Relationship Marketing | Build Your Online Business

Guest post by Melanie Kissell Founder, Solo Mompreneur

Do you S-T-R-E-T-C-H yourself a little more each day to grow your business?

Good!  You’re successful.

Have you found a purpose, a passion, and the drive that stimulates you to get up every day and get back to it again?

Wonderful!  You’re successful.

Are you taking at least one tiny action step every day to add value to the lives of others?

Bravo!  You’re successful.

Success is Not defined by the number of dollars you add to your bank account every month.  It’s defined by your motivation, your creative energy, and your “keep going” spirit.

It’s no secret.  We’re all in business to make money.  But it’s the accumulation of all the small, yet significant successes you experience on your journey that will lead you to financial success.

Here are the jukebox buttons to push so you can start hearing the Sweet Sounds of Success:

1) Avoid Rubber Band Stretching

When you pull a rubber band too hard, it’s going to break.  And so will you if you stretch your business-building commitments too thin.  Joining too many online communities and trying to implement too many marketing platforms at once will lead to chaos and confusion.  Stick with one or two social media venues and three marketing platforms until you have mastered them.

2) Hang On To Some Coat Tails

My suggestion is to find someone you look up to have as a confidante, sounding board, and guide.  If you are unable to hire a coach right now, that’s okay.  Choose someone you have developed a relationship with that you can count on to brainstorm ideas, give you some direction, boost your confidence, and support you when you are feeling overwhelmed.  You may be a solo professional, but you cannot build a viable business alone.

3) Cookie Cutter Doesn’t Cut It

Be yourself.  You hear that all the time, right?  But what does it really mean?  It means that being unconventional as an online marketer and small business owner is acceptable and welcomed.  It’s A-Okay to do things differently than others in your niche.  You don’t have to follow conformity.  You want to strive to brand YOU.  Tell your story and find your voice.  Maybe you will realize success through writing.  Maybe it will be public speaking.  Or maybe your own internet radio show will be the ticket.  You decide!

Embrace and enjoy your journey.  And may you forever hear the sweet sounds of success!

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Melanie Kissell is a single mom, big dog lover, avid blogger and affiliate marketer, and founder of Solo Mompreneur.  She works with single women business owners who show great tenacity and passion for their business, but who are short on time, exhausted, and tapped out financially.  Melanie focuses on sharing low-cost and no-cost marketing strategies with her target audience.

Last evening I started thinking about what my post for today, Day 10,  in the 30-day blog challenge would be about.  It occurred to me that it should be about accountability – how being accountable leads to success in your small business.  Having an accountability partner who has similar goals is even better, but if that's not the case just being accountable to a group is a great boost.  Above all it's important to be accountable to yourself.

Over the eleven years I've been in Direct Sales with my areas of specialization being image and  skin care as well as  in the greeting card industry, I've been a power partner to other women and I've also had great power partners.  We have been there for each other meeting in person or on the phone with updates and progress reports.  We've encouraged, supported and even nagged each other, but the goal was always to leap forward in our business and reach the goals we had set for ourselves.

Since starting my online business, I've missed having a power partner.  Like many of you experience my family just smile and nod their heads when I'm excited about a breakthrough or an affiliate sale, or a really great teleseminar, etc.  When I say I have to update my blog, they, as well as other friends just ask, “Do you get paid to do that?”  On the other hand, I have found wonderful mentors and supportive online marketers who have helped to keep me on track as long as I make the time to implement the training and strategies.  Herein lies the challenge.  Do I hold myself accountable and make the time or do I put it off? (more…)

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.