Godin is quick to point out that although the “Web” is one of the more alluring tools for sales and marketing professionals to seek prospects, it is completely different than the “old world” environment they are used to working.

Several of the points he makes in this short video interview include:

• Unlike former offline advertising practices, people on the Internet can simply ignore the ads;
• The “Web” mandates the use of permission marketing approaches;
• Once you have an audience, they can publicize for you through various forms of social media; &
• Online marketing and sales pros need to focus on Web 2.0 tools, especially blogs and blogging.

Rather than try and cover all the points Seth Godin covers in the video, just give it a quick watch below and get the insight firsthand …..

Remember, the Internet is a completely different environment and different approaches to sales and marketing are required to succeed in the modern Web 2.0 world ….

How’s that for a headline?

Can you believe it?

Well it’s absolutely true.  Now don’t fret, this time it has nothing to do with any of my blogs, especially this one but there are continuing issues with WordPress.com.

A friend of mine had been maintaining her MLM/network marketing related blog on WordPress.com.  Though focused on MLM and network marketing, she apparently had the same perception I did when I maintained my original blog there; keep the blog content value-based with minimal promotion and outbound links.

It seems, however, she also crossed that vague line in the Terms of Service (TOS) of WordPress.com and …. Well watch the video and find out!

Forewarned is Forearmed!

I don’t want to be a NAG but read this and pay ATTENTION!!!!

If you want to maintain a blog for any sort of marketing purpose and intend to do any promotion and advertisement of MLM, network marketing, affiliate programs, etc.

Take the time to learn how to establish a self-hosted blog (and yes the WordPress platform is great for that; so long as it’s self-hosted).  PERIOD!

If you still wonder why, read the following two posts (you can access the links on this blog’s “Home” page under the “Blogs and Blogging” section) and avoid issues with WordPress.com:

1. Choosing a Free versus Self-hosted WordPress Blog
2. 10 Videos to Establish a Self-hosted WordPress Blog

You’ll be glad you did!

If you need further help beyond those posts (or other available online resources) click on the “Contact” link at the top of the page, complete the requested information and enter a brief message asking for WordPress assistance.

The rates are reasonable, since the next several people to do so will be mentored for “FREE“.

One of the major struggles many network marketing business owners encounter with Internet marketing relates to the lack of technical skill to create “traditional” websites. This is one of the main reasons why Internet marketing advocates often develop blogs as the medium of choice when delivering their message via the Internet. Learning blog basics along with more of the nuances of blogs and blogging is a key factor in driving traffic to those sites.

Blogs are designed to allow the author, who in this case is a network marketing business owner, to simply and frequently enter fresh material with the most recent entry being added to the top of the article list. Since blogs often allow your visitors to leave comments, it makes the site a dynamic environment, more socially interactive and establishes a sense of trust with the readers. Another reason why network marketers loves blogs; search engines love blogs! As a matter of fact, there seems to be a special relationship between blogs and Google; the king of the search engine realm.

Most blog platforms offer content editors with a “WYSIWYG” (meaning “what you see is what you get”) mode that allows the author to enter text, images, video, URL links, etc. via an interface structured like most word processors. Even the most technically challenged business owner can easily work with the various editing and site management controls to keep the valuable messages flowing to their customers and followers.

Once you are convinced that blogs and blogging is an option you want to pursue for delivering your message to the masses, you have to know where and how to set-up a blog. There are two different platform types that can be used to set-up your blog:

• Externally hosted blogs where you can use websites such as Blogger.com (free), WordPress.com (free to low-cost), TypePad (low to moderate cost), SquareSpace (low to moderate cost);
• Self hosted blogs where you use the “stand-alone” version of WordPress (downloaded from WordPress.org) and then uploaded to your web host with your own domain name.

The externally hosted options are by far the easiest to get up and running as well as maintain but have a distinct disadvantage for a business owner. Since a blog is actually a subset of external host’s overall website, you must abide by their rules and terms. If you violate the terms, the site owner reserves the right to shut-down your blog with little notice. If that happens, it could cost you sales or customers if the problem takes to long to work-out or worse yet, never gets resolved.

In the case of a self-hosted blog site, you not only control the content but also the domain, accordingly there is almost no chance of your site being shutdown (unless of course you are doing something illegal).

Admittedly, the set-up is more complex but there are some fantastic resources available to help you get the site up and running. One of those resources is a series of ten how-to videos prepared by two well-known and highly-respected professional bloggers, Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick.

Access to the videos can be obtained by clicking on the following link “becomeablogger.com“, providing your name and email to get instant video access (the ten videos are free), future access to their newsletter, blog and a free blogging report “Roadmap to Become a Blogger”.

The videos use step-by-step instructions covering everything you’ll need to complete to get your own WordPress blog running on a web host of your choosing with your very own domain name (web address).

And yes, the first ten videos are indeed free, so just click on the following link to check out the videos, blog and get a copy of the e-book.  Become A Blogger!

I believe you will be happy you did!