What Does Free Really Mean??

 

       I had this posted on my Facebook profile and it is a VERY interesting read. (not to mention www.scribd.com is awesome!)

     Take a look:

FREE (full book) by Chris Anderson

What are your thoughts?

Stay Savvy,

Stephen Duetzmann

www.thesavvysolution.net

The Ties That Bind Us: Strong vs. Weak Ties

 

          
           Source

 

Greetings,

     A lot of folks that I talk to about social media tend to get hung up on one thing: the term “friend.” They have difficulty clicking on the friend request button because the person is not someone that they would classically define as a friend. I can relate to this sentiment, but in order to use social media as a tool to build you business you need to lean into a discomfort and see these services for what they are: an opportunity to establish ties to potential networking contacts.
    

     Another Social Media Guru by the name of Shama Kabani who runs a site called Shama.tv pointed this out to me a while back and got me interested in the subject. Social Theory states that there are two major types of ties: Strong and Weak. The descriptors here are meant to help define your influence on these people’s decisions. So, strong ties would be your family and your close friends, and weak ties would be your acquaintances, colleagues, former coworkers, etc. 

     With those definitions in mind Social Networking sites are almost designed to establish and maintain weak ties. Don’t let the word “Weak” give you pause though. There is definitely value there in the relationship. For a lot of these connections there is a face and (hopefully) a positive memory to go along with your name. People buy from people they know and trust before they buy from complete strangers and maintaining even a weak tie with them brings you past that barrier. As long as you keep adding value to the relationship by providing useful information and personal stories as opposed to non-stop spammed advertising you can count on these weak ties to help build and broaden your business.

     What do you all think? Have you had any success or experience with a “weak tie” that helped build your business?

Stay Savvy!
Stephen Duetzmann
www.thesavvysolution.net

Looking For More: Lead Generation

 

           
     

Greetings,      

     I hope everyone had a great Holiday.                 

     One of the biggest challenges that Home Party Salespeople face is lead generation. In order for your business to grow you need to consistently introduce the product to new people. If you look around the web (or talk to your upline) you will get a bunch of different answers about HOW to go about doing this. Below you will find a list of tactics for getting your product out there to the masses without spending a huge amount of funds on marketing.

     Consistent networking is key: You meet new people every single day. Each time you meet a new person it is an opportunity to get a foot in the door for your business so it is very important to take advantage of every opportunity you get. Make sure you have business cards/marketing materials handy to provide to people when the topic of your business comes up.

     Use your social networking sites well: Websites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo and others give you a great medium with which to build connections at literally no cost to you other than time. Make it a point on these social networks to regularly look for new friends and contacts using their search functions. Before you know your status updates and online marketing information will be reaching a huge audience.

     Play well with others: Sometimes your best leads will be other Home Party salespeople just like you! Go to fairs and trade shows where they might have booths as a visitor or as a guest and network at the various booths. Not only will this be a potentially great learning experience as you talk to colleagues in the field, but this can help build some great connections.
    

     These are just a few great lead generation tactics. The strategies are endless. Do any of you folks have any suggestions? How do you get your leads?

Stay Savvy!
Stephen Duetzmann
www.thesavvysolution.com

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