Referral Marketing: Breaking Records!

I spent this past week in the Adirondacks. Inlet, NY is a simple place, yet one of my favorite places on the planet. During the trip, I participated in the "One Square Mile of Hope" event that set out to raise money for the Susan B. Komen breast cancer foundation AND break the Guiness World Record for the number of canoes/kayaks arranged as a solid raft (everyone holding onto each others boats) on one body of water! The unofficial result is that we did indeed set a new Guiness World Record! This is the first time I've ever been a part of breaking a record. Kudos to Connie Perry, owner of Frisky Otter Tours, for having the vision and making it happen. Congratulations, Connie!

In a tough economy, one of the best ways to thrive is to clearly be able to separate yourself and your business from your competition. One powerful unique selling position is when you or your business breaks records or accomplishes "firsts". Connie Perry's business is focused on canoe and kayak tours and rentals of the Adirondacks. Do you think she has competition? Yes! However, not one of her competitors can state the claim that they organized a massive canoe/kayak event that broke a Guiness World Record! She is the first in her community to do so and will always be known for that accomplishment. If I were Connie, I would use that unique selling position in all of my marketing materials! I would use that unique selling position to position me ahead of my competitors.

Do you have a unique selling position? What can you say about you or your business that your competitors cannot say about themselves?

Referability Expert: Palm Centro!

So does anyone really know the difference between a Blueberry (I mean Blackberry) and a "Smartphone"?! From my limited perspective, I think its mostly a branding thing ... however, I could be missing the boat on this one.

Branding or not, I recently chose the smartphone ... specifically, the Palm Centro. I liked the Centro for a few reasons:

1. It provided me with a short learning curve, since I already had a Palm device.
2. It made it easy for me to view my calendar and create my monthly reports because of the color sort option on the calendar.
3. I could learn how to use the key pad quickly because the keys are aligned like a normal keyboard.
4. It's designed to improve my overall efficiency.

All of these BENEFITS made it a no brainer choice for me! I really like the device.

In general, marketing professionals know that customers typically make their buying decisions based on the benefits of a product or service. I surely did in this case. In order for you to generate referral business, customers need to know the benefits of your product or service. In order to get other people to refer people to you, THEY too, need to know your benefits. As they're talking to other people on your behalf ... that's what they need to be able to say in order to pursuade someone to become interested in wanting to meet you.

You can find out more about this topic in my new book, The 29% Solution: 52 Weekly Networking Success Strategies, strategy #30. Listen to your words ... are you telling people about your benefits or are you basically listing your features??

Referability Expert: Invisible Fences

If you follow this blog, you're probably aware that several months ago, I got a new 6 month old puppy. Well, she's almost a year old now and she has become a fantastic dog! She's incredibly smart (if I do say so myself). She seems to be able to learn a new trick in a matter of a day or so. She loves to ride in the canoe, go camping, hike, and basically be anywhere I am. It certainly didn't take her long at all to find a very secure place in the family!

Well, now I'm trying to decide if I want to have an invisible fence installed to ensure her security in the yard. Not to keep things out ... but to keep her in. She's learning so well to mind the commands of "come", "stay", "stop", etc. But there's always a chance that a passing deer might tempt her a little too much and the thought of losing her would crush me. What attracts me to the invisible fence is the fact that there's no fence to be seen ... no fence to mow around ... no fence to obstruct my view ... etc. I guess time will tell what choice I'll make regarding the security of my pup.

Are you aware of the invisible fences that you put up between you and other people when you're networking? Are your invisible fences keeping you safe or keeping other people away? Are you intending to keep people away from you?

We've heard of the Law of Attraction ... well, invisible fences have a tendency to activate the Law of Repulsion when you're networking. People want to network with other people who are open, inviting, and accessible. Are your behaviors reflecting this? And a really big question to ask yourself ... how are other people perceiving your behaviors?

I might still consider the invisible fence for my dog ... however, you might want to seriously consider dismantling yours when it comes to networking and your referability!