Symptoms Of Business “Self-Branding Suicide”
Let me start by stating that I am an avid proponent of online businesses and entrepreneurial opportunities in practically every shape and size. This includes network marketing, MLM systems, Internet marketing, affiliate marketing, marketing of online home business training and supportive software.
Having said that, I hear people I work with everyday complain about how social media is ruined by entrepreneurial “leeches” who want nothing more than to spam them repeatedly with their auto-updates created to shove their opportunity or service down their throats.
The ironic thing about social media is that it is a reflection of who’s driving it. It is a reflection of its users both individually and as a whole. Individually, it is a reflection of what we want our business to accomplish for us and for those we seek to do business with. Currently, I’m not sure there is a better example of the “garbage in garbage out” principle being more accurately displayed than when a new online entrepreneur begins building their network and establishing their personal brand using social media with little or no planning.
The purpose of your social media efforts has to be more than sending random “buy my widget” or “make money by signing up now” messages set on auto-repeat every 15 seconds. That’s akin to social media telemarketing. It’s offensive to the very people who you need to trust you, causing you to quickly lose credibility and thus the ability to positively impact people along with it.
After all, we’re all on the same path working to reach relatively the same destination. We all want to be successful and fulfilled as we each define it. It is far easier to do it together by building a functional network of mutually supportive people than by committing what I call “self-branding suicide”.
Know this, that large numbers in a network mean absolutely nothing if you can’t do anything with them. They are good only for eye-candy and ego stroking. If you cannot effectively communicate and leverage your network at any given time toward a mutually beneficial action then you have no real usable network at all. You have useless numbers. If you spam them and you lose no-one then you have the first sign that NO ONE IS LISTENING! I have found however that these symptoms reveal a deeper issue found at the core of the business foundation, and even more specifically, the perspective of the online entrepreneur that must be rectified.
Diagnosing The Dysfunctional Home Business Cycle
But why do people, especially new MLM, Internet and affiliate marketers in the first year, do this? Primarily because they’re taught to. After feeling that they have bought into a lie, that the pursuit of a career had paid them in wasted years and less time with the people they love, they vow like an abused spouse, never to let that happen again. With this as a main motivator, they jump into their online venture with a mindset of “this is about me getting what I want now – it’s my turn!”.
Unfortunately, there are those that have sales copy written specifically to prey upon and attract those who are feeling exactly that (which ironically are most potential entrepreneurs) instead of offering something of more substance. This new entrepreneur seeking training is then coached to build a business foundation that utilizes that same selfish ideology as the motivational gas in their online business engine which in turn attracts others the same way. This type of training is prevalent unfortunately.
They say this is the coveted “duplication principle” however WHAT you’re duplicating is far more important that the act itself. This cycle seems to be prevalent with any new entrepreneur who seeks training, whether it be a new Internet or affiliate marketer seeking training, an MLM or other business opportunity newbie.
Only You Can Identify & Alter The Cycle
There are plenty of mistreated children who grow up to unknowingly train their own children to mistreat the following generation. My point is this; there is a stark difference between healthy duplication and a dysfunctional spiral which, at the end of the journey, makes one feel that they were taken advantage of, despondent and stupid for ever hoping for something more fulfilling in their life. Many of those involved in MLM’s and business opportunities are caught in this same cycle but it doesn’t have to be this way. The immediate results for business opportunities that aim for this large demographic is that it attracts large numbers because the marketing is geared to identify with their emotional desire to stand up and take their life back, but unfortunately, it helps them neither heal nor become successful.
Your self-branding should ideally be an accurate reflection of who you are and what you want your business to accomplish BOTH for you and for those you seek to do business with. So often many do not take off the rose colored glasses to accurately estimate ”what’s in it for them?” apart from giving them the same Kool-aid that they themselves are gulping down.
The great thing about many business opportunities is that you have almost total control to brand yourself and create your own strategy for delivering value. Unfortunately if you are standing behind a company that simply does not deliver anything other than the “expectation to make money” it is almost impossible to break out of the cycle and represent the product or service.
I see this all the time with affiliate marketers who lose large chunks of their emailing opt-in lists because they over promoted a product, training or service that had a high-payout for them but did not deliver on their promises. They allowed the organization they promoted to use them along with their email list of potential customers and left them by the side of the road when they were done.
This is where the affiliate would say that it is merely a numbers game of getting more potential customers, or the MLM opportunity that preaches that its all about getting more recruits, sponsoring more people, when actually it’s not. It’s not about numbers but about delivering something of value that improves the lives of those you share it with. I’m talking about choosing a deliverable that bolsters your credibility and doesn’t threaten it.
So What’s The Antidote?
So how do we go about correcting our unhealthy business owner perspectives? It’s actually simple if you’re ready to take the leap of letting go of a few deeply held false ideologies. Are you ready? Ok, here it is….your primary goal should not be first and foremost about making money. You gasp, I know but read on and I’ll explain.
The key is finding something other than money that you can become passionate about. This is because the desire for money alone will NOT make your life to magically feel more successful and fulfilled. I’m not kidding – it’s true! The next two paragraphs will convince you.
If you’re like most online home business owners I’ve coached, you began your entrepreneurial journey when you decided to stop trading hours for dollars but (because you didnt know any better) immediately ignored what would truly fulfill you and instead convinced yourself that it was money that was the missing piece all along. No my friend, there is something larger missing and it involves what I call emotional currency.
You need to realize that the most fulfilling currency in your business life is one where you are deeply, emotionally satisfied that your entrepreneurial efforts make a difference. From my experience I will tell you that if you commit to passionately pursue that, the by-product will result in reaping more financial reward than you ever expected.
You need to identify with what you really want to achieve with your business efforts.
It starts by asking yourself:
- Other than money, what do I want my business efforts to accomplish that would fulfill me?
- What type of reputation do I want to work toward earning in the online community that would deeply satisfy me?
- Expand on the previous question: If successful, what will that reputation look like?
- How should I approach my marketing and branding efforts in light of the answers to the previous 3 questions?
Now work backwards; make your business foundation to reflect those answers. THAT in-turn will produce a fire-in-the-belly that you cannot extinguish. It results in a business foundation that is tied so closely into who you are that you don’t need a pep talk to get excited about it.
The end result is that it begins to provide emotional paychecks which fulfill you before and after the money pours in.
Translating That Into A Successful Marketing Strategy
There are myriads of people who give up following their financial dreams because they feel emotionally bankrupt. Realize that they are all incredibly hungry to deposit this currency into their emotional bank account. When you think about it, it is a pretty simple undertaking to stand out from the crowd because people are very hungry for unique, credible and trustworthy resources. Practically 95% of online business marketers form their sales discussion from the same faulty perspective. You‘ll see headlines such as “secrets from the guru who made 5-figures in first month, make money online using this double matrix” or “use this software to trick Google to making you big money” and so on.
If your business involves marketing a product with competition then you want the 95% to continue to do what they are doing. Write your ads, sales copy and articles from the perspective of your new healthy foundation and you will immediately stand out. Identify with those you want to attract to your product or service.
If you’re goal is to attract others to your business opportunity, training or service, know that the 95% with an unhealthy foundation know that they are missing something. They are not your competition;, they are your prospects. If you create a healthy foundation and portray a healthier, more functional and fulfilling alternative that involves emotional currency, you are immediately more appealing. There are also so many people publicly branding themselves dysfunctionally that it’s an instant delineator, setting you apart from the spamming masses.
If you commit to establishing your unique healthy foundation which seeks primary compensation from emotional paychecks you will not only be more satisfied, but you will also be fishing with different bait than most others. People will come to work with you because they believed you were personally offering something different before you even presented your business opportunity.
Conclusion
Regardless of your type of business, be mindful that every word typed online contributes to the perception or misperception of you by others which is directly tied into your credibility. By adequately taking the time to affectively establish your unique business perspective, you can then create a strong foundation for your business by redefining your goals and expectation.
This will also in turn, create a more noble cause that naturally sells you on that fact that what you are doing and why you are doing it are for the right reasons. The end result of that effort is the creation of fertile ground where the seeds of your true success and fulfillment can now germinate and grow.
“Life’s ultimate excitement is to be convinced that one is fighting for all they are worth on behalf of a clearly seen & deeply felt good” ~Ruth Benedict
Your Coach & Fan,
Patrick Daugherty
“The Biz Coach”
CEO of Learn2earn it now Training & Support
Author of: “The Success Steps For Building Wealth Online” for all internet entrepreneurs who desire real results!
- Owner of Learn2earn it now training.
- Join him on Facebook! http://tgli.de/E4E
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- Connect on LinkedIn! http://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickdaugherty
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Its true and I agree. Well written thread. I am hoping to see future updates on this subject.
I search and recently came across your blog and have been reading along. It was wonderful blog. I will give free hit of your site with your article.
I have had this happen. good advice, wish I had read this a month ago. ha
Finally a business coach that tells the truth about not following the money! You got it Patrick follow your passion – I’m following mine and my life is so different today then it was in the corporate world! Colors are brighter and the world is lighter when you do what you love! Thanks for the article!
Hi. Real good data on MLM Leads. I discovered your good blog while researching yahoo. For the last few days I’ve been seeking to find more. Especially anything to do with the actual lead generation or companies making them. I’ve seen it all and my cousin keeps advertising her recent lead system craze on me. So I am glad I found you. All the best!
well hey there guys, i’ve been looking all over the internet for a GOOD SEO forum.. I was looking for some suggestions
from you guys to point me in the right direction.
Thanks a bunch, this place is great btw.
Great article! I’ve never seen exploitative marketing compared to growing up in a dysfunctional family before, but it really fits. We all tend to imprint on our minds bad examples as the way of doing things because they are so much more noticeable than good examples are.
Examples of good marketing seem so natural that we don’t register them as ways to market. What registers is the hype and exploitative behavior that slaps us in the face. Then we think we have to duplicate it.
When, in reality it’s as you say. Find something you love. Make a sincere attempt to share it with others. This kind of marketing will be far more effective and will result in emotional fulfillment as well as financial.
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You prepared an outstanding point with what you mentioned. A great number of people should read your posting so they can get a far better perspective on this topic. Carry on the truly amazing work!
Very interesting way to market on facebook. I also found a way to automate several very powerful methods of getting users. There is also a cool chat program that you can setup scripts and keyword to work with. This program, when I use it I can see a spike in my site traffic. It is sweet…
Hello and thanks so much i have been looking for a blue print your article just open my eyes.
I am so glade i found this article now i can follow this as a success blue print i need to fine my way out of the forest so i can see on the other side of the road.
thanks for open my eyes
Heya i got to your site by mistake when i was searching bing for something off topic here but i do have say your site is really helpful, like the theme and the content on here…so thanks for me procrastinating from my previous task, lol
Excellent advice, my friend (and Happy St-Patty’s day, by the way!). I would also caution that it is far too easy for the inexperienced marketer to fall into that trap because of the lure of the quick money that is soooo attractive…My mantra (and what I tell others) is slow and steady – build your credibility and the rest will follow. It also always helps to keep a roadmap of what you are trying to achieve (and keep referring back to it) so that you don’t get tempted and sidetracked away from your course and desired destination.
Cheers,
Patch
Patch
You’re 100% right on the money. No quick magic pill. Be deliberate when building your self-branding. The key is “sustainable growth” not some flash in the pan then gone.
Patrick Daugherty
Agreed. I’ve been writing about this in one form or another for quite some time. In fact, my Twitter byline is “I come from a ridiculously wealthy family business so I can afford to tell the truth.”
However, the real solution to this problem is, in my opinion, a hybrid. You can sell sizzle as long as there really is a steak behind it.
Check out my article about Fiverr.com.
Best wishes,
Sam
Very informative article… Looking forward for more articles on your blog
Great site. Great article. Hard to find someone who my intuition is telling me this one is being honest. Looking forward to following you and finding another nugget to bring about success so I can join you and truly help others follow their dreams and know from results that dreams do come true.
thanks for the encouragement
I am looking for an in-depth tutorial about lead generation, can anyone post links ?
Patric,
Your articles are always terrific. Thank you for posting so much great content that is thought provoking. Will RT you often…
Rhonda G.
Great article Patrick. Always learn a great deal from your articles. This one particularly is ideal as countless organizations have given their business a black eye (or at least a black and blue mark) as a result of a poorly designed Social Media campaign (i.e. Pepsi). Although the online community is ever evolving and possesses a short memory as it pertains to positive results, negative results can go viral in a hurry!! Great stuff Patrick
actually, lead generation takes some to time to build up. you just got to be patient.,~,
if you are very good in lead generation, then you could earn millions in a matter of months`-.
Sweet, that’s definitely what I was searching for! You just spared me alot of digging around
I just wanted to let you know that I’m so grateful for all I’ve learned from you, I love all your posts. Thanks so much for sharing.
Keep up the good work! I just recently found your blog and I’m glad there are people like you out there. Now, back to reading….
wonderful posts here!!
Excellent post!
Once companies recognize how powerful social media can be to create and mold their online presence, they seem to forget how vital it is to have a strategy to accompany their efforts.
As a newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you!
Online business are great but it is hard to start and succeed in it”"~
Thanks for the comment Robert
Actually, it’s a much easier business to start with far more flexibility and a far less threat to enslave the entrepreneur than any other business effort. A new entrepreneur fails in an average of 2 business launches before succeeding. This is because it takes 2 failed attempts to learn what they need to do in order to succeed. So many quit after their first or second attempt and feel like failures for life. This is why I’ve created the training and support program. My entire motivation was to create a training and support system is to be a bridge that could equip everyone with the knowledge equivilent of someone who has learned from a year of failure and preparing the launch of their 3rd business. It’s why I so passionately do what I do. I have always contended that weather it be an online MLM, online marketing or any other type of marketing online business niche, that its all about getting the proper information to position, plan and execute your biz marketing strategy…. to plug into a support network that keeps you motivated with empowering knowledge; not koolaid. That sees pure “fluff” and “rah-rah” as enemies of straight talk knowledge and solutions for business obstacles so that you dont feel stranded. So your comment Robert is valid and valued because it is exactly why I do what I do my friend.
Very informative article… Looking forward for more articles on your blog
I was just talking with my partner about this last week
Hi there may I use some of the information here in this post if I provide a link back to your site?
Yes Andrew. No problem with that at all my friend!
I pretty much accidently discovered this valuable web site and this wonderful information. Thanks buddy and carry on the fantastic work!
Thank you for an enlightening and touching article about social media marketing.
For the first time (for me) here’s an article skillfully and sensitively cutting to the core of the foundation required for the correct online marketing techniques. With the correct mindset and fundamental approach, the correct techniques will follow naturally.
Years ago all prospects were interested in was an established company with decent products, but things have changed! Gotta brand yourself effectively now.
Online business is one of the best thing to engage with, it is quite easy to market products on the internet with some training.
Best you should make changes to the webpage name title Self-Branding Suicide: Do Your Social Media Mistakes Reveal An Unhealthy Business Ideology? TheBizcoachblog.com to something more generic for your blog post you write. I liked the post all the same.
Well written article with alot of common sense that alot of Internet marketers ignore. Your best line to me is “The great thing about many business opportunities is that you have almost total control to brand yourself and create your own strategy for delivering value.”
Thanks Debbie! That’s awesome to hear.
So many are still looking for the ‘magic bullet’. So many are still promising the special sauce. Does anyone really want the’magic bullet’ even if it existed?
I only want to post fast hi and want to say thank you for enlightened post. I digg and searching through the web for some kind of enlightenedletter. like this, or at least a website. That coveredwhat i looking for
Agreed. Lead generation is very important especially if you want to earn more affiliate marketing $.
I’ve joined many seo forums on the internet and they are really quite helpful. I have learned a lot here! ;`,
thats quite interesting. It presented me a few ideas and I’ll get writing them on my website soon. I’m bookmarking your blog and I’ll be returned. Thank you again!
Interesting article and it rings true !
We’ve been flopping around online for many years and it’s only recently that we took a good few steps back to re-evaluate our online intentions and where we really wanted to be headed.
We have in the past followed the common ‘newbie’ route you outlined in your article and although we did make money we also lost our focus.
So we have now started again but with the firm intention of giving a realistic route to follow for others that is not solely driven by just acquiring money online … we want to achieve that as a by product of helping others who join us on our new journey
Gary & Val
Thats great to hear! The passion and drive never need to be refilled when they come from such true source.
I’d also encourage you to post your own “unique link” in your comment rather than the general biz-op, in case others want to work directly with you and/or drive traffic of those who are interested to follows such a refreshing perspective.
Good luck guys!
Excellent Post! I see so much spamming! And my follower count could be much higher but it would not be the customers I am trying to reach! So my messaging would be off point and off target! Social Media is about being social…building relationships! Leave the selling to other avenues. Become a trusted brand and your fans and followers will spread the word for you!
Great comment Kathie! I define spamming as random marketing without offering any relationship value that asks for nothing in return. I have a slightly different perspective to social media marketing however. I agree that social media is about building branding & relationship and when it comes to marketing, you cant go to the “relationship bank” and ask for a withdrawal of funds when you haven’t deposited anything. Free value & genuine interaction are currency in my book. Be careful tho, you’ll also lose influence if your fans/followers/readers, feel that you are only “giving to get”. If you offer a credible relationship, grounded in their best interest and seek only to market valuable products or services that will have a positive impact on those goals then you’ve established a healthy social media marketing relationship. However, if you try to cash in by offering products that are junk, don’t deliver value or give the impression that you are marketing far too frequently and you will lose both credibility and influence.
Hi are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you require any coding knowledge to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Yes I use and strongly advise new marketers to use WP. I also would strongly encourage you to use Go-Daddy to host because they will load WP to your chosen web-address. All that’s left is to choose a theme. I’m a self-taught mediocre-coder which makes me dangerous enough to repair the stuff I screw up on my way to add a new feature or work around a problem. Anything advanced I let my technical team take care of. Funny, wasn’t that long ago I didn’t have a tech-team. Things can grow quickly!
Hey i love you blog, come check out mine http://www.fiverrtips.net we help people get sales on fiverr. Thanks!
I’ve got study a few of the content on your site now, and I prefer your style of blogging. I included it to my favorites web-site collection and will also be looking at again shortly.
Good article..shame it is surrounded by advertising and written by a business person with I assume the aim of getting business from the readers.
Social network is a strange beast…you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
I do genuinely beleieve it is essential to a business but I know that very little income is generated from social media.
A lot of the very large companies are reducing their social media and I think that we will ultimately find it doesn’t make money but is fun…the large follower numbers / linkedin contacts…a grown up pokemon game.
I bet if you knew you could compel 30,000 of your Social media contact to visit your site everyday I bet you’d think it was more productive than Pokimon or some childish game. When you can do it and that traffic converts then you would become a big fan I’m sure. Unfortunately you suck at growing a loyal community using social media. I can teach you a better way!