Given enough time, several members in your target audience will build a sense of trust in you then respond to some offer (free product, e-book, consultation, etc.) by providing their contact information.  This sign of trust opens the door for more personalized contact and the relationship continues to build.

It could be argued that once the personalized contact takes over attraction marketing gives way to relationship marketing.  Though this is one perspective, I believe that attraction and relationship marketing work hand in hand and are never really separated.

The following video provides my perspective of both the overall process as well as collectively defining attraction and relationship marketing:

Please feel free to leave comments below and remember that frequent commenting visitors (after four comments from the same name/website) are rewarded with a backlink to your site!

Wooohooo ….. Release the party balloons!

Launching this blog became a necessity after my old blog (formerly hosted at WordPress.com) ran into a few issues (see the post on free versus self-hosted blogs) and was suspended.

As I initiated posting content to this blog (much of it transferred from my former WordPress.com version), I faced with a few issues:

1. The physical set-up of a self-hosted WordPress blog;
2. Getting all the former content updated and re-posted;
3. Replacing the links from the old blog with this one; and
4. Re-building the blog followers and traffic in general.

Fortunately, the first two issues were readily addressed since I had already started to establish this blog site as I was working through the Become a Blogger site and had backed up most of the content from the previous blog.  Replacing or killing many of the former links has also occurred but others are either pending or near impossible to address (especially links on content and articles comments).

Issue number four was my main concern at the time the former blog met its doom.

Why you ask?

Simply because I had put a significant effort and trying to build the traffic from zilch to a few tens of visitors per day after three months work.

Most of the traffic was directed to the old blog via social networking as well as a handful of RSS subscribers with only a handful per week arriving from organic search engine listings. Therefore I was unsure what would happen to the traffic once the new blog (this one) was up and running.

I am happy to report, however, this time traffic to the Attraction and Relationship Marketing Classroom has grown much more rapidly.

As a matter of fact, traffic to this blog about equaled the last week’s traffic daily average for the old blog and has more than doubled by the 30 day anniversary!  The traffic is also coming from a variety of sources including direct traffic (35%); Referral Sites (50%) and Search Engines (15%).

Although it still isn’t huge, it’s growing day by day … definitely a great feeling …

So thank you to all my visitors, both new and old ….

The effort you make to visit the Attraction and Relationship Marketing Classroom and check things out is more than gratifying ….

I appreciate all of you!

At least that is the perception we all have when first venture onto the “Net”, establish a website, blog or use some other vehicle of web communication then VIOLA … barely anyone shows up to hear the us!  (Big sigh ……)

Many of us get caught believing that we can just hop online, enter our words of wisdom (content) and post it to our site and the search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc. will jump all over it then catapult it onto Page 1 of the search results.  If only it were that simple (of course if it were how effective would it really be?).

It doesn’t take long to realize our lack of understanding topics like “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO), Social Media Optimization (SMO), back links, comment posting, Web 2.0 social media network venues and so on. In other words, we know practically nothing about all the different techniques necessary to propel your “Web Masterpiece” to the top of the search results or to get recognized by various social media network community members.

The question then becomes ….

How do those of us specializing in attraction and relationship marketing learn all this stuff to get noticed on these Web 2.0 social media network sites?

I know, I know, it’s pretty obvious that is the key question for anyone serious in learning the fundamentals to establish their Web 2.0 social media network presence.

Over the last year, I have located several interesting free or relatively low-cost sites where virtually anyone can access great tutorial training to help establish that “Web” presence. Most of these sites offer a combination of click by click video, audio and article based training materials; all of high quality.

Today’s post introduces the first of several training sites so you can get a preliminary look at some of the resources these sites have to offer.

This site’s creator, Diane Hochman, decided to formulate her own version of “Pay It Forward” by establishing a site where “computer challenged” marketers could learn the ins and outs of the different social media network platforms. So off she marched along with a few cohorts to develop “My Private Classroom for Marketers” on the “Ning” network.

Like many other Ning-based Web 2.0 social media network training sites, you have the opportunity to access all of the great content posted by the members; you can access your own page where you can create blog postings as well as upload photos and videos; as well as access the message center to enhance your social interactions with others in the community.  My Private Classroom for Marketers is a fantastic resource for almost anyone interested in online marketing especially social media network marketing.

The following video provides a short guided tour of many of My Private Classroom for Marketers features and resources.

If you are interested in accessing the My Private Classroom for Marketers site, click on any of the linked text names and let them know that Jim Hickey sent you during registration.

BusinessDictionary.com defines network marketing as “Direct selling method in which independent-agents serve as distributors of goods and services, and are encouraged to build and manage their own sales force by recruiting and training other independent agents.”  Agents are more commonly referred to as distributors in many network marketing-based companies.

Now, is it dead or alive?

Bottom line: it is very much alive but if it is alive – is that a good or bad thing?

Now that question is definitely complicated and requires a little thought and scrutiny.

To some, especially former, unsuccessful network marketers who are “born again” and practicing Internet attraction and relationship marketing; the answer is a resounding – probably a little of both.

Why?

Simply because the traditional prospecting and lead generation methods they were taught by the “old school” network marketers (warm market prospecting, cold calling, 3 foot rule, etc.) did not work; at least not for them. Many believed the stigma of the “failed” old school prospecting methods equate with and therefore characterizes network marketing.

Recently, however, many of those people found the Internet and news ways to develop leads and therefore potential customers or recruits.  Though this seemed to solve the dilemma of the old school methods (at least on the lead generation side), it often left many of the new or re-born Internet network marketers short on person to person contact skills.  This is especially true when trying to apply the attraction and relationship marketing model and not simply the “close the sale” approach.

In reality, both the traditional and Internet-based prospecting methods should be blended with attraction and relationship marketing in mind and then included as a part of a network marketer’s toolkit.

Since this is a “sales model”, the prospecting/lead generation aspect necessitates marketing to the potential customer until the sale is closed but in this case employing the relationship building component.  At this stage, good to excellent communication skills are required to elevate the potential customer to a regular, repeat customer – the end game for anyone in sales.

The ability to effectively communicate is a major factor that separates struggling network marketers from those that excel and build successful organizations.

Many struggling network marketers take to the Internet with aspirations of using attraction and relationship marketing to draw leads to court and build relationships in hopes of finding new distributors. Even so, they need to realize that effective personal communication is a must. These skills might best be learned by watching and listening to the successful old school network marketing professionals.

Just remember, it is usually best to work at building the relationship and then introduce the customer to the solution to their problem after a level of mutual trust is established on both sides of the cash register!

Anyone truly interested in learning the best approaches and current trends in social marketing using Facebook would be wise to visit the site and peruse the numerous posts that date back over a year.  Virtually all of the tips and suggestions she provides will help everyone improve their attraction and relationship marketing skills.

Recent posts I found interesting include articles on the pros and cons of Facebook Groups versus Facebook Pages as well as one discussing account deactivation.  The latter article and related material are must reads for anyone just beginning their social marketing efforts on Facebook for insight to best avoid deactivation and the hassles of getting an account re-established.

While visiting the blog, be sure and register for her free 7 Day Facebook Marketing email series covering topics such as:

• Everything you should consider when creating your profile;
• Selecting the right picture image;
• Importing your blog feed to Facebook;
• Importance of Facebook Business Applications;
• Considerations when posting your “Status Update”;
• The ins and outs of “Item Posting”; &
• Commenting considerations.

After visiting Mari’s Facebook blog and registering for the free FB Marketing email series, be sure to visit her main website (marismith.com) for more great content and resources.

You’ll be glad you did!

Reading Ann Sieg’s “7 Great Lies of Network Marketing” and “Renegade Network Marketer” triggered a period of reflection regarding my personal evolution as a marketer reaching back more than 30 years into the past. My early days in the sales and marketing arena were spent as an associate and buyer in an outdoor sports retail store up in New England.

Starting early in attraction and relationship marketing ..

Even at that time my approach to retail sales and marketing revolved around a “value-based” approach that often confused the store owner. Unlike a few of my colleagues that used high pressure tactics to increase their sales usually without developing an ongoing relationship with the customer, my approach centered on first learning what the customer needed, finding the solution to fulfill that need and often educating them to better use the product they ended up buying. The advantage to this approach … it developed a positive relationship with the customer where they ultimately became long-lasting, repeat clients that ended up spending far more money than the one-off large sales of the high pressure associates.  This is the heart of attraction and relationship marketing ……

Hiding the attraction and rise of traditional networking …

Several years later I was introduced to and became a distributor in a couple of network marketing/MLM organizations with great products, a decent compensation plan but a sales/marketing system based on the old traditional cold and warm prospecting techniques found in those opportunities. Though I remained highly enthusiastic and followed the guidance of my uplines in trying to build a business, the end result was the same as 95% of MLM distributors …. I ultimately quit.

The reason why independent of the great product line and comp plan, when push came to shove there is only so much rejection that most of us can take. There were far too many “No’s” to get to the few “Yes” responses and the financial burden took its toll. The old school network marketers had no idea what attraction and relationship marketing were never mind using those techniques.

The most frustrating part was I knew that if only there was a way to find a set of like-minded prospects, the businesses would have likely been a success. Trouble was, the internet was relatively new and the internet network marketing plans that are virtually exploding today just were just a glimmer in people’s eyes.

The re-awakening …..

In actuality, Ann’s books did far more than trigger this period of reflection, it validated all of my earliest philosophies on sales and marketing; both during my successful days in retail and not-so successful early ventures in direct sales and marketing. For that reason alone, I highly recommend both the “7 Great Lies…” and “Renegade Network Marketer” for aspiring attraction marketers and home-based business owners.

Where “Renegade Network Marketer” helps to clearly define the new network marketing model and allow me to realize my enduring belief in attraction marketing principles to build relationships, it primarily identifies what needs to be done. How do you move forward and learn the way to implement the new model on the web? Investigate methods to actuate attraction and relationship marketing and Web 2.0 social networking tools by visiting sites like “Renegade University” by Mike Klingler and Mike Dillard “Building on a Budget” for starts!

This is the final of six posts containing articles and/or videos describing what I generically defined as an Internet Message Delivery System, which can also be called a basic Internet marketing system.  After summarizing the information provided to date, the video describes a couple of different situations where relationships are built with members of your target audience culminating in solidifying the relationship and delivering your ultimate message. I hope you find it useful!

Note that all six posts associated with this series were posted to the blog between February 8, 2009 and February 12, 2009 and are located under the IMDS category designation.