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Will You Add? - A Review of Desktop Lightning
Deep down inside each of us has an entrepreneurial spirit. The term entrepreneurship doesn’t apply strictly to our careers and the way we go about making money; it applies to every part of our life.“What?” you ask. Did someone change the definition of entrepreneurship and forget to tell you? Not really. Strictly speaking, entrepreneurship still refers to starting up and operating your own business, a professional endeavor that requires independence, creativity, individuality, and risk. But you can apply to your personal life the same skills that make you a successful entrepreneur.In the traditional business sense, an entrepreneur is a person who doesn’t want to be locked into a job. He or she is someone who has many skills. An entrepreneur is not a nine-to-five person who collects a paycheck every week or two. Entrepreneurs have a true pioneer spirit. They don’t just have a dream; they follow through to make it happen. Successful entrepreneurs have their head in the clouds and their feet on the ground.For example, being an entrepreneur is similar to sitting in a kayak with the waves breaking over your head. The force of the water is much greater than the force of you trying
One of the criticisms of list-building programs is that everyone is trying to sell--no one is interested in buying. But if you do it right (build trust, offer value, develop relationships) other home business entrepreneurs can be your best customers, distributors, or business partners.
Think about your own businesses: Did you learn about your opportunity, products, or services from another affiliate or network marketer? I bet the answer is "yes" for at least some of the products or services you promote.
If you are able to promote Desktop Lightning to a mailing list or via advertising and you are patient and persistent about it, it could prove to be a great way to build a targeted list of home-based business entrepreneurs with whom you communicate much easier than if you had to rely on email.
Who should not purchase Desktop Lightning?
If you don't already have an ezine or blog or web site and you know very little about Internet marketing such that even free advertising on traffic exchanges is something you're hesitant to do, then you'll probably want to hold off on Desktop Lightning.
You can use Desktop Lightning for free but I don't recommend it, mainly because you miss out on the "Platinum Bonus" feature, wherein you can send messages to 57 randomly selected members twice a week.
Purchasing Tip
If you decide to sign up for Desktop Lightning, immediately after entering your information--you register
Having had a busy week, I was only too happy to don my gardening clothes and get outside to do some planting, weeding and pruning last weekend. “It’s interesting”, I thought, “how business refers to a slight improvement as the green shoots of recovery”. I then began to think of other gardening analogies that could be applied to business. OK so now I’m being a bit sad and if I can’t just go outside and enjoy the air, maybe I should stay in more! But hang on, this can be a useful exercise. Think about it. If you “can’t see the wood for the trees” in your business but gardening is easier to relate to, then look at how you tackle your garden and how you could apply the same principles to your business.First of all you need a plan of what you’re going to grow and where (Your business plan – what are you going to do and who is your target market). Maybe that plant you put over in that shady corner is dying off so you may need to cut your losses and dig it up (that line of business is losing money). The border flowers would do a lot better if there weren’t all of those weeds (too many strands to the business) and every time you go to the shed to get your tools out there’s so much clutter you ei
Positive
- Communicate directly with a minimum of 114 randomly selected members every week without enrolling a single downline member.
- Receive a maximum of 14 messages per week.
- The owners of the program do not bombard you with their own advertisements.
- The cost is much less than if you paid for email leads, not to mention the problem of spam filters for traditional email marketing.
- Free membership won't yield significant results unless you are quite experienced at building a downline.
- Desktop Lightning has not yet created a sense of community among its members. An active forum where members genuinely help each other and the moderation isn't arbitrary and aloof, would prove very attractive to new and existing members alike.
- Recipients of messages are other affiliate and network marketers. Therefore, individuals marketing products or services that don't appeal to that audience would probably not benefit as much from Desktop Lightning.
Desktop Lightning is a viral marketing tool designed to help you build a list of potential new distributors, customers, or joint venture partners.
You communicate with your list via a desktop application, which alerts the user whenever he or she has a message via a small notification window in the lower right corner of your screen (similar to many programs, such as the Gmail notification tool).
Positive Features (Details)
Over time, DesktopLightning will empower you to build a list of people who are already interested in earning money from home via affiliate, internet, or network marketing.
You are able to communicate with these members direct to their desktops, thereby bypassing the spam filters that prevent many of your emails from reaching their intended audience.
Thus you have a very targeted market for your opportunity or services. By gradually building a relationship with your list members, e.g., by offering them assistance and advice, you create an atmosphere of trust which increases the chances they will become interested in your business opportunity or services.
A major benefit of Desktop Lightning if you are a Platinum member (currently $14.99 per month if you purchase it immediately after signing up; if you wait to upgrade it's $19.99 per month) is the "Platinum Bonus" feature. The way it works is that every time you send out a broadcast to your downline, your message also goes out to an additional random group of at least 57 people in the DesktopLightning system.
Thus, not only will your messages reach your downline members, but they will also reach a random group of at least 57 other members. This "Platinum Bonus" significantly enhances the value of the upgraded version. I should note here that Desktop Lightning does not have an affiliate program. I want to mention this fact so that you know that I am not recommending the Platinum version because I can make money off it. I recommend the Platinum version because I believe you receive good value for your money.
Negatives (Details)
It takes awhile to build a list, whether it's using Desktop Lightning or other methods. Therefore, you have to approach building a list with a tool like Desktop Lightning as a long-term process. Some of the ads for Desktop Lightning refer to sending messages to thousands of people. The ads can make it sound like you'll be sending messages to thousands right away.
Unless you have a huge list of loyal subscribers that just ain't gonna happen!
Of course, if you approach the task as a marathon as opposed to a 100-meter dash then this doesn't have to be a problem. I simply don't want you to assume that a thousand-member downline from the get-go is the norm.
I was initially concerned that DesktopLightning would suffer from some of the same problems as other list-building programs. For example, in many instances the older the program, the less attractive it is to potential new members because they fear being inundated with emails from a large upline and they worry about their own ability to recruit new members.
Another problem with many downline builder programs is that the new member drop out rate is high, usually because new members become discouraged only being able to send emails to a handful of people. Sure, a few experienced marketers build a large downline quickly but the average person has to promote a list-builder for a few months to build a reasonably sized downline. Many new members become discouraged and quit before that happens.
Fortunately, Desktop Lightning has built in a couple of features that ameliorate these concerns.
First, they limit the number of messages any member receives to 14 per week. DesktopLightning explains the mathematics behind this limit in their Support section, if you are interested, but the main point is that even if you join Desktop Lightning a year or two after the initial release, you will not be inundated with messages.
Second, if you are a Platinum member (currently $14.99 per month if you purchase it immediately after signing up; if you wait to upgrade it's $19.99 per month), you benefit from the "Platinum Bonus" program described above, in which you are able to send messages twice a week to 57 randomly selected Desktop Lightning members.
Recommendations (Details)
I'm neutral on the free version since it might prove frustrating for newbies trying to recruit downline members when they have little marketing experience to begin with. It could work for people who know or are willing to learn Internet marketing.
I highly recommend the "Platinum" version upgrade. The clincher for me was realizing that for $15.00 per month I could buy at the most maybe a 150 email leads (at 10 cents each) from a business opportunity lead vendor. But we know how email leads are these days--they're usually a waste of money because so many of the emails never reach an Inbox because of spam filters.
Alternatively, I could pay $15.00 per month for Desktop Lightning and send at least 456 messages per month (without having referred anyone!) direct to the desktops of "prequalified" prospects. By "prequalified" I'm referring to the fact that Desktop Lightning members already know they want a home business and they're doing something about it. Contrast that with a typical email lead who is "just curious."
One of the criticisms of list-building programs is that everyone is trying to sell--no one is interested in buying. But if you do it right (build trust, offer value, develop relationships) other home business entrepreneurs can be your best customers, distributors, or business partners.
Think about your own businesses: Did you learn about your opportunity, products, or services from another affiliate or network marketer? I bet the answer is "yes" for at least some of the products or services you promote.
If you are able to promote Desktop Lightning to a mailing list or via advertising and you are patient and persistent about it, it could prove to be a great way to build a targeted list of home-based business entrepreneurs with whom you communicate much easier than if you had to rely on email.
Who should not purchase Desktop Lightning?
If you don't already have an ezine or blog or web site and you know very little about Internet marketing such that even free advertising on traffic exchanges is something you're hesitant to do, then you'll probably want to hold off on Desktop Lightning.
You can use Desktop Lightning for free but I don't recommend it, mainly because you miss out on the "Platinum Bonus" feature, wherein you can send messages to 57 randomly selected members twice a week.
Purchasing Tip
If you decide to sign up for Desktop Lightning, immediately after entering your information--you register f
Turning your invention into a product takes more than just coming up with an idea. If you want to sell that idea to a company, negotiate a licensing agreement or if you're going it alone and hope to sell it directly to buyers, you're going to need packaging. It's the logical next step to create packaging for your invention's product sales sample.The invention package challenge
It's obvious that big brand products don't face the challenges your new product will. Big brands are backed by millions of advertising dollars, or years of consumer interaction, leaving the challenge to you - the potential competitor. For an entertaining look at how different brands apply packaging techniques, watch this fun video that rethinks Microsoft packaging of Apple's iPod. However, with Apple they sell the iPod with a clean, sleek and stylish package, focusing little on the product's features and more on how hip it is for the consumer. While a joke, the video does hit a few key points you should think about when packaging:• Bullet point benefits and features
• Show human interaction with the product in use
• Keep it on brand
Positive Features (Details)
Over time, DesktopLightning will empower you to build a list of people who are already interested in earning money from home via affiliate, internet, or network marketing.
You are able to communicate with these members direct to their desktops, thereby bypassing the spam filters that prevent many of your emails from reaching their intended audience.
Thus you have a very targeted market for your opportunity or services. By gradually building a relationship with your list members, e.g., by offering them assistance and advice, you create an atmosphere of trust which increases the chances they will become interested in your business opportunity or services.
A major benefit of Desktop Lightning if you are a Platinum member (currently $14.99 per month if you purchase it immediately after signing up; if you wait to upgrade it's $19.99 per month) is the "Platinum Bonus" feature. The way it works is that every time you send out a broadcast to your downline, your message also goes out to an additional random group of at least 57 people in the DesktopLightning system.
Thus, not only will your messages reach your downline members, but they will also reach a random group of at least 57 other members. This "Platinum Bonus" significantly enhances the value of the upgraded version. I should note here that Desktop Lightning does not have an affiliate program. I want to mention this fact so that you know that I am not recommending the Platinum version because I can make money off it. I recommend the Platinum version because I believe you receive good value for your money.
Negatives (Details)
It takes awhile to build a list, whether it's using Desktop Lightning or other methods. Therefore, you have to approach building a list with a tool like Desktop Lightning as a long-term process. Some of the ads for Desktop Lightning refer to sending messages to thousands of people. The ads can make it sound like you'll be sending messages to thousands right away.
Unless you have a huge list of loyal subscribers that just ain't gonna happen!
Of course, if you approach the task as a marathon as opposed to a 100-meter dash then this doesn't have to be a problem. I simply don't want you to assume that a thousand-member downline from the get-go is the norm.
I was initially concerned that DesktopLightning would suffer from some of the same problems as other list-building programs. For example, in many instances the older the program, the less attractive it is to potential new members because they fear being inundated with emails from a large upline and they worry about their own ability to recruit new members.
Another problem with many downline builder programs is that the new member drop out rate is high, usually because new members become discouraged only being able to send emails to a handful of people. Sure, a few experienced marketers build a large downline quickly but the average person has to promote a list-builder for a few months to build a reasonably sized downline. Many new members become discouraged and quit before that happens.
Fortunately, Desktop Lightning has built in a couple of features that ameliorate these concerns.
First, they limit the number of messages any member receives to 14 per week. DesktopLightning explains the mathematics behind this limit in their Support section, if you are interested, but the main point is that even if you join Desktop Lightning a year or two after the initial release, you will not be inundated with messages.
Second, if you are a Platinum member (currently $14.99 per month if you purchase it immediately after signing up; if you wait to upgrade it's $19.99 per month), you benefit from the "Platinum Bonus" program described above, in which you are able to send messages twice a week to 57 randomly selected Desktop Lightning members.
Recommendations (Details)
I'm neutral on the free version since it might prove frustrating for newbies trying to recruit downline members when they have little marketing experience to begin with. It could work for people who know or are willing to learn Internet marketing.
I highly recommend the "Platinum" version upgrade. The clincher for me was realizing that for $15.00 per month I could buy at the most maybe a 150 email leads (at 10 cents each) from a business opportunity lead vendor. But we know how email leads are these days--they're usually a waste of money because so many of the emails never reach an Inbox because of spam filters.
Alternatively, I could pay $15.00 per month for Desktop Lightning and send at least 456 messages per month (without having referred anyone!) direct to the desktops of "prequalified" prospects. By "prequalified" I'm referring to the fact that Desktop Lightning members already know they want a home business and they're doing something about it. Contrast that with a typical email lead who is "just curious."
One of the criticisms of list-building programs is that everyone is trying to sell--no one is interested in buying. But if you do it right (build trust, offer value, develop relationships) other home business entrepreneurs can be your best customers, distributors, or business partners.
Think about your own businesses: Did you learn about your opportunity, products, or services from another affiliate or network marketer? I bet the answer is "yes" for at least some of the products or services you promote.
If you are able to promote Desktop Lightning to a mailing list or via advertising and you are patient and persistent about it, it could prove to be a great way to build a targeted list of home-based business entrepreneurs with whom you communicate much easier than if you had to rely on email.
Who should not purchase Desktop Lightning?
If you don't already have an ezine or blog or web site and you know very little about Internet marketing such that even free advertising on traffic exchanges is something you're hesitant to do, then you'll probably want to hold off on Desktop Lightning.
You can use Desktop Lightning for free but I don't recommend it, mainly because you miss out on the "Platinum Bonus" feature, wherein you can send messages to 57 randomly selected members twice a week.
Purchasing Tip
If you decide to sign up for Desktop Lightning, immediately after entering your information--you register
Although you may not be a marketing guru, advertising can get your cleaning company noticed by potential customers. But before you spend any of your advertising dollars, decide on your target market. Finding your particular niche and directing your ad dollars to that area will be the most effective way to get clients calling and asking about your services and hopefully signing on as new customers.Start by setting an advertising budget. A general rule of thumb is to dedicate two to five percent of your expected gross sales to advertising. If you are expecting $150,000 in gross sales, set aside $3000 to $7500 for advertising. If you are just starting your cleaning business this may not be enough. You may need to spend more money running ads announcing your business so your potential clients know a new cleaning service is in town.Once you set your budget, decide where to advertise. For a cleaning business it makes no sense and would be a waste of your money to advertise in a large magazine or buy a TV commercial that airs on a Saturday night. Besides being expensive, these ads will most likely not reach your target audience.The common print ad, run in your local newspaper
Negatives (Details)
It takes awhile to build a list, whether it's using Desktop Lightning or other methods. Therefore, you have to approach building a list with a tool like Desktop Lightning as a long-term process. Some of the ads for Desktop Lightning refer to sending messages to thousands of people. The ads can make it sound like you'll be sending messages to thousands right away.
Unless you have a huge list of loyal subscribers that just ain't gonna happen!
Of course, if you approach the task as a marathon as opposed to a 100-meter dash then this doesn't have to be a problem. I simply don't want you to assume that a thousand-member downline from the get-go is the norm.
I was initially concerned that DesktopLightning would suffer from some of the same problems as other list-building programs. For example, in many instances the older the program, the less attractive it is to potential new members because they fear being inundated with emails from a large upline and they worry about their own ability to recruit new members.
Another problem with many downline builder programs is that the new member drop out rate is high, usually because new members become discouraged only being able to send emails to a handful of people. Sure, a few experienced marketers build a large downline quickly but the average person has to promote a list-builder for a few months to build a reasonably sized downline. Many new members become discouraged and quit before that happens.
Fortunately, Desktop Lightning has built in a couple of features that ameliorate these concerns.
First, they limit the number of messages any member receives to 14 per week. DesktopLightning explains the mathematics behind this limit in their Support section, if you are interested, but the main point is that even if you join Desktop Lightning a year or two after the initial release, you will not be inundated with messages.
Second, if you are a Platinum member (currently $14.99 per month if you purchase it immediately after signing up; if you wait to upgrade it's $19.99 per month), you benefit from the "Platinum Bonus" program described above, in which you are able to send messages twice a week to 57 randomly selected Desktop Lightning members.
Recommendations (Details)
I'm neutral on the free version since it might prove frustrating for newbies trying to recruit downline members when they have little marketing experience to begin with. It could work for people who know or are willing to learn Internet marketing.
I highly recommend the "Platinum" version upgrade. The clincher for me was realizing that for $15.00 per month I could buy at the most maybe a 150 email leads (at 10 cents each) from a business opportunity lead vendor. But we know how email leads are these days--they're usually a waste of money because so many of the emails never reach an Inbox because of spam filters.
Alternatively, I could pay $15.00 per month for Desktop Lightning and send at least 456 messages per month (without having referred anyone!) direct to the desktops of "prequalified" prospects. By "prequalified" I'm referring to the fact that Desktop Lightning members already know they want a home business and they're doing something about it. Contrast that with a typical email lead who is "just curious."
One of the criticisms of list-building programs is that everyone is trying to sell--no one is interested in buying. But if you do it right (build trust, offer value, develop relationships) other home business entrepreneurs can be your best customers, distributors, or business partners.
Think about your own businesses: Did you learn about your opportunity, products, or services from another affiliate or network marketer? I bet the answer is "yes" for at least some of the products or services you promote.
If you are able to promote Desktop Lightning to a mailing list or via advertising and you are patient and persistent about it, it could prove to be a great way to build a targeted list of home-based business entrepreneurs with whom you communicate much easier than if you had to rely on email.
Who should not purchase Desktop Lightning?
If you don't already have an ezine or blog or web site and you know very little about Internet marketing such that even free advertising on traffic exchanges is something you're hesitant to do, then you'll probably want to hold off on Desktop Lightning.
You can use Desktop Lightning for free but I don't recommend it, mainly because you miss out on the "Platinum Bonus" feature, wherein you can send messages to 57 randomly selected members twice a week.
Purchasing Tip
If you decide to sign up for Desktop Lightning, immediately after entering your information--you register
Today I've decided to share with you a new word that recently made a special appearance in my daily life: eponym. It is pronounced (EP-uh-nim) and I have to be frank, but I was somewhat at a loss when I saw it. I mean, I write, communicate and persuade using words for a living…but this one had obviously been hiding somewhere far away because although I could pronounce it, I could not recall its meaning.So I grabbed my dictionary… then I realized that I now reside in the 21st Century… so I put down the book and I went on to the ‘Net’ instead. I found the definition (actually I found a few versions) and then settled on the one I’ve included below.--- In A WordOne way that we use the word "eponym" (EP-uh-nim) is in reference to a specific brand name that has come to mean a generic product. Examples:Jacuzzi = whirlpool bath
Band-Aid = plastic bandage
Chapstick = lip balm
Jell-O = gelatine dessert
Kleenex = facial tissue
Q-Tips = cotton swabs
Scotch Tape = cellophane tape
Styrofoam = plastic foam
Teflon = non-stick coating
Vaseline = petroleum jelly
Walkman = portable cassette player
Xerox = photocopier/
First, they limit the number of messages any member receives to 14 per week. DesktopLightning explains the mathematics behind this limit in their Support section, if you are interested, but the main point is that even if you join Desktop Lightning a year or two after the initial release, you will not be inundated with messages.
Second, if you are a Platinum member (currently $14.99 per month if you purchase it immediately after signing up; if you wait to upgrade it's $19.99 per month), you benefit from the "Platinum Bonus" program described above, in which you are able to send messages twice a week to 57 randomly selected Desktop Lightning members.
Recommendations (Details)
I'm neutral on the free version since it might prove frustrating for newbies trying to recruit downline members when they have little marketing experience to begin with. It could work for people who know or are willing to learn Internet marketing.
I highly recommend the "Platinum" version upgrade. The clincher for me was realizing that for $15.00 per month I could buy at the most maybe a 150 email leads (at 10 cents each) from a business opportunity lead vendor. But we know how email leads are these days--they're usually a waste of money because so many of the emails never reach an Inbox because of spam filters.
Alternatively, I could pay $15.00 per month for Desktop Lightning and send at least 456 messages per month (without having referred anyone!) direct to the desktops of "prequalified" prospects. By "prequalified" I'm referring to the fact that Desktop Lightning members already know they want a home business and they're doing something about it. Contrast that with a typical email lead who is "just curious."
One of the criticisms of list-building programs is that everyone is trying to sell--no one is interested in buying. But if you do it right (build trust, offer value, develop relationships) other home business entrepreneurs can be your best customers, distributors, or business partners.
Think about your own businesses: Did you learn about your opportunity, products, or services from another affiliate or network marketer? I bet the answer is "yes" for at least some of the products or services you promote.
If you are able to promote Desktop Lightning to a mailing list or via advertising and you are patient and persistent about it, it could prove to be a great way to build a targeted list of home-based business entrepreneurs with whom you communicate much easier than if you had to rely on email.
Who should not purchase Desktop Lightning?
If you don't already have an ezine or blog or web site and you know very little about Internet marketing such that even free advertising on traffic exchanges is something you're hesitant to do, then you'll probably want to hold off on Desktop Lightning.
You can use Desktop Lightning for free but I don't recommend it, mainly because you miss out on the "Platinum Bonus" feature, wherein you can send messages to 57 randomly selected members twice a week.
Purchasing Tip
If you decide to sign up for Desktop Lightning, immediately after entering your information--you register
Let’s face it, the job hunting process isn’t necessarily all that fun, and the toughest part is to sail through those job interview questions that are meant to filter the candidates to a single winner out of 4, 5 or sometimes dozens of them.I recall my first interviews. I was nervous like hell, and with good reason. I was going to meet the person who, in the lapse of an hour would be deciding whether I would have a livelihood to count on, and the security to pay the bills (and eventually grow professionally), or whether I would need to pound the pavement again and go through the grinding, time-consuming and often cruel process of job hunting.So it began, “Hello sir, welcome to our company, to begin why don’t you tell me about yourself”. And then, one after the other, those job interview questions kept raining on me while I was trying to answer them to the best of my knowledge and the advice of friends, books and “gurus” (all of them, by the way, disagreeing with each other on HOW those job interview questions should be tackled!).“Well that would be it for today sir, thank you for coming to meet us. We’ll get back to you shortly with our feedback”.Not too long after,
One of the criticisms of list-building programs is that everyone is trying to sell--no one is interested in buying. But if you do it right (build trust, offer value, develop relationships) other home business entrepreneurs can be your best customers, distributors, or business partners.
Think about your own businesses: Did you learn about your opportunity, products, or services from another affiliate or network marketer? I bet the answer is "yes" for at least some of the products or services you promote.
If you are able to promote Desktop Lightning to a mailing list or via advertising and you are patient and persistent about it, it could prove to be a great way to build a targeted list of home-based business entrepreneurs with whom you communicate much easier than if you had to rely on email.
Who should not purchase Desktop Lightning?
If you don't already have an ezine or blog or web site and you know very little about Internet marketing such that even free advertising on traffic exchanges is something you're hesitant to do, then you'll probably want to hold off on Desktop Lightning.
You can use Desktop Lightning for free but I don't recommend it, mainly because you miss out on the "Platinum Bonus" feature, wherein you can send messages to 57 randomly selected members twice a week.
Purchasing Tip
If you decide to sign up for Desktop Lightning, immediately after entering your information--you register for the free program first--you will see a page with a one-time offer to lock in a discounted price ($14.99 per month) for the Platinum version.
Unlike a lot of "one-time offers" which seem to last forever, the publishers of DesktopLightning are actually serious about this offer. If you close that page and go back even minutes later wanting to upgrade, the price will have gone up to $19.99 per month.
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