As the internet becomes flooded with entrepreneurs and home based business owners I have a few words of caution that I would like to express. A lot of the training content on my site is an explanation of what to do; but this post is to inform you as to what not to do.

1. The change from employee to entrepreneur was designed to be a transition and not a leap of faith. In our current economic crisis a lot of people who are losing their jobs are turning to network marketing to replace their income. BAD IDEA. Despite the many rags to riches stories you may have heard I can virtually promise failure if you attempt this. Secure a steady income before starting your part-time business! Become an entreprenuer to supplement your existing income and if it goes well… then continue the transition.

2. Marketing is not sales. You are a home based business owner of some sort and have a product/service/opportunity to share with people. Marketing as a professional includes doing some research, discovering your target market, setting a budget & schedule, building a network (making a list), and establishing a relationship of credibility with your network. There is a place for sales but only after marketing is done. Sales without marketing is called SPAM. Done online spam will ruin your credibility, d spamming those you meet will ruin your friendships.

3. Don’t waste all your time. Your greatest investment of time when starting out will be in education. If you think adding hundreds of friends on facebook is going to build your MLM you are clearly uneducated. Find the experts and learn from them.

Jacob S Paulsen

I had a recent request on my tutorial video page to record a tutorial about using “Tell A Friend” forms to further syndicate web pages and blog posts.

Before you watch my video about how to utilize the Cforms plugin to create a “tell a friend” form I want to quickly review the true application and purpose.

In our modern marketing world the tell a friend tactic is growing less and less common. Social news and social bookmarking sites like Digg and Delicious are making it easier to share web pages, blogs, etc with your online network. You need only share a link on your Facebook profile and all of your friends are exposed to it instantly. If any of them comment on it then all of their friends also become exposed to it. This is what we refer to as “viral.” How much more powerful is that type of syndication than trying to manually enter your friends email address and name so they can get an email telling them about this page?

There are still some simple applications for the tell a friend forms but let me emphasize that you would be much better off to put a “Digg” button, or a share on Facebook/Twitter link at the end of your blog post than to request that your readers manually fill out a form with the names and email addresses of a few friends. WordPress offers several great plugins for offering simple syndication of your posts by your readers. My favorites include the “Social bookmarking” plugin and the “Digg Digg” plugin.

That all having been said here is the 10 minute or less tutorial video about utilizing the “Tell A Friend” form and the mentioned plugins.

I get a lot of phone calls from online friends who need assistance in setting up their websites and their social media profiles to begin working in internet marketing and social networking. Every once in awhile I think to myself that I should write a 2 page guide to “Online Domination Setup” which I could just email to these people who call me.

Today is that day. If you already have a website with 1000 plus visitors per week and more than 3000 twitter followers I would suggest you stop reading now and seek higher level training. For those of you who are still beginners here is what you need to know in less than two pages. To prove it I have provided a downloadable PDF file at the end of this post.

Online Marketing Umbrella Concepts:

First, you basically separate all of your online work and websites into these 3 categories:

1. Social Media – This is where you meet people and create relationships with them… NOTHING MORE.
2. Personal Website – This is where people you meet who want to learn more about you will come to do so. Your personal site needs to be in the form of a blog and it needs to contain informational, inspirational, and entertaining content. If best find a specific niche where with you can help your readers. The “niche” of this website is “Becoming More, Inspiration & Resources for Entrepreneurs.”
3. Sales Pages. This is where you will sell your products and opportunities to those who visited your personal site and wanted to know what you do for a living and to those who searched you out in search engines, etc.

Second, You will need to create a HUGE following in social media in order to really make a difference. This will require…

1. Sincerity. You will have to really care about the people you meet and have their best interests at heart
2. Marketing Ethics. Don’t SPAM people. (IE: marketing without permission or relationship)
3. Time. This will not happen over night. Do a little everyday over a long period of time and results will come.

TO DOs of Getting Started…

1. Get Your Own Website Started:
   1. Get a hosting account at either Godaddy or hostmonster. If you choose Godaddy get the deluxe hosting or higher. Buy the domain www.yourname.com as this will be the most important real estate you own in the virtual world. This one hosting account will allow you to host dozens of different websites down the road and it is necessary to get one eventually… why not now.
   2. Install WordPress onto the main directory of your website. This can be done painlessly with either Godaddy or Hostmonster. There are tons of tutorial videos on Youtube and I also have some on the “Tutorials” page of my site. Watch these same tutorials to help you set up your WordPress site with the best themes, plugins, etc.
   3. Decide what your online niche is going to be. Are you the Mountain Biking Kenyan who owns his own home business? Sorry, that’s already taken…
   4. Create content for your site and remember content should generally be either informative/educational, personal, or entertaining.
   5. Find a way to monetize your site by putting relevant ads onto your page from a affiliate group such as Linkshare or CommissionJunction If you already have your own products/opportunity to market put ads up for it or perhaps its own page.
2. Create a strong presence in Social Media. Focus on YouTube.com, Facebook, and Twitter but also any other network that is specific to your own niche or market. Example: if you live in Brazil you are likely to also focus on Orkut.comwhich is the most popular Brazilian social media site. Here are some tips:
   1. Create profiles that are both personal and professional in nature. You don’t want people to think you are a robot, but you don’t want them to think you are an amateur either.
   2. Don’t go on an adding friend frenzy. Search out and connect with the type of people that share your interests or make up your target market
   3. Don’t spread yourself to thin. If you are going to have a presence then have a real active presence.
   4. Don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t ask anyone to spend time looking at or commenting on your content unless you are willing and actively doing the same for them.
   5. Search out the best tools that allow you to syndicate content and increase your followers without spending tons of money. In my experience the paid tools are barely any better than the free ones and usually come with a sales pitch of their own.
3. Continue Your Education… by subscribing to blogs and sites to people who can help you grow. The easiest way to do this is by using an RSS reader like Google Reader. Go to http://reader.google.com and you will figure out without too much effort how to get started subscribing to other people’s sites. You will also find that most sites (like mine) have a subscribe option somewhere on the page. (top right). Your google reader will let you know every time someone who’s site you follow writes a new article/post and you will be able to keep up to date with the latest content without having to visit everyone’s site everyday.

Online Marketing Resources:

• PixelPipe.com Picture Syndication
• Ping.fm Status Update, Micro-Blogging Syndication
• TubeMogul.com Video Syndication
• TweetLater.com Schedule Tweets and Auto-Follow/Auto-UnFollow + Auto DMs
• Reader.google.com Best RSS reader for subscribing to other people’s blogs.
• Feedburner.com Program owned by Google that will help you give people to option of subscribing to your site via email.

Online Marketing Explanations:

• WordPress: WordPress is the BEST program to use to host your website, blog, or both. This is true for three basic reasons.
  • The way it interacts with the Search Engines is PERFECT!!!
  • The versatility of how it will perform or look is second to none
  • The ability for non geeky folk to be able to use it and not screw anything up is amazing
• Youtube, Facebook, & Twitter are the most important simply because they are the most popular. I would encourage you to find other social networks specific to your hobbies, passions, and specific product/opportunity.
• In setting up your sales pages as explained above you will use your same hosting account. Just buy a new domain, host it in a sub-directory (folder) and install WordPress.

Favorite WordPress Plugins: (See my tutorial videos on the “Tutorials” page for descriptions and instructions.

• All In One SEO
• Google XML Sitemap
• Google Analytics for WordPress
• Cforms
• Social Media Page

Download this Page in PDF Form.

What are my Top 10? Top 10 of what? Everything:

Top 10 Most Important Habits of Success

1. Regular Planning/Goal Setting Sessions
2. Daily Exercise
3. Early to Bed, Early to Rise
4. Education Driven, Studious
5. Absolute Integrity
6. Belief in and worship of a higher being
7. Humility
8. Clock Builder, not Time Teller
9. Strong Support Team At Home (AKA Family)
10. Charity

Top 10 Personal Development/Business books:

1. 7 Habits
2. 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
3. Atlas Shrugged
4. Rich Dad Poor Dad
5. Raving Fans
6. The Speed of Trust
7. Good to Great
8. Who Took my Money?
9. Think and Grow Rich
10. The E-Myth Revisited

Top 10 Most Inspirational Movies

1. Rudy
2. Pistol Pete
3. Without Limits
4. Remember the Titans
5. Pursuit of Happyness
6. The Miracle
7. The Legend of Bagger Vance
8. The Truman Show
9. Cinderella Man
10. Forest Gump
11. October Sky

Top 10 Other Favorite Books

1. Porter Rockwell
2. 1776
3. All Harry Potter Books
4. The Count of Monte Cristo
5. The Cronicles of Narnia
6. Hmm…. I guess all I read are the business books

Top 10 Favorite Social Media Tools

1. Ping.fm
2. PixelPipe
3. Tweetlater
4. Twitter Karma
5. My Android cell phone
6. WordPress
7. Email Marketer
8. Commission Junction
9. Google Analytics
10. Tube Mogul

Top 10 Most often used programs on my computer

1. Firefox
2. Skype
3. Camtasia
4. Filezilla
5. Itunes
6. Format Factory
7. Microsoft Office (of course)
8. Quickbooks
9. Gmote
10. Google Desktop

Top 10 Favorite Web Sites

1. Goodreads
2. Twitter
3. Facebook
4. AndroidSocialMedia
5. Start Geocaching
6. WebcastRooms
7. BuddyRunner
8. Youtube
9. My Website
10. Orkut

Getting Personal…

Top 10 things you didn’t know about me (maybe)

1. I’m an avid runner
2. I’m obsessed with guns and wish I worked for the secret service
3. I’m a certified NRA instructor and teach Utah CCW Classes
4. I’m deaf in one ear
5. I read/write/speak Portuguese fluently
6. I live in Utah right now but want to move to Colorado ASAP
7. I don’t really follow any sports at all
8. I think that men without a gun and a dog are not really men.
9. I currently have ownership in 4 business that are not my MLM business
10. I’m Mormon

Top 10 Most Favorite Things (In case you hadn’t figured them out by now)

1. My Cell Phone
2. Porter Rockwell
3. GeoCaching
4. Action Flicks
5. Guns, Security, and related things
6. AudioBooks
7. Dogs
8. US History
9. Eating
10. Making Money

I am continuing my series of tutorial videos with these two tutorials about WordPress plugins. The first video goes over three CRUCIAL plugins that all wordpress sites should be using and the second video covers the cforms plugin which I have found to be the best for creating forms on your site. After you watch these videos (or don’t) please fill out the form below to tell me what other types of tutorials you would like to see for wordpress or any other social media site, etc.

What else would you like to learn about internet marketing or social media? Tell me below:

This morning I enjoyed an engaging conversation with fellow internet marketer Andrew James, who among other things is preparing for a 1000 mile bike ride. He knows that I’m preparing for a 1/2 marathon (weak in comparison). Our conversation led me to draw some conclusions about these passions that we enjoy.

Everyone I look up to is passionate. We don’t usually share the same passions but the point is that we have them. Passions I am arguing draw people toward you, and expand greatly your personal network. It doesn’t matter if you are passionate about cooking, running, fashion, harry potter, or firearms the point is that you are not alone in these passions. There are HUGE communities of people out there who share your likes and dislikes.

If your likes and dislike are just that…. simple likes than you are unlikely to form new friendships or seek out others who share your likes. If however you have strong likes that become passions you are likely to find others and inspire them to be passionate also. This is the first key: Your own Passions will drive you to find other like-passionate people.

The second key: Being passionate makes you unique and attractive. If you are truly to become “attractive” as we use the term in marketing then you must become unique and appealing. Being passionate is the first key to being unique. I would challenge you to find someone else in this world that shares all of my passions. (If such a person exists please contact me). Being passionate will make you unique and this in turn makes you more attractive than the average Joe.

Now assuming that you understand the importance of being passionate about something; or even better several things let me outline some tips on how to live your life of passion, personal development, and marketing!

1. Search our passions that are healthy and doable. Do not decide you are passionate about big game hunting if you live in Miami, FL. Make sure your passions will be healthy to your lifestyle and that of your family.
2. After deciding on a passion, identify communities both local and online that share your passion. Network with them. Learn the jargon, attend events, and create friendships.
3. Set BIG goals within your passion. If you like to read novels, set a goal to read a new novel every week for 3 months. If you like to cook, set a goal to arrange a charity dinner for homeless people. Do something BIG that lies within your passion.
4. Announce your goals to EVERYONE around you. This will make you more accountable to your goal and it will continue to attract more people to you; both those who do and don’t share your passion. Recruit others to work toward the same goal with you.
5. Now, brainstorm to discover way to monetize your passion. I’m not suggesting that you give up your current job/business to cook/read/run full time. I’m suggesting that there may be ways to utilize your passion and your goals to further build your business or create perhaps a side income.

If you can do this your life will be enhanced and your bank account will thank you. This process is in line with developing a better you, growing your business, and most important creating a close-knit family unity.

As a last note allow me to tell you about some of my passions that perhaps you, my readers might share.

I love running, spelunking, geocaching, American history (specifically anything related to our founding fathers & the revolutionary war), firearms and 2nd amendment rights, dogs, listening to audiobooks, cell phones (specifically the android platform), and of course my AWESOME family!

What are you passionate about?

Since releasing my new ebook, “Fast Start, MLM Lessons Without Any Name Calling” people have been going CRAZY to get their hands on it. I’m now making it available for free. Why would I do this? Two simple reasons.

1. I’m looking to expand my influence online and would like to do this by exposing more people to my website and twitter profile
2. I truly believe that if everyone had this ebook our industry would not suffer such a poor reputation.

What do you have to do to get the E-book for free?

Step 1: retweet this EXACT message on Twitter. Simply copy and paste the text below and post it to your Twitter account. If you don‘t have a Twitter account, you‘ll need to get one for free here: http://www.twitter.com

RT @jacobspaulsen is giving away FREE copies of his MLM Lessons ebook, go here to learn how to get a free copy: http://www.budurl.com/jspmlm

Step 2: Follow me on Twitter. You can follow me by visiting the link below and clicking on the “follow”

button below my picture: http://www.twitter.com/jacobspaulsen

That‘s it! As soon as you complete both of these steps, we will automatically send you your free “Fast Start, MLM Lessons Without Any Name Calling” eBook via a Twitter direct message, so please check your “direct messages” inbox on Twitter for the download link, after you‘ve followed the 2 easy steps above.

Need better instructions? Watch this video

Another Tutorial Video in my Social Media Video Series

I met up on the phone with a good friend from Arizona to help them set up and use Flickr. I’m still amazed that I was able to get this one done in less than 10 minutes! To see other tutorial videos check out my youtube channel or click on the tutorials page above!

Social Media Tutorial Videos Continued

In the series of video tutorials I have been preparing I’ve received a lot of requests to do some more specific WordPress tutorial videos. WordPress has become the most popular website/blog tool online today and while most people are super tech savy the wordpress platform allows for anyone to create a great website with powerful content.

Today I have preapred a tutorial video about creating a new post in wordpress. To see my other tutorial videos visit my youtube channel or check out my tutorials page above.

Recently I teamed up with Business partner Andrew James to create a set of tutorial videos on how to purchase a domain, set up a hosting account, install wordpress, and setup your own site/blog. WordPress has proven itself to be the most powerful online tool in creating a fast, user-friendly, website or blog that gets quick results with the search engines.

Many people may think that wordpress is only a good platform for blogging but I have also found it ideal for maintaining a great website. The platform is easy enough for anyone to use but versatile enough to accomplish anything. With millions of people out there designing themes (templates) and plugins/widgets for the wordpress program there is absolutely no reason why you wouldn’t use this program for your website or blog.

The whole idea of hosting, php, and mysql can really give people a technology headache and so this playlist of videos is designed to walk you through it step by step. The links below will give you a discount to HostMonster.com or Godaddy.com depending on where you choose to set up your hosting account. In our tutorial we used HostMonster.

I plan on doing more detailed tutorials later on about different wordpress things but for now this will get people rolling.

This is a compilation of 7 different videos which run a total of 55 minutes

Here are a list of sites that I have created for myself or others using the wordpress platform. (Just to give you an idea of what you can do.)

www.jacobspaulsen.com

www.jpsquaredinc.com

www.carryutah.com

www.webcastrooms.com

www.androidsocialmedia.com

www.vaidiamante.com