How Can I Use Social Media to Grow my Business?

Throughout our lives, we have all had to learn new skills.  Once that “light-bulb” moment arrives and we finally understand how to do it, it becomes easier.  We then perform that skill repeatedly until it becomes second nature.

Learning how to utilize the marketing power of Social Media is no different. I remember well when a friend suggested I begin using Facebook and writing blogs.  My first question was, “What would I write about?”  It was challenging at the beginning.  I did not think anyone would care what I had to say.  I was surprised and pleased to find they did!

If you are new to internet marketing industry, there are a few things you need to know…

1.     You can only truly learn how to proceed on social media by doing it.

No matter what you have read or how many other networkers have helped you, you will actually begin participating and posting to understand completely.  You will learn once you join a few sites, i.e. Facebook, Twitter and IBOToolbox, and comment on others’ posts and begin sharing your own stories or information.

2.     It may take a while.

Once you are participating regularly on various forums and other social media sites, do not expect that you will suddenly see results.  Sorry folks, but you likely will acquire few or no friends or connections or make any sales during the first few days, or even weeks.  It takes time to build your internet presence and gain followers and friends.  Social Media marketing is actually relationship marketing.  I have seen people become successful after it took them three months before their first sale.  .

3.     Do not become discouraged.

It is common and quite easy to become disheartened when you spend hours on social media sites and no one connects with you.  First, your posts and blogs will improve in time.  The more you participate, the more skilled you will become.  The more skilled you become, the more people will notice and connect with you.

You must KNOW that you will grow your internet presence as time goes on.  Do not allow yourself to become disheartened.  Your continued momentum forward will serve you well.

4.  Read others’ posts and blogs.

Part of your learning process should include reading lots of blogs and comments.  By doing this, you will learn how other people post and what they write about.  It will help you see the myriad topics about which you can write.

Social Media marketing is not a quick process, but once you gather followers and connections, you’ll be happy with the results.  Be persistent, diligent and patient.  If you are, it will be well worth the time and effort you invest.

Are You Truly Striving for Success?

Since you are reading this post, you already know that online marketing is powerful.  If you are consistently using online marketing for your business, after you have been doing it a while, you will begin generating leads who contact you! 

Attraction or Relationship Marketing is vital to generating leads.  Among the many ways to generate leads online, I find blogging to be the most effective for growing an online presence.  Each blog posted remains online forever.  It costs us nothing but time to write and post a blog.   

Here are a few other tips about home businesses and online relationship marketing.

·        Don’t “Hype” your products or opportunity or include your business in everything you post online.  When you go into “selling mode,” it is natural for people to tune you out or resist.  Let your posts tell readers about you, not only your business. 

·        Demonstrate your knowledge by including value in your posts.  Value in your posts is important because people buy from those they know, like and trust.  Prospects should see you as a leader.  If you are seeking team members, you want them to appreciate that you know what you are doing and have a vision for success.

·        Understand that most people will not join or buy your products.  Build your relationship with them anyway. You never know who they know who may be interested in our opportunity. 

·        Don’t ever give up! Entrepreneurs face challenges whatever business they are in. You may have periods when you are earning no money. It happens. As an entrepreneur, you are stepping out of the average person’s lifestyle of working 40 hours a week for 40 years.  You are working to build a better life.  Don’t procrastinate; work your business every day – even if only for 10 minutes; and never quit! 

·        Persistence is crucial.  To succeed with any business, you must be persistent, consistent and patient. It may take months or even years.  Will you resist the urge to give up after a short time because your business isn’t growing as quickly as you want?  Are you convinced that you will succeed, whether it is next week, next month or next year? 

·        Do you have an overall strategy for achieving your long term goals?  The big picture includes putting a plan into action to achieve a successful result.

·        If you are working your business only “when you have time,” you likely are not working it very much at all.  Even if you have an outside job and/or children at home, create a work schedule that establishes when you will work your business. Building a successful business takes sacrifice.  If you have to give up your favorite TV show to work your business, isn’t it worth it to reach your goals? 

We have all read blogs about building a home business, but each one has a slightly different perspective and presents them differently.  I hope that at least a couple of these tips will be useful to each of you. 

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For Xpress Healthcare® business opportunity info, visit http://joinxpresshealthcare.com. 

 

For affordable discount plans to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more, visit: http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).  

I invite you to visit my Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/XpressHealthcareTheWinnersCircle 

I am a Lousy Salesperson!

The main reason most people join a network marketing company is not to sell anything.  Most join to improve their quality of life. So how do you sell a product if you don’t want to become a salesperson?  Sell yourself, not your products or business opportunity.  One of the best methods of establishing a network marketing business is by not focusing on selling to your prospects. 

Where do you begin? 1)  Build a relationship with your prospects so you understand their needs and wants while earning their trust and respect.  2) Get to know your prospect to see if they have the desire to purchase your products or are seeking a business opportunity.

If your prospects know, like and trust you, they will be more willing to listen to what you have to share.  If you are asking a prospect to join your downline, you first have to establish a relationship so the prospect can see that they would feel comfortable working with you.  

An easy guideline to remember when talking with your prospects is that you should always aim to create friends first.  A good way to do this is to ask questions and listen to what they have to say. Take a sincere interest in their lives. 

Once you have established a relationship, ask yourself, “Could I improve this person’s quality of life with my products?”  If yes, in what way?  Or ask yourself, “Does this person have the qualities I’m looking for as a business partner?”  If yes, how can you present your opportunity in a way that offers them a solution to their problems or improves their quality of life?

When it comes to finding downline distributors in particular, your goal is to find the right people, not just the willing.  You are looking for motivated, coachable people who will actively work their business. It is important to know that not everyone you know or with whom you communicate will have the qualities you are looking for. That’s fine. Enjoy the fact that you have just made a new friend.  If you try to sign everyone you meet, you may end up with a team of poorly qualified team members who quit after a short time.  As a professional, your goal is simply to build relationships. 

If an online contact asks me what I “do,” I respond with a one line response.  I might say, “I work at home selling discount plans.”  I’ve never had anyone object to that type of response, because I gave no specific details and did not follow up with a proposition.  Sometimes the person will ask for further details; others do not. 

If the prospect shows an interest in my products or opportunity, I simply answer their questions. I don’t give them a full-blown presentation.  If they truly express an interest at that time, I refer them to my website to learn more.  For my own business - keeping in mind that I work primarily online - those who are really interested will visit my websites.  Many will then contact me to join my team or purchase my products.

It is very important that you not jump at the first chance to share what you have to offer.  As the saying goes, “Good things come to those who wait.”  Jumping in too early can weaken the trust that you have created in your relationship.  If your internet “friend” never becomes a true prospect, you are better for having gained a new friend.

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Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance).

 

Please visit my Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/XpressHealthcareTheWinnersCircle

 

To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare® Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.  

Relationships

Interesting word, relationships.  It can mean so many different things.  As children, we had a relationship with our parents. Loving them, adoring them, admiring them and wanting to be like them when we grew up. (No, I’m not that naïve. I know that not everyone has a wonderful childhood, but I’m generalizing here.) When we reached school age, we began making friends at school. Friendly relationships through which we learned social skills and how to care for people outside our own family. As teenagers, we then began dating. Another entirely different kind of relationship. Maybe we even began to feel a new kind of love for someone, at least we believed we did at the time. We may even have had our hearts broken in a “boy-girl” relationship. Once we got into the “working world,” we began learning how to act in entirely new types of relationships. The boss-employee relationship. The co-worker relationship. The subordinate relationship. A whole new set of social skills, along with learning our actual job. Some of us had to cope with competition with a co-worker for a position, or we dealt with slackers in the office where we got stuck with their work. The climb to the top created some very challenging relationships for some of us. At some point between the dating and where we are today, many of us fell seriously in love, perhaps married and had children. We (hopefully) learned what compromising meant. We learned much more about how to give in a relationship. And our roles were reversed from when we were children. Our children then believed we could do no wrong and nothing could happen to them as long as we were there. (OK, I’ll admit, this period ends pretty abruptly when our kids reached their teens.) Those of us who now have our own business, network marketers, have at least attempted to learn about this whole new world of relationships. We are building relationships with people we have never met and likely never will. This networking relationship is completely new and different from any we’ve ever experienced. This is a “blended” relationship, sometimes strictly business. Other times, the relationships build into actual friendships. We care about one another, this distant person in another city, another state, even another country. Another type of relationship I’ve developed over the past few years is with others in network marketing. I have people on my network marketing team for whom I care deeply. I’ve also developed relationship with people I have met on various forums, many of whom I consider friends.  In fact, I find a great deal in common with my team members and others with home businesses, because I’m in a place in my life where my network marketing career is very important to me.  I believe my online friends understand this. Relationships. An interesting word.  ************************ Learn how to reduce your Health and Dental expenses AND reduce costs on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and even more at http://ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance). To learn about Julie Klein and how you can be successful in network marketing, look at the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity at http://joinxpresshealthcare.com.