GT Bulmer © Affiliate Power Central

Even with all of its bells and whistles, I think free Social Networking with Twitter is still the easiest of all the Social Media sites. Just like all the others, Twitter keeps adding features, but at its most basic, it is simple and quick to use.

I started my first Twitter account a few years ago to test the social marketing waters and see what all the fuss was about. Since then, I have launched several other accounts for various purposes and while I can’t say that any of them have brought any significant amount of sales, the ones I use to promote my home business opportunities have definitely helped to increase my presence within Internet Marketing circles.

My most prominent Twitter accounts are gtbulmer and mypowersite. Whenever I post new blog posts, or articles to the directories, or start new discussion groups in other free social networking sites, I always tweet the links out to my followers on these two Twitter accounts (and sometimes on other accounts). … Read the rest of this entry

GT Bulmer © Affiliate Power Central

Business Social Networking sites are great for promoting your Internet home business. They offer advantages over basic social sites. IM faceplate is a social site designed specifically for marketers, entrepreneurs and small businesses.

I’ve been an active member of IM faceplate for about a year and a half and I’ve found it to be an ideal place to post my articles, promote my products and services and generally build my presence in an active community of like-minded Internet Marketers.

Perhaps the best thing about IM faceplate is the fact that you are encouraged to promote your business and build your brand. Not like basic social sites where you might get chastised or penalized for trying to promote your business. … Read the rest of this entry

GT Bulmer © Affiliate Power Central

Social networking in business takes planning if your goal is to create customers and make sales. You can’t approach it from a traditional selling point of view or from a traditional social networking point of view.

With traditional selling, you put your sales message out there and try to attract a targeted prospect, someone with a serious interest in what you are selling. They contact you or visit your website looking for more information about your product or service. If they have made it that far, chances are they want you to convince them to buy.

With traditional social networking, sharing is the foundation, not marketing or selling. The purpose of building a social network is to provide you, and them, with a circle of like-minded friends and acquaintances who share information and recommendations. This does not typically involve you trying to push a product on them that you are selling and are obviously biased towards. … Read the rest of this entry

GT Bulmer © Affiliate Power Central

It has been more than three years since I joined the Entrepreneur Forums at EvanCarmichael.com. I’ve made many new friends, have benefited from an incredible amount of insight and have gained some great business exposure.

Many online business and marketing forums have taken a hit these days, what with the dominance of so many social networking sites. But forums still have their place in the overall scheme of things and smart marketers will keep their foot in the door of at least a few forums. It just makes sense to use a variety of marketing methods and maintain a presence in a variety of online social sites, including traditional forums.

I have found the Entrepreneur Forums to truly be a friendly entrepreneur community. You may find friendly Internet Marketers wherever you go, but the Entrepreneur Forums seem to promote the friendly, supportive atmosphere more than some other similar sites that you may visit. … Read the rest of this entry

GT Bulmer © Affiliate Power Central

How is your Social Network Marketing strategy? Do you have a plan? Are you achieving your goals? Do you think you could be missing out on some highly targeted traffic?

I’m not going to beat around the bush. Today I will simply say take a tour of the IM faceplate Social Network Marketing site (it’s free), join today (it’s free) and immediately expand your market reach to a new group of active, focused, motivated Internet Marketers. It’s all free!

Social Marketing is all about connecting with like-minded individuals and targeted prospects. It is about building relationships, building trust and branding yourself as an expert or as the go to person in your market niche. And it is about sharing your articles, resources and other content with people in your circles of influence wherever they may be on the Internet. . . . Read the rest of this entry

GT Bulmer © Affiliate Power Central

There’s something kind of weird that happens to me. Maybe it happens to you, too. When I hear people talking and they say certain words or phrases, song titles pop into my head. And then I hear music in my mind! It happens often.

I suppose it’s not so unusual that I hear music in my head since I am a music fan who appreciates music of all kinds. And more than that, as a writer I appreciate the creativity that goes into both the music and the lyrics, so I usually pay close attention to the songs I listen to in real time.

But where this music in my mind becomes a bit of an issue is when I’m at home having a conversation with my spouse. She will say something, a song lyric will pop into my head, the tune will start playing in my mind, and then I’ll quietly start singing or humming the tune out loud. … Read the rest of this entry

GT Bulmer © Affiliate Power Central

Is this the New Internet? Google is introducing a new social networking service called Google+ with such features as Hangouts, Huddles, Circles and Sparks. If not the New Internet, Google+ certainly aims to be a serious contender in the realm of social media.

Google+ is currently in a limited field trial. They are testing the service with a small, select group of people. If you did not receive an invitation, then you are likely not part of the test group.

If Google’s foray into social networking interests you, you can sign up to be included on the list when the Google+ invitations start rolling out again. Visit the Google+ project site and click the “Keep Me Posted” button.

The project site also offers an interactive tour where it explains what Google+ is all about: Real-life sharing rethought for the Web

And exactly what direction does this “re-thinking for the Web” take? Here’s an overview of some of the Google+ features: . . . Read the rest of this entry

GT Bulmer © Affiliate Power Central

I enjoy music of all genres. One of the things I like best about listening to free music online is getting to hear a broad selection of tunes so I can decide which performers and which albums are worth buying at my local music store.

I don’t listen to a lot of radio, so I’m not as well-informed as I used to be about currently popular tunes. But I do have a favourite online free music source and it is there that I listen to popular music of my choice, as recommended and posted by members of the site. The site is BLIP.fm.

The good thing about it is there is music that covers the entire spectrum of the industry; literally every style of music conceivable, everything from contemporary tunes to Golden Oldies. If there’s a song you’ve been wanting to hear, chances are you will find it on this site.

Membership is free and as a member of the community you can add the song to your playlist for easy reference and listen to it anytime you want, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. … Read the rest of this entry

GT Bulmer © Affiliate Power Central

These days, anybody working to build their home based Internet Marketing business absolutely must include Social Networking in their plans. And if you are into Social Networking for your online business, then you really need to know about IM faceplate for beginners: it’s free.

In case you are not yet familiar with this relatively new social site, IM faceplate is the place where marketers of ALL experience levels can go to create their Internet presence and effectively brand themselves as leaders and experts in their niche.

If you do not yet have a niche or a particular marketing focus, then IM faceplate is a great place to rub shoulders with others who may have ideas, information and inspiration to help you get focused.

One of the things I like best about IM faceplate – and there are many – is the fact that it has been designed with the needs and interests of the Internet Marketer in mind. … Read the rest of this entry

GT Bulmer © Affiliate Power Central

Finally, somebody is thinking about Affiliate Marketers; about what we need from affiliate companies to help us be more successful at selling their products. If they want to maximize their affiliate power, they have to get inside the affiliate mind!

Linc Wonham, associate editor with Website Magazine, has an article in the February edition of the publication titled, Inside the Affiliate Mind. In this article, Wonham highlights the fact that companies typically train, support and reward their paid employees, but often overlook giving the same consideration to their affiliates.

Worse yet, some of these affiliate companies point the finger at affiliate marketers when the company’s sales are down! Wonham notes that while there are some companies that do look after their affiliates, there are those that leave a lot to be desired when it comes to affiliate relations.

“The most successful online business owners learn how to get inside the minds of their often misunderstood (affiliate) partners,” says Wonham. There is value in regularly acknowledging the efforts of affiliates and in supporting them any way possible. “The important point is that the more you can do for your affiliates, the more they will do for you.” … Read the rest of this entry