Using Desktop Lightning to promote your business

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 owner whenever it receives a message via a small notification window in the lower right corner of your screen (similar to the Gmail notification tool). When you send messages you know that they will not be blocked by spam filters since they are delivered directly to the individuals desktop, not via an email program.

Professional Membership

Over time, Desktop Lightning 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 by-passing 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 it your message also goes out to an additional random group of 80 people which is being increase as total membership grows in the DesktopLightning system.

Thus, not only will your messages reach your downline members, but they will also reach a random group of 80 other members. This addition to the service (added on 11 OCT 06) makes the upgrade to Platinum definitely worth it in my opinion. Where else can you send a message directly to the desktops of 80 people who are already interested in Internet, affiliate, and / or network marketing? 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'm 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.

You will have to approach building a list with a tool like Desktop Lightning as a long-term process.

DesktopLightning has built in a couple of features that are designed to limit the number of messages any member receives to 14 per week. DesktopLightning explains the mathematical reason for this limit, if you are interested, but the main point is that even if you join a year 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 80 randomly selected Desktop Lightning members.


Recommendation

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. Keep in mind that if you choose the Platinum option, you will be able to send messages to 80 random members right from the beginning, even if you have not signed up a single downline member.

If you don't already have an ezine or newsletter or if online advertising via traffic exchanges, networking, PPC (pay-per-click) ads, etc. is not feasible for you, then you'll probably want to hold off on Desktop Lightning. You will want to gradually grow your downline so that you can establish rapport and trust with them and eventually have some of them join your business or otherwise benefit each other. The 80 random members you can send messages to as a Platinum member is a significant bonus but you wouldn't be sending messages to the same 80 people each week so it would be difficult to establish a working relationship with that "Platinum Bonus" group.

If you do try Desktop Lightning you can opt for the free version to see how it works and begin promoting it. However, I don't recommend this option because you would miss out on the "Platinum Bonus" feature that allows you to send messages to 80 random members twice a week.