Today is Monday January 16, 2012

Thought For The Day

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”
-General George S. Patton

I Have Been Thinking

All lists are not created equal. With that said, one of the most valuable tasks you can accomplish is to sort and categorize your lists. It is said about Facebook, you can have a profile page and you can have a business page. Both are quite different. Each addresses a different group. Can these groups cross paths? Certainly they can but very carefully.

Identify The Group

Demographics will help you to identify the group. There are many variables but primarily consider a) the age group and b) their specific interests. Personal contacts will want to know more personal information like how are you and what are you up to. They will want to know about family, vacations and the like. On the other hand business groups will want facts, tips and information that will keep them on top of things.

When it comes to business building the categorization of groups is often referred to as a marketing funnel. As with a kitchen funnel, much goes in the top then is narrowed in order to fill a particular container. When visitors are funneled into their specific interest group, then talking to them while building on their interest one can build a very responsive list. When visitors are not funneled, the message no matter how great it is will fall on deaf ears.

Relevant Content

Once contacts are funneled into the appropriate groups, as a business person one of your goals is to consistently deliver relevant content. Just how to funnel contacts into the proper groups is what prospecting and networking is all about. What is it that you promote to peaque’ interest in others? The answer might lay in the optin pages you are promoting, courses you are delivering through your autoresponder and even live webinars. When a person responds to the optin page or the sales page, you know there is some kind of interest there for that particular subject.

Timing is another matter. Because timing is such an important variable, the frequency of contact with your prospects is also important. How often is good, how often is too much? As long as the content in your followup is relevant to that particular group, you will be able to send follow up messages, but the minute you go off topic you run the risk of hitting the brick barrier.

Cross Over

People do move from one category to another. You very much want people to move from know about you, to interest in you and your products, to purchase and involvement. When people do cross over to a new category, do you have a system in place to change the messages he or she is getting? There is a big difference in sending a mom information about child rearing, to sending the mom information about building a home based business with the goal in mind of staying home to raise her children herself. She might just want to stay in both groups. I guarantee, you will not know if you do not give her the opportunity to talk to you.

Opportunity is never lost
It goes To Those Ready to Accept It!
Your Success is my Greatest Interest
CWinslow

Ice Breakers

Only In America

Do Banks leave both doors open and chain their writing pens to the
counter.
-
Do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put
our useless junk in the garage.
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Do we buy hotdogs in packages of ten and the buns in packages of
twelve.
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Do we order a cheeseburger and large fries with a diet soda.
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Do we make the sick walk to the back of the drugstore for their
prescriptions while healthy people can buy their cigarettes and candy
right up front.

Grandma Wisdom

Even exciting information given to the wrong group will come across as irrelevant. Networking is an art that grows out of understanding the interests and motivations of the categories of the different groups you are reaching. Social networking is just that – it is social. Planting an idea is like planting a garden. If you plant flowers, your garden may grow in one season. If you plant perennials in your garden, they may grow for several seasons. If you plant a vine with the intention of one day having fine wine, you may have to learn to wait for a very long time for the product to be right. You may have to work tending and caring for as long as it takes.