What if for one day, you spent time thinking about how you could help others’ grow their businesses or reach the success they desire?  Not saying that you don’t, and if you are part of my tribe, it’s more than likely in your make up.

But what if you made it a conscious decision to try to help someone else advance.  Don’t know about you, but as a marketer, I have trained my brain to look for visibility and opportunity.  We look for how to promote, how to partner, what to sell, and ways to get out there bigger and bigger and bigger.  And of course its to help people.  But it also has a lot to do with US.   

So my challenge for you this day is to find ways to promote/support/encourage  other people.  I’ll share with  you a few of my favorites -

www.Mr.Tweet.com – Here you can recommend people on Twitter that you like and follow.  It sends them a notice that you recommended them and in your status feed, alerts everyone to the nice words you just wrote.

#FF or #FollowFriday -A bit of ‘geek-speak’ but if you are on Twitter you have probably seen these.  This is again a public way to give a shout out to someone who you think folks should follow.  Just type in your recommendation with either the hash tag #FF or #FollowFriday and your message will be delivered.

Commenting on Facebook status feeds – I have hired two people because they kept commenting on what I’d post.  I checked them out, and gave them work when I could.  Not only does commenting get you noticed, but it also gives attention to who you are commenting on.  Tell them what you appreciate, or better yet, write a wall post sharing with everyone why you think they are awesome.

Retweeting from Twitter – If someone says something you like, hitting the RT “Retweet” button will let you share their wisdom with your friends.  And whenever anyone RT’s you, make sure you message them and thank them for doing that.  I’ve created very nice relationships just from connecting with people who tweet my stuff, so this is a powerful way to network.

LinkedIn recommendations – These are great to give because it really helps boost people’s credibility.  Here’s an idea…make a commitment of going into your connections list on LinkedIn and recommending at least five people.  Just get in the habit of doing this regularly, and you’ll be delighted with the results.  (And a nice ‘bennie’ from this is that they will likely recommend you back!)

Refer business - Last week I sent 3 people business.  There’s nothing more important than that very cool ‘feel good feeling that comes from being able to give business to someone.  Who do you know that you could brag about and refer someone to?  Be on the lookout for this.  Remember, networking isn’t just an event…it’s a way of life.

Tithe - Yes, tithe.  If someone feeds you spiritually, feel free to send them some money.  When I think about what feeds me spiritually, it’s when someone helps me remember the truth of who I am, and I don’t hesitate to share that one of my spiritual practices is to tithe where I am fed.

Guest blog posts -Ask folks you trust to write blog posts for you.  That way you get a break from writing, and they get some visibility!  And your readers  gets a new perspective.

Mentions in your blog -Anther great way to give some props to folks.  Quote them and add a hyperlink to their site.  I did this recently for a gal and then posted on her wall on FB thanking her for inspiring an article.  Of course, I added the link to the blog, so people who visit her site will see that as well.

Joint Ventures – Be on the lookout for where you can put something together.  For example….Shannon Cherry and I will be putting something together for next year.  She was sharing what problems her target market has, and we quickly realized that my market needs what she brings, and hers needs what I bring.  So…a product is created!  I’ll promote her to my list and she’ll promote me to hers.  Win-win-win.

It’s funny because as I write these, I notice how in the long run it ends up benefiting ME when I do this.  Clients and speaking gigs come, reputations are strengthened and the giving first model makes for very good business.  It’s not my intention to be self serving in any of this,  but when we shift from “How Can I Get” to “How Can I Serve,”  we will be much more supported!

Hopefully that will give you some great ideas for how to really begin to serve.  What do you use?  I’d love you to share your best practices here with all of us.

Thanks tons!

Therese

Loving My ‘Hate’ Mail

There it was.  Right on my Facebook wall.  Not in a private message to me.  No…on the wall.  The snarkiest comment I’ve ever gotten, just sitting there for the entire FB world to see.

Earlier in the day I had written a status feed asking for some support in picking a title for a new opt in piece, and had ten wonderful folks giving their ideas.  They were kind and friendly and encouraging…all the things I know to be true about my Facebook community.

Then his message came in.  It went like this:

“I wonder, have you ever noticed how incredibly self-absorbed you are?  Everything seems to be about you, even when it appears to be about “helping” others.”

YIKES!!!!!!

In that moment, I had three thoughts running all together.

The first – “Ouch!”

The second – “What a jerk!”  (Ok, I am human and was offended)

The third – “Woo Hoo!…This means my marketing is working”

Thoughts one and two are pretty self explanatory, but this article really is about the third concept – the one that you may not have heard much about, so let me break through some of the myths of marketing here.  We all know that we want our marketing to attract our target clients, right?  But here’s the flip side…

Good marketing serves to REPEL the wrong client.

Most of us spend so much time trying to be all things to all people, hoping not to ruffle feathers, and ‘win’ clients over, that in reality, it serves only to make us invisible.

So when “G” decided to blast me, I took great comfort in that fact because he’s SO CLEARLY not my market that the fact that I pissed him off, means that who I am being is working.  See, I have made the commitment to play very full out.  That means being a bit edgy, singing karaoke, and showing who I am.  It’s all about authenticity.  And I know the “risk” of that.  When you are operating to be safe and not ruffle feathers, you fly under the radar, so would likely never get this kind of blasting.

But…you also never connect deeply with the folks that resonate with your message and appreciate your work.  The ones who need what you have to offer.

In fact, here’s a cool “God-thing.”

One minute after “G” sent this to me; I got this post on my wall:

“Hi Therese,

Just wanted to wish you a wonderful weekend! You are such an inspiration to truly live our dreams – I appreciate all your reminders – you consistently keep us motivated – and in the ‘mindset’. So glad to know you and work with you!”

This person is clearly MY TARGET MARKET so appreciates how I express myself in the world.  That’s what I want for you.  To have your ‘tribe’ clearly find you, connect with you,  and value the work you do.  Oh, then hire you as well!

Now I’m going to challenge you.

Do you have the courage to stop being bland?  Are you willing to take a position?  Trying to ‘play nice’ and get along are the rules we learned in kindergarten.  No great movement can come about when there are not courageous leaders willing to take the hits and speak up from the place of passion inside them.

Here’s my request.

Look at your website, brochures, 30 second commercial, and any other marketing material.  If someone got a hold of it, is it very clear who you serve, who you DON’T, and what you stand for?  What has to shift in you to get out from under the cloud of obscurity?  Trust me….the more you step up and play big, the more we all win.

In fact, I’m so inspired by “G’s” snarky comment that I’d love to help you in any way I can to be able to step up and stand out…and repel the folks you need to repel!  Feel free to send me your website and I’ll be happy to give it a quick scan and give you’re a mini-consult (no fee!) to tell you how you can tighten up your message.

Now go shine your light!