Network Marketing Strategies
Social Internet & Face to Face Business DevelopmentIn Reality Your Confidence is Arrogance…
Mary Kay Sales Director Susan Lenser (video to the right) auditions for Oprah's OWN Network reality competition
Participation in a reality show could make a big splash for anybody with something to market -especially if you are marketing your personality as a vehicle for your product.
But watch out! Personalities can get twisted in the court of public opinion.
In my mind these reality shows are the original “Gilligan’s Island” story line: An assemblage of divergent personality archetypes (the professor, a movie star, a country bumpkin) isolated and placed under stress to solve a task so that the viewing audience can watch the drama unfold.
The most common archetypal drama that I see used in reality shows is the pitting of a “confident” character(s) against an “enthusiastic” character(s). Both archetypes are charming but with a little coifing in the editing room the “Confident” character is commonly developed as an “Arrogant” character and the “Enthusiast” looks naive and incapable.
Now you’ve got some real American Television going on!
Arrogance is something that people love to hate and wide-eyed naivete is something that we hate to love; the magic tension between the two sells refrigerators!
So if I were a Shock Jock looking to further my career by participating in a reality show I’d be sure that my participation fell on the confident/arrogant side because it would bolster my image.
On the other hand, if I ever wanted to sell anything “nice” -like anything other than a shock jock radio show- I’d be sure to present myself as the wide-eyed enthusiast. After all, the greatest American story line is the underdog who beats the odds to win the day.
I’d be that or lose trying.
In the column to the right you will find the video audition of a local hero who is staking her claim.
Susan Lenser is a Mary Kay Sales Director in Pleasant Hill California.
This video is her entry into Oprah Winfrey’s contest to participate in a reality show centered around hosting your own talk show on Oprah’s O.W.N. Network.
I would encourage you to listen to her message and help her with a vote; the program that she proposes would enrich a lot of people.
-Love, Tony
The “Un” Market
Those punk rock consumers who only buy products that are buried in ecommerce obscurity.
Several years ago I opened an account with Zazzle.com.
I designed some mugs and stamps using my original photography and graphic art -nothing impressive; I was just playing.
I forgot about it.
Now I’m selling these mugs:
http://www.zazzle.com/asbestos_mug-168948347964561258
They’re flippin’ flyin’ off the shelf!
WT*!?
Social Media enables companies to become part of the Recommendation Chain | Sharisax Is Out There
60-80% of purchases are made because of recommendations.
Businesses need to be part of the Recommendation Chain.
Social Media is where customers meet customers for experience, skill development, and failure prevention. When a company builds a product or service that people are asking for . . . How COOL is that!
via Social Media enables companies to become part of the Recommendation Chain | Sharisax Is Out There.
Magical Transformations – Creating Effective Power Point Graphics
“She has not cheated her audience by removing information; she has enhanced their ability to understand what she is saying.”
via Magical Transformations – Creating Effective Power Point Graphics « Ethan Rotman’s iSpeakEASY Blog.
That eMail WASN’T a Scam!
Six years ago I received an email from the beautiful daughter of a wealthy (but recently deposed) African leader.
She explained that if I were to help her open some depository accounts to protect her family’s assets then it would allow her to escape and she would reward me greatly. She was clearly in dire need.
I helped her open those accounts. She and her family escaped unharmed. We fell in love.
Today I am the wealthy ruler (in absentia) of a small African nation and I have seven wives, two Learjets and a performance car collection.
Why doesn’t it go like that?
Why aren’t women dropping dead on the pavement from the lead in their lipsticks?
Why aren’t alligators snapping at pedestrians from the sewers through open manholes in New York?
What about the skads of children who die every year from Pop-Rock/CokaCola Toxicity. (A statistic commonly withheld by our government.)
Are they just being tossed into a mass grave somewhere?
This world would be a shockingly fantastical place if all of the things that we could be led to believe were true.
Love, Tony
Did YOU give Meg Whitman $50 capital when she was 16?!
Would you invest $50 in your own daughter’s business management skills?
Well here’s your chance to sponsor your daughter’s business and money management education for fifty bucks! (and it’s FUN!)
For the month of October Mary Kay is offering a special $50 sign up rate for new consultants.
For that fifty dollars you would receive:
Products/Samplers
• Travel-size TimeWise® Microdermabrasion Set, pk./5
• Color Cards, 7 pks./5; Disposable Sponge-Tip Applicators, 2 pks./15
• Shade Selector Tool
• Mary Kay® Sheer Mineral Pressed Powder Samplers, 3 pks./6
• Mary Kay® Ultimate Mascara™ in Black; Disposable Mascara Brush, 2 pks./15
• Satin Hands® Pampering Set Samplers, 12 sets Business Tools and Literature
• Ready, Set, Sell! Inventory Options for New Consultants Brochure
• MKConnections® FREE Business Card Offer Flier
• Education Materials – Starting Points CD; Consultants Guide
• Flip Chart • Beauty Book, pk./10
• Sales Tickets, pk./25
• Customer Profiles, pk./50
• The Look, pk./10
• On the Go Tote
This would be everything that your teenager would need to go into “business” and see how it works.
The official business owner would be you, the parent (so you have total control), however there would be no further obligation on your part to be involved in any way except to handle the money transactions with your daughter.
Get her this kit and let her fly!
See what she does! I’ll help you 100%. Any inventory that you purchase is covered by Mary Kay’s 90% buy-back policy in the first year.
Worse case scenario? The kit ends up in the closet under dirty clothes and you’ve got great travel mascaras and microderm abrasion sets to take with you on your holiday excursions.
Best case scenario?
My National Sales Director, Janis Moon, earned $28K in commissions for the month of June ’09.
Maybe your daughter makes a fraction of that, which fraction would be enough to see what she could do if given the chance?
News Flash: The Lemonade Stand Model hasn’t earned top dollar since 1903.
This would be a fun and safe way to introduce money, marketing and business strategy to your sharp teenager. These kids know networking like nobody’s business! Make it pay!
Go here to find out more: http://www.marykay.com/tonyhurst/sellmarykay/getstarted/default.aspx
Or call me for details: (510) 918-5822
Love, Tony
Twit Review: @VAnetworking
Following.
Engaging person. Plugged in to social media and having fun.
(Business does not have to be boring.)
Sample Tweet 10/02/09:
“YAY! It’s Friday, it’s sunny in Vancouver. I’m healthy! Kids aren’t on drugs! Life is good!”
Tawnya Sutherland (VAnetworking) on Twitter.
Love, Tony
Twit Review @trisholeary
Following.
She seems interesting and has conversations.
Sample Tweet 09/30/09:
“@stevenspass http://twitpic.com/jqfnx – Awesome!! I am going to drive up there tomorrow just to take some pics!!! Sweet!”
Trish Oleary (trisholeary) on Twitter.
Love, Tony
Your political party is BANKRUPTING your business!
Is the portrayal of your business at the following website reflective of your marketing strategy?: GoodGuide.com Company Political Contributions
Is the stigmatism that you receive there (for being “red “ or “blue”) reflective of the quality of products and services that you supply to your market?
I have both Republican and Democratic clients and I do my best to keep my political views outside of the business environment because I think it is neither germane nor appropriate.
My own corporate office falls right out of the pink and well into the red on this chart. Will my Democratic clients walk?
Here’s my situation:
- I’m an independent contractor representing Mary Kay in Marin County California (it doesn’t get any bluer here.)
- Mary Kay, the corporate entity, is the wholesaler that I buy my products from.
- Mary Kay skin care is the number one selling Skin Care product in the United States.
- Every other skin care consultant that I have ever known working for other companies eventually goes out of business, they just can’t compete.
- Most Mary Kay consultants stay in business and many of them make a living wage.
- I LOVE what I do and it’s my dream to work along side these incredible women and support their cause of feminine empowerment
If my clients walk based on the information on this website then I’m dead.
If my sister consultants’ clients in this area walk because of this information they’re dead too.
That would be an example of a group of fine business women getting their collective “pink” slip because they did business on the wrong side of the political fence for Marin County. And these women have earned their success in business.
How Democratic is that cause?
Peruse these thoughts:
- Take a good look at the geography of the companies in question: My own company has its headquarters in Dallas, Texas. It hasn’t gotten any redder than that over the past decade (but it was pretty blue when my company opened in 1963.)
- How homogenous do you want your business community to be? If you vote with your dollars and eliminate either the reds or blues from your midst then who’s next? The one’s who aren’t “as red” or “as blue”?
- Demanding ethics in business is one thing, demanding political affiliation is quite another.
My own opinion as a business owner:
I offer the best products and the most personalized service that you can find in my industry. Your dollars pay for that when you purchase products from me. My political views are not for sale.
My own opinion as a consumer:
My dollars in the political arena are best spent directly supporting the candidates that resonate with me. Bankrupting or stigmatizing a business or an individual because they have different political leanings than I do says a lot about my willingness to be just as vulnerable when the pendulum swings the other way (and it always does.)
Love, Tony
(Please posit any and all comments below; I would love to have a variety of opinions here.)
Twit Review: @Sally_K
Following.
Sally is a Bay Area Blogger and is interesting and fun and has great conversations as well as local business referrals.
Sample Tweet 09/30/09:
“Wish I could drive a @MiniSF to the Mountain Bike Clinic in Octoberhttp://twurl.nl/gun71o“
(I’m helping her get a Mini with as many plugs as I can without spamming – help her too with an @miniSF tweet mentioning her!)
Sally Kuhlman (Sally_K) on Twitter.
Love, Tony
Twit Review @sharisax
Following.
This lady is a genius!
Hire her as your social media marketing consultant, you won’t go wrong.
Sample Tweet 09/30/09:
“GETTING STARTED – Lesson Two Now that your on Twitter: WHAT’S… http://bit.ly/6eXRv“
Shari Weiss (sharisax) on Twitter.
Love, Tony
Twit Review @HeshieSegal
Following.
Due to a tweet recommendation from @cathywebsavvypr
Conversational and somebody who know SM relationships and professionally motivational.
Sample Tweet 09/28/09:
“RT @calhardesty Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts. Kierkegaard”
Heshie Segal (HeshieSegal) on Twitter.
-Love, Tony
Twit Review @HolleyMB
Following.
Interesting person having conversations and tweeting about her life.
Sample Tweet 09/28/09:
“Just ordered the most beautiful damask bedding. So excited for it to get here! I’m in designer mode. 
“
Holley Buchanan (HolleyMB) on Twitter.
-Love, Tony
Twit Review: @ResourcefulMom
Following.
Interesting person having conversation.
Sample Tweet 09/28/09:
“@CarissaRogers It should be great if I don’t die from exhaustion. 
“
Amy Lupold Bair (ResourcefulMom) on Twitter.
Love, Tony
Twit Review: @DelcoSPCA
Following.
Hoping to get an opinion of my fundraising game:
http://onlinemarykayparty.wordpress.com/
Sample Tweet 09/28/09:
“More events to dine out and support the SPCA! http://delcospca.org/cms/?p=43“
Delaware County SPCA (DelcoSPCA) on Twitter.
Love, Tony
Twit Review: @PerkettPR
Following.
Thoughtful and insightful SM pr person.
Following her will help me gain insight for my business.
Sample Tweet 09/28/09:
“Apple’s Apps Flying Off the Virtual Shelves: 6.6 Million Downloads Per Day: http://bit.ly/wZu4h (cha-ching!)”
PerkettPR (PerkettPR) on Twitter.
Love, Tony
Twit Review @sahm411
Following.
Has interesting conversations and info
Sample Tweet 092809:
“@steveathmp Its fun to hear what kids have to say about what kind of parents they will be – its always different than u think it will be.”
Stay at Home Mom (sahm411) on Twitter.
-Love, Tony
NING, My Social Media Experiment
I had a good experience working with NING.
The interface was easy to use and within an afternoon I was able to set up an entire social network interface complete with Adsense ads and Google Metrics.
The next challenge will be to drive cosmetic consumers there organically. Mary Kay people all too often set up their social networks so that they can connect with other Mary Kay people. While this is great for sisterhood support there is another horizon to be experienced in social media: That of gaining new contacts and clients outside the “pink bubble.”
For my social media experiment on NING I wanted to create a domain where cosmetic consumers could find out about the entire market of cosmetic products, not just Mary Kay. It’s an old retail axiom that if an intersection has a gas station on the corner it will make some money, but if there’s a competing gas station on every corner of an intersection they will all make a lot of money.
So the main page on my NING site has informative blog feeds from the general cosmetic milieu. I have also included news and commentary about high end proven names like Eeste Lauder and Clinique. My next step is to get some discount offers included from these companies to attract their consumers and give people some incentive to get involved.
I also hope to attract consultants from competing direct marketing companies who will join me in offering services and products. I don’t want to “manage” what happens in this site. Instead I want to watch and be available and participate as a fellow member instead of an administrator. I have great products at great prices and if I’m a good and personable person to do business with then I’ll do just fine in a competitive environment.
My NING social experiment is here: Cosmetic Comparisons
Fish where the fish are. It pays.
-Love, Tony
Twit Review: @CoreyPud
Following.
Conversational, Status Updates.
Sample Tweet 09/24/09:
“I’m at Hoover’s Cooking – Manor Rd. (2002 Manor Road, E. Dean Keeton Street, Austin). http://bit.ly/trztz“
Corey Pudhorodsky (CoreyPud) on Twitter.
-Love, Tony
Twit Review: @CompassWoman
Following.
She is engaging in conversation and she’s a social activist.
I chose to follow her so that I could get opinions on my online game by activists who might know something about fundraising.
The game is here: http://onlinemarykayparty.wordpress.com/
Sample Tweet 09/24/09:
“Waiting for my late night dinner!
Monique Neeley (CompassWoman) on Twitter.
-Love, Tony
