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