One of the most common things I see other network marketing owners forget is the word ‘marketing.’ Seems kind of silly, especially since it’s called network ‘marketing’, but it seems to be the most common problem for people seeking to grow their new business. Marketing must be an integral part of your business’ growth plan. Without a good marketing plan you’re not very likely to sell much of your product, or attract new associates.

To keep up with the constantly changing world of marketing you should always be reading new books and blogs, as well as listening to the best podcasts out there.

Reading new books is the easy part, especially if you’ve decided to join BookWise. The BookWise store has plenty of marketing/sales books available for purchase. And don’t forget about using your local library if your on a budget.

Blogs are another great source of freely available marketing advice. There are many out there, and some have some very experimental advice, while others stick to mainstream marketing. Personally I’m into blogs that integrate social networking and marketing advice for the new media age. Here are a few that I recommend you add to your reading list:

1. [chrisbrogan.com]
2. Conversation Agent
3. Self Made Chick
4. Seth Godin
5. Skelliewag.org
6. Social Media Marketing
7. The Jeff Pulver Blog
8. ThinkBlogger

There are also a few podcasts that focus on new media and marketing and you can download the MP3s for your portable media player of choice, or just listen to them online. I recommend listening to the following regularly as they are full of great advice about personal branding and how to use today’s new media tools to market yourself:

1. Managing the Gray
2. Marketing Over Coffee
3. Six Pixels of Separation
   

What I especially like about the resources I have listed here is that they have nothing to do with network marketing. Sometimes thinking outside of your business’ typical sphere of influence can give you ideas you never would have thought of. Don’t get yourself trapped into thinking you have to do everything the way your upline tells you to; you might miss a great tip if your only influenced by what everyone else is doing in network marketing.

If you have some great blogs or podcasts you’d like to share please leave a comment.