Maintain a Success Circle in Direct Sales & Relationship Marketing

So you are convinced it’s important to have goals and to set goals, but you are not sure how to do this effectively.  There is a plethora of books that offer a multitude of recommendations.  I’ve found that for any task I need to undertake the K.I.S.S. principle works best for me.  Keep It Simple Sweetie!  You could take time to create mindmaps, progression charts, etc. but why take valuable time from your home-based business to set up complex systems, while simple strategies could work just as effectively and allow you to focus on income-producing activities?

The following are provided as basic suggestions and guidelines, which you can expand on to suit your particular needs:

1.    Prepare your mind.  Motivation has to come from within and you have to be resolved that setting realistic goals is something that is important for your success.  There is more likelihood that you will stick to your goals if you have internalized the importance of  following the path, especially when you are faced with challenges and obstacles.

2.    Take an evaluation of your capabilities – your skill set, your current status, where you would like to be in 3 months; 6 months; 1 year; and up to 5 years.  This will first help you to determine if the goals you set are realistic – within your scope, but will make you stretch.  At the same time you would want to avoid underestimating your abilities so that the goals you set for yourself are so low there is no motivation to reach up and forward.  Remember the purpose of a goal is to allow you to reach beyond what you have achieved up to a particular point.

3.    Determine your objectives.  Why do you want to set realistic goals for success?  Are your goals personal, like losing weight? Are they financial, like getting out of debt? Are they family, like setting a goals to do more things together with family members? Or are they business-related, like expanding your business and increasing your income?

4.    Knowing “Your Why.”  Understanding Your Why is the main ingredient in keeping you focused.  Your Why is the core factor that will allow you to keep your motivation.  Your Why is more than saying, “My goal is to lose 40 pounds.”  It delves further.  Why do you want to lost 40 pounds? From that answer you could probably ask a series of 4 more Whys to get to the core answer.  When you are through you may find that it’s not just so your clothes will fit better; it could be that if you are a Mom your ultimate Why is that so you can enjoy playing with your children more without getting tired so quickly; or that you want to reduce your health risks so you will be around a long time with your family.  By digging down and understanding the core reason for setting realistic goals for success in any aspect, will go a long way to keeping you determined and motivated.

Let your goal-setting be purposeful and not just a temporary ‘resolution.’

As we draw close to the end of one year and the approach of another, there is a lot of talk and reminders about setting goals.  Many people regard goal-setting as an important aspect of their lives, while others view it as unimportant since they feel that most goals set for a new year are forgotten within the first three months.  How do you feel?  How important are goals to you personally? Why should you set realistic goals for success?

Reflect for a moment on the various things you’d like to achieve within the next 12 months in your personal/family life and business or career.  Have you written these dreams down on paper?  If you have not, keep in mind that it is more than a cliche that ‘a goal is just a dream if you fail to write it down.’  Are you a dreamer or a goal-setter?  A step-by-step plan is necessary and vital in order to achieve the desired results.  It is so easy to be distracted that you must have a referral point to keep you focused on what you hope to achieve.

Your goals represent the visions you have of yourself and your future.  They should be realistic and achievable, but should also make you stretch beyond your comfort zone.  Setting realistic goals for success in life and business means that you will need to have short-term as well as long-term goals.   Short-term goals are usually set for periods of a week up to perhaps six months.  On the other hand, long-term goals are usually set for periods from 12 months to several years.   Setting realistic long-term goals will likely incorporate short-term goals as these will serve as the stepping-stones to reaching your ultimate goals for success in life and business.

The face of internet marketing has undergone significant changes over the past few years giving rise to the demand for effective online marketing tips and strategies.  As a result, opt-in e-mail marketing or permission marketing has seen an upsurge.

What is opt-in marketing? It is marketing or communicating through e-mail with a group of persons who have willingly given permission to be contacted by subscribing to your materials through an opt-in box or a landing page.  This has given rise to the statement, “The money is in the list.”  Savvy marketers know, however, that there is more to it than just having a list.  It’s  important to build a targeted list of people who liked what they saw when they first visited your site, want to see and learn more from you, and are also willing to purchase your product or service that’s offered on your website.

In order to make this effective, here are three critical things you need to do:

1) Create a squeeze page or landing page so your visitors can visit in a focused environment.  Many online marketers create a form on their blog or blogs for visitors to opt-in to.  While this may be good in the short term, a more effective strategy is to have your visitors go to a landing or sqeeze page.  Usually your blog has a lot of information and it may be difficult for your visitor to keep their focus; instead their eyes may wander to the different articles and offers on your page.  Make your landing page informative and inviting so that they want more.

2) Give something – a report, an e-book, a video, an e-mail course etc. or combination of these tools to thank your visitors for trusting you with their personal information.  On the “Thank You” page or on the “Download” page you then invite your visitors to your blog to learn more about you and what you have to offer.  You will  want to stay in touch with your list with autoresponders.  My favorite autoresponder is Aweber.
3)  Provide excellent customer service and products: Satisfied customers are more likely to share information with their peers and word of mouth advertising is best because these new visitors will be referred by people who already know, like and trust you.

Working full-circle is working smart and not hard.  Building your targeted list takes work but work that will pay you big dividends in the long run.

Please feel free to add your comments.

It is well-recognized that people do business with people they know, like and trust. Although it’s the third component of the equation, building trust is most critical. People first have to get to know you, either face to face, through online social networks, or through regular communication from you; grow to like you; then develop trust in you.

1. Building Relationships by Getting Others to Know You: Online marketing is more challenging because unlike face to face marketing where your facial expression, voice tone, body language, and even appearance are able to convey your message; online marketing is dependent on what you say and where you say it. “Where” is the easier part – it may be a static website, a blog, social networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other forums. “What” is harder! Why? Because every person who reads what you say can understand or interpret it in a different way. You could easily say something that in your view is funny but others read it and take offense. That’s why many people will add things like LOL, , tee-hee, or other indicators of humor to help convey the tone of what’s been written.

2. Building Business Relationships by Getting Others to Like You: As you reveal your true self and become real to people they will get to know and decide if they like you. In all aspects of business, but moreso in online networking and marketing, it is very important that you show you care about others by offering your assistance and providing quality information when possible. This is part of the steps required to build lasting business relationships.  In so doing, people who have never met you or are never likely to meet you will come to regard you as ‘the person next door’, the one they can look to for solid advice or recommendations.

3. Building and Improving Relationships by Getting Others to Trust You: Trust is not only a logical act but also an emotional one. In giving trust to others you may need to expose your vulnerability to others. Interestingly, some of the most successful  internet marketers have stated that their list grew when they revealed a mistake they’d made or something that indicated they were not perfect and how they corrected it. Do you see how one action leads to the other? They trusted the ‘world’ not to ridicule their mistakes and the ‘world’ responded positively showing that they felt the inidividual could be trusted; they’re human just like all of us.

All forms of business and marketing present their own challenges. Understanding how to minimize the obstacles can help you to become more effective in building relationships in your online business and create a circle of success.

Many internet marketers are concerned about providing superior customer care in relation to their online business and this is a valid concern as building lasting relationships with customers is an integral part of doing business on the internet.

It is important to recognize that not everyone is going to follow you or hop on board with you. You probably wouldn’t want them to anyway. Most people on the internet are quite savvy so if it’s not “their” niche they aren’t going to get use from it; at the same time your time and resources could be spent focusing on people who are looking for and will benefit from that information you provide.

Understand Buying Behavior: It’s important to understand buying triggers and purchasing behavior.  People tend to buy from those they know, have established confidence in, and like. You can achieve all of these things with your customers without ever meeting them face to face. It just takes some time, email messages with a slightly personal tone, followed by trusting actions. Most people can connect with these, and will feel they know you, even if they have never heard your voice or seen more than a picture of you on an internet web page on their computer screen.

Valuable Information: In order to keep your customers happy and coming back to you– to be your raving fans– you must provide a consistent supply of valuable information relative to your niche in the form of e-books, articles and reports as well as video and audio sessions. It depends largely on what your customer base  needs.

Consistent Communication:  Encourage your website visitors and customers to come back often by offering a newsletter or free product for them if they sign up for further information from you. Offering quality resources makes it easier for even the most reluctant person to divulge their contact information to you thus enabling you to connect with them on a regular basis.  You can also use this means to determine what your customer needs from you so that you can fill the need.

Taking care of your prospects and customers is essential to keeping them engaged in your sales funnel.  They’ll appreciate the effort you put in to the service you are providing when they see something of good or even great quality offered on a consistent basis.  It’s what will keep them loyal to you, as well as have them recommend your site to their friends.

This is a guest post by Barbara Lopez of Brightfarm Introductions.  Barbara helped me to elevate my Elevator Pitch at networking events and ’round robin’ situations.

What do you do with all of the business cards that you collect from networking functions and business meetings?  Do they stack up on your desk, while you try to determine what to do with them next?  That’s what happens for most people.

I will be the first to admit that sometimes when things get hectic, I can accumulate stacks of cards, waiting for me to do something with them.  However, I do have a great organizing binder for housing them so that they don’t take up precious desk space.

It’s my pleasure to share some tips on how I organize and store my own collection of business cards, with a simple binder system.

I created a short and simple tutorial video which will tell you step by step exactly the supplies that you need, as well as how to organize your business cards.

Watch the tutorial video.

Be sure to catch the “blooper” at the end!

Or, if you’d rather just jump on this project, you can go straight to the blog page with written supply list and directions.

Whichever you choose to do, it’s very important to do something with the business cards you collect at networking functions and in your daily travels.  You’ll feel much more organized, and will enjoy having all of your contacts at your fingertips.

Happy Organizing!
Would you like to comment on this tip?  Give your feedback, questions or comments on the blog!

Barbara Lopez, “The Elevator Pitch Coach” with Brightfarm Introductions, helps business professionals introduce themselves with high impact.  Everything in business starts with an introduction.  If you’re ready to learn how to introduce yourself and your business professionally and comfortably, visit Barbara at www.brightfarm.com.

How do you view success?  Many people grew up with a negative attitude toward the word “success”.  They were raised to believe that if you focused on having success in your life, it immediately branded you as being narcissistic or materialistic?  But is that necesssarily correct?  True, the desire for success has caused many persons to show undesirable qualities such as greed, selfishness, etc.   However, for the average person success may mean achieving more to make your life comfortable, build your self-worth, or accomplish a goal.

Do you ever find that you talk yourself out of success by indulging in negative self-talk?  Do you tell yourself you could never attain those ‘lofty’ goals? Do you set yourself up for failure listening to the negative voice within?  Rather than listening to the negative voice, you can use positive self-talk to counter the negativity and overcome many anxious thoughts.  It has been said that if you fail to set a goal, you will reach it every time.  Identifying your goal and writing it down is the first step in goal-setting.  The next step is to formulate a plan, which will include a start date and an end date.  As your thoughts flow you will become filled with excitement on how you will accomplish the steps needed to conquer the goal.

At this point are negative thoughts creeping in?  Do not allow them to take hold!  Replace them with positive self-talk.  You may need to repeat positive affirmations like, “I am a smart, capable woman (or man).  I can do this.”  “I am filled with positive energy and action.” “I deserve to succeed because I am worthy of success.” On a personal note, I never forget to pray for the strength to accomplish what I’ve set out to do.

Another important way to encourage positive self-talk is to know Your WHY.  Why do you want to succeed?  What is it you hope to achieve for youself and or your family by completing your goal?  When your “why” is compelling enough to propel you through any obstacles you may encounter, you will find that it is possible to conquer your goal by practising positive self-talk.  Many people  were raised in a negative environment to believe they would not accomplish much in life.  If that was true in your case, as you recognize the impact that those negative statements may have on your mind, learn to use them as the catalysts to prove those negative people wrong.  But do it for yourself, not for someone else!  Use positive self-talk to prove to yourself that regardless of what anyone else may have said, you were created with wisdom and beauty and you can achieve anything you set your mind to do if you are prepared to work at it.

If you work from home you will need support especially on days when negativity rears its ugly head.  There are two Forums that I have found extremely helpful and supportive and I invite you to check them out.  If you are a Work-at-Home Woman or in Direct Sales, visit The Association for Work At Home Women is one of the places I’d recommend.  If you are an Internet Marketer, Lynn Terry’s Elite Mastermind is fabulous!  Lynn shares so much and is very responsive to your questions, plus the members are willing to help you above and beyond.

Motivation is a powerful tool that acts as a force to propel you to do things that otherwise someone may have to compel you to do.  How do you feel when you have to do a task because it is expected or demanded of you?  Quite a different feeling, I would venture to say, than when you do something you enjoy doing.

Starting to work from home may have seemed to be the solution to a particular problem, but are you now doing something you really enjoy, or are you doing something that’s convenient?  I believe that in order to be an effective “boss” to yourself, you have to be doing something that you want to do and love to do.  Otherwise, what will serve to motivate you to work in your business and not procrastinate?  If you do not have internatal motivation and there is no immediate penalty for not doing it, you’re likely to procrastinate or not do it at all.

Working from home may provide your family’s main income or it may be the second income for the family.  However, to be successful you must identify what you really enjoy doing so that you will be motivated to make a success of your business and not allow procrastination to sabotage your business.

If you are old enough you will recall that in the ’70’s the dream was that in 15-20 years we will become a paperless society because with the proliferation of computers, everything would be stored there and we would not need to have huge filing cabinets.  We can easily laugh at those statements now, can’t we, because it seems that more than ever before we are inundated with paper.  How about you in your home-based business?  Do you find that you spend a lot of time moving different stacks of paper from one place to another in your home office?  Do you often walk in to your office and wish you could just wave a magic wand and make all the papers disappear?  If you do, you are not alone.  But, what can you do so that the flood of papers do not consume your time?

Here are 5 tips to control the flow of paper and manage your time:

1.   E-Mails:  Just about everyone receive lots of e-mails on a daily basis.  Do you really need to print out every e-mail?  You may need to from time to time, but before you print a copy, is a reply required?  You could reply promptly and then print one copy that has both the incoming message and your response.  You may have specific times during the day that you reply to e-mails.  Rather than printing them out, could you ‘flag’ the messages so that you’ll know which ones need to be replied to. Print only after you have responded. In this way you have less paperwork on a given topic.

2.   Regular Mail:  It may be possible to reply with a note written on the bottom of the original letter, or just a phone call may be an appropriate response.  You would make sure to note on the correspondence the time and date you responded and the person to whom you spoke.

3.    Do You Need to File It?:  Many of us, including myself, receive mail and file it away to look at in more detail ‘later.’  Six months later we still have not found the time to look at the “Special Offer” which has expired.  If the offer has expired throw it out!  Why not include in your schedule every two weeks to spend a half-hour outside of normal client hours to go through these correspondence and purge.  Make to decision to file or throw out.

4.    Reading Online Correspondence:  Most of us are on several people’s mailing lists and receive newsletters, ezines, and e-mails daily.  Some information is very pertinent and valuable to our business.  However, how you read is important.  You probably have perfected the art of speed-reading, but do you need to read everything  in every e-mail?  You may need to do that for some, while others you just skim over looking at headings, and others you scan for specific information.  For indepth material I like to print out and read along with a pen or pencil and highlighter.  Keep those for quiet moments when you can focus and concentrate.

5.   Be organized:  Have a system in place for putting away papers so that you touch each the minimum  required number of times.  Moving stacks of paper from one place to the other is self-defeating and time-consuming.  File, don’t pile!  Keep only what is necessary on your desk and outside of cabinets. File away all others.

By implementing these tips, you may find that you are more productive.  Entering a neat work area gives a positive feeling of well-being and encourages creativity and action.  For additional strategies click here.

Flexibility is a self-management skill that is an integral part of your success when running your own business.  It helps to keep you alert  to opportunities to learn new things, but it also helps to prepare you for whatever unexpected twists and turns your business may take.

Being flexible in the hours you spend in your home office will allow you to adjust your hours, as much as possible, to meet your specific needs.  Many women find that they are most productive in the very early morning hours, perhaps before the rest of the family is awake.  Others prefer to rise later and enjoy a few more productive hours at night after the rest of the family goes to bed.

Do you see clients in your home?  You may have specific hours that you see clients in your home so as not to disrupt your family’s routine.  However, your client may on occasion need to see you outside of those times.  Are you willing to be flexible and accommodate your client?  Your willingness to be flexible could mean the difference between endearing that client to you and alienating a prospective or current client.

The key to flexibility in your home based business is to establish a routine for your business that works for you and make a commitment to stick to that routine as much as possible while allowing for the unexpected.