Do you see how these people are reacting to what they're seeing? Defensive posture, weapons at the ready. Why? Because the airplane is unknown to them, and should it become dangerous, they're ready to defend their tribe.
 

How does this relate to business?

Here's how: People buy what they know and understand, and are suspicious of what they don't know or understand. People get much of their understanding and point of view from their tribe.

In spite of this, I constantly see marketers blazing ahead, trying to get everyone to buy their stuff without any established trust, history, or regard to their customers' needs. Why do people continue to market this way? I can only think of two reasons:
 

1. They don't know any better.
2. It takes too long or too much effort to establish a relationship.
 

As a result, most of their businesses fail. Miserably. So how can you avoid this?

I suggest that when it comes to marketing, you look at your market as your tribe. How do you approach your tribe? Do you come in as loud, unknown entity, shouting about your fabulous products? Seth Godin has a word for that… it's called interruption marketing– Interrupt people, get their attention and sell them stuff. Guess what? It results in the same scenario as you see in the picture. I see a lot of this online, and on the social media sites particularly, you'll get a hostile or indifferent response, at best.


Instead, when targeting a particular group in your marketing, think of that group as your tribe. Keep asking yourself: What's important to your fellow tribemembers?  What problems do they have? Talk with your tribe about these things. Develop interest in their interests, understand their dilemmas, and adopt their culture. In effect, become one of them. By doing so, you will become a trusted authority.
 

When marketing, and especially when using social media sites, such as facebook or bebo, twitter, etc., don't come in like a screaming billboard. Start as a friend instead- ask questions, help your fellow members, develop trust, and create something that's a win-win for everyone. As a result, you'll see  a big difference in your business and even in yourself. After all, respect is a solid business-building principle. If you're in business ultimately to feel great about your accomplishements and contribution, this is how you'll accomplish it- through helping others first.

Call details and info on the Moms Helping Moms series below:

The call will be Wednesday, 5/21 at 8pm (ET), 7pm (CT), 6pm (MT), 5pm (PT) California

The phone number to call in is 712-429-0700 participant pin 518775 (followed by the # key)

If you live outside the US, go to www.worldtimeserver.com to find out what time the call is in  your time zone.

You will incur your normal long distance charges for this call.

You can read about Sandra and the other speakers in the series at www.successfulmomshelpingmoms.com.

Hey, what does failure mean to you? If it means for you to throw in the towel, here's a note of inspiration. None of these people took no for a final answer. If you can't read the video below, click over to http://www.coachmarketingsuccess.com/?p=186.

Adding Google Friend Connect To Sample Website

There's a fuzzy boundary between being real and being irrelevant and stupid.

It used to be so simple, remember? "Keep your personal life separate from your work life." Those were the rules. Now we're talking about our cat, our shampoo, what we drank last night, showing off our cliff diving pictures, and so on. Don't get me wrong, I talk about my personal life too, especially on Twitter. I love the new media. I use it all the time, because it's quite refreshing to build relationships in such an open and unguarded way- it suits my personality.

But when you're in business, how much is too much to share? It seems like no one has any idea of where the boundaries are anymore.

So where does transparency end and irrelevance begin? And Is this a passing fancy, or a permanent change in the very structure of business as we know it? Share your thoughts here.

Sandra Sinclair    

www.coachmarketingsuccess.com

I've installed a desktop application called Twhirl that keeps me up to date with all the tweets from friends and people I'm following.

At first, Twitter seems like a total waste of time. I mean, isn't there enough to do already? But what happens is that once you join it, you start to feel emotionally connected and it turns into a community.  I look forward to hearing what people are doing through their day. It helps me understand them more.

And when it comes to your marketing, this can be a super useful tool. You can stay much more up close and personal with your clients and potential clients.

You get to choose who you follow, so I follow colleagues, friends, and leaders in my field, to keep a pulse on what's happening.

It's not for everyone, but it's a terrific tool, if you want to use it. If you want to follow me, go to twitter.com/sandrasinclair and open an account. It's free.

If you have any ideas on good ways to use Twitter, post them here, and also tell us about your experience with Twitter.

Sandra Sinclair

www.coachmarketingsuccess.com

Facebook is growing rapidly. It surpassed the page views of MySpace and continues to grow at a rapid clip. So how do you use this fabulous resource to market your coaching or consulting business?

First things first- you need to join facebook as a regular user and just play. Yes, play. Why? Because the nature of facebook is personal, and you absolutely, absolutely MUST put a personal spin on  your marketing there. Think in terms of making friends and connections before marketing to them. This is key. If you come in blasting your products to a group of people that don't know you, you'll come off like a used car salesman in facebook. I'm seeing a lot of people who recently joined facebook  who are trying to do this very thing, and it's quite disruptive to the nature of this medium.

So think of Facebook as another place to network at first. Approach it more like a BNI event or something similar. If you were at a networking event, you would try to get to know each person and not sell to them, right? Selling can come once the people know you and trust you first. Facebook is much the same.

How do you use facebook? Do you find it useful for business building, or a time sink? Post your thoughts here.

Sandra Sinclair

www.coachmarketingsuccess.com

For those of you who can't see the video, click over to the blog below and watch what REAL winning is.

Sandra Sinclair

http://www.coachmarketingsuccess.com/2008/05/02/is-winning-everything-get-a-tissue-before-you-watch-this/