I’ve always taken a more cautious approach when it comes to implementing technology, like static web pages vs blogging software etc…

Social media is not really anything new, blogs, instant messengers, have been around for a while now. They allowed people to interact with each other long before twitter and facebook really took hold.

Twitter has turned into a literal cesspool if you’re a network marketer. All you have to do to get someone (I mean something) to follow you is mention, network marketing or MLM.

There is nothing social about it, no interaction just endless pitches. So when Google’s Buzz came along at first I was skeptical.

Yet, Buzz functions more like facebook in that it does allow interaction, isn’t that what social media is supposed to be about.

Twitter was touted as a micro-blog and some do use it this way. But, I think Buzz has it beat by a long shot. It’s kind of scary, it could actually be used almost as a blog.

In my opinion, which many will disagree with Twitters downfall will come from the automated tools it allows. No one wants to watch a twenty-four hour, seven day a week pitch channel.

Twitter is still useful, but you have to carefully screen everyone before following them. It’s not hard just look at their profile over the past few days…

…If you see repeated tweets, the same canned messages, well it’s up to you if you want to look at it.

If you are looking to interact with people in an electronic environment then Google Buzz maybe more of what your looking for.

And, as the the technology advance I’m sure there will be modules that will sync Buzz and blog comments together, that would truly make it a killer application.

Does this mean I’ll give up Twitter? Not at all! I still have people there I like to follow. And, every now and then something news worthy comes along.

Since I actually still talk to people struggling with their network marketing businesses everyday, there are a few things that surface during these discussions.

Since the beginning of this recession, many companies and network marketers have seen a decline revenue coming in. People are a little more skeptical each day.

Companies have chased each others product lines, jumping on the juice wagon. For example and ignoring their products that have produced the bulk of their income for years, even decades.

This has led many network marketers to begin to question their companies and up-lines as well. Sometimes rightfully so!

Couple that with advertisements in the past and still out there today designed to capitalize on this and plant seeds of doubt that there is a better way.

Recently, I was having a conversation with a six figure network marketer that has seen a decrease in the organization (downline) size and along with it the income.

The company had great products, and had ventured into the juice wars which the individual felt was not as productive as the core products they offered.

At this point the individual was mulling over switching to a new company and starting over again. It happens I’ve been there before myself.

And, there is nothing wrong with being in more than one company! Just so long as you know how to promote them! Don’t throw everything at the prospect and hope that something sticks.

Yet, during our conversation we discovered where the changes had really occurred; the benefits the company had to offer.

Just because a company brings out a new product does not really mean you have to drop the other products to promote the new one!

This is where tracking comes into play, something that every successful business does. Companies that we represent will always make changes…

…And we may not like these changes. But, don’t fall pray to the idea that your company and / or up-line are lying to you.

If you’re successful in offline marketing don’t trade it for online marketing until you’ve proven it to yourself that it can be done.

If you are good at working through your warm market, teach those in your organization how to do the same with theirs. Don’t just let them go at it blindly.

Successful marketers combine all aspects today, online, offline, warm market, social media, but they do it all in balanced way. They know how to track and determine where they are successful.

And, if your still struggling with your network marketing company there is help out there today. Just be careful who you choose as many are designed solely to recruit you.

I find it kind of ironic that individuals promoting and utilizing social media to advance their network marketing business have taken the social out of it.

If you look at the definition of social one aspect is: “relating to or designed for activities in which people meet each other for pleasure!”

In network marketing this could mean “hotel meetings, home parties etc…” Today most individuals believe this means Twitter, Facebook, Linked in etc…

While each of these new methods does bring a method to stay connected to people all around the globe, some of these have become antisocial.

If you’re involved on Twitter and network marketing you know what I mean. It’s like turning on a 24/7 shopping channel. There is very little social activity at all.

Web 2.0 and beyond was designed to bring interaction between the content creator and the visitor.

Twitter was touted as a micro-blog and some do use it in this fashion, while most network marketers use it simply as a broadcast tool.

They accomplish this by plugging into automated tools that auto-follow and auto-tweet for them. Taking the social part out of it.

Google got a lot of flack, when they first released Google Buzz, and rightfully so.

But, Google Buzz (my profile) in my opinion will do a much better job of putting the social back into web 2.0 than twitter ever will.

With Buzz you can pull in your various feeds from your sites as I have done, placing everything in one location.

Individuals are already commenting on how Google Buzz is replacing the RSS feed for blog sites. As the readers of the feed are opting for Buzz.

And, this really makes sense. Yet, in someways it dose seem self-defeating. With a RSS feed it is all one-sided, you read and then goto the blog post to comment, a benefit.

With Buzz, your followers can comment in the Buzz-O-Sphere without having to visit the site at all. Now, this could become a negative.

But, it does allow for more interaction, something that Twitter in my opinion sorely lacks. Especially when it comes to network marketing.

This doesn’t mean you should stop using Twitter, I won’t! But, sometimes you just have to turn off the 24/7 shopping channel.

Look for ways that really bring the social part back into social network marketing!

Why is the divorce rate so high? It really makes you wonder what all the buzz about attraction marketing is about.

One of my former uplines, used to talk about prospecting and relating it to courting. Which really makes sense when you think about it!

When you first begin to date someone you are in essence putting on the sales presentation…

…You’re selling yourself to your prospective spouse. You’re trying to present to them why you’re the best candidate for the job out of the millions of other suitable candidates, right?

It’s ironic that the U.S. leads the world in the number of divorces. If you look at the numbers provided by the CDC it is roughly 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce.

Marriages fail for a variety of reasons, and one cause you’ll hear is we just grew apart…

…The attraction was no longer there!

So what does this mean when used as a network marketing method, should it even be used in network marketing?

Over the years I’ve often gotten the question, “how do I attract smart, professional people to my business opportunity?”

That should be very easy for anyone to see yet, if you stop and look at who you associate with and what you’re offering as a business opportunity it should be self-evident!

There is one group in particular who over the course of the years I’ve found them to be scrapers. In the past they’ve stolen content from not only my websites but others as well.

And, as you could guess that it they type of individuals they attract to themselves. You attract what you are, that’s just natural.

Today, everyone is using the buzz word “You Inc.” They have been instructed to brand themselves, it’s only natural.

There is no doubt in my opinion they got this phrase from one of Leaders Clubs training audios called “Promote Yourself First!”

Yet, the way they promote it and put it into use clearly shows they never understood the concept. Which leads them to question why their prospects just don’t get it!

Here is a video to give you more insight:

Let’s face it prospects are just not that into you, they could really careless about you!

And, if they do fall for your attraction the majority will leave just as soon as they discover it’s really all about you and not them!

Take a day, any day, and do a search on network marketing or multi-level marketing and you’ll find what is termed Outrageous marketing methods being employed.

Using shock and awe to get you to click on the ad, where you’ll find the statements like these:

Are you tired of Old School Marketing Methods! You know the 3 foot rule, hanging flyers, bugging your friends and family, hotel meetings etc…

Or how about “Only Suckers Buy Leads” yet, the individual is spending a fortune on pay-per-click ads to do just that…

…And when that doesn’t work the way it was sold there off to the next piece of advice…

…Endlessly tweeting the same advertisement over and over again. If I see, one more tweet about the Trump network I think I’m going to puke.

Talk about a return on your investment. I guess it just goes to prove their time isn’t worth much.

And, when it comes to network marketers, it seems they would rather buy a dream than pursue reality.

Think about it just because someone wrote and e-book that tells you to stop chasing your friends and family…

…Would it not have been better to buy the e-book that gave you the insight into how to identify which of your friends and family would make either customers or business partners?

But, alas since they couldn’t figure it out they want you believe that you cannot as well!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, which I’m sure you haven’t maybe you’ve noticed that during this great recession one company has continued to generate record profits one quarter after another.

They are the underdog out there in this field and yet they’ve taken on a much larger competitor head on…

…What is leading them to this success is “Old School Marketing Methods!” And, it’s not that their products are any better. In fact the big dog has better products!

So unless you prove to yourself, after you’ve given it everything you’ve got never discount old style marketing methods. They are built on relationships and trust.

When, I sat down to write this blog post today, my first thought was to title it “What Truck Drivers Should be doing, but their not!”

When we talk about network marketing, we talk about the freedom it can bring. How it can allow us to work anywhere we have cell phone coverage and / or internet access.

For, as long as I can remember going back to my childhood I can remember my dad “who is a retired truck driver” talk about the freight slow down.

Later in life living in different parts of the country we would talk about the number of trucks I would see on the highway as I traveled around.

Today, I follow the industry closely. I don’t follow the traditional news sources for my information; I follow the comments of the truckers.

As the economy slows down, they end up sitting and waiting for loads to come along. Their level of complaining goes up, what we all do when things are not going in the direction we hoped they would.

And my though turns to “What they could be doing, but many are not!” Which brings me to write this post today!

I can remember my dad telling me just how lonely it could be when you’re miles away from home. Everyday you’re watching life seemly passing you by as you drive down the highway.

Yet, today we are one of the most connected societies imaginable and it only gets better every year! With Cell phones and wireless card for out laptops and with 3g and 4g access, we can work an internet business from anywhere!

So can you really begin to build a residual income beginning at only $10 a month?

The answer to that question is yes!

It does not matter what business you’re in today. And, it doesn’t matter if it is a traditional business, you know the little mom & pop shop, a home business or even a large scale business with 10’s of thousands of employees.

Each of them needs an internet presence, that is just the society we live in today. If we are going to have a web presence, why not also have that work towards our advantage an provide an additional stream of income?

So How Can You start and Build A Business For $10 a Month?

Get started with GDI.

What is GDI? Global Domains International is a business opportunity, and web hosting all rolled into one. What is the product, Website hosting that cost ten dollars a month?

Sure there are cheaper to free hosting packages available but can they generate a residual income for you? An income that keeps paying you back month after month, for something that you’ll need anyway!

So how does this tie back into truck drivers? Quite a few truck drivers already have blogs most of them hosted and blogger.

On these blogs they are already chronicling their lives on the road and many of them are quite informative. By adding GDI to the mix you can create a wonderful static web site interlinked to your blog.

Most will not understand the power in that, and thats ok. Some would consider it one of those secrets to search engine rankings. The difference between getting found or just one of the billions of web pages out there.

Here is a short 4 minute video that tells you all about it. Then you can make the decision is this something that can help shape your financial future?

And, who knows you could be on your way to building a residual income that lasts a lifetime!

Social media opens up a whole new world of marketing and with it comes other challenges as well.

Most people try to keep their business separate from, friends and family members. Yet, many are gladly opening the door allowing access to them daily.

A couple of days ago I read a great post over on copyblogger.com titled, “Who Do You Trust For Online Business Advice?”

As I sat there and read the post my thoughts drifted towards facebook. Almost without fail on Twitter someone follows you, so doing the polite thing you follow them back…

…After all you really do not know where and how they found you, maybe they came from one of your tweets, or maybe from your blog.

A short time later you get a direct message asking you to connect with them on facebook…

…Now wait a minute.

If our facebook account contains are friends, family members and now other network marketers total strangers…

…Who just might fit the title of scorpions as portrayed in the article. Since we’ve added them as a friend guess what?

On facebook they’ll show up in the upper right under Suggestions and you’ll be the mutual friend!

The very same people who preach attraction marketing, will now be chasing your friends and family members. I guess that is one way to shorten your Christmas list!

It really comes down to if you’re in network marketing, want to play it safe. Keep your friends and family members insulated from the scorpions that permeate this industry.

Grab yourself two twitter and Facebook accounts, then you’ll never have to worry about getting an angry phone call…

Just about everyday I interact with individuals that are new to network marketing. Generally when I get to chat with them it is only after they’ve run into trouble or are conflicted about what they’ve heard and experienced.

Yesterday, I had a nice conversation with an individual who was going through this conflicting process and needed clarity in what she was doing.

Everyone knows that in business you have to promote your business right? Yet, we often do not select tools or materials to promote the company we are passionate about.

The scenario goes like this, they’ve joined a company, often they’ve joined because another family member approached them with the business opportunity, happens all the time!

The new individual doesn’t really have any warm market so they begin the search for a marketing system and there are plenty of them to choose from!

They buy into one of these systems for lets say $49.95 a month, now they need to tie this into an auto-responder system for another $19.95 a month.

So now we are up to $59.90 a month for a marketing system, doesn’t sound to bad does it? They’ve promised you when you bought it that it would generate (fill-in-the-number) And now we have to market it.

There are a few options right, (PPC) Pay-Per-Click via Google, Yahoo, and Bing. And of course they have some basic training to help you do it…

Now let us take a look at that, the search engines where you’ll be advertising. Typically they show only about ten ads on the first page along with the organic websites, stiff competition…

…So you’d better get good at writing ads, wait you’re still new to all this. So while learning how to write good ads and testing to get the click through’s you’ll end up spending thousands of dollars!

So now after several thousand dollars you’re getting the click through’s but your conversion rates from a click through to a lead are low…

…Maybe it’s because you’re not the only one using this system, sure it’s got your picture on it but it’s still the same offer that has been rejected already.

Couple this with the clear fact that the system is really designed to sell the system and not your primary business.

The argument they give you is that ninety-five percent of the individuals who click on it will be other marketers looking for a way to generate leads online.

So after you’ve run out of money you’ll turn to Twitter and Facebook marketing. Where you’ll run into the same scenario marketers chasing marketers!

Everyone is trapped in a vicious circle, while the creators of the systems and e-books are smiling as they sit and watch their bank accounts grow!

Eventually we’ll move on to the next phase blogging and using twitter to drive traffic to our website, and it does work but we quickly run out of things to write about.

How do I know this to be true? I’ve been there and done it myself!

So is there a better solution? I believe there is, and it will cost you far less while returning greater value to you!

Stay tuned, I’ll write about it in the next post “Finding Success For The Newbie Or Experienced Network Marketer” and hopefully help you from making some of the common mistakes we’ve all made in network marketing!

Everyday I get a great laugh from new twitter followers. It starts like this my latests network marketing blog post goes out and here come all the new followers.

So I follow them back, only later to be sent a direct message like the following:

Thanks so much for the follow, I hope you have a great day! Visit my blog and let me know how I can help you:

Thanks for the follow! Please allow me to invite you to our free Network Marketing Training at xxxxxxxx

Thanks for the follow! Generate Instant Cash In Any Company. Learn How to Create Your Own Leads And Grow Your Sales.

Thanks for the follow, I’m looking forward to your tweets. I work with people who want to take their love of travel to the next level.

Hey fellow network marketer! My goal with tweeting is to help my followers succeed quickly and easily in their business. Let’s all get rich!

Thanks for the follow! Let’s network on Facebook too:

Hi. I hope we can connect for real. If you like Attraction Marketing pop over for your free goodies.

And this one takes the grand prize:

Smart Move on Following Me! See How I Easily Generate Thousands of F.ree Leads With Twitter.

Lets see did they hunt me down?

That answer would have to be a resounding yes, using automation or filtering to find and follow people who talk about network marketing.

Did any of them really take the time to investigate who you are or what you do before sending their canned direct message?

Most don’t you’re just another so-called lead to them. So if everyone is in the network marketing business and everyone is also a lead, isn’t that like a dog chasing its tail?

Anyway it really does make you laugh every morning.

This year is really exciting to be in network marketing, my phone is ringing off the hook. Now that’s exciting isn’t it, just what we want to happen?

The new Scraper Pro users are chasing me down and pitching how I can generate an endless flow of leads if I only buy this software.

You have to love the pitch, “I just saw your website!” Yet, they don’t even know my name or which website!

Just yesterday I received three phone calls…

…The first call from Ray was really sad, at least he was the only one so far that has not used an autodialer. Yet, his phone skills where…

…Well, lets just say horrible! Of course he stated he had just been on my website and wanted to know if I would like to generate and endless flow of network marketing leads!

Let me check, last time I looked I was in the top ten search results for the keywords “Network Marketing” on the three major search engines. When I asked that, he went started babbling…

…So, I interrupted and asked him what the software was “I already knew,” I could hear papers shuffling and finally after about five seconds he said Scraper Pro.

I do have to give Ray credit for at least picking up the phone and dialing it. Yet, I have to give him a very poor grade on presentation.

The other two calls where autodialers, the first of these two I left a message to call me back…

…Well, I’m still waiting for a call back. Most likely it will not happen.

The third is another story, a repeat offender. Just a pitch to visit his opportunity that is really a ponzi scheme! And there is no way to opt out of it, just the pitch…

… That one goes right to the FTC complaint section, and at $16,000 a pop I sure hope he’s making ton’s of money as he will need it.

If you want to cold call, be good at what you do!

If you don’t know how than maybe this course is what you need!

Since you will be working with truly cold and hostile network marketing leads!