Carl Eric Johnson

“What business are we all in?”

I asked this question at the beginning of a presentation I gave recently at one of the networking groups I attend. To my delight, the answer I was looking for came back right away: “Sales.” I asked a follow-up question, “What product are we all selling?” The reply: “Ourselves.”

We are all in the business of selling ourselves. We had just finished going around the circle introducing ourselves and our businesses. There was a Realtor®, a mortgage professional, a solar panel installer, a woman who transfers 8mm movies and VHS cassettes to longer-lasting DVD’s—in short, there was a wonderful variety of professions and services present. In fact, some of us were wearing multiple hats, myself included, as I led with my network marketing business and was now promoting my website design business.

And yet, the one product we all had in common was ourselves. We were all promoting ourselves. After all, why would I go with one real estate professional over another? Simple. I would go with the real estate professional that I had the strongest connection with, the one I had gotten to know best and to trust.

Know, Like, and Trust

Face-to-face networking is a great way to build these trusting relationships. But what if one is building a business nationwide or even worldwide? And even if one’s business is purely local, how does one get found by those who are in need of those services?

The simple answer is to be sure you have a website. In my own website design business, I often explain to people that a good referral for me is someone who has paid for a large ad in the Yellow Pages. Seriously, who reads the Yellow Pages any more? Sure, there’s yellowpages.com, but I think it is much more common simply to use a search engine to find whatever you’re looking for. I know that’s what I do, and I continue to be dismayed by how often I don’t find a website for whatever establishment I happen to be looking for.

Clearly, the world needs my services!

Not All Websites Are Equal

So will any old website do? Can I have my son or daughter slap something up for me? Can I pay a local college student to build my website as part of a class project? The short answer is yes. Of course, you’ll get what you pay for, often either a templated site that looks amateurish or a flashy site with little substance.

What I specialize in is websites that get results. Search engine algorithms are constantly changing, yet certain principles have remained the same since the beginning. It is these principles that I adhere to, as well as my favorite principle, KISS.

It really is quite simple. People type keywords into their search engines, and the search engines serve up websites they think have relevant content. So all you really have to do is determine what keywords people are searching on when they are looking for you or for your type of business, and then be sure that your website uses those keywords throughout. Translation: Have a keyword-rich website filled with relevant text.

Still, it is ultimately a human being that will see the website once it is served up, so making it visually appealing is also key. Personally, I have some graphic design skills, but I prefer to partner with graphic designers for whom that is their passion. Together we make for a winning team. They can design a website to be visually appealing, then I can program it to be found by search engines and make it effective.

Does Everyone Need a Website?

As we went around the circle introducing ourselves, there were a few people who were employees of larger corporations. Certainly their employers have corporate websites, and they may (or may not) have their own personal page on that website. Perhaps this sort of professional does not need a personal website. And yet, if you think about it, they are still in the business of selling themselves. It certainly couldn’t hurt to have their own individual Web presence.

I think we can all agree, however, that a Web presence is absolutely crucial to the success of small business owners or people operating a business out of their homes.

Free or Low-Cost Options

A custom-designed website can cost many thousands of dollars initially, as well as ongoing updates to keep it fresh and current—that is, relevant. Not all small businesses or home-based businesses have that sort of a budget. The good news is that there are companion strategies that cost little or no money, and even those with full-fledged websites should consider the following:

• Social media—The four sites I recommend starting with are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
  • Facebook is great for reconnecting with family and friends, but you can also set up a fan page for your business. You can then market to the people who sign up as your fans. (How best to market to them without being obnoxious will be the subject of another post.)
  • LinkedIn is great for job seekers, but it is also an excellent place to “hang out your shingle” and promote your services.
  • Twitter is useful for sending out blasts (called tweets) to promote your business.
  • YouTube is often overlooked, but savvy marketers recognize the importance of video, and YouTube as a search engine is really second only to Google.
  • MySpace is a fifth option to consider. It used to be the most popular but has since been eclipsed by the others. Nonetheless, it remains an important medium for performing artists.
• Blogs—Short for “Web logs,” blogs (like this one) are online diaries where you can express yourself for your readers’ and subscribers’ enjoyment. If you think about it, what better way could there be for one to brand oneself? Blogs can be either free or low-cost:
  • Free sites, such as wordpress.com and blogger.com, allow you to set up your own page on their site. For instance, I have a free blog at carleric.wordpress.com. I never use it, as I set it up merely to teach myself how to set up a free blog site. Also, some free sites may be filled with ads, and ultimately you are promoting them as much as you are promoting yourself. But you can’t beat the price.
  • A better option is to host a WordPress blog on your own website. This is fully explained at wordpress.org. Most Web hosts (myself included) provide WordPress as an option. If your hosting provider uses cPanel (most do), look for Fantastico; WordPress can be found in there. The cost of this option is simply the cost of Web hosting. If you already have a website, there may be no additional cost, if you install it yourself.

With or without a website, you will definitely want to enhance your Web presence. The Web is clearly the vehicle for 21^st century business.

The Services I Offer

Contact me with your questions about any of the following services. I am glad to help in whatever way I can.

• Custom-designed websites—Prices start at $995, call for a free estimate. If you shop around, you’ll see that most website designers charge at least a couple grand. I wanted an entry-level price point below a thousand dollars, because I want you to have a website and I don’t want cost to be a limiting factor.
• WordPress-powered websites—In addition to being a blogging platform, WordPress can be used as a content management system. New design “themes” are being produced daily, many for free. You’ll have less control over the look and feel of your website while maintaining complete control over its content. Two price points are available:
  • Two-page WordPress site (typically Blog and Home), set up and initialized for $99. I’ll show you how to use the administration pages to maintain your website yourself.
  • Six-page WordPress site, set up and initialized for $495. I have some small-business clients that prefer this option to a $995 custom site.
• Website design services—I charge $80 an hour for à la carte pricing. This may be your most cost-effective option if you already have a website fully designed, along with all of its graphics. The more of your own or someone else’s time you use, the less of my time you’ll have to pay for.

There really is no reason why you can’t have a website of your own. Get started today and watch your business take off.

Today’s post will be short and sweet. I just found this video online, and it highlights some of the less obvious benefits of blogging. It’s only a minute and 37 seconds long, so there’s no reason why you can’t watch it right now. I guarantee you’ll be surprised. As always, let me know what you think.

One of the services I offer is to help people set up their own blog sites. I’m running several specials right now. Call me for details:

• 1 866 964-9025 ext 1 (toll-free)
• +1 978 299-6777 ext 1 (international)

Let me help you get your message out.

In my inbox this morning was a fascinating e-mail from my friend _____ (I’ll keep him anonymous) whom I met at a personal development seminar several years ago. The addressees were blind-copied so he evidently sent it out to his entire network. Here’s the gist of his request:

This last year as everyone knows there has been a lot of change, from stock market to real estate market. Our new president Obama and change has happened. I have made money and lost lots of money over the last few years and am reaching out to my network to find out what they are doing to make money in these changing times. I am interested in finding out the items you have been investing in that you think I will be interested in. Please contact me. Thank you in advance for your knowledge.

It’s not every day that an idea for my blog appears first thing in the morning. Many days go by without me writing in my blog at all. Now, this is my third blog entry in four days.

Here is the answer I sent to _____. It is fitting that I re-post it here for my readership, as many of you wonder just what it is that I spend my days doing. Now you’ll know wherein my passions lie.

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Great to hear from you, _____. Excellent topic for discussion. I’ll be interested in hearing the range of replies you get back. Perhaps you and I can compile them into “Recommendations for Surviving and Thriving in the Current Economic Downturn” … or some such thing.

As for what I’m doing to make money, you’re asking at an opportune time, as income is beginning to pick up in all three areas of pursuit:

1. Web work. I still register domain names and host Web sites, and I’m beginning to do a bit of low-end website design—what I call electronic brochures with a blog. I’m also creating a seminar titled “Blogging and Social Networking for Professionals,” and speaking gigs are beginning to flow in.
2. Network marketing. I joined USANA Health Sciences in October of 2002. Since then I made a series of mistakes, most having to do with diverting my focus to other opportunities that have since come and gone. Then in the middle of last year I came to my senses and realized that USANA was the best network marketing opportunity around, and I am focused entirely on that now. It is also the main reason I am writing my book on network marketing (more below).
3. Direct sales. I joined Global Resorts Network in March of 2008. I did this primarily because of the promise of joining a team that focuses almost entirely on the Internet and so-called “attraction marketing” techniques—techniques that I knew I could also use in my USANA business. Also, I’ll confess that the generous commission structure helped. GRN helps me pay my bills today, while USANA will help me pay my bills on into the future. I consider USANA my pension and retirement plan, such is the power of residual income.

In addition to these three sources of income, there are two more that will come into play in the near future:

1. My book. Demystifying Prosperity™: Why You Should Take a Serious Look at Network Marketing has already opened doors for me, even before it is finished. I’m sure this will add to my credibility with USANA as well as being its own income stream.
2. My prior career history in IT. Years ago I specialized in IBM’s database DB2, and now I find my expertise being sought after once more. What form this will take remains to be seen, though I am open to all possibilities: full-time employment, contract work, or putting on my own seminars with my own course materials.

These are exciting times we live in, _____. Let me know what you are doing these days to pay the bills.

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And now I’ll open this up to the rest of you. What are you doing these days to pay the bills? Is it enough? More importantly, is it fulfilling work? Post your replies and let the discussion begin.

This past Wednesday morning I gave a presentation on “Blogging and Social Networking for Professionals” at SAILS, one of my networking groups. SAILS (Serving and Inspiring Leaders’ Success) meets every Wednesday morning from 7:30 to 9:00 at the Hampton United Methodist Church in Hampton, N.H.

The previous week, Pauline Maloney, one of the group’s facilitators, asked me how much time I thought I’d need for my presentation. Together we decided that a half hour would do, maybe a few more minutes for questions. Well, thirteen people showed up for my presentation (considerably more than have been in attendance in recent weeks), and I started speaking at 8:00. I invited questions and dialogue throughout. The next thing I knew, it was 9:00 and I had barely finished the blogging portion of the talk.

I was thrilled. The energy was great and the questions were even greater. A couple of times I had to back up, as I had made assumptions about certain topics. Years ago I registered the trademark Demystifying Technology® because, frankly, I’m very good at that. This experience humbled me, though, as I had to go back to the very beginning on more than one occasion. (“In the beginning the earth was formless and void . . .”)

As an example, it hadn’t occurred to me that people didn’t know that a blog was nothing more than a specific type of website. Everyone knows that they should be blogging, but the lack of introductory-level information is holding a lot of people back. So as I continued to answer questions and proceed with my presentation, I realized that I needed to turn this into a course of some sort: online, seminar, workshop, or maybe all of the above. Stay tuned. I’ll let everyone know when it’s ready.

Meanwhile, although it’s relatively easy to set up a blog (at least for someone with my technical background), it may not be the highest and best use of everyone’s time. So, another service I’ve started offering is to set up people’s blogs for them. I haven’t yet decided on a pricing structure, and my first clients are sure to get the best deals, so if you’re interested in learning more about this, drop me a line and let me know.

Part Two of my presentation—the part about social networking—has been scheduled for Wednesday March 18^th. If you’re local, do plan on attending. How great if even more than thirteen people show up!

I am extremely impressed with the quality of the training I am receiving from Renegade University. If you are currently in a network marketing company and not having the successes you desire or deserve, then I highly recommend that you enroll in Renegade University. Just click the banner ad to the right. There is some training that you’ll get for free, and the paid membership is only $40 per month—well worth the price.

Currently I am learning about Squidoo and Facebook, not to mention blogging; this blog is the ongoing result. I am also taking a 6-week course called Writing with Pull to learn how to write ad copy that sells. And this is barely the tip of the iceberg, there is so much more training available. I intend to avail myself of every last video.

So sign up by clicking on the banner to the right and watch your own network marketing business explode!