…What brought me back.
In this post I want to share my initial experience with social media and what drove me to “check out”. Stick with me as I weave through a journey of significant mindset shifts and development of a new mission to help struggling entrepreneurs.
Months ago I jumped full on into the exploding world of social media… Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, blogging, the flavor of the month, etc. I was fascinated by how easy and fun it was to re- connect with old friends and long, lost family members.
At the same time my business mentors were teaching strategies for building relationships with top entrepreneurs to create long- term business alliances. As a home based business owner this was something I was interested in. There are only so many “like- minded individuals” to network with in a 50 mile radius of my home base.
So, like everyone else in the developed world, I began creating profiles, posting content and connecting. What I wasn’t prepared for was the massive amount of spammers pushing their business opportunities down my throat.
I’ve never been pitched by so many offers to join “the greatest new launch”, and “the most amazing, incredible, super- binary hybrid automated cash machine system” in my life. It was freakin’ unbelievable.
It reminded me of the time I was “duped” into a meeting for coffee back in the day that turned into a biz opportunity hard- pitch. Thanks to the internet, you can experience this phenomenon in full color 3D, in your grill, several times a day.
I got sick of it.
You see, my past experiences with the network marketing and MLM industries had conditioned me to hate everything about them… the 3 foot rule, cold calling, small commissions, buying so- called opportunity leads, stocking inventory, advice from “mentors” who didn’t walk the walk, and the “hard close”.
It wasn’t just the “tactics” I disliked, but the process itself. As an enterpreneur and marketer, pitching people who aren’t remotely interested in a home business opportunity is a waste of time; you’re usually talking to unqualified prospects.
Not only that, you can only “pitch” one person at a time. If you spend your days talking to one unqualified person at a time over and over, your business will never get into momentum phase. There’s no leverage without an automated marketing system.
I digress.
I think you got the message that the constant pitching was really starting to piss me off. The sad part was that I didn’t take the time to understand the “real” message behind the desperate pleas for prospects from these business owners.
These entrepreneurs needed help with their businesses but I didn’t stick around long enough to recognize it. They were starving for an automated lead generation system and internet marketing training to help them attract, qualify, sort and sift leads so the majority of their valuable time was spent working with interested, qualified prospects.
Since excusing myself from social media, I’ve been hit with the same message over and over again from business owners, mentors, economists, and mastermind group members:
Entrepreneurs have to take their businesses online and learn how to market them effectively to survive in the information age.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a MLMer, network marketer, or a local brick and mortar business owner. The days of pitching one customer at a time and leaving your business to chance using traditional marketing methods is over.
The internet is the new business frontier. It’s where your customers are searching for what you offer. Are you in position for them to find you first, or your competitors?
I realized I had made a big mistake. I had plenty to offer those business owners in terms of entrepreneurial experience, direct response and internet marketing education, and an online training platform that brings it all together. I’ve been very successful in business, and fallen on my face too many times to count.
My focus changed.
Instead of focusing on building my own internet marketing business, I altered my plans to reach out to struggling entrepreneurs and home based business owners, first- timers and offline brick and mortar businesses.
These are the people… the entrepreneurs of the world, people like you and I, who will rise up and jump start the failing economy. Not the big corporations… banks… or government.
And we’ll do it by helping each other. Old marketing strategies will be replaced by new, modern systems that allow us to identify our ideal customers in droves… zero in on their core needs… find them and present them with an irresistible offer before the competition… track them and create more and bigger offers to keep them coming back… incentivize them to refer their friends… then wash, rinse, repeat.
Many of these B2C and B2B relationships will be fostered through online social media. Business owners will be miles ahead if they can master this domain, but most don’t know how… yet.
I’ve learned a lot in the last several months, but maybe nothing as important as the fact that it’s the entrepreneurs who are going to save the world’s financial system… the ones who continue to “sharpen their saw”, learn new marketing skills, and implement the same strategies the wealthy use to grow their businesses… even in the toughest economic times.
So now when I get that pitch to join the latest, greatest super- juice company without any attempt to build a relationship with me first, I’ll be prepared to demonstrate a more effective, profitable way to market his business through leadership and systems.
So bring on the spammers, rookie entrepreneurs, pitch men, whoever. I know where you’re coming from and understand your needs.
I’m fully committed to continuing my development as an entrepreneur, coach, leader, and marketer, and vow to provide valuable content on a consistent basis to help others along the way. If I fall short on that commitment anytime, please let me know, and I will right my wrong.
I’m looking forward to impacting as many lives as I can, the same way my life is constantly impacted by the mentors and leaders in my life.
I look forward to meeting you online, in this crazy space called social media. Friend me on Facebook, Follow me on Twitter, shoot me a request on LinkedIn, MySpace, my blog, etc. Let’s help each other create something bigger than ourselves, then teach others to do the same.
To Your MASSIVE Success as an Entrepreneur,
Kyle Wilson
