A newcomer to the world of investments in the notion of “Virtual Real Estate Investing“. What is meant by “Virtual Real Estate Investing” ranges from online games like SecondLife (where real profit can be made) to the use of internet technologies to make normal real estate investors more profitable.

In order to figure out the truth of the matter, I sought out Bryan Ellis of BryanEllis.com, whose experience in the fledgling industry is truly impressive.

Ellis says he adopted the term “virtual real estate investing” sometime before Y2K after he realized that making money online is conceptually very similar to making money with physical real estate.

An example of the similar nature of “virtual” and “physical” real estate Bryan Ellis likes to point out is the methods of making a profit from domain names compared to physical real estate. He points out that control of a domain name or even a specific web page is much like controlling a real estate property ” those assets can be monetized in similar ways: By selling them for a profit, by leasing them, by offering advertising, etc.

The similarities really are obvious. For example, if you’re the owner of a desirable property, its desirability is (in a business context) largely due to its being in a location that is of interest to others. Likewise, if you own a desirable domain name, others will find value in it because it serves their purposes. So it doesn’t matter if you own physical real estate or virtual real estate - you’ll likely use similar strategies to turn them into money in your pocket.

In our next installment of this series on virtual real estate investing, Bryan Ellis will share the internet analogies to the physical concept of real estate development.

If you’ve been in this business for any length of time, I bet you have heard a lot of recruiting trainings, and there are some incredible MLM teachers and Network Marketing trainers out there to help out.

But I think that in order to put all of the techniques and tactics out there being espoused into perspective, (and yes, I am an espousee — is that a word??? smile), it would really make a lot of sense to know what your Ultimate Objective is in Network Marketing. Wouldn’t you agree?

I sent out over 1000 emails asking a single question:

“What is the Ultimate Objective in MLM Recruiting?” And they went out over a period of 4 months. We got a lot of response, and some was amazingly off base in it’s answers.

Here is the breakdown as close as we could get it:

37% said that the Ultimate objective was to get a paycheck.

26% said that it was build a downline.

22% said it was to create financial security.

8% said it was to help people. (Great Answer!)

And the rest fell in differing answers.

Now folks, 63% said that the Ultimate Objective was to either get a paycheck or build a downline. Those are 2 VERY obvious results, but they are fruits of reaching your objective, not the objective itself.

When I was starting, my team got off to a blazing fast start and a blazing fast crash, because we lost sight of our Ultimate Objective in Network Marketing.

I had the honor of working with some folks in Canada, and one person in particular I’ll call him Frank, was doing all the right things, but was not getting the results he wanted.

Why?

He had lost sight of the Ultimate Objective of MLM recruiting.

And when he finally “Got It,” his business exploded.

The same thing happened out in Colorado Springs. I’ll call him “Dick”. He was struggling for the longest time, but when he saw and “Got It,” and focused on the Ultimate objective, his business exploded. Now he earns a 6-figure income. I am so proud of his success. He truly deserves it.

Whenever you do trainings or writings, some folks will “Get It,” others take some time and still some others never get it, as that is just the way the ball bounces.

But for those who are ready to “Get It” and explode your business with a little paradigm shift, you have come to the right place.

I have seen businesses literally explode in 90 days once this Ultimate Objective was understood and internalized then duplicated. And your business can, and will too.

So what is the Ultimate Objective of MLM Recruiting?

Collecting Decisions.

Not getting a paycheck, or building a downline, but collecting decisions. Plain and simple, and the truth.

Why?

You can prospect, approach, present, follow up and follow up some more, but if you do not collect the decision from people, you will be a nice person doing a lot of work in MLM and making NO money.

If you don’t FINISH what you started, you will never create a finish worth having.

Collecting Decisions is where you make your money, and doesn’t matter if it’s a yes or no you make money with every decision.

If they say yes, you make a commission and override on your downline. (Result) But if you get a No:

Great!

You still have gotten paid by sharpening your skills with that person, and remember:

Paychecks are temporary — skills are permanent.

The REAL value in this business is in the permanence. Ask any Networker Millionaire.

If you sharpen your skills to Razor Sharp, you can go anywhere in the world, and make a fortune with this Industry. Now THAT is career security!

So I have one question:

How many decisions did YOU collect today?

Your Ultimate Objective in MLM is to collect a LOT of decisions.

As my friend Jeff Roberti (50 Million dollar earner in this industry) says:

“I was no different from anybody else when I started except for one thing: I went out to collect a million dollars worth of No’s.”

That is called a HUGE CLUE!

Blessings…

Doug Firebaugh (c) 2005/ all rights reserved
PassionFire Intl.

http://www.passionfire.com

Doug Firebaugh is one of the top MLM Network Marketing
Trainers in the world. Over a million people a month
read his training ezine. He spent the last 7 years
traveling the world speaking and training on Success.
He lives in Birmingham Michigan, and you can receive a
FREE subscription to his training ezine- The MLM
Success HEAT- at:
http://www.passionfire.com/pf_heat_4.html
http://www.passionfire.com

About 15 or so years ago, I can remember the University of Redlands being a pretty nice campus. But since then, the school has made some rather large and impressive improvements to the campus that should be noted. Several new buildings have been constructed, new on campus rooms have been built, and roads through the campus have been vastly improved.

There are also some less noticeable improvements such as exterior walls erected around the entrance of the school that look really sharp and classy. The main street that goes through the University of Redlands campus has been improved to be safer for the students attending and looks better overall. The new swimming area alongside the stadium is fairly new as well and is yet another great addition to an already impressive looking school. The stadium at the school is where the annual 4th of July fireworks are held each year. It’s usually an impressive show that wins awards and gets notice from all around the state.

An area that the University of Redlands could improve upon is with their school website. Like many schools, it’s bland and functional, but nothing more than that. There’s no visual pop in their site and that could really help with students looking to attend from out of the state of California. Presentation is everything. Though website design in Redlands is pretty bleak, there are some design firms that have the capabilities to bring great and functional design to major institutions like that of a university.

Make sure that malware doesn’t take over your computer. Most computers are not protected and are at risk everyday. Issues happen when people go online and are attacked by malware and have no idea how to protect themselves. Whenever you’re online antispyware is on alert ready to fight the spying tools.

Scheduling and real-time scanning are the leather seats/steering wheel on this piece of software, to prevent new infestations from re-clogging your computer network again and again. Anti-spyware that is bundled or integrated will be the favored choice for an entrepreneur or SMB, you won’t have several licenses to deal with and the software will update the whole rather than parts. The way spyware/ malware is gaining in strength an updated anti-virus/anti-spyware/anti-spam module is better than wondering whether each piece is updated. Data loggers, key loggers are just a few programs which harvest info from your computer. Winclear is the only program created specially to auto remove such spywares. Have you received any emails within the past few weeks which appeared to come from e-gold requesting that you log into your account? Did the email contain a link or an attachment? Did you attempt to open the attachment? Have you run a complete virus scan of all computers used to access your account with updated anti-virus software? You should also check your computer for Spyware and Trojan keyloggers. That is why every computer owner needs winclear.

Protect With Winclear :Wheres The Mail And History Buttons In Internet Explorer 7
A number of cheating husbands and wives are now using the Internet to communicate with their mistresses and lovers. Many extramarital affairs actually blossomed out of online dating services and chatting. Thus, if you are already suspecting that your wife, husband, boyfriend or girlfriend is cheating on you, you need to find a way to check your partner’s computer and Internet activities at home. Winclear is the only software which is capable of removing keylogger programs. In addition bulky information such as IP addresses and browser preferences for a website can be stored in a cookie saving time when loading a website you often visit. Winclear has been the industry leader in fighting keyloggers for the last 8 years.

Winclear:
Its remover tool allows you to remove ignore or either quarantine identified spyware. That is the reason why you need Winclear installed onto your computer. However most free services have limited capabilities. Protect your computer security by using Winclear! More about Winclear here: http://www.winclear.info.

If you have ever had a hard time getting a downline for your business I suggest you try a downline swap or a guaranteed downline. There is so many business on the internet today and downlines are very hard to get for someone new in the business. That is why so many business fail. If you want to get the word about your business you need to have people working for you which is your downline. I have tried a downline swap before and it worked out wonderful. I will go into more detail of each way to get a downline below. I hope you find the information useful.

You’ve built a really bitchin’ site and submitted all of your promotion to the search engines and gotten free links all over the web, purchased tons of ezine advertising and now you finally want RESULTS. Is there no end to your greed? Aren’t you ever satisfied? No? Good for you. That is why you need help. We have all heard the experts boast about how many millions of dollars flow through the Internet and E-Commerce each year. Have you ever wondered to yourself when you will get a chance to enjoy some of that revenue? Well, your opportunity is here! If it is true that all this money is flowing through the Internet then there is no reason that you should not have your piece of the pie and making money in business opportunity programs is a numbers game, the more people buying product and marketing products, the more money is being turned over. Clearly, the people that make the most money are those with the most people under them.

Swapping has been around for a long time. Finally swapping has caught up with the internet. A swap means to trade, People have traded everything from horses to recipes. Now we can swap our services. The way a downline swap works is you sign up for something and offer to sign up for someone else’s program. Say I sign up for program A than you will sign up for my program B. This is a easy no cost way to build your downline fast and with on cost. You can find downline swaps on forums also. I takes a little research to find a good downline swap, but when you do it will be worth it. Remember it won’t happen over night, but in a little time you will have a large downline. You will be a success using this method of building a downline for your business.

Guaranteed downline is a good way to get a downline for your business if you can afford them. This way of building your business downline is great for a business that is new. There is little or no work for to get a downline this way.B y being guaranteed it means that you will get a downline. Unlike other ways of getting a downline that are hit or miss. Any network marketer or affiliate manager will tell you how difficult it is to get serious people to sign up for your programs. And without signups, it’s impossible to get your business off the ground, let alone turn a profit. Every day people spend thousands of dollars on bad leads: prospects who are turned off at their peak of interest and, even worse, prospects who are bombarded with a dozen other opportunities besides yours, as they are shared with your competitors! If You are struggling to get a downline for your business,you need a guaranteed downline. With this method you have the ability to choose between a downline from the US or International downlines. All sorts of people seeking business opportunities. They’ll range from ‘newbies’ to those that have been around for a while. You will get affiliates who want to run a home business, and make money using their computer! Specifically those who are looking for a home business will get in your downline.

Every Internet programs need members. That is why you need guaranteed downlines. You can pay as little as $1.67 a day to $850.00 for 1000 downline members. When you get a downline through a guaranteed downline company you will get a good member because they are not paid. With a guaranteed downline , you have the potential to make a significant monthly, residual income. Getting people to join your program can be very hard work with lots of rejection and expense. Do you really want to sell to your friends? Do you really want to phone everyone you ever met and try to sign them up as a member of your new business opportunity? I know I don’t. If you use a guaranteed downline you can’t go wrong.

In conclusion, Without a good recruiting system in place you are going to have to start from scratch and do everything yourself. Most people, who fail in network marketing, do so because they don’t have a strong recruiting and support system behind them. I’ve been where you are…I’ve spent countless hours for years working every advertising venue I could online: Ezines, Safe lists, Banners, Start Pages, Exchanges, etc. What was the result? MAYBE one or two signups? But I wanted to see greater results - I wanted a larger number to work with, to encourage - to bring me and them success. That is why I started using downline swaps and guaranteed downlines. And If you truly believe your program will make you money, then don’t you need signups to make that happen? When you pay for a downline you will get targeted members. I found out that it is impossible to earn without a downline. Something to consider is how much is it going to cost you per month before you get into profit? I saw one popular online program the other day and the ultimate income program was a nutritional program in which you had to purchase over $75 in product each month. Find that out up front so there are no surprises later on. And with so many guaranteed downline programs out there you need to look them over carefully and make an informed decision when you do join one. So I wish you all the best of luck in all your undertaking…

John Old is editor of a Downline Community - Focus on Downline Club, MLM Downline Leads, MLM Network Marketing and Downline Building :: Don’t Buy Downline, It’s Free to Swap Downline at http://www.downline4all.com/forum

Direct Mail Campaigns

Despite the proliferation of communication facilitators–mobile phones, faxes, emails, PDAs–the mail still plays a vital role in successful marketing. Direct mail marketing continues to be one of the leading methods for effectively reaching prospective customers because it can be focused, predictable and economical.

Direct mail is effective and efficient because it is a pinpointed approach. Basically, the campaign is an arrow shot at one individual at an individual location. Through careful mailing-list selection, you can make a personal connection to a consumer who likely needs or wants your product. Mailing lists are the key components to direct mail efforts. The most well-executed mailer or letter will have little effectiveness unless it falls into the hands of an interested or potentially interested person. There are almost endless sources for acquiring a mailing list that is specifically targeted to people or businesses that need or want your product.

In addition, with direct mail campaigning, new sales and contacts are measurable and predictable. There is no need for repeated hit-and-miss guessing and guestimating. Accurate adjustments can be made in subsequent mailings based on tracking responses (i.e. sales, inquiries and reply cards) to each campaign. This ability to track your responses allows you to further refine your mailing list, as well.

Ted Prodromou spent over 25 years in the computer industry working for IBM, Digital, and Cellular one. Today he’s the owner of Valiss IT, a consulting firm that provides small business coaching and marketing help. He’s also a certified personal and professional coach.

Ted has created and led many coaching workshops and today is helping small businesses automate their marketing with his latest coaching program, “Attract Clients While You Sleep”. For more information visit http://www.valiss.com/specials.

If you would like to download his free report “How To Attract Clients While You Sleep” visit http://www.valiss.com.

You are free to distribute this article, providing it remains unchanged and with the resource / bio box attached.

Is your mind muddy on marketing? Do you wake up each day and say, “I get to share myself and my great message with others” or do you say, ” I have to market, or I will fail.”

Natural marketing refers to the action you take to get the word out about your service and product that rings true to your heart. It feels effortless without struggle, where ideas pop out, you lose track of time engaging in them, and you can’t act on them fast enough! Natural marketing feels authentic and inspired.

Unnatural marketing feels like your actions go against what feels true for you. It isn’t what you like to do normally; it isn’t what you can do easily. Using this tactic, you may feel bored, fearful, or ambivalent. You go through the motions, but a part of you resists. When resistances and doubts pop up you can be sure they affect every marketing decision that can lead to small gains or a large success. They also do not attract willing customers.

Three Examples of Natural Marketing and How to Expand Them

1. You like to share ideas, so networking with others in business groups suits you. You gather business cards with names and numbers.

To expand this marketing, start to collect email addresses. Put them into email files in your computer by group or need. Your list could include your ezine subscribers, people who are interested in your service or book such as professional speakers, coaches or business people. You can create a file of email addresses from your teleclasses or seminars if you give them. Then, be sure to follow up two times a month, so you name is on your audience’s lips. When it’s time to act, they will think of you.

2. You like to speak in front of an audience and offer yourself to groups for an hour talk, a seminar, or a key note. Since you are talking about what you have to benefit others, you naturally attract these audiences to your service or product.

To expand this marketing, offer a free teleclass on a skill you can deliver that your audience needs. To make sure you attract them, first make a list of 5-10 benefits of each service and product. Benefits are the words and phrases of how your audience will look like, feel, and other desired outcomes that your service or product gives them. Include these in a short sales letter for your teleclass.

It’s easy to market to each of these groups because you can practice this free ecommerce way free, and spend hardly any time implementing it. Expand your benefits in your web site sales letter with a link to your order page.It’s unlikely you’ll sell much without a sales letter for each product, class, or service you offer.

Expand yourself even further–Offer yourself as a guest speaker for a teleclass group. This cross-promotion more than doubles results and it’s really easy.

3. You like to write. You may already have a book. You took time to write it and you can market it the same way–write an article. You have already contacted print magazines and even gotten published. Just remember the article submitted to article directories and top web sited is your 24/7 sales force because it points to the benefits of your information, and it shows you as the savvy expert. So don’t be married to the idea you must be paid for it.

Articles are FREE advertising, FREE publicity, and are seven times as powerful as ads because each time you submit an article you join the many marketing masters using viral promotion. In time, you’ll be connected to thousands, even hundred of thousands of other web sites with a link back to your site.

To expand this marketing and reach 1000 to 500,000 people daily, revise your print articles for the internet. Make them 400-800 words with a short introduction and conclusion, make them in tip or how-to format, and make them unique and useful. Contact a book or writing coach to help you write articles web sites will love.

Remember you are already successful. You have had many past wins. Success is part of your life. Think about one or two past successes. What led to them? What natural inclinations led to them? Maybe it was a particular creative idea you had, you read a book that triggered you to act, or you took a teleclass or seminar that gave you a how to move on. Maybe you hired a coach or got inspiration from a trusted friend or mentor. Or, persistence led you there.

Beware of just going through the motions with your business. When you do, you leak vitality and don’t allow room for new ideas to come. These and other struggles keep you from accomplishing your heart’s desire. Adjust and fine-tune your approach. Yet, stay in the natural flow and trust the best will come to you because you are using your natural abilities.

Of course you may worry about a learning curve, but if you open your mind to experiencing a much expanded success through the internet, you’ll scratch your head and wonder, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”

What I want for you is to not only make 1/2 or more of your monthly income selling yourself and products online, but to make a positive difference to your audience. Share your gifts–that’s what natural marketing is.

Judy Cullins ©2006 All Rights Reserved

Coach Judy Cullins works with small business people who want to make a difference in people’s lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income with a book. Author of 11 eBooks including Write your eBook or Other Short Book Fast, she offers 2 free monthly ezines, “The BookCoach Says” and “Business Tip of the Month,” at http://www.bookcoaching.com and over 215 free articles. Judy@bookcoaching.com. Questions and Orders: 866/200-9743

Do you continue to create products/programs/services that you think your prospects need - offerings that seem the most logical to you that will help your prospects do, be or have better - but you can’t seem to sell many - or any?

There are two things you need to remember when creating any offering for your niche:

1. People buy what they want, not necessarily what they need.

2. People buy based on emotion, not necessarily on logic.

And if you’re a fan of The Apprentice, you’ll see time and time again that the team that wins is the one who nails both emotion and desire in their marketing message!

There are several ways to get this information and use it to help you create an offering that will solve your prospect’s problems and make a profit for you at the same time.

The best way is to do your research. Make sure you conduct market research of your niche on at least a quarterly basis. You want this to be an ongoing part of your marketing campaign so you can keep up with the changing desires of your target market and continue to offer them what they want (not what you think they need).

Here are some ways to do this:

1. Simple: Ask them! Ask your prospects a simple, open-ended question, like “What’s your biggest challenge with building your business online?” or “What’s the one thing you’d like to learn more about that relates to balancing your work and family life?” Tailor the question to your niche and use the information you receive to help spark ideas for new products and services.

You can put this question to your target market a number of ways: as an autoresponder when they sign up for your freebie offering, periodically in your ezine, ask them on your teleclass and have them email you their response, or ask them on discussion boards and blogs in your niche.

2. Almost as Simple: Do a simple survey that asks 1-10 questions using a survey tool like Zoomerang or Survey Monkey (see Alicia Recommends below for more). This allows you to ask more specific questions to elicit more specific responses. Doing a survey like this really helps you to NOT waste your time creating offerings your target market simply doesn’t want. (For example, in my latest survey, I’m discovering that no one really wants more information about “defining your niche.” Now I know not to focus more energy in that area. Cool, huh?)

3. Advanced: Set up an Ask Database campaign (www.AskDatabase.com). This tool helps you ask your niche what they want in a sophisticated and professional-looking way. It does a few other things besides just asking the questions, so if you have the budget, it might be worth looking into. (And if you use this system, would you email me and let me know how it’s going? I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s part of my plan going forward.)

One last tip: To entice people to share their thoughts with you, offer them a free gift for answering your question or taking your survey. It’s also a nice way to say thank you for their time.

The information you glean from implementing this strategy (especially over time as your list grows) is priceless! Try it for yourself and see if you don’t agree…

Copyright 2005 Alicia Forest

Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach, & Founder of http://www.ClientAbundance.com, teaches coaches, consultants, online entrepreneurs, and solo professionals to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve.

For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

Many people think that having a website is enough to succeed in the online market. On the contrary, to be successful in any online business or in any enterprise for that matter, good management skills and the right marketing strategies are required.

Managing a website and turning it to an instant cash cow is possible but one must have the right online tools and an attractive website that is hospitable to users and can be found by search engines. To earn online, you also need hard work, patience and commitment to building a good site.

But even with the best intentions and the best resources, one must still face the fact that there are over millions of online businesses battling for profits. Stacked against these odds, how can one website get ahead?

The solution: get your website optimized. That means getting your website on the first page of a search result. A website placed within the first two pages of the search results of a relevant keyword has more chances of getting viewed, and in turn higher potential of selling products and services.

Search engine optimization (SEO) companies are professionals who do more than create and manage websites. They make sure that a website is included in the top page of the search results of significant keyword terms. SEO covers important aspects like design, content, and programming code, plus link building. More than just online traffic, SEO can actually help any website generate actual income.

The real estate industry is a competitive one, and as a player in that market, you’ve got to play every edge that you can find. You’ve got your listings on MLS, submitted your ads to the newspaper classifieds, bought space in local realty For Sale magazines and even set up your own website. Now you need to maximize your exposure by getting the word out about the service that you offer. Listing your real estate related web site with a real estate directory is an excellent way to help drive targeted traffic to your website.

What’s ‘targeted traffic’?
Targeted traffic is what you want to make it worth while having a web site. The prettiest web site in the world is only useful if it provides leads for your sales. In order to do that, you need to attract traffic - and not just any traffic. You want web site visitors that are looking for what you’re selling - whether it’s homes, inspections or contractor services.

How to Get Targeted Traffic
You COULD just submit your web site to the search engines… and watch your listing get lost in the thousands of realtor, real estate, house for sale, sell houses and other realty-related web sites. Most web experts agree that in order to benefit from search engine traffic, your listing needs to appear in the first three pages of the search engine results.

There are ways to boost the flow of targeted traffic to your web site - and on the World Wide Web, increased traffic means increased sales. A real estate directory can help boost your real estate sales in a number of ways.

Why List Your Realty Site with a Real Estate Directory?
On the web, fewer means more. When you rely on Google and Yahoo! and MSN searches for your traffic, you’re a tiny minnow in the ocean. There are literally thousands of other real estate sites competing for a spot in those first three pages. Want to be a big fish in a little pond?

A listing on the right real estate directory will put you where your potential customers and clients will see you - on a site that’s designed for people who are looking for information about what you sell. Suppose you buy foreclosed homes in California. Because a real estate directory categorizes its listings, your potential clients don’t have to wade through three pages of listings for real estate agents and home mortgage companies to find your listing.

Because the real estate directory has links to and from many web sites that are relevant to real estate, it’s far more likely to rank higher in the page results than any single-realtor site. When you submit your web site to a real estate directory, you’re leveraging the popularity and page ranking of the directory to bring traffic to your web site.

How a real estate directory boosts YOUR web site’s ranking
But you’re also helping to boost the position of your own web site in the rankings. Because many search engines count the links to your web site to establish the popularity of your web site, every link from an outside site gives yours a little boost. Even more importantly, when a web site that Google recognizes as an authority links to your site, you get an extra little bump up in the listings.

Reciprocal links, search engine submissions and submissions to directories are all important pieces of your web presence and marketing. By paying close attention to them all, you’ll find that your web site pays off in increased sales.

Puripong Koomsin is the owner of Real Estate Directory - Estateround.com , a real estate directory that focuses on serving you. Estateround.com is one of the fastest growing real estate sites on the internet. For more information about how to get a featured listing on a real estate directory with a Google PR4 ranking, visit http://www.estateround.com.

Contact me at webmaster@estateround.com