How to Make Friends and Turn Them Into Customers

Remember when you were five years old and your mother told you, "Don't talk to strangers?" Well Momma didn't know you were going to grow up to be a business owner and would need to master the art of talking to strangers to grow your business! People love their comfort zone. And in fact we will go a long way to avoid discomfort. The idea of making a presentation in public is the number one fear in the U.S. And it's not just making a speech that is causing panic. For many people, anxiety strikes when we present our ideas in front of other people. "Anytime people make verbal remarks that need to be clear and persuasive, we find widespread reports of stage fright and nervousness," says Paul Witt, PhD, professor of communication studies at a Texas University. But you're a business owner and you need to meet new people to make new customers. How do you do it?

Group Training-Wheels
Whether in a movie or real life we've all seen the stereotypical scene of a bunch of construction workers whistling at female passersby. Do you think if there was only one guy, he would behave the same way? Maybe, but most men would not. Why? They don't have the protection of the group. People can "hide in plain sight" in a group. Mobs collectively do things individuals would never think of doing alone.

The Dale Carnegie Public Speaking Course has an interesting exercise that plays on this natural reality. They don't force you to stand up in front of everyone and speak on the first day. Instead they make half the class get up to the front and just recite their names. After everyone is done, the entire group sits down. This is easier for people at the beginning because they are sharing the scary experience with others. Each week as the class goes on, your group gets smaller and smaller until eventually you have developed the confidence to speak in front of the group by yourself. Then the class is asked to list all of the things you did RIGHT - not what you did wrong. The more you speak, coupled with positive reinforcement, the more confident you become and the easier it gets.

Find Your Group
You can adapt the same teaching technique to your small business. The first step is picking a support group to help you over the rough spots. Let's say you are new in town - how do you meet people? Well most likely you met a realtor when you moved. Maybe you will be attending a church locally. When it comes to business, start by thinking community or hobbies. Follow the "50 butt" rule. If there are more than 50 butts in the room - yours should be in there with them! Even if you just sit, you will eventually be noticed and approached by someone who is interested in you're views on things. Good groups to check out...Kiwanis, United Way, Salvation Army, Municipal Advisory Councils, Town Meetings, Lions Club, Local Chamber of Comerce, School Board, School Booster Clubs, Garden Clubs, Dog Clubs, Cooking Groups, etc. Wherever you go, people will eventually want to get to know you...let them!

Relationship Building
Build on these relationships. Build on the strength of the group. What do they do in their spare time? What groups do they belong to? Find the friendliest person in the room and build on them. Drop hints that you would like to get involved in the community or the church but aren't sure how to do it. A friend of mine moved to a small town in Idaho. He didn't know anyone so he joined the local Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis club. Right away he volunteered to help with Business Support Committee for the chamber. Between these two groups he began to build his business. Withing three years he was serving on the Board of Directors for both the Chamber and the United way and is currently a past president of the Kiwanis. He also teaches adult education classes and writes business articles for the local newspaper. He attributes most of his business and current customers to connections he made helping out with these groups.

How to Turn Friends Into Customers
The great thing - or maybe the worst thing - about small towns is you can become well known very quickly. It's very important that your first impression be a positive one. Become an asset to any group you become affiliated with. Don't take over, but take on responsibility and make sure you follow up on everything asked of you.

We all want to support our friends. As people become more comfortable with you, you can begin to develop a business relationship with them. One place to start - Everyone within walking distance of your home or apartment should have your business card. In fact, give them two cards - one to keep and the other to pass along to a friend. These people are you neighbors. We want to support our neighbors. We have a common existance with them. Similar challenges and successes. Job, mortgage, kids, bills etc. Let them know what you're doing and even more importantly, ask what they do and become a customer of theirs.

Don't erase all of your hard work by selling a bogus product or service. Your friends, more than anyone, expect and deserve honesty and quality for their hard earned money. Your product and service quality should reinforce the relationship. If something is not right, make it right...immediately! Your friends are going to know people you don't know. I certainly make an effort to recommend my friends and I hope they will do the same.

Practice...Say Goodbye to Your Comfort Zone
The major challenge to making new friends is fear so you have to leave that comfort zone. Meet people halfway with a smile and a hello to get the ball rolling. I was in a discount store a short time ago and there was a couple behind me with two shopping carts full of towels. I made the comment, "You must be really clean people." They and several other people in line laughed. The ice was broken. We started a conversation and I discovered that they were opening a chiropractic clinic nearby. We exchanged business cards. I met two new people...potential customers.

Notice that the title of this blog was not "How to turn your customers into friends." The "friend" part should be your first objective. This keeps conversation and interest genuine rather than every conversation becoming a sales pitch for yourself. Show interest in others and they'll ask the questions in return. No matter how electronic our society gets, the skills of communication are priceless to a business owner.

Get a Higher Rank in Search Engines with Your Website

This seems like every website owners nemesis. If you have your own website, you want visitors to come an visit. However if you want to drive more traffic or more visitors to your site then search engine optimization is what you'll want to focus on. Search engine optimization draws natural traffic to any web-blog or internet site. There are many ways to help make your site SEO friendly but here are four starters.

1. Time: You should always keep in mind that it will take time and energy to achieve good results. No one can achieve higher ranking in search engines in a few minutes or few hours. Some people do this full time. If you think that spending 10 minutes a week on your website will get you the response you want, you will most likely be disappointed. If you can, set aside an hour a day to optimize your site. Can't spend an hour? Do what you can or consider hiring a website manager or media manager.

2. Keep the Content Fresh: If you design your website and then never update it, search engines will classify the content as "old." So what? Well, the people who program the search engines believe that searchers want content that is current and up to date. Older content will rank lower than content that is updated monthly, weekly or daily. Adding articles, blogs, specials etc will keep your website changing and current. Ideally, you want people to visit your site every day, right? So give them (and the search engines) something new to look at.

3. All Roads Should Lead to You: If you had a storefront on a one way street, your traffic would be limited by the people driving by going that one direction right? If you want more people walking or driving by, (ie: more exposure), you will need more roads leading to you. The same goes with your website. Yes, you have a domain name that leads to you but that's only as good as that one-way road. You need to get your business and domain out in other places that lead to you as well. Do you have affiliated businesses that would put a link to youron their site if you put a link to them on yours? Do it! Put your business on free social sites as well. Getting your business in multiple locations will create more exposure and links (roads) to your site which will help validate you for search engines and get you found.

4. Watch your Words: When people type a phrase in a search engine like "affordable website design" the search engine will look for websites and webpages that have those specific words in their content. Search engines are not free-thinking people, they're robots that index your site for words. A search engine will not recognize that "affordable website design" is the same as "cheap web developement." You have to pay attention to the words you use and put yourself in your "visitor's" shoes. You also can't expect to come up in high ranks just because you used some keywords once or twice, they need to appear frequently and appropriately. If I say a page is about "web design," words and phrases on that page should apply to that topic rather than phrases like "cheap cell phone service." Yes people might search for cheap cell phones but they aren't looking for your page on website design. If a search engine thinks you're being misleading or keyword stuffing then they could block your site altogether.

There is no easy perfect solution to search engine optimization for your website. These four tips can get you started. If you need help with optimizing your website there are website managers and social media managers who can help allieviate the burden.

Good Luck and let us know if you have questions/need help!

Be Thankful for Your Problems

You might have one of those wrinkles between your eyebrows at the moment contemplating the prospect of why anyone should be thankful for their problems or struggles but rest assured it's not a typo and I'm not losing my mind.

I have noticed over the past year that when the news starts spouting the doomsday regarding the state of the housing market, the economy, killer viruses and other fear driven news segments, I tune out. I change the channel or walk out of the room. Yes I could sit and think about how the world seems to be falling down around my ears... I don't have as much money in the bank as I'd like (or as much as I need some months), I have credit debt, health insurance that keeps going up even though I don't remember the last time I actually used it, increasing gas bills and lets not even think about how I won't be able to buy a house in the next decade (I'm self employed).

So it's a wonder that I can even get out of bed in the morning with all of these problems and struggles just waiting for me outside my door. How do I do it? I'm thankful for my problems!

There is a wonderful quote by the Greek author and philosopher, Plato.

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."

It's true you should be kind to others but read between the lines. All it takes to put my own problems and woes in perspective is to take a look at someone else's struggle. Or just think about how much worse it could be. Let me give you some examples of what I am thankful for.

My health insurance keeps going up BUT I am thankful I don't actually need it. I am healthy. I have use of all of my faculties and I don't take medication on a daily basis. Yes the deeper gouge in my wallet seems like robbery but then I remember that there are people who cannot get insurance at all. I have it if I need it but right now, I'm thankful that I don't.

I moved in with my parents. I'm 28, married and living at home. (Don't pity my husband too much - he thinks my folks are pretty cool) It's not exactly what I had planned but I am thankful that I have people who love me enough to have this option. Some people don't have loved ones who they can count on when things get rough. I have a husband and family who wouldn't blink an eye to offer me a kidney if I needed one. Thankfully I usually only need a hug.

Here's the point. I'm thankful that I only have to worry about making the bills. I could be one of those fighting the harder battle.If you spend your time wallowing in the sorrows of today, you close your eyes to the things that mean the most over a lifetime. My most precious possessions have not been affected by the economic slump in the slightest.

Try not to get caught up in the negativity. See the bright side, be optimistic and keep moving forward. That's life. That's the point. At the end of the day when you're looking back - will you notice 2010 for what it really is - a reality check.