comments

Hi Tiffany,

May you enjoy the depth and richness that this community has to offer through contribution and collaboration.

Welcome Darcy - May you enjoy the depth and richness that this community has to offer through contribution and collaboration.

Welcome to Biznik Glenn. May you enjoy the depth and richness that this community has to offer through contribution and collaboration.

Well in keeping with the self proclaimed rebel - Kicked out certainly couldn't have surprised you! :0)

Much luck and success with your trip this time.

You are already pretty luck, I don't normally respond to the grey silhouette. haha.

Hi Dave, I know you posted this a while ago and yes I am intersted and will check out the article. I hope your work is serving you well.

Hey Robert, Of course you have gotten some good comments here and I would add (in answer to your questions,) Events are a big key - both as an attender and host.

Viral in some markets (with Biznik) takes time to nurture. Tacoma, Wa we have solid well attended events and just 20+ miles south in Olympia, it took 6 months to get people interested and is only now starting to move. What I have found is that a lot of people that get into Biznik at first think it's going to grow their business quickly - Unfortunately, those folks drop off quickly discouraged. This community is very willing to contribute to the success of others as long as there is contribution on the back side.

The connections even online (with effective contribution on Biztalk and Articles) makes a difference too. From the sounds of it, you are just the guy to make Biznik go rampant and I love what you said about "create the conditions for proactivity" that is key and agreed, too often people sit back and wait.

The contribution is what sets the biznik apart.

My experience is yes. It is of course all in how you cross promote yourself. Back links/cross links/blog posts - have twitter do the work of getting the word out with links to those places.

Of course I also try to follow the 70/30 rule - 70% of your posts add value to reader (pitch free) 30% are a combination of personal and business (sales) focused. So for every 10 tweets, only 3 have some sort of sales pitch. That builds credibility and makes people want to follow you because 7 of your 10 add value to their business or life.

Hope that helps.

Grace enjoy the wonderful power of Mastermind! Our groups in Tacoma are fantastic, have people all the way from Bothell and Seattle come down to join in.

If I can be of resource for you in anyway as you launch the new group, let me know.

Interesting Jeff. I will have to check it out. Twitter is surely trying to further dominate our minds and time!

Agreed with so many of these excellent recommendations and I may add Ali Brown - She is doing something exceptionally right with the online piece.

The question I have heard is Do I need to tweet/facebook/biznik/link up and blog and how do I tie them all together.

Also, the Why do I need to do all those comes into question a lot. Just heard it at the South Sound Mastermind Biznik event yesterday.

Great question Tshombe and thanks because I am learning too!

I do incentify - both referral and closed referrals. For just referring me to someone for a conversation around coaching or speaking I always return it with a referral back and some little token of esteem. I have even offered a coaching session as a thank you - key is to find out what encourages the heart of the referrer.

For closed transactions I give a significant $$ - minimum of 10% of the contracted amount, now depending on the services that can be a shopping trip to Nordstroms for some or 6 months worth of car payments for others - depending on the contract size.

Yes absolutely Chrystal! PRWeb works. Have you also tried Ezine Articles Press Release section? It's free too.

I would recommend you check out Nancy Juetten on biznik if you haven't already http://biznik.com/members/nancy-juetten

She is a wealth of resource for DIY Publicity. Her workshop is fantastic.

Good luck

My sense is yes depending on your business. I have worked with people in many industries that have tried this in various ways - the ones that seem to get the greatest return or larger vehicles vs. the small ones. The distraction with the small (a scion or bug) is that the impression is lost on the 'cute or fun' factor.

Check out Go Mobile Advertising - they have a great product!!

I like listing the prices on some items and then talking them over on other. Workshops/ teleseminars/online product offering - list the price. Personalized services - need to have personal contact.

I know you posted this a long time ago and would be curious to know what you have found that works for you?

This is great Susan. I look forward to reading what people come up with.

I have spaces in the Tacoma area for interested folks.

Two people.

For design - Maura Desimone http://biznik.com/members/maura-desimone

For Printing - Capital City Press - http://www.capitolcitypress.com/ ask for Lisa when you call.

Or try IRC Print and Design - http://www.ircprintandesign.com/ ask for Trisha

a good local printer gives you personal attention and greater service than I have found online.

Good luck!

Wow Kathy, I am learning just from what other people have commented on! Thanks for posting the question.

Now to your request, once you are truly clear on the core demographic you are targeting for collaboration, I would then seek them out on Biznik and go to events that they are at to meet them and see if they really are a good fit.

You want to have the bold curiosity to ask and yet you need the bold awareness of what you want so you know what to ask for.

Build relationship that is co-created for mutual benefit.

HI Amy, I have to say you are courageous for wanting to put a BP together with 6 people. This is much like putting an executive team together with the exception that you get to all chose to be part of the team. So, here are some tips for working together that I have seen work with executive teams across the country.

1) have everyone participate in some type of personality test. the KolbeA Index is wonderful for this and it's an easy online tool that is low cost. The reason: you all want to know the hardwired strengths of each member - what can you count on them for when the pressure is one. Example, if you have 5 members who are all idea people and 1 that actually is the detail/executor person - you will be spinning ideas with not much follow-thru a lot of the time. That makes getting to deliverable very tough. On the other side, the 1 odd man out who is into details may get frustrated and burned out because they can't (and they will want to) juggle all the balls that are flying at them.

Bottomline, it's important to know how each member engages in stress, pressure, joy, ideas and delivery/implementation. Caution: don't rely on what they tell you their strengths are - we are good at faking it and not seeing the truth in how we play in the sandbox.

The other suggestion is that I would get with (if you haven't already) a very good attorney to set the parameters around rules of engagement for the team. You need a neutral party to help with this so that all members are fairly represented. It will be worth it in the long run.

I would also suggest having your throurough business strategy - defined with who is responsible for what, when, why and how - very clearly mapped out. This will be your guiding document that will support the whole group when and if there is a breakdown. It will also set you up for optimal success and growth too.

I suppose that Lastly would be, make sure that each member truly shares the same values and ethical guiding principles for the way the play in business and life. That is one of the most treacherous elements when putting a team together who share truly equally in all success and failure. It is often where hurt feelings and bad attitudes get in the way of business too

Ok and one last thing. Have a simple plan for how to resolve conflict and how to talk about challenges. No mud slinging allowed. It goes back to how do we negotiate, communicate, strategize and play - in good and not so good times.

Good Luck!

Hi Debbie, You have gotten some great tips from Stacy and Judy - wonderful women!

I thought I might offer a couple of things in addition to the rich feedback you have already received.

Why not have them added to your list when they sign up for the teleseminar - that is the freebie that they get for signing up and the newsletter is built as added value.

I might also try offering a 'special report' on a squeeze page, and your blog. By getting the special report that you compile with other industry experts (cross promotion) you can then capture their contact info.

And as a side note. I get a lot of newsletters, weekly, bi-weekly and monthly. Some quarterly. I have signed up because something captivated me about them and their information or they had a cool offer I wanted. The ones that I have dropped were because the value for the free product exceeded that value of continuing the relationship. Meaning, I got bored. The ones I keep give me meaty tips I can use and more often than not, it is the ones I get more frequently, like weekly. The ones that are sporadic or few and far between lose my interest because I forget about them and then get kind of annoyed when they pop in after no attention for several weeks/months.

Hope that's helpful. Good luck on your endeavor!!

Tammy

Holley I hope your event this morning was a great walk and talk event. Bellingham is a beautiful place for just that.

Hi John, Ok so you have already received advise from 3 of my favorite marketers/Publicity/Copy Writers - Judy Dunn, Nancy Juetten and Stacy Karacostas.

The only thing I could add is - find your Nine Year Old Story and build around it.

Example: For me speaking is fun and entertaining, I knew when I was nine and stole the whole show with the smallest part in the school play that I was good on a stage. Now I use my personality, gift of conversation and authentic self expression as a speaker around the country to engage audiences and inspire them to go deeper as a catalyst for transformation.

Recalling and relating to that story gave me the voice and strength to share stories with people and the tools to help them find their own personal power.

So John, what's your nine year old story?

Wow Michael, What a generous offer!

I have the cutest little puppy who is full of personality. I will send you a message for sure, was just thinking of getting some new pictures of her since she turns 1 on the 14th.

I hope that your generosity is paying off in spades for you.

For Business I have great colleagues and coaches. And I love the Mastermind Process. It is a fluid give and receive community of professionals who are seeking ways to have greater impact in business.

Great question!

Hello Joy, I would check out Cedarbrook in Seatac. great facility, good pricing and easy access with parking.

Enjoy!! Tammy