One day a rich father took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family.

When they got back from their trip the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”  ”Very good Dad!”

“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.  ”Yeah!”   “And what did you learn?”

The son answered, “I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, they have a creek that has no end.We have imported lamps in the garden, they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, they have a whole horizon.”

When the little boy was finishing, his father was speechless.   His son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are!”

If you’re still asking yourself why you need a social media marketing plan hopefully this will help you figure it out.  Below is a screenshot of a conversation that took place on Facebook recently, where someone was looking for a referral to a plumber:

Now, think about the fact that these conversations are taking place online every day and that if you had a credible presence in the social media world it would make it easier for your customers to refer you.  The lady making the referral should have been able to simply send a link to your Twitter or Facebook page where her friend could quickly connect to you.  If you had a social media marketing strategy you’d be part of the conversation instead of hoping people remember you.

Don’t let lack of diligence on your part be the reason you fail to take advantage of social media marketing.  Just do it!

Click the link below to download and read a white paper on why social media marketing is important, and how you can quickly adopt an effective social media marketing strategy now!

The Marketing Makeover, How Successful Businesses are “Rebooting” their Marketing for Today’s Economy

I am frequently called on to speak about relationship marketing, and when I am people always ask to know the so called “secret” to building business through relationship marketing. I know there is no secret, but at one point I got asked the question so many times that I thought maybe I’m missing something, maybe there is a secret out here and I simply don’t know it. So I decided to begin a search for what people around me thought must exist which is the “Secret Sauce in relationship marketing”.

I started my search by studying people who most others considered to be successful business networkers and relationship marketers. I watched how they interacted with people at business networking events. I listened to what people had to say about them, especially as it related to how they treated the people around them. I spoke with them and had a chance to see what they had to say about people themselves, especially when those people were not present. I also watched the types of events they attended and asked them what they liked most about concentrating attention on relationship marketing.

What I found really won’t surprise most of us, but it may disappoint those who have convinced themselves that there must be some secret to making relationship marketing work. So, here’s what my little search revealed. People who are successful in relationship marketing do the following things very well:

1. They take a sincere interest in the people around them – At networking events true relationship marketers in attendance are there to take a sincere interest in others. That doesn’t mean they follow up with every person they meet, it simply means the ones they feel they can help will be a priority to help, and they let them know that. It also means they are good listeners, and when talking with others, their full attention is demonstrated by asking logical follow up questions about what they are being told, instead of just waiting for their turn to talk.

2. They operate with a servant’s heart – Successful relationship marketers are willing to give unconditionally without expecting an immediate quid-pro-quo return on their giving. They know how to plant seeds without expecting to harvest as they are planted. They trust that by helping enough people get what they want, abundance will be returned to them without their forcing the issue.

3. They are people of high self-esteem, not big ego – Successful relationship marketers feel good about who they are, and don’t require constant attention from others to validate themselves. This is important because it permits them to focus attention on others without feeling they are in competition for attention. Self-esteem, as contrasted with ego, is also demonstrated by how well they make the people around them feel about themselves, instead of trying to impress those people with their own accomplishments. They never find it necessary to build themselves up by putting others down. If they are great it’s because they make the people around them feel that they too are great.

4. They are actively involved in personal development activity – A commitment to personal development keeps the batteries of successful relationship marketers charged at all times against negativity. It also gives them superior insight into understanding the destructive interpersonal behaviors they see when they attend networking events or when meeting with people. This enables them to stay away from those behaviors.

5. They simply love people – Successful relationship marketers truly love people and finding ways to help them. They don’t do it just to make a living. They have chosen their living based on the ability to help people, not just the ability to generate income. Everything they do is centered around how it helps people. They are the kind of people who will prey with you not on you.

As I completed my search I found that these were all things I know, and all things that successful relationship marketers, have been doing for centuries, so in my opinion, none of these qualified as “secret sauce” for those who were searching for one. Then, I realized, after thinking about it, that maybe I had found the “secret sauce”, maybe there was an undiscovered truth that would qualify as a secret. For me, if there is a secret to relationship marketing it is this. Most people you meet won’t commit themselves to do any of these five things consistently, which means those that will immediately distinguish themselves from the crowd by doing them, and not just doing them, but making them part of who they are.

This revelation may not satisfy your hunger for “secret sauce” in relationship marketing, but if you are sincerely interested in success in relationship marketing it’s about what you are committed to do to make strong relationships a priority. The above five elements are a great place for you to start.

When Bob Burg and John David Mann released their international bestseller, “The Go-Giver” 2 years ago, I was fortunate to be the recipient of a courtesy copy.  Since that time the book has become the #1 book I recommend at my own speaking engagements, to members of the Relationship Marketing Center, and to anyone who will stop to listen.  I truly believe it is one of the most important books written since “How to Win Friends & Influence People”.

Now Bob and John are at it again with a new offering, “Go-givers Sell More”!  I’ve already got my copy and I can promise you it will not disappoint.  I can’t imagine a serious sales professional on the the planet not wanting to know and follow the teachings in this book.

Check it out at http://www.gogiverssellmore.com/launch-special/

If you know someone in sales give it to them as a gift, or at least take them to the bookstore and watch them buy it.  I think it’s that important.

I think Google has big plans for leveraging the popularity of social media, but their first stab at it appears to be pretty modest.  The new Google Buzz tool, accessible from within your Gmail account, allows you to automatically change your status using integration with outside networks like Twitter, and also allows you to tap into the people you regularly email if they have Gmail accounts.

I’m sure they long term plan is to integrate Google Wave and their VOIP system into the mix as well, but for now it doesn’t appear that Facebook will be overtaken immediately.

If you have a Gmail account, check out Buzz.  It’s the icon right under your inbox link on the far left of your account.

The next time you go to a networking event, and you’re talking to someone you just met, make it your mission to find out enough about their business that you can introduce them effectively if someone else walks up and joins the conversation.  And, do it before you start telling them about what you do.

Imagine the impact on both of those people when they both know you were paying close enough attention to your new acquaintance to basically do their so called 30 second commercial for them.  All it takes is asking a few simple questions about their business like:

1)  What they do how customers benefit by using their service;

2)  Who their ideal client or customer is.

If you can remember their name and provide those two additional details about them when people walk up to chat, you will be a star at every networking event you attend.  Simple idea, but very effective!

I just completed the revamp of the Referral University program that I launched almost six years ago now.  It has been expand from 3 hours to over 12 hours of solid training related to business networking, referral marketing, social media marking, relationship marketing, and much more.

If you are serious about building a solid people network get on board with Referral University during our introductory pricing special.  You’ll be glad you did and so will the people you do business with.

For more information go to http://www.relationshipmarketingcenter.com

I have attended business networking events, training seminars, and business expos and other types of business gatherings for many years, and while most of them have been productive to one degree or another I feel I got more out of them than most attendees.  I attribute this to the fact that, over the years, I have been selective about the events I regularly attend.  Through trial and error I have been able to identify the events that tend to attract the highest quality of people.  By quality, I am referring to people who are interested in more than just handing out their business cards and telling everyone they meet what they do.

This year, I’m experimenting with a new type of event called the Abundance Gathering.  The purpose of this event is to attract people who are serious about personal growth and to allow them to hang out with and get to know others who share that passion.  The event will feature a formal plan of instruction and ritual, all designed to get committed people focused on principles and activities that attract success.  The event will also feature a fellowship opportunity following the main presentation to afford attendees the opportunity to meet and collaborate with other attendees in a wholesome, productive environment.

We are hosting this event free of charge as a service to the communities we reach.  Right now, that will be primarily in Maryland, but we have plans to expand the reach of the event worldwide through streaming video of the Maryland sessions.

If you are local to Maryland, please feel free to join us for the Abundance Gathering.  You can RSVP and get more information by visiting http://www.abundancegathering.com.

I have been reading Napoleon Hill’s “Law of Success”.  It’s about 1,100 pages in all.  I have learned a lot from reading this gem, including how common sense can be brilliant.  So much of what Dr. Hill lays out in the book would strike you as being common knowledge, which is probably why it has escaped me and others for so long.  I have learned that what is common knowledge isn’t always common practice, and that has definitely been the case with the principles laid out in the Law of Success.

Dr. Hill starts off by teaching us the principle of the “mastermind” and the important role it has played in virtually every success story in American entrepreneurial history.  He next lays out other principles that form the basis for the so called law of success, principles like enthusiasm, self-control, imagination, character, and others.

Perhaps the thing that is most brilliant about the Law of Success is it’s simplicity.  While the principles Dr. Hill shares are common knowledge, his organization of them into this work make it easier to view them as a formula as opposed to a group of ideals to aspire to.  His explanation of how they all work together systematically to generate success fills in a puzzle very few people are able to solve.

I strongly recommend that you commit yourself to study and pursue the mastery of these principles.  The challenge will serve you well.