I Confess! Follow-up...

For those who read my PR yesterday, you know I was planning to step out of my comfort zone and attend a business networking meeting with a new group. .  If you missed my PR from yesterday, I have a fear of face-to-face meetings and sales, so I was nervous about the meeting.  I had never seen or met any of the members.

I went to the meeting.  I was a few minutes early, so I waited for others to arrive in the lobby.  The meeting was at a restaurant.  I had no idea what any of the members looked like or exactly how many people would be attending.  Five people had accepted the invitation and said they would be there.

I waited as the scheduled time for the meeting passed.  About ten minutes after the appointed time, a man walked in the front door looking lost, so I asked him if he was there for the MeetUp group meeting.  He said he was and introduced himself a Keith, and he sat down with me.  He told me that he had received an email from the founder/creator of the group saying she would be unable to attend.  He and I sat and chatted a few more minutes, and when no one else appeared, we took a table.

Keith and I discussed our own businesses, which were totally unrelated.  He works only face-to-face, with no internet or relationship marketing.  I, on the other hand, work 90% on the internet.  We chatted about some of the methods we use to promote our products and recruit team members.

Keith seems to be a nice man and is having some success with his business.  We agreed that we would meet again in about a month, and hopefully more group members would attend.

I really don’t know how I would have felt if the other people had shown up, but meeting face-to-face with Keith was easy. My anxiety and fear I felt during the day anticipating the event was gone. 

This meeting was a good experience for me and will help me in the future.  I may still be nervous if a larger group is there, but I don’t think my anxiety level will be nearly as high.

Thank you all for your encouragement when I shared my fear, and thank you all for your great IBO Spirit!

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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://ibourl.net/XpressFacebook 

Rules of Engagement

As long as people have engaged in commerce, they have generally done business with people they liked and trusted.  Today, with online social networking, we can become acquainted with people worldwide.  This has opened up a whole new mode of promoting our businesses.

A very powerful way to market businesses, especially home businesses is “relationship marketing.”  Using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, IBOToolbox and others, we can connect with potential customers and business partners. 

With relationship marketing, we primarily focus on building and sustaining mutually beneficial associations.  We can also establish friendships with people who may never have any interest in our product or business.  We can learn from some of our contacts and educate others.

The most important thing to remember is that we are using social media.  The name is a clue as to how to behave on these sites.  Don’t just jump in and start promoting your product.  Remember that I began this post by saying that people do business with those they like and trust, and it can take time to develop a relationship. 

Participate on social media sites with relevant information.  Your posts can be educational, newsworthy, humorous, interesting or helpful.  Those with whom you are establishing a relationship want to know about you, so include your opinions, information about your background, perhaps a little about your family.  Always keep your posts positive, and avoid controversial topics.  It is very important to include photograph of yourself as part of your profile.  Your profile picture should not be your logo or an avatar.  People want to know that there is a real person writing to them.

Remember that it is not always about you. Ask questions and get to know your contacts.  We’re sowing seeds.  Any one of the relationship seeds we plant may turn out to know someone who needs your product or who is seeking a business just like yours.

As I said earlier, don’t begin selling too soon. Find a balance between sharing your information and sharing other people’s. Being social is the first step, and eventually people will begin asking questions about your business. 

Don’t be surprised if it takes a few months to establish enough relationships to benefit your business.  Be patient and get to know people.  I have built my business almost entirely through social media.  Your patience will prove worthwhile.

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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. 

The Importance of Social Media Marketing

If it works for them, no one should stop marketing in the “traditional” ways.  However, for those who are not yet doing so, the following statistics show how important social media marketing has become over the past few years.  Since you are reading this, you obviously visit social networking sites.  If you are not yet using social network marketing, I must ask, why not? 

I have been using social media marketing for a couple years, but still, I was surprised by these figures.  Compiled from a variety of websites, you will see a list of stats below regarding marketing via social networking sites.  These statistics were gleaned from websites of Experian, HubSpot, Socialbakers, Syncapse, Compete, Twitter, American Express, Ipsos, and Nielsen.

·        On Facebook, 85% of fans of brands recommend them to others, compared to 60% of average users.

·        Of all the time spent on the internet in the U.S., 27% of that time is spent on social networking sites.

·        Among marketers, 74% say Facebook is an important source of their lead generation.

·        48% of women and 43% of men regularly check out a brand's social page.

·        Trade shows, telemarketing, direct mail and PPC’s produce about half the number of leads as social network marketing.

·        In 2013, 43% of all marketers have found a customer via LinkedIn; 52% of all marketers acquired a customer through Facebook; and 36% of all marketers found a customer through Twitter.

·        U.S. mobile internet time spent on social networking sites accounts for about 15% of the total time spent.

·        The conversion rate for social media leads are 13% higher than the average lead conversion rate.

·        When making a purchase decision, about 46% of online users refer to social media.

·        Brand posts on Facebook get half of their reach within 30 minutes of being posted.  

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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).

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. 

My Pet Peeve

Like nearly everyone, I hate spam. According to an online article 7 Things You Didn’t Know About Email Spam Worldwide, “Roughly 130 billion spam emails are sent, worldwide, per day, accounting for roughly 70% of global emailing activity.” www.perimetec.com/7-Things-You-Didnt-Know-About-Email-Spam-Worldwide.php  What bothers me even more though are the many “facts” on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, social and network marketing sites and the like, or sent by email, where the poster just copied it from somewhere else without ever researching the supposed facts. In fact many are untrue or only partially true. We have all seen them. How about the one about why weddings are often held in June. The post states that is because people in centuries past didn’t bathe more than once a year, so they were married just past bath time. Oh yes, and the bride carries a bouquet to mask their odor. People pass on these posts, not realizing that not only did people bathe “way back then,” but they even had public bath houses. I saw one yesterday about how many mass murders were prevented by people who were carrying guns and stopped the shooters. I was curious about that, so I researched it, and although I only found information about a few of the ten or so incidents related in the post, in each situation, the description provided was either totally untrue or only partially true. During the United States General Election, emails and social networking sites were full of outrageous untrue stories about what one candidate or the other did. Unfortunately, people believe what they want to believe. So, the stories were reposted repeatedly and sent via email to everyone on their contact lists. I primarily rely on  snopes.com to determine the veracity of a post or email. Until I’ve checked it out myself, I will not forward “urban myths.” I’ve even seen outrageous posts that have “I checked this out myself on snopes.com” at the end. When I personally check it out though, around 90% of those posts turn out to be untrue. Millions – perhaps even billions of “normal” spam email is every month. In fact, only a very small percentage of email is NOT spam. According to an article published by the Information Security Office at the University of Texas at El Paso ( admin.utep.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=64462 ), in the month of July 2012,”7,973,389 email messages. 6,476,110 of these messages were identified as Spam by our filters, 18,270 as Suspected Spam, and 391,374 as Marketing - Total of 6,494,380 (81.4%) Spam.” Imagine for a moment how much faster the Internet would be if these millions upon millions of spam were not sent. Imagine if you opened your email, and everything in your inbox was something you wanted or expected to be there. How much time would you be saving if you didn’t have to delete all that spam? How much more trustworthy would you find Facebook, et al if people did not share and pass along lies, half-truths and exaggerations without first verifying them? I love having email and the various forums and social networking sites. I do wish though that I didn’t have to filter all the spam (my email system does a lot of it) and read posts with a skeptical eye and research them to see if they are true. Would you join me in NOT forwarding emails and posts unless you are certain that the facts are true? ******************************* To learn about Julie Klein and the Xpress Healthcare Business Opportunity, please visit joinxpresshealthcare.com . You can work from home and earn residual income. To learn how to Save Money on Your Health and Dental Costs AND Save on Hearing, Vision, Prescriptions, Roadside Assistance, Lifelock™ and much more, please visit  ibourl.net/XpressSavings (NOT insurance)

Networking in Less Traditional Ways

Most small business owners and those in network marketing know the conventional ways to network and make new business contacts.  Joining your local Chamber of Commerce, for instance, or joining any other group of  small business owners. 

Those entrepreneurs who achieve the most success use less common methods, find unique networking resources and often connect in very different ways.  It is a lifestyle change for the really great networkers, something they do every day, and always thinking of more creative ways to connect with people about their business. 

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If you’re open to trying some new ways to connect with people, there several easy ones. 

·        Local groups not involved in the “business world.”  Attend and participate in various community/civic board  and neighborhood meetings.   Get active in meetings and activities at your children’s school.  Becoming involved in this type of meeting can offer many opportunities to network with your neighbors and those who live and work in your area.

·        Wasting Time – We all know that no matter how well we plan our schedules, there will always be times when you have nothing to do but wait.  Instead of being bored and getting frustrated while waiting in a long line and your motor vehicles office, take advantage of this opportunity to chat with someone else in line.  It’s possible that the conversation can lead to an opportunity to mention your business.  If that happens, you just may find a customer or someone who would like to refer someone to you.

·        Don’t be Shy:  If you are normally not a very outgoing person, it is in your best interest to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and boldly start a conversation with people wherever you go.  When you’re in an airplane or on a bus, for instance, even standing in line at the grocery store are all great times to push yourself and talk to people around you.  It could well lead creating a new network. Connection. 

·        Talk to the Top:  Many small business owners limit their networking to others who own small business owners, or individuals they know.  That is, people in a similar level to themselves in the business world.  Have you ever considered approaching people with more “clout” in your industry?  If you find an opportunity to place your product or service to someone high up in a company who may benefit by it, do not waste the opportunity.  Once you’ve gotten your business’ message to one powerful person, it may just open doors for you with others.  This could lead to growth of your business more quickly.    

·        Media Marketing Outside the Norm:   We all realize the importance of social media marketing, but top networkers don’t limit themselves to Facebook fan pages or Twitter feeds.   Instead, they spend time regularly, often daily, participating in social communities relating to their fields and other networks directed more toward business than “friendships.”  Getting your name and that of your business out there, in as many places as possible, can be a very powerful way to create new contacts.

Social Network Marketing - Forums

Many of us use forums, but I know there are some network marketers who do not.  Nearly everyone has heard of Facebook, even if you’ve never used it.  Facebook is a forum.

·                                 Exactly what is a forum?  An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms, which many of you are also familiar with, in that messages are not shown in real-time, to see new messages the forum page must be reloaded...

·                                 An Internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user-generated content. Internet forums are also commonly referred to as Web forums, message boards, discussion boards, electronic discussion groups or forums and bulletin boards.

Forums can help you grow your teams, without even placing a single ad on them! I highly recommend that you check some out and use them to help your business grow.  If you know of others (than those I’ll mention later in this call), please share with us.

There are myriad forums throughout the Internet.  Some are for single moms, some for work-at-home moms, some for people interested in politics, business, finances, genealogy or economy.  I’ll provide you with a few sites later in this call, but feel free to search the internet for forums geared toward a subject you enjoy.

The first thing you’ll do when you go to a forum is to register.  Many allow you to register with a “user” name rather than your actual name.  You can do that if you wish, but remember that “branding” yourself to promote your business is important, so forums may help you in that manner.

 When you first join a forum, take some time to read some of the posts before you begin posting yourself. That way you can get the “tone” of each forum, learn the environment, what element of society posts there and what type of discussions take place there.  Once you get to know what the forum is about, it is important to participate on these forums.  Don’t just register & read posts.  And DO NOT use your posts as advertisements for your business!

         When you join each forum, it is very important to read their rules.  They are different at each site.  You may be suspended or banned from a site if you violate their rules.  Don’t let that scare you.  These are rules, not laws.  The only penalty a forum site can impose is suspension or banning you.  Just read over their rules, and you can ask your sponsor or a forum member if you don’t understand something.

        Once you get used to forums, you’ll likely really enjoy getting to know other members, learning from them and contributing to them.  You’ll grow relationships with other posters.

Try to spend some time each day on your favorite forums.  I spend an hour or so on forums most days.  I work my home business full time.  But if you work a j-o-b along with your network marketing business, of course, you’ll have less time to spend on them.  But do try to set a scheduled amount of time each week to participate in forums, and stick to it.

·        Also, you’ll want to join groups within the sites.  Search the groups available, and join those you think you may enjoy.  You can always “unsubscribe” from a group later if you wish.

Once you’ve established relationships in a group, a contact may ask you what you do.  At that point, feel free to say something like, “I sell discount health & benefit plans with xxxx.”  That’s it.  Don’t go into a big presentation.  If they want to know more, they’ll ask.

Also, one of the best ways to get one of your contacts to ask what you do is to ask what they do first!  You must show interest.  As long as they are affiliated with a reputable company, you need not feel as though you’re being phony about it.  There is no business that’s a good fit for everyone, and just because their business isn’t something you’d like to do, it doesn’t mean that they don’t love what they do as much as you love your own network marketing company.  So, when they say they work for XYZ company, if you aren’t familiar with them, ask them about it.  If you do know their company – say it’s Avon – you can mention that you know what a really good company they are.  And something like, “It’s great that you found something you enjoy doing so much.”

·        Some of these sites offer a signature block, which means that every time you post on the site, you’re also posting a mini-ad.  I suggest your signature block contain your name, your business name and one of your websites.

·        On WAHM, you must post 30 times before you qualify for a signature block.  You’ll want to post wherever you see a forum that seems interesting to you, but do NOT post just to get your count up to 30.  You must be contributing to the “conversation.” 

            Some forums offer free or paid advertising.  If it’s free, be sure to take advantage of it, but keep in mind, oftentimes those ads will appear among the posts.  So you don’t want to place too many ads and appear to be using the site just for that purpose. 

Two VERY IMPORTANT items I’d like to advise you about when posting on forums.

1.      Anyone can join & read these forums.  Keep that in mind when you post.  For instance, on general forums, I avoid posting anything related to politics.  Since we all have different opinions about political affairs, I believe it could be harmful to my business relationships if I get involved in political discussions.

2.      VERY Important!  NEVER bash or insult anyone or any company on a forum.  It is always against the rules, but more than that, it is rude & unprofessional.