Do you remember the old mimeograph machines?
I mean those ink filled drums that teachers used to create "copies" back in the day.
...and you'd turn the crank and turn the crank, and after a while, the purple copies were so faint, you'd have to create a new master to make more copies.
That's the problem with duplication in your direct sales business.
When a leader establishes a successful method of training, new verbiage for closing a sale, etc., instinctively, everyone on the team wants to duplicate that leader's success.
Trouble is, not every method will work for every person.
It's not your fault. You may have a different personality, a different kind of clientele, or a different attitude about the method being presented.
But when a downline leader takes that successful training and "tweaks it", they've essentially created a new "master".
And we're not duplicating the original anymore.
Are you feeling the sticky purple ink on your hands yet?
Duplication only works when you can effectively duplicate a successful SYSTEM.
Styles, approaches, and even verbiage won't always be effectively duplicated because everyone is unique - just like everyone else.
So stop trying to copy the inflection of your upline - and their posture, or their hairstyle (I'm not joking!). That's not what determines your success.
Duplicate the systems they're using - only if they're successful. Examine the processes they use - and determine how successful they are.
Next time, we'll talk about the darker side of duplication. OoooOooOOOOooooh. Just in time for Halloween.
Promote Yourself Without Being Pushy
On Saturday Night, I was party to the Annual Vampire Ball in my local community.
We all dress up like vampires and dance and carry on to support our local farmer's market. It's a good time for a good cause.
This year, we had 5 very talented bands performing. Voltaire was, of course, our returning headliner and while he wowed the crowed with his fun and entertaining songs, it's not him that I want to talk about.
Some of these groups just didn't have a clue how to promote themselves.
Here's what one band said during their set:
"um, yeah, we're (insert band name here). We've got a merch table in the back there if you're interested. Our website is: myspace.com/(band name) - if you want to learn more about the band."
There was more, but I hope you get the point. This very somber delivery (even if they were a goth band), didn't get people excited about what they had to offer. The fact is, they were probably one of the better sounding groups of the evening, and their marketing was awful.
In fact, when they were on stage no one danced, and most people were making a beeline for the bar instead of their merchandise table.
How could they improve? Here are some basics that anyone should consider to help promote themselves without beng seen as pushy:
1. get a domain name. Telling people you're on myspace only makes you look less comitted. Voltaire has a very active myspace page, but he still has his own domain name. If you're not keen on maintaining to web spaces, just re-direct the domain name to the myspace page. That way pople are typing in "bandname.com" rather than a longer myspace url (or facebook, or twitter, etc).
2. be enthusiastic about your work. If you've got product to sell ("merch" in the music world), you can be proud of the fact without being pushy. Instead of "hey, we've got a table full of merchandise in the back for you to look at" try this:
"If you really liked that song, it's on our XYZ album that you an purchase in the back of the room. There's also a ton of other groovy stuff and we'll even sign it for you when our sets done."
You're still telling people yo've got a merch table. You're also giving them two good reasons to come to the table - a personal autograph, and a way to purchase the song they just heard.
3. Interact with the people. If all you do is stand in a corner (or in the green room) until it's your turn to give your presentation, you're missing out on the opportunity to connect with your audience, and learn what they're all about. While the other bands were manning their merch tables both before and after their sets, this band was barely around - in fact because they drove from so far away, they were a little late in arriving.
4. Professionalism pays. Because they were tardy, they started off the evening on the wrong foot with not only the promoters, but the other bands because they appeared to be scrambling to get ready for sound check. The doors actually opened a few minutes late to the event, which is always a disappointment. When it's your job to be on time, even when you're coming from miles away, you need to do everything in your power to make it happen. The apparently apathetic response from this band about their tardiness did not go over well. We all know things happen, so take respnsibility and apologize for it. A response of "yeah, well we drove all the way here from the other side of the country" isn't good enough. To repeat that in your concert to the audience only makes you look unprofessional.
Scott Stratten talks about "pull and stay" marketing - the idea of engaging your potential customers clients in a way that draws the in, rather than leaving them with a half-hearted attempt at offering your wares.
You can make a person want to know more - want what you have to offer - without beating them over the head OR being apathetic about it. It begins by sharing your enthusiasm.
We all dress up like vampires and dance and carry on to support our local farmer's market. It's a good time for a good cause.
This year, we had 5 very talented bands performing. Voltaire was, of course, our returning headliner and while he wowed the crowed with his fun and entertaining songs, it's not him that I want to talk about.
Some of these groups just didn't have a clue how to promote themselves.
Here's what one band said during their set:
"um, yeah, we're (insert band name here). We've got a merch table in the back there if you're interested. Our website is: myspace.com/(band name) - if you want to learn more about the band."
There was more, but I hope you get the point. This very somber delivery (even if they were a goth band), didn't get people excited about what they had to offer. The fact is, they were probably one of the better sounding groups of the evening, and their marketing was awful.
In fact, when they were on stage no one danced, and most people were making a beeline for the bar instead of their merchandise table.
How could they improve? Here are some basics that anyone should consider to help promote themselves without beng seen as pushy:
1. get a domain name. Telling people you're on myspace only makes you look less comitted. Voltaire has a very active myspace page, but he still has his own domain name. If you're not keen on maintaining to web spaces, just re-direct the domain name to the myspace page. That way pople are typing in "bandname.com" rather than a longer myspace url (or facebook, or twitter, etc).
2. be enthusiastic about your work. If you've got product to sell ("merch" in the music world), you can be proud of the fact without being pushy. Instead of "hey, we've got a table full of merchandise in the back for you to look at" try this:
"If you really liked that song, it's on our XYZ album that you an purchase in the back of the room. There's also a ton of other groovy stuff and we'll even sign it for you when our sets done."
You're still telling people yo've got a merch table. You're also giving them two good reasons to come to the table - a personal autograph, and a way to purchase the song they just heard.
3. Interact with the people. If all you do is stand in a corner (or in the green room) until it's your turn to give your presentation, you're missing out on the opportunity to connect with your audience, and learn what they're all about. While the other bands were manning their merch tables both before and after their sets, this band was barely around - in fact because they drove from so far away, they were a little late in arriving.
4. Professionalism pays. Because they were tardy, they started off the evening on the wrong foot with not only the promoters, but the other bands because they appeared to be scrambling to get ready for sound check. The doors actually opened a few minutes late to the event, which is always a disappointment. When it's your job to be on time, even when you're coming from miles away, you need to do everything in your power to make it happen. The apparently apathetic response from this band about their tardiness did not go over well. We all know things happen, so take respnsibility and apologize for it. A response of "yeah, well we drove all the way here from the other side of the country" isn't good enough. To repeat that in your concert to the audience only makes you look unprofessional.
Scott Stratten talks about "pull and stay" marketing - the idea of engaging your potential customers clients in a way that draws the in, rather than leaving them with a half-hearted attempt at offering your wares.
You can make a person want to know more - want what you have to offer - without beating them over the head OR being apathetic about it. It begins by sharing your enthusiasm.
Free or freebie? There is a difference.
In marketing, we talk about the power of the word "Free"
One of my Direct Sales Leaders was oft found telling her teams "People love 'Free stuff'" in an effort to generate a feeding frenzy at parties. "They don't even care what it is, as long as it's free."
Um. No.
There was a time when you could give away your business card with a coupon on the back of it for 10% off their next purchase, and people got giddy.
That bird has flown.
Free has been reduced to a watered down, hackneyed attemp on the part of almost everyone to get your contact info, pawn off old junk, or avoid the real work of coming up with something really valuable.
Freebies are those little "goodies" of insignificant value that people give willy nilly to their clients, potential clients, hair dresser, bell hop, flight attendant, and your uncle's brother's nephew's cousin on your great grandpappy's side.
Everybody gets 'em, and very few people really want them. They accept them, offer a cordial "thanks!" and you think you've done a good deed for the day - or worse, that they've just invited you to share about your income opportunity for the next 45 minutes.
Stop it.
Free is a value proposition. Free doesn't have to be expensive. It DOES have to be valuable.
Free will cost you something. More often than not, it's not the monetary investment, but the time or effort expended to make, develop or acquire the valueable free item in the first place.
For example, when you're creating an opt-in offer, be sure that the person would be willing to PAY for whatever you're giving away. An ebook full of recipes is nice, but include a special, exclusive recipe that they can't find just doing a google search. Yeah, it takes a little effort. But the effort you invest on the front end will pay you back many times over.
There's a big hullabaloo going on right now that because so many people are giving away "free stuff" that you're watering down your value. Forget it.
If the only value you have is in whatever you're giving away, you've missed the boat. The idea is to give people a valuable taste of what you have to offer so that they want more. You've heard me talk about creating a customer "crack addiction" before. The idea that people get a taste,and can't get enough of you. That's how it's supposed to be.
But if you're getting a bunch of "tire-kicking, freebie seekers", maybe you need to look at the value of what you provide.
If you know you've got a quality product or service, the next thing to look at is the market you're targeting.
You don't have to plaster the word "FREE" all over your website 8 gajillion times. Emphasise the value of what you offer, rather than the fact that it's free. I'm sure your perfect fit customer isn't a freebie seeker - so why market to them?
There's a difference between free and freebie. The value makes the difference.
One of my Direct Sales Leaders was oft found telling her teams "People love 'Free stuff'" in an effort to generate a feeding frenzy at parties. "They don't even care what it is, as long as it's free."
Um. No.
There was a time when you could give away your business card with a coupon on the back of it for 10% off their next purchase, and people got giddy.
That bird has flown.
Free has been reduced to a watered down, hackneyed attemp on the part of almost everyone to get your contact info, pawn off old junk, or avoid the real work of coming up with something really valuable.
Freebies are those little "goodies" of insignificant value that people give willy nilly to their clients, potential clients, hair dresser, bell hop, flight attendant, and your uncle's brother's nephew's cousin on your great grandpappy's side.
Everybody gets 'em, and very few people really want them. They accept them, offer a cordial "thanks!" and you think you've done a good deed for the day - or worse, that they've just invited you to share about your income opportunity for the next 45 minutes.
Stop it.
Free is a value proposition. Free doesn't have to be expensive. It DOES have to be valuable.
Free will cost you something. More often than not, it's not the monetary investment, but the time or effort expended to make, develop or acquire the valueable free item in the first place.
For example, when you're creating an opt-in offer, be sure that the person would be willing to PAY for whatever you're giving away. An ebook full of recipes is nice, but include a special, exclusive recipe that they can't find just doing a google search. Yeah, it takes a little effort. But the effort you invest on the front end will pay you back many times over.
There's a big hullabaloo going on right now that because so many people are giving away "free stuff" that you're watering down your value. Forget it.
If the only value you have is in whatever you're giving away, you've missed the boat. The idea is to give people a valuable taste of what you have to offer so that they want more. You've heard me talk about creating a customer "crack addiction" before. The idea that people get a taste,and can't get enough of you. That's how it's supposed to be.
But if you're getting a bunch of "tire-kicking, freebie seekers", maybe you need to look at the value of what you provide.
If you know you've got a quality product or service, the next thing to look at is the market you're targeting.
You don't have to plaster the word "FREE" all over your website 8 gajillion times. Emphasise the value of what you offer, rather than the fact that it's free. I'm sure your perfect fit customer isn't a freebie seeker - so why market to them?
There's a difference between free and freebie. The value makes the difference.
Why Blogging May NOT Be For You
When developing your online marketing stratey, ivariably, the questions of blogging come up.
"Should I or shouldn't I?"
"How often?"
"Is it profitable?"
"How do I monetize it?"
"Should I have more than one?"
And these are just a handful of questions I've been asked in the past.
I enjoy blogs and blogging. But blogging may not be for you.
Uh-oh, another rejection of online marketing strategies?
Naaahh... Just a reality check for people that suffer from shiny object syndrome.
In all seriousness, I think blogs are an important component in your online marketing arsenal - but only if you are ready for it.
Blogging takes time - believe it or not, blogging is one of the most mind-taxing social media strategies. There are ways to minimize the time investment, and we'll talk about that in my 12-week challenge program, but even so, there's a time committment involved to write/edit/review posts and respond to comments.
While I'm a big fan of blogs and encourage people to start with a blog instead of a website, there are times when this just doesn't make sense.
Blogging takes consistency - people that are following your blog will be looking for your posts on a regular basis. If you're unable to post consistently, people stop following your blog.
That doesn't mean you have to post every day - and you can win back some of your readership if you get back on the posting wagon. It means that whatever you choose to do, you need to be consistent about it. More frequent posters will have more frequent readers - and the faster you can build rapport with our readership, the sooner you can build the bridge from online acquaintance to business partnership - which is the whole point of doing this in the first place, right?
Well, not exactly, but I'll share about that in another post.
Blogging takes quality content - this is a non-negotiable. Regardless of the frequency or even the topic, there's got to be quality information in every post you make. You can post once a month with killer content and people will look forward to that post all month long. But if all you're posting is "my company's the best thing since sliced bread", you'll turn off readers faster than "The Clapper".
And no, it doesn't need to be perfect content - grammatically excellent, without a single spelling error - but you should strive for perfection.
When you see an error (or someone points it out to you), correct it. We all know nobody's perfect. It takes a level of integrity to acknowledge our mistakes, correct them and beome a better person in the process.
Blogging needs an "end game" - blogging for bloggin's sake isn't a bad thing - and it's done frequently. Blogging for business, however, needs to have a desired end result. It could be a call to action at teh end of the post, a newsletter opt-in on the blog itself, or links within the post copy. There's got to be a reason for all this blogging - and the more transparent you are, the less it looks like you have something to hide.
So when you're contemplating adding blogging to your online marketing strategy, consider the issues above. Not sure your'e ready for a full-blown blog? Try a micro-blogging platform like Twitter. It's a great place to get your feet wet in the meantime.
"Should I or shouldn't I?"
"How often?"
"Is it profitable?"
"How do I monetize it?"
"Should I have more than one?"
And these are just a handful of questions I've been asked in the past.
I enjoy blogs and blogging. But blogging may not be for you.
Uh-oh, another rejection of online marketing strategies?
Naaahh... Just a reality check for people that suffer from shiny object syndrome.
In all seriousness, I think blogs are an important component in your online marketing arsenal - but only if you are ready for it.
Blogging takes time - believe it or not, blogging is one of the most mind-taxing social media strategies. There are ways to minimize the time investment, and we'll talk about that in my 12-week challenge program, but even so, there's a time committment involved to write/edit/review posts and respond to comments.
While I'm a big fan of blogs and encourage people to start with a blog instead of a website, there are times when this just doesn't make sense.
Blogging takes consistency - people that are following your blog will be looking for your posts on a regular basis. If you're unable to post consistently, people stop following your blog.
That doesn't mean you have to post every day - and you can win back some of your readership if you get back on the posting wagon. It means that whatever you choose to do, you need to be consistent about it. More frequent posters will have more frequent readers - and the faster you can build rapport with our readership, the sooner you can build the bridge from online acquaintance to business partnership - which is the whole point of doing this in the first place, right?
Well, not exactly, but I'll share about that in another post.
Blogging takes quality content - this is a non-negotiable. Regardless of the frequency or even the topic, there's got to be quality information in every post you make. You can post once a month with killer content and people will look forward to that post all month long. But if all you're posting is "my company's the best thing since sliced bread", you'll turn off readers faster than "The Clapper".
And no, it doesn't need to be perfect content - grammatically excellent, without a single spelling error - but you should strive for perfection.
When you see an error (or someone points it out to you), correct it. We all know nobody's perfect. It takes a level of integrity to acknowledge our mistakes, correct them and beome a better person in the process.
Blogging needs an "end game" - blogging for bloggin's sake isn't a bad thing - and it's done frequently. Blogging for business, however, needs to have a desired end result. It could be a call to action at teh end of the post, a newsletter opt-in on the blog itself, or links within the post copy. There's got to be a reason for all this blogging - and the more transparent you are, the less it looks like you have something to hide.
So when you're contemplating adding blogging to your online marketing strategy, consider the issues above. Not sure your'e ready for a full-blown blog? Try a micro-blogging platform like Twitter. It's a great place to get your feet wet in the meantime.
Never juggle alone
So I actually did a little research for this post:
I watched a handful of juggling videos on YouTube. As a kid, I had to learn how to juggle for science class. We started with one ball, which was incredibly boring, but we had to demonstrate mastery before we could move on to juggling two balls... and then three.
Fortunately, three was our limit. We just had to be able to prove we could keep three balls in motion for a preiod of time. And for as great of a multi-tasker I've become, it was not easy to keep three balls in the air in 7th grade.
So imagine my surprise when I found 5 ball forced juggling, 4, 6 and 8 object jugglers!
And it got me to thinking about how many responsibilities we, as business owners have in our daily routines.
And along comes online marketing, and "you want me to add ANOTHER ball to my juggling routine?"
I hear you.
I selected this video for two reasons - and I hope you watch it to the end. If you watch, for the most part, no one is ever responsible for more than 3 or 4 objects at one time - there are lots of items in the air, but each team member really only has to focus on their piece of the pie.
The other reason is that if you watch to the end you see where they actually DROP something. Now this was planned for effect, and if you watch, it's all done "on the beat" to the music and set up so that it times out perfectly with the end. Even there, you'll note that more than one person is throwing things at the catcher - no ONE person is responsible for everything.
In small business - particularly in direct sales, we feel like we've got to go it alone in and do it ourselves. That's the surest way to stay small in your industry.
That doesn't mean hire a bunch of elves to handle your tasks. It DOES mean seek out competent, qualified help - even if it's only on a project basis, to help free up your time to focus on the essential activities that MUST be done by you and only you.
Maybe you need a VA or one of your kids to help with loading/packing, shipping or customer follow up.
Run your business like a real business would and find excellent people to support you.
It's worth it in no uncertain terms.
With the right support team in place, you can have many many objects in the air, making it look incredibly difficult, and knowing all the while, that it's really simple if you stay focused on the part that's your responsibility.
I watched a handful of juggling videos on YouTube. As a kid, I had to learn how to juggle for science class. We started with one ball, which was incredibly boring, but we had to demonstrate mastery before we could move on to juggling two balls... and then three.
Fortunately, three was our limit. We just had to be able to prove we could keep three balls in motion for a preiod of time. And for as great of a multi-tasker I've become, it was not easy to keep three balls in the air in 7th grade.
So imagine my surprise when I found 5 ball forced juggling, 4, 6 and 8 object jugglers!
And it got me to thinking about how many responsibilities we, as business owners have in our daily routines.
And along comes online marketing, and "you want me to add ANOTHER ball to my juggling routine?"
I hear you.
I selected this video for two reasons - and I hope you watch it to the end. If you watch, for the most part, no one is ever responsible for more than 3 or 4 objects at one time - there are lots of items in the air, but each team member really only has to focus on their piece of the pie.
The other reason is that if you watch to the end you see where they actually DROP something. Now this was planned for effect, and if you watch, it's all done "on the beat" to the music and set up so that it times out perfectly with the end. Even there, you'll note that more than one person is throwing things at the catcher - no ONE person is responsible for everything.
In small business - particularly in direct sales, we feel like we've got to go it alone in and do it ourselves. That's the surest way to stay small in your industry.
That doesn't mean hire a bunch of elves to handle your tasks. It DOES mean seek out competent, qualified help - even if it's only on a project basis, to help free up your time to focus on the essential activities that MUST be done by you and only you.
Maybe you need a VA or one of your kids to help with loading/packing, shipping or customer follow up.
Run your business like a real business would and find excellent people to support you.
It's worth it in no uncertain terms.
With the right support team in place, you can have many many objects in the air, making it look incredibly difficult, and knowing all the while, that it's really simple if you stay focused on the part that's your responsibility.
No budget? No problem for real beginners
The tips I'm sharing in this post are not for people with an established web presence. This is purely for folks who have NOTHING online, and little to no cash to get started.
Boy does that sound hinky.
The purpose of the post is to answer a question posted on my 12 week challenge contest blog. Basically, how do I get SOMETHING going when I have no resources?
First think about the resources you DO have.
Sites like Office Live or Google sites will allow you to set up a basic bare bones website for free. It costs nothing.
Heck you can host your blog on blogger.com or wordpress.com - that's free too.
There are places like Morguefile.com where you cn get high-quality royalty-free images to use as well.
There's no excuse to NOT have soem kind of website.
What about an opt-in? even office live now has a makeshift otion to create a contact email management system. Not my favorite, but if you're totally broke, it's better than NO opt-in at all.
What about video? Windows moviemaker comes standard on most PC's now, and there are sites where you can create short videos for free. Just want to post informational videos? embed something from youtube.com
Seriously. You can create all of this from scratch for nothing. No hostng fees, nothing.
There's simply no excuse.
Now if you've got a budget (even a small one) there are other ideas - like a domain name that you OWN and can re-direct to your new site (that shouldn't cost more than $10 from godaddy.com). Or web hosting so you can have more specialized content on your site (or to host your own customized blog).
Obviously the more money you have, the more options you have. But there are great, simple ways to get yourself online in a professional manner for FREE.
Yes, there may be a gazillion other people out there using the same blog template as I do, but it's free, it works, and I get traffic. THAT'S what matters most. It prevents analysis paralysis because blogger only has a few dozen templates from which you can choose. And you don't need to obsess over how it looks - you need to obsess over getting things going!
I hope that clears up the "I can't afford it" issue. EVERYONE can afford (and should have) a website of some sort that markets THEM (not their product). The 12 week challenge will spend a whole session on building a website and step-by-step help on how to make it happen.
We start October 26. Are you signed up? There are only a handful of seats remaining!
http://www.homepartysolution.com/12weeks
Hope to see you there!
Boy does that sound hinky.
The purpose of the post is to answer a question posted on my 12 week challenge contest blog. Basically, how do I get SOMETHING going when I have no resources?
First think about the resources you DO have.
Sites like Office Live or Google sites will allow you to set up a basic bare bones website for free. It costs nothing.
Heck you can host your blog on blogger.com or wordpress.com - that's free too.
There are places like Morguefile.com where you cn get high-quality royalty-free images to use as well.
There's no excuse to NOT have soem kind of website.
What about an opt-in? even office live now has a makeshift otion to create a contact email management system. Not my favorite, but if you're totally broke, it's better than NO opt-in at all.
What about video? Windows moviemaker comes standard on most PC's now, and there are sites where you can create short videos for free. Just want to post informational videos? embed something from youtube.com
Seriously. You can create all of this from scratch for nothing. No hostng fees, nothing.
There's simply no excuse.
Now if you've got a budget (even a small one) there are other ideas - like a domain name that you OWN and can re-direct to your new site (that shouldn't cost more than $10 from godaddy.com). Or web hosting so you can have more specialized content on your site (or to host your own customized blog).
Obviously the more money you have, the more options you have. But there are great, simple ways to get yourself online in a professional manner for FREE.
Yes, there may be a gazillion other people out there using the same blog template as I do, but it's free, it works, and I get traffic. THAT'S what matters most. It prevents analysis paralysis because blogger only has a few dozen templates from which you can choose. And you don't need to obsess over how it looks - you need to obsess over getting things going!
I hope that clears up the "I can't afford it" issue. EVERYONE can afford (and should have) a website of some sort that markets THEM (not their product). The 12 week challenge will spend a whole session on building a website and step-by-step help on how to make it happen.
We start October 26. Are you signed up? There are only a handful of seats remaining!
http://www.homepartysolution.com/12weeks
Hope to see you there!
The Big Winners: 12 week challenge contest
Okay, This was a lot harder than I thought!
There were a bunch of entries I had to hand submit near the end of the contest, but I got them all in.
I then used the random number generator at Random.org to draw the numbers (based on the order you were posted on my blog). Remember, you had to post AND sign up on the mailing list so that I could track your entry.
Here are the winners (as you posted to the blog):
The following posts win a Free 30 minute marketing strategy session with me ($175 real value):
Bert
brenda
vicki
ivette
Karen (post #15)
Alva
Karen (post #4)
Hariette
Jo C
Colorado Chocolatier
5 winners of FREE access to my 12 week challenge program:
Lorian
Pure Romance Holly
Shawnasie
Tamera James
Donna Young
Grand Prize winner - the 30 minute strategy session AND FREE access to my 12 week challenge program:
Michelle Hostetter
Congratulations to everyone that entered! An email will be going out tomorrow to all the entrants with details on how to claim your prizes.
This was so much fun - and informational. Look for further updates on my blog as we answer the very questions you posed for growing your business online.
There were a bunch of entries I had to hand submit near the end of the contest, but I got them all in.
I then used the random number generator at Random.org to draw the numbers (based on the order you were posted on my blog). Remember, you had to post AND sign up on the mailing list so that I could track your entry.
Here are the winners (as you posted to the blog):
The following posts win a Free 30 minute marketing strategy session with me ($175 real value):
Bert
brenda
vicki
ivette
Karen (post #15)
Alva
Karen (post #4)
Hariette
Jo C
Colorado Chocolatier
5 winners of FREE access to my 12 week challenge program:
Lorian
Pure Romance Holly
Shawnasie
Tamera James
Donna Young
Grand Prize winner - the 30 minute strategy session AND FREE access to my 12 week challenge program:
Michelle Hostetter
Congratulations to everyone that entered! An email will be going out tomorrow to all the entrants with details on how to claim your prizes.
This was so much fun - and informational. Look for further updates on my blog as we answer the very questions you posed for growing your business online.
Trials, Tribulations and Thinking Big
"Failure is not an option." - Apollo 13, the movie
After an exhausting, inspiring, emotional, exciting, thrilling weekend with my mastermind - the first time we've all been together in the same place - my head is so filled with brainstorms, that you'd think there's a natural disaster going on in my head.
But I mean that in a good way.
As I sit here, picking the random numbers for my winners in my 12 week challenge, that quote came to my mind. It wasn't really said by anyone during the original Apollo 13 mission, but was the tag line for and one of the memorable quotes from the Ron Howard movie.
Ironically, it occurred to me that my whole life has used that phrase as a tag line.
I've been through a lot of "concentrated living" as someone once remarked to me. I was in my 20's at the time, and I've concentrated a lot more living in the decade or so since.
Maybe it's because of a childhood on welfare where my mom was able to make something from nothing every day. No one I know could make a dollar go farther - except maybe HER mom. Maybe it' just a strong work ethic that my Dad drilled into my head.
Whatever the source, I've never seen ultimate failure as an option.
There's a difference between intermedate and ultimate failure though, and this is where I've been stuck for a while.
See, not everything I do is a success - a shock, I know. :-)
In reality, not everything turns out as you would dream it. I have learned to define this as "intermediate failure". You know, kind of like "everything turns out good in the end, and if it's not good, it's not the end yet".
So if I'm not finding success at something instead of seeing myself at a failure point, I choose to renegotiate, reconnoiter, or navigate into a new direction that will ultimately bring me to success.
I hope that makes sense.
So for me, failure has never been an option, just a pit stop on the way to success.
People have remarked - "I don't know how you do it", "I don't know how you have come through so much, done so much, etc."
I just didn't see any other way. I don't think I knew failure was an option.
You can't quit when you fall off the horse. You get up, dust off, and get back on.
You can't quit when the bike tips over. You get up, dust off, and start pedaling again.
Perhaps it's persistance, determination. Who knows? The easiest way to look at it is that you choose to exclude failure as a permanent, ultimate option.
At least that's what I've learned this weekend. My business has evolved from throwing spaghetti on a wall, to a clearly defined objective. And even in that, I've discovered that there was even more clarity to be had.
And clarity makes all things new.
Forgive me if I sound a bit cryptic today. I'm tired, but excited about everything that's on the horizon for my business this year. With a cadre of amazing, brilliant women standing at the ready to celebrate and support me (and I them), there are so many options and possibilities for me now that I only imagined might have existed.
Clarity is transformative.
When you hit a wall, what do you do? Where do you stand? Are you so close to the wall that you can't tell the dimensions? Can't find a way around? Look behind you, or above you, or along the wall in one direction of the other.
Or call out for help.
Or start digging.
Or send up smoke signals.
Mark Joyner talks about "hitting it until you hit it". It's the same idea.
The means may not always bring about your desired end, but there's ALWAYS a option.
...And failure doesn't have to be one of them.
After an exhausting, inspiring, emotional, exciting, thrilling weekend with my mastermind - the first time we've all been together in the same place - my head is so filled with brainstorms, that you'd think there's a natural disaster going on in my head.
But I mean that in a good way.
As I sit here, picking the random numbers for my winners in my 12 week challenge, that quote came to my mind. It wasn't really said by anyone during the original Apollo 13 mission, but was the tag line for and one of the memorable quotes from the Ron Howard movie.
Ironically, it occurred to me that my whole life has used that phrase as a tag line.
I've been through a lot of "concentrated living" as someone once remarked to me. I was in my 20's at the time, and I've concentrated a lot more living in the decade or so since.
Maybe it's because of a childhood on welfare where my mom was able to make something from nothing every day. No one I know could make a dollar go farther - except maybe HER mom. Maybe it' just a strong work ethic that my Dad drilled into my head.
Whatever the source, I've never seen ultimate failure as an option.
There's a difference between intermedate and ultimate failure though, and this is where I've been stuck for a while.
See, not everything I do is a success - a shock, I know. :-)
In reality, not everything turns out as you would dream it. I have learned to define this as "intermediate failure". You know, kind of like "everything turns out good in the end, and if it's not good, it's not the end yet".
So if I'm not finding success at something instead of seeing myself at a failure point, I choose to renegotiate, reconnoiter, or navigate into a new direction that will ultimately bring me to success.
I hope that makes sense.
So for me, failure has never been an option, just a pit stop on the way to success.
People have remarked - "I don't know how you do it", "I don't know how you have come through so much, done so much, etc."
I just didn't see any other way. I don't think I knew failure was an option.
You can't quit when you fall off the horse. You get up, dust off, and get back on.
You can't quit when the bike tips over. You get up, dust off, and start pedaling again.
Perhaps it's persistance, determination. Who knows? The easiest way to look at it is that you choose to exclude failure as a permanent, ultimate option.
At least that's what I've learned this weekend. My business has evolved from throwing spaghetti on a wall, to a clearly defined objective. And even in that, I've discovered that there was even more clarity to be had.
And clarity makes all things new.
Forgive me if I sound a bit cryptic today. I'm tired, but excited about everything that's on the horizon for my business this year. With a cadre of amazing, brilliant women standing at the ready to celebrate and support me (and I them), there are so many options and possibilities for me now that I only imagined might have existed.
Clarity is transformative.
When you hit a wall, what do you do? Where do you stand? Are you so close to the wall that you can't tell the dimensions? Can't find a way around? Look behind you, or above you, or along the wall in one direction of the other.
Or call out for help.
Or start digging.
Or send up smoke signals.
Mark Joyner talks about "hitting it until you hit it". It's the same idea.
The means may not always bring about your desired end, but there's ALWAYS a option.
...And failure doesn't have to be one of them.
Clone myself? 'tis Possible
When I wrote Home Party Solution, it was an accident.
It began as my blueprint and strategy map for building my online direct sales empire. It worked, and as I shared it with other people, I developed a new business - coaching - that was marketed in the exact same way, using the exact same strategies I had learned and implemented in my direct sales business.
It would appear I'm modeling duplication without much effort. And I'm about to do it again in a new arena, for a particular small business market. It's a happy-scared feeling that defies real description.
Today's very cathartic experience in Mastermind led me to a new discovery - that duplication isn't just a one time thing. Nor is it a one market thing.
In fact, this 12 week challenge is just a broadening of my horizons in some respects. I'll be walking direct sellers and small business owners alike through this process - the same process I've used to double my income and increase my profitability each year since I first started "playing" with it.
This is where my threshhold of belief is being raised big time.
I knew this was an event that was on a scale far larger than anything I'd done before. And as we move from vision to execution tomorrow, I'm eager to see how everything will shakeout.
There's lots of goodies on the horizon, and lots of new adventures on the road.
Right now, I'm beat, though. Looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out in the morning.
It began as my blueprint and strategy map for building my online direct sales empire. It worked, and as I shared it with other people, I developed a new business - coaching - that was marketed in the exact same way, using the exact same strategies I had learned and implemented in my direct sales business.
It would appear I'm modeling duplication without much effort. And I'm about to do it again in a new arena, for a particular small business market. It's a happy-scared feeling that defies real description.
Today's very cathartic experience in Mastermind led me to a new discovery - that duplication isn't just a one time thing. Nor is it a one market thing.
In fact, this 12 week challenge is just a broadening of my horizons in some respects. I'll be walking direct sellers and small business owners alike through this process - the same process I've used to double my income and increase my profitability each year since I first started "playing" with it.
This is where my threshhold of belief is being raised big time.
I knew this was an event that was on a scale far larger than anything I'd done before. And as we move from vision to execution tomorrow, I'm eager to see how everything will shakeout.
There's lots of goodies on the horizon, and lots of new adventures on the road.
Right now, I'm beat, though. Looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out in the morning.
Strategic Planning: A Gift and a Skill
So I'm getting out of the shower Saturday morning, and the phone rings.
At 6:30am. Highly unusual in my home.
It's my sister. She lives in Arizona, so it was 3:30 in the morning where she was.
Had she not been so pleasant, I would have thought the world was on fire.
She called just to catch up, see what's shakin' and share a little news in her life. She didn't know I was packing to get on a plane to D.C.
My sister works for an incredibly wonderful company and one of the highlights of the year was the fact that she exceeded corporate expectations by 132%.
So not only did she reach the goals attained by her company, she blew them out of the water.
And after I complimented her work ethic, I quickly joked that she just made it that much more difficult for herself the next year.
Then with all seriousness she revealed her strategic vision for the next 5 years - which didn't include staying in her current position as a sales rep. We talked about management opportunities and things she'd like to pursue - all of which are still on the table - and she laid out a definitive vision of how she'd like the next few years to go.
In that moment, it occurred to me that my sister has an incredible gift of foresight.
She worked at AOL (I can say this now) during a time of "save the customer no matter what" and could see there was no profitability in that. She got out just before her head own was on the chopping block - and she was one of the top performers in her facility, probably in the country!
She's always been two steps ahead (at least) when planning her career moves, and every time, her focus and determination have put her head and shoulders above everyone else in her organization.
As her sister, I'm uber proud. As a business owner, I'm impressed with her gift of vision and skill for strategic planning.
As a coach, I want to convey the lesson clearly to all of you: You can't sit comfortably. Ever. Even if you're outperforming your colleagues and besting your own performance by 130%, you can't rest on your laurels.
You need to have a vision for yourself, your life, your future.
Most people don't get into direct sales thinking they're going to be at the top of the food chain someday. Oh sure, they may win some recognition, earn a few incentive trips, but the real, underlying reason for direct sales has nothing to do with being a direct seller.
We have some kind of vision for our lives and see Direct Sales as the vehicle to take us there.
This is what I talk about when I talk about your "what" being more powerful than your "why".
Behind it all is some kind of vision of what you want your life to be like. How you see everything shaking out in the next few years - or at the end of your life, depending on how far out you plan.
I've learned that some people have an amazing GIFT for forethought and planning. It just comes naturally.
I've also learned that while my sister excels with the gift, I have learned the SKILL.
It's work for me to plan. I have to think and process and sift out tons of ideas. My head gets so cloudy with all the "what if"s and bright ideas that it's hard to see the forest for the trees - that's one of the reasons for this Mastermind planning session. To help us clear out and focus on the ideas that are most impacftul and significant to ourselves and our businesses. And while you're reading this, I'll be heavy duty in the thick of it.
Once I get clear, as I'm sure is the case for most people, the planning almost takes care of itself.
So to all of you that say "I'm no good at planning", I offer myself as the poster child of the unbalanced checkbook - even though I was a licensed financial planner, and the person who was voted most likely to succeed - and still feels the pressure of an unkept home.
This year I've already doubled my income - and tripled my profitability (probably quadrupled, but I don't have the final numbers for the year yet). And you can talk income all day long - it's the profit that counts. The key to all of that is clarity, focus and planning.
But as Robert Frost would say, I still have "miles to go before I sleep". With strategy and planning, I too will leave this weekend with a forward look into how I want my life to be - instead of letting life happen to my business and to me.
Eat your heart out, sister mine!
At 6:30am. Highly unusual in my home.
It's my sister. She lives in Arizona, so it was 3:30 in the morning where she was.
Had she not been so pleasant, I would have thought the world was on fire.
She called just to catch up, see what's shakin' and share a little news in her life. She didn't know I was packing to get on a plane to D.C.
My sister works for an incredibly wonderful company and one of the highlights of the year was the fact that she exceeded corporate expectations by 132%.
So not only did she reach the goals attained by her company, she blew them out of the water.
And after I complimented her work ethic, I quickly joked that she just made it that much more difficult for herself the next year.
Then with all seriousness she revealed her strategic vision for the next 5 years - which didn't include staying in her current position as a sales rep. We talked about management opportunities and things she'd like to pursue - all of which are still on the table - and she laid out a definitive vision of how she'd like the next few years to go.
In that moment, it occurred to me that my sister has an incredible gift of foresight.
She worked at AOL (I can say this now) during a time of "save the customer no matter what" and could see there was no profitability in that. She got out just before her head own was on the chopping block - and she was one of the top performers in her facility, probably in the country!
She's always been two steps ahead (at least) when planning her career moves, and every time, her focus and determination have put her head and shoulders above everyone else in her organization.
As her sister, I'm uber proud. As a business owner, I'm impressed with her gift of vision and skill for strategic planning.
As a coach, I want to convey the lesson clearly to all of you: You can't sit comfortably. Ever. Even if you're outperforming your colleagues and besting your own performance by 130%, you can't rest on your laurels.
You need to have a vision for yourself, your life, your future.
Most people don't get into direct sales thinking they're going to be at the top of the food chain someday. Oh sure, they may win some recognition, earn a few incentive trips, but the real, underlying reason for direct sales has nothing to do with being a direct seller.
We have some kind of vision for our lives and see Direct Sales as the vehicle to take us there.
This is what I talk about when I talk about your "what" being more powerful than your "why".
Behind it all is some kind of vision of what you want your life to be like. How you see everything shaking out in the next few years - or at the end of your life, depending on how far out you plan.
I've learned that some people have an amazing GIFT for forethought and planning. It just comes naturally.
I've also learned that while my sister excels with the gift, I have learned the SKILL.
It's work for me to plan. I have to think and process and sift out tons of ideas. My head gets so cloudy with all the "what if"s and bright ideas that it's hard to see the forest for the trees - that's one of the reasons for this Mastermind planning session. To help us clear out and focus on the ideas that are most impacftul and significant to ourselves and our businesses. And while you're reading this, I'll be heavy duty in the thick of it.
Once I get clear, as I'm sure is the case for most people, the planning almost takes care of itself.
So to all of you that say "I'm no good at planning", I offer myself as the poster child of the unbalanced checkbook - even though I was a licensed financial planner, and the person who was voted most likely to succeed - and still feels the pressure of an unkept home.
This year I've already doubled my income - and tripled my profitability (probably quadrupled, but I don't have the final numbers for the year yet). And you can talk income all day long - it's the profit that counts. The key to all of that is clarity, focus and planning.
But as Robert Frost would say, I still have "miles to go before I sleep". With strategy and planning, I too will leave this weekend with a forward look into how I want my life to be - instead of letting life happen to my business and to me.
Eat your heart out, sister mine!
The Power of the MasterMind
So today I'm hopping on a plane and heading to D.C.
Say a prayer for me for a safe flight, and for my husband for an uneventful week ahead.
This will be the first time since my son's health issues that I've left him alone with the kids. And I'm doing it again next month, too.
In my last few posts, I've talked about priorities and sacrifice. Today's Sweetest Day in the States, which is just another holiday cooked up by the greeting card industry to give Walentine's day a partner in crime.
So on a day of remembering your love, I'm leaving town.
I swear, it's not a Freudian thing.
This will also be the first time I've ever connected live and in person with the members of my amazing mastermind group.
These four fantastic women have made the commitment every week to hop on the phone, wherever they are in the world, and share their joys, concerns, wins, challenges, and ideas to help bolster each other, celebrate, and challenge both personal and professional growth.
Watch out Washington D.C.! If congress could work together like that, what an amazing country this would be!
In the months we've been together, there have been amazing milestones. Financial (the first $20,000 month), personal (dealing with serious family issues), and organizational (building companies from scratch right before our eyes). Breakthroughs, bonding and business building are a "weekly thang" for us. It's truly remarkable.
We've called in on vacation in Hawaii, while driving in the mountains, or having a sleep over at a friend's house. We've seen each other through family trials, business trials and courtroom "trials".
And for the first time ever, we're all going to be in the same room at the same time on Sunday.
Oh what a day that will be.
Now, I can't speak for the others in my group. But for me, this has been (and continues to be) one of the most powerful groups in which I have ever been involved. thanks to the support of these amazing women, I've watched my business and my life blossom into something I never expected.
To be frank, I came to the group thinking I had little more than my wild ideas to contribute. I felt like I was going to be pulling down the average with these amazing women.
You know the Jim Rohn-ism "you are the average of the 5 people you hang around most"? Well, I was worried that after spending most of the day with my children, I'd have little to offer these fine ladies.
And yet, this has been the most amazing give and take, idea-generating, business boosting group. And they all tell me the same thing - so I can hope that I've had SOME hand in all that positive energy going around.
I've been re-reading Think and Grow Rich this week as I prepare for both my trip to D.C. and to Ali Brown's SHINE event in Vegas. (shameless plug)
Regardless of your stance on the whole "law of attraction" philosophy, there's something to be said for having a mastermind type group. When you are able to brainstorm and bounce ideas off other people, inevitably, something bigger and better comes out of it.
For this reason, if for no other, I am a firm believer that everyone needs a mastermind of their own.
And so, I'm boarding a plane today, to not only connect with these wonderful people, but to share my gratitude in person. I already know there'll be laughter, tears and a ton of fun on this trip.
I'm also doing major league annual planning - something on a bigger scale than I've ever done before in my business. I'm nervous, excited and can't wait to report back all the exciting news and developments from the weekend.
Say a prayer for me for a safe flight, and for my husband for an uneventful week ahead.
This will be the first time since my son's health issues that I've left him alone with the kids. And I'm doing it again next month, too.
In my last few posts, I've talked about priorities and sacrifice. Today's Sweetest Day in the States, which is just another holiday cooked up by the greeting card industry to give Walentine's day a partner in crime.
So on a day of remembering your love, I'm leaving town.
I swear, it's not a Freudian thing.
This will also be the first time I've ever connected live and in person with the members of my amazing mastermind group.
These four fantastic women have made the commitment every week to hop on the phone, wherever they are in the world, and share their joys, concerns, wins, challenges, and ideas to help bolster each other, celebrate, and challenge both personal and professional growth.
Watch out Washington D.C.! If congress could work together like that, what an amazing country this would be!
In the months we've been together, there have been amazing milestones. Financial (the first $20,000 month), personal (dealing with serious family issues), and organizational (building companies from scratch right before our eyes). Breakthroughs, bonding and business building are a "weekly thang" for us. It's truly remarkable.
We've called in on vacation in Hawaii, while driving in the mountains, or having a sleep over at a friend's house. We've seen each other through family trials, business trials and courtroom "trials".
And for the first time ever, we're all going to be in the same room at the same time on Sunday.
Oh what a day that will be.
Now, I can't speak for the others in my group. But for me, this has been (and continues to be) one of the most powerful groups in which I have ever been involved. thanks to the support of these amazing women, I've watched my business and my life blossom into something I never expected.
To be frank, I came to the group thinking I had little more than my wild ideas to contribute. I felt like I was going to be pulling down the average with these amazing women.
You know the Jim Rohn-ism "you are the average of the 5 people you hang around most"? Well, I was worried that after spending most of the day with my children, I'd have little to offer these fine ladies.
And yet, this has been the most amazing give and take, idea-generating, business boosting group. And they all tell me the same thing - so I can hope that I've had SOME hand in all that positive energy going around.
I've been re-reading Think and Grow Rich this week as I prepare for both my trip to D.C. and to Ali Brown's SHINE event in Vegas. (shameless plug)
Regardless of your stance on the whole "law of attraction" philosophy, there's something to be said for having a mastermind type group. When you are able to brainstorm and bounce ideas off other people, inevitably, something bigger and better comes out of it.
For this reason, if for no other, I am a firm believer that everyone needs a mastermind of their own.
And so, I'm boarding a plane today, to not only connect with these wonderful people, but to share my gratitude in person. I already know there'll be laughter, tears and a ton of fun on this trip.
I'm also doing major league annual planning - something on a bigger scale than I've ever done before in my business. I'm nervous, excited and can't wait to report back all the exciting news and developments from the weekend.
Time for success?
In my last post I talked about how you've got to invest SOMETHING in your business if you want to see success.
Perhaps the BIGGEST issue I hear is the one of time.
We all know we have only 24 hours in a day.
So it's not a matter of time - we've all got the same amount.
It's a matter of priority, and clarity.
My husband and I go around on this topic regularly. I want him to mow the lawn, for example, and he wants to watch the Lions play football.
Don't get me started on the Lions. He's a die-hard fan and has been for decades. Our wedding colors wre blue and silver.
So when Sunday rolls around and the lawn's still not cut and he's watching TV, he looks at me and says "Honey, I just didn't have time this week."
BZZZZZT Wrong answer.
He CHOSE the Lions over the lawn. I can't say that I blame him, entirely. I'd rather sit in a warm room in front of a TV on a cold October day, too. Okay, I'd rather read or "hang out" on twitter, but you get the idea.
His priorities are such that Football is more important than the lawn.
My priorities are such that he is more important than football or the lawn. So I let him watch his football, and then point him in the direction of the lawnmower.
I'm telling the truth in love here.
And the road runs in both directions. There are times when I'm finishing up an email or talking with a client when it's dinner time.
It's all about priorities.
If you want to have success in anything - goal achievement, personal success, business success, relationships, etc. - you have to make it a priority.
Most people can't juggle 75 priorities. Something gets dropped.
This is where clarity comes in.
It's critical that you gain absolute clarity about what's important to you. Clarity on what your utmost priorities are.
Is your success part of that picture? If it's not, don't complain about not having the time. You've ranked your priorities.
And if something is so important you WANT to make it a priority, but you don't know how?
Figure out what gets cut.
Something has to give. You can't be all things to all people at all times.
Maybe you get less sleep. Maybe you spend less tim at the gym. Maybe you work while you're in line at the drive thru at the bank. Perhaps you delegate some activities to an assistant or high school kid that you can pay a few bucks to handle.
I've never yet met a person that could't re-arrange their priorities to accomplish something if they TRULY wanted to make it happen.
In fact, we're more likely to have too much time on our hands that we're wasting, than not enough time to achieve our goals.
I know. Them's fightin' words to many moms.
Sometimes, though, success means sacrifice. Sacrifice doesn't mean killing yourself to make something happen - it means relinquishing something of value, so that you can gain something else of greater value.
Which, when you think about it that way, isn't really a sacrifice, is it?
Perhaps the BIGGEST issue I hear is the one of time.
We all know we have only 24 hours in a day.
So it's not a matter of time - we've all got the same amount.
It's a matter of priority, and clarity.
My husband and I go around on this topic regularly. I want him to mow the lawn, for example, and he wants to watch the Lions play football.
Don't get me started on the Lions. He's a die-hard fan and has been for decades. Our wedding colors wre blue and silver.
So when Sunday rolls around and the lawn's still not cut and he's watching TV, he looks at me and says "Honey, I just didn't have time this week."
BZZZZZT Wrong answer.
He CHOSE the Lions over the lawn. I can't say that I blame him, entirely. I'd rather sit in a warm room in front of a TV on a cold October day, too. Okay, I'd rather read or "hang out" on twitter, but you get the idea.
His priorities are such that Football is more important than the lawn.
My priorities are such that he is more important than football or the lawn. So I let him watch his football, and then point him in the direction of the lawnmower.
I'm telling the truth in love here.
And the road runs in both directions. There are times when I'm finishing up an email or talking with a client when it's dinner time.
It's all about priorities.
If you want to have success in anything - goal achievement, personal success, business success, relationships, etc. - you have to make it a priority.
Most people can't juggle 75 priorities. Something gets dropped.
This is where clarity comes in.
It's critical that you gain absolute clarity about what's important to you. Clarity on what your utmost priorities are.
Is your success part of that picture? If it's not, don't complain about not having the time. You've ranked your priorities.
And if something is so important you WANT to make it a priority, but you don't know how?
Figure out what gets cut.
Something has to give. You can't be all things to all people at all times.
Maybe you get less sleep. Maybe you spend less tim at the gym. Maybe you work while you're in line at the drive thru at the bank. Perhaps you delegate some activities to an assistant or high school kid that you can pay a few bucks to handle.
I've never yet met a person that could't re-arrange their priorities to accomplish something if they TRULY wanted to make it happen.
In fact, we're more likely to have too much time on our hands that we're wasting, than not enough time to achieve our goals.
I know. Them's fightin' words to many moms.
Sometimes, though, success means sacrifice. Sacrifice doesn't mean killing yourself to make something happen - it means relinquishing something of value, so that you can gain something else of greater value.
Which, when you think about it that way, isn't really a sacrifice, is it?
Overnight Success: Your Magic Pill Has Arrived.
Michael Jackson did the elementary school talent show. Judy Garland sang with her sisters in her folks' theater. And dozens of celebs and would-be celebs talk about how they are an "overnight success ten years in the making."
An overnight success rarely is. And the ones that are work like hell to make it happen. In a recent post by Chris Brogan, he demonstrates just what kind of sacrifice it takes to achieve that level of status.
Most of us just don't have the gumption to go there. And in truth, most of us don't NEED to go there to be successful.
Part of the issue is that so many of us get wrapped up in the comparison game - the "keeping up with the Joneses" kind of bull-hockey that puts us on a hamster wheel from which we'll never retire.
I maintain that success holds a personal definition for each of us, and under no circumstances should we allow ourselves to be taken prisoner by someone else's success.
I love the idea of 1,000 true fans that Seth Godin shares in his book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
.
(Full disclosure: that's my amazon affiliate link. Buy the book from my link and I might make twelve whole cents, woo hoo! Don't get me started on the FTC again.)
Seth talks about how we really only need 1,000 true fans to attain a quality of life that most people would consider successful - not multi-millionaire successful necessarily, but happy, sufficient, and comfortably sated in our life. It's not his original idea, but that's where I first discovered it.
One of the planks of my "platform" - if you call it that - is that success has to be defined on your terms, not mine or anyone else's. I can't want something more for you than you do.
And along with that is the level of investment you're willing to make to achieve that level of success. Investment of your time, energy and money. It's not jsut abuot the money you throw at a problem to "make it go away". There are no ruby slippers when it comes to creating success: just investment and a return on that investment.
Have you defined your success? Do you have a plan in place for it? What are you willing to commit to in an effort to attain those things?
That's the difference between the "overnighters" and the rest of the world.
Overnight success is more a reflection of the amount of time one spends dedicated to their mission/passion - i.e. they stayed up OVERNIGHT (repeatedly) to complete everything already on their to-do list so that they could then devote additional resources to the attainment of their success plan.
I can't count the number of people I've talked to who've said that they jsut don't have the time to make something work - or they don't have the money to invest - or they don't have the energy because they're not as spry as they once were.
It's as if they're looking for someone to tell them that it's okay and they can still achieve success even if they're not willing to make the investment. Or worse, that there's a "magic pill" that will solve all their ills.
They COULD still attain success - but something has to give:
* it will take longer
* it won't be at the same level
* it will be short-lived
Most people on the front end don't want to compromise their vision of success. They want the best of the best and nothing less - until they see what kind of investment is involved.
My mom used to paraphrase Robin Leach: "Champagne wishes, and Kool-Aid money."
Let's be realistic. If you're not willing to invest in your business (time, energy or money), you need to be willing to accept whatever you've already got going for you as your personal level of success.
If that's NOT good enough for you, then something has to change. That change requires an investment - either time to analyze the situation and implement new changes, effort in throwing mud on the wall to see what will stick, or money to get expert help to improve the situation.
Usually, it's a combination of the above.
The "magic pill" is called investment. Time. Energy. Money or some combination of the three. You can't achieve anything in life without some level of investment/effort.
Chris is part of an army of entrepreneurs that get it. And people respect him for it. He's bustin' hs butt on the front end to enjoy the fruits of his labors on the back end. That's the only known magic formula that gets results every time.
And with apologies to The Princess Bride: "Anyone who says differently is selling something."
An overnight success rarely is. And the ones that are work like hell to make it happen. In a recent post by Chris Brogan, he demonstrates just what kind of sacrifice it takes to achieve that level of status.
Most of us just don't have the gumption to go there. And in truth, most of us don't NEED to go there to be successful.
Part of the issue is that so many of us get wrapped up in the comparison game - the "keeping up with the Joneses" kind of bull-hockey that puts us on a hamster wheel from which we'll never retire.
I maintain that success holds a personal definition for each of us, and under no circumstances should we allow ourselves to be taken prisoner by someone else's success.
I love the idea of 1,000 true fans that Seth Godin shares in his book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
. (Full disclosure: that's my amazon affiliate link. Buy the book from my link and I might make twelve whole cents, woo hoo! Don't get me started on the FTC again.)
Seth talks about how we really only need 1,000 true fans to attain a quality of life that most people would consider successful - not multi-millionaire successful necessarily, but happy, sufficient, and comfortably sated in our life. It's not his original idea, but that's where I first discovered it.
One of the planks of my "platform" - if you call it that - is that success has to be defined on your terms, not mine or anyone else's. I can't want something more for you than you do.
And along with that is the level of investment you're willing to make to achieve that level of success. Investment of your time, energy and money. It's not jsut abuot the money you throw at a problem to "make it go away". There are no ruby slippers when it comes to creating success: just investment and a return on that investment.
Have you defined your success? Do you have a plan in place for it? What are you willing to commit to in an effort to attain those things?
That's the difference between the "overnighters" and the rest of the world.
Overnight success is more a reflection of the amount of time one spends dedicated to their mission/passion - i.e. they stayed up OVERNIGHT (repeatedly) to complete everything already on their to-do list so that they could then devote additional resources to the attainment of their success plan.
I can't count the number of people I've talked to who've said that they jsut don't have the time to make something work - or they don't have the money to invest - or they don't have the energy because they're not as spry as they once were.
It's as if they're looking for someone to tell them that it's okay and they can still achieve success even if they're not willing to make the investment. Or worse, that there's a "magic pill" that will solve all their ills.
They COULD still attain success - but something has to give:
* it will take longer
* it won't be at the same level
* it will be short-lived
Most people on the front end don't want to compromise their vision of success. They want the best of the best and nothing less - until they see what kind of investment is involved.
My mom used to paraphrase Robin Leach: "Champagne wishes, and Kool-Aid money."
Let's be realistic. If you're not willing to invest in your business (time, energy or money), you need to be willing to accept whatever you've already got going for you as your personal level of success.
If that's NOT good enough for you, then something has to change. That change requires an investment - either time to analyze the situation and implement new changes, effort in throwing mud on the wall to see what will stick, or money to get expert help to improve the situation.
Usually, it's a combination of the above.
The "magic pill" is called investment. Time. Energy. Money or some combination of the three. You can't achieve anything in life without some level of investment/effort.
Chris is part of an army of entrepreneurs that get it. And people respect him for it. He's bustin' hs butt on the front end to enjoy the fruits of his labors on the back end. That's the only known magic formula that gets results every time.
And with apologies to The Princess Bride: "Anyone who says differently is selling something."
Enthusiastic or Pushy? What's the difference?
As a direct sales coach, I hear it all the time:
There's a difference between being enthusiastic about your business and being pushy.
Pushy, to me, comes off more as bullying, or force-feeding your agenda on unwilling, or unsuspecting people.
Enthusiasm is a contagious attitude that is positive in nature.
One stems from fear, the other from faith.
In fact, the word enthusiasm is derived from the Greek, meaning "God inside". You've no doubt seen enthusiastic people, perhaps 'bouncing off the walls' a bit, as if the fire of deity burned within them.
Enthusiasm is a motivating, inspiring force. Pushy is an oppressive, demanding force.
As business owners, we need to realize that we can be enthusiastic, and even FIRM about our expectations without being pushy.
Granted, there will always be a small cadre of folks whom you can never satisfy. Someone will always find fault with you. This is not for those types - since you really shouldn't be building your business around them anyway! They're certainly not your perfect fit customer.
When you've developed a following of 'fans' - what I call "crack addicts", they will pick up on and share your enthusiasm.
Fans rarely (if ever) share your pushy attitude.
Let's look at an example of reasonable expectations and enthusiasm in your business - and when they might turn into pushiness.
You're at an event, demonstrating the versatility of your product. You begin to share how this particular product has saved you hours of time at home, and made your life less stressful and more enjoyable. You smile and others smile with you. People begin asking questions and you can tell you've hit on a topic of interest.
So far, you get high marks for enthusiasm.
Suddendly, you notice two women (we'll call them Jane and Mary) are asking the bulk of the questions. Both seem very interested not only in your product, but also in your business opportunity. You answer their questions, and Mary schedules an appointment to talk with you further.
Inside, you are doing the dance of joy. Your smile is as big as all outdoors. Your enthusiasm is contagious, and others begin to ask for additional information about your products - but not Jane.
At the close of the event, you pull Jane into a corner and begin to tell her all the wonderful reasons why she should take your information and set up an appointment to tal with you further. She politely declines and you insist that she'd be great at what you do and she should just take the packet and "sleep on it". She tells you she's not very good at sales, and you proceed to tell her why you felt the same way when you started, and that you found with a little practice you got pretty good, and now you're making good money each month and that she won't lose anything by just taking the packet and setting up a time to chat with you.
Okay. I hope you see where you went from enthusiastic to pushy. Assuming you do get Jane to set an appointment, it's highly unlikely that she'll show - or ever return your calls again.
Enthusiasm is one way of providing value to the world. We're helping others, sprading a positive message or positive energy in a way that seeks only to serve. When we're enthusiastic about our product, we want the WORLD to know how great it is.
But when someone disagrees, shows a lack of interest, or simply refuses to participate, we begin to feel as if WE'VE been rejected - and take that rejection personally. That's when fear - and pushiness - set in.
When "everyone else" was so excited about our offering, the enthusiasm was contagious. The moment we see someone who's not "on our side" we begin to think something's wrong - and we move away from helping the other person and move into defensive mode - trying to "overcome objections" and "close" them to a decision.
Some people just take more time than we're willing to give them to make a decision.
Here are a few tips to avoid feeling (and being) pushy:
1. Always ask yourself if you are providing a real value to the client.
Real value is in the eyes of the client, however, so this can get tricky. you may THINK you're providing something valueable - after all, you shelled out $5 per recruiting packet and it comes with free samples - but the client has no interest in joining your team, so they see no value in what you're offering.
2. Look to the client's desires first.
This ties into number one above. If you are seeking to understand what's important to your client at any given time, you will rarely be perceived as pushy. In fact, you'll be seen as incredibly helpful, somewhat refreshing and a nice, friendly person. Why? Because so few people take the time to care these days. Perhaps a client has difficulty expressing their desires. The act of seeking to understand them FIRST goes a long way towards building a lasting relationship.
3. Keep your mouth shut.
I wanted to say listen, but today, so many people are hearing what's going on and instead of truly getting to the heart of their client's issue, they're preparing their rebuttal or their comeback statement. This is something I STILL struggle with because my mind races a million miles a minute trying to find solutions for people. You have to close your mouth - including the voice in your head - and LISTEN to what your customers want and need. Ask them. Then shut up long enough to really hear what they're saying.
4. Vocalize appropriate expectations.
As a business owner, setting clear expectations of your customers does not make you pushy. It is completely acceptable to say "I'll call you on Tuesday to confirm" and then call on Tuesday. You've laid out an expectation, and it's your responsibility to follow up appropriately.
It's NOT appropriate to then call Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and THREE times on Saturday. THAT'S being pushy. There's probably a good reason why Jane isn't returning your call - and if you've "camped out" on her phone line every day for a week, chances are good she'll NEVER return those calls.
And I hear you asking 'but what do I do if they never return my call? Well there are two considerations here. First, did they REALLY want to talk to you in the first place? If you strong-armed them into accepting a call from you, they may be looking for any excuse to never return your call. Those are not perfect-fit customers, and you need to rid yourself of them ASAP.
If they are still very interested in connecting with you, try a postcard, text message or other means of contacting them.
Just make sure you don't do one a day for a whole week. There's keeping in touch, and then there's being desparate.
One is an act of enthusiasm. The other is an act of pushyness.
I don't want people to think I'm being pushy
There's a difference between being enthusiastic about your business and being pushy.
Pushy, to me, comes off more as bullying, or force-feeding your agenda on unwilling, or unsuspecting people.
Enthusiasm is a contagious attitude that is positive in nature.
One stems from fear, the other from faith.
In fact, the word enthusiasm is derived from the Greek, meaning "God inside". You've no doubt seen enthusiastic people, perhaps 'bouncing off the walls' a bit, as if the fire of deity burned within them.
Enthusiasm is a motivating, inspiring force. Pushy is an oppressive, demanding force.
As business owners, we need to realize that we can be enthusiastic, and even FIRM about our expectations without being pushy.
Granted, there will always be a small cadre of folks whom you can never satisfy. Someone will always find fault with you. This is not for those types - since you really shouldn't be building your business around them anyway! They're certainly not your perfect fit customer.
When you've developed a following of 'fans' - what I call "crack addicts", they will pick up on and share your enthusiasm.
Fans rarely (if ever) share your pushy attitude.
Let's look at an example of reasonable expectations and enthusiasm in your business - and when they might turn into pushiness.
You're at an event, demonstrating the versatility of your product. You begin to share how this particular product has saved you hours of time at home, and made your life less stressful and more enjoyable. You smile and others smile with you. People begin asking questions and you can tell you've hit on a topic of interest.
So far, you get high marks for enthusiasm.
Suddendly, you notice two women (we'll call them Jane and Mary) are asking the bulk of the questions. Both seem very interested not only in your product, but also in your business opportunity. You answer their questions, and Mary schedules an appointment to talk with you further.
Inside, you are doing the dance of joy. Your smile is as big as all outdoors. Your enthusiasm is contagious, and others begin to ask for additional information about your products - but not Jane.
At the close of the event, you pull Jane into a corner and begin to tell her all the wonderful reasons why she should take your information and set up an appointment to tal with you further. She politely declines and you insist that she'd be great at what you do and she should just take the packet and "sleep on it". She tells you she's not very good at sales, and you proceed to tell her why you felt the same way when you started, and that you found with a little practice you got pretty good, and now you're making good money each month and that she won't lose anything by just taking the packet and setting up a time to chat with you.
Okay. I hope you see where you went from enthusiastic to pushy. Assuming you do get Jane to set an appointment, it's highly unlikely that she'll show - or ever return your calls again.
Enthusiasm is one way of providing value to the world. We're helping others, sprading a positive message or positive energy in a way that seeks only to serve. When we're enthusiastic about our product, we want the WORLD to know how great it is.
But when someone disagrees, shows a lack of interest, or simply refuses to participate, we begin to feel as if WE'VE been rejected - and take that rejection personally. That's when fear - and pushiness - set in.
When "everyone else" was so excited about our offering, the enthusiasm was contagious. The moment we see someone who's not "on our side" we begin to think something's wrong - and we move away from helping the other person and move into defensive mode - trying to "overcome objections" and "close" them to a decision.
Some people just take more time than we're willing to give them to make a decision.
Here are a few tips to avoid feeling (and being) pushy:
1. Always ask yourself if you are providing a real value to the client.
Real value is in the eyes of the client, however, so this can get tricky. you may THINK you're providing something valueable - after all, you shelled out $5 per recruiting packet and it comes with free samples - but the client has no interest in joining your team, so they see no value in what you're offering.
2. Look to the client's desires first.
This ties into number one above. If you are seeking to understand what's important to your client at any given time, you will rarely be perceived as pushy. In fact, you'll be seen as incredibly helpful, somewhat refreshing and a nice, friendly person. Why? Because so few people take the time to care these days. Perhaps a client has difficulty expressing their desires. The act of seeking to understand them FIRST goes a long way towards building a lasting relationship.
3. Keep your mouth shut.
I wanted to say listen, but today, so many people are hearing what's going on and instead of truly getting to the heart of their client's issue, they're preparing their rebuttal or their comeback statement. This is something I STILL struggle with because my mind races a million miles a minute trying to find solutions for people. You have to close your mouth - including the voice in your head - and LISTEN to what your customers want and need. Ask them. Then shut up long enough to really hear what they're saying.
4. Vocalize appropriate expectations.
As a business owner, setting clear expectations of your customers does not make you pushy. It is completely acceptable to say "I'll call you on Tuesday to confirm" and then call on Tuesday. You've laid out an expectation, and it's your responsibility to follow up appropriately.
It's NOT appropriate to then call Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and THREE times on Saturday. THAT'S being pushy. There's probably a good reason why Jane isn't returning your call - and if you've "camped out" on her phone line every day for a week, chances are good she'll NEVER return those calls.
And I hear you asking 'but what do I do if they never return my call? Well there are two considerations here. First, did they REALLY want to talk to you in the first place? If you strong-armed them into accepting a call from you, they may be looking for any excuse to never return your call. Those are not perfect-fit customers, and you need to rid yourself of them ASAP.
If they are still very interested in connecting with you, try a postcard, text message or other means of contacting them.
Just make sure you don't do one a day for a whole week. There's keeping in touch, and then there's being desparate.
One is an act of enthusiasm. The other is an act of pushyness.
Online Marketing: 10 lessons from the James Ray incident
Many of you know I'm not a news watcher, so when my mastermind group shared the news about the James Ray 'death lodge' incident today, I was a bit taken aback, but not totally surprised.
I can't begin to comment on the tragedy that occurred, nor on anything that Ray represents. That's not what this post is about. Anytime someone dies unexpectedly - for any reason - there are questions, pain, and more suffering than anyone should ever have to endure.
I'll save that for others better qualified than I to investigate.
This is not to negate or downplay ANYTHING that happened in Arizona. On the contrary, these 10 lessons are important for everyone in business to learn - and fast, regardless of the outcome of the investigation:
First, at least one major media outlet was compelled to include James' twitter id in their article. James couldn't be reached for comment, so the outlet ripped quotes from his twitter page regarding the incident.
Lesson one: Make sure what you're sharing online is fit to print.
Lesson two: Even the media recognizes the marketing value of sites like twitter - and has no compunction about using it to THEIR advantage either!
At seeing his twitter id, I got curious - as I'm sure many others did. After a small amount of digging, I discovered that even after the news reports reaching national media, James' follower count continues to increase - by nearly a hundred a day!
Lesson three: Even bad press can bring you new followers
Lesson four: It doesn't mean those followers are quality - they could be waiting to watch you hang.
James has recently come under fire for his high-pressure sales tactics - in fact, many have alleged "brain washing" during this tragedy - to the extreme. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, our job is not to sell people stuff. Our job is to help people make informed decisions that will improve their lives.
Anything less than that, and we're doing a disservice to our clients and to ourselves.
James, one of the featured 'stars' of "The Secret" has been delivering a message of profound impact for years. Just because the messenger "falls from grace" doesn't make the message any less meaningful for the people it has impacted.
Often times we, as a society (even a global one) put a person on a pedestal that they do not rightly belong on. Remember, we are all fatally flawed. Again, this is not to downplay anything that happened in Arizona. But how often have we falling in love with the music of a singer, the athleticism of a pro ball player or the work of a master artist only to have our graven image of them dashed on the rocks when they inevitably mar our picture perfect image of them with some human error?
It doesn't negate the beauty of the work, only the character of the person. I know several people that have been positively impacted by Ray's message. The deep disappointment they are dealing with now, is difficult to navigate. AND there are fans of Ray's that are defending him to the end.
Lesson five: Never place yourself above anyone else. You are no more, and no less than any other human on the planet.
Lesson six: When you do your job well, you will have die hard fans that will follow you to the ends of the earth and defend your honor in any situation.
In reading the reports, I read the name "Howard Bragman" as Ray's Publicist. Bragman is considered one of the greatest PR guys in the industry. In fact, I just picked up his book "Where's My Fifteen Minutes?" at my local library last week, so I'm watching with interest to see how this shakes out. Jim Lampley said "When you're on the ropes, you want Howard Bragman in your corner." That's a quote from the back cover of Bragman's book.
No doubt, Bragman is keeping his client quiet until there's time to sort through everything - which is smart. While many people are railing agains Ray's silence, the WORST thing he could do is open his mouth and "insert his foot".
As a business owner, everything he has is at stake here - and he knows it (along with the rest of the world). He may be dying inside to offer apologies, or tell his side of everything (or not), but even a well-intended apology could come off as a makehift admission of guilt if the media has an opportunity to spin it.
I'm reminded of the fortune cookie where it's better to remain silent, than to open your mouth and "remove all doubt". Innocence (or guilt) should be determined by qualified authorities - and I ain't one of them.
Lesson seven: everything you say can be used against you in times of trouble. Make every word count
Lesson eight: even when you're trying to do right, it can be misconstrued, and you'll never make everyone happy.
We as a public, want answers. We as business owners need to look at this situation and learn.
Be proactive, remember we're dealing with people's lives - whether we sell shoes or inspiration. Whether we offer $.99 widgets or $10,000 week-long retreats. Whatever we're doing needs to be focused on serving others, providing value and reaping the benefits of the work we've done. That implies the work must be done before the reward is received.
Coaches, trainers and speakers need to be on the offensive here. In just a few short hours since I've learned of this tragedy, already the barrage of "snake oil", "shyster" and other epithets have already created a firestorm online. Let's be sure we're not slapping an unwarranted label on an entire industry just because things went awry. Should there be failsafes in place? Absolutely. Inasmuch as direct sellers have gotten a bum rap for the slimy, pushy salesmen that have weasled their way through our organizations, so too may we find the motivational industry likewise marred by this horriffic event.
Where's the justice in that?
Lesson nine: those who paint with broad brush strokes make great white washers
Lesson ten: It takes great effort and much patience to work with a detailed hand.
Probably not the lessons you were expecting, but I'm known for my irreverence.
When I originally created this blog - as "Real Life Marketing" - the objective was to show how we could learn significant lessons for marketing our business from the everyday things that go on around us. While this is one event I hope never becomes an every day occurence, you can certainly see the lessons we can all walk away with from this tragedy. There are others, to be sure. As business owners, we need to be mindful, and ever ready to protect ourselves, our investment and our business.
I can't begin to comment on the tragedy that occurred, nor on anything that Ray represents. That's not what this post is about. Anytime someone dies unexpectedly - for any reason - there are questions, pain, and more suffering than anyone should ever have to endure.
I'll save that for others better qualified than I to investigate.
This is not to negate or downplay ANYTHING that happened in Arizona. On the contrary, these 10 lessons are important for everyone in business to learn - and fast, regardless of the outcome of the investigation:
First, at least one major media outlet was compelled to include James' twitter id in their article. James couldn't be reached for comment, so the outlet ripped quotes from his twitter page regarding the incident.
Lesson one: Make sure what you're sharing online is fit to print.
Lesson two: Even the media recognizes the marketing value of sites like twitter - and has no compunction about using it to THEIR advantage either!
At seeing his twitter id, I got curious - as I'm sure many others did. After a small amount of digging, I discovered that even after the news reports reaching national media, James' follower count continues to increase - by nearly a hundred a day!
Lesson three: Even bad press can bring you new followers
Lesson four: It doesn't mean those followers are quality - they could be waiting to watch you hang.
James has recently come under fire for his high-pressure sales tactics - in fact, many have alleged "brain washing" during this tragedy - to the extreme. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, our job is not to sell people stuff. Our job is to help people make informed decisions that will improve their lives.
Anything less than that, and we're doing a disservice to our clients and to ourselves.
James, one of the featured 'stars' of "The Secret" has been delivering a message of profound impact for years. Just because the messenger "falls from grace" doesn't make the message any less meaningful for the people it has impacted.
Often times we, as a society (even a global one) put a person on a pedestal that they do not rightly belong on. Remember, we are all fatally flawed. Again, this is not to downplay anything that happened in Arizona. But how often have we falling in love with the music of a singer, the athleticism of a pro ball player or the work of a master artist only to have our graven image of them dashed on the rocks when they inevitably mar our picture perfect image of them with some human error?
It doesn't negate the beauty of the work, only the character of the person. I know several people that have been positively impacted by Ray's message. The deep disappointment they are dealing with now, is difficult to navigate. AND there are fans of Ray's that are defending him to the end.
Lesson five: Never place yourself above anyone else. You are no more, and no less than any other human on the planet.
Lesson six: When you do your job well, you will have die hard fans that will follow you to the ends of the earth and defend your honor in any situation.
In reading the reports, I read the name "Howard Bragman" as Ray's Publicist. Bragman is considered one of the greatest PR guys in the industry. In fact, I just picked up his book "Where's My Fifteen Minutes?" at my local library last week, so I'm watching with interest to see how this shakes out. Jim Lampley said "When you're on the ropes, you want Howard Bragman in your corner." That's a quote from the back cover of Bragman's book.
No doubt, Bragman is keeping his client quiet until there's time to sort through everything - which is smart. While many people are railing agains Ray's silence, the WORST thing he could do is open his mouth and "insert his foot".
As a business owner, everything he has is at stake here - and he knows it (along with the rest of the world). He may be dying inside to offer apologies, or tell his side of everything (or not), but even a well-intended apology could come off as a makehift admission of guilt if the media has an opportunity to spin it.
I'm reminded of the fortune cookie where it's better to remain silent, than to open your mouth and "remove all doubt". Innocence (or guilt) should be determined by qualified authorities - and I ain't one of them.
Lesson seven: everything you say can be used against you in times of trouble. Make every word count
Lesson eight: even when you're trying to do right, it can be misconstrued, and you'll never make everyone happy.
We as a public, want answers. We as business owners need to look at this situation and learn.
Be proactive, remember we're dealing with people's lives - whether we sell shoes or inspiration. Whether we offer $.99 widgets or $10,000 week-long retreats. Whatever we're doing needs to be focused on serving others, providing value and reaping the benefits of the work we've done. That implies the work must be done before the reward is received.
Coaches, trainers and speakers need to be on the offensive here. In just a few short hours since I've learned of this tragedy, already the barrage of "snake oil", "shyster" and other epithets have already created a firestorm online. Let's be sure we're not slapping an unwarranted label on an entire industry just because things went awry. Should there be failsafes in place? Absolutely. Inasmuch as direct sellers have gotten a bum rap for the slimy, pushy salesmen that have weasled their way through our organizations, so too may we find the motivational industry likewise marred by this horriffic event.
Where's the justice in that?
Lesson nine: those who paint with broad brush strokes make great white washers
Lesson ten: It takes great effort and much patience to work with a detailed hand.
Probably not the lessons you were expecting, but I'm known for my irreverence.
When I originally created this blog - as "Real Life Marketing" - the objective was to show how we could learn significant lessons for marketing our business from the everyday things that go on around us. While this is one event I hope never becomes an every day occurence, you can certainly see the lessons we can all walk away with from this tragedy. There are others, to be sure. As business owners, we need to be mindful, and ever ready to protect ourselves, our investment and our business.
Online Marketing: Know Like and Trust
Several of the entries in the 12 week challenge contest talk about how difficult it is to "make the transition" from online acquaintance to business client or associate.
Before we can make that transition, however we have to establish the relationship.
That's the "sermon" for today's post.
The "KLT Factor" - know, like, and trust - are always a hot topic in the business world. People have to know you, like you, and trust you, at least to SOME degree to be wililng to do business with you.
For example, you may not know a thing about that pimply faced, rookie salesman trying to sell you a dryer, but because they work for a well-respected mega store in your community, you trust that they won't steer you wrong - or if they do, you'll be able to sue the pants off the mega store.
Some level of KLT has been established.
If you have NO desire to work with the consultant down the street because she bad-mouthed a competitor during a presentation, her KLT factor with you is pretty low - even if she's your sister.
To be blunt, telling everyone how grat your product is, or how wonderful your company is, or that you just won an all-expense paid trip to the Bahamas is NOT building your KLT factor in the eyes of your customers. IF they already know you, or like you, they may be happy for you, but they don't care about your good fortune anymore thant they care about themselves.
It's always about them.
Period.
If I closed the post there, it should suffice for those serious about building a servant-minded enterprise. Disney built an empire around the concept of caring for the customer - and they have the overpriced burgers to prove that what they do works.
The companies that have stuck around for centuries or more are those that put the right thing in front of the ROI. They care more about their customers than themselves.
But many of us are too concerned with ourselves to have that kind of concern for our customers.
And the words "get what you want by helping other people get what they want" become only so many nice words.
You've heard me talk before about providing value. Mike Dandridge, in his book "The One-Year Business Turnaround" says that Value is in the eye of the customer. You can give them a 10% off coupon, free shipping, and tickets to "Riverdance", but if your customers find no value in that, those aren't valuable additions to the product.
And fast turnaround, or "excellent customer service" are supposed to be standard. Again, not value added benefits for a customer.
Sometimes, doing something of value means making a sacrifice. Sometimes a BIG sacrifice. Not always, but sometimes.
Why did thousands of people sign up for my Direct Sales Super Summit in March? There are dozens of free training calls all over the place. There are many speakers that talk on similar topics for a fee.
The reason people signed up is because they saw the VALUE in what I was providing: quality information they could use to impact their lives, their businesses right NOW at a reasonable investment.
That's value.
And when my customers email me they say things like "do you remember last month when I placed that order?"
Of COURSE I remember. You're my customer. You put food on my table and clothes on my kid's back. You are my livlihood, my bread and butter, keeping the wolves from the door! I try to touch every single transaction at least once to remind myself to be grateful for everyone that comes through "the doors" of my business.
That's value to some of my customers. They want to know that someone - a REAL human being - is behind all the blog posts, emails, newsletters, etc.
To others on my list, it's no big deal, they rarely communicate with me, and they like it that way. And that's okay with me, too.
The point is to meet people where they are, provide what THEY believe is valuable. THAT'S when you build a real relationship. Help people. Maybe they could care less about your biz opp today, but need their flat tire fixed.
Taking the time to help with their flat could be the thing that they remember 6 months from now when they stumble on your card after having lost their job. You thought you'd never hear from them again, and what a waste of a perfectly good afternoon, and oh my, your hands were so dirty. But they remembered that when they needed help (something of the UTMOST value), YOU were there. And now they need "help" again. So they call you.
It happens more times than I care to count. Building trust isn't a dog and pony show. you don't do it just when it's convenient. You do it because it's part of who you are, part of what you stand for. When you establish trust, people begin to like you and then they want to get to know more about who you are and what you have to offer.
It's about integrity. It's about helping first, and selling later. Or maybe not selling at all. you never know who's watching you perform the random acts of kindness that make us better people.
But if you invest yourself in your business this way, you can't help but win. It's how the Carnegies and Motts and Rockefellers of the world managed to KEEP the wealth they worked so hard to earn.
During the horrible market crach in the 20's a 3+million dollar embezzlement scheme was found out in one of the biggest banks in my community. The former president of the bank, having virtually no liability for the debacle, could have easily washed his hands of everything, leaving all the depositors to fend for themselves, most likely ending up with nothing.
But he chose to front his own money - and approach lenders in the bigger markets to help cover the debt so that the honest, hard working people in my community wouldn't lose everything. He didn't have to do it. He CHOSE to do it. Not to save face, but to helpa community of which he'd grown very fond. Not only did he save the financial lives of so many people, he got all his money back and then some - and lived out his days as one of the wealthiest members of our community.
He was a man of intergity, ingenuity, trust, respect and strong moral character. He gave and gave of himself, his finances and more. And in return, grew a powerful company, built a foundation for the less fortunate, and left an amazing legacy that fuels this community to this day.
I never met the man - he died before I was born. But his life is an integral component to what makes my community what it is today.
That's the kind of value we need to be providing to each one of our customers. If we don't enjoy what we're doing, or who we're working with enough to be willing to make sacrifices to help them, why are we doing it in the first place?
Direct Sales isn't for everyone. Being a business owner or an entrepreneur isn't for everyone. It requires great sacrifice - of ourselves, our time, energy, money - sometimes our families, our finances, our homes.
What are you doing to provide REAL value to the people in your business? Are your business contacts like family to you?
I remember a class I took once when I was in real estate. the instructor said as an agent, we had to treat all our buyers like they were our grandmother and all our sellers as if they were our little sister. The idea is that you'd want to get them the very best possible deal, so that everyone wins, and no one feals cheated. that doesn't mean doing "just enough" but giving out UTMOST.
And frankly, so many of us just don't do that. We've learned how to get by. We look for the "magic pill" and we want everything to come easy.
To quote The Princess Bride "Whoever said life is fair?" Where is that written? Life isn't always fair."
But if we give our utmost, the hard work is rewarded in more ways than we can ever imagine. That's when real trust is built, lives are changed and business is done.
In business, there are many ways to build relationships, and the beauty of online marketing is that you can move through this process at a more predictable pace by using tools and strategies designed to decrease the germination period. The sooner you can establish trust, build rapport and create likability, the sooner business can be done.
In the 12-Week Challenge, we'll take a look at several tools you can use to not only build rapport, but automate some elements of the relationship building process, so that you can run a more efficient business that focuses on serving your perfect fit customers. There's still time to enter the contest before next week. Winners will be announced on October 20.
Before we can make that transition, however we have to establish the relationship.
That's the "sermon" for today's post.
The "KLT Factor" - know, like, and trust - are always a hot topic in the business world. People have to know you, like you, and trust you, at least to SOME degree to be wililng to do business with you.
For example, you may not know a thing about that pimply faced, rookie salesman trying to sell you a dryer, but because they work for a well-respected mega store in your community, you trust that they won't steer you wrong - or if they do, you'll be able to sue the pants off the mega store.
Some level of KLT has been established.
If you have NO desire to work with the consultant down the street because she bad-mouthed a competitor during a presentation, her KLT factor with you is pretty low - even if she's your sister.
To be blunt, telling everyone how grat your product is, or how wonderful your company is, or that you just won an all-expense paid trip to the Bahamas is NOT building your KLT factor in the eyes of your customers. IF they already know you, or like you, they may be happy for you, but they don't care about your good fortune anymore thant they care about themselves.
It's always about them.
Period.
If I closed the post there, it should suffice for those serious about building a servant-minded enterprise. Disney built an empire around the concept of caring for the customer - and they have the overpriced burgers to prove that what they do works.
The companies that have stuck around for centuries or more are those that put the right thing in front of the ROI. They care more about their customers than themselves.
But many of us are too concerned with ourselves to have that kind of concern for our customers.
And the words "get what you want by helping other people get what they want" become only so many nice words.
You've heard me talk before about providing value. Mike Dandridge, in his book "The One-Year Business Turnaround" says that Value is in the eye of the customer. You can give them a 10% off coupon, free shipping, and tickets to "Riverdance", but if your customers find no value in that, those aren't valuable additions to the product.
And fast turnaround, or "excellent customer service" are supposed to be standard. Again, not value added benefits for a customer.
Sometimes, doing something of value means making a sacrifice. Sometimes a BIG sacrifice. Not always, but sometimes.
Why did thousands of people sign up for my Direct Sales Super Summit in March? There are dozens of free training calls all over the place. There are many speakers that talk on similar topics for a fee.
The reason people signed up is because they saw the VALUE in what I was providing: quality information they could use to impact their lives, their businesses right NOW at a reasonable investment.
That's value.
And when my customers email me they say things like "do you remember last month when I placed that order?"
Of COURSE I remember. You're my customer. You put food on my table and clothes on my kid's back. You are my livlihood, my bread and butter, keeping the wolves from the door! I try to touch every single transaction at least once to remind myself to be grateful for everyone that comes through "the doors" of my business.
That's value to some of my customers. They want to know that someone - a REAL human being - is behind all the blog posts, emails, newsletters, etc.
To others on my list, it's no big deal, they rarely communicate with me, and they like it that way. And that's okay with me, too.
The point is to meet people where they are, provide what THEY believe is valuable. THAT'S when you build a real relationship. Help people. Maybe they could care less about your biz opp today, but need their flat tire fixed.
Taking the time to help with their flat could be the thing that they remember 6 months from now when they stumble on your card after having lost their job. You thought you'd never hear from them again, and what a waste of a perfectly good afternoon, and oh my, your hands were so dirty. But they remembered that when they needed help (something of the UTMOST value), YOU were there. And now they need "help" again. So they call you.
It happens more times than I care to count. Building trust isn't a dog and pony show. you don't do it just when it's convenient. You do it because it's part of who you are, part of what you stand for. When you establish trust, people begin to like you and then they want to get to know more about who you are and what you have to offer.
It's about integrity. It's about helping first, and selling later. Or maybe not selling at all. you never know who's watching you perform the random acts of kindness that make us better people.
But if you invest yourself in your business this way, you can't help but win. It's how the Carnegies and Motts and Rockefellers of the world managed to KEEP the wealth they worked so hard to earn.
During the horrible market crach in the 20's a 3+million dollar embezzlement scheme was found out in one of the biggest banks in my community. The former president of the bank, having virtually no liability for the debacle, could have easily washed his hands of everything, leaving all the depositors to fend for themselves, most likely ending up with nothing.
But he chose to front his own money - and approach lenders in the bigger markets to help cover the debt so that the honest, hard working people in my community wouldn't lose everything. He didn't have to do it. He CHOSE to do it. Not to save face, but to helpa community of which he'd grown very fond. Not only did he save the financial lives of so many people, he got all his money back and then some - and lived out his days as one of the wealthiest members of our community.
He was a man of intergity, ingenuity, trust, respect and strong moral character. He gave and gave of himself, his finances and more. And in return, grew a powerful company, built a foundation for the less fortunate, and left an amazing legacy that fuels this community to this day.
I never met the man - he died before I was born. But his life is an integral component to what makes my community what it is today.
That's the kind of value we need to be providing to each one of our customers. If we don't enjoy what we're doing, or who we're working with enough to be willing to make sacrifices to help them, why are we doing it in the first place?
Direct Sales isn't for everyone. Being a business owner or an entrepreneur isn't for everyone. It requires great sacrifice - of ourselves, our time, energy, money - sometimes our families, our finances, our homes.
What are you doing to provide REAL value to the people in your business? Are your business contacts like family to you?
I remember a class I took once when I was in real estate. the instructor said as an agent, we had to treat all our buyers like they were our grandmother and all our sellers as if they were our little sister. The idea is that you'd want to get them the very best possible deal, so that everyone wins, and no one feals cheated. that doesn't mean doing "just enough" but giving out UTMOST.
And frankly, so many of us just don't do that. We've learned how to get by. We look for the "magic pill" and we want everything to come easy.
To quote The Princess Bride "Whoever said life is fair?" Where is that written? Life isn't always fair."
But if we give our utmost, the hard work is rewarded in more ways than we can ever imagine. That's when real trust is built, lives are changed and business is done.
In business, there are many ways to build relationships, and the beauty of online marketing is that you can move through this process at a more predictable pace by using tools and strategies designed to decrease the germination period. The sooner you can establish trust, build rapport and create likability, the sooner business can be done.
In the 12-Week Challenge, we'll take a look at several tools you can use to not only build rapport, but automate some elements of the relationship building process, so that you can run a more efficient business that focuses on serving your perfect fit customers. There's still time to enter the contest before next week. Winners will be announced on October 20.
Target Marketing Online: Where to look first
My biggest challenge with marketing online is finding people who would be truly interested in the business either as a customer or a distributor. Advertising on other sites is OK, but can get expensive. So, I need to find a better way to connect with people to get the message out. I have been writing guest articles on general marketing and follow up techniques for direct sales. My articles include a simple demonstration of how my business/product can help them personally connect with customers for less money and time. I have had a few leads, but need to get the word out to more people. I know my product can help them get more referrals and reorders. I just need to find the prospects!
This is one of my favorite questions. In an industry where we've been trained that "anyone with a pulse" is our prospect, it's ironic that so many people building an online presence can't seem to find anyone interested in what they have to offer. Then the question comes: how do I find prospects?
Several entries in the 12 week challenge contset have a similar theme. But this entry outlines at least SOME strategy: advertising.
While it's true that advertising is a fast way to bring in leads - when done properly - it's also true that it's a fast way to lose money - when done improperly.
So what can we do as business owners to attract our perfect fit clients to us?
First, we have to know who those perfect fit clients are. In direct sales, we actually have multiple "customers" - or actual clients, our hosts, and our recruits. In small business we may also have multiple customer types depending onteh products or services we offer.
The challenge is that no one approach will work for everyone. There's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to marketing (online or offline).
That's one of the reasons you'll see the same print ad in different magazines with different models. Same content, same poses, same message, but the models have different hair, skin or makeup coloring. It's why you don't see ads for bikini waxing in ESPN magazine.
Because different things appeal to different people.
Just like Super Bowl ads and print magazines, online marketing is not suitable for everyone.
Uh-oh, do you feel another marketing bashing coming on?
Wait. There's more.
You can't use the same message to attract everyone.
For example, if your goal is to increase sales, you need to be looking for BUYERS. If you're looking to increase the number of recruits on your team in a direct sales organization, you need to be looking for business builders.
You won't always find those people hanging out in the same online or offline "places".
Different bait for different fish, so to speak.
Once you've developed a perfect fit customer profile, only THEN can you truly consider the likely places to find them.
For example, if your perfect fit customer is a 30-something single mom, probably a lawyer, who lives in your local community (let's say Peoria, IL), then do a google search for women lawyers in Peoria, IL.
My search yielded the women lawyer's directory pretty quickly:
http://www.womenlawyers.com/states/il.htm
Who says you can't find your target market?
So my first question to people is always: Do you really know who your prospects are? If you can identify a true demographic - right down to the color of their fingernails - it's actually like shooting fish in a barrel anymore.
They're everywhere - particularly online - and with online marketing, you don't have to limit yourself to a local area! In most cases you can attract a global, if not national audience.
I live in Michigan. The bulk of my direct sales customers are Internet leads that don't even LIVE in my state - and have NEVER met me. In my coaching business, many of my clients are on the Eastern seaboard states.
I'm a no-nonsense, play no games kind of girl. I tell it lke it is, and rarely sugar coat - mostly because I never really learned how. Easterners from New York, Maryland, Delaware, they understand that, they're attracted to that - thus, they find me.
Not everyone is my customer. I embrace that and play to my strengths. That's not to say I wouldn't enjoy having a few more clients in Arizona or California (I love reasons to travel!), but I also don't focus a lot of time spinning my wheels when I know I have a huge untapped market with people in areas I already serve.
Again, it comes to focus. Pick one thing and focus on that. If you're young in your small business, focus on increasing sales and market share - on getting your name out there, being seen and getting seen. Build some stability into your business and "grow slowly" as Wolfgang Puck said in Inc Magazine.
If you're a seasoned business owner, consider laying a foundation for expansion in your marketing. Direct Sales Leaders should focus on team building and establishing a persona for your organization - one that follows you to whatever company you may end up with. One web page can't be all things to all people. So stop trying.
If you have multiple markets, multiple segments, multiple perfect fit customers, create multiple approaches to reach them. People are not cookie cutters, and we don't all respond the same to every marketing piece. We are savvy, we need multiple contacts, and you can't jsut click your heels together three times and get us to buy into your message.
You MUST establish a level of KLT: know, like and trust.
But that's for another post another day. Tomorrow perhaps.
Today, know that your biggest successes will come from the moments of clarity you can build into your business. The more clear you can be on what you want, the easier it is to attain that want.
Otherwise, you'll be scratching your head, because you can't see the forest for the trees.
In the 12-week challenge, we'll devote time to not only identifying your perfect fit customer, but analyzing where you can find them, crafting a message and offer to attract them, and ways to connect with them that are meaningful. There's still time to enter the contest, and tickets for the program went on sale yesterday. You can purchase your tickets here before we're sold out. Only a total of 175 "seats" are available for this event. when they're gone, they're gone! Winners will be announced October 20, 2009.
Online Marketing Strategies: Where to begin?
My biggest challenge with marketing my business online is probably the same with alot of people. You just don't know where to start! So you keep doing what you always do and keep getting what you always got. NOT Smart. - Donna
Yet another entry, this time, from one of my facebook friends. Yes, it's probably the underlying issue that most small business owners struggle with - the not knowing.
But if you notice what Donna wrote, there's actually a couple of issues at play here.
1. not Knowing where to being AND
2. Always doing the same thing
Did you also notice that Donna already acknowledged that she realizes she's not on the path to success?
This is a big one.
In reality, with online marketing, there's no wrong answer, only a less efficient one.
I know, it sounds like I'm knocking online marketing again. But hear me out.
It really doesn't matter where you begin: video, facebook, blog, twitter, website, build a list, create a product, autoresponder... it doesn't matter.
All of them WILL work - some are just more efficient than others. And some of them will have a shorter learning curve for you.
The real problem lies in the fact that everyone is looking for an instant win, a lottery ticket that will set them up for life. "If I do this, then I'll be SET!"
That's not reality - well if you're that lucky powerball winner (Odds of winning the Powerball Jackpot are 1 in 195,249,054) - then I guess it would work for you.
Reality says, pick something, hone it, craft it, and tell the world about it. If you build it, they won't come. If you build it, it's good stuff, and then you tell people, invite them to have a peek - THEN they come - and they tell their friends.
Walt Disney said "Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again - and bring their friends."
That's what you have to do in business. Whether it's dirct sales, carpet cleaning, running a theater, or building a real estate empire. It doesn't matter what you pick, what matters is the passion and commitment behind what you're doing.
So if you detest blogs, don't start one. If you can't commit to building a website, don't do it. If the idea of using twitter totally freaks you out, DON'T DO IT.
And realize there are consequences for that inaction.
You can't have it both ways in business. You must do SOME kind of work to get some kind of return. Some actions will be more efficient, some less.
But if you're drawn to twitter, and can't stand facebook, use twitter with a passion, contribute value, and tell people what you're doing so they can come check you out. Do it so well that they'll want to come back over and over - and bring their friends.
That's how you make online marketing work for you.
In our 12-week challenge, we're examining the heart of your expertise - that thing you are uniquely qualified to share with the world - and creating a strategy to help you bring it out for the world to see. Your strategy will be unique to you, customized by and for you - so that you KNOW what you're doing will work for your business. There's still time to Enter the contest, if you haven't already. Tickets are now on sale for the challenge as well. Take the 12-week challenge here.
Develop an Online Marketing Strategy FIRST
Online Marketing is more than Social Media.
There's products, services, websites, blogs, email, opt-ins, copy, autoresponders and so much more to the picture.
Here's one of the recent entries in my 12-Week Challenge Contest:
"My biggest challenge with marketing my business online is......taking all the info that I have learned from various sources and translating it into a workable, realistic plan that I can easily stick to. My weakness is jumping from great idea to excellent implementation" - Anna Marie
(If you haven't entered yet, there's still time to enter here.)
One of the big hurdles to navigating the web is what to do first - and how to make it effective. There are as many opinions as there are experts on the topic about what will work best - for small business or direct sellers. One thing most everyone seems to agree on, however, is the importance of developing a strategy FIRST.
When you approach building your business with a strategic plan - a roadmap if you will - it becomes much easier to determine where to invest your time, energy and monoey for maximum effectiveness.
The same holds true when creating an online presence. Create a roadmap that outlines exactly what your objectives are. Once you've developed that strategy, you can look to which elements of online marketing will best meet those objectives, and make an educated decision about the amount of time, entegy and money you'll invest in each.
At present, I maintain several blogs and websites - in addition to my multiple social media presences, newsletters, and offline media.
I STARTED with one thing.
This is the big "sticky wicket" that online marketing strategiest want to pose - set up multiple things, try to keep all the plates spinning and watch it all come crashing down in a huge time suck.
The reality of all this online marketing hoo-hah is that there's really only one place you need to start when it comes to growing your business online. It's something I call your Perfect Fit Customer.
Once you've identified your Perfect Fit Customer - which is not just a demographic, but a complete profile of the ideal client you want to serve - you can lay out an effective strategy to approach, attract and retain people with whom you enjoy working.
An effective strategy begins with clarity and focus. The first place to focus is on your passion. Assuming your business is a reflection of your passion, the next place to focus is your perfect fit customer. Once you're clear on who you want to serve, the next step is figuring out where to find them - and you may discover that it's NOT an online environment, after all.
*GASP!* Did I just recommend against an online strategy?
Well, if your perfect fit customer doesn't own a computer, online marketing is virtually pointless, isn't it?
Fortunately, that's not the case for the majority of purchasers in the US these days.
The point is that you need to know WHERE to find your perfect fit customer before you go off looking for them - otherwise you're just snipe hunting.
In our 12-Week Challenge, we'll begin with an in-depth look at your Perfect Fit Customer, help you determine your area of expertise, and lay out a customized online marketing strategy built around the way YOU do business. Designed for small business owners of all types - not just direct sellers - the 12-Week challenge is great for anyone looking for hand on help to grow their business using online marketing strategies.
Get the full details at homepartysolution.com/12weeks.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow!
There's products, services, websites, blogs, email, opt-ins, copy, autoresponders and so much more to the picture.
Here's one of the recent entries in my 12-Week Challenge Contest:
"My biggest challenge with marketing my business online is......taking all the info that I have learned from various sources and translating it into a workable, realistic plan that I can easily stick to. My weakness is jumping from great idea to excellent implementation" - Anna Marie
(If you haven't entered yet, there's still time to enter here.)
One of the big hurdles to navigating the web is what to do first - and how to make it effective. There are as many opinions as there are experts on the topic about what will work best - for small business or direct sellers. One thing most everyone seems to agree on, however, is the importance of developing a strategy FIRST.
When you approach building your business with a strategic plan - a roadmap if you will - it becomes much easier to determine where to invest your time, energy and monoey for maximum effectiveness.
The same holds true when creating an online presence. Create a roadmap that outlines exactly what your objectives are. Once you've developed that strategy, you can look to which elements of online marketing will best meet those objectives, and make an educated decision about the amount of time, entegy and money you'll invest in each.
At present, I maintain several blogs and websites - in addition to my multiple social media presences, newsletters, and offline media.
I STARTED with one thing.
This is the big "sticky wicket" that online marketing strategiest want to pose - set up multiple things, try to keep all the plates spinning and watch it all come crashing down in a huge time suck.
The reality of all this online marketing hoo-hah is that there's really only one place you need to start when it comes to growing your business online. It's something I call your Perfect Fit Customer.
Once you've identified your Perfect Fit Customer - which is not just a demographic, but a complete profile of the ideal client you want to serve - you can lay out an effective strategy to approach, attract and retain people with whom you enjoy working.
An effective strategy begins with clarity and focus. The first place to focus is on your passion. Assuming your business is a reflection of your passion, the next place to focus is your perfect fit customer. Once you're clear on who you want to serve, the next step is figuring out where to find them - and you may discover that it's NOT an online environment, after all.
*GASP!* Did I just recommend against an online strategy?
Well, if your perfect fit customer doesn't own a computer, online marketing is virtually pointless, isn't it?
Fortunately, that's not the case for the majority of purchasers in the US these days.
The point is that you need to know WHERE to find your perfect fit customer before you go off looking for them - otherwise you're just snipe hunting.
In our 12-Week Challenge, we'll begin with an in-depth look at your Perfect Fit Customer, help you determine your area of expertise, and lay out a customized online marketing strategy built around the way YOU do business. Designed for small business owners of all types - not just direct sellers - the 12-Week challenge is great for anyone looking for hand on help to grow their business using online marketing strategies.
Get the full details at homepartysolution.com/12weeks.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow!
FTC's new rules mean business for Direct Sellers
In a recent post by twitter pal and Direct Sales Social Media blogger, Jennifer Fong, she discusses the FTC's new rules about disclosure on blogs.
But there's another rule that appears to be slipping under the radar right now - how using testimonials to market your services has changed.
Here's a link to the full article from the FTC:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm
It's worth it to take the time to read this. It appears on the surface to be a messge aimed at the advertisers - and as a direct seller, you are "advertising" on behalf of your company each time you do a demonstration or recommend your products and services to a potential customer.
These guides haven't been updated since 1980, and in light of the recent rush to blogging for dollars, advertisers have capitalized on this "loose" method of endorsement, and the FTC is tightening up to cover this "new" media.
Most importantly, note the following paragraph:
"Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor."
So saying things like "this is an unusual case" or "results not typical" isn't gonna fly anymore.
So if you've got a weightloss product, and a customer lost 48 pounds in 2 weeks, that doesn't mean you can't share that testimonial. On the contrary, you SHOULD - particularly because a lot of people won't anymore. But when you share that, you ALSO have to share what the TYPICAL user experience will be.
For example, "most people lose about a half a pound a week, but Sally from Oregon lost an incredible 48 pounds in 2 weeks using our program."
It's in the wording - and advertisers will be held at their word. Just be sure you're clear on what the typical results are for people.
The other area (that Jen addressed in her blog post) is a little more tricky - particularly for direct sellers doing product reviews for their own company products. In a newsletter or "closed door" communication, where a person has opted in to receive your content, it is easy to tell your readers that you are a consultant for XYZ company. On a blog, website or other online, public, "open door" type communication, many of the long-standing direct sales companies still have rules that outright forbid you from revealing any affiliation to their company, because they consider it "online advertising".
There are a couple of ways to work this:
1. Don't do product reviews on your blog - save them for your newsletter. It sounds silly, but instead of making public recommendations about your company products, offer tips and strategies they can use with any product, and then encourage readers to opt in to your private list so you can give full disclosure. This is a grey area, and because you're not outright endorsing or recommending a particular product, you can safely get around this issue.
2. Brand yourself first. This really should be number one, since it's my mantra. You are the most important product your company has to offer - and it doesn't matter what company you represent. Your public presence should be used to further your OWN reputation, not that of your company or your products. Direct sellers that rely on product review type articles will never fully get their business off the ground. It's a great place to start, but there are a variety of topics that surround your product line to which you should familiarize yourself. Become an expert in a topic related to your product line. Then you become known as "the expert", not just the "xyz product expert".
3. Get permission from your home office. A lot of copanies that say "no online advertising" put those rules in place to keep the mass of consultants from doing "dumb stupids" and posting erroneous info online. If you present a clear, focused proposal to your home office (someone that has authority to approve, not just a help center rep), you might be surprised at what you can accomplish. I was able to get authorization from The Body Shop at Home to do an entire online television series - when national advertising and online advertising were strictly prohibited.
There are other ideas I have on this topic as well, and I would love to hear your thoughts - particularly if your company has the same strict rules as many of the pillars of the industry do.
But there's another rule that appears to be slipping under the radar right now - how using testimonials to market your services has changed.
Here's a link to the full article from the FTC:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm
It's worth it to take the time to read this. It appears on the surface to be a messge aimed at the advertisers - and as a direct seller, you are "advertising" on behalf of your company each time you do a demonstration or recommend your products and services to a potential customer.
These guides haven't been updated since 1980, and in light of the recent rush to blogging for dollars, advertisers have capitalized on this "loose" method of endorsement, and the FTC is tightening up to cover this "new" media.
Most importantly, note the following paragraph:
"Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor."
So saying things like "this is an unusual case" or "results not typical" isn't gonna fly anymore.
So if you've got a weightloss product, and a customer lost 48 pounds in 2 weeks, that doesn't mean you can't share that testimonial. On the contrary, you SHOULD - particularly because a lot of people won't anymore. But when you share that, you ALSO have to share what the TYPICAL user experience will be.
For example, "most people lose about a half a pound a week, but Sally from Oregon lost an incredible 48 pounds in 2 weeks using our program."
It's in the wording - and advertisers will be held at their word. Just be sure you're clear on what the typical results are for people.
The other area (that Jen addressed in her blog post) is a little more tricky - particularly for direct sellers doing product reviews for their own company products. In a newsletter or "closed door" communication, where a person has opted in to receive your content, it is easy to tell your readers that you are a consultant for XYZ company. On a blog, website or other online, public, "open door" type communication, many of the long-standing direct sales companies still have rules that outright forbid you from revealing any affiliation to their company, because they consider it "online advertising".
There are a couple of ways to work this:
1. Don't do product reviews on your blog - save them for your newsletter. It sounds silly, but instead of making public recommendations about your company products, offer tips and strategies they can use with any product, and then encourage readers to opt in to your private list so you can give full disclosure. This is a grey area, and because you're not outright endorsing or recommending a particular product, you can safely get around this issue.
2. Brand yourself first. This really should be number one, since it's my mantra. You are the most important product your company has to offer - and it doesn't matter what company you represent. Your public presence should be used to further your OWN reputation, not that of your company or your products. Direct sellers that rely on product review type articles will never fully get their business off the ground. It's a great place to start, but there are a variety of topics that surround your product line to which you should familiarize yourself. Become an expert in a topic related to your product line. Then you become known as "the expert", not just the "xyz product expert".
3. Get permission from your home office. A lot of copanies that say "no online advertising" put those rules in place to keep the mass of consultants from doing "dumb stupids" and posting erroneous info online. If you present a clear, focused proposal to your home office (someone that has authority to approve, not just a help center rep), you might be surprised at what you can accomplish. I was able to get authorization from The Body Shop at Home to do an entire online television series - when national advertising and online advertising were strictly prohibited.
There are other ideas I have on this topic as well, and I would love to hear your thoughts - particularly if your company has the same strict rules as many of the pillars of the industry do.
More about the 12 week challenge
Wow! In a day, I've had half a dozen entries come in. I'm looking forward to seeing even more questions from all of you.
You can post your entry by clicking here. All the instructions are on yesterday post.
And I realize that many of you are probably waiting to see just what exactly is involved in the 12 week challenge. So here's the skinny:
Beginning October 26, and for the following 12 weeks, you're invited to join me on a step-by-step walk through of Home Party Solution. Now, I'm not going to read you a chapter a week, because I figure you all can read! What I am going to do is walk you through each element, with additional insights and strategies that aren't included in the book, to help you take action right away and help you grow your online presence in an easy to digest way.
Now I know it's a challenge to know from one month to the next what you'll be doing - let alone for the next 12 weeks - particularly when we're rolling into the new year.
So we're giving you the MP3 downloads as well, so that you can keep up with the group if you have to take a holiday or your computer crashes for a week.
The reason I put this group together is because so many of you were telling me that even though it's laid out in bite-sized pieces, it was easy to put the book on a shelf, and let "life get in the way". The result was a bunch of half-completed work that left you feeling more frustrated than successful. Then there were those of you that wanted to attend the Live event, but just couldn't make the trip.
Frustration is not why I wrote this book. This book was created out of a true desire to help consultants become MORE successful and LESS frustrated. It's the process I used to grow my direct sales business - and also my coaching business.
I used the exact same process for both businesses. Which means yes, you can use this info even if you're not in a direct selling business. Any micro/small business looking to create and build an online presence with a personal brand at the front of it all can use this program successfully.
So we'll be working on mindset, and focus. Then we'll develop a perfect fit customer profile that you can use to develop your marketing strategy. Armed with that laser-focused information, you'll be able to quickly assess which online marketing methods will be your best bet for rapid results, and then we'll take ACTION to get things rolling quickly. With 12 weekly assignments (in bite sized, easy to handle pieces), you'll have plenty of time to get everything handled.
Plus, there's Q&A, video training, and more. I'll personally be critiquing your work, reviewing your sites, and helping you build a powerful web presence. We'll even have private coaching sessions to make sure your particular situation is covered. Can you tell how serious I am about helping you succeed?
You can view the info page here:
http://www.homepartysolution.com/12weeks
(link opens in a new window)
Because of all the personal attention, we are strictly limiting the number of "seats" for this telecoaching series to 175 - and HPS Live attendees shrink the number of available seats - and 6 more seats will go to my contest winners. With less than 200 seats available, you know the tickets will go fast - and tickets will go on sale October 10.
If you've already purchased the book, you get a $200 discount on the program. If you were at the HPS Live event, this 12 week challenge is free for you. A special announcement will go out to all our customers this week with further details on the discounts.
AND, during the contest, I'll be posting answers to the questions contestants are asking in their entries. I invite you to engage as well, asking more questions, offering suggestions of your own, etc. I want people to LEARN from this blog, and the best way to do that is to share the answers with all of you - not just the contest winners or challenge participants.
I might even post updates during the challenge! It really depends on the level of interest you show here.
You can post your entry by clicking here. All the instructions are on yesterday post.
And I realize that many of you are probably waiting to see just what exactly is involved in the 12 week challenge. So here's the skinny:
Beginning October 26, and for the following 12 weeks, you're invited to join me on a step-by-step walk through of Home Party Solution. Now, I'm not going to read you a chapter a week, because I figure you all can read! What I am going to do is walk you through each element, with additional insights and strategies that aren't included in the book, to help you take action right away and help you grow your online presence in an easy to digest way.
Now I know it's a challenge to know from one month to the next what you'll be doing - let alone for the next 12 weeks - particularly when we're rolling into the new year.
So we're giving you the MP3 downloads as well, so that you can keep up with the group if you have to take a holiday or your computer crashes for a week.
The reason I put this group together is because so many of you were telling me that even though it's laid out in bite-sized pieces, it was easy to put the book on a shelf, and let "life get in the way". The result was a bunch of half-completed work that left you feeling more frustrated than successful. Then there were those of you that wanted to attend the Live event, but just couldn't make the trip.
Frustration is not why I wrote this book. This book was created out of a true desire to help consultants become MORE successful and LESS frustrated. It's the process I used to grow my direct sales business - and also my coaching business.
I used the exact same process for both businesses. Which means yes, you can use this info even if you're not in a direct selling business. Any micro/small business looking to create and build an online presence with a personal brand at the front of it all can use this program successfully.
So we'll be working on mindset, and focus. Then we'll develop a perfect fit customer profile that you can use to develop your marketing strategy. Armed with that laser-focused information, you'll be able to quickly assess which online marketing methods will be your best bet for rapid results, and then we'll take ACTION to get things rolling quickly. With 12 weekly assignments (in bite sized, easy to handle pieces), you'll have plenty of time to get everything handled.
Plus, there's Q&A, video training, and more. I'll personally be critiquing your work, reviewing your sites, and helping you build a powerful web presence. We'll even have private coaching sessions to make sure your particular situation is covered. Can you tell how serious I am about helping you succeed?
You can view the info page here:
http://www.homepartysolution.com/12weeks
(link opens in a new window)
Because of all the personal attention, we are strictly limiting the number of "seats" for this telecoaching series to 175 - and HPS Live attendees shrink the number of available seats - and 6 more seats will go to my contest winners. With less than 200 seats available, you know the tickets will go fast - and tickets will go on sale October 10.
If you've already purchased the book, you get a $200 discount on the program. If you were at the HPS Live event, this 12 week challenge is free for you. A special announcement will go out to all our customers this week with further details on the discounts.
AND, during the contest, I'll be posting answers to the questions contestants are asking in their entries. I invite you to engage as well, asking more questions, offering suggestions of your own, etc. I want people to LEARN from this blog, and the best way to do that is to share the answers with all of you - not just the contest winners or challenge participants.
I might even post updates during the challenge! It really depends on the level of interest you show here.
Home Party Solution 12 Week Challenge Contest
People have been asking me for months now if what I teach inside the pages of Home Party Solution will work for them - even if they don't have a network marketing, or direct sales business.
I love this question, because it means they haven't read the book yet. If they had, they'd know the answer is a resounding yes! In fact, I've been using some of the same strategies I teach in this book with my Simpleology Coaching clients - and many of them don't have a network marketing business of any kind. I've used these strategies with authors, owners of a theater, and other businesses that need to put a personal face on the work that they do.
While there are some aspects of the book that talk directly to people in the direct selling profession, the bulk of the book is geared to any small business owner.
If you are a micro biz owner, a solo-professional, or anyone trying to develop a personal brand online and attract more perfect fit clients using strategic target marketing, social media, websites, opt-ins and more, it's time to consider my 12 week challenge.
I'm even going to let a 6 lucky readers have access to the entire program FREE (with product and services totally nearly $10,000 for the 12 week program).
Intrigued? Read on...
The Home Party Solution 12 Week Challenge is a telecoaching program that walks you through the entire online marketing model I've used to create several successful businesses. We begin with mindset issues, then develop a "perfect fit" customer profile, and lay out the strategies you'll need to grow your business using personal branding and the power of the Internet. From websites to blogs to social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, you'll have everything you need at your fingertips.
And if you're like many business owners I know, it's hard to know what you'll be doing in 12 weeks, so if you need to miss a class, you'll even have the MP3's to listen to to keep moving forward, or to re-listen to a strategy you might have missed.
It's easy to enter. Just answer this question:
What is your biggest challenge with marketing your business online?
What you'll win:
All eligible entrants will get complimentary access to the March 2010 Super Summit Teleseries - and the audio downloads (a $100 REAL value, people paid that much for each of my two previous summits and March looks to be even MORE spectacular!).
10 winners will get a 1-on-1 Target Marketing Session with me ($175 REAL value - I charge and get $175 per half our of coaching). We'll spend 30 minutes honing in on your perfect-fit customer and develop a preliminary marketing strategy to help you reach your target market and attract customers you WANT to work with.
5 winners will get access to the entire 12 week challenge - including Audio downloads ($297 REAL value - only 175 seats will be available for this event - and the first 5 will be filled here!)
ONE Grand prize winner will get all of the above (That's a $472 REAL value, folks)
How to Enter:
Write a paragraph, describing your biggest challenge with marketing your business online - you don't NEED to be involved in a Direct Sales business to enter or win. Just write it up and post it either to your blog or facebook with a link back to this post. Then email us at lisa126-465599@autocontactor.com so that we know you're eligible for the prizes. You'll get a confirmation email right away.
You can also post your question here and then Share This Post on twitter or facebook (or both!).
Here's the link, if you want to tell your friends and neighbors: http://www.homepartysolution.com/contest
Aren't engaged in social media? You can still enter by emailing your entry to the email address above. All eligible entries will be posted to this blog, regardless of how you enter.
Contest Rules:
Winners will be selected at random from all eligible entries on October 20, 2009. Only one entry per email address is allowed. Winners will be notified via email and an announcement will be made on this blog.
Tomorrow, you'll learn more about the 12 week challenge. We begin October 26 and there's only 175 total spaces available, and tickets go on sale soon. If you purchase your ticket and are declared a contest winner, your purchase will be refunded.
Best of luck everyone!
I love this question, because it means they haven't read the book yet. If they had, they'd know the answer is a resounding yes! In fact, I've been using some of the same strategies I teach in this book with my Simpleology Coaching clients - and many of them don't have a network marketing business of any kind. I've used these strategies with authors, owners of a theater, and other businesses that need to put a personal face on the work that they do.
While there are some aspects of the book that talk directly to people in the direct selling profession, the bulk of the book is geared to any small business owner.
If you are a micro biz owner, a solo-professional, or anyone trying to develop a personal brand online and attract more perfect fit clients using strategic target marketing, social media, websites, opt-ins and more, it's time to consider my 12 week challenge.
I'm even going to let a 6 lucky readers have access to the entire program FREE (with product and services totally nearly $10,000 for the 12 week program).
Intrigued? Read on...
The Home Party Solution 12 Week Challenge is a telecoaching program that walks you through the entire online marketing model I've used to create several successful businesses. We begin with mindset issues, then develop a "perfect fit" customer profile, and lay out the strategies you'll need to grow your business using personal branding and the power of the Internet. From websites to blogs to social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, you'll have everything you need at your fingertips.
And if you're like many business owners I know, it's hard to know what you'll be doing in 12 weeks, so if you need to miss a class, you'll even have the MP3's to listen to to keep moving forward, or to re-listen to a strategy you might have missed.
It's easy to enter. Just answer this question:
What is your biggest challenge with marketing your business online?
What you'll win:
All eligible entrants will get complimentary access to the March 2010 Super Summit Teleseries - and the audio downloads (a $100 REAL value, people paid that much for each of my two previous summits and March looks to be even MORE spectacular!).
10 winners will get a 1-on-1 Target Marketing Session with me ($175 REAL value - I charge and get $175 per half our of coaching). We'll spend 30 minutes honing in on your perfect-fit customer and develop a preliminary marketing strategy to help you reach your target market and attract customers you WANT to work with.
5 winners will get access to the entire 12 week challenge - including Audio downloads ($297 REAL value - only 175 seats will be available for this event - and the first 5 will be filled here!)
ONE Grand prize winner will get all of the above (That's a $472 REAL value, folks)
How to Enter:
Write a paragraph, describing your biggest challenge with marketing your business online - you don't NEED to be involved in a Direct Sales business to enter or win. Just write it up and post it either to your blog or facebook with a link back to this post. Then email us at lisa126-465599@autocontactor.com so that we know you're eligible for the prizes. You'll get a confirmation email right away.
You can also post your question here and then Share This Post on twitter or facebook (or both!).
Here's the link, if you want to tell your friends and neighbors: http://www.homepartysolution.com/contest
Aren't engaged in social media? You can still enter by emailing your entry to the email address above. All eligible entries will be posted to this blog, regardless of how you enter.
Contest Rules:
Winners will be selected at random from all eligible entries on October 20, 2009. Only one entry per email address is allowed. Winners will be notified via email and an announcement will be made on this blog.
Tomorrow, you'll learn more about the 12 week challenge. We begin October 26 and there's only 175 total spaces available, and tickets go on sale soon. If you purchase your ticket and are declared a contest winner, your purchase will be refunded.
Best of luck everyone!
Inspiration & Business: A Lesson in Consistency
Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
So have rumours of me being stranded and mugged in London - for those of you that haven't heard about my Facebook adventure. Someone hacked my Facebook page a couple of months ago, and fortunately, we caught it quickly, which meant little clean up on my end. YAY! The good news is that they didn't do a thing to my facebook fan page - and now we've got all kinds of people connecting with us on Facebook! Double YAY!
And so, between cleaning up all that hoo-hah, and the musical I directed this summer for a local theater company, the LIVE event in August, and the Direct Sales Super Summit that just ended... well, let's just say I've been busy.
Real busy.
And it begs the question - just how important is my blog in terms of traffic generation, lead generation and growing my business? I mean, this is part and parcel to what I teach my clients: build a website, create a brand, and market it like crazy so people will flock to you, rather than you having to chase after them.
I confess, my focus was elsewhere, and while I have some great news to share with you, I also want to be honest and tell you that yes, the number of people that read my blog went WAY down, as did the number of subscribers from my marketing actvities. In fact, there were a couple of weeks where I actually lost more subscribers than I added.
So the lesson in consistency was a hard one to learn - and if you've been following my ezine for any length of time, you'll know that it's not the only hard lesson I learned this month.
One of the things I toyed with was the idea of delegating my blog posts to "guest bloggers" or having my assistant post on my behalf, but I dismissed the idea almost as quickly. To me, my blog is my personal platform to cmmunicate with my readers. To have anyone else do it would take away some of that personalness. Maybe I'll change my mind later, but for now, if I can't post it myself, it won't get posted.
That said, watch what happens to my blog in the coming days - I'm implementing a new traffic strategy, beginning tomorrow, and running throughout the remainder of October. The challenge - a blog post every single day. EVERY day.
And tomorrow's will be a doozie.
You have been warned.
So have rumours of me being stranded and mugged in London - for those of you that haven't heard about my Facebook adventure. Someone hacked my Facebook page a couple of months ago, and fortunately, we caught it quickly, which meant little clean up on my end. YAY! The good news is that they didn't do a thing to my facebook fan page - and now we've got all kinds of people connecting with us on Facebook! Double YAY!
And so, between cleaning up all that hoo-hah, and the musical I directed this summer for a local theater company, the LIVE event in August, and the Direct Sales Super Summit that just ended... well, let's just say I've been busy.
Real busy.
And it begs the question - just how important is my blog in terms of traffic generation, lead generation and growing my business? I mean, this is part and parcel to what I teach my clients: build a website, create a brand, and market it like crazy so people will flock to you, rather than you having to chase after them.
I confess, my focus was elsewhere, and while I have some great news to share with you, I also want to be honest and tell you that yes, the number of people that read my blog went WAY down, as did the number of subscribers from my marketing actvities. In fact, there were a couple of weeks where I actually lost more subscribers than I added.
So the lesson in consistency was a hard one to learn - and if you've been following my ezine for any length of time, you'll know that it's not the only hard lesson I learned this month.
One of the things I toyed with was the idea of delegating my blog posts to "guest bloggers" or having my assistant post on my behalf, but I dismissed the idea almost as quickly. To me, my blog is my personal platform to cmmunicate with my readers. To have anyone else do it would take away some of that personalness. Maybe I'll change my mind later, but for now, if I can't post it myself, it won't get posted.
That said, watch what happens to my blog in the coming days - I'm implementing a new traffic strategy, beginning tomorrow, and running throughout the remainder of October. The challenge - a blog post every single day. EVERY day.
And tomorrow's will be a doozie.
You have been warned.
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