I see time and time again the connections you might be missing as an entrepreneur. This is a huge struggle for most. I look at people’s businesses, and I wonder how many people they have on their email list, and how many are in their Facebook group. I see this is the spot that people struggle with the most. So I’m going to give you ideas on building your empire through a massive leads list. The cool thing is, when you learn the power of building a list, you will never run out of people to serve. You’ll never run out of prospects. New business will always come through.
No more spamming!
When I started in network marketing, I was told to make a list of a hundred people and send them a message. I look back and realize it was so spammy – I was messaging my friends that I was making all this money, and that they should do it with me. I wonder why I still have all those friends. We are stopping that! What happens is that you become the girl who always sells something, and people don’t like that. You know you don’t feel good about it, and I know that you don’t. So I’m here to save the day and help you guys out!
First off is family.
Now, this is an obvious one. But what I want you to start thinking about is, instead of “I’ll never message my cousin about what I’m doing,” I want you to start thinking about what you have going on right now that you could invite your cousin to. Could you let her know about a great resource? You put together a great tool or built a new value-based Facebook community that you’d like to invite her to. We’re not going to say, “Hey, cousin, I’m selling this product,” and opening your coat. You’re going to say, “Hey cousin, I don’t know if you’ve seen my posts, but this is what I’ve been up to. And I thought of you. I wanted to invite you to check it out.” Value – you want to leave value. It is in every single idea I give here.
If your family is not your avatar, try mutual connections.
Look at family partners. Are they married? Do they have a wife? Could she potentially be your avatar? You want to think creatively and think outside the box. When you do this, there will be an endless amount of people to reach. Your family and their mutual connections are not easy prey to spam. You don’t want to be spammed. And they don’t want to be spammed. If you’ve already spammed them, that’s okay! I want you to reach back out with a different approach and lead with value. Invite them to take a look at your cool resource. They may know someone interested, and that’s what you want.
Don’t forget about your besties.
I want you to think about your besties. Those in the present and past because your past besties are probably still connected to you on social media. So it’d be really easy to invite them via messenger. You can send them a message, or maybe you comment on their wall and then invite them into your Facebook community. It’s all about leading with value. You’re not selling anything. The long-term goal is that they may purchase something from you in the future. You need to build a relationship, especially if it’s a relationship you’ve had and it’s gone cold. Reinvigorate that relationship. I do it all the time.
Identify your present besties and reach out to them. These should be the first people you go to. When I released my last book, we hit number one on Amazon in an hour. How do you think that happened? Because I sent messages out to all my besties, and I said, “I need you guys to go grab my book.” If you have a new Facebook group, the first people who are going to join it are your besties. If they don’t do that for you, they’re not your besties. I’m sorry. You need to go find some new friends. Besties are ride or die.
Check-in with your coworkers.
Coworkers are people YOU work with, but don’t forget about your husband’s/partner’s coworkers. Or even your sister’s coworkers. You’d be surprised how many people you know through others. These can be some of your best prospects. Some of you are nurses, some of you are teachers. Those are tough gigs, especially everything we’ve seen happening in our country; it’s hard. It’s difficult. There’s a lot of people who feel trapped in their jobs. There’s a lot of people who aren’t happy. Are you making their lives better? If you were making their lives better, why wouldn’t you reach out to them? Why would you hold that to yourself? You don’t know how many people I recruited that had no intentions of building a network marketing business, direct sales business, or coaching business, but they decided they were going to do it!
Start by striking up conversations with them and asking questions to find out about them. Understand where they are coming from and see how you could help. That person will be so appreciative since she felt a little frustrated, and now she has something to get into.
Who else can you reach?
Think where else you see people. Do you go to church or attend a bible study? Is there a community book club you could join? I was in a book club for a couple of years when I first moved to the neighborhood in Austin. I was just starting out my business and was not online yet. So I joined a book club as a great way to meet other women. To be honest, I was a bit spammy at the time, but I would do sampling and things like that. I got some customers from it, and a couple of girls actually ended up doing the business. Now I know better, but getting people through a book club or other organizations is huge.
If you’re introverted, this might be a bit difficult for you. And this is why it’s so great to utilize social media. But if social media isn’t catching on for you yet, get your feet on the ground. Get your business going. One of my favorite stories is about a client I had a few years ago, and kid you not, she’s been in network marketing for a decade now. When she first started 10 years ago, they would go door to door and literally try to sell their stuff into businesses. Could you imagine I used to do community outreach for a health club, and it was door to door? It wasn’t always awesome.
We have social media now. If it’s just not happening for you yet, it’s time to get a little creative. You want to grow your community because you never know, six months to three years from now, they might want to partner with you.
What’s going on locally in your area?
Do you go to yoga? Pilates? Those people are all connections. Those are all possible people that you can invite into your community. Who does your hair? You better believe my hairstylist knows what I do. If someone says they’re looking for a business coach, I guarantee he’s going to say, “You need to reach out to Kimberly.” They should all know what you do or be invited to connect with you online.
Go through your social media connections.
Check out your Facebook Friends. If you go into your settings, you can download your friend list. Start with your oldest friends on Facebook and reconnect with those people. If you haven’t talked to them in a while, reach out and check up on them. Chat them up, and if there is an opportunity to invite them, do it! If not, don’t spam people; just reignite the conversation. They will start seeing your content. They will engage, and you will be able to invite them. Have you messaged your Instagram followers? There’s a lot of people out there that you’re not connecting with, and they are right there. They’re following you, which means they like your content. Why are you not connecting with those people? Because you’re afraid. Stop being afraid. Go big or go home. LinkedIn connections are a no-brainer. Go over there on LinkedIn. Reach out and connect.
It is all about starting up a friendship or reigniting a friendship. The people who have big Rolodexes are very successful people, and they know a lot of people because they stay in touch and pay attention. I have about 4,800 friends on Facebook. And anytime someone comments on my post or on my wall that are not friends with me, I know it right away, every time. So it’s about staying in touch, staying in front of them, and being consistent with your social media presence.
Start growing your list and making connections, Goal Diggers!
If you want to check out this blog in video format, watch my latest #getLIT training!
Learn more about how to stop spamming and start selling so you can attract HOT prospects to you through Attraction Marketing Workshop.
Did you love reading this blog post? Save it to your favorite Pinterest Board or share it on social media!