Most of the time, as business owners and entrepreneurs, we spend out waking thoughts on “How do I get more customers?”

This is the norm for most businesses. But, what we should be thinking about is how we can get our existing customers to come back and keep buying from us.

Remember that a customer should never be a one time sale. It should be a long term relationship with a customer being converted to a raving fan.

Think about the long term effect of this. Someone starts out as a suspect. Someone that might be interested in our products or services but we don’t know yet.

Then we filter them out to prospects. Those are the people that actually either need our products or more accurately, want our products and services. They are the people that might actually buy.

From there we convert prospects to customers and clients. The people that actually bought out stuff.

That’s where most businesses drop the ball. There are a couple of additional steps in the process that gets skipped a lot.

Those customers should be converted to raving fans. People that don’t just like what we sold them, but LOVE it. They love working with us. They are excited about the experience we gave them.

This is one of the most important steps. Why is that? Because that’s where they move to two more steps that will make them exponentially better for our business.

First, as raving fans they will come back. They will buy more often. They will buy the deluxe model. If you do it right, they will buy pretty much everything you offer them as long as it fits their needs. Some times even if it doesn’t. They are so happy with what you have already given them that they want to keep getting more. It’s almost like a drug to them.

This is where you want to be with your customers. They become loyal to the bone and it’s going to take a really big shift for them to even consider buying from anyone else. This is where you become a category of one. You have eliminated the competition because you gave them such a great experience that they won’t even talk to anyone else in the industry.

This is business bliss.

That brings me to the last step of the raving fan. They tell their friends about you. When you do a great job with your customers, they are more than happy to tell everyone they know about how amazing the service was. That leads to referrals and of course the cycle starts over with a brand new customer.

If you could get more customers that are pre-sold before they even get to know you, wouldn’t that be great? No advertising costs involved. Just plain and simple great customers that were happily referred to you by other great customer!

It’s a business made in heaven.

So, do you have a follow up system in place for your business now? If not, Follow my Ultimate Follow Up System process and build a system that will work for you for years and build rock solid relationships with your prospects and customers for life. Go here and see how The Ultimate Follow Up System can help you in your business.

Notice one word in that last statement… “Connect”.

See the thing with Social Media is that it’s all about connecting people. It’s about relationships.

This is why having a Social Media Marketing company run the show for your business is really a bad idea. Think about it.

Your prospects and customers want to have a connection with you
Your company. Your employees. Not a third party company that isn’t part of the company. They are paid to say what they THINK is the right thing. They are going to do research with facts and figures and a bunch of other numbers to impress you with what you think is really important stuff.

But, the connection you have with your customers and prospects is worth much more than a bunch of facts and figures.

You don’t have any clue what’s really going on. You need to keep your pulse on your business and it’s connection with your customers.

Your customers and prospects want to know YOU
I will tell you from personal experience that I get a lot more interaction with my connections in the Social Media world when I post actual life events and what’s going on in my world than I do if I post promotions, articles and just basic business stuff. You need to be real. Show your personality in your Social Media Marketing. Let people know that they are really connecting with someone that is a real person AND that cares.

There isn’t anything wrong with promoting your company as well, but be sure to make a connection as well. It needs to be real.

Your customers are smarter than you think
Today, people are smarter than we give them credit for when it comes to dealing with anything fake. They can see a scam a mile away and a fake “done for you” Social Media profile is just the same. If they don’t feel a connection they will see right through it and drop you in a heartbeat. Not only will they stop following you but they will also feel insulted and stop buying.

I’ve seen it from a ton of businesses where what I see online looks like a polished script written by a robot and not something that a real person thought about.

It’s a huge turn off and doesn’t make me feel at ease with them at all.

Social Media Marketing is a great tool to add to any business but you really have to pay attention to what you are doing and build a relationship with your followers. It’s fine to have someone help get you started but you need to be the one that really makes the connections with your followers. They want to hear from you, not some nameless, faceless geek with a computer on your behalf.

This is where most business owners miss the boat. They think that they can join their local Chamber of Commerce, go to a few meetings and pitch their products to the people in the room. Well this is the exact wrong thing to do. It’s about about building relationships. And… The game of networking has changed over the last few years.

With Social Media taking over the world and more people going online, there is a huge opportunity out there that most people don’t even think about. People are going to less and less live events and spending more time online to build their relationships and follow up.

Here’s 3 steps you can take to build better relationships with the prospects and connections you make and convert them from occasional acquaintances to raving fans.

Step One – Make it about them
Whether it’s a face to face meeting or someone you meet online via Social media, ask about them. Find out more about their business, their life and their thoughts and ideas.

This one is a classic and should be common sense but I can’t count the number of times that I have met someone and all they talk about is how wonderful their products and services are. I even have someone that I have known for years and even to this day, I can’t have a conversation with her without her telling me about how great her company and product is.

I know that it’s great. I do believe that, but after the 200th time of her telling me about it, I loose interest in not just the product but also in her. I don’t even like talking to her any more because I know the conversation will always end up with her talking about how wonderful the product it.

Now, I do believe that she is passionate about her product. I am about mine too. That’s fine, but you need to be able to talk about someone and something else as well or you will loose the conversation.

Step Two – Connect Online
Social Media is an awesome way that you can easily and quickly follow up with people you meet at a live event. Connect with them on Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn. This way you have a way to easily keep in touch between face to face meetings.

Many times people actually prefer to connect online. They are used to it and spend a large amount of time connected to Facebook and the others.

This gives you a way to keep in touch and get to know each other even if you don’t get a chance to get together for coffee or pick up the phone.

Step Three – Be Consistent
It’s all about staying in touch and following up. If you don’t follow up you can’t build the relationship. That’s just a fact. People aren’t going to trust you, let alone give you money, if they don’t know you at all. Meeting one time in a room of 30 other people isn’t enough to build a relationship and build the trust needed to get people to want to do business with you.

That’s it. I know it sounds simple. Well… It is. You just need to follow those steps and you’ll build better and longer lasting business relationships that will not only bring in new clients but a flood of referrals as well from people that will happily vouch for you and your business.

Are you still confused on how you can use Social Media effectively in your business. I’ll show you how you can keep up with all your Social Media in 15 minutes a day and build new relationships and followers each and every day for your business. Check out http://MarketingMentorTraining.com/social-media-extreme

So of course now the world is trying to figure out how to use it for marketing.

I will be honest, this is not something I have looked into much. Not as a marketing tool. I text. I have a teenager so of course I text. And I have done the things where you text a certain word to a certain number to vote at a sports game or to get a coupon for something.

But I am starting to see more and more people talk about using text messaging as a way to market their business.

The first time I ever experienced true useful texting in a business environment was at a conference here in Arizona. When we got there they asked everyone to “register”. It wasn’t required, but it was talked about so much all morning that you kind of felt left out if you didn’t.

I figured, why not.

But I thought how they used it was actually pretty cool.

A few minutes before each session started back up they would text you to let you know. A the end of short breaks and at the end of lunch.

And they have a vendors area at this event. Throughout the weekend each vendor did a give away. To enter the giveaway you would text a specific code to the number. Then they would text you back when it was time for the drawing. You had to be present to win…

But you didn’t miss the drawings because they told you when they were having them.

And they didn’t have to interrupt the event to make these types of announcements. Only the interested people knew about it because they were the ones that had “opted-in” or entered the drawing in question.

Some of the speakers also used the system to send out addresses where you could go to download extra tools or free stuff.

I actually found it really useful. And like I said this was the first time I had ever seen text messaging used to this extent in a business setting.

Now the contact management system that we use in our business has teamed up with another provider and they have integrated text messaging technology into the system. So I can set up my followup campaigns to not only include emails but also text messages.

But I am still not convinced….

I understand that in other countries texting is how they survive. And it is getting closer to that here in the US.

I also like the way that they used text messaging in that specific setting during the conference.

But I have to admit that I might get annoyed if I was still receiving text messages from the speakers now that it is 4 months later.

So I pose the question to you…

What do you think of text messaging as a marketing tool? Have you seen a good use of it that you found to be helpful in that situation? Would you “opt-in” to receive text notices about blog updates or newsletters being available? In what situation can you imagine text messaging being helpful to you from a marketing standpoint Incoming or outgoing)?

Please share your thoughts…really…I want to know….

So is it really worth it all? It’s time consuming. Many people still don’t really get it. There’s new sites popping up almost every day. How do you keep track of it all? And most importantly, is it actually a good use of your time?

Well, here’s the deal. It is worth the time IF you do it right. Here’s a few tips that will make your social media marketing a great tool to add to your marketing mix.

Go in to it with the right mindset
Social Media isn’t about blasting out all your latest specials and promotions. Think about a carnival barker. They are loud and annoying and usually the only reason you end up playing is because your daughter or girlfriend wants that really cool over sized Scoobie Doo stuffed animal.

Not because you were actually convinced by the staff.

You need to think about Social Media Marketing the same way. You need to have a conversation. Not just bark out your latest wares. Share great information. Build relationships.

Everyone is NOT your target
The size of your list is not what is important. It’s your relationship with a responsive list. You want people that love what you have to say. Not people that are just on your list so they can say they have 10,000 friends!

Don’t use auto follower tools. Don’t try to game the system. Don’t connect with everyone you see just because they are on Facebook. Are they actually someone that is interested or at least might be interested in your product? Are they someone that you could build a good relationship with?

Those are the people to work on.

Limit your time
Some people spend hours every day on Social Media sites. Are they actually effective though? Most of the time, nope!

You need to limit your time. Set up an egg timer. Be as active as you can in a short amount of time. Are you going to miss some things? Yes! Could you do more? Of course. But, is it actually going to be that much more effective for you? Most likely not.

Automate As Much As Possible
Schedule out your posts. Nothing says that you have to be in front of  Twitter 24/7. Spend one hour once a week to build out a campaign of things you want to talk about throughout the week.

Fill in the rest of your time with direct connection, responses to people’s comments, etc. But get a bunch of stuff in a system that will allow you to focus on the more important stuff in your daily tasks.

Social Media is a great tool to help market your business but remember it is just a tool. Also keep in mind the first word “Social”. You can’t expect to get great results if you aren’t social and don’t build relationships with the people on your list.

Are you new to Social Media Marketing and want to know how to get started quickly and easily? Check out my free Quickstart Guide “Twitter For Business” and I’ll show you some great tools to help get you started with one of the easiest Social Media tools out there. Visit http://mybusinessmarketingmentor.com/twitterbusiness and download your free guide today!

But without all the little details none of those big pictures would amount to anything.

Think about it. Relatively speaking from our vantage point the stars are small. But without all of those small points of light up in the night sky it wouldn’t be nearly as beautiful.

During a wedding, which can take months to plan and make happen, little things like the rings and the happy tears of the bride are actually what makes it a wonderful event.

This is true in both life and in business.

When we are marketing our business there is usually a lot of talk about what we want the result to be. Why are we running this campaign? Why are we doing that particular mailing? What is the reason for the sale and what do we want to happen?

But without all of the little details nothing gets done.

And remembering the little details can make all the difference to help you make your big picture come together.

For example I know of a local coffee shop that specializes in the little details. Their big picture is they are a local business trying to get new customers in the door each day and and keep the ones that do come in coming back.

They do that with the little details. Things like only using bananas in their smoothies that are just ripe enough. To the point that once they are not “just right” they do not use them.

Things like putting a little drink umbrella in each smoothie.

Things like saying Aloha (hello in Hawaiian) to EVERY person that walks through the door and Mahalo (thank you in Hawaiian) to EVERY person as they leave. Whether they are a regular or someone who has never been through their doors before. Everyone is welcomed and greeted, everytime.

It feels like you are coming in to see friends, like you are welcome and invited in. This keeps people coming back time after time.

If you are holding a live event again you need to make sure you greet EVERYONE that comes in the door. It it is a large event, bring in extra friends or family to help if need be.

I attend a lot of workshops and seminars throughout the year. And there is a distinct difference between some of them. There is one person who makes it a point to look to the details. You always feel like you are “home” when you go. People welcome you. Hugs are normal. Candies on the tables and ice water is readily available.

There was another one that I attended just recently, which really brought home the difference.

It was quite a bit smaller that the other ones. It was held by someone in my local community. And by the end of the day all was good. But I was a bit concerned when we got started. When we first arrived people were already sitting down and when we walked in no one said anything (including the persentor, who was there). I noticed a clip board with a bunch of hand written information on it, that I determined was a sign in form. But there was nothing that told me that.

So we signed in and quietly went and found a seat. It was quiet as a library and no one was talking.

The next person who came in happened to notice that there was bags of “stuff” in a box by the clip board. They peaked in the bags and the presenter noticed and told them to go ahead and take one. That everyone should have one.

No one told us that…

So we got up and went over and got a bag of goodies. It turned out that it included the book for the days training.

Now once everything got started the training was very good. They provided lunch and everyone eventually relaxed enough to start talking and networking. But the initial entrance was very uncomfortable.

Something little like an assistant to greet people as they came in and help them get settled and maybe even introduce them to one or two of the other people already in the room would have made a world of difference in the feeling of the event. And therefore a difference in the feeling of success.

So while it is good to see “the big picture” don’t over look the little details. It’s the little details that make or break an event. And it is the little details in both life and business that make things great.

That in itself is pretty common. Most people do it if they can. why not? It adds credibility to what you sell.

If it is done ethically!

You have to be careful about when you are name dropping and there are a few strict ethical rules you should be following any time you are using someone else’s name.

There is a difference between someone you have met, seen at a seminar, even had coffee with at some time, and someone you can call a friend.

I’m seeing this more and more with people when they call me up to “get together to get to know each other” and it’s nothing more than a ploy to get me to listen to their sales pitch.

It’s bad enough that they aren’t being honest about their intentions, but what about when they start dropping names. “I’m a good friend of ______________ and they said I need to meet you!”

Ever heard that one before? I have! Just recently, a girl called me up with this line. She said she was a good friend of one of my best friends and wanted to meet me.

Come to find out, she wasn’t a friend. They met once over coffee ONCE.

Now, if I was interested in her products before (which I wasn’t) I surely wasn’t going to be once I found this out.

She didn’t “Twist the truth a bit”. She flat lied to get a meeting with me. See where I am going with this?

Had she said she had met my friend and that they told her she should meet me, it wouldn’t have been as bad. But the “Good friends” line just killed her credibility with me.

To make it worse, come to find out she had done with with many other people my friend knows.

Don’t make this marketing mistake in your business.

Name dropping or claiming to be friends in order to get an appointment or sale is just bad karma. You will get found out and it will kill your reputation.

Be honest. Be upfront. If you just met a person, don’t claim to be their friend. If you plan on pitching your wares, be honest and tell people that. Don’t go around telling people that you just want to get to know them or make a new friend if that is not your intention.

It won’t do you good, might hurt the reputation of the person you are talking about and will definitely ruin your own reputation very quickly.

It’s unethical and people will see though you’re scam very quickly. No matter how great your product is, it will not serve you in the end and you will loose more business than you would have ever got by just being honest up front.

As we were going through what was included and I was answering a few questions he had, he had looked up my Facebook profile and stopped cold in his tracks.

He then asked one questions kind of sheepishly…

“If you are so good at this, why don’t you have more people connected to you on Facebook?”

My answer… I go for quality before quantity with all my lists. Social Media, email marketing, mailing, everything.

He wasn’t sure about that and I didn’t get the sale.

Am I hurt by this? Not one bit because I know what is really important in marketing.

I’m not focused on a big list. I’m focused on a quality list. A responsive list. People that know, like and trust me.

It doesn’t matter if you have 10,000 people on your list, any list, if most of them really don’t care about what you have to share with them.

It still amazes me how often I send out an email and get a ton of responses to the email. I’m talking about as many as 10% replying to my email with comments, answers to questions, additional thoughts on the subject and even a ton of thanks you replies for sending them the information.

That’s what you should be focusing on. Responsive lists of people.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an email list or the newest Social Media Frenzy, you want to grow a solid list that wants your information. Not a huge list of people that don’t really care.

Keep that in mind with any of your marketing or advertising. Are you blasting your message out to a bunch of people that could care less or are you connecting with a great group of loyal followers that want your information, will absorb what you have to say and appreciate you sharing your knowledge and services with them?

So, want to get on my list?

I have a question for you?

How many contacts does it take for a prospect to make a sale on average….1 time? 3 times? More?

How about 7 to 12 times!

Rarely does someone buy the first time that they connect with a company or person unless it’s an urgent need. Most of the time, they will need to think about it. They want to do more research. They might need to discuss it with a partner or their spouse.

Especially in the new economy, people are a lot more cautious of where they spend their money. They want to make sure they are working with a reliable company that is providing them with the best value they can get for their hard earned money. It’s not a matter of being cheap. It’s a matter of being informed and educated.

This is where you can really stand out and shine with your prospects and lead them to becoming customers.

Follow up is the best thing you can do to increase your sales in any business and the funny thing is this is the part most businesses are the worst at. Why is this? Mostly, because they are lazy but a lot of the time it’s also because they don’t have a system in place for their follow up process.

So what types of follow up processes do you have in your business?

Here’s a few things that you can do to make a huge impact on your relationship with your prospects and increase
your sales above the average:

1.Follow up with emails – touch base once a month with an educational article. See if they have any questions. Offer to help them out with something else.

2.Send them a thank you card – Physical cards are a great way to stand out in this electronic email era. People are more likely to remember you if you send them a card than if you just send emails to them.

3.Offer to meet for coffee or lunch – It’s all about building relationships. Don’t just pitch them your stuff but also ask them how their business is going. Offer some basic advise if you know they are struggling with something.

4.Invite them to networking mixers and events. If you know someone might get business from an event you are going to, invite them to come as your guest. This shows them you are interested in more than just taking their money.

Remember, people are looking for people they can trust.  Give them a reason to trust you and keep in touch regularly. Mix and match the ideas above and you’ll get a further with your prospects. Then, when they are ready to buy, they will choose to use the only logical choice in their mind… YOU!

Do you have a process you follow to keep in touch with prospects? Tell us about it below…

Photo By Jeannie Melinz

Well, as great as it sounds, even the best mousetrap still won’t sell if people don’t know it exists. They still won’t buy it if they don’t see the value in it.

In today’s age where people are swamped with advertising messages all the time, you need a better message than everyone else to stand out and be noticed.

1. Do whatever it takes to ‘shock’ your audience
What are you doing to stand out from the crowd? You need to stand out like a sore thumb and make sure you are remembered.

What are you doing in your branding that makes you and your product memorable? You can’t be shy here. Show enthusiasm in your product and services. Show people that you love what you are doing. This alone will make a huge impact. Be known as the guy or girl that lights up the room.

2. It’s not just about the sale
Do you know “the guy”? You know, the guy that walks up asks your name and then proceeds to talk for 20 minutes about how wonderful his product is and how EVERYONE needs his product? Ya’ that guy.

Don’t be that guy. Start by building a relationship

3. Make it an experience
In today’s age more than in the last 20 years, people are buying from people, not companies. I’m sure you’ve heard that phrase before but it’s more true than ever.

When I go to a coffee shop, I tend to go more because of the environment and people than the coffee. I have a shop I went to for years because of the people there and how friendly they were. Honestly, I didn’t like their coffee much. I was there because of the experience they gave me. Friendly people. Big tables for my laptop and a nice space overall.

4. Always be promoting
As the great P.T. Barnum was known as the greatest promoter on Earth, you too have to be promoting at all times. Now I don’t mean always be pitching but always be prepared to talk about what you can offer others. The biggest question you should be asking the people you meet is “How can I serve you?”

Always have your business cards handy. Offer advise to others related to what you do and how they can benefit from your products and services. What problem do they have that you have the solution to? How can you save them time, money or simplify their hectic life?

If you keep these things in mind with your business and do everything you can to keep in front of your prospects and customers, you will have a head up against anyone else in your industry.

Quite honestly, most businesses spend a ton of money on advertising and unfocused marketing that isn’t even paying for itself. These simple steps alone will get your name out there much easier and build a better reputation for yourself and your company than any paid advertising you could buy.

What are you doing to stand out from the crowd in your industry? Tell us below what makes you special and unique…