Ann Sieg's newest book

That wouldn't be too surprising. There has been so much discussion generated by those two classic works, Sieg has had lots of material to draw from. And nothing makes for better content than when you get it from the people. So many people who have had their businesses take off after reading her previous books and thousands of them have shared their story.

I haven't gotten my hands on an actual copy of The Attraction Marketer's Manifesto yet, but I did get to see the Table of Contents. My attention was drawn to one chapter entitled, "Do You Date People the Same Way You Prospect Them?" Could it be that my mentor is seeing the same similarities between building customer relationships and dating that I illustrate in my book, Romancing the Sale? How cool would that be!

Other chapter titles indicate that this book will have a lot to teach about how to position yourself as an expert. Ann Sieg loves to inspire the creation of a business for the average person. She understands that the "average" person is merely an undiscovered expert.  We all bring life experiences to our business, but many of us fail to see the value that experience holds for others.

Once we recognize that we have something of value to teach others, the power of the expert is revealed.  Ann Sieg has a lot to share about how we could go about sharing that knowledge - through online and offline communication, and information products.  Network marketers are already thriving under her tutelage -- could those teachings reach out into industries beyond network marketing? You bet!

I am so looking forward to The Attraction Marketer's Manifesto by Ann Sieg and I'll be sure to let you know if it's as good as I'm thinking it will be.  I'll put up the link for where you can grab a copy once I have it.

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This article has been guest blogged by Tamal Anwar who is a young entrepreneur and a motivator from <a href='http://www.tamalanwar.com' >Tamal Anwar Dot Com</a>

A straight forward question, Are you building dummies? Let me explain it to you. In attraction marketing, you can build up your authority while you share your experience with others. With the help of web 2.0, it has become very much easy to share your thoughts. You just start a blog which takes no investments. Start sharing your tips and experiences and let the world know your thought, wow you are blogging!

The more you write on a topic, the reader will love to come to your site and he will rely on your blog and the writing and most of all, he will rely on the person behind the blog and thats you. You can use other sites to spread your articles and to catch people who are elsewhere on the internet. Again you can use free ways to do this job and all it takes is some patience and effort.

The more you write, the more people will get to know about you and when you have developed a great authority, both your site and your personality, now its time to launch your information of your business. You can monetize your blog, get sponsorship or could launch your own service or could sell your products.

Are you Building Your Business with Relationships or are You Treating Your Readers as “Dummies?”

If you do not find ways to interact with your readers, you may be building a list, but it will be useless. You worked hard these years to build your list, but they are only names, not people --only dummies.

Blogs are not just journals, they are the ways to interact with people. The way you will work on it will get to the desired results.

Use the comments features to make your blog interactive. Encourage people to comment and ask questions.

Write articles which are not finished yet and let your visitors to fill up the gap by adding a line, "Did I miss something?" Don't be self centered but write for others. It is great if you reply to comments and if you made a comment to your commentor's blog too.

I have seen one of my friend's blog and he got 15,000 visitors in the last month. This number is bigger than he expected but he didn't got enough comments. This is because he didn't revealed himself on his blog and didn't asked for any replies.

One of the blog I saw had 500 RSS readers but the blog has almost no comments. The reason for this is because the author doesn't interact with the readers. He just writes completed articles and there are nothing much to add anymore. Even someone comments on anything, he doesn't replies to them.

Interacting with your commentor comes with a great return. Here is a real life case study,

Few months ago I found Barbara's blog via Digg.com. I posted a comment about the article. I added her blog in my favorites and visit her blog often and leave comments.

Later, Barbara followed my link to my blog on the comment and she emailed me.

For this friendly reply, I went to her blog regularly to see what she is doing. I read more from her blog and developed a great network with her and now I'm writing for her.

The comments section of any blog is a great asset to develop the blog's uniqueness. May be there are only a few comments in your articles but after 2-3 years, there would be hundreds of comments in a single one. Only those comments will be enough to make the first visitor into your greatest supporter. So try to build genuine and active readers, not just dummies.

If you want to know blogging tips and basics, you can check out my new blog, <a href='http://www.blogkori.com' >BlogKori.com</a>

I've been thinking about that.  The fact is, I hear it all the time.  I have even had people say my call was an answer to their prayers!  That sure is a different story from the days when I was doing things the old way.  So what makes the difference?

First, I have my article marketing, blog and website - I'm all over the internet.  I try very hard to address problems that other network marketers or people searching for a home business opportunity might be facing.  When someone clicks on my links or contact page, I send them a greeting card (not an ecard, but a real in-the-snail-mail card!)  with my photo and contact information to thank them.  If they have expressed an interest in a certain product, training or my mlm, I call to offer assistance.  For people who have purchased The Renegade Network Marketer ebook, for example, or sign up for Renegade University, I act as a guide to help them apply what they have learned to their business.

By the time I make this initial phone call, the prospect knows who I am and why I am calling.  They know I am not going to push a sale on them so they are comfortable in speaking with me.  That first call is all about them and the challenges they face.  I can't presume to offer guidance unless I know enough about their business goals to know which direction to take.  Then I tailor the consultation to get them started using the resources available to them and grow their business.

The upshot is that I am dealing with people that have come to me with their needs.  Obviously, they are then happy to receive my call since I am calling to help them find the right solution to fulfill that need.  Does this mean everybody buys something or joins my mlm?  Of course not.  Attraction marketing is the first step - helping prospects find you.  The next step is Relationship marketing which means establishing an ongoing dialogue with your prospect via email drip, greeting cards, and phone calls to give them information they will find useful.  Somewhere along the line, a sale or signup may occur.  But it is not the first step in a new relationship. 

People will buy when they are ready for their own reasons, not mine.  To push a sale would simply result in buyer's remorse.  That's not what attraction marketing is all about.  To attract someone to you and then badger them with a hard sell approach would be like a dirty trick.

So, using my attraction marketing strategies does make a difference in all my interactions with clients.  I do get to hear "I'm glad you called" and  I hear it often.  And so will you!

But the scariest thing has happened.  People really are coming to me about my opportunity!  I don't just mean polite  inquiries, or even tell-me-more type calls, I mean sign me up calls!!!  It's like waking up in the Land of Oz. 

Yesterday, I received an email from a lovely lady from California saying, "I like the way you do business.  What MLM are you with and how do I sign up?" 

This morning, as I was in the middle of conducting a webinar for my team, I got another call.  A husband and wife left their number saying they were interested in joining my team.  I've spent all morning answering questions left on this blog, as well as my How To Market Guide site and my Skin You Love site!

These are not people I have contacted.  They are people who found me!  Actually, I think I did send a card to the husband and wife, but up to this point have never spoken with them or done any kind of sales pitch.  Just think, many of these people have found me through social marketing which I am able to conduct for free!

I read the article "90 Days to Attraction Marketing Success"  on Mike Klingler's blog and thought "I can do that!" but I'm not sure I really believed it.  Now, after only 60 days, I see it coming together. Every day my list is longer.

I've been with my first MLM since last June and have a small team.  I decided to try out this attraction marketing thing on my own to be sure it really did bring results before bringing my team aboard.  Well, let me just say that the train is in the station and my team can jump on anytime because we are going places!

Attraction Marketing is exactly what it sounds like: attracting prospects to you and your business.  Depending on your point of view, this either seems over-simplified, or downright impossible.  "If I could get the people to come to me, do you think I'd be out here dragging in everyone that's breathing?" 

Attraction Marketing requires patience, diligence and creativity.  The patience and diligence have to come from you, but the creativity is inspired and in some cases can even be accomplished for you by a good mentor and leader.  It is so helpful, when you are starting out, to have sales letters and promotional materials provided for you.  As you develop your skills, you can begin to personalize these over time.  Your goal is to let your own personality come through your communications.  You want your prospects to come to know you as a person, not a salesperson. 

I was looking for an accountant specializing in home based business and I came across the perfect example of what I'm talking about.  Tax time is not a whole lot of fun.  I landed on this site which had a lot of useful information, but I was curious about the page entitled "Understanding the CPA Client Relationship."   One of the instructions on this page was not to make any sudden movements because CPAs drink so much coffee to get through tax season that to startle them might bring on  a heart attack.  I read on down the page, and it was hilarious!  I like the idea that someone who has already shown he knows his business (and will take good care of mine) has a sense of humor, as well.  I felt like I knew something about him by the time I finished reading.  I already liked him!

Attraction Marketing is about building relationships.  It may seem backward, but you have to put the idea of a sale out of your mind when you are first meeting and interacting with a prospect.  Your job is to anticipate their needs, and offer solutions.   By solutions, I don't necessarily mean your product.  For example, if you sell moisturizing cream, you need to educate your audience that keeping their skin hydrated can actually promote better health.  You need to let them know what you can provide for them and why they should get it from you.  The best way to do this is to interact with them using more than one medium.  Experiment with different avenues of communication and then perfect the ones that appeal to you.  Examples would be sending greeting cards, writing a blog, creating a web site, sales letters, writing ezine articles, putting up a video.

Put yourself out there, be available to answer questions, to show that you actually care about the individuals out there who need your help.  Don't expect them to buy from you overnight.  Just continue to build the connection with them.  Find ways to keep in touch - allow them to interact with you on your blog or on Facebook.

Gradually, people will come to see you as the "go-to" person.  They will learn to trust your judgement and ask for your advice.  When they are ready to buy, they'll come to you.  And you have lost nothing by investing the time you put into the relationship.  You aren't going to sell anything to someone who is not yet ready to buy anyway. 

Attraction Marketing is person-focused, not customer-focused.  This builds a relationship with people who are already looking for what you  have to offer.  If they found you on the internet, it means they were looking for your keywords, right?  They want to know they can trust you.  Give them time, show them who you are, and they'll be coming to you!

Search the web for content that reflects your interest.  Take note of the headlines and articles that catch your attention and keep them in a file.  This is called a "swipe file."  It helps you zero in on marketing practices that made you want to learn more rather than run for the door.  This is what you want your writing to reflect.

Whether you are composing an ad, flier, blog, email, or whatever, try to see it through the eyes of your target market.  If you are selling washing detergent, think about what it is a busy mother is looking for: low prices, accessibility, stain removal, easy application, hypoallergenic.  As you write your headline, lead with your solution. "Keep Kids' Clothes Stain Free Without Harsh Chemicals" will address two problems - getting kid stains out (which are challenging, trust me) and protecting a young child's delicate skin. A subtitle such as "Available at Your Local Grocery Store" solves yet another problem.  You can see that this headline would be far more compelling than "Best Laundry Detergent in the World".

Afraid you are not yet enough of an "expert" to be guiding others?  As Mike Klingler explains in his "90 Days to Attraction Marketing Success," people in network marketing are starving for guidance.  Customers are yearning to have their needs heard and met.  Whatever your level of expertise, there is somebody out there who needs you.  Nobody knows everything.  It is okay to say, "Let me find out."  Just be sure you are quick to get the information you lack and get back to your client ASAP!

Every contact you have with prospects should lead with a solution.  That means you have to actively listen to the problem.  You can do this by keeping up with the latest buzz in your professional community, you can take surveys, and you can practice the fine art of putting all other agendas aside when speaking with someone in person.  It's okay to give yourself some time to think about possible solutions and get back with them.  People will appreciate that you are taking them seriously and are willing to invest time and thought even before they have invested a dime with you.

If you are in an mlm, please remember that the mlm is NOT the solution with which to lead.  It may or may not be helpful, but you won't know that until you have listened to the needs of the customer.  Your upline is likely to send you out to tell the world about the incredible opportunity you have to offer.  Do this, and you will find yourself offering the chance to sell football tickets to the owner of the team.  In other words, you don't know what someone needs until you speak with them.  And you can use the hit and miss method of speaking to anybody within three feet of you and still not find someone whose needs match with your solutions. 

This is where internet network marketing works its magic.  (Okay, that's misleading - it's not the internet, but your hard work that makes the magic happen.)  The internet allows you to connect with the very people who are looking for what you have to offer.  If someone types in "stain removal sensitive skin", they will find your page on your amazing detergent.  They are already presold.  They have a problem and there you are with the solution.  That is how Attraction Marketing works! Your chances of making the sale are huge!

If they are not ready to buy from you, don't be afraid to offer more free stuff - send a sample, give a money back guarantee, email a list of ingredients,  even testimonials from local dermatologists.  You might consider giving them a couple of alternative products to try if your sample doesn't meet their needs.  Remember, you are building a long lasting relationship here.  Give them every reason to trust you.  Your business depends on it!