While learning how to use social marketing to attract perspective members to my vacation and travel club, I'm making all the common mistakes that all new social marketers make: promoting product or service instead of developing relationships, creating online ads without first developing a framework or strategy, etc- I'm sure you've read all about these steps. I've heard it described as "asking for sex before romance". So what am I missing? What am I doing wrong? With a limited budget (as little as I can get away with) I'm attempting to compete with people who have figured out the correct methods for traffic generation and conversion into sales. Let's try to find out what their secrets are by looking at what I've done wrong.
My First Mistake- Not Being Prepared
I went into this like a lot of people- without researching how to do it. I was told " Just show this video to people and answer any questions they have afterwards." Instead of looking for successful systems and reading all the free advice out there regarding marketing on the internet, I showed some friends and relatives the video and... nothing. Wait, this was supposed to be easy! People are just supposed to see the value that I am offering them and jump all over it! What did I do wrong? A classic mistake- I wasn't properly prepared to start marketing. There are many people out there offering FREE content in the form of newsletters, e-mails, videos, and books as "flowers" to introduce you to their system which they don't ask you to buy. Huh? How did they do so well giving away free stuff? They are positioning themselves- this is part of attraction marketing. By offering something for free that you can use, they develop a relationship with you by positioning themselves as the experts. By showing you how to succeed with a little content, they create a relationship with you that develops trust in their recommendations and products resulting in sales. So how do they generate enough leads to create life changing income? Lead capture pages.
My Second Mistake- No Lead Generating Mechanism
In MLM, it is taught to target your "warm" market- friends and family. It doesn't work effectively because A) you are limited to a finite number of leads, and B) you are leveraging your relationship with that person to promote your goods. This puts them in the uncomfortable position of being guilted into buying the product or service which isn't a successful business model. You need to do what successful people are doing- generating a lead capture site that you can promote anywhere. You've seen them- " Want Financial Freedom? Our blah.. blah.. blah.. Sign up now to get free info (or newsletter) on how to succeed in home business marketing!" Generate content people want that solves their problem and ask them to sign up to receive free info in a newsletter, video, or book that you can send out through an auto mailing service like Mailchimp. You've just gotten them to approach you. Now you can offer them content and put links to your products or services in there creating a passive suggestion that they look at it. Statistically, doing this with hundreds of people a day, week, month will generate sales for you- even at a conversion rate of 2-3%, that is better than what you can achieve trying to get a foot in the door in person and it is automated!
Social Media Promoting- Harder When Done Wrong!
I tried promoting directly off of my Facebook page, but it didn't create any referrals. It's funny- even though I have a solution for people who are looking for the best price when purchasing travel and vacations, with the peak vacation season approaching, my friends care more about the latest Farmville and Mafia Wars updates than what I'm offering. I even received a post from my sister-in-law asking for less travel deal posts and more pics of the kids and dog! So what is going on? Same mistake as before- I'm asking for "sex" before "giving flowers"- not developing a relationship where I'm the expert with a solution to a problem. Now I've created a group on Facebook called Great Travel- Great Price, invite people to it, and am in the process of generating a newsletter that will be sent to the members containing travel tips, the latest deals and other related content to a targeted audience (giving flowers and romancing). I will include my phone number and links at the bottom of the letter directing people to my club signup site so that I can qualify the prospect if they are on the fence or help them sign up if they are ready. At this point, they are approaching me instead of me selling to them so it is just a matter of closing now.
Closing
Generating a script is a must for the close- it has to answer questions they may have, be duplicatable, sound natural (practice it!) and help the prospect make a yes or no decision without pressuring them- they either see the value of it or they don't. Be nice and courteous either way- we did one of those time share "free" weekends where they pitch to you after your stay. We listened to the pitch, refused it, listened to the closer offer us the deal "just for us" and refused that. The salesman got offended that we didn't bite and left us after giving us an attitude. He definitely did not earn our business and made the whole process unpleasant, so any chance of us coming back later when we were ready was just lost for anyone in the industry. Don't be that guy! Maybe the timing isn't right for your customer now, but if you give them a pleasant conversation and end on a good note, they may come back to you when their situation changes if they liked your product and you. Don't burn any bridges- you may have chased away a future top earner!
Now What?
Your work hasn't stopped yet- the last thing you need is a structured training format so that your success is repeatable and teachable. How do you convince someone that they will succeed in a business that has a 97% drop out rate? By mentoring them and giving them the tools that helped you. The biggest mistakes people make when starting a home business are not treating it like a business and not giving their downlines the attention and instruction they need- you wouldn't give a toddler a can and can opener, point to the microwave and say,"Go make your dinner". It is a ridiculous example, but that is what most people feel is happening to them when they start a home business using vague direction from their upline mentor. There was one group at my work that would create a difficult learning environment on purpose for new shop members. When confronted by my friend to find out why, they said," Well, that was what I had to go through!" ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Your success, and in their case, their safety, depends on the success of the people you bring in. Especially in this business, no one can afford to waste their time and money fumbling around trying to figure stuff out while you speak in generalities about how it is supposed to work. Give them guidance, teach them how to repeat the success you achieve and you have a winning model that will prosper in the home based business industry.
John is an electrical technician and SCO on the Space Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center. He is also a private pilot with commercial, instrument and multi-engine ratings and has lived in Florida for 25 years. His travel booking site and vacation club page are listed under his bio.
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http://EzineArticles.com/?Home-Based-Business-Marketing-Mistakes&id=4200122] Home Based Business Marketing Mistakes