When I run across helpful tools I love to share them with my online friends.  There are so many tools out there, that we do not always run into the same ones.  If they are helpful, then I want to make sure that you know about them.

So, today I am sharing ones that are not really related to one another, but will be of interest to people in different stages of their marketing process.

Many of you are on Twitter, but some find it hard to really make heads or tails out of it.  Meaning that there are so many little bits of information that it is hard to grasp the full potential.  So, the best-looking desktop Twitter application is called, Seesmic.  With this tool you can categorize the different feeds that you are interested in, such as sports, music and of course, Internet marketing.  This will help you be more productive with Twitter which is our goal.

http://seesmic.com/

So, you are now ready to design your first website, or maybe you want to design a capture page. But what about all of the HTML that you have been planning on learning that will be needed. Well, who has time to do that..?

Luckily for us there is a great full-featured Web editor called KompoZer.  It is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) web editor, so you can build a sight visually, rather than messing with code. But if you want to get fancy, you can edit the code directly.

http://kompozer.net/

Now you have your site, or for those that are not interested in that, when you are branding yourself, a logo is always nice to have.  You could spend big bucks for a professional. But why do that? At Logoinstant you’ll find plenty of free logos.

Once you download one, you can customize it in a graphics program. Many logos are in Photoshop format, which leads us to our next tool.

http://www.logoinstant.com/

If you do not have Photoshop because you do not want to fork out the money for it, there is a powerful image editor called GIMP.  It’s a free image editing program. And it has an impressive set of tools. It can handle nearly any editing task.

Like Photoshop, GIMP is complex. It has a steep learning curve. In fact, it may be too much for a beginner.  But if you’ve found other programs lacking, this is what you want.

http://www.gimp.org

Lastly, when you have a blog, you want to be connected with other blogs that are similar to yours.  It is not always easy to find what you are looking for.  This tool allows you to search for blogs by theme and subject. You can then easily comment on the right blogs.

Link: www.fastblogfinder.com

All of these tools are free, which is always good.  However, the Fast Blog Finder has the following note:

“You can download a fully functional version of Fast Blog Finder and try it for free. So, you will get a good feel about how the software works and how you can benefit from it. The Free edition of Blog Finder requires registration and allows you find up to 50 blogs for each keyword phrase. You can upgrade software to the Gold Edition and search as many blogs as you want.”

Well, there you have it another list of great tools that make it easier to get things done.  If you have used any of these let me know.  I will edit my blog to include comments that I receive.  I want to make sure that these tools perform as they say that they do, as well as, if you have had great success with one of them then we should make sure everyone knows that too.

Here’s to your success,

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To receive a series of online training tips, just put your name and email in the form at the top of this post.  Hundreds of Internet entrepreneurs  have achieved success in their online business using these tips in the last year, now it is your turn. Online Success For You

Online Success For You

Social networking is a main stay of many businesses today.  It is essential to online marketing success.  I have gathered some tools that might help you keep track of all your different social networking sites.  Below I have listed some of the different ways that you can keep in touch.  Everyone has different needs so I have included a variety of social networking tools…

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Here is the Facebook Toolbar.  This will help you keep track of Facebook and  log on easily.  It will let you know how many messages, friend requests, pokes, group requests etc.  You can even search Facebook from this tool bar.

http://developers.facebook.com/toolbar/

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Put Facebook and Twitter right on your desk top.  This makes it easier to keep up with what is going on in your accounts.  This way you will not have to sign up to each one every time you want to see what is going on.  You can even post to both of them at the same time.

http://seesmic.com

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With this little tool you can post pictures right to your Facebook account from you desktop.  This one also allows you to keep track of your Facebook account

http://www.adobe.com

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There are so many things to see on Facebook it is sometimes good to know what is going on and then choose to look at them or not.  This is a quick way to see who is posting on your wall and who is sending you messages and more.

http://fbquick.com/

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If you want all of your social networks in one place, this is the tool for you.  It will display Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Linkedin all on one screen.  You can then tweet and post on Facebook at the same time and follow the response.  You can express yourself and keep up with liked minded people that are spread out over the whole  web.

http://www.sobees.com/

I look forward to seeing you on Facebook, follow me below and let’s stay in touch.  To see more tools that I use click this link and find the best online marketing training around.  http://www.MLMSuccessForYou.com

Kathy Sammons
Internet Marketing Coach
Phone: 314-882-7622
http://www.kathysammons.com

Contact Me:
EMail Me

So, you want success in an MLM Business?  Well, you can have it with the right tools and training.

You may be thinking something like this: …

You have a business opportunity that you like and it is going alright, but you just would like to be more successful.  You have been online for awhile and you feel like this is where you want to market.  You are on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and other sites like you should be and you are talking to people, but you still want more.

If that sounds like you or someone in your organization I have some good news for you!

If I could show you a system that will educate and train you and your leads to be successful online, do you think you might be interested?

What if I let you try it out first for 14 days for a buck, are you curious yet?

Here is some of the background for this system. You may have heard of  Mike Dillard, he is one of the online gurus.  He has over 100,000 people on his list of leads, can you image that!  Well this system blueprint is his brain child and three other gurus took that blueprint and developed this system that is creating many more successful leaders online everyday.

I cannot put in words the quality of this training.  The new and different techniques that the members of this system have added in the back office make this system the best source on the internet.  I know that is saying a lot, but that is a fact.

So, now just click this banner and sign up for your trial period.  I will be shocked if you do not find exactly what I have told you and more.

To your success,

Kathy Sammons
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How many times have you heard that in the MLM industry that you have to have a duplicatable system?  This will ensure that you can train your new recruits the best way to build their business.  We assume that everyone should be able to build a business the way we have.

Well, I am now of the opinion that it is not so much about having a duplicatable system, as it is … about having a variety of different marketing methods available for your new recruit to choose from.  The duplicatable system assumes that we are all good at the same things and we all learn in the same manner.

So, a multifaceted system would seem like a better choice.  This system should have a wide variety of marketing methods.  If you choose to market online there is a plethora of methods to choose from.  You may be good at writing, so article marketing is a good choice.  If you are good at speaking then you can use YouTube to do your presentations and get your message out.  There is a method for every person out here.  More important than duplicating your system, is to help your new recruits figure out that they want to do in a short amount of time and then make sure that they stay focused on it until it works for them.  If you are going to do article marketing you cannot give up after you put out a couple of articles and do not get any leads.  It is about consistency and long term effort.  It will pay off down the road and for a long time to come.

I am not sure why it is such a mantra in this industry because of all the big successful groups out there, they all did it differently.  So, why should we think that we have to all do it the same.  The important thing is to get going right away and stay committed to what you choose.

To your success,

Kathy Sammons

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Let me know if this was helpful or just share your opinion, leave a moment here:

Branding yourself online is one of the best ways to succeed in online sales.  We only need to look at the branding done by all of the product and service companies that we buy from today to see how important this is.  These companies have spent millions of dollars on finding the best way to brand their product so that people will relate to it, will want it, and will buy it.

The branding done by multi million dollar companies… is not any different than what you need to do for yourself online.  To start this branding you need to have a vision.  What is it that you will be offering, what will set you apart?  With this vision then you can lay out your branding and marketing plan.

There are some must have tools to ensure successful branding:

1. A personal blog  It should read, YourName.com
2. Social networking sites. Such as: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Direct Matches
3. Article marketing
4. Ezine advertsing
5. PPC marketing
6. SEO for you site
7. Customizable websites and capture pages (not replicated sites)

Another key to all of this is to have each of these tools working together.  It is much like a spider web where each one is tied to another, which is tied to another, and they are all surrounding that entity called you.  It is through all of these strings that you will be seen online as someone that can be trusted and is worth looking into.  Once that starts, the ball will continue to roll as long as you are an active participant.

Online branding has become a catch phrase on the internet, but it should not be taken lightly.  This is how many people online have become successful.  One person that has done this very well is Mike Dillard.  He started working in the MLM industry like most of us, doing meetings, calling friends and family, etc.  Then he started online and learned what I am telling you.  He now has a data base of over 100,000 people that he markets to whenever he wants.

This is what you have to do, you have to get out there and let people know who you are.  If you do not have your own material to market there is plenty out here.  Find what makes you click, but first find something that works.

I hope this is helpful and you begin to see the power behind branding yourself online.

Be positive – you are what you think, and you do have a choice!

Kathy Sammons

Let me know if this was helpful, leave a comment.

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If you want to see how the top earners are branding themselves and are creating success,

click the banner to find out.

For more assistance with your business online check out the other posts here.

There are four structural pillars to creating success in an MLM business.  Under each of these pillars are a variety of different methods to obtaining success.  These methods form the matrix of the actions that are necessary.  Each action is important and needs to be done consistently over a period of time.  These pillars are, lead generation, lead conversion, training, and retention.

The first pillar is… lead generation.  There are two main categories of lead generation, there is face to face, or off line lead generation, and online lead generation.

Face to face marketing starts with your warm market, this is your friends, family, co-workers.  For many people this just comes naturally and they are very successful.  Every day you should have a set number of contacts that you need to make in order to keep your pipeline of prospects full.  The need for outside networking is huge.

The second category of lead generation is online marketing which has some similarities to off line marketing.  The main difference however, is in the way that you find people to talk to.  You have to develop an online personality and brand yourself. This is a very important step and something that very few online marketers do.  This can help set you apart from the rest of the pack.  In order to do this branding you need a website, such as a blog, it would be great if you could use your name as the website name.  You want to attract people to you, to your site, this is the key to lead generation and online success in an MLM business.

OK, so now you have leads, now what?  What good are leads if you cannot convert them into paying customers or new signups for your business?  Once you are talking to them, whether you can convert them or not will depend on how you move forward.  (Be aware of the different buying personalities).  This is going to be the same whether you are using online or offline lead generation.  Your sales training and/or skills are going to play a key role.  The key is to engage people.  Once you are engaged it is time to get excited and move toward some type of close!!

There are many different closing techniques that you should know.  You can learn these from teachers like Brian Tracy, Mark Victor Hansen, Roger Dawson, Sandlier Sales Institute, as well as others.  Not every sales situation is going to warrant the same closing technique, so you need to have several in your mind and be able to move into the one that will work best.  Do not fail to learn this, find a good source such as the trainers at www.nightingale.com, some of which I have listed above.

The last two pillars, training and retention, can be talked about together, because without one you cannot have the other.  The funny thing about the MLM industry is that although it is about sales, very few people that are involved have had any sales training.  So, how do you train someone to do something in a short amount of time that can take years to develop?

There are different schools of thought here.  Many MLM sales teams preach that you have to have a duplicatable system.  Many have been taught to have a system that everyone in their organization uses.   Well, not everyone learns the same and not everyone is good at the same thing.  The solution to the problem is to have several techniques and good training on them, then you can personalize the sales method based on each person’s set of skills.  But, you have to have a system in place to do this training.  If your company does not have one then you can look online for one of the MLM lead generation training suites.

When it comes to retention, suffice it to say that if you do not have good sales training you will not have retention.  The reason why you would have retention is because people are successful.  Without personal success in whatever MLM you are in, your recruits will not hang around long.

In summary when you are building your team there is a lot of things to consider.   The first is how are you going to get your leads?  When you have a lead, it is important to make sure that they are qualified.  The next thing is converting that lead to an associate and following through with the training.  This training structure should allow for them to choose what bests suits their style.  And finally, retention is achieved by having the other three pillars firmly in place.  That is how you will achieve success in an MLM business.

I wish you great success and blessings on your day,

Kathy Sammons

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Let me know if this post helped you in anyway, just leave me a comment so that I can provide the content that you are looking for.

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[ 2009 ] Tax-time tips for at-home workers

* Story Highlights
* Obama stimulus legislation offers perks for home-based entrepreneurs
* Package offers more incentives to buy equipment (TAX CREDITS)
* Small-business owners can carry back losses for additional years

This is one of the reasons why Bizpack is so valuable…. One of the 6 business operations, Udeduct, is a revolutionary analysis tool that can show you legitimate and ethical tax deducts that you can take.  Check out Bizpack and then read on to see how this can help you.

By John Blake
CNN

updated 9:56 a.m. EDT, Tue March 10, 2009

Here’s online link to story: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/03/10/tax.changes/index.html

(CNN) — It is at least 1,000 pages long. It costs $787 billion. And it’s as thick as two telephone books.

Experts say home-based workers can benefit from tax changes in the stimulus package http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif

The size and scope of President Obama’s stimulus package is staggering. But for many Americans who work at home, their concerns about the package can be reduced to one question:
What’s in it for me?

There are indeed some goodies in the stimulus package for people who work at home, several tax experts say. They examined the package to see how its tax changes would help those workers who go solo and they highlighted several areas.

At least one, Heather Villa, CEO and founder of IAC-EZ (www.iacez.com), which offers bookkeeping and tax preparation software for small businesses, came away impressed with the entire package.

“The tax changes in President Obama’s stimulus package are going to help everyone, not just work from home individuals,” Villa said. “The variety of incentives, credits and breaks that the government has devised are well rounded.”
Don’t Miss

* In Depth: Going Solo

Tax experts said there are no tax changes in the plan that specifically target people who work at home. Yet it does contain several provisions aimed at small businesses.

The highlighted provisions include:  More incentive to buy equipment

Michael Lloyd, a tax attorney with Miller & Chevalier in Washington, said the stimulus plan gives a “little shot” in the arm to people who work from home and want to buy equipment for their businesses.

He said IRS guidelines generally dictate that businesses must depreciate equipment purchases over the economic life of the property.

But the stimulus plan’s small-business equipment expensing rules generally allow a business to immediately write off the cost of equipment — up to $250,000 in the year of purchase, Lloyd said. The result: small businesses will pay significantly less income tax than they would otherwise pay if they make significant equipment purchases.

The stimulus package increased this one-year deductible threshold from $125,000 to $250,000 for small businesses. The package also included separate bonus depreciation rules that will benefit larger businesses, he said.

“It’s just a way to entice people to go out, buy equipment and make investments,” Lloyd said. “Being a small-business owner is tough. There are all kinds of obstacles.”

Expanded broadband Internet access

“Although it doesn’t save home workers any tax dollars, the stimulus package does include incentives to expand broadband Internet access to under served areas, which may allow more people to work from home,” said Kathleen Pakenham, a tax partner with White & Case law firm.

The incentives include grants and loans to local governments and nonprofit groups that are designed to improve broadband Internet access and service, Pakenham said.

A boost from the new Making Work Pay Credit

The Making Work Pay Credit is equal to 6.2 percent of the individual’s earned income or $400 ($800 for married filing jointly), whichever is less, said Villa, founder of IAC-EZ. She said 6.2 percent is the rate of Social Security tax. The result: A person receives a credit equal to Social Security withholding.

“The big news here is that many credits are never applicable to self-employed individuals,” Villa said. “This credit is.

Small-business owners can carry back losses for more years

Under previous law, small businesses could only carry back their net operating losses for a maximum of two tax years, Villa said. A net operating loss occurs when your deductions are more than your income for the year, Villa said. A loss from operating a business is the most common reason for a net operating loss.

“With the 2008 stimulus package, this will permit you to carry back losses for up to five years for small businesses with gross revenue of $15 million or less,” Villa said. “This is an excellent benefit.”

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Want to see how Kathy teaches people to generate leads and become successful in their MLM business?   Get your DVD now at Conquer The Internet Hundreds of Internet entrepreneurs  have achieved success in their MLM business with this training in the last year, now it is your turn.

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