Making Custom Graphics

Today I have two subjects I want to introduce.  The first is the benefits of creating your own one of a kind graphics.  The second is a new feature I will be introducing next week.  EEK so excited on both counts.

When you are posting ads about your company and products, you want to stand out from the crowd.  You don't want your ads to look just like every other sales representative.  You also don't want your ads to look spammy.  Either you will blend in with the crowd or friends will start ignoring your posts.  Eventually you will drop from their newsfeed entirely.

Don't be overwhelmed about trying your hand at creating.  Start off simple.  If I can't come up with something that sounds quotable, I

look for quotes in Google search.  I try to find something that pertains to what I want the potential customer to feel.  For Health and Wellness, look for healthy lifestyle quotes.  For jewelry, look for quotes on how jewelry make you feel confident etc.

Once you have a quote, look through a site that has free images to download.  There are more than you think it would be. Pixabay and Pexels are two that have a ton of pictures.  Canva and Desygner are graphic programs that have free pictures to choose from too.  Look for an image that stirs up the emotion you are looking for.  It can be more than one picture.  More on that later.  

Next go to a graphic site. There are several to use right from your PC.  I use Canva. Others are PicMonkey, iPiccy, and pixlr. There are phone apps too.  For the iPhones, there is WordSwag, Word Dream, Photophy, PicStitch, PiZap, and Polyvore.  For Android phones, there are Photofy, PhotoGrid, Instaquote, PicGrid, Polyvore, PicsArt, PiZap, and Word Dream.  There are others, but these are the most popular.  Experiment and find which is the easiest for you to use.

Either upload the pictures you picked from the free picture sites or go with one that is already in your graphic program. The graphic programs have a ton of different elements to arrange the pictures in different arrangements, add text, and some effects.  You can also crop your picture.  I have also uploaded a picture to PicsArt, used the filters to get the desired effect for the background picture, then saved it and uploaded it to Canva to use as a more unique background.  Make sure the text compliments the background but that it stands out.

I hope you are now encouraged enough to try your hand to stand out from the crowd!

Now for the next item.  Starting Wednesday,

I will be having a feature called Wellness Wednesday.  I will be posting health information, recipes, encourage- ment, diet tips and maybe even some exercise tips (those will probably be coming from someone who actually exercises LOL).  I hope you will enjoy this feature as much as I am excited to be bringing it to you.

Try me.  Observe the results.  Love the outcome!

Bad Tactics 2

This post is meant to be a warning for those who frequent Spam ad groups.  Have you ever seen the following type of posts?

• Name a good company
• I'm looking for a company
• What company are you with
• Need to know a good company that is not a scam
• I'm looking for a new business.  Post your company link below.

I bet you see hundreds of responses and I bet you might have answered a few too.  

This is called Reverse Recruiting.  The poster collects the information, after playing nice and playing a friend, to sell to Lead Dealers.  They also send the list to people in their own network.  In time, the people in their networks can identify their marks and thus showing them their opportunity.  The information being collected is along the lines of name, phone number, email and information on what the person liked.

Some quick money can be made, but it ruins reputations.  And isn't every business built on having a good reputation?  

Do not fall for these.  These types of tactics hurts people on both sides of the equation - the poster and the genuinely person commenting.  

Post only honest questions.  Teach everyone who comments the right way to network.  You are increasing their knowledge and

influence.  And you are growing your Network Team, while showing your leadership and knowledge in public.

Instead of getting a bad reputation, you will gain an increasingly good one.  You will be elevating your brand, be seen as a leader as you help others get established in the business.

Continue learning the right way to network, do the right way and teach the right way.  

More Company Team Building Tips

Recently my team member and blogger, Bob Swetz, made a very good distinction between a Network Marketing Team and a Network.  

Network Marketing, according to Dictionary.com, is "A marketing strategy in which sales representatives of a company recruit other sales people and earn commissions on their own sales and on the sales made by their team."  

A Network, on the other hand is "An association of individuals having a common interest, formed to provide mutual assistance, helpful information, or the like: a network of recent college graduates."  

This post will continue to give you tips on how to build your Networking Marketing Team, not your Network.

Many people cold call or cold message people to recruit.  If the first message I receive from you is a request to join your team, it will be an immediate ignore or "No".  Any further communication from you will be tainted.  It will be seen as a way of softening me up to do whatever you asked me to do in your first message.  The first message to anyone should be a introduction of you, not your company.  And it should never be an invitation to join your company.

Also, if someone posts about needing extra income, don't immediately post in the comments a link to your website.  This will always appear as spam.  I think it is OK to mention that you know of a job and send a private message stating a very brief overview of your opportunity.  Keep it to one to two sentences so you don't bombard the potential team member with too much

information that they didn't request.  If they respond, then answer their questions, but give no extra information.  If you give them too much information too soon, you will come off as pushy.

If you are just starting with a company, it is OK to let your friends and family know.  Just don't immediately start trying to recruit them!  If they are interested, they will come to you - the first lesson of Attraction Marketing.  

I can not stress the importance of building a stable, productive and growing Network Team enough.  Slow and steady really does win the race.

Spam? What is Spam?

Spam.  It is more than canned meat.  I like to think of Spam as anything that a network marketer does that turns off a prospective customer or a friend.

There are several types.

• Posting so many ads that your timeline has very little of the real you.
• Posting ads that are just like everyone else, especially if you post it in the same day as the person you "borrowed" it from.
• Making friends just to send an introduction private message about your company instead of introducing you.
• Posting ads making fun of the people who are still undecided.
• Every time you connect with your potentials, you are putting in a plug for your company.
• High jacking some else's post by putting an ad or your link in the comments.
• Wishing someone a Happy Birthday on their timeline by giving them a discount at your business.  

How is the best way to avoid being spammy?  Instead of thinking of new ways to promote your

business, think of what irritates YOU in how others promote.  If something irritates you, then it probably irritates your friends, which is not what you want to do. Treat your friends as friends, not as your next meal ticket.

Successful Income Producing Activities

When I first started Network Marketing, I was taught that doing income producing activities (IPAs) consistently will bring success.  The list they provided didn't look overwhelming.  But as I proceeded to go down the list each day, I felt like I was missing something.  Even though there was nothing wrong with the list of IPAs, I started to feel like a pushy salesman.

The IPA's on my list were:

• Following up with potentials (each time I did followup, I was trying to find out how they liked my samples or trying to send them samples)
• Making a few Cold Calls (something I disliked from the start.  My first message to a person I had never interacted with would be a sales pitch)
• Expanding my network on social media (this I liked, but again I would bring up the business almost immediately)
• Adding to your prospect list (treating prospects like marks, always looking for an easy mark to make money.)
• Engaging with people on your team (I would engage in my uplines FB groups and found them very helpful, but I didn't venture out to find teammates from other companies)
• Setting up meetings and phone calls (even though this is a needful activity, I was rushing people to make a decision)
• Calling people (always talking about the products)
• Personally inviting your friends to events (always pushing people to attend)
• Joining new Facebook groups (this is a fun activity, but only if you join to actually interact and have fun, not just trolling for your next mark)

The list is good, but I was missing the fact that I need to focus on building the relationships - with your network and with your potential customers.  Neither group wants to be sold to in each conversation with you.  Don't bring up your business unless the other side brings it up first.

Don't contact people just to give them a sales pitch.  That will turn people off very fast.

Don't post the same ads as everyone else.  Put some thought into it and create some unique ads that scream "This is my brand".  Create some new graphics that catch people's attention.  There are many free apps that can help with this.  The one I use is Canva.

Get rid of the ads and start posting some valuable content, lessons, tips, inspiration, and your opinions.  Also include some quotes, lessons and tips from your network team.  This builds the whole team up, not just your business.


IPAs are a needful activity, just make sure you are doing it with a pure attitude, not one of looking for the next sale.  The point is to make friends, actually learn about them.  Friends are more likely to buy from friends, so go make some in the new year!

Finding Your Network - What Next?

In a previous blog post, I talked about how to find your perfect network.  Now we will discuss what happens next.

Your new networking friends need to become friends with each other.  Everyone needs to coalesce into a group of people who loves and respects each other; or at least be able to work well together.  They also need to be able to celebrate each others successes and sympathize with each others disappointments - in their business life and in their personal life.  

There is no room for jealousy or backbiting.  If that happens, you need to have a one on one discussion about what being part of your team means.  If it continues, part ways.

During this phase, comment on each others posts.  Have on-line conversations, so people can see the real you.  Play games to get people involved and to find out more about them.  If someone posts a company ad, let the team know so they can show some love on your post.  If you post a game, let the team know so they can show everyone how fun it is to play.

Share your teammates posts on your wall, refer business to them.  Share their ads and anything they post that is encouraging in ad groups.  Do not be afraid to refer people to another company.  This is a trait of good leaders.  Leaders share their knowledge and influence.  

Everyone on your team will begin to be seen as leaders and influencers of network marketing.  In fact, if you concentrate on one person promoting them for a day or week in the ad groups and on each team members wall, it is amazing how everyone on the team will start standing out from the rest of the crowd.  

You, as a leader of your team, will need to make a plan and get everyone on board to the benefit of the whole team.   

That is what you want.  You want your team to be unique.  

Keep growing your team in size, knowledge and influence; you will be well on your way to a very successful team.

Finding Your Network

Did you know that your network is not necessarily your company team?

It could be. But finding others, who know how to network, that you can work with is the skill that will grow your influence and in turn grow your sales in the long run.

Let me tell you my little story about how I found my network.

When I first started Network Marketing, I saw a video that put a bee up my rear end.  It caused me to run through my warm market in a month.  Sure, I had a very good month and some loyal customers, but now what?  

Then I saw another video which encouraged me to go to different Ad sites, not necesarrily to post ads, but to comment on other people's ads.  I saw this as counter productive, but I started commenting on a few a couple of times a day.  I tried to pick out the ones that looked real (these didn't only have picture of money) and I commented on what I liked about the ad, that I liked the products, how well they were representing their company.  Never did I post a comment saying I wanted to jump in their business opportunity.  And I never posted an ad.

  

I became friends with many.  I started recommending their products and services on my facebook wall.  Many, not all, returned the favor.  Some quickly added me to their events and groups without ever contacting me first.  Even back then I knew this wasn't a nice thing to do and I would remove myself from the events and groups.  If people started to be repeat offenders,  I would unfriend.

Once you see who are true good people, not just somone out to make a buck, start chatting with them.  Find out if they have a blog, if they have brand or company pages, find out what is working for them.  Ask for advice on how to make your ads better.  Find out who is great at graphics.  Find out who is great at ad copy.  Find out about them, their likes, their families, their lives.

And.Learn.From. Each.Other.

There is a wealth of information in your developing team and most people do not mind sharing.  If they do mind, scratch them from the team and move on to the next person.  

Do not sell to your team!  If someone is interested they will ask.  You could possibly lose some great team members if you seem too pushy.

Now start building your long term team.  Start empowering and uplifting others!

Lessons from Oak Island

  

I am totally hooked on the History Channel's show "The Curse of Oak Island".  The two main stars, brothers, became enthralled with the chase of treasure after reading an article in Reader's Digest about the island and its secrets.  Life went on, they grew up and built a name for themselves in their respective professions. The elder, Marty, is an engineer who has made his fortune in the energy business.  Rick, the younger, is a retired postal worker.  

Lesson 1:
Each has a reputation in his profession as being the best, not a treasure hunter.  That is their brand.  The Oak Island treasure hunt is part of their brand.

They never gave up their treasure hunting dream, doing small things working toward the end goal while building their expertise in their brand.  In the last few years, Rick and Marty decided it was time to start their new venture. They started networking to get funding to start the hunt.  The network is working together for the treasure.

Lesson 2:
The network is there to help them achieve the treasure.  It is not the treasure.  

They grew a network of people from various backgrounds to help with the last greatest treasure hunt.  These are professionals in the diving (who knew there were different type of diving specialties?) and drilling profession, engineers, and a slew of others.  I have seen divers do their work in wells, mud and ocean, each one top of their profession.  I have seen experts work their magic with metal detectors of all kinds.  I never knew there were so many types of detectors!

Lesson 3:
Their network includes people of all kinds of different professions because Rick and Marty know they don't have the expertise in all areas to achieve their goal, the treasure.  

During the interview parts of the show, the stars always talk about the how the professionals are experts in their fields and they are positive they can work with them.

Lesson 4:
Rick and Marty are never afraid of new people who can bring a needed speciality to the network.  But all the time, they are making sure that everyone has the same goal.  

This is a perfect picture of how branding and networking goes hand in hand.  You always want to brand yourself and not make your product your brand.  You want people to trust that you know what you are marketing - whether it is your company or referring customers to another Network Marketing representative.

In review:

Are you skipping over the foundational building of your brand for a get rich quick treasure?
Do you look at your network as people who can help you in your business or do you view them as just customers?
Are you always looking for people who have specialties that will propel your team to the top or are you just adding people who contribute nothing to the team and may be a hindrance just because you think they will get you to your treasure quicker?
Do you add friends to your friends list just to get a bigger list of people to sell to or do you research before hand to make sure you have the same beliefs, work ethics and especially the same end goal?