Are you catering to the needy ?

When I first started out in the network marketing industry that’s exactly what I did. When my sponsor asked me to make a list of a hundred people I made sure I included everyone that I could think of who “needed the money” that a network marketing business can provide.

Boy was that ever the wrong way to go about building my business.

What I didn’t know at the time was that “needy” people don’t have the right attitude. They don’t have an entrepreneurial mindset. They think differently. Believe it or not, some of them are actually happy with what they have and where they are in their life. They are content with putting in their 8 to 10 hours a day at work and then go home and cuddle with a six-pack in front of the TV. That’s why it is so important to qualify your prospects.

Here I thought I was presenting them with a great opportunity to help better themselves and improve their lifestyle and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t bite.

Then “lucky” for me, there were those that went for the carrot I was dangling in front of them and did join my business. But only to sit there and do nothing. Those were the kind of do-it-for-me people.

How frustrating! Have you ever tried to push a wet spaghetti noodle?

No, those aren’t the right people for your network marketing business. You will save yourself a whole lot of frustration and risk of getting burned out if you keep away from people like that.

But how can you tell the difference?

How can you tell who’s right for your
network marketing  business?

If you don’t know the person the best way to find out more about him or her is to ask questions. What do they do? How long have they done it? Have they ever thought about doing anything else? Do they have any networking experience? You get the drift.

You can tell by the answers you get if they are a prospect for you or not. You want to look for people that are self-motivated, hard-working,  people who are able to think out of the box  and are self-starters. People who read instead of watching TV, people who better themselves through personal development. Those are the people who are right for your network marketing business.

“Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.”  ―Zig Ziglar

This post was inspired by Oliver Tausend’s Facebook status up date from this morning. Oliver is a very good friend of mine and a fellow network marketer. If you’ve never been to his blog you are missing some incredible content….AskOliverTausend.com. Thanks, Oliver, for the great inspiration!

“Give the person with a need…a job. Give the person with a desire…an opportunity.” -Tom ‘Big Al’ Schreiter

You know I always love your feedback. So please add your thoughts below in the comment section. Maybe you have some other tips on finding the right people for your network marketing business.

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

Related posts:

1. 31 Killer Quotes about Networking and Network Marketing
2. 5 Things to Look For Before Joining a Particular MLM Team

Are there benefits to turning on Facebook subscribe?

Well, it depends. If you are like most of the millions of users that uses Facebook strictly to connect and interact with close friends and family members then maybe you don’t need the Facebook subscribe option because you most likely will never hit the limit of 5,000 friends.

However, if you are a marketer or business owner wanting to use your personal Facebook profile also for growing your business then yes, you may want to consider turning on that option.

That’s actually what I do. From the very beginning I started using my personal profile for connecting with fellow network marketers.

7 Reasons for turning on the
Facebook subscribe option.

1. As I already mentioned above you can’t have any more than 5,000 friends. Once you reach that limit you’re done. Before the introduction of the subscribe button you were practically forced to create a fan page.  However now you don’t necessarily have to as you can have as many Facebook subscribers on your personal profile as you want. Also, (and I didn’t realize that) when people send you a friend request they automatically become one of your subscribers. But as soon as you approve them they move from subscriber status to friend.
2. Enabling  Facebook subscribe kind of lifts the friends limit and gives you a whole new marketing channel. You need to be careful with your approach though as you are mixing close friends and family with people you may not know.
3. Since they are connected with you on your personal profile users feel closer to you. The atmosphere is warmer and friendlier compared to the more business-like fan page. Being one of your subscribers is the next best thing to being a friend.
4. The news feed tends to favor personal profiles.  I don’t know if you have noticed it, but I sure have. I get a lot more engagement and interaction on my personal profile compared to my fan page. (Well, then again, I don’t have that many fans yet either.)
5. You get two chances to getting seen in the news feed when you build both your Facebook subscribers and your fan base. That’s a pretty cool benefit, don’t you think?
6. Your subscriber interaction expands to include your subscriber’s friends and their subscribers. So now you are reaching a broader audience getting more news feed visibility, more exposure and that all-important extra EdgeRank.
7. When you always share valuable content that your friends and subscribers are eager to get and share, then they won’t mind if you drop in that occasional promotional message. Tread with caution here though and do that sparingly. The best ratio is 9:1. Nine personal messages to one promo.

So, these were the pros for enabling the Facebook subscribe option, but like every coin has two sides, this one does also.

The Cons for enabling Facebook subscribe.

1. Having to manage both a fan page and personal profile could be a lot of work.  Also, some of your friends could be offended if you mix promotional messages with your personal ones.
2. You could open yourself up to being spammed or to people posting their own promotional messages on your personal profile. That’s happened to me before. The easy way to deal with this is to just delete those messages and blocking people who do spam you. Another way to eliminate a lot of spam is by adjusting your privacy settings and tweak who can send you friend requests and who can post on your timeline.

So, if you haven’t yet …

I bet you’re dying to know how to turn on
Facebook Subscribe

It’s quite simple. Just go to http://www.facebook.com/about/subscribe and you will see the subscriber option in the top right corner.

Once you have enabled subscribers you may want to tweak your privacy settings. Just click on “Privacy Settings” in the top right corner and then navigate to “How You Connect.”

Here’s a screenshot of mine.

By the way, you may also tweak your settings in “How Tags Work” and “Limit the Audience for Past Posts” to those you are most comfortable with.

Obviously you can see there are many more pros than cons to the Facebook Subscribe option. So if you are an online marketer like me, I think you definitely want to turn it on in order to gather more exposure.

You know how much I love getting your feedback so please make some noise below in the comments.

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

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1. How to Add Networked Blogs to Your Facebook Page for More SEO
2. Unfriend Finder Lets You Know When Someone Unfriends You on Facebook
3. Timeline for Facebook Pages – Love it or Hate it
4. Facebook Influence – Why I Highly Recommend FBinfluence
5. Where to Get the Coolest Facebook Timeline Cover

The first time I heard about Pinterest.com the newest social network on the block was when I visited the lovely Brankica Underwood’s blog. I invite you to pay her a visit and read her “Complete Pinterest Guide.”

Although I loved the idea of pinning pictures of what you are interested in to a virtual pin board, I was apprehensive to join because the last thing I needed was another distraction.

But then I saw articles and tweets about Pinterest popping up everywhere. And when even Mari Smith mentioned it in one of her recent webinars curiosity got the better of me and I joined. After all, if this was such a hot thing, I didn’t want to be left behind.

Right out of the gate I received notifications of people following me. Most of them I knew already and some where people I was looking up to as mentors so I went to check out their boards.

And that’s when it clicked.

Pinterest is a fantastic tool for business!

I hadn’t even thought about the immense potential Pinterest has as far as using it for business let alone increasing blog traffic.

Did you know it is already used by 100+ brands such as Blockbuster, Lowe’s, Gaps, Pillsbury, just to name a few. Check out this awesome Pinterest Infographic!

So why shouldn’t we online marketers get a piece of that cake too?

Hey, I thought, I can use Pinterest to build relationships with other online marketers and deepen the relationships with those I am already connected to. And, I can do it in a fun, easy-going, non-threatening way and at the same time increase traffic to my blog!

But I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it yet.

However, when I clicked around on some pinboards  I came accross some very interesting pictures and infographics that lead me right to the person’s article/blog post.

And that’s when the little wheels in my head started turning.

Why can’t I do that?

So yesterday afternoon I tried it out. I took one of my blog posts, an inspiring story about the Brooklyn Bridge and “pinned it” on to Pinterest using the “Pin It Button” on my blog. (Yes, I changed the image to a more appealing one than the one I had before.)

Funny thing though, I then found out that some of my peers (who are much smarter than me obviously) had already pinned some of my blog posts to Pinterest. (Now, why am I always the last to find out how to do things?) Thank you, guys!

But in any case, I’m really glad I found out how to do this.

So how can you get more blog traffic using Pinterest?

See, when you pin a picture on one of your boards that picture is linked to the original source with a dofollow link. So if someone clicks on your image they will then follow through to your blog to read your post. Pretty cool, isn’t it!?

People can repin your image to one of their own boards thus giving you even more exposure. They can also click the Facebook “like” button or tweet your image to Twitter. Therefore it is very important to include your keywords in your description of your image. It also helps with SEO, hint, hint.

Now, like everywhere else in social media the “Golden Rule” applies at Pinterest as well. Share other people’s content way more than your own. Give, give and then give again and don’t expect anything in return!

Can you see how Pinterest can help you build new relationships with other like-minded individuals and in the end get more blog traffic as well?

Action Steps to Take:

1) Start adding pictures to your blog posts if you haven’t done so yet.
2) Get an account at Pinterest. (Actually, I see it still by invite only, so just let me know and I will send you an invitation.)
3) Install the Pinterest “Pin It” Button  on your blog so people can pin your posts. (Check “About” and then “Pin It Button” when you are logged into your Pinterest account.)
4) Install the “Follow me on Pinterest” button on your blog.
5) Add the Pin It Bookmarklet in your browser for easy pinning.
6) Follow me on Pinterest

Happy Pinning!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. You know I always love your feedback so please share your thoughts in the comments below.

And if you liked this post … please 

Related posts:

1. Powerful Reasons Why You Should Use Pinterest for Your Marketing – Part TWO
2. Powerful Reasons Why You Should Use Pinterest for Your Marketing – Part ONE

So what is SendOutCards?

SendOutCards, an online real greeting card company, officially launched in 2005, but the idea started way before that. It started as a promise founder and CEO Kody Bateman made after he lost his older brother, Kris, in a tragic electrical accident.

When Kody left Salt Lake City, UT, many years ago to take on an internship in New York City he ignored a prompting to go over to Kris and say goodbye because he was running late that day. Instead he just waved and drove off.

Three and a half months later, in the middle of the night, Kody got a call that his brother, an electrician, had been killed on the job.

Can you imagine, what must have gone through his mind at that moment? That tremendous amount of pain and regret. That was the moment the idea of SendOutCards was born.

In a nutshell, the very basic idea behind this incredible system is to provide an easy solution to “help people act on their promptings.”

SendOutCards lets you send out real physical greeting cards, that you type out on your computer, even in your own handwriting and with your own signature. You can upload your own photos to add to your message and even include a gift with your card. Then with a push of the magical “SEND” button it is on its way.

You don’t have to go to the store anymore, nor do you need to stuff, address, stamp or mail your card. It’s all done for you automatically with this incredible system.

Since those early days in 2005 the company has grown immensely. With total cards sent so far numbering 67.4 million (7 February 2012) no wonder it is now the largest first class mailing company in the United States.

And since it is the only greeting card company of its kind, there is virtually no competition!

Some of the incredible features of SendOutCards include…

• Pick a card from the Catalog of thousands of cards (I think they’re up to 15,000 cards at the time I’m writing this) and any imaginable category. Or design your own from scratch with the PicturePlus 2.0 feature.
• Set up a fully Automated Follow-up Campaign. Just set your cards up in a sequence and tell the system how many days, weeks or months apart you want your cards to go out and the system will send them out totally automatically with your handwriting and signature and any photos you want to add. And remember, you can even include a gift.
• The Contact Manager lets you add new contacts manually or you can import up to 750 contacts at a time from any tab separated file. For business people this is really a great feature. It also lets you organize your contacts in different groups so you can easily keep track and send out your campaigns to either specific people in a group or the whole group altogether.
• Send out a BIG Card…yes, SendOutCards now has cards that are about 4 times the size of a regular greeting card. It’s perfect for those occasions when you really want to make a statement. (I just recently sent out a Big Card “Thank You” card to one of my newest customers.)
• Also one of the newest, (and IMO) coolest features is the Video Card. Yes, you read that right.  I LOVE sending out video cards for people’s birthdays. The way this works is, SendOutCards uses QR Codes that you can scan with your smart phone. So when I sent a video card for someone’s birthday they can scan that QR Code an up pops a video right on their screen. By the way, this is not only super cool for birthdays, but also great for marketing, hint, hint.

According to David Frey SendOutCards is …

“The Ultimate Marketing and Personal Relationship Management System!”

I totally happen to agree.

What can you use SendOutCards for?

The possibilities are endless but here are just some ideas you can use this great system for…

• Keep in touch with family, friends, customers and business associates.
• Send out birthday cards
• Send out thank you notes
• Follow up with people
• Use it for lead generation campaigns
• Introduce a new product or service
• Use it to get more referrals
• Send inspirational cards to your team
• Send out heartfelt cards to people you care about

How much does SendOutCards Cost?

Depending on what plan you go with you can send out a regular two panel greeting card for as low as 0.98 cents plus postage. (Within the U.S. if you add the postage of 0.45 cents you can send out a card for as low as $1.43. Wow! Remember, you didn’t have to go to the store; you didn’t have to go to the post office and buy stamps; you didn’t have to stuff the envelope or mail the card, it was all done for you automatically for just$1.43. (If you are sending a card overseas it currently would cost you 0.98 cents for the card and 0.98 postage, total = $1.96)

There are currently two retail plans available:

1) Pay As You Go Plan — it’s exactly like it says, you pay for your cards as you go with points ranging from 99 cents per point to 49 cents per point depending how many points you buy.

(SendOutCards uses points instead of credits for the cards. So for example:  A postcard = 1 point; a regular 2-panel greeting card = 2 points; a 3-panel card = 3 points and so on.

2) Subscription Plan

For the tiny amount of $9.80 a month you can get a subscription and you can enjoy the full service of this incredible stay in touch system. Oh by the way, this subscription includes 10 greeting cards automatically. Don’t worry if you don’t use up those cards because they roll over from month to month.

What’s so cool about the Subscription Plan is that you automatically get the lowest price per point which is 49 cents a point!! [***If you choose the $31/month subscription plan you can even save MORE!]

SendOutCards has quickly become the most important marketing tool I use in my business! Actually, I call it my “Appreciation Marketing System.”  Oh, and my husband uses it in his mortgage business as well.

I made a short ANIMOTO video featuring
some of the cards I made …Check it out here!

SendOutCards – It’s not just cards anymore

There’s a lot more to SendOutCards than meets the eye. Recently the company added the SOC Photo Store where you can create your own photo books, calendars, posters, canvas prints, vision boards, business cards and coupon cards. You can get as creative as you want to.

What do you think? Would you like to test out the system for FREE?

I invite you to send out a greeting card to anyone you like today! My treat, I even pay for postage. Just CLICK HERE! Click around, play with the features, upload some pictures and let your creativity go wild. You’ll see why I have so much fun with this system.

If you want to find out more please watch this detailed Introduction to SendOutCards with my friend David Frey.

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

No related posts.

While I am genuinely flattered that somebody values my opinion about them enough to ask me for a recommendation and I love giving them, sometimes that request leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Such was the case just this past week and this particular one was a double no-no.

Out of the blue a person I don’t even know send me a “recommendation request”.  Unfortunately, this has happened before and it really makes me very uncomfortable. What made this request even worse was the fact that this person included a shameless promotion for his business.

What was he thinking?

Was he expecting me to just make something up and write a fake recommendation?

Ehm, sorry, but I don’t do that. I don’t make things up. If I don’t know you I won’t recommend you.  I have too much to lose. I am not going to put my credibility and my good name on the line just to make you look good. Uhuh!

Yes, recommendations are extremely powerful because they add credibility and social proof and they give you a lot more validity in what you do. So the more you have the better, right?

Well yes probably. But wouldn’t you rather have someone recommending you who really knows you and can give their honest opinion about you than getting a bunch of generic recommendations that could fit just about anybody?

Before you ask for a recommendation on LinkedIn (or any other place) consider this…

• Use the system within LinkedIn to send your recommendation request rather than sending your own email.
• Only ask people who know you well enough to recommend you. Maybe you’ve done some work for them, been to company events together or helped them out in some way. You don’t want to make someone feel uncomfortable. Or, and that may be just as bad or worse, receive a recommendation that totally misrepresents you.
• If you have never worked together and only know each other online, make sure the person you ask to recommend you knows your personality, your character, your work ethics, what makes you different and stand out. You want to have had some kind of interaction with them where they remember you from so they can genuinely endorse you.
• The best way to get a recommendation is to give one first. Lewis Howes recommends doing just that in his Linked Influence course.  But be genuine and sincere. People can “smell” if your intentions are honorable or if you “just want something in return.”
• Apropos, talking about “return.” Be kind, return the favor and reciprocate!

You kind of get my drift, don’t you? What I am getting at is….

Don’t ask a complete stranger out of the blue…
”Can You Recommend Me?”

That makes that person very uncomfortable and quite frankly, doesn’t say very much about you either.

By the way, getting a recommendation request from a complete stranger really makes me think twice about adding just anyone who sends me a request to join their network on LinkedIn. I will be much more selective in the future as to whom I will add to my network and whom I’m just going to ignore.

Especially on a professional social network like LinkedIn it is more about quality than quantity. With more than 101 million members LinkedIn is the 3^rd largest social network and growing at a steady pace. You want to make sure you conduct yourself in a professional manner.

So, what has been your experience with getting a recommendation request? I always love your feedback so make sure you share it in the comment section below.

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

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Considering I haven’t even had as much as the “sniffles” for the past 8 years and I am really  a lousy patient when I do get sick, I sure hope for a very healthy 2012 for my family’s sake.

But back to the subject…

For the very last time this year I have the privilege and the immense honor to highlight the…

Top Commentators of The Enlightened Networker for November

So without further ado, here they are…

For the 3^rd time in a row sparkling at the #1 spot is Adrienne Smith. Adrienne is always leaving meaningful replies as well as adding her own warm and witty personality which also reflects on her own site where she is sharing great tips on how to build a successful home business.

Make sure you read her latest post:  “CommentLuv Premium Goodies”

Coming in at second place Ryan Biddulph is no stranger to The Enlightened Networker’s Top Commentators Award. He’s also one of the most giving people I know always sharing mine as well as other people’s content throughout the social networks. If you’ve never visited his blog make sure you do so today as you will find a wealth of information there on how to grow your home business opportunity.

I invite you to read Ryan’s latest post:  “Take The Lazy Step To Grow Your Home Based Opportunity”

And in 3^rd place another serial Top Commentator Award Winner, Marcus Baker. I love it when Marcus visits my blog and leaves his feedback, because his comments are always insightful, warm and add great value to the conversation. Marcus writes about personal development on his own blog and his posts are packed with great information helping you grow as a person.

So make sure you check out his latest post: “Replies To Messages In Bottles”

So, there you have them, the Top 3 followed by…

4. Diane Aksten, 5. Oliver Tausend, 6. Etieno Etuk, 7. Tosin Adeoti, 8. Albert Rox, 9. Radu Dascalul, 10. Akos Fintor

It’s because of all of you that The Enlightened Networker is what it is.

“Many thanks for your continued friendship and support!
Thank you for your never-ending feedback and adding great value to my blog!
For all you do, please accept my sincerest appreciation.”

To Your Massive Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

Related posts:

1. Changes at The Enlightened Networker and Your Feedback Please

The first day (or first week) of the month is also traditionally the time when I acknowledge and say thanks to my top commentators. At least it’s been like that for the past year or so.

This month almost looks like a repeat of last month, only the order has changed. Marcus and Etieno switched places.

So, let’s see then…

The Top 3 Commentators of
The Enlightened Networker
for the month of October are …

Sitting pretty and steady on first place is Adrienne Smith. Adrienne always delivers exceptional value on her blog and her engaging way makes her blog posts a very easy read. You’ll come away with information that rocks so if you haven’t visited her blog yet, make sure you do it today.

Here’s a preview: “Why Free Information Is Sometimes More Expensive”

Coming in second is Marcus Baker.  If you are a regular reader of my blog you may know that Marcus is no stranger to this award as he is one of my top supporters always leaving me great feedback. His blog is about personal development where he shares his great insights sprinkled with his personal experiences.

Find a great sample here: “Make Life an Ongoing Joyous Experiment”

And occupying third place is Etieno Etuk.  Etieno is still quite new to The Enlightened Networker however he managed to being featured in the top 3 spots twice in a row. Good for you, Etieno! His passion for wanting to help people find success shines through on his blog so make sure you pay him a visit.

Etieno’s latest post: “Les Brown On How To Discover The Greatness Within You.”

Following on places 4 through 10 are….

4. Oliver Tausend,  5. Brock Blohm,  6. Jym Tarrant,  7. Ryan Biddulph,  8. Christian Hollingsworth,  9. Jayne Kopp and 10. Stacy Claflin

Thank you so much to all of you!
Your comments always put a smile on my face and the added value
is so very much appreciated not only by me,
but by my readers as well. So again, my heartfelt THANKS!

 I have to add that I truly appreciate all of my readers. I know some of you just read my posts without leaving a comment. And that’s totally fine. Just know that I do appreciate you all as well. Without you, The Enlightened Networker would just simply cease to exist. So thank you!

Here’s an invitation to everyone visiting this blog:

I write an appreciation post like the one above in the beginning of every month. If you like to be featured as one of The Enlightened Networker’s top commentators next month all you have to do is participate in the conversations. Make sure you provide valuable feedback which actually adds to the conversation and not just a “nice post” for example. I will then acknowledge you with your picture (make sure you have one) and a link back to your BLOG. (No sales ore capture pages please.) — Here’s a “heads up” …changes will be coming down the pike where commenting on this blog is concerned. So stay tuned!

To Your Success!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

Related posts:

1. My Sincerest Thanks to The Enlightened Networkers November Top Commentators
2. Changes at The Enlightened Networker and Your Feedback Please

To be quite honest with you, I had to look up the word “versatile” in the dictionary as I had no clue of its meaning. Cross-checking various online dictionaries as well as my trusted Harper Collins German-English dictionary I came to the conclusion that it means…

1. Capable of doing many things competently. 2. Having varied uses or serving many functions.

Pretty cool!  Now that I know what it means I’m even more delighted and only too happy to pay it forward.

What do you do when you get nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award?

• Thank the person who nominated you for the award by linking back to him or her.
• Pass the torch along to 15 other deserving bloggers
• Let those bloggers know they’ve been nominated
• Share 7 random things about yourself

7 Random Things About Me (Betcha didn’t know this…)

1. I learned English listening to Beatles records. After my grade school teacher denied me to take English classes (because I only had a mediocre grade in German) I killed my piggybank and invested in an audio language course, titled “Walter and Connie.” After that I translated Beatles songs with the help of a dictionary.
2. I was a huge Formula One Racing Fan and often went camping out at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim with my friends. Once I came to the U.S. it was harder to keep up with the races, but I still watch the Indy 500.
3. Racing isn’t the only sport I love watching. Being German I am also a huge soccer fan as well. As a matter of fact, I was such a die-hard fan that during the World Cup Final in 1982 I did not go to the hospital to have our first son until the game between Germany and Italy was over. My husband was getting more nervous by the minute as my contractions had started early that morning and here it was late in the afternoon. Well, Germany lost to Italy that day 3:1 and Gavin wasn’t much in a hurry after all since he didn’t arrive until the next morning.
4. I used to knit all my sweaters, before meeting my husband and moving from Germany to the U.S. As a matter of fact I used to do a lot of crafts even when the kids were little. Just no knitting, because I couldn’t find the yarns I was used to. I’m kinda picky like that.
5. In my early 20ies I took Judo classes with a friend of mine. We were the only girls in the class. I was quite amazed the first time I put a guy weighing twice as much as myself and being at least one head taller than me on the mat. I barely weight 100 pounds back then.
6. The most stupid thing I have ever done, was trying to pick up the front end of my car and lift it off the railroad tracks. To this day I don’t know exactly what happened, but when I got into my car that day at the Post Exchange in Bremerhaven it somehow rolled right into the tracks. My first thought was, to pick it up and lift it off the tracks…Em, stupid!!! In my defense I have to say, I was pregnant at the time and maybe the hormones had something to do with my thinking I was Superwoman. Luckily some very nice gentleman soldiers came to help me out. They lifted my car off the tracks and I drove home, quite embarrassed about the whole situation.
7. I actually was terrified of dogs as a child. After being bitten a couple of times by a dachshund — admittedly after pulling his tail — I changed sidewalks if I saw a dog a mile away. Good thing I got over this or I wouldn’t be able to enjoy our family darling, George the boxer.

So, there you have them. Seven things I bet you didn’t know about me.

Passing on The Versatile Blogger Award

And now it’s time to pass on the torch to these outstanding bloggers, listed below in no particular order.

Peter Fuller – Home Business Solutions for Zoomers (Boomers with Zip)

Carol Amato  – A Marketer With Integrity Ready To Help YOU Make Money Online

Carolyn Nicander Mohr – The Wonder of Tech

Maria Eves – Attraction Marketing Specialist

Kimberly Castleberry – Just Ask Kim

Etieno Etuk – Where Transformation Happens

Carla Gardiner - Anti-Aging Fiery Grandma Exposes Secrets to Turn Back Clock

Mavis Nong – Attraction Marketing Online

Bob and Rosemary Clarke – Simple Solutions for Part Time Networkers

Catherine Alexandra – Attraction Marketer Problem-Solver and Visionary

Janet Callaway – The Natural Networker

Mike Paul Jr – MikePaulJr.com

Michele Welch – NewBizBlogger.com

Stella Anokam – Simplifying Online Marketing How-Tos For Beginners

Jane Sheeba – ProBlogging Success

Of course my hope is that you all will take me up on your nomination and then pass it on to other deserving bloggers. That way we will all get to meet and connect with fellow bloggers we would have never had the chance to meet otherwise. Now isn’t this fun?

To Your Success,

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

No related posts.

Always on the lookout for high quality blogs I couldn’t resist clicking on Adrienne’s tweet and boy am I ever glad I did.  I would have missed a big one.

Early on after embarking on my blogging venture I learned how important it is to leave comments on other bloggers in your niche’s blogs.  Because, not only is blog commenting very important for SEO — it is one of the best strategies for getting free quality backlinks to your blog — but also for building great relationships with other bloggers. (The blogosphere is a pretty tight-knit community and linking up with the right people can prove invaluable for your business.)

Finding quality blogs to comment on however and especially dofollow blogs has been quite a tedious task.  But Christian Hollingsworth the creator of YouDoFollow.com realized this problem bloggers are facing. That’s the reason he created YouDoFollow.com, a free dofollow blog directory.

What does “DoFollow” mean?

Up until a year or so ago I didn’t even know there was such a thing as dofollow or nofollow. But once I found out it made a world of difference not only in my blog commenting on other people’s blogs, but also in the way I treated the comments left on my own blog.

You see, when you leave a comment on someone’s blog that is “dofollow” you will get some well-deserved link juice back to your own blog. I mean if you take the time to leave great quality feedback, don’t you deserve something in return? I sure felt that way, that’s why I made The Enlightened Networker a “dofollow blog” as soon as I found out. You can read more about this subject on my earlier post here …“To DoFollow or NoFollow That is the Question”

How can you benefit from YouDoFollow.com?

It’s actually quite simple. If you are a blogger who provides valuable information and your blog is dofollow you can submit your blog for free to this list of dofollow blogs on YouDoFollow.com.

Choose the category that best fits your blog and if there’s no match feel free to suggest more categories. Christian will manually review your blog and check if it meets all of his requirements.

Please read more about this on Christian’s recent blog post: “DoFollow Blogs for Bloggers”

What are your thoughts? As for myself, I believe creating this directory for bloggers is an excellent idea. I urge you to take action today and submit your blog at YouDoFollow.com because I can’t wait to check it out and leave my comments.

See you there!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

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1. How to Add Networked Blogs to Your Facebook Page for More SEO

First: Faceless Blog Commenting

I have addressed this issue before in my post “Invasion of the Face Snatchers,” but it’s time to do it again.

Blog commenting is one of the best strategies I know for not only getting quality backlinks but to build profitable and long-lasting relationships with like-minded people as well.

PEOPLE is the key word here. Not company logos, pets, or default faceless avatars.

I can’t help but feel a little uneasy if someone leaves a comment on my blog and I can’t see his or her face. Even if it is a well-written comment, I am torn between approving or disapproving it.

Now in the case of people who use the default images, I assume they just don’t know how to upload a picture. But those who use images of pets or company logos, should know better. If they can upload a picture of a pet then they can just as easily upload a picture of themselves.

If I reply to a blog comment I would really like to know whom I am replying to.  This is a “people business.” I don’t talk to dogs (except for my own) and I don’t converse with logos or faceless people either.

To be quite frank with you here, I rarely comment on blogs where there are a lot of faceless replies. It makes the site look very unprofessional and I don’t want my own site to look cheap or spammy either. I have put too much time and effort into it for that.

So, from here on out, if you would like your blog comment approved, please make sure to use your picture as your avatar.

You can do that very easily at Gravatar.com. Just get a free account, upload your picture — you need to use the same email address that you use for leaving comments — and Gravatar.com automatically updates all your past comments automatically. Isn’t that cool?

Second: Landing or Product pages

As you probably noticed I am a great fan of CommentLuv. I believe in giving back to my readers who take the time commenting on my blog. Commentluv does that beautifully as it creates a link back to the blog post of the person who’s leaving a comment.

As beautiful as this feature is, it also creates a little problem for me. I do not like to link back to landing or product pages. For two reasons, one, it’s spammy and two, I can’t leave a comment in return and create a backlink to my own site. If I give you a backlink, wouldn’t it be only fair if you gave me one back as well?

So starting today, I will only approve comments which link back to other blogs. My focus is to connect with other quality bloggers so if you would like some link juice from me, please create a blog.

(There is one exception…I have a few regular commentators whom I have build a relationship with and who don’t have blogs. I will still approve your comments, but I will no longer link back to your sales pages. I sincerely hope you understand. The easiest way to get around this would be to get a blog that is not focused on selling a particular product or service.)

In conclusion let me make this as clear as I possibly can…

• Faceless comments will no longer be approved.
• Make sure your NAME appears in the Name Field not your keyword or company name.
• Comments must be contributing to the conversation. No “nice post” comments.
• Comments must link back to quality blogs, (preferably in the same niche as this blog) not to landing or product pages.
• In order to be featured on my Top Commentators list you must both show your picture as well as a link back to your blog. (If I can’t leave a comment on your blog, I can’t feature you or give you link juice.)

That’s about it! I’m getting off of my soap box. I’m really glad I finally got this off my chest as it has been bugging me for quite some time. Blog commenting is supposed to be fun. Let’s keep it that way.

Here’s to a beautiful and long-lasting friendship!

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

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1. Changes at The Enlightened Networker and Your Feedback Please
2. My Sincerest Thanks to The Enlightened Networkers November Top Commentators