Element 5: Weeding - Removing the bad stuff so the good stuff can flourish

Today is our fifth and so far final element in the parable of what gardening has to do with making money online. Today's element is weeding. If you do not pull weeds in your garden, they will spread like a virus and make your garden look ugly. They also zap vital resources such as nutrients and water from your plants. Some weeds literally "choke" healthy plants and kill them.

When I think of weeding out programs that are not producing, I think of the time and energy it will free up to spend on the quality programs.

Today's post is short and sweet. I hope you will take some time today or this week to evaluate the "weeds" in your portfolio.

Element 3: Planting

Continuing our series about what gardening has to do with online business, today we will look at planting!

Obviously, in order to see results in a garden, you have to plant some seeds. I also planted bulbs, which are bigger! A nice garden has a variety of plants. Some are flowers, others are shrubs, and if you like to eat the fruits of your labor, some fruits and vegetables are nice, too!

In my family, I like to plant from seeds, and I prefer to plant flowers. My husband, however, is more of a vegetable gardener (specializing in tomatoes and basil), and likes to start with seedlings that are already started.

This reminds me of the importance of being involved in more than one program. This is also called multiple streams of income. Multiple streams helps keep us from having all of our eggs in one basket. If you pour all of your time and energy into one plant, and it dies anyway, you have no garden. In the same way, you do not want to pour all of your time and energy into one program, only to find yourself flat BROKE next week because the company closed its doors!

As for the seeds and bulbs analogy, I look at it like free and programs with some cost. Free programs are great because, hey, isn't free money awesome?! They do, much like seeds, however, take longer to see results. Participating in some low cost businesses will get you seeing results from your referrals a little bit faster. Just be sure not to take on more than you are willing to risk while you wait for it to grow.

I mentioned that I prefer to plant seeds or bulbs and my husband likes to plant seedlings that are already established. In the internet business world, I think of this as being involved with companies that have been around a long time (for me, that's GDI and Avon), versus brand new companies (EZE2x2, Little Guy Wealth System, and others).

In the overall picture, whether we're talking about bulbs versus seeds or seeds versus established seedlings, the point is to diversify. Stick with well established companies for your "seedlings," but don't be afraid to throw down some seeds (newer, free), and bulbs (newer, low cost programs).

Element 2: Soaking to Soften

This is a continuation of a series of blogs started on Saturday. It all started when I had a beautiful day of gardening. I reflected back on it and these are the lessons I learned and am applying to my online efforts.

As I reflect back on the "trick" of soaking the ground so I could dig the holes or pull the weeds, I think about true social networking/relationship marketing. Joining up a bunch of social networking sites to spam everyone is not going to do anything but turn people off of your opportunity. I try to avoid this, but I see it everywhere! Instead, join those sites, but then NETWORK. Start conversations & be a part of the discussions going on. Befriend and follow people with similar interests and connect with them on another level.

I will be adding links to social networking sites that pay in the near future. These are great because they usually have a lot of opportunity seekers as members. The no-spamming guidelines still apply, even though it will be more rampant on these sites. Lead by example and do not pick up this nasty habit.

I am on Yahoo Instant Messenger (YIM) and a lot of Work at Home Moms (WAHMs) have "blast groups." What that means is you can click on your blast group and send them an instant message all at the same time. It could be a special you are offering, notification that your blog has been updated, an alert about a contest you are running, etc. The idea is that everyone on that blast list then turns around and copies and sends that message to their entire blast list, and so on.

Lately there have been some complaints in the blasting community that not everyone passes along the blasts. Well, I am guilty of that myself sometimes and there could be many reasons for it that I don't need to get into right here and now. It just got me to thinking that the blasters who are getting upset may not be looking at YIM for the networking tool that it is and should be used as.

Element 1: Sunshine - The conditions were perfect

Yesterday, I blogged about my day in the garden and how it make me think about my efforts to Just Say No to Day Care. Today we will look at the first element of that perfect day and explore what we can learn from it.

This element can be looked at a couple of different ways. In one way, we can look at it as a reminder to take advantage of opportunities when we recognize the conditions are right. For example, I recognized GDI as a very good opportunity early on. I've also signed up and quit because the conditions weren't quite right at the time. I either didn't have a good upline with the tools, training, & support (Mama Mentoring) I needed, and/or I just didn't have the time to promote it properly at the time. Now that the conditions are right, here I am again!

We can also look at this element from another angle. That is, the conditions are not always going to be 100% perfect. Sometimes we still need to jump in and do what needs to be done. For example, I will need to keep watering my bulbs and seeds, even & especially when the temperatures rise. In the same way, we need to continue to consistently promote and network in order to excel in online marketing.

It also reminds me that the temperatures WILL rise and I wouldn't want to be having to water acres and acres all by myself. That is a lesson not to take on more than we can handle.

I encourage you to ponder this first element today. Do you have the perfect conditions right now to do what needs to be done? If not, will you do it anyway?

Element 4: Watering & tending – I will water the plants on a regular basis in order to see good results.

Thank you for sticking with me on this series! This is element 4 in our series about what gardening has to do with internet marketing.

Today's element, watering and tending, relates to our need to be consistent in our efforts. Do SOMETHING, every day, toward growing your business.

That may include spending time on social networking sites, building relationships (soaking). Other times it will mean pulling the weeds (evaluating what is effective and eliminating what is not).

If you do not water your garden, your plants will die. If you do not pull the weeds once in a while, your garden will become overgrown with them. They will zap the resources that the good plants need and your plants will suffer. In the same way, your business will wither and die if you do not continue to feed and water it. You will become worn out from caring for the weeds that aren't getting you anywhere if you do not stop to evaluate them and remove them once in a while!

I encourage you today to make a daily plan of action. Include how much time you will spend each day with vital tasks such as:

- Advertising. Try to promote each program you are working in at least 10 places per day. At then end of the month, you have roughly 300 posts working for you!). I will be adding a list of free advertising resources to the sidebar soon!

- Social Networking. You may even break it out by each social networking site. This includes sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Yuwie, 6dgr, EziHippo, any NING sites you belong to, etc.

- Follow up with leads. It's so true that there is a fortune in the follow up. Someone you talked to three months ago may be ready to join your program today!.

- Follow up with your team. Love 'em or lose 'em. Some people won't ask for help, assuming you are too busy for them. Make sure they know you are available, even if it's only one hour a day.

Gardning & the life of an internet marketer

Today was a magnificent day! The weather was 100% PERFECT. My town tends to get into the triple digits in the summer, so when it's in the 80s like I believe it was today, it's, as Martha Stewart would say, "A good thing."

I woke up around 8:00, fed the baby, then got my own coffee & breakfast. I texted a good friend who'd been wanting to spend some time with the baby to let her know she was awake, alert, & ready to party! Then I sat Miss M in her stroller and we went to work in the backyard. I started out watering, then decided to soak the ground to see if I could soften it enough to dig some holes. It worked! Yayy! So, I got some bulbs & seeds out and started dropping 'em in the holes with some not-quite-so hard potting soil.

My friend pointed out that the soaking trick worked well for getting weeds out, too. Sure enough, she was right! So I added that to my spontaneous gardening spree, too. I even strolled the lil' princess out to the front yard for more weeding.

I feel so good, having planted some bulbs & seeds, knowing I will see results if I keep tending to them every couple of days at least. Weeding made the already established parts of the garden much more appealing and pleasing to look at.

As I reflected back on the day, I thought about what I could learn about this in the home based business aspect of my life. Over the next few posts, I will share some parallels I learned along the way today:

Sunshine – the conditions were perfect
Soaking- I had to soak the ground to soften it.
Planting- I planted the seeds and bulbs today, to see results later
Watering & tending – I will water the plants on a regular basis in order to see good results.
Weeding- I had to remove the “bad stuff” so the “good stuff” can flourish.