| Two themes that are central to my business | | | | sites; what they do beyond that point is up to them. |
| philosophy, and ones that I believe many other | | | | This approach has given me 2 things; contact with |
| people will share, and respond to. You see, I don't | | | | some really lovely people that I have things in |
| NEED to pretend to be something I am not, I have a | | | | common with, and some good business leads and |
| few things in place that I believe in, and I have a | | | | contacts. Many fall into BOTH categories. |
| network that is building on strong foundations. | | | | When it comes to working with the people I |
| When I surf around business-oriented networking | | | | sponsor, I again use honesty. If I sell them a story |
| sites (Yuwie and DirectMatches in the main) I see a | | | | that doesn't pan out, they will very quickly lose trust |
| constant stream of spam, smoke and mirrors. You | | | | and respect in me, and faith in the system. No, what |
| introduce yourself to someone, and they reply with | | | | I offer them is honesty, support, advice, and |
| something along the lines of "Nice to meet you, tell | | | | encouragement. They of course need to provide the |
| me about your business. By the way you should look | | | | desire, effort, and willingness to stick at it for more |
| at this system, it's making 1000s every day, so | | | | than 5 minutes, but they do all that within a |
| here's the link". | | | | supportive environment. |
| The thing is, the majority of people you might meet | | | | So why bother using this approach? Well, for one |
| on those sites are doing something very similar so, | | | | thing, it allows people to move beyond the superficial |
| after a while, you start automatically filtering this | | | | level, fosters real relationships, and leads to ways of |
| "noise" out. This is such a shame, because these | | | | working smarter rather than harder. It also frees up |
| networking sites are incredibly powerful tools for | | | | some of the time that would be spent spamming |
| everyone, with real connections to be made on a | | | | everyone with referral links; time that can be spent |
| business level, and socially. I love meeting people | | | | on working with your team, developing your |
| online from the world over, but spam is spam no | | | | business, or communicating with online friends in |
| matter what language it speaks. | | | | meaningful ways. |
| So are people inherently liars, with a desire to spam | | | | Cut away the need to "act out" a role, and that |
| the heck out of everyone? NO WAY! | | | | energy can be used far more productively; even |
| They do this because they have a dream, and they | | | | freeing up time to spend with your family! |
| have learned from their system's instructions that this | | | | So why do I think this approach works? The key to |
| is the way to do it. In the current climate, maybe it is | | | | that is understanding WHO these marketers you |
| one way of doing things. With so many people, pulling | | | | meet online actually are. The majority are NOT MLM |
| in so many different directions, there is perhaps a | | | | gurus, nor are they running a large company. Most of |
| need to get your message across quickly and | | | | them are office workers, housewives, students, IT |
| efficiently. The thing is though, most people will | | | | guys, truck drivers, landscape gardeners etc. etc. In |
| automatically filter you out, no matter how great | | | | other words, they are ordinary people like you, trying |
| your system may actually be. | | | | to earn extra income, and gain access to some of |
| So is there an alternative? You might have guessed it | | | | the good things that a bit of wealth can provide. |
| already, but yes I think there is. Honesty. | | | | The current methods are turning us into faceless |
| Actually, not just honesty, but also throw in | | | | robots, typing and clicking for hours on end, acting |
| transparency, respect for others, and making genuine | | | | out online versions of the "foot in the door" |
| connections with your fellow inhabitants of this planet. | | | | salesman! We as a global community should be |
| To give an example, when I make a new connection | | | | connecting at deeper levels, not jumping from the |
| with someone online, I generally start out by leaving | | | | wage slavery frying pan into the "small cog in a giant |
| a comment on their profile page, thanking them for | | | | internet money making machine" fire. |
| the "friend add". I use their name because I bothered | | | | Let's keep it honest guys, let's be more transparent |
| to check it, maybe I say something nice about their | | | | and let people know we are just trying to do the |
| profile page (if I liked it) and I wish them a good day | | | | right thing for our family. People will respect that and, |
| (or something similar) - you get the idea I'm sure. | | | | what is more, it is something they will continue to |
| What I don't say is anything about the systems I | | | | respect because there is no mask to slip off. |
| use, nor do I explicitly give them referral links. They | | | | People respond to people, so just be yourself. |
| can of course take a look at my profile, or web | | | | |