BrandingYOU&Co.

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This week a friend of ours received a phone call. This phone call could have either saw his six figure income snatched away, or like a pro, he would come out better off. Let me explain in more detail, and why it is important to brand you and not your company.

Basically what happened to this friend is – a person who was in charge of the network marketing side of the MLM company that our friend supported, called our friend to inform him that unfortunately they have decided to ‘stop’ the network marketing side of the company!!!

Imagine, you believed so much in an MLM company and you have built a six figure income around it, and in a couple of minutes you learn that this income could ‘vanish in thin air’. Unfortunately, this happened to our friend, and it happens to a lot of people whose Network Marketing Company decide to shut down.

What Next?

So, if this ever happened to you, you could do either of 2 things:
1. either whine and complain about the unfortunate situation,
2. or keep your (downline) team together and move on.

The first option is the easy way out, but I am sure your dream would be to continue with your momentum and continue earning your six figure income.

Let me explain what my friend did, which saw him earn $6000 in less than 8 hours, by taking charge of his ‘unfortunate’ situation.

 He acted fast. He chose another company which resonated with his philosophy, and within an hour he became a network marketer for this MLM company.
 He communicated with his team. He sent out Emergency Emails to his team, explaining the situation, and invited them to Urgent Webinars. He actually held about 5 webinars the same day he learnt the unfortunate news. In the webinars, he could communicate with hundreds of people in his ‘downline’, explaining the situation, telling them about this new company that he joined and inviting them to join his team in the new company.

How Did He Do It?

Well, the answers are simple:
 He learnt how to brand himself, and not his company
 He built a strong relationship with his team
 He learnt how to market online

Because of all this he manage to turn an unfortunate experience, into an amazing journey where within 2 days he had 80% of his team join him in his new company. So, he came out better off in the end.

What Can YOU Do?

 First you need to start branding yourself as an expert. You are not working for your MLM company (remember, you are not employed), but you are building a name for yourself while supporting a particular Network Marketing Company that you believe in. So promote you and not the company.
 Once you brand yourself, you start building a relationship of trust with your ‘followers’. This you would do through an autoresponder (email marketing service) and by giving value to your readers. Our friend, could easily send out an email to all his followers, because he had them on his list.
 Learn how to use the power of the internet to brand you. The internet is huge, and marketing online gives you the advantage of reaching to a lot of people. There are different marketing strategies that you can choose from, to ultimately conquer the internet.

My Advice

It is true that you have to choose a company that you resonate with and a company with a good compensation plan, but all this means nothing if you don’t have a mentor who can teach you how to brand you.

Your mentor should inspire, motivate and educate you. You should be taught how to market effectively to promote you. You should feel part of a team, which together is so strong that it enables you to reach new heights. Your mentor should give you the skills necessary to be able to achieve massive success in the industry (and in a way you are ‘unbreakable’).

What happened to my friend, was shocking. However, I have learnt a valuable lesson. The most devastating events in the world, won’t even make you miss a beat, if you learn how to market YOU instead of just your company.

P.S. Click Here If You Are In Need Of A Mentor Who Can Teach You How To Promote You.

P.S. To Learn How To Market Online And Promote You (And Not Your Company), Lessons Are Being Given At www.BrandingYouandCo.com

To Your Success

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Ever since moving to Toronto I started realizing how different marketing oneself is here, compared to Malta. In Malta, which is a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean, has a population of roughly 400,000. So, word of mouth, the local newspapers, radio and TV stations were the most effective marketing strategies that one would use to brand oneself and one’s business. However, this all changed when I moved to Toronto, and started studying how someone can market effectively to a much larger audience, such as the 2.4 million people who reside in Toronto alone.

This quest led me to the internet solution. I started realizing that if I wanted a hairdresser in Toronto – I would look up ‘hairdresser Toronto’ on the internet. I would check who has a website and what feedback this hairdresser has from the public. This happened whenever I wanted an accountant for my tax returns, an esthetician for my facial, a dress for my brother’s wedding, a place to rent, a particular piece of furniture, a health insurance plan, an instructor for our driving lessons, to buy a car, and more. I always found my answers on the internet, and I am sure I am not alone considering that in 2009 in Canada alone 74.9% of Canada’s population are internet users.

Unfortunately at this day and age, if a service professional (or anyone for that matter) doesn’t have a presence online, they are considered invisible. So, in this article I will be discussing how a service professional can market his / her business online.

Who are the Service Professionals?

According to the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law, a professional service is defined as ‘a service requiring specialized knowledge and skill usually of a mental or intellectual nature and usually requiring a license, certification, or registration’.

So, it could be anyone who provides a ‘skilled’ service. Some examples are hairdresser, esthetician, teacher, accountant, chef, GP, podiatrist, dermatologist, nutritionist, personal trainer, dressmaker, lawyer, photographer, carpenter, massage therapist, interior designer, and so on. This list is not exhaustive, but at least it gets you thinking whether your profession can be classified under a Service Professional.

How to Create an Online Presence?

1. Have a website. I recommend having a self-hosted blog, because
a. you have total control over your website
b. you own your blogs and you are responsible for them
c. it is easy for you to install, maintain and update information
d. blogs do better in Search Engine ranking.
Nowadays you don’t need to know HTML or spend a lot of money to have your own website. I set mine up in 1 day (this is just structurally and not the content). It costs me US$15 annually to have my own domain name, and roughly US$12 per month to host my domain. And through my website’s host I get a free program which I can install on my domain, to be able to have my website.

2. Social Network. Create various accounts with different social media sites, such as Facebook, Linkedin and Meetup. And network – this is a similar concept to how you would network face-to-face, to promote your business. Although one has to keep in mind, that each social media site has its own ‘hidden’ rules that one has to follow, otherwise you risk being pushed to the side and not being taken seriously.

3. Give Value. When people search on the internet, they are primarily looking for information. So the rule of thumb is to give 95% of the time, and expect 5% in return. This means that if for example you are a hairdresser, post regular articles on your blog where you are educating your readers. Examples of topics would be – choosing the best hairstyle for your features, how to take care of your hair during the hot summer months, 5 easy tips on how to maintain healthy hair. Once people find that you are providing value, they would view you as an expert and a person-to-go-to for advice.

4. Build a Relationship. Once you have a loyal following, it is time to build a relationship with your readers. Usually this comes in the form of asking your readers for their email address, so you would be able to send them weekly emails full of valuable information. Never spam or try hard-core selling.

5. Send Updates. When you have a list of people following you, it is easy to keep them updated with any news that you might have. You would do this either by sending an e-mail blast to your readers or by using tools such as Twitter.

How to Benefit from Online Marketing?

Once you are seen as an expert, you can benefit in either of 2 ways:
1. If people are looking for a service professional in your area and they have realized how knowledgeable you are in your niche, then they would come to your salon or office or restaurant.
2. On the other hand, if you are in a different area you can make use of the loyal following by selling online. Examples of items that you can sell are: an e-book which you wrote, products that you work with, and affiliate products.

Visit mySkin&Co to see how I brand myself in my niche of skin treatment and myBody&Co where I focus on providing information on healthy living.

P.S. To Learn More About Marketing Strategies And How To Use The Internet to Brand Yourself As An Expert In Your Niche Marketing, Lessons Are Being Given At www.BrandingYouandCo.com

To Your Success

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Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity. ~ Louis Pasteur

Ever since I was 6 years old, I used to go home after school and be a teacher to my dolls. From that early age I knew that I wanted to be a teacher.

At 10 years of age, while reading lots of adventure stories where the hero saves lives and books where the main character becomes a rising star, I decided that I want to be famous.

When I was about 13 years old I couldn’t understand how it is possible that some people have more-than-enough food, while in other places people are dying of hunger. I couldn’t understand how some people can be unhappy in their lives, how some people use their brains to harm others, … At this point in my life I realized that I am a good listener, and I vowed to help people ‘less fortunate’ than me to empower them with knowledge skills to live the life they deserve.

At 16 I realized my passion for writing. I dreamt of writing a book, and had the entire story planned in my head. I had also sent for some books from the UK on some course that will teach you how to become a writer.

I was about 20 years old, when a university-mate and I were driving in his car to some lecture and we got talking about our future dreams and teaching as our future careers. I confessed that in my life I want to help A LOT of people, and that sometimes I think that ‘just being a primary school teacher’ would not let me achieve my ambitious goals in life. My friend, being a male with mathematical reasoning, did some calculations and figured out that if I had to teach an average of 20 kids per year for 35 years I would have taught an X amount of kids – which results to helping a lot of people. But to me that X number was not enough. I dreamt of impacting more people on a more global scale in my life.

When I was 24 I decided that being ‘just’ a school teacher all my career life is not for me. I wanted to chase bigger dreams, and have a more diverse career. I became a beauty and body therapist, with the aim of one day owning my own business in health, skin and fitness.

28 years old, after quizzing my self-employed clients and studying various biographies, I figured out that to achieve my dreams of helping lots of people and becoming ‘successful’ I need to explore greener pastures, and emigrated to Toronto.

At 30 I started my success journey part-time through blogging, as I have come to realize the potential of blogging to convey my passions and to pass my message to a lot of people. Thanks to MLSP, various e-books, webinars, trainings, websites, courses, I have been studying intensely all about internet marketing. MLSP has taught me how to create my own blogs, and brand myself online, where I have a voice on the internet, and can have a positive impact on a lot of lives.

At nearly 32 I keep evolving in my personal development journey, and each day I stretch myself to learn something new about myself. Each time this happens I grow stronger as a person, and become more determined and clear in my goals in life. Sometimes we find ourselves distracted in life with material things, but then things happen in life to put us back on track. I have taken up yoga which ties with my love for wellness – and being healthy in body, mind and spirit. I will also be working hard on myHopeandCo and will be dedicating it to helping people in their personal development journey, especially focusing on increasing self-confidence and self-esteem in kids till the age of 10. Stay tuned for more to come soon.

I consider myself as a determined, ambitious individual who has BIG dreams for my future. My mother calls me a ‘dreamer’. I am adamant to prove her wrong!!!

I have landed into the internet marketing industry by coincidence, but I find it fun, interesting, exciting, challenging and rewarding. An industry which is always evolving. And what’s amazing about it is that you can tie it with any business/passion that you have.

Reinventing myself

I have since started working on developing my ‘business’. For the time being it’s just a baby, but as I continue my entrepreneurial journey and my ongoing learning curve (i.e. my personal development), the company will continue growing and maturing.

The birth of myHope&Co

My passion is helping people achieve their dreams. Giving people hope again. So, myHope&Co. was born out of the need to give hope and results to those people who have tried everything and are about to give up hope.
For the time being there are 3 sectors – myBODY&CO. … where a healthy body matters, mySKIN&CO. …where skin health matters and ClaireMorawski’s Blog specializing in step-by-step training on how to brand YOU online … there will be more to come in the future – I have HUGE dreams. Stay tuned.

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