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.

I just came across an eye-opening 4-minute 22-second YouTube video titled “Social Media Revolution” and thought you’d enjoy watching it, too.

We’re halfway through my network marketing company’s annual International Convention, and a lot of the presentations so far have mentioned (if not stressed) social media and how to use them for promoting yourself and building your business. Even more extraordinary is how much the Generation Y population of my fellow associates has grown in recent years. It seems as if a quarter of the people in attendance are in their twenties.

If you’re not using social media, you’re missing out on perhaps the largest paradigm shift (yes, I’ll use that term) since the establishment of the Internet, itself. This is what I teach the people I bring into this business, and it will be featured widely in my book on network marketing.

If you haven’t already connected with me, here are some links to follow, as appropriate:

• Facebook—http://www.facebook.com/carl.eric.johnson or http://profile.to/carleric—I use Facebook primarily to (re)connect with friends and family and to keep everyone apprised of what’s going on in my life.
• LinkedIn—http://www.linkedin.com/in/carleric—On LinkedIn I focus primarily on my DB2 experience and that I am in the market for full-time DB2 work (either contract or salaried).
• Twitter—http://twitter.com/carleric—I tweet maybe once a day (and have it set to update my Facebook profile), but I use Twitter primarily to subscribe to others’ tweets, especially if they have anything to do with network marketing, home-based businesses, training, and the like.

You may find me on other sites as well, but these three are the ones I use daily.

This discussion fits with a great acronym I learned a few years back:

TEAM—Together Everyone Achieves More

Social networking is a great way to expand your teams. So start building your own teams with social media.

Ann Sieg’s classic e-book, The Renegade Network Marketer, is a must-read for any network marketer interested in using the Internet and social media to promote his or her business. So if you are not a network marketer, or if you are a network marketer but only work your local market, you can stop reading here.

Now, for those of you still reading (and I hope there are a lot of you), I have great news at the end of this post. Meanwhile, allow me to share with you my own experience of Ann Sieg’s seminal e-book.

I learned about The Renegade Network Marketer when someone shared a link with me. It sounded intriguing, filled with information that was sure to help me in my business, but I balked at the $67 price tag. “Sixty-seven dollars for an e-book? I’ll pass!” Still, I kept encountering marketing material for The Renegade Network Marketer and remained intrigued.

Ultimately I broke down and bought my own copy for $67. “I’ve squandered far more on products over the years,” I thought to myself. “I can afford to lose $67.” Not the most positive attitude, I’ll admit.

When I started reading Ann’s words, though, I was hooked. I started implementing some of her strategies, and my business began taking off. A recurring thought as I continued reading was, “This would have been a great deal at twice the price!”

Now here’s the good news. For four days and four days only, Ann is discounting her book by 50%. If you use the link below, you’ll spend only $33.50 instead of $67, and you’ll get some valuable (invaluable, really) bonuses to boot. Do it now!

http://carleric.therenegadenetworkmarketer.com/halfoff/

This offer is good through Thursday, July 23, 2009, only. So get your own copy, and then tell all of your friends to get theirs. Your network marketing businesses will thank you.

P.S. If you’re reading this after the deadline, do not despair. You can still get The Renegade Network Marketer at its regular price of $67, which, in my opinion, is still a significant bargain. Here’s the link to use after July 23:

http://carleric.therenegadenetworkmarketer.com/