Tips for Using Facebook

These were posted by Jefferson Graham, in USA TODAY recently, but they seemed worth repeating.   Even though they were written to car dealers, they apply pretty generically to all Facebook marketers.

Matthew Funk, a social media expert with TK Carsites, offers tips that apply to car dealerships and really any business wanting a Facebook presence. Here are highlights:

1. Use Facebook to make friends, not customers

"People develop positive feelings with a person, not for a page," he says. Write about your local community and events, and try to post items of interest that go beyond your business. A good viral video "doesn't make you think, `I want to buy a car from the dealership,' but it does keep you in the news feed and reinforces the name."

2. Post three times a day, no more

"Don't overwhelm people," he says. "That's a turn-off." Funk says the best times to post are 7 a.m., 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., "the peak high-traffic times for Facebook."

3. Don't post silliness just to add another item

Surveys of favorite ice cream flavors are a waste of time that will just annoy people, he says. "It has very little real worth. Share stuff that has a reason for sharing."

4. Provide incentives; don't be pushy

"People come to your social media to find perks, but they don't want sales forced on them," Funk says. Offer the deals just once a week, not every day, he recommends.

5. Be exciting

"Whenever possible, post the kind of content you'd want to share with your friends," he says. "Facebook marketing isn't about selling as much as it is about sharing."

I'll add a tip from Jason Burns - the new Market America Social Media director.  

If you are just getting started on Facebook read for several days and then start by adding comments to posts by your friends.  A simple "Cool picture" or "Gorgeous Baby Anna!" gets the ball rolling.

 

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Where is your prospects pain? One Question does it....

If you want to help someone, the first thing you need to determine is where they need help. That is pretty obvious!  The problem is how to find out what a person really needs without being intrusive.   Here is one question that often will do the trick.

"If you could change one thing about ...(your job, your condo association, your make-up, or whatever) what would it be?"   Let's suppose you ask this about someone's job.  When you listen, (and do note, you MUST listen) you will be surprised at the different things that really bother someone about their job.  Here are a few examples,

* I don't get enough money
* I never have any free time
* I need more vacation
* I don't see retirement as an option
* I hate my boss
* I hate getting up early in the morning
* I hate working nights/weekends/split shifts/....
* I need to be creating a college fund for my kids
* I want to bring my wife home from work
* I hate working in a cubicle
* I want to spend time with my kids

The point is that if you are talking about more money and they want more time, you are not helping with THEIR pain.  (Often we presume that they have the same pain that we do.)

Ask and then really listen.  People will tell you what they want

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Using a Smart Phone as a Simple Contact Management System

One of our trainers made a statement that struck me as very true.  "If you don't need notes to remind you about the people you are prospecting and recruiting, then you aren't talking to enough people."
Okay, I get it, we need notes and help to manage our contacts.  There are hundreds of paper based systems and computer software Contact Management Systems.  What I'm am going to describe is a simple way to use your Smart Phone as a Contact Management System (CMS).


I'm using an Android (EVO), but the basics will be the same on almost all of the Smart Phones.



I am assuming that you have a Gmail Account and that your contacts are being synchronized with Gmail.  Gmail also has a simple Task Manager and Calendar you can use.



Either on your phone or in your Gmail Contacts section you need to create some groups.  Here are the ones that I use for my CMS.
1.  MA_Prospects (These are people I plan to call)
2.  MA_Pipeline (These are people I have shared the business with and am actively following up with.)
3.  MA_STP_Pending (These people are no longer prospects.  I have scheduled an appointment with them.)
4.  MA_Check_Back_Later (These people said "Not Now")
5.  MA_Never  (I have decided that these people are off my list).



Now it is simply a matter of adding people to the MA_Prospects group and moving them to the other groups when that is appropriate.  I can select a group on my phone and there is a list of all the Prospects or all of the people in the Pipeline.     There is even a widget that will show be a scrolling list of the members in a group.  If I have connected with them on Facebook, there will even be pictures.

More things you can do in your phone CMS.
1.  You can also use the Calendar and the Task list to indicate when to do follow-ups.  There are even apps to synch between your phone and Gmail.  I use GTasks and IRT Calendar on my Evo.
2.  You can go into your contacts in Gmail and print out one of the lists.
3.  You can add "Notes" in your contact list.  This is where you store the information that you want to remember about this person when you call them.  Keep notes after every contact.
4.  If you want to get snazzy, you can synchronize your significant other or even a business partner to your Gmail calendar.  I have an MA Business Calendar and a regular Gmail calendar.  My wife sees my business appointments in one color and my non-business appointments in another color.  I also see hers.  It reduces the number of conflicts when setting appointments.



Not very sophisticated, but it is in your pocket all the time.

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The Reason Marketers Blog is ….

I’ve read many descriptions of Social Media and how Social Media Marketing should work, and usually I walk away thinking “I understood all the words, but I just don’t get it.”  For example phrases like “Content is King” make a lot of sense if you understand a number of background concepts and make no sense if you don’t understand the context. After some research and digging, I think I have come up with a reasonable description and I thought that I would share.

We all know that social media is made up of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, what people often ask is “How we market using these sites?”

Let’s start by agreeing that selling is still traditional selling.   All of the things that thousands of books have been written about are still true.   The objective of our marketing is still to put interested consumers in front of our products, services, or networks so that they will buy or buy in.


The first step is to start with a product, a cause, a group, a network marketing company or something that you want to market.  It is important that you understand your “Product” and how it might be modified or how descriptions might be modified to meet the needs of different groups.  This hasn’t changed.

The next step is to have a good, user-friendly “call to action.”  This might be a store, a restaurant, or more often with social media, a web site or possibly a Facebook Page.  Again, this hasn’t changed.  All the books on creating a good user experience on your web site or arranging displays to maximize sales in your store are still exactly the same.
Traditionally (wow – it is strange to use a word “tradition” to describe the world wide web which started in 1994), anyway traditionally we attracted people to a web site using advertising. We used (and still use) print, radio and TV.  On the Internet we used Banner ads, then pay-per-click ads and more recently “being found” by search engines like Google.   This hasn’t changed either.  Search engine optimization (SEO) is still critical and you should still be working to get people to your “call to action” using combinations of these means.

What has changed is that we now have a new way to get people to the web site or into the store – Social Media – and more specifically blogging..

I’ll start by saying that traditional ads (.e.g. “here is my product – click here and buy it) does not work in Social Media.  So what does work?

Here are the steps as I see them:

1. Start at the backend by having your product and your web site/store clean, user-friendly and functional.  It should be Search Engine Optimized in order to attract as many people as possible by being displayed by search engines.
2. Now, go to the complete opposite end of the process and identify groups of people that you feel would be good candidates for your product or service.  This is a critical step since the groups must have some common characteristic that causes them to join groups or read certain articles.  You may want to segment your target audience into sub groups.
3. Figure out what types of information your target groups would find useful. What problems do they want solutions for. This is a tough decision as well.  You need to be comfortable with the topic and willing to be interested enough to search out new information and write about it.
4. Identify your role in the Social Media – either “trusted friend” or “expert.”
5. Usually you create a Blog and begin providing your “interesting/useful information” for your target audience.  You mention where your useful information is one the sites that your target market usually hang out or read.  You want them to be interested enough to decide to “follow” you.  This means that every time you write something new, they will want to see it.  They can opt to be notified every time you post new content.  Now they are “following you.
6. Part of most Blog posts is a subtle pitch to go get information about your product or service at your web site.   This pitch should be a minor part of the Blog posts.
7. You work to get followers in Facebook and Twitter using the Blog posts as a way to attract your target group’s interest.  For example “The most common mistakes people make with XYZ, (link).” 
8. Part of this strategy involves making comments and replying to other Blog posts and on Twitter and Facebook.  Some of these comments point to your “useful” information in the your Blog.
   

There you have it in a nutshell – identify a product, prepare to sell the product, identify a group who would like the product, identify something the group would like to read about, provide that information and include references to the site where you are selling your product, organization or cause.
Let’s go back to “Content is King.”   Now that we know the whole context, this statement means that people find us (using search engines) or follow you (on social sites) if you provide them with new, “useful content” – the key word is useful.  You want them to follow you because they have a relatively high probability of conversion to a sale when they see your ads.  They want to follow you because you are providing useful information.  Another way to say this is that traditionally we get together because “I want to sell IT and you want to buy IT.” Now is more “I want to sell IT and so I give you useful information relevant to IT. You like the useful information and when you are ready to buy you are more likely to see one of my ads and buy IT from me.” It’s simple once you have the concepts all in a row.

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Productive Network Meetings for Network Marketers - Tactics

This is the continuation of an earlier post. The first post was on creating your strategy for going to network meetings. Now we are address for your tactics during the meeting.


To recap – we are ready to go to a networking meeting – our strategy is in place.

1. We know why we are going.
   
2. We know what our message will be – a product or a business
   
3. We know how we are going to sell ourselves – not just our products or or business. Our energy level is going to be high or very high.
4. We have practiced our presentation and are satisfied.
   
5. We have selected a likely meeting – we plan to get there early and stay
   late
   
6. We have created a tag line that will engage the listeners
   
7. We have scoped out the people who have RSVP'd and sent messages to some of them.
   
8. We have a specific goal in mind – e.g. identify X people we WILL call or set Y appointments
   
9. We have our materials
   

• Business cards
  
• A card holder
  
• An ink pen
  
• A pad to write on
  
• Our list of people we plan to talk to based on the RSVPs
  
• Our appointment calendar
  
• A name badge
  
• A copy of our 30 second commercial (if we still need it.)
  
• Our notes from previous meetings.
  
• Flyers – as needed
  

9. You have psyched yourself up of the meeting (motivational audios on the way to the meeting.
   
10. You have reviewed your notes from the previous meeting.
    
11. We have your game face/public persona on.
    

The last thing you need to think about as you walk into the meeting is the word RELATIONSHIPS. Networking is ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS. You are there to develop them, to give to people, to get to know people NOT to make a sale.



TACTICS



Now it is time to actually take part in the meeting.



Most meetings have three distinct parts and they require different tactics.



1. Before the Meeting

• Smile - As you walk into the room you need to remember to smile. You are an approachable, energetic, positive person that other people want to get to know.
  
• Offer to help the organizer. Sometimes things are going wrong and you can be remembered as the person who saved the day.
  
• Look first of those people you sent messages to or identified from the RSVP list. Find them and engage them in conversation. Find out what they do and show them that you are interested in them. Ask probing questions and deflect the conversation back to them. You need to avoid developing “They asked about me so that gives me the right to pounce” mentality. Remember we all have verbal habits and we are working to develop good habits. You can certainly exchange cards or set appointments if that come up.
  
• Look for and engage high energy, positive people.
  
• Spend some time with the people you know from previous networking events. You need to build a strong relationship with these people. There are two basic reasons. First – they are a referral source. Second - they may become disenchanted with what they are doing and be ready to listen to what you do.
  
• Watch for people who want to talk to you. Someone who has become interested over time in your networking business will seek you out, but they usually won't rush up gushing with a “I'm ready! Sign me up!” They will walk up and wait while you are talking to others and wonder if you are going to talk to them. Watch for them.
  
• There are always other network marketers in the group. The more committed they are to their system the less time you should spend with them. I go to meetings with a lady who has been with Shackley for over 30 years. It would be a waste of time to approach her with my business.
  

In all of these conversations you are listening, listening, listening. Use phrases like “You don't say?” or “What happened next?” to get them to talk more about themselves. You are wanting to get to know these people – particularly their pain points (too little time, too little money, never get to see kids, always on the road, they hate working the phone or living in a cubical, their boss is driving them nuts.) Usually you won't get much of their pain at a networking meeting. They have their game faces on too and they are there to represent something or somebody.



Write notes – either on their cards or in your pad of paper. If you don't need notes to remember the details of the people you are talking to – you aren't talking to enough people!



2. During the Formal Part of the Meeting



Meetings have different formats, but I am going to assume that there is some type of “Share your business” segment.

• If you are going to sit during the meeting, try to sit next to someone you have targeted as a high potential candidate. You are not there to pitch them, you are there to build a relationship.
  
• Be attentive – try to identify and write notes about new people you want to talk to. It is rude to “network” while someone has the floor. You do NOT want to be identified as a rude person. It reflects poorly on your professionalism.
  
• Take notes about things that will help others. For example I make it a point to talk to new people who make common mistakes and offer them suggestions in a very non-judgmental way. For example, you can tell people that they shouldn't say things like “I'm new.” “I just go my license.” “I just started working for XYZ company.” They shouldn't lie, but there is no reason to tell people in the room that they are beginners. Nobody wants to do business with a beginner who is making all of the rookie mistakes. People remember you as the “helpful person.”
  
• If the meeting protocol calls for passing out business cards, then do so. Very occasionally you will get a referral call if people have your call. Do not expect a call that goes like this: “I heard what you said at the meeting and I am thinking about joining your business and want to sit down with you.” They happen, but they are rare.
  
• When it is your turn to speak follow this formula
  
• Stand and look the group in the eyes (or foreheads – they can't tell the difference.)
• Pick the furthest person in the room and talk so that they can hear you. (You can get your kids or your siblings to hear you across a football field. I'm sure you can project your voice into an inside room.)
• Do you best to stand so that you are facing everyone.
  
  
• Try to stay away from standing in front of bright windows (If you are back-lit, people can't see your face.)
• Say your name and then pause.
• You might say your company name – you might not. If you do, say it loud and clear. Be proud of who you are and do not swallow these words.
• Say your tag line and engage the group in a response
• Don't fidget, don't rock, don't shove your hands in your pockets – be a professional making a high energy professional presentation.
• Give them your message
• Say your name again
• Sit down (do NOT sit down while you are still speaking)
• Last but not least - don't be weird!

It helps to have a friend in the group who will critique you later. 

Getting better is critical and you must have outside observation to  get better quickly.

After the Meeting – the most critical segment.

Make the contacts you need to turn the meeting into a “productive meeting.”

Tactic 1 – have a target of X number of cards you are going to collect so that your can make Y number of calls the next day. If this is your tactic – go after the cards. Aim for high potential prospects.

• Write on the cards – notes that help you remember the person and if you heard their pain, identify it.
• Have a system for handling cards – the ones you really intend to call go in one place, the ones that were given to you are that were passed out during the meeting go somewhere else. If you don't do this you will get home and not have a clue as to which cards are which.
• When you get home – make the calls, do the followup, etc.
• There are lots of training materials on the scripts you can use to make these calls. 
  

Tactic 2 – have a target number of appointments you will set at the  meeting and go for those appointments. I personally found that I wasn't making the calls required for tactic 1 and I have heard MANY business people who regularly attend networking meetings say the same thing. The typical scenario if that the card stack is placed by the phone and life gets in the way. The next week these cards are bundled with a rubber band and placed in a box or a drawer and the new stack is placed by the phone. I've heard network marketing experts say that if you can't make those calls, then you probably aren't right for network marking. (I beg to differ.) The you have been attending meetings and have stacks of cards you have never touched, you might be a strong candidates for Tactic 2.

• Try this approach. “I really am interested in what you said during your 30 second commercial. I'd like to sit down with you and have a cup of coffee and hear more about what you do. I would really like to understand so that I can confidentially refer people to you. We can also spend some time talking about what I do.”
• You can use a referral approach - “My business might not be for you but I really would appreciate it if you would help me out. I KNOW that you could refer me to a couple of people who might be interested in working with me. Would you sit down for a cup of coffee and help me out?”
  
• You can use a direct approach - “You would be spectacular in my business. I'd love to sit down over a cup of coffee and show you what we do.”

Out of all of these approaches I like the first one best.

Once you are out of the meeting – take notes.

Another thing to remember is that you are working to develop and get proficient at a technique that is DUPLICATABLE. You want to attract and work with people would can do what you do. If you modify your approach into something that very few can duplicate, you are setting yourself up for network marketing failure.

Last but not least – plan to go back. You must go regularly to build relationships and to master making the time your spend at network meetings productive.

Networking in about planning, practice, goal setting and execution. It will become natural and it will become fun. You just have to do it wrong until you figure out how to do it right.

Hale

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Getting to Know Someone - 50 neat questions

In order to be a good conversationalist you need to do a couple of things.

Listen - listen - listen     AND encourage the other person to talk.

I had heard and read about listening many times and found it difficult to actually implement.   I certainly knew that one of the most common mistakes people make in conversation is "thinking about what I am going to say next" instead of actually listening to the other person. 

I still had trouble turning give and take conversations into conversations where the other person did most of the talking.  Recently I heard a speaker (Lisa Lieberman-Wang) talk about some things that are so obvious that they are hard to see.   She gave a short list of conversational prompts that encouraged the other person to keep on talking.  This has the effect of turning a normal ping-pong - your turn - my turn discussion into one where one person did most of the talking (and the other person did most of the listening.)   Her list included such obvious gems as "You're kidding?", "They didn't?", "I can't believe they actually did that to you!", "Wow! and then what happened?"  Obvious, but my verbal habits didn't include these statements nearly often enough.

My son Mark ran into this gem tonight that carries this theme of being a good listener a step further.  Here are 50 questions you can use to help probe and learn about someone you are talking to.   http://www.humorthatworks.com/how-to/50-questions-to-get-to-know-someone/ 

You can't help someone until you know where their pain is and you can't find their pain unless they talk to you.   Isn't it strange that "good conversationalists" don't talk much?

Have a great day!
Hale
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Productive Network Meetings for Network Marketers -Strategy

Okay – so you have decided to start going to network meetings to meet new people to share your business with. You know the meetings I'm talking about. Everyone shares their 30 second commercial and you “network” before and after the meetings. I'm NOT talking about some of the groups that charge hundreds of dollars per year to belong to and require you to attend every meeting. There are lots of “Business networking”, Chamber of Commerce “After hours” networking meetings that are free or virtually free and you can meet prospects for your business there.

Once the decision has been made to attend the meetings, the temptation is to just go and wing it. If you are doing that and it isn't working or you are thinking about starting and would like a leg up, this post if for you. I'll be honest. A couple of years ago I decided to start “going to networking meetings and meet new people.” That was my whole plan and I reaped the rewards that I deserved with that kind of planning. With a little planning you can do LOTS better. So let's get into it.

Step 1 – You must Strategize – yup, you have to think and maybe even talk this over with people who know. It really will help. You have some questions you need to answer before you get in the car and head for your first meeting.

• Why are you going?
• What is your message going to be?
• How am I going to present my message?
• What meetings should I go to?
• What can I do to enhance my credibility and be someone that others want to be with?
• What steps am I going to take approaching every meeting?
• How do I psych myself up on the way to my meetings?
• Who am I going to be at these meetings?

Why are you going?

• Probably the weakest approach is “I'm going to sell some of our great products?” Sales are rarely made at this kind of meeting and it is easy to get pushy and really alienate the very people you spent time and gas money to meet.  I often feel ill at ease since I was going for one reason and every time I stood up and talked, I didn't ever mention anything related to why I was really there.  I don't like that kind of disconnection.
• For most network marketers the starting answer is “to meet people.” That's okay as far as it goes, but it doesn't go very far. You are not going to develop life long friends at a bi-monthly lunch networking meeting.
• For many people at these meetings the purpose is to obtain referrals for their business. This might be your purpose, if so focus on “Getting Referrals”, not “Make a sale today.”  For most network marketers a product sale isn't nearly as important as a new distributor.  On the other hand customers often convert.  You have to decide on your approach.
• A step up from that is “Get business cards from likely candidates so that I can call them and set up a meeting to share my business opportunity."  Do not be surprised if  you find that you have stacks of cards and virtually no meetings.  If you make the business card approach work – more power to you. If you find that you have stacks of cards and no appointments, don't quit, change your approach.
• Suggested answer – to set up two appointments at the meeting and make contact with at least four new people.  I'll talk about making the appointments in the next post.

What is your message going to be?

This is a lot trickier than it looks. Are you going to stand up and share the products your network marking company sells. Are you going to give the “I'm looking for a few good men” speech? Are you going to say “we are all looking for a way to get rich and I've found it!!” (puh-lease that is a joke!)

• Share ONE of you products. - lots of people do this. As I mentioned above, you are NOT looking to make a sale at the meeting. Lots of people go meetings to “make a sale” and it rarely works. I will say that every decent network marketing company lives and dies on products actually moving to customers. If you go with this are your message, you will probably end up getting the edgy feeling that what you really want is to find some business partners so what are you talking about selling products?
• In my humble opinion a step up is sharing that everyone needs to be working on a plan B. Some of each week should be dedicated to working on YOUR business instead of your boss's business.
• Suggested message – share your “why” Tell people why are you doing what you are doing and see who resonates with your message. Here is a video that gives you a good description of what “sharing your why” means. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVnN4S52F3k&NR=1 This is a 3 and ½ minute version for Simon Sinek's talk “Start with Why” You can find others on youtube. Here is the mission statement from my company. “Our company's mission is to provide a system for entrepreneurs to create an ongoing income, while providing consumers worldwide with a better way to shop. Through revolutionary technology and the power of people, we are creating the economy of the future.” Turn this into your why and make that your 30 second commercial.

How am I going to present my message?

If you are a network marketer, people will join YOU, not your company. You must present your belief in your system with passion and conviction. Your company will have training on “posture”. You need to find it and bury yourself in it. Posture is your message. I like to think that I am trying to get people to mentally raise their hand and say “That's me! I want some of that!” 99.9% of all product pitches fall on deaf ears because the listeners say “I don't need that”.instead of “I want that.”  You need to make them want raise their hand.

What meetings should I go to?

• There are a number of web sites like meetup.com. You can sign up for a free account and then identify key words that identify meetings that you would like to attend. Look for meetups (networking meetings) that have had a number of sessions already and have had a number of people attend the meetings. Groups that haven't had any meetings and who only have two people RSVP'd are probably a waste of your time.
• There are church and temple groups – some are Men's Clubs and Ladies Auxiliaries.
• There are quilters groups and other special interest groups. If you have a special interest go to meeting where people like you will be present. It gives you one of the most important ingredients you can have - “Something in common” with the other person.
• You local Chamber of Commerce probably has “After hours” meetings. There are often a LOT of Chambers of Commerce in a given area. Some are free (like MainStreetChamber groups) and some are very formal. Personally I wouldn't recommend paying for an expensive membership.
• There are some networking groups that are very focused on referrals – they often cost several hundred dollars a year to belong to and have strict rules about how many meetings you can miss and how many referrals you “must” give to others. These seem to work best for brick and mortar companies, but you tastes may be different than mine. You can wrangle a free trial visit without much trouble.
• Try for close to home first – while meetings 30 miles away will give you a chance to listen to motivational audios they do take more time and gas and often they aren't worth the extra effort.

What can I do to enhance my credibility and be someone that others want to be with?

• We start with being early and staying late- you have to “network” with the people and you can't do that if you are not there.
• Add to that being consistent. Going to a meeting one time is a complete waste of time. (Of course if you got there and the meeting was a wrong fit for you then don't go back.)
• Be dressed for business. You don't have to go the full suit and tie route, but be a business person, not a beach bum. I see people in Florida attending meetings in shorts and wearing flig flops. Then they want me to use them as lawyers or realtors. Not going to happen!
• Work of your 30 second commercial – and if you are not talking OUT LOUD you practice does not count. You would be well served by video taping your talk at home and looking at yourself. You will be surprised.  If you practice the same short speech over several days you will find that it starts to flow very naturally.  You do not want to memorize you speech word for word.  It should be a little different each time, but it should cover the same points every time.
• Be vibrant, energetic and passionate! People don't get inspired by a wallflower who talks so softly they can't be heard.
• Take your materials – these are covered below.
• Suggested best practice – develop a tag line in your talk that requires audience participation and use it every time. People will start to remember you. One I like is “Brian does printing, printing, printing.” Then he asks “What does Brian do?...” and the audience responds “Printing”. We remember what Brian does. Here is mine. “My name is Hale Pringle (pause) and for me the first question is always 'Is this a great day?' and for me the answer is always “Hale yes!” After a couple of times the groups will respond right after the question. When the group responds to your tag line, it does three important things. 1) It engages the audience – they focus on you, 2) It helps people remember you – far better than a “Here is what I sell?” speech.  3) When the group respond it gives you instant credibility with newcomers. It is obvious to everyone that you are a regular and people know (and respect) you. 
  
  What steps am I going to take approaching every meeting? 

• What should I take? -
  • Business cards are a must. Be sure that you can write on your cards. I see plastic cards and all black cards and it is impossible to take notes or write a note of the card. I actually have several – each emphasizes a different part of what I do. I also believe in having a business card holder. They are about $5 at the office supply store. Not only do they give you a set place to have nice crisp business cards, but they give you a place to place the important cards you get at the meeting.
• Something to write with – you need to write on the cards you give to people (it makes them memorable when they take them out of the stack at home) and the ones you get (where did you get it, what should you remember about the people when you talk to them next, etc.)
• Your list of people you plan to contact.
• Your calendar – you can't make appointments without your day-book or smart-phone (if that is where you keep your calendar.)
• You may need a copy of your speech to go over.  It doesn't really hurt to have a 3 x 5 card in your hand while you talk and refer to it.
• You may want to take fliers or handouts. If you are doing a product show or makeup party, you might want to print up something to hand to people. I hear people in some of my meetings who rattle off their phone number three times and if we are going to remember it. You need something people can take with them. I like to take a notebook to take notes in.

• As noted above, plan get there early and plan to stay late.
• Figure out how many new people you will talk to (this will vary depending on the size of the group and your readiness to contact people on the fly.)
• Figure out how many appointments to share your business you will make. (Again this will vary.)
• Plan to talk some to the people you know. Think of this as getting to know them well enough that you can actively and confidentially introduce them or refer them to someone else AND you can ask them to refer or introduce you to someone you know. (You will see some of them at other meetings and they may not know how you do your main business, but they do know you are on-time, have helpful comments, are willing to help out as needed, etc. This is enough to introduce you as “a nice guy” or a “dynamic lady.”
  
  
• Suggested best practice – If you meeting is announced on a web site like meetup.com, go to the web site a couple of days before the meeting. These web sites ask for RSVPs. You can look at who said they are planning to come and identify people you definitely want to seek out at the meeting since they look like very high potential prospects for you business. You can even send message through these systems. “Hey, I see you are coming to Tuesday's meeting of the XYZ networkers. I think we have some interests in common and I look forward to meeting you there.”
  

How do I psych myself up on the way to my meetings?

You should be listening to motivational audios on the way to the meeting. Get in the zone. You should also be making positive affirmations (“I am going to find the perfect person today.” “I am going to be on fire today”) Say it out loud and your mind WILL believe it.

Who am I going to be at these meetings?

This may seem like a strange question, but network marketing is about redefining and building a new you – not finding yourself. You need to make a conscious effort to put on your extrovert personality when you attend these meetings. I know for the first few months that I attended meetings I regularly thought “What the h@#$ am I doing here?” as I sat and watched others schmooze. I discovered that I needed to redefine my public persona and you may to as well. One part of this is to find things that you can give to others. Help them improve their presentation. Offer to be a sounding board while they working on their marketing pitch. You can be a helper and people will respond if you are trying to help them instead of constantly working to help yourself.

NEXT TIME – Tactics

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