Are you a Wallflower or a Party Starter in Life and Business?

This article on Relationship Marketing is brought to you by Passive Cash Mentors

How do you rate on the Relationship Marketing scale? Do you tend be a wallflower or a party starter to your potential customers? There are times when it is good to be a wallflower in which you are just observing and learning about a particular social network or business venture. However, you can't be a fly on the wall forever. You have to be the party starter - the one who will stand out in a crowd.

Think about it...Do you try to sell something to someone when you first meet them? Of course not! This is why relationship marketing is so important. I have been patterning my relationship marketing skills after a great friend of mine, Mari Smith with her relationship marketing plan.

Here are some important relationship marketing tips that I implement in my business on a daily basis.

Relationship Marketing Tip #1:

Do Your Best To Make Your Intentions Clear From The Start

It is very important to let your potential customers know your intentions. I love to research things that are of interest to me and let others know about my findings. I like to offer this information and guide people along the way. This is especially true for my fat loss blog. I’m on a quest to lose my belly fat and I share my ups and downs along the way. I’ve had more people buy my products because they see the success that I’m having with my own weight loss rather than me trying to shove something down their throats. I share what’s going on in my life, the good and the bad because people can relate to that.

Relationship Marketing Tip #2:

Make Your Customers Feel Like They Can Talk To You And That You Actually Care About What They Have To Say

I value input and direction and I try my best to answer questions and and provide feedback to relate to my customers. I make it my goal to respond to people and make them feel included. Everyone wants to feel like they are wanted and belong to a group. Why not let it be my group of growing your business on the internet or my group of moms trying to lose that stubborn belly fat?

Relationship Marketing Tip #3:

Be Yourself Even If Some People Don’t Like It

I love joking around and at times it comes out in my blogs. I have to remember to do this more often because my husband and I could be the next stand up comedians in real life. Or maybe it’s just that we both crack up at each other, I don’t know. :) We’ve had people tell us that we could take our show on the road…ha! ha! Here is a recent picture of us at a Laker game. Grow your business with more relationship marketing skills.

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagMyPic.com

Share This Page

Add a Comment

You need to be a member of StartUp to add comments!

Join this social network

Comment by Stewart Graham on May 13, 2009 at 2:02pm: Hi Naomi

I agree with you. There is no need to sell your product or service, but just get to know people, develop relationships and the work will follow. In my seminars about How to get the most from Networking, I talk about forgetting business and talk about other things that people might be interested in. I love people because everyone's got a great story in their life they can share with others. My wife collects teddy bears and has 800 of them in our home. I will often bring this up in one or another as people will then remember me as the bloke who's wife has 800 teddies. I even use the picture in my seminar.

I once went to a networking event where I did not seem to be able to connect with one particular person until he said he used to live in the road next to mine. I then told him where I lived and his attitude changed completely; he became more friendly and we talked about how we might work together.

People, relationships, helping others first, work will then follow.

Stewart

Comment by JenniferLynn Productions on April 24, 2009 at 12:52pm: Another thing on relationship marketing: Hanging back and observing before jumping in is a good idea, because you need to know when you might be getting in over your head, and if you allow that to happen, your reputation is toast.

Jennifer Moore
JenniferLynn Prodcutions, LLC

Comment by JenniferLynn Productions on April 24, 2009 at 12:47pm: Like many others here, I tend to hang out and observe before I jump into the fray; however, I try and remain open and friendly at all times. I go to networking events to make new friends, not to sell, sell, sell. If you build good relationships with your potential customers, the rest will follow.

If nothing else, you build a reputation for being a good listener and a sincere person, and people will be more likely to pass opportunities along to you or pass your name/business cards along.

With me, people come first.

For shy people like myself, a blog can be an excellent tool. You can put your thoughts out there, and often it leads to wonderful conversations, relationships, and hopefully, business connections.

Jennifer Moore
JenniferLynn Productions, LLC

Comment by Terri Pattio on April 19, 2009 at 1:58pm: I agree with everything you said, expecially when you said to be yourself. Very IMPORTANT TO DO THAT. After all if a person see the real you, they will know who you are and if they like and want to get to know you better. It's just so simple, that's me I am a straight forward person that say what I feel and if you're supposed to be my friend you will still be my friend for being an honest person and speaking my mind.

Comment by James Bryant on April 15, 2009 at 12:30pm: These are some good ideas!! Thanks for the info!!

Comment by Marita Oosthuizen on April 14, 2009 at 5:23pm: I am quite extroverted, but find it very difficult to market my business/myself to others. (I usually make a joke, which detracts from the aim rather than help it.) I think a really good and adaptable elevator speech can help a lot in making a connection.

Comment by Elaine Drennan on April 14, 2009 at 11:25am: I'm a beginner and I've learnt already that its better to be honest and admit that. But even beginners can start beginners parties! I'm excited about meeting like minded people so we can support and learn from each other and without realising it our skills will grow and grow...

Comment by Samuel Vun Sen Min on April 13, 2009 at 12:18pm: I guess I would be called a wallflower since I'm quite a shy person. I'm working on developing my "party starting" skills though and I'm learning to voice out more often, even in unfamiliar surroundings.

Comment by Michael Peters on April 12, 2009 at 5:11pm: Marketing is all about getting the confidence of the other person and being yourself. People make their minds up about you in 30 seconds so first impressions are important. Then they get to know you and try and justify their first thoughts. It's good to never, never never give up as Winston Churchill once said. Hope this is relevant and makes sense!

Comment by Andrea Campbell on April 12, 2009 at 12:54am: You are talking to someone who has been called "The Game Lady" in Arkansas because I'm an expert at parties. I've written two, games party books: Great Games for Great Parties and Perfect Party Games. Over the years I have worked with foreign-exchange students, women's clubs, church groups, rotary clubs—you name it, and I've conducted a games party with them.

I've learned that in order to be a good games leader and a great party giver, it is not about you. It is about making sure that your guests are getting attention, having fun interacting, and that they go home with good memories. You need to project confidence, know the game rules and be able to explain them; and, most importantly, be a good friend, conscious of everyone else's needs.

Here's the URL to my Great Games for Great Parties book page: http://www.andreacampbell.com/html/great_games.html