Instant Gratification or Lifelong Customer?

Instant gratification or delayed gratification?

Would you like one marshmallow or two?

Marshmallow? Okay, now you may think I have completely lost it. But please stay with me for a moment and I will explain where I am going with this.

A study was done on a group of four year old children. They were taken one at a time into a room with a two-way mirror and given a marshmallow. They were then told they could eat the marshmallow right away, (instant gratification), but if they didn’t and instead waited until the person who gave it to them returned from an errand they could have two marshmallows. (Delayed gratification).

Some children grabbed the marshmallow and ate it right away others waited up to 20 minutes until the person returned.

Watch this video of a similar Marshmallow Test...

The same group of children was tested again at age 18. Those who had waited for the second marshmallow scored an average of 210 points higher on their SAT tests.

Researchers find that the group of kids who could force themselves to wait, tend to have better lives and better relationships.

Hmm, tough choice … Instant gratification or a chance for a better life? But a four year old is just that, a four year old.

So, how does that relate to your network marketing business?

Well, you can either go for the quick sale by promoting your opportunity every chance you get on Facebook, Twitter or any of the other social media sites.

Or, you can really make a conscious effort to cultivate and nurture the relationships with people you meet in your social networks.

Let’s take a look at the marshmallow study example above and substitute the marshmallows with customers.

Let’s say Sue is your newest friend on Facebook. You exchanged “nice-to-meet-you” messages and now you just can’t wait to tell Sue all about your business opportunity. So you keep sending her messages telling her how great your products are and that she surely could benefit from using them.

Sue breaks down and buys something from you. (Quick sale – Instant Gratification.  But, she is so turned off by your method, that she deletes any further messages you send to her or even ‘unfriends’ you altogether.

Different scenario…

You and Sue have exchanged messages for several months, maybe even talked on the phone a couple of times really getting to know each other.

One day she calls you up saying … “You know, I am really glad we connected and got to know each other. I have been checking out your products on your website and I think I would really like to try some. As a matter of fact, I have talked to my friend Jill and she would be interested in learning more about them too. Would it be possible to set up a time to do a 3way call so you could tell us more about your products and your company?” (Lifelong customer or maybe even business partner).

So which would you rather have?

One marshmallow or two? Quick sale or lifelong customer/business partner?

It’s really not that hard to figure that one out, is it?

Do you think relationships count in business? Just think, how much of your product would one customer treated well buy in a lifetime? How many referrals would he send your way?

The value of a relationship build and nurtured over a lifetime is worth much more than a quick sale.

By delaying gratification you could actually win big. Therefore it is very important to build customer relationships and nurture them.

So, my question for you …Do you want one marshmallow or two?

To your success,

Ilka Flood
The EnlightenedNetworker

P.S. You don’t have to share this, but I would sure appreciate it if you did. Thank you!

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Have you ever wondered how you can show a certain group of your Facebook friends?

Well, I just found out and would like to share it with you.

For whatever reason, there may be a certain group of friends you would like to show to everyone who comes to visit your Facebook profile.  They may be highly respected business people, co-workers, close personal friends, or maybe family members.

Usually Facebook just rotates through all of your friends randomly. But you can select certain people or lists of friends to be rotated through instead.

Here’ s how you do that…

When you are logged in and on your “Profile Page” click the little pencil icon in your Friends box.

You can change the settings in the “Edit Box” to whatever you would like to display.

Where it says “Always show these friends:” you can either type in individual names or you can select a certain list of your friends.

If you haven’t grouped your friends into lists yet, here’s how you do that …

Go to your “Home” page and click on “Friends” in the left menu. Your friends will show up and the “+ Create a List” button at the top right corner. Click on it.

Enter a name for you list and highlight the friends you want to add to that list by clicking on them. When you have everyone selected, click “Create List.” And you’re done.

Voilà! That’s it! You just selected a certain group of friends to show off.

You can change things at any time. You can highlight a certain group of your friends this month and a different one next month. Or you can change it every week. It’s totally up to you.

To Your Success,

Ilka Flood

P.S. If you found this tip valuable please share it with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or Digg. Thank You!

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With A Little Help From My Friends

My Mom always told me, …”Tell me who you hang out with and I tell you who you are”.

There’s also another saying that goes something like this … “Surround yourself with successful people and you yourself will become successful”.

If you want to learn how to become a champion golfer, you hang around people like Tiger Woods.

If you want to learn how to become a top notch business person, you hang with the likes of a Donald Trump.

If you want to become a world class network marketer you hang out at Jason Better’s blog and BetterNetworker.com.

And that’s exactly what I have done.

As a network marketer we wear many different hats and we have to accomplish many different tasks. Especially if we market on the internet, there’s just so much to learn. We can’t be experts in everything, so the next best thing is to hang around people who are.

Part of marketing online these days involves blogging. If done correctly, it can result in new leads and/or referrals for your business. It’s not as easy as just setting up a blog and people magically appear. Nope. There’s a whole bunch more to it than that.

I had been blogging for a little while before I started visiting Jason Better’s blog on a regular basis. But what I soon found out was, that there was a group of very talented people who were regular visitors there like me, whom I could learn a great deal from.

Each one of these regular visitors has taught me something. These little pieces of knowledge when put together, made a very complex puzzle of online marketing much easier to understand.

For example, I learned about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) from Josh Garcia. Josh also shared a wealth of information about Facebook Marketing on his blog. Dubbed the “Comment Ninja” he’s an expert on commenting on blogs. His witty writing style keeps you coming back for more.

I am improving my copywriting skills with the help of Derek Alvarez. I always pick up some golden nuggets visiting his DriveTheLine.com blog. BTW, when you’re there, check out his wife, Monique’s videos.  They are Super!

Chris Owen keeps me inspired, makes me laugh and always leaves me some kind words of encouragement when he visits my blog. Here’s a person who’s been through a heck of a lot in his young life but he’s a true Go-Giver. You’ve got to check out his blog, ChrisOwenAcademy.com.  It will truly inspire you. Lately his beautiful wife, Tragena, is stealing the show over there though.

Dwayne Huggins is just simply amazing. A very talented young man who is eager to learn and put into immediate action what he’s learning and sharing it with others. Check out what he has to say about “The Betters”, Jason Better and The Better Networker.

Jerome Ratliff is always good for some sound advice on network marketing and some encouraging words. I love visiting his blog. His MaverickBusinessBlog.com is another great place for very valuable information.

Twila Jacobs. Gosh you’ve got to love her. Here’s a young mother who although very busy with a 4 year old whirlwind.  She still finds the time to fill me in on the Twitter Scene and other “Must Know” social media stuff.

Susanna Hess, my newest online friend, has a great writing style. Her videos are a must see. So make sure you stop by her blog.

Mitchell Dillman, my ‘neighbor to the south’ shares his knowledge about network marketing and I’m always learning something new there.

There are more cool people over there you’ll get to meet. Like Wayne Vassell, Eric McMillan, and Tommy DiPietro.

(I hope I didn’t forget anyone. I feel like I’m at the Academy Awards giving my acceptance speech in thanking everyone and they’re cutting me off, lol.)

These are the friends I’m hanging out with and learning from. It’s all about sharing what you know so others can learn from you and with you. I would have never met all these cool people had I not one day stopped over at JasonBetter.com and got hooked on all the valuable information there.

So if you find yourself navigating the hostile waters of network marketing in your canoe without a paddle, or if you are looking for some cool new friends to hang out with, come on over so we can lend a helping hand.

If you liked this post, don’t forget to re-tweet it and share it with your friends.

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Jason Better wrote a post the other day about the ‘Invasion of the Face Snatchers’. You see them all over the social media world.  Take a stroll through Plaxo, Twitter or Myspace and you see them, the ‘faceless’ people. Even on Facebook. Uhm, it’s called FACEbook. So put your face out there. Especially if you are networking for business.

Most social networking sites (if not all of them) let you upload a profile picture. Usually that is very easy and in the event you should get stuck there should be a help menu that will guide you through how to do it. Or just ask one of your friends on the site how they did it.

But not only on social media sites you find them, even the blogosphere has its share of people without a face. I used to be one of them. Not because I didn’t want my picture out there on the comments I left, but because I had no clue how to do it. Well, if you don’t know how to do something … just ask. So I did ask Jason just shortly before he posted about the ‘Invasion of the Face Snatchers.’ He told me about a little site called  Gravatar.com

Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a techie to set it up. It’s really easy and they even have a little video that shows you how. In just a few minutes you can ‘have a face.’

Put your face out there. Especially on your profiles. People are much more likely to connect with you and accept your friends requests when they see your smiley face.

Just think about this scenario…

You go into a store and there behind the counter stands a clerk with a ski mask asking how he could help you. You’d be out the door in a split second.  Wouldn’t you? I get shivers down my spine just thinking about that. Pretty creepy!

Remember, people do business with people they know, like and trust.

Looking forward to see your smile.

Oh, and by the way, moosey on over to Jason Better’s Blog you will find some great information and meet some cool people there.

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Two Cheat Sheets. Three amazing Training Videos. And one incredible Special Report shows you how to amass an incredible following on Twitter and monetize Social Media…without p*****g people off.

I watched in amazement how Perry Belcher teaches step-by-step how he gained a Fan base of 130,000 in just 9 month. He put 58,000 of those on his personal list..and all for FREE.

He’s also giving away free information on 3 things NEVER to do on Twitter. If you want to keep your followers, that is. (I see people every day doing this…and guess what, I do not follow them.)

I encourage you to get this intriguing and very informative little handbook on how to use social media like Twitter and Facebook. Anyway, you’ve got nothing to lose. It’s free. But the knowledge you will gain from this little book is absolutely PRICELESS.

So get it now while you can still get it for free.

Enjoy!

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