Reasons to Send

For those of you who are acquainted with me and/or have read my blog since it began (years ago), you know that I have never referred to my business within my blog itself. That changes today as I have decided that this topic is tied directly to that business.

I have composed a listing of reason to send greeting cards to whomever deserves to receive them. I am a believer that greetings cards are one of the easiest to use and most cost-effective means of Gratitude Marketing. Obviously, I also believe that SendOutCards is the best service to provide that form of marketing in an easy and cost-effective manner.

These reasons may need explanations to some, and I will endeavor to provide some as well as some ideas about their usage in future blogs. Until then let these reason spark your creativity.

·         Birthdays

o   Customer/friend

o   Spouse of customer/friend

o   Children of customer/friend

·         Anniversaries

o   Wedding

o   Business as customer

o   Business start of customer/friend

·         Illness

o   Customer/friend

o   Spouse of customer/friend

o   Child of customer/friend

o   Death of family member

·         Pets

o   Adoption

o   Illness or Death

·         Business

o   Start

o   Promotion

o   Change of business

·         Gratitude/Thank You

o   For business

o   For referral

o   For support/favor

o   For meeting

o   For opportunity for promotion

·         Support

o   For ideas

o   For effort

·         Recognition

o   For actions toward sender

o   For actions toward others

·         What If

o   For no reason/humor

o   For whatever

·         Announcements

o   New products

o   New website

o   Changes in procedures/prices

·         Holidays

o   Traditional

o   Non-traditional

o   Make up your own

Once again stay tuned to future blogs for some additional details and some creative ideas about some of these reasons. If you wish to research some ideas on your own, please go to my website, www.SOC4Now.com. Please leave your comments here, or email me at Jim@SOC4Now.com, or call me at 360-314-8691.

Imagination

As we market our businesses, we must strive to be creative and show how we can be different from everyone else that may be in our industry or attending a networking event. Our prospects, and the general public, have an almost infinite number of choices from which to pick where they can spend their money. We must bust the cookie-cutter image others may have of us. We must be pleasantly unforgettable to others.

How can we stand out and be viewed as unique and different from our competition in a “good” way? We obviously do not want to stand out in a “bad” way. We want to be viewed as the best choice of all our competitors, or all the other businesses, from which the prospect may choose. In a networking meeting we want to be remembered over all the other attendees, but remembered in an approving manner.

In our marketing we must be creative and unique, but we must also provide a sense of professionalism and how we can help our prospects if only they would be wise enough to contract with us. We must use our imagination and stand out from all those other businesses that are marketing perhaps the same product or service to those prospects that we want to sign.

Imagination, what is that? We think outside the box. We must decide if we are going to the same boring representative of our industry or business, or are we going to be the one who stands out as unique and different, in a professional way? Are we going to be the one who comes to mind, in a positive manner, when they think of our industry or business? We must make the conscious decision to make our marketing unique, creative, and also personal.

It is amazing how many business people have no imagination at all. They cannot think of how they can stand out and be unique, and be memorable to others. If we understand that we need to be remembered above everyone else in a positive manner, we could move into the starring role with prospects. Be creative, make it personal, be professional, and think outside the box. Then kick that box down the street.

We must relate to our prospects in a manner that they know that we are interested in them on a personal level. We must not be just like all the other people in businesses like ours. If we are a chiropractor, we must be known as the best there is, but what do we do to be remembered as such? If we are operating a hamburger stand, what makes us unique? How do we treat our prospects, customers, as well as everyone else, to make everyone think of us before the next hamburger stand down the street?

Do we relate to others in a unique manner; do we look more professional than others from which prospects may choose? Do we appear to be creative in our marketing, and do we represent our business in person-to-person methods, not looking like the same business that our competitors are? Do we use our imagination and try new, exciting marketing methods, or do we just sing the same song as others?

How can we make ourselves stand out from the crowd? How can we appear unique, or do we want to be the same as everyone else? If everyone else says make cold calls, should we, or should we go out and build relationships? The personal touch is better, and we should imagine new, different, and professional methods to build our business. Please leave your comments here, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com, or call me at 360-314-8691.

Residual Income

Have you been in a company which committed "corporate suicide", been "down-sized", or worked for a boss "threatened" by the talent of the subordinates? Did your company's management sell off the company and get golden parachutes, while the company was dismantled? Can you work for any company for 25-30 years, retire with income for life, and never need to work again?

You need to do more for yourself and your family. What if you get too old to work, suffer an illness or accident, or just want to stop the rat race of everyday life? Why not try an alternate source of income that will continue to grow and result in residual income for you, and your family?

Residual income results from building teams of people who follow a plan for marketing a product or service through teams of people who follow the same plan. These teams sell directly to customers and build teams of other direct marketers who in turn build more teams, reaching more potential customers. It is a lot of people doing a few things. You receive compensation based on your sales to customers and on the sales of your teams.

This simple concept is followed in many network marketing companies today and in the past, such as:

• AFLAC 
• Avon
• Arbonne 
• LegalShield
• Juice Plus+
• Univera

Actually, every company operates similar to network marketing companies. The person at the top earns the most, and a large portion of their income comes from the work of everyone lower in the organization.

We have heard, or even voiced, the horrors of network marketing. Like any industry, you should check out the opportunity, dig into the website, talk to representatives, look at the history, and verify claims for products and services. You should study the details of the opportunities to succeed.

Is the company's leadership professional, and is this professionalism apparent in the daily operation and taught to all representatives? Can you be passionate about the product or service? Will people want the product for themselves; is there research or proof of its value? Is the company solid financially; how long has it been in business? How good is the customer service for everyone, both customers and representatives?

Is the system of team building, able to be duplicated, and can you learn it and apply it easily? Do you have fixed territories? Can you take time off when you want, with no loss of position or the income built?

The idea is to run your own business, at your pace, gaining from your experience and efforts. Can you be a work from home spouse; can you work part time while you build your business? Can you leave the business, and its income stream, to your spouse/family, if something happens to you?

How hard is the "selling" part of the business? You should have a "personal" story about the product or service and a "business" story about how you became a representative. Company representatives who are customers have more validity than ones that are not.

How difficult will it be to establish a "team", and for your team members to establish theirs? The ability to help others realize their dreams of security should be a guiding value. Network marketing is a course in personal development disguised as a business.

If you are interested in a residual income, seek out information. Information is power; acquire it, and use it. Money will not "fall out of the sky": you have to work for it. Residual income is yours, subject to your efforts, even if you are on a beach. That's "Beach Money"! Now look at my website, WWW.SOC4Now.com.

Simple Steps

Being successful in business can be simple.

1.    Offer a valid product or service priced at a fair price.

2.    Make the order process of that product or service easy for the customer.

3.    Stand behind the product or service if there is any problem.

4.    Make the customer feel appreciated for their business.

5.    Honor the customer’s referrals in a professional manner.

6.    Remain open to all inquiries for information, no matter the subject.

-       We developed a product or service that we believe in and believe that others will want to buy from us. Is it something that others will value, need, or even want to have? How much is it worth to a customer, and how much will they pay us for that product or service? How much will it cost us to provide and still make a living doing so? We must not price the product or service too high or too low.

-       We must make it easy for the prospect to become a customer. From our website, our menu of offerings, to the process of the order itself, including how to pay us, we must make the customer buying experience easy and pleasurable. If it is not, the customer may complete that process or not, but their experience will dictate how they tell others about our business. They also may or may not return.

-       Often a customer may experience a problem, either with their ordering, the delivery of our product or service, or the performance of whatever they purchased. We must resolve that problem in a prompt, professional manner, no matter who is at fault.

-       It is imperative that we make the customer feel appreciated for their business. Even if their purchase is small, we must say “Thank You”. No successful business ignores the customer and does not show some polite gratitude for their business. Common courtesy should be more common.

-      Our customer referrals are golden. They must be recognized and acted upon promptly. Appreciation must also be shown to the referring customer. New customers become referring customers when they see how we treat everyone.

-      Always welcome inquiries, even when they are about something that we do not offer. Refer those inquiries to our networking partners, and they will refer people to us. Finding out what people want and helping them get it, even if it isn’t something that we offer, will bring us rewards in the future.

If we can achieve these items, we can be successful in obtaining new customers, retaining the ones we gain, and making a living off the referrals of our satisfied customers. This is not rocket science; it is common sense. Please leave your comments here, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com, or call me at 360-314-8691.

What is Gratitude Marketing?

I have decided to renew my writing of this blog, and I should redefine what exactly Gratitude Marketing means as well as how each of us can apply it to their life.

If we search for the word “gratitude” in a thesaurus, it results in the word “appreciation”. Do dictionaries use one to define the other? Appreciation Marketing is when we show appreciation for everyone, whether they are our current clients, prospects, or other relationships.

Gratitude Marketing is when we show our gratitude to everyone for what they do for us, for others, and for what they are in life. This may include clients, prospects, family, friends, casual acquaintances, and total strangers. Is there a difference in showing appreciation as such as opposed to showing gratitude?

For our clients, we should express gratitude for their business, for their continued business, and for their referrals. They put money in our pockets, and the least that we can do is thank them. We must do this without asking them to buy anything else, or trying to sell them an upgrade or the newer, more improved model of whatever we have. That type of message must always be separate from the ones expressing our gratitude.

In addition, we should recognize their life events. This includes their birthdays, weddings, graduations, anniversaries, and other accomplishments. This means that we recognize these accomplishments as noteworthy in the life of someone with whom we have a relationship that is significant to us.

We should build relationships with others, relationships that begin with their becoming a client, but one which has extended past the client status. These relationships must be based on our gratitude for what, and who, they are and for what they do for us, and for others.

Marketing is everything that we do every day, from the first words that we utter in the morning until we close our eyes at night. It is every sound we make, every smile or frown, and every nod. It is our gestures, actions, everything that we do. It is every printed, or verbal, word that comes from us, and every reaction to anything that we experience in life. We are our own marketing.

Why not make our marketing based on gratitude for others and what they do? Stop being sales people and be marketing consultants. Be givers to others, givers of gratitude. Discover what others need, and help them get what they need, or help them find the person, or persons, who can help them get what they need. If we practice karma and put gratitude forth, we will receive gratitude in return.

As we go about the next day, next week, and next month, I challenge us all to see how many others to whom we can show gratitude for what they do for everyone, not just for us. What happens when we start with one person per day, and we discover just how many others to whom we can show gratitude? We can start a revolution for marketing.

Please comment here, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com, or call me at 360-314-8691, and let me hear from you. I dare you to accept my challenge.