While there are a number important facets to focus on when running a top tier direct sales home business, nothing is quite as important as your marketing and advertising. Without an effective marketing campaign, you have no way of letting people know about your business. You cannot expect people to just come to your site out of nowhere and review your business.

In addition to marketing, it is also important you understand how much advertising is needed to bring in high quality traffic. Posting in a forum here and there is not going to get the job done. If you truly want to generate traffic and create sales of your product, then you have to be willing to spend at least two to three hours a day specifically on marketing and promotion of your business.

So you may be wondering how exactly can you go about promoting your business? There are a number of different methods to choose from. The first thing you want to decide on is whether you want to approach paid advertising methods or free advertising methods. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but it is up to you to determine what works best for your top tier direct sales business dependent on what kind of budget you can allocate towards advertising after you have bought into a business.

As for paid advertising, you will find your business getting results much quicker as you get instant exposure to alot of people. Purchasing a text link in the search engines puts your link in front of thousands of people right away. The downside is you do not get any personal connection with your prospects through a simple text link. You have to rely solely on your ad and hope that it captures the attention of internet surfers looking for a business.

Free advertising will not get you instant exposure. Many times people have to see something three or four times before they even acknowledge it and take action to get more information on it. If you post in forums, people are going to see just another post along with hundreds of others from other people. The upside is you get the opportunity to display your expertise on the topic, connect with people and really gain the respect and trust from your prospects before they even join you in a business.

Although it may take some time, free advertising presents a number of benefits you will not find with any kind of paid advertising. Not to mention you do not have to spend a penny to generate traffic and create sales.

There is nothing wrong with using multiple methods as long as you have the time to actually promote using each method properly. You will want to focus on one method until you have mastered it and then add another to your marketing campaign. The more marketing you have going on, the better chance you have of prospects recognizing you and your top tier direct sales business. Just know that it may take some time, and even trial and error, to discover what works best for you and your business.

Westly Lager is a success mentor and coach helping teach people how to work online. With Westly’s experience and expertise you can’t go wrong. See how Westly can help you today by visiting Cash Gifting also checkout Earn Money Online for more tips.

ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT to reserve our lifetime ads for 50% OFF on the Party Plan Yellow Pages website.   THIS SPECIAL ENDS TOMORROW, July 31st.

• Find a Consultant Ad – $25
• Business Opportunity Ad – $40
• Shopping Special Ad – $30

You will get 50% off the prices listed above when you enter discount code:  50OFF

Just visit: http://partyplanyellowpages.com/advertising-3/ for more details or email us at success@salesmoms.com

If you missed out on the Party Plan Yellow Pages $10 special we have a second chance for you to save money on lifetime advertising!

Now until July 31, 2010 we are offering all of our lifetime ads for 50% OFF!   

• Find a Consultant Ad – $25
• Business Opportunity Ad – $40
• Shopping Special Ad – $30

You will get 50% off the prices listed above when you enter discount code:  50OFF

Just visit: http://partyplanyellowpages.com/advertising-3/ for more details or email us at success@salesmoms.com

Sales MOMS is wishing all of you a very safe and happy Independence Day. 

Please remember to take some extra time to personally thank our US Military today.  We live in the land of the free and the home of the brave because our service men and women are out there everyday fighting for our freedoms. 

To celebrate the 4th of July Sales MOMS is offering 2 FANTASTIC advertising specials!  But you must act quickly!  Both of these specials will end at midnight on Monday, July 5th!

• Recieve 40% OFF ALL Advertising Orders on the Sales MOMS Network! 
  Simply visit any of our websites in the Sales MOMS Network to place your order and enter discount code:  JULY4 
• Our brand new blog based website Party Plan Yellow Pages (www.partyplanyellowpages.com) will launch in August 2010 but we are giving you the chance to jump in on the action early!  All ads on the Party Plan Yellow Pages website are only $10!   These are lifetime ads so the savings are fantastic!

You cannot combine the 40% off coupon code with the $10 Party Plan Yellow Pages special.

Visit http://partyplanyellowpages.com/2010/07/party-plan-yellow-pages-10-advertising-special/ to take advantage of the $10 lifetime ads.

The 40% off discount code can be used on the following websites:

• http://www.salesmoms.com
• http://www.directsalesparty.com
• http://www.directsalesworks.org
• http://www.buybargainandreview.com
• http://www.hostesspartyguide.com
• http://www.salesmomsnetwork.com

If you have any questions or if you need assistance with anything please email us at success@salesmoms.com.

Whether you are purchasing your first or your fiftieth online ad, or even using free advertising, here a few things to do to prepare for your advertising campaign. Taking these steps ahead of time will help you determine which ads work and which aren’t as successful. These tips can also be applied to other online promotional efforts such as article marketing, forum marketing, or social media marketing. Your time is worth something too, and whether you are spending money or time, you should know if your efforts are paying off.

1 – What is the purpose or goal of your advertising campaign?
A common answer to this question is “to get website traffic” but is that really all you want? Think about what you want your visitors to do once they arrive at your site. Do you want them to make a purchase, join your business opportunity, or sign up for your newsletter? Setting a specific goal focuses your campaign for greater success.

2 – Get your landing page is ready.
Keep your goal in mind when you decide on a landing page for your campaign. If you want newsletter subscribers, don’t send visitors to your home page or your shopping pages. Your ad invites visitors to do something; make it easy for them to do it by designing a landing page that walks them through the process.

In some cases your landing page may be fairly short and simple. If your ad copy is long enough to presell the prospect you may not need additional marketing on the landing page. For example, a solo ad may provide enough information so that a visitor is ready to complete the offer when the arrive. But a banner ad or text link may have just peaked their curiosity enough to get them to visit, and additional marketing may be needed to get them to follow through.

Whether it’s a short or long landing page, make it very clear what you want your visitors to do, and be sure to ask them to do it. Don’t assume that if they see a form they’ll fill it out. Specifically direct them to complete it.

3 – What is your measure of success and how will you know if you’ve achieved it?
Having a specific goal for your campaign makes it easier to track and measure success, but you will likely need to fine tune your definition of success. For example, if your goal is product sales, you can measure success by dollar value, number of units sold, conversion rate (the percentage of visitors that make a purchase), or return on investment.

Your website statistics or analytic program probably provides all the information you need to track your promotions, but if not, you may want to invest in an ad tracking program or service. Or you may be able to use other methods such as sending results to to a special email address or by using a coupon code to identify the campaign.

Establishing your goals, having a well thought out landing page, and tracking results will help you recognize successful campaigns and determine what needs to be changed if you don’t get results.

Linda Stacy manages several online resources for direct sales consultants. Generate your own leads for your direct sales business with a direct sales directory listing.

Over and over again I see both women and men asking how they can advertise for little or no cost. Advertising does not always meanan ad. I advertise constantly but almost never use an ad.

Here are several forms of free advertising:

1. A signature line in outgoing emails. I send and receive emails every single day. While some emails are from my kids or from mom and dad, many emails are from those who might benefit from visiting my website. I never email out an advertisement, but I always put my first and last name and my URL. I do know some folks use a one line advertisement in their signature. I choose not to, but one line is great.

2. When you join an online community, use the profile and introduction board to tell folks who you are. Do not use this space for an advertisement. Use this space to let folks get to know you. I always let folks know I live in Santa Barbara. I can not tell you how many times I’ve gotten emails from others who have told me they have visited Santa Barbara and just loved it. By simply letting others know where I live, I have formed relationships and made sales. I also use this space to list my hobbies. How can someone make a connection with you if they don’t anything about you? I happen to have two dogs. I almost always let folks know I have dogs. This too has started conversations with strangers. We tend to buy from those we know and if we find something in common with someone, we feel like we know them.

3. Start a blog. A blog allows you talk about any topic you want to talk about. I know many people who have both a personal blog and a business blog. I have very often searched the web for something specific and been taken to someone’s blog entry.

4. Post comments on other peoples blogs. Not all blogs allow you to put your URL. I choose to post comments on blogs that allow me to put my URL. One of my favorite blogs to comment on is whatcanimakewithit.com This blog lists one food ingredient and asks you what can you make with that particular ingredient.

5. Article writing. This is one of my favorite forms of marketing. Every person who reads this particular article will see a link to my website. Some will click, some won’t. Of those who click, some will make a purchase, some won’t. If a publisher sees my article and likes it, he/she will use in their ezine, or on their site. This gives my link even more exposure. I wrote an article almost 10 years ago about passwording children. I still occasionally get emails from moms who tell me that my article has helped them. I wrote this article over 10 years ago. That’s an awful lot of free advertising for my sixty minutes of time to write the article. The more you write the less time an article will take. This article you are reading will take about 30 minutes to write. If you invest 30-60 minutes per day and write one article per day, you’ll have 365 articles online in a year’s time.

Try some of these forms of free advertising and watch both your web hits and your sales go up.

Audrey Okaneko has been working from home since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at http://www.scrapping-made-simple.com

Sales MOMS just recently had a few HOT Advertising Spaces become available.  If you have been waiting to advertise your direct sales business or service on a high traffic website for a low cost here is your chance. 

• Sales MOMS Network Blog has one Blog Sponsor Space available for only $20 per month.  Visit http://salesmomsnetwork.com/advertising/ to reserve the space now.
• The Sales MOMS website just had 3 Website Sponsor ad spaces become available on our Directory page.  This is the second most highly trafficked page on the Sales MOMS website.  The cost is only $12 per month or you can save money and reserve it for the entire year for only $110.  Visit http://www.salesmoms.com/Advertising.html for more information.
• The Sales MOMS Network has a Leads waiting to be claimed from the following companies: Premier Designs Jewelry, Azante Jewelry, Signature HomeStyles, My Power Mall and Celebrating Home.  If you are interested in receiving company specific leads for your business please email success@salesmoms.com for more information.  

Social Networks like Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, blog websites, and LinkedIn are great outlets to promote yourself and your business.

Below are tips to help you maximize the FREE marketing you can create through social networking sites.

1. Brand Yourself:  YOU are the most important part of your business.  Successful consultants make a name for themselves.  It is always about the connection you make with people first, then your product.
2. Stories Connect:  The best way to connect and build an online network is to share yourself via stories and videos, this will help your audience feel they know you.
3. Spend Time Efficiently:  Business relationships can be cultivated online, you need to maximize your time on these sites and not detour from your main purpose.

Below are some referenced you can check out to help you navigate the social network sites out there.  All of these sites explain what their purpose is and how to get started.

• www.twitter.com
• www.myspace.com
• www.linkedin.com
• www.blogger.com
• www.youtube.com
• www.facebook.com

While social networking websites are great and provide an additional way to network, never forget the importance of face to face contact.  It is about connecting with people after all, and there is no better way to do that then getting together with someone in person.