Relationship Marketing | Build Your Online Business

Relationship Marketing is defined on cecausa.com as a “marketing methodology by which a business establishes a relationship with their customers and stakeholders in order to foster customer loyalty and purchases over time.”

This simple, but straightforward definition captures the essence of why relationship marketing has to be an integral part of the strategies implemented by small and micro-businesses owned by soloentrepreneurs.  The goal should be to develop long-term relationships as it is over time that business owners will be able to continue to provide value, and as they provide value the often repeated factor – the know,like, and trust factor – will develop.

One of the essential aspects of relationship marketing is the retention of existing customers.  When you consider that it takes (more…)

I enjoy being in Direct Sales as well as an Internet Marketer because as a Direct Sales Consultant I can provide individualized service to my customers. I have an even greater opportunity to build lasting relationships as they get to know, like and trust me and see that I care about them as individuals.  I've been fortunate to have customers who have been supporting my business for over 11 years.

I also like to support other Consultants in Direct Sales, but have found that on many occasions I meet a Consultant at a Party or Show, hosted by a mutual friend, and purchase something from them but never hear from them again.

This is not a post to critique anyone, but to highlight that this is an area many of us may need to work on.  I have been guilty of this as well as from time to time I've received calls from someone who said, “I've been searching for your card as my product was finished and I just found it…”  or, “I wish you had you label on the products so I'd be able to call you without having to search for your card”.  Two very important steps I neglected to do.

Most business owners, including Direct Sales Consultants, recognize the importance of cultivating and maintaining good relationships with their customers. At the same time, many overlook the need to follow-up after the sale or service. Here are three reasons (more…)

Recently I have been focusing on the value of having a blog, which should be the hub of your online activities.  In talking with people, visiting forums, I've found out that the reason some people do not understand the value of having a blog because in many cases they started a blog, but did not get traffic or visitors to their blog, so they became discouraged and gave up.

I found this video by Lisa Irby of http://2createawebsite.com that's approximately 9 minutes, in which she shared some valuable pointers:

For your blog to be successful, some of the key points (more…)