Every now and then I receive a message from someone I barely know, asking me to “Like” their Page, become a follower, etc.  In fact, I just recently got one from someone who had apparently sent a first message, didn’t get enough responses, and was begging for enough people so she could get 25 followers (in order to get her Facebook URL.)

Now I have no problem with inviting people to check out your Facebook Page.  And if they have a genuine interest in what you have to offer, or are otherwise engaged by the content, “Like-ing” the Page is a logical next step.  But when you ask people more than once, especially as the gal I mention above did, you actually wind up undermining your credibility.

Any attempt to “game” the system, which means artificially inflating your follower numbers, might make you look good on paper, but it does nothing for your bottom line.  I have personally built my entire following on legitimate, one-to-one conversations and the delivery of valuable content.  I am always blessed when folks pass my website, Twitter ID, Facebook profile, etc. along to their friends.  But you don’t pass these along because I’m desperate for numbers and you feel sorry for me.  You pass them along because you find value in the connection to me.  It benefits you in some way, and you want your friends to have the same benefit.

When people follow you simply to be nice, they will never look at your content, and will never pass it along.  Instead, you have diminished your value by trading in a favor.  Instead of showing me how you’ll benefit me, you’re simply showing me that all I am is a number to you.  I’ll never convert.  The number means nothing.

It can be so easy to be interested in building up the numbers of our following.  But that’s not the end game.  Instead, focus on providing value to people that want it.  If that gal asking for people to Like her Page went out and did a few parties, and invited customers to join her on Facebook instead, she would not only find people interested in what she had to offer, but she’d also increase her reorder business.

Numbers for the sake of numbers does nothing for the bottom line of your business.  Focus instead on inviting connections that benefit the person connecting with you.  You’ll enjoy much greater long-term success.

Your thoughts?

You probably face it daily.

That moment of decision.

It’s the time when you decide whether or not to hit the “Post” button.

Will the information that you’re posting benefit your business?  That’s the big question.  You can get all the advice in the world about what types of content work best in social media when you’re using it for your business.  But in the end, it comes down to this moment.

And often it’s tempting to think that “just this once” you can do that general status update about the special you want to promote, your desperate desire to book just one more party, etc.

But it’s not worth it.

Self-promoting general status updates are not positive for your business.  If it’s about getting people to spend money with you, it’s only going to make you look bad…it’s spam.  Instead, invest your energy in creating an opt-in area (Group, Page, Newsletter…) where you CAN post such messages, because you’ve been given permission.  That’s where that type of message will be most effective.  Remember, it’s SOCIAL media, not SALES media.  And as a relationship marketer, you should be spending the majority of your efforts building relationships so that people want to opt-in for more information about your business.

In each moment of decision, ask yourself:

Do people have to spend money to take advantage of this status update?

If that answer is yes, don’t post it.

In that moment of decision, making the right decision, so that people don’t decide to hide you and you can continue to develop a relationship, is the BEST decision you can make.

Your thoughts?

When I work with my direct selling company corporate clients, one of the recommendations I often make is to allow those consultants who want to to blog.  (Note here…blogging is not for everyone.  But if you write well and have a passion for it, it can be beneficial for your business.)  When done well, a blog can be a soft introduction to your business that keeps people coming back, while also helping you gain referrals.  However, I always provide this counsel to companies with a grain of salt…if you’re going to allow blogging, you must provide training with regards to what makes an effective blog. Otherwise, consultants will be wasting time that might better be spent selling and recruiting.

So what makes a good direct sales blog?  Well I’ll tell you first what DOESN’T work.  If your blog simply seeks to recreate the sales or recruiting portions of your company website, you might as well quit now.  People will not subscribe for ads.  So if you are highlighting individual products or the benefits of your opportunity on your blog, you need to stop.  It’s not benefiting your business.  While your friends and family might tell you your blog is good, they’re just being nice.  No one who doesn’t love you personally will read your blog.  I’m sorry, but it’s true.

If you want to write an effective blog for your business, here’s what it needs to include:

Articles that provide tips and advice that people can use right now without spending a dime
So if you sell cosmetics, it might be makeup tips.  If you sell nutrition products, it could be healthy living tips.  If you sell cooking products, you might share recipes.  If you sell home decor products, highlight decorating principles and tips.

Now that works for product-driven blogs.  But what if your goal is recruiting?  What should you write about then?  Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective recruit.  If they hate their job, they might go online with questions such as, “Can I really make money working from home?” or “How do you work from home with kids?” or “How would working from home affect my taxes?”  They will NOT be searching for your company by name (most likely).  So focus on providing the answers that people are searching for.  It’s not how the compensation plan works.  Instead, it’s practical information that could, honestly, apply to any direct sales opportunity. But it’s BRANDED to you.  So when people find value from your posts, and share them with their friends, people always see that it’s YOU they’re hearing from.

A Great About Page
And that brings me to the next thing you need to include…a great About page.  When people meet you on social networks, or find your content valuable, they will want to know more about you.  That’s where your About page comes in.  Talk about who you are as a human being.  Help people find common ground with you, and relate to you.  Of course, you can mention your business.  But this is NOT the place to SELL your business.  Just talk about how your passion brought you to your business.  And include a personal photo or two.  That’s the stuff that really helps people relate to you as a human being, and want to do business with you.

A Way to Subscribe to Your Blog
Make it easy for people to subscribe to your content.  People may find your blog once, and then never come back.  But if they hear from you regularly, they’ll remember you.  Make it easy for them to do so by providing subscription options on your blog.  Some people will want to subscribe via RSS, and view your content in a reader.  Others will want to subscribe via email.  Make sure both options are available in the sidebar of your blog.

A Link to Your Company Website
You also need to include a link to your personal website.  Once people have consumed your content for a bit, they may be interested in learning more, or finding out what you have to offer.  Maybe in a recipe you mention a cooking tool you sell.  Maybe you’ve displayed a tablescape you designed with your products.  You may have mentioned that you got them through the company you represent.  Make sure once people are interested enough, it’s very easy for them to find your website.  So include it in the sidebar of your blog, as well as on your About page.

A Way to Sign Up for Your Newsletter (You Do Have One, Right?)
Don’t forget a way to sign up for your newsletter!  The main conversion objective (something you want people to do on your site that benefits you) for your blog is to get people to sign up for your list, so you can easily provide them with more specific business communications.  So offer a newsletter that all readers can easily sign up for, to get more information like the kind you provide on your blog.  You still want to focus on value-driven content in your newsletter.  But you can also provide a small section with a specific business offer, once they’ve opted in.

If you’re going to put all the time into creating a blog, make sure it will actually work for you.  Don’t waste your time highlighting product features and information about the opportunity.  People won’t come back for that.  Instead, focus on providing value, and you’ll find that a blog can help to increase the leads you gain for your business.

Do you blog for your business?  What works best for you?  Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

Yesterday I shared with you the profile box I have on my Facebook Profile, where you can sign up for my newsletter.  I got a lot of questions on how you could do that on your own profile.  And while I do cover this in my Effective Facebook Strategies for Direct Sellers course, along with lots of other great ways to enhance your Facebook presence, I decided that today I’ll show you how to do it.

Quick caveat here, though.  Facebook keeps threatening to do away with Profile Boxes.  A box is the content that shows up on the left side of your Facebook profile below the pictures of your friends.  When Facebook does ultimately do that, this won’t work anymore.  Update: Facebook announced today that boxes will be going away on August 23, 2010. Read more here: http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/399

But in the meantime, here’s how to do it.

1. From within Facebook, type Profile HTML in the search box at the top of your screen, and select Profile HTML when it appears.
   
2. If Facebook prompts you, click Go To Application.
3. Once you reach the application, you’ll notice that there are two tabs near the top…profile tab and profile box.  A profile tab will create a new tab on your profile, along the top.  Unfortunately, you can’t name that tab anything other than “Profile HTML” so I don’t find it tremendously useful.  Instead, you want to click the tab here that says Profile Box.
   
4. Once you click Profile Box, you’ll be taken to the Profile Box screen.  Note the warning that Facebook will soon do away with boxes.  Do you see the “Your Code” box under the pink warning box?  That’s where you’re going to put the HTML code your autoresponder creates for your newsletter.  (You could actually use any HTML here, so if you want to create a simple email form that just emails you people’s contact information, you could put that here too.  But this is not an HTML class, so I’m not teaching you how to do that here.)
   
5. Now you need to go to your autoresponder service.  I use Aweber (affiliate link), so  I’ll show you how to do this using that service.  Once you log into your account, and set up a list for your newsletter, you select that list and click the Web Forms tab near the top.  Then click the Create Web Form button.
   
6. Fill in the details to design your web form. I would suggest avoiding the templates, because I’m not sure that they translate well into Facebook. Be sure to click Save Web Form when you’re done.
   
7. After saving your web form, Aweber will ask you who is going to install your web form.  Click “I will install my form.”
   
8. Your code will display.  Select Raw HTML Version, and I recommend that you uncheck the box at the bottom (the styles may come through, but I’m not sure.  If it does take, let me know in the comments.)  Then, select the code that displays, and copy it.
   
9. Switch back to Facebook, and paste the code you just copied into the Profile HTML code box.  Be sure to click the Submit button at the bottom of the box.
   
10. Go to your profile and check out your new box!  You can click on the header of your box and drag the box to any position (below friends or lower) on your profile sidebar.
    

That’s it!  (BTW, if you want to learn lots more tips on how to use Facebook effectively for your business, check out my Facebook e-course.)

Are you going to set up an opt-in box on your Facebook Profile?  How will that help your business?  Would love to read your comments below!

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to spend some time with friends at a little jazz club that my husband and I like.  While there, we got into a conversation about how MUCH information is online, and validity of that information.  One person in our group teaches middle school English, and she was talking about how they require students to source at least partially from books, because those sources have some checks and balances, unlike online sources, where anyone can post anything, true or not.

And it got me to thinking about how we have to learn a whole new set of skills to cope with the sheer volume of information we receive on a daily basis.  If you’re like me, you’ve gone through your inbox and canceled a lot of subscriptions that at one time seemed interesting.  We just can’t get to all those newsletters and blogs, and still have time for life.  I now only subscribe by email to a limited few, and send the rest to my RSS reader, which I visit when I can.  For me, it’s the ones I get by email that I know I’ll read almost daily.  The others I read once in a while, when I get there.  But it’s because I’ve sorted through the clutter and decided what really matters to me that this system works for me.

I think we’re going to see more and more that people are sorting through the sheer volume of information available, and only looking at what really is important to them.  The technology already exists to do so.  Facebook allows us to determine who shows up in the News Feed of our individual accounts.  We can subscribe or unsubscribe at will to various types of content around the web.  Friend lists on social networks allow us to determine who we see.

So as a content marketer, are you going to make the cut?  Are people going to find you valuable enough to keep you visible?  I can guarantee you that if all you do is subject your friends to an onslaught of “book a party,” “buy my stuff,” and “join my team” type posts, they most certainly will not.  And so you must refine your craft.  You must spend time finding out what’s important to your target market, and sharing that consistently.

We are on information overload as a society.  And people will learn to apply filters, simply in order to cope.  You should be preparing now if you want to escape the filter, and remain relevant.

What will you do to be valuable enough?  Share it in the comments below.

Image Credit: Banalities

Chances are, your company has or is planning to have a great Facebook Page.  On that page, they’re going to share things like specials, information about the opportunity, tips and ideas, charitable work, etc.  There will be LOTS of content on that page, and a handy little “share” link on the bottom.  It would be super-easy to click that little link every day, and get some publicity for your business.

But that’s not the best strategy, because certain types of messages, when shared through a profile, are spam.

Remember, a Facebook PAGE is a place that people “Like” in order to receive business messages from a company.  This includes specials, etc, and they are perfectly appropriate on your company’s Facebook Page.

A Facebook PROFILE is a personal presence on Facebook.  This is a place for friends to connect, share, and build relationships.  It is NOT a place to directly sell things.

So the next time you’re tempted to share something from the company Facebook Page, ask yourself:

• What kind of message is this? If the message is something that people can use without spending a dime with you, then it’s probably appropriate for your Profile.  This includes information such as general tips, recipes, ideas, humanitarian work, celebrating others, etc.
• Does someone need to spend money to use this post? If someone needs to spend money with you in order to use the tip, be it purchasing a product, signing up for the opportunity, or in some other way required to make a financial transaction, chances are it should be shared with your opt-in list only.  These are people that have said to you, specifically, that they are willing to receive business messages from you.  This might happen at a party, when you ask people if they’d like to join your Facebook group.  It might be people who sign up for your newsletter.  Regardless of where the consent occurred, at some point they gave you permission to send business messages.  These are the people who should see posts that they have to spend money to use.

You can’t just click the “Share” button and share a post with an opt-in group.  You either need to cut and paste the information, or click the little lock on the bottom and only share the content with specific lists that want business messages from you.

By spending an extra minute thinking about the most appropriate place to share something, you can avoid spamming your friends and contacts, and maintain the level of trust people have given you when they became your friend online.

How do you decide what to share?  Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

Yesterday I spoke about ways to use content marketing if you don’t have a blog.  But what if you do?  How do you put that blog to work for your direct selling business?

As a direct seller, you may be considering using a blog to establish yourself as an expert, and generate new leads for your business.  It’s a great idea, and a fantastic way to build more exposure for your personal brand and your business.  When you decide to blog, however, there are certain things you must include to make it effective.

This all goes back to your strategic plan for social media…what do you want to accomplish?  What is your goal?  Once you’ve decided that, then you can set up what’s called a “conversion objective” for your blog.  That’s a fancy way to say “What do I want people to do at my blog?  What is the ultimate action I want them to take that will benefit my business?”  Once you’ve made that decision, you can add the elements that enable readers to complete the conversion objective.

1. Newsletter Sign-Up: For a blog, your main conversion objective should be to gain subscribers who opt in to your newsletter so that you can market to them more directly.  So if you want them to subscribe, you need a way for them to do that.  The best way is to set up a subscription widget in the sidebar of your blog, which links readers to a page where they can leave their name and email address in order to receive your newsletter.  Here’s the newsletter service I use. (Disclosure: affiliate link) Your newsletter service should make it easy to pass data directly from your blog to your list.  If you’re not ready to invest in a newsletter service, then add a manual email form to your blog(it emails you the info someone enters), which allows you to collect data and add it to your mailing list manually.
2. RSS Feed/Email Subscription: You also want people to be able to hear from you regularly, even if they haven’t yet taken the step to subscribe to your newsletter.  So it’s a good idea to include a “subscribe to the blog via email” link. Most people who choose to subscribe to a blog prefer to do so via email, rather than RSS. Free services such as Feedburner make it easy for you to set this up.  And then you should occasionally provide links within your posts to subscribe to your newsletter, for people who subscribe to your blog by email, and may not visit the actual site.  You should also include an RSS link for those who prefer to add your blog posts to their Google, My Yahoo page, or other reader.
3. About Page: It’s essential that your blog help people get to know you.  If people read a valuable post you’ve written, often one of the first things they’ll do is look for an about page to see more about the source of the information.  In that page, you should talk about who you are, your interests, and how those interests led to your business.  It’s also a great idea to give folks an idea of what kind of information they can expect should they decide to subscribe to your blog.  And ALWAYS include a picture, too.  That’s what people connect to.

By focusing on your conversion objectives, you ensure that your blog works for you.  What do you think?  What have you included on your blog, to help you meet your conversion objectives?  Looking forward to reading your comments!

Oh, and if you haven’t yet signed up for my newsletter, you can do so by clicking here.

Content marketing is the process of providing interesting, relevant content (tips, ideas, etc.) that people in your target market can use right now without spending a dime.  It’s been shown over and over again, both inside our industry and out, that content marketing is the most effective strategy to use when you want to do business with people on the social web.  People come to know, like, and trust you when you provide them with value, and that ultimately leads to a business relationship.

Now in the ideal world, the foundation of your content marketing approach would happen on a blog.  It’s a place to direct your social networking contacts that isn’t a sales page, and it’s a place to build relationships with people.  But what if your company doesn’t allow you to have a blog as an independent direct seller, or you just don’t have time to maintain one while running your business (and your life)?  Does that mean you can’t do content marketing?

Not at all.

Here are some ways that you can do content marketing, and provide value to your prospects, with just a social networking profile.

1. Share tips through your status updates.  If I were with a direct selling company that specialized in food, cookware, or entertaining, the following status update would be a great example of content marketing (and note the response it got…people can relate to it.)
   
2. Share links to other people’s articles.  You don’t have to be the source to provide value to your prospects.  By providing content from other sources, people come to know and trust you as the “one stop shop” that provides lots of content that meets their needs.
   
3. Share non-salesy content from your company’s Facebook Page.  This helps to highlight the value your company brings, and since you’re a distributor with that company, you also are seen as providing value.
   
4. Host a free conference call or webinar where you share information related to your product line.  For example, if you sell cooking products, you might talk about time saving techniques in the kitchen.  If you sell nutritional products, you might interview a health expert.  This is a great way to invite people in without making them feel like they have to buy something to gain value from you.  And that builds relationships which ultimately lead to new business.
5. Set up a Facebook Group where you share tips, ideas, articles that you find on the web, and more.  You can also provide deals and discounts, along with product highlights and info on the opportunity in a group, but keep it to about 10% of your posts.  The majority of the information should provide a great deal of value that people can use right now without spending a dime.

While a blog represents the ideal situation, it isn’t the ONLY way to do content marketing.  You may not be allowed to blog for your business, you may not have time, or you may just not be able to produce content in that way.  That’s OK.  Focus on providing value WHERE YOU ARE online, and you’ll still be able to build those relationships, based on value, that ultimately lead to new business.

How do you provide content of value to your prospects online? Have you seen good or poor examples of this? Please share your ideas and experiences in the comments below!

So you’ve got a new hot special.  A red hot deal.  Something you want the world to know about, because you’re SURE that EVERYONE will want to take advantage of such a great deal.

So how do you tell EVERYONE on your social networks???

Answer: you don’t.

No matter how great your deal is, if your friends on your social networks have not opted in for business messages from you, you should not spam them.  And sending that red hot special out as a status update is spam.

So instead, make sure you’ve got opt-in areas set up for your contacts.  Places that the people who WANT business messages from you can tell you so.  These include:

• A newsletter sign-up form. You can place this right on your Facebook profile using the HTML your autoresponder program generates for you, along with the Profile HTML application in Facebook.  People who have opted in for your newsletter have told you that they want business messages from you. (I’m covering this in my Effective Facebook Strategies course that starts today.)  You should also have this on your blog, if you have one.
• A customer group (or opportunity group). (This could also be a Page, but I don’t like those as much for individual direct sellers.)  Set up an online community for people who are interested in what you have to offer.  And fill it up with lots of free stuff they can use, like informational articles and special events, as well as the specials and discounts you have to offer.  Research is showing that most people connect with businesses on their social networks in order to get free stuff and discounts.  What can you offer?

Then you can OCCASIONALLY mention in your status updates that if people want more info on your business/products/opportunity, they can join your group or sign up for your newsletter.  Provide them with a link where they can do so.  You should also invite every customer and prospect you work with in person to connect with you in these online opt-in places.  (The fortune is in the follow-up!)

I know you want the world to know about your special.  But if people haven’t asked you to tell them, it’s spam.  Don’t be a spammer.  Give people the option about whether or not they want to learn about what you have to offer.

How do you approach the “special” in your online networking? Would love to read about it in the comments.

Do you ever get stuck?

You know, staring at the empty status update box, or the blank “Add new blog post” screen, and have absolutely no idea what to write about?  It happens to everyone.  There are some days when we’ve got a fire in the belly, and know exactly what we want to share.  And there are other days when we feel like we’ve said it all already, and how could we possibly come up with something interesting that our target market would care about?

Successful social media marketing for a direct selling business involves sharing content that your target market can use right now without spending a dime.  You need to be consistently relevant, useful, and/or interesting in order to get people to relate to you, and to build relationships with them.

So what do you do when you feel like you’ve run out of things to say?

• Go read the status updates of your target market. What are they discussing?  What questions are they asking?  That may give you some direction as to things you can write yourself, or content you can look for, and link to.
• Go read the status updates of thought leaders in your market. Often they will share links or ideas that spark new ideas for you.
• Ask a question. Interested in what questions your target market has about your topic?  Ask them!  You can either do this through a status update, or as a blog post.
• Read blog posts in your niche. What are other people writing about?  Which topics seem to interest people the most?  What could you put your own spin to?
• Read blog posts outside your niche. Sometimes there are things going on in the wider world that you can customize for your niche.  How can you open their minds?
• Just start writing (this works for blog posts.) Don’t worry about topic yet.  Just start putting your thoughts down, and find out what direction you go.  You can always clean it up and make it focused later.

Everybody runs out of things to say sometimes.  But that doesn’t give you a pass from participating daily with your target market online.  You must may need to get a little more creative, and FIND some new ideas.

What do you think?  How do you come up with new ideas?  And what would YOU like to know more about when you read this blog?  Looking forward to reading your comments below!