I have just returned from an amazing evening presentation by Chris Krimitsos the founder of The Wealth Building Annex in Tampa and a leading expert in how to train business men to use Internet Marketing without becoming Internet Marketers full time.
The Wealth Building Annex meeting on social media strategy.
It was a private session for just a limited number of people and I have come back with the feeling that something has changed in my whole perspective of how the Web will play a key role in the future evolution of business. First I will quote a statement that was emphasized during the event: “70% of business comes from referral”, which means it comes from word of mouth by your existing or previous customers.
Social media makes it easier for the word of mouth to spread, but the real connection happens between real people who have been involved in real business. Gone is the time (or soon gone) where you just use some technology trick or technique to gather always new potential customers and then leaving them behind to find some more (high churn based on ample availability of leads with little competition).
Yesterday I began a twenty days series of posts dedicated to the twenty golden rules on how to gain money, based on the works of PT Barnum and his book “The Art of Money Getting”. The first rule we saw yesterday was. “Don’t mistake your vocation”, not we come to the second that is “Select the Right Location”.
You can be very good at your trade and you can perform it with passion, but you won’t very far if you don’t have a public available or if you have too much competition doing the same as you do. The Web offers new ground and elbowroom for growing any business, but you must also realize that the entry barrier is very low. Anybody who can put a ridiculous amount of time in developing his skills in Internet marketing or affiliate marketing can beat you so finding a very selected niche is often one way around the problem, but that reduces also the number of people you can serve.
I was listening live to a presentation by Gary Vaynechuck one week ago, one of the most popular businessmen on the Web, and he told the story of a liquor store run by his father. The location was not optimum and particularly the trading of liquor was a very competitive market. Read the rest of this entry »
This is the key message that I got out of the presentation that I listened to live from Gary Vaynerchuk three days ago. It has resonated with me since. Many people say it, but when you find somebody actually living this statement, then you get the confirmation that it is not only possible but it can also bring you to success in the economy of today.
There are a lot of implications connected to this statement. First of all, being yourself you will not be able to satisfy everybody. Some people won’t like you and some people will love you, and that is the way it is always going to be. By the time you try to please everybody you will eventually displease all, including yourself.
I get almost every day comments on my Twitter accounts from people who don’t like what I do and what I say, but also I get many more that simply love it. So I know I am on the right track. I have enough difference in me to elicit the complaints of some and the praises of others.
This is the message that I received yesterday directly from Gary Vaynerchuk the most successful entrepreneur of the social media era. This means that when you build a brand based on a strong competence and passion that both belong to you, and you bring them to the Web sharing and capitalizing your ability to attract and retain people, you are bound to success and to leave a standing mark in society, in business and in their own family.
Me and Gary Vaynerchuck.
Gary is an extraordinary person who managed to bring his family wine business from $ 3,5 million to $ 50 using mostly social media. He was one of the very first to create a business that revolved around a blog site in the late 90ties and then he brought it to the next level by using video and to leverage the power of his knowledge: he had been testing three new different wines every day for several years before starting his video channel: Wine Library TV.
His message was that the time of big companies like Walmart is going to be over and small retailers will win back the stage by providing excellent customer service, but there is going to be a rush and everybody will have the chance to compete, therefore only the most competent and dedicated will actually win.
Again it is not going to be about the Internet only or a specific tool, it is going to be about who will be more successful in capturing the eyeballs of people and in providing them exactly what you want.
It has been a very refreshing view and I was amazed at how long the Q&A session continued. Gary provides direct and brutally honest replies to everybody and we literally had to be booted off the room because the hotel was closing it up.
A memorable evening at the Wealth Building Annex in Tampa, a mastermind organization governed by Chris Krimitsos that I joined just after arriving in the US 15 months ago and that has proved key in the establishment of my presence and business in the US.
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