I never cease to be amazed by the fascinating virtual world and as someone who spends a lot of time in it I sometimes wonder if it’s taking over my reality!

It was easy to turn my nose up at Vampire games and Farmville; I mean they are not for serious business owners, right?

Then along comes Empire Avenue and I was addicted on the very first day!  The good news is that using this new social media site you can measure, track and build your social influence so it’s actually a good investment of your time.

It’s becoming more and more challenging with the thousands of online options vying for your attention to decide where indeed you should be spending your time for best return on it.

Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Empire Avenue and oh so many more …  Where do you get started?

I’m fortunate as I got ahead of this curve and established myself on the main networks before most people took them seriously so it makes it easier to just add in a new one now and then.

I resist adding in more social media sites into my social media strategy unless I really see the benefit because unless you invest some time each day or week into engaging with your potential clients on these sites, they will not be very valuable to you.

So what can you do to avoid falling into the trap of spending hours on social media and just wasting your valuable business and marketing time?

You need to get organised and have a social media strategy. Yes there will be days where you are enthused, it all comes easy and you do more than others.

On the other hand you need a bottom line so that even on your uninspired days you are building your influence with social media and this is what is known as your ‘social media strategy.’

The biggest mistake I see amateurs make is spending lots of time chatting and networking on social media without first creating their client or customer converting marketing funnel.

When you meet somebody new on Empire Avenue or Twitter, or your perfect client discovers you online, they need to be able to find out enough about you in a couple of seconds to arouse their curiosity and feel compelled to leave you their contact details.

How does this happen? You set up your marketing funnel: Capture Page & free giveaway (special report or other valuable information) tantalisingly in place for them to simply click on and complete a form.

Next thing they know you are in their inbox and claiming a tiny little space in their life.  If you don’t have this in place and they click away, you will probably never bump into them again.

What I recommend instead is that whilst you build your social media empire you ensure that your internet empire and marketing foundation is in place first to catch your hot prospects.

Capturing your ideal clients’ or customers imagination is easy when you have your marketing funnel, marketing game plan and social media strategy in place. 

If you don’t have all these clear in your mind and on paper, you really do risk burning truck loads of your precious time on social media with nothing to show for it but a lot of ‘nice friends.’

I’d love to know your thoughts on this. Please leave a comment or tweet/share it on Facebook if you found it helpful.

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If you’re a creative entrepreneur type this can be challenging for you. You’ll be tempted to do what you ‘feel’ like doing. That’s fair enough because the point of starting your own internet based business or building your ‘Internet Empire’ is for you to pursue your passions, unfettered by a rigid work schedule and a boss.

Is this the way to gain freedom though? When you start your business you’ll probably be flying on sheer enthusiasm and inspiration.

Once you’ve been in business for a while, clicking round the internet and trying to figure out what to do next you may hit the wall. This is quite normal so don’t worry about it but you’ll need to find your way over or around that wall as quickly as possible.

This is the stumbling block where many aspiring entrepreneurs or solo-preneurs choose to quit. Don’t do that – you must stick with it and find solutions to your problems. The beautiful thing about finding solutions is that you can then go on and share them. This provides value for your customers and in turn money starts to flow into your bank account.

It doesn’t usually happen overnight; it didn’t for me. You must create a strong foundation for your internet empire because without one you may make some sales but there will be no continuity or stability in your income.

I started to market my business via the internet because I wanted more freedom. Time freedom is a huge motivator for most entrepreneurs – it’s not all about the financial freedom although that’s great too of course.

So let’s say you’ve got your internet foundation in place;

• You’re clear on your vision and the value you intend to deliver.

• You have researched and identified your niche

• You can recite your profitable keywords if I shook you awake in the middle of the night

• You have your client attractive marketing funnel in place

• You know how to connect with your target market in the language they respond to

• You have new subscribers joining your list or database every day

• Your social media presence is in place and you’re pinging your updates around the universe

• You’re sharing quality content in the form of emails or an ezine with your subscribers

• You have stuff to sell that your target market is hungry to buy

• You have systems in place to convert your subscribers or prospects into customers or clients

Getting the picture? I could go on but it’s enough for now. If you have all of that in place then congratulations you have your strong foundation. If there are some gaps in this, it will be like a custard tart without any tart.

To gain freedom with your business you must then start to systematise everything you do. It’s about taking the steps of your foundation and turning them into a system that works on auto-pilot.

There will be a period where you want to try out all kinds of different ways to drive traffic or visitors to your website but the sooner you choose the ones you want to do consistently, the greater your results will be.

People spend hours, days or even weeks wondering which methods to use when in fact there are so many methods that do work it’s more a case of stopping wondering and starting implementing.

Select the ones that work best for you and add them to your marketing game plan and then you can either outsource the boring bits of submitting your content, pay a cash hungry teen, bribe your husband or wife, or do it yourself dependent on how much time and money you have.

This is how you create your internet empire and start to be ‘everywhere’ online without being there at all! You might be on holiday in Jersey as I was last week, or planning a month away in Israel this summer.

So to wrap up this is what you need to gain freedom with your internet based business so that you are not a slave to your laptop but instead, enjoy the fruits of your delicious internet empire:

Strong foundation (see previous points)
Marketing Game Plan
Social Media Strategy

Grab your copy of The Niche Expert and get started today.

Anyway I went round and round for quite a time until I managed to figure out a new route to get to where I wanted to go.

At one point I really felt like screaming (I might have done)

My eldest daughter was very calm and did the equivalent of ‘phone a friend.’ She phoned my husband who tried to figure out where we were and help us find our way.

I wasn’t able to fully listen or pay attention though because I was still driving and kept having to make new decisions about which way to go.

Frustrating! If you’ve ever been lost then you know exactly what I mean right!

My youngest daughter was moaning about missing her dance class and being late.

So what’s the lesson for social media?

Well it occurred to me that there is so much information about what to do with social media; but not so much about what to do when it all goes wrong!

Here are some tips for what to do when you get lost online and are facing stressful challenges:

1) Stop everything (like I should have stopped the car)

2) Don’t panic. Take a deep breath. (I definitely should have done that!)

3) Know that FAST can be SLOW. (Driving round and round did not get us there any faster!)

4) Figure out where you are. Phone a friend who knows ‘the area,’ ie; ASK FOR HELP.

5) Then concentrate long enough to LISTEN to their suggestions. (I didn’t do that either!)

6) Follow them and get yourself out of the sticky situation (so you don’t lose your work etc.

7) Take a break and re-evaluate where you are

Create a game plan (get help if needed) so you can move forward in the best way to achieve what you want

9) Listen to yourself too! When I slowed down and took a few minutes to think clearly I found my way back to the place I recognise and just started again.

10) Know that frustration in business and social media (and driving!) is quite normal. Be prepared to push through the obstacles and the reward will be all the greater.

I hope that helps. You must have a social media strategy for your MLM business or you too might find yourself going round and round with no destination in site!

Today I want to go into more detail about the correct strategy that I mentioned because many people are valiantly starting to build their social media empire, but in the words of my 10 year old daughter it is very ‘random!’

Random and business do not go well together. As with any marketing, you require a strategy, consistency and time management skills. We’ll get into some of this today, and as I scale up my Social Media campaign I will pass on the gems I discover, and the frustrations I overcome along the way.

The feeling of being overwhelmed can come from having too much information and not knowing how to start applying it. Another thing that trips people up is poor use of time. This is something to sort out immediately because it is key to your success in every area of your business.

Enthusiasm and energy are great qualities to bring to your business. Poorly channelled however they can have a boomerang effect. With ‘offline’ marketing if you ran around accosting people and pushing your information on them they would run a mile and not even take a look.

It is the same here online. If you jump around randomly from one group to another posting comments and pitching people, not only will you set yourself up to look foolish but you will also be very ineffective with your time.

You will end your day feeling exhausted, head spinning and have nothing much to show for it. This business is about providing value and building relationships. Social media gives us the perfect setting in which to do that. (This applies in many fields other than Network Marketing of course)

What can you do to get organised? Here are 3 key areas that need to be addressed:

1) Correct Strategy.

Here you will need to create your marketing plan. It’s not so different from any other marketing plan you may already have for your activities. If you don’t have a long term marketing or action plan then really now is the time to make one!

Here you want to select at least 3 methods of Social Media to master. If you try to learn everything at once you will get a headache! Select the 3 that appeal to you the most, bearing in mind that you work better when you are having fun with it.

You might be the type who enjoys writing (as I do) so here is your chance to fulfil your dreams of being a reporter, or an author. You don’t have to be great at it; you just need to start to develop your skills. The rest will come because you’re enjoying it and want to improve. Practice really does make things get better. So you could have 1 of your methods as Blogging and/or Article Writing. (I’ll blog about how to blog and write articles in greater detail very soon because that is a whole subject on its own)

You can choose 2 others from a vast range of methods and tools available such as Networking on Facebook, My Space or Video Marketing. There are hundreds of Social Media sites and forums where you can become a member and start creating a trail of valuable content. I’ll give more detailed info on this also as we progress.

Make sure to select your 3 methods, create a plan so you can remind yourself what you are doing everyday because it is just too easy to be online and off track!

You’ll want to specifically write down the actions you intend to take i.e.: create profile on Facebook, add friends and network for 1 hour, 5 days per week.

2) Consistency.

Yes we’ll harp on about this one again! Sorry chaps, I know if you’ve been in Network Marketing for any length of time this one will be familiar to you. Most people fail to produce momentum because they fail to be consistent. If you’re plan was to invite 2 people per day to review your business opportunity, but you only invite 2 per week the results will obviously not be there.

With online marketing you are approaching it differently and attracting people to you everyday, and when the time is right you will introduce them, or they will find what you have to offer through your content, if they are seriously looking for solutions.

However if you do sporadic activity on Facebook, blog 3 times in your first week but don’t look at your blog again for a month, you will not be consistent and therefore will not build the following and network that you need to find the right candidates for your business. This is clever stuff!

Seriously its just common sense and I recommend you get a ‘workout partner’ who is on the same track as you. You can be accountable to each other and that way even if you are very undisciplined you will succeed.

3) Time Management.

This is a huge subject and if you can find the time you should read some books on it… Just kidding, schedule it into your time so your personal development becomes a priority. My favourite books are ‘Eat That Frog,’ by Brian Tracy, and ‘The Four Hour Work Week,’ by Tim Ferris. They’re both great but the latter blew my mind. Tim totally changed the way I think about using my time.
Just because we are using Social Media tools it does not mean that we work on semi focus, distracted mode because we jump from one activity to another like headless chickens. To produce quality content and to build a marketing campaign we need to be focussed.

So on a final note make your plan and make your schedule. Keep them on your wall or in your diary so you follow them each day. On your schedule you need to divide your hours available i.e.; if you are part-time and have 15-20 hours per week to do the business then allocate a portion of those hours to your primary methods of marketing.

Allow some time for making calls and networking with your qualified prospects. As you generate more and more interest in what you have to offer, you’ll need more time for this but initially blast off with your marketing campaign and build up consistently. Try to do something towards your campaign every day and stick with it so that you stay in the game long enough to see results.

See you at the top!

By Rachel Henke, (c) 2009 If you’d like to use this article for quality content on your website or blog please do so with our blessing but ensure the author’s links remain intact.