that will contribute to your success.  I would love for you to share other things you have found to help you become successful online.  Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.