This week on CWAHM we’re discussing Social Media. Please feel free to post comments, tips, and thoughts below!

(Tomorrow on CWAHM: A How-to Guide for Some of MY Favorite Social Networking Tools!)

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Moms in Direct Sales and Social Media

For work at home moms in direct sales who want to market online, social media can make a big difference.

When you start your marketing plan, you’ll see that there are many options for social networking. I’ve found one of the easiest ways to start is to create accounts on a few of the systems and test them out to see which you like best.

I’d like to share some tips on social media networking:

1. Use all of the profile fields provided. I’ve found many connections by letting others know what authors I like, what my hobbies are and what television shows I tend to watch. Some sites allow you to put web links and blog link in your profile. Make sure you fill every field out. This lets everyone know as much as possible about you.

2. Use your real name. Often I see people use some type of business name as their user name. This doesn’t allow for people to know you. When I get requests saying “bookstore wants to be your friend” I often reject them. I want to know people, not companies.

3. Respond to those who talk to you or send you messages. These networks are called “social” networks for a reason. Be social. Read More→

It’s a newsletter publishers nightmare–being accused of sending spam and then blocked from reaching their subscribers.

One of the most difficult things to deal with is being accused of spamming. It can cause all sorts of frustrations.

If you use a newsletter script hosted on your own website it can result in your IP being blacklisted and then you’ll have trouble getting your regular business email delivered (not just your newsletter).

If you use a third party hosting service, your domain email won’t get blacklisted, but your newsletters won’t reach your subscribers.

You don’t want either of these things to happen!

How can you avoid it? Some people will click the “Spam” reporting button instead of unsubscribing, no matter how easy you make it, and then you’ll need to deal with getting de-listed, but there are some ways to protect yourself from being accused of spamming.

1) Don’t Send Spam

This sounds obvious, I know, but many small businesses don’t realize exactly what spam is. Spam isn’t just the ads you get for stocks, medicines, or winning international lotteries. It’s any unsolicited commercial email. Unsolicited means you sent it to someone who didn’t specifically request it. Read More→