Internet Marketing Strategy: No Job, Need to Make Money – Part 1

Over the last year, I have seen many of my family and friends go from the entrepreneurial perspective of wanting to build multiple funnels of income on the side, to losing their jobs and needing to make money NOW.  Businesses have closed, jobs have been eliminated, but there are still mortgages to pay and groceries to buy. 

I can’t fix the economy and I can’t bring back all of those jobs, but I have a few ideas that can help put folks back on the right track.  I have a few strategies and nuggets of advice to help get you out there where people can find you and bring opportunity to you, if that’s what you want.

Since I specialize in online marketing strategies, my ideas usually require access to a computer and a working internet connection.  If the internet service has had to be canceled so that money could go toward house payments, I surely understand.  Perhaps you have an inexpensive internet café in the area where you could go periodically, or a local hotel lobby computer you could use.  Of course, when asking to use free internet resources – and when looking for income opportunities – I highly recommend presenting yourself cleanly, professionally, and with the graceful ability to take “no” for an answer.  How you handle yourself when you hear the word “no” can make a big difference in whether people keep you in mind for other opportunities.

So, you have access to a computer with an internet connection.  You need to equip yourself with two things:

• A free internet e-mail account
• A www.Twitter.com account

These two things are the foundation of your internet networking infrastructure.  It’s where everything begins.

An internet e-mail account is crucial for many reasons.  Almost every internet site, every online form you fill out, every opportunity to get in on the free information requires that you give an e-mail address so you can:

1. Be sent the information
2. Help the website stay in legal compliance by proving that you really requested the information that they’re sending you (proving that they’re not sending you “spam”).
3. Send you any opportunities that may interest you – you don’t want to miss out on an idea or event that could get you that next job or make you more money.

You’ve heard of internet “spam”, of course.  If you’re really worried about it, open two free e-mail accounts – one for your personal and professional correspondence and one that you leave on websites that send you information.

There are many free internet e-mail services, so having two e-mail addresses won’t cost you a thing.  I have personally used www.mail.com for years, and have found their internet e-mail service to be reliable and very easy-to-use.

Also, using an internet e-mail service is portable – you can log in to your e-mail address from any computer that has internet access.

A Twitter account is the way to network with people who have ideas and information that you want.  You’ve heard about it on the news, and you might be wondering why people put so much stock into a website where everyone just writes a sentence or two about what they’re doing right now.  You might also be wondering how Twitter is different from other sites where people do the same thing:  type a few sentences about what they’re doing right now.

Here’s the big difference – the difference that can open doors for you: 

Other networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are mostly for people to talk, but not to advertise, unless they’re intentionally buying ad space.  Those sites have a complicated set of rules regarding what you can advertise and how you can advertise it – even when you have a legitimate, legal business or offer.  Twitter THRIVES on the independent marketing community.  Twitter is an exchange of links, ideas, and opportunities where its members are encouraged to point their friends to new opportunities. 

On Twitter, you can put yourself out there, without talking, without interviewing, and without cutting into your time pursuing other money-making avenues.  Let’s say you were just laid off from your job at the plastics factory, and you’re looking for a new job.  You could post on Twitter, “Lost my injection molding job in Elgin, IL.  Looking for a new job.”

There are people on Twitter doing searches on keywords that will find you, and perhaps follow you on Twitter.  Maybe there is an HR person at another plastics factory nearby who is on Twitter, and every day he does a search on the keywords “injection molding”.  Your post about losing your job in injection molding would pop up in his search.  He might send you a message to let you know he’s interviewing. 

You can use Twitter keyword searching, too.  You can do that keyword search on “injection molding”, and start to follow other Twitter users that look like they have the same interests as you. 

The larger your Twitter network, the greater your chances of finding your next money-making opportunity.  I hope you’ll add me to your list – I like to post about new online marketing strategies and information about the online market makers that invent it all.  My Twitter ID is JJ_DigiMM.

You don’t want people to sell anything to you?  No problem.  You can pick and choose what you read.  Here’s what’s in it for you:  you can market on Twitter, too.

You don’t have a product?  You don’t like to sell things?  No problem.  I’ll have suggestions for that, too, in my next installment.  In the meantime, there are a lot more free articles on internet marketing on www.DigiMarketMakers.com and the Online Market Makers Blog: www.OnlineMarketMakersBlog.com.

By putting your internet networking infrastructure in place, you’re setting the stage for finding ways to bring money back into your household. 

Stay positive and start building.