Business Building

Are You Willing To Give ‘Til It Hurts?

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I was just on the phone with my husband and we were talking about giving to others and how sometimes, it can come with a price. Sometimes that price may be time, sometimes it’s money, sometimes it’s sleep or whatever. There is a man who gave the ULTIMATE sacrifice…his LIFE…and so who are we to…well, I won’t go there, at least not here and now. But anyway…

I would be willing to bet that at some point in your life, you needed that extra helping hand or that extra hand-holding or that long time spent talking to you for whatever reason. It’s amazing how once we reach a successful point in our lives we forget that…we forget the sacrifices made on our behalves.

So in business… if we really…TRULY want to be successful, sometimes we may have to give until it hurts and not always want to take, take, take or look out for “A #1”. We may not feel like listening to Joe Blow’s sob story or we may not want to spend an hour on the phone helping someone understand something we’re trying to teach them.

I’m not saying that we will have to do this with EVERY single person we come across because we won’t! For example, some will not require a lot, just a basic “show me where to go/what to do” and they’re doing it! Also, those who never follow your instructions when you DO take the time to instruct them definitely do not merit too much more of your time after a while. Those who never take action on what you have helped them with…sometimes you have to just let them go or else they will drain you. But the bottom line is, there will be those who might take up a lot of your time and energy BUT…they are go-getters who once you tell them, they will take off and RUN with it and make you darned proud.

And yes, there are productive ways of helping people…sometimes it just NEEDS to be one-on-one but in those instances where it does not:

1. Do tutorial-based videos using a tool such as Camtasia to instruct a large group of people at one time

2. Do webinars and/or teleseminars or teleconferences to reach large amounts of people who may have the same needs all at once

3. Hold live events such as Meet-ups and other such gatherings for your local team members or prospects, again, to reach a large audience at once

4. Write articles, blog posts, and create Squidoo lenses and Hub Pages that give helpful advice, hints, tips, etc.

5. Get on live stream shows such as UStream and do a show where people can interact and ask you questions..set aside certain days/times to be live and available.

Those are just some ways to help others in a more effecient manner. But again, sometimes it WILL take doing a little personal one-on-one from time to time so be willing to make that sacrifice every now and then and if you ever find yourself feeling a little selfish and not wanting to do that, just reflect back to those who took the time to do it for YOU when you needed it!

Are You REALLY Building Relationships?

by Cherie King

Is THIS what you're doing to those you're "building relationships" with?

How many times have you read or heard marketers talk about “building relationships“? Usually they’re referring to the adding tons and tons of friends to various social networking groups and blasting their wares to them on a consistent basis as “relationship-building”.

But building relationships is NOT about merely acquiring thousands and thousands of friends, followers and the like and then hitting them from all angles with your opportunity – and this is PRECISELY what most people do!

Listen…one of the BEST pieces of advice I’ve ever received and that if you want to really succeed in this industry, you’ll heed to as well is:

“If 97% of marketers are failing miserably at having success in their business yet…97% of marketers are doing the exact same things, DO THE EXACT OPPOSITE of what they’re doing!”

So if the majority of those folks are using social media sites to do nothing (much) more than pitch, then you need to RUN, not walk, in the opposite direction and do what they’re NOT doing!

In order to REALLY build relationships with the people on social sites, you have to find ways to connect with them:

– Give away value-based information, videos, etc. (even if they’re not YOURS!)

– Send out inspiring quotes or motivational sayings

– Share things about yourself..showing your everyday, “I’m-not-JUST-a-salesperson/recruiter” side (but do NOT overdo this!)

– Actually take time to COMMUNICATE with some of them from time-t0-time. Someone says “Going out to dinner for my birthday today” and you so happen to see that message, send them a b-day greeting! If someone says they’re not feeling well, send a “Hope you’re feeling better soon!” message. Interact when and where you can!

-In the offline world with your TRUE warm market…don’t expect to call up Sally whom you haven’t spoken with in the last 2 years and start spouting off about “the wonderful opportunity/products” you’ve just been introduced to! Are you MAD? She’s going to look at that phone like…”What the…?!?”

Instead, send Sally a “thinking of you” card and NOTHING MORE!

Or give Sally a “I was thinking about you and wanted to call and see how you’re doing” call and NOTHING MORE!

Then talk to her or email her a couple more times and if Sally asks, “So what are you up to these days?” Then say something casual and see where it goes from there! If the opportunity does not present itself, wait until another time…but remember, the idea is to NOT bug friends and fam but either ask for referals or simply leave them alone and seek after more qualified prospects who actually WANT to know more.

Bottom line…building relationships takes time and it takes a gentle approach. If you are coming from a state of desperation, then more than likely you will never do this the correct way.

But if you come from a state and a mindset of GENUINELY wanting to help others (and sure, yourself too…but others first) then your relationship-building will go a much, MUCH longer way!

Are You Shooting Yourself In The Foot By Not Branding Yourself?

by Cherie King

Wow…I keep seeing people coming onto the Internet who are doing videos, sending out messages to social networking groups, etc. and they are always yapping on and on and on about their “SUPER-DEE-DUPER” company that they’re involved in and/or the products that company sells. Even down to their very domain name (if they have their own) and their video channel…they are branding the company all the way!

This is such a HUGE mistake!

“So Cherie, are you saying that we are not supposed to mention the company we’re involved in?”

No…not at all! What I’m saying is that, even if you are casually or occasionally mentioning your company in a video or a post, etc. that it should not be your main focus. YOU should be the main focus! Why?

Think about this for a moment…think about the company you’re involved in and in fact, just do a quick search on Google or on YouTube or any other searchable place online that may bring up results for that company name.

How many results do you see? A lot? A WHOLE lot? Exactly!

Now when other people are searching out that company, what is going to cause YOU to stand out? What is going to cause a person to choose to join YOU over the other gazillion folks promoting that very same company? If you do not brand yourself and position yourself to be a true leader who can teach others something…who can…LEAD them down the right road to success in that company, then yes…you are shooting yourself right in the foot!

So how can and should you brand yourself online?

First and foremost you need to be sure you have something of value to give to others (and NO I don’t mean your great company/product(s) either!) and you cannot do this unless you have invested in yourself (books, audio, etc)…in other words, EDUCATE YOURSELF!

Second, you need to get yourself out there to provide that value and you can do this through the various mediums available such as social networking sites (YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Squidoo, Hub Pages, etc.) as well as your blog

Third, make sure that you are branding YOU and not your company and one major way is through having your own domai n name and where applicable, forward that domain to your company-replicated website rather than promoting the outright URL given with that website.

There are more ways to brand yourself but these are just a few possible ways. But I guarantee that if you follow my advice, you will notice a great difference in your business!

The Right Way To Approach Your Warm Market

by Cherie King

So tell me… can you approach your warm market list without actually bugging and begging them?

Is it really possible to share your business and/or product information with the ones you love…the ones you know that know, love/like and trust you without causing them to screen your calls, “forget” to invite you over for Sunday dinner or just avoid you like the person coughing profusely on an airplane?

Of COURSE you can and here’s how:

– Do NOT approach them to try and convince them how great your new (or not-so-new) business/program is…
– Do NOT approach them to try and sell them the idea of why they “need” to be involved in a home-based business…
– Do NOT approach them to make them feel as though they “need” your products
– DO approach them in a more non-threatening way to merely say, “Hey Mom/Pop/Auntie/Friend…this is what I’ve been up to lately- then hand them a card or perhaps a brochure, but not the CD/DVD (at least not at this point – save it for when/if they actually ASK for more info)…
– DO ask them to either let you know if they ever have a need for such a thing or ask them to refer anyone they come across who may need what you have to offer

BTW…I know that most of you already know who your warm market is, but in the event that anyone reading this does not, your “warm market” consists of those you know and who know you. They can be your immediate family, extended family, friends, co-workers, church members, people you went to school with, neighbors, etc.

However, your warm market is also considered to be those you build relationships with right here on the internet through various mediums such as social media, your email list, etc.

So, when you approach your warm market the RIGHT way…you have a better chance at not having them run the other way, avoid/screen your phone calls or not invite you over for family dinner!

How To Create Lead Capture Pages – The Call To Action And Capture Form

by Cherie King

What is the primary job of the call-to-action and form of your lead capture page? Basically to tell your visitors exactly what it is you want them to do…and then give them the ability to do it!

You’ve sparked their curiosity with your headline, copy and bullets, now it’s time to bring it all home by getting them to fill out your form with their information. Don’t forget to add an “enticement” to sweeten the deal up a bit (free report, free course, video, free trial or consultation, etc.)

Don’t be too pushy and/or rude:
“Only an absolute idiot wouldn’t fill out the form below so enter your information NOW!”

But you don’t have to necessarily “beg” either:
“Please fill out my form, I promise you won’t be sorry so enter your info, pretty please?”

As for the form, in order to actually capture your visitor’s information (as well as a way to follow up with them), you need the lead capture form. There are many places you can get one from, but I highly recommend making sure you get one through a service that is professional and reliable such as the email follow-up service that I use.

More on that in another post so stay tuned!