“Is Web 2.0 Marketing really for Network Marketers and useful for Network Marketing or is it just more hype?”…is a question I get all the time. Just today, I was frankly amazed when a network marketing acquaintance of mine stated that “web 2.0 marketing” was just not duplicatable as a marketing method and really, truly, offline face-to-face would always produce the best results in a network marketing business. Now this guy is a pretty savvy network marketer. I had to wonder how many people think like he does and are missing out on the greatest opportunity in the last 2000 years to tap into the global marketplace?!!

So what’s the deal with “web 2.0″? Is it hype and a scare tactic thrown out by Internet Marketers to finally get Network Marketers to buy all their stuff?!! LOL!

I just had to break it to this guy that, longterm, anyone who is not getting familiar with Web 2.0 marketing will be left in the dust by those who take the time to understand and go through the learning curve. I can guarantee that!

It’s not about hype…it’s about technology and trends and the strengths of marketing online. Anyplace (even on the other side of the world from where you are), anytime (even while you’re cozy in bed sleeping), the internet can connect people with you whom you’d otherwise never get to connect with.

My friend’s statement against the use of web 2.0…”The most duplicatable system is face to face”…is exactly why web 2.0 is so powerful! These web 2.0 methods give people a sense of “face to face” that is certainly not exactly the same as seeing you in person, but it’s frequently more powerful and more persuasive! For marketing, especially for growing your Network Marketing business, web 2.0 marketing is like “face-to-face”, “belly-to-belly” marketing on steroids that Network Marketing gurus and hotshots have been emphasizing forever, making your marketing efforts even more effective and efficient online, using “New Media” marketing tools.

Through videos, pictures, interactive dialog on one’s blog or on a social network site or a myriad of great tools evolving more and more usefully each day, web 2.0 marketing allows you to share who you really are with people so that they can “know, like and trust” you. People will be far more interested in what you promote when they feel informed and confident about who you are. For example, my myspace site hasn’t been updated lately, but if someone wants to know “Who is Stevie Knight?”, my myspace site will give them some insight, a starting point for getting to know me.

I’ve been offline for about a month or so due to my father’s illness and subsequent death. In that time, however, people have still seen my myspace page, have still seen a few videos and some contacted me to connect further. Now my myspace page is not even current, nor is there much content on it yet that would be helpful to others….(but that’s about to change!..stay tuned!) but it’s far more info than most people would get from me over coffee at Starbucks! It allows people to connect authentically and that’s what this business model is all about.

Take a myspace or other social network or blog and present yourself for who you are and you’ll be surprised who can’t stand you and who can hardly wait to work with you. Either way, people who encounter you in these ways first quickly disqualify themselves, or you, from a further business relationship or, because of the feeling of familiarity they now have, they may want to get to know you better.

Online “face to face” is just as easy to teach your downline, though not as familiar, as offline “face to face”, only far more powerful and wide reaching. It simply involves using the various new online marketing mediums to present your authentic self and the value you bring, including your products and services, to others and attract leaders into your business. It’s the ultimate application of “attraction marketing.”
Web 2.0 is not some vague concept in the future. It’s where you should be now.

While I’m not an expert in Web 2.0 Marketing, I’m an enthusiast who has spent a lot of time studying this over the past year and I’m enjoying implementing it. So watch what I’m doing…check out the articles I’ll be writing on this subject…use the tools I recommend…and see what happens to your business!

Disagree or have an opinion to share? Leave a comment…

Expect success!

Stevie Knight