The ReciProty Blog Section is pleased to welcome Guest Blogger Jon Turino, who specializes in helping businesses grow with better marketing strategies. We had the opportunity to get to learn more about Jon and his company, Jon Turino Marketing + Connections. We are excited about having this chance to share two (2) of his blogs with our readers:

 

I heard it again today from Steve Thornton at the 2012 Portland Success Summit. I’ve heard it from Zig Ziglar.  I’ve heard it from Anthony Robbins. I think I’ve heard it from every motivational speaker that I’ve ever had the privilege of listening to, starting 35 years ago with Louis Tice when I worked for the John Fluke Manufacturing Company.(Quick aside:  With a name like Fluke, you had better deliver results that aren’t flukes, just like Smuckers needs to deliver good tasting jams and jellies!) 

I’ve not only heard it and read about it in books including The Magic of Believing, and continued to use it, but I’ve actually taught it to others. And I am still amazed at the power of a vision. If you can create a clear picture in your mind of how things are — will be, but in the present tense — when you are doing what you most want to do, your subconscious will cause you to resolve the conflict between the current picture of your reality and the reality as you imagine it. Your subconscious does not like conflict or disharmony as I once heard it described. It wants you to feel content.

So if you create a vision of how you are when you have accomplished the goals you need to achieve your vision, and if you can couple that with a “feeling good” emotion, it will lead you to do the things necessary to change reality as it is today into reality as you visualize it. Or it will modify your picture of reality as you visualize to match where you are now and keep you stuck where you are. But it will resolve the conflict, one way or the other. 

This is not new age weirdness. It is proven science that works for people in business, in athletics, in medicine and in any other field. And there are too many people who have used it, continue to use it, proselytize about it and, in fact succeed with it, to ignore.

If you haven’t been exposed to this powerful mechanism for changing your life, you owe it to yourself to learn as much as you can about it as soon as possible so that you can begin to use it to achieve your vision in life. Unless, of course, you are perfectly happy with the way things are in your life right now.

As I used to tell my students: Make a picture, make it real and make it feel. Your creative subconscious will go to work for you to help you make your vision a reality.

The second Blog Jon would like to share with our readers is titled:

 

If networking is part of your marketing strategy mix, and for many if not most of us it should be, are you really good at it or is it something you do because you’ve been told that you should do it – like I just did? If you are selling a commodity product, you may not consider networking as an important element of your marketing strategy. Things, after all, should pretty much sell themselves if they are useful and provide clear benefits to the buyer, right? Well, maybe…  It might depend on the kind of things you are selling.

Food storage bowls come to mind. You wouldn’t normally think of increasing your sales of these via networking. But even with the Internet my spouse had a heck of a time finding some help selecting new bowls until I met someone at a networking event who sold them. How about auto insurance? Sure you can buy it over the phone or the Internet if you don’t believe in the value that an agent you know, like and trust can add to your purchase. Having an accident, of course, can change your point of view on this and insurance agents who network know this to be a fact.

I’m a believer in networking because it works for me and for a great many of my clients. The Networking Tips topic in my monthly newsletter is one of the most popular sections. But you have to do networking right if it is going to work for you. So here are some tips on doing it right.

Necessities

The first necessity is a positive attitude. If you dread networking activities it is going to show. You are going to be more of a wallflower than a winner, you are less likely to meet as many people as you could and the impressions you make may not be stellar. The next necessity is a set of goals. How many new people do you want to meet at a networking event? What kinds of people do you want to meet? These goals will help you to select the right networking events. If you sell garden hoses, for example, a home and garden networking event will be much more productive for you than a meeting of condo owners where gardening is done by the association’s hired help.

Niceties

Once you have the necessities covered, it’s time to consider some niceties. Wear a name badge so that people know who you are when you come up to them to ask them what business they are in. Invest in a permanent badge with your company logo on it and wear it on your upper right side to make it easy for people to read as you approach to shake hands. That way you won’t spend your time wrestling with a generic paper badge that will dislodge itself several times during an event. And be confident but considerate when shaking hands. No one likes to have their hand crushed so don’t try to show your dominance of others by doing that to them.

No-No’s

This list could get pretty long but here are the top first few. Mostly talking coupled with little listening is a no-no. How will you find out how you might be able to help someone if you don’t find out what they need? Any why waste your own time talking to someone who might never need what you offer. Don’t interrupt an ongoing conversation between others. It’s rude. Wait for your opening while listening to the conversation. You never know – you might learn something! Don’t monopolize. A networking event is not the place to present your entire company and product or services story. It is a time to establish enough rapport so that you can arrange a meeting at a later date given that it makes sense for both parties.

Do you do any networking? How effective do you find it? Do you have tips and tricks you’re willing to share? We’d love to have your comments and suggestions. Thanks for reading and please do share this post with others who might appreciate it.

About the Author 

Jon Turino is a seasoned marketing professional who can help you identify your real target markets. He can assist with and developing messages that will resonate with the members of those markets and help you select the best media for delivering those messages. His specialties include marketing strategy development, high impact relationship building, public relations, Internet marketing, networking, presentation development and coaching, team building and leadership.

To check out his site, please visit: http://jonturino.com

To contact Jon email @: jon@jonturino.com  

His site’s progress can also be followed on:

LinkedIn®: http://linkedIn.com/in/jonturino     

Facebook®: http://facebook.com/jonturinomarketingconnections

Google+®  http://plus.google.com/106919312626638673294

Pinterest®  http://pinterest.com/jonturino

Twitter® @JonTurino

About ReciProty

ReciProty is a new and unique community networking website that re-establishes the community support system of yesteryear with a 21^st century twist. By organizing and harnessing global resources and funneling them to a local level, ReciProty is taking our Community Service, Business Networking, Small Business Resource and Online Marketing opportunities to the Next Level!

To check out the site, please visit: www.reciproty.com

Hear testimonials from the members themselves: http://vimeo.com/63220786

The site’s progress can also be followed on:

Facebook®: www.facebook.com/ReciProty

Twitter®: www.twitter.com/#!/ReciProty

 

TOGETHER WE CAN PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS TO THE MASSES!

 

By supporting each other the ReciProty® way, its members are creating networking neighborhoods not only locally but Nationwide, strengthening our communities as we network!

Many members have been tripling their sales, meeting quota for the entire year and receiving the support they need within minutes. I do not know of too many sites out there that can offer that kind of Return on Investment (ROI). Equally as important, when members are not meeting on-line, they are meeting face-to-face and the connections they are making are Priceless!

ReciProty Is About To Raise the Bar Even Higher!

Let’s face it, marketing is expensive. Many business owners, especially small business owners, are scrambling to find economical ways to promote their products and/or services without going out of business. Most businesses are lost on the web or go unnoticed by many potential customers, even on a Local Level. ReciProty is changing that!

Would You Like Free Local, National and Global Exposure?

Did you know that ReciProty can offer you massive Local, National, and Global advertising and marketing exposure right from its Home Page? Yep, that’s right. Many of you do not know that the development of ReciProty required a substantial investment to ensure that everyone and anyone with a computer can see it. The value and opportunities ReciProty offers its members are endless! 

It Gets Better!

Our goal is to Double Feature one ReciProty member, their company and one of their content marketing articles or blogs at least once per week in both ReciProty’s News and Blog section right on our Home Page for others to “Read All About It”. It Gets Better! If we work as a team, and if you and other members are willing to share the links on your site that ReciProty creates, just imagine the tremendous amount of exposure we will all receive. Now, it Gets Even Better! If you share the links with your family members, friends and colleagues and ask them if they are willing to share the links on their site and with their family members, friends and colleagues, just imagine the exponential amount of Local, National and even Global exposure – Your Business Will Be Promoted to the Masses!

As a Team We Can Let the World Know That Your Business Exists

In exchange for all of our efforts, and if selected, all we ask is that you: (1) Become an active member of ReciProty. ReciProty is Free to join. Just create a professional profile and post information about your business or share resources on the networking member’s wall so members can get to know you. The more members who understand that you can help them, the more customers and exposure you will have (2) Pay it Forward. Share the links on your website that ReciProty creates for you, and ask your family members, friends and colleagues if they would support your business endeavors by sharing the links on their site and with their family members, friends and colleagues (3) Work as a team. Share the links of your choice on your website that ReciProty creates for our other featured members, and (4) Invite at least one other person to create a profile on ReciProty.com.

Let’s Get Started

If interested, simply answer the following questions and submit your answers to me along with a content marketing article or blog, and a picture. Basically, a content marketing article or blog is something that you have learned and others can learn from.

All you have to do is cut and paste the information below onto a word document, fill in the blanks and answer the following questions. Then send all information to media@reciproty.com.

ReciProty would like to support its members who are making a difference in our business and local communities.

Today’s Leader on ReciProty is (your name)_________from (name of your business)_______________.(your first name)___________specializes in________________and he/she has earned recognition by sharing leads and assisting other members with resources on ReciProty. ReciProty is an online platform that allows members to meet locally to get the help, support, and business opportunities they’ve been looking for. We are pleased to share more information about (your first name)____________ with our members.

1.    Tell us more about yourself and your company.

2.    How can you help others?

3.    What differentiates you? Name one value added benefit your company can offer our members.

4.    What is the value of becoming a member of www.reciproty.com?

5.    Send a link to your business page, website, FB, Twitter etc. that you would like to have added to the post.

6.    Send a picture of you for the cover photo (please send as high resolution as possible) or your logo. 


7.    Attach one or two separate article(s) and at the bottom of your article please write a few sentences about yourself and title it, “About the Author”.

We are truly excited about this opportunity to feature you as a Leader and an Achiever of ReciProty.com. ReciProty’s desire is to show support to our members and our small business owners who are making a difference in their communities. 

Good Luck and Best Regards, 

The ReciProty Team

The ReciProty Blog Section is pleased to welcome Guest Blogger Angel True, who specializes in helping others to improve their personal and professional growth. We had the opportunity to get to learn more about Angel and his company, True Results Unleashed. We are excited about having this chance to share one of his blogs with our readers.

THE 3 SECRETS TO REAL CONFIDENCE

Some people have it, but everyone wants it. Like it or not, confidence can be a valuable commodity and even a currency in both the personal and professional world.

Your confidence and the confidence of others is a crucial factor in client relationships, negotiations, decision making, management and executive success and so much more. While there is certainly a balance level that’s appropriate there is plenty of room for growth in most professional’s confidence levels.

So how do you get more confidence?

It helps if you understand where it comes from. The confidence we project or perceive from others is a combination of three components. These components are not only overlapping but also can be mutually supportive. When you understand them you’ll be able to address the areas you need for improvements.

Here are the three components:

1. Self-Confidence
2. Self-Worth
3. Self-Expression

Notice that each of these components is really about your own perception even though they translate to the perceptions of others. In other words, the confidence you feel in yourself will determine how others perceive you.

Self-confidence refers to your perception of your own capability. This means that you feel competent and able to achieve any particular action or result. You may be confident about a skill set, your ability to solve problems, having the knowledge you need to answer questions, and more.

Your self-confidence may be lacking due to personal or emotional experiences completely unrelated to your business abilities. Shifting this will require you to not only have the skills you want, but to believe that you are capable of improving your skills. When you lack self-confidence others may attempt to get a better deal than might be fair or appropriate.

Self-worth refers to your feelings about what you deserve. This concept feels very personal because it is about your emotions rather than an empirical assessment of your ability. Your sense of self-worth is typically forged from and related to your childhood experiences, family dynamics and other personal experiences. This component strongly relates to how you perceive challenges and how strongly you will approach winning a negotiation.

Your self-worth plays a crucial role in your belief that winning the negotiation is something that is good for you, or that it’s even possible. While this might seem unusual, many business professionals actually sabotage themselves due to a lack of self-worth. This translates to a lack of assertiveness in taking action or getting a particular result. In other words, if you have low self-worth, you might think you’re “getting what you deserve” or that “bad things keep happening to me.”

Self-expression is your ability to speak up and share your needs, wants and words with others. This ability relates directly to your communication skills and how accurately others are able to understand you.

Your self-expression will make a difference in whether your negotiations get everything you want or miss crucial pieces that weren’t clearly understood. Having your needs clearly understood can be a determining factor of success regardless of self-confidence or self-worth. If you aren’t understood or don’t clearly communicate, you can still lose the negotiation. Others will perceive you as lacking confidence if they aren’t able to understand you.

Growing Your Confidence

The bad news is that most of the challenges that you have with self-confidence, self-worth and self-expression come from your early childhood and family background. Many professionals have no idea they are lacking in these areas or understand how this impacts their success. The good news is that with a little training and practice you can make huge changes to all three of these areas.

To make a rapid assessment of the impact of your confidence, ask yourself these simple questions.

1. How do I feel about my own confidence in each of these areas?
2. How am I perceived by others on these subjects?
3. What would I like to be different in how I’m perceived?

Once you can identify where your confidence is lacking, you can begin to make changes and improvements. As you’re able to make these shifts, you will discover your success will come a little bit easier.

What is your first step towards improving your confidence?

Tired of confidence issues holding you back?

Get the Breaking Through Program

• Discover how to solve your 3 biggest success-limiting problems
• Uncover and change the invisible story that’s holding you back
• Learn new tools for creating improved personal and professional results
• Find the secret to accomplishing what you want, whenever you want it
• Learn 11 Paradigm-Shifting Behaviors that will change your results immediately!

See more at: http://www.members.trueresultsunleashed.com/breakingthroughprogram/

About Angel True

Angel is a Success Coach and the founder of True Results Unleashed. He can help executives, business owners and professionals achieve the success that matters to them. His True Results Method(TM) is a transformative process that uses simple tools to improve focus, promote personal and professional growth, and accelerate results.

To check out his site, please visit: http://trueresultsunleashed.com

About ReciProty

ReciProty is a new and unique community networking website that re-establishes the community support system of yesteryear with a 21^st century twist. ReciProty is an online platform that offers its members the ability to meet locally to get the help, support and resources they need on a Local, National and even Global Level. By doing so, ReciProty is taking our Community Service, Business Networking, Business Resource and Online Marketing opportunities to the Next Level!

To check out the site, please visit: www.reciproty.com

Hear testimonials from the members themselves: http://vimeo.com/63220786

ReciProty can also be followed on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReciProty

Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/ReciProty

 

 

The ReciProty Blog Section is pleased to welcome Guest Blogger Jacob Gudger, who specializes in helping entrepreneurs create more business by generating leads using online video and direct response campaigns using text, email, and direct mail combined. We had the opportunity to get to learn more about Jacob and his company, Embark Marketing through our wonderful network www.reciproty.com. 

ReciProty is an online platform that allows members to meet locally to get the help, support, and business opportunities they need. ReciProty is new, unique and free to join. We are excited about having this chance to share more about Jacob with our readers.

Who else wants to know the two biggest mistakes in personal brands?

Your personal story of success is hands down, the most important part of every presentation you deliver. Whether it’s a keynote speech, a teleseminar, a product launch, or your book – your story is the most humanizing, inspiring, and revealing part. It's where you'll connect with your audience/market in a deep and profound way. Plus, when done properly it’s all the positioning and authority establishment you need.

There are three main objectives when sharing your story:

1. Connect and relate to your audience

2. Establish your expertise

3. Humanize you

But there are two major errors I see time and time again that can, when corrected, make a tremendous difference:

Error #1: Not wanting to talk about “The Struggle” and focusing on your incredible results instead. There may be something locked up in here about insecurity and not wanting to sound show-offy. Everyone is afraid of sounding like a boastful bragging chauvinistic jerk when delivering their bio or story. And if all you talk about is how cool you are, that’s exactly how you’ll look to your audience. You want about 70% of your success story to be about the struggle, the pain, and how much it sucked before you learned all the great things you know now.

Why would you do this? Why would you dedicate a majority of your time talking about how bad things were? Because that’s where 95% of your audience is. They’re stuck. They’re struggling. And they’re looking to you for guidance. They know where they want to go. But they want to make sure that they’re learning how to get there from someone who cares, from someone who has learned from experience, and someone who has been where they are.

Error #2: Not capturing the moments of the story. There are three key moments to any successful positioning story:

1. Reflection

2. Realization

3. Results

The Reflection is the moment you hit the proverbial “rock bottom.” It’s the moment you took a look in the mirror, stepped back in reflection and decided that something had to change. When things seemed like they couldn’t get any worse, but you decided that you would do whatever it takes to win. The key here is you must paint the picture of what that was like and capture it in a moment. One of my first clients for a product launch captures this moment when he was living in a sail boat in the Santa Monica Marina reading Angela’s Ashes on New Years Eve 1999. He lived in a boat because it was the only rent he could afford. While everyone else was celebrating the dawn of a new millennium – he was underneath his sleeping bag for warmth, watching his breath condense in the glow of the only light he could pay for: a flashlight. In my positioning story I talk about how I had been running my coaching/seminar business for about a year and I found myself finally training sales teams in Portland, OR. My moment of reflection was standing in-front of this team of people selling payroll benefits and insurance packages (ZZZzzz…). At this particular moment in the presentation I was telling them how important their work is for the good of society – and it felt like a bit of a lie. I was totally out of alignment and every sale I made was like pulling teeth. The bigger problem was I hadn’t found my audience yet. And in that moment on stage, everything shifted and I had had to find my real audience through online marketing.

The Realization is the moment you discover the big secret that changed everything. For me it was realizing that I could create a series of videos walking people through a program I’d been coaching called The Goal Achiever. Here I’d been learning about online product launches and struggling to come up with a product to sell when it was right in-front of my nose the whole time.

This was your big “Aha!” “Eureka!” or “Duh!” moment where everything shifted.

The Results are the results you have gotten since discovering that big secret. Again you must capture it in a moment. For me it was seeing the success stories come back from other products I helped my friends sell online. After I’d done a couple successful launches for The Goal Achiever, I started helping my colleagues and associates who were also trying to market their how-to products online with no success. I was helping out my good friend, Jennifer Lauck sell her audio program on how to write memoirs. When the feedback and success stories from people who bought the product came back – I knew in that moment that there was really something to this. Seeing those names and thanks you's about how much clarity her product brought them and how they’d gotten more writing done in a few months than they’d done for several years before was powerful. (And the checks were pretty awesome too). And that’s when I committed myself to helping others spread their message, build their platform, and help others transform their lives and business.

Most folks do tell their story in their personal brand – but they don’t share enough. Try capturing these major turning points in your next presentation, blog post, or video. Have fun with the imagery give this framework a whirl.

About the Author:

In an era overwhelmed by technology and digital tools that were meant to make life easier for entrepreneurs, Jake Gudger provides clarity, guidance, and simple-strategies that grow your impact, influence, and income. He's the author of both best-sellers "Automated Marketing for Entrepreneurs" and "SMART Goals." Lives in Portland, OR and works as CEO of Embark Internet Marketing specializing in Cross Channel Marketing, Online Video, and Copywriting for professional speakers, authors, consultants, coaches, and local businesses.

Website: JacobGudger.com

 http://www.facebook.com/embarkinternetmarketing

 http://www.twitter.com/JacobGudger

 http://www.youtube.com/jacobgudger

G+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/106727615256336158405/about

 

 

The ReciProty Blog Section is pleased to welcome Guest Blogger Jacob Gudger, who specializes in helping entrepreneurs create more business by generating leads using online video and direct response campaigns using text, email, and direct mail combined. We had the opportunity to get to learn more about Jacob and his company, Embark Marketing through our wonderful network www.reciproty.com.

ReciProty is an online platform that allows members to meet locally to get the help, support, and business opportunities they need. ReciProty is new, unique and free to join. We are excited about having this chance to share more about Jacob with our readers.

 

More about Jacob and his Company:

 

I first started working in direct response marketing with professional speakers and authors. They'd have a training program, book, or seminar and I'd help them launch it. That revolved around using online video and email to communicate. I noticed though, that marketing emails to a large list of people who've said "yes, I want to hear from this business" - that those emails only get opened about 20% of the time. So we started adding texting to the campaigns (which get read around 95% of the time). This opened the horizons to capturing leads everywhere (tv, radio, signs, public speaking, networking, online, etc...). Add in direct mail and offline advertising and suddenly you have a serious marketing funnel. So now we're using these with consumption based businesses: restaurants, bars, clubs, boutiques, salons, and the like.

How Jacob and Embark Marketing Can Help ReciProty Members:

 

1.      Generate fresh leads online through video marketing.

 

2.      Capture leads and follow-up using "cross-channel marketing." We have a unique way of running direct response campaigns by combining email, texting, and direct mail (online and offline marketing) to create campaigns that reach your market no matter what.

 

3.      We help consumption based businesses (restaurants, bars, clubs, salons, boutiques, etc) create more business by creating membership programs that generates consistent monthly cash flow and gets your favorite customers in more often.

 

4.      We still work with professional speakers and authors in list building, product launches online video, and product development.

Name one value added benefit your company can offer our ReciProty business members.

 

The single biggest thing I can whole-heartedly promise is honesty about what works and what doesn't when it comes to direct response marketing. I believe in serving every single person I come in contact with. If someone's in a position where they can't afford our "done-for-you" consulting services, we have training programs where they can learn to do this on their own. And if that's too much, I'll happily point the business owner in the right direction. I hate hearing stories of people getting burned by web developers or social media consultants who promise the moon, charge a small fortune, and don't get results.

What is the value of becoming a member of www.reciproty.com?

 

The biggest value of joining ReciProty is that you're instantly tapped into a community of people who are actively sharing their services and expertise. Whatever you need, it's there. What I really like about it is it's a way I can connect with new people, not just stay connected with folks I've already met offline.

This may be the MOST IMPORTANT ARTICLE you read all month

 

Now ask yourself why? Because there's a simple truth about marketing you might be avoiding:

 

Your prospects don't believe you...

Ouch! No matter how polished, well executed, or informative your sales presentation is - they will never believe you as much as they'll believe someone else - an unbiased opinion...

 

Humans base a majority of their decisions on what they see others doing. If we don't see other people flocking to businesses or stores we're not as inclined to check them out. The vacant restaurant next to the bustling one with a line out the door stays empty. The discounted seats for the losing sports team remain unclaimed.

 

Social proof is a critical piece of every sales process – you have to prove to the prospect that your products work (help them get the results they want and minimize pain) AND that other people are already demanding your business. This has to happen before the thought of giving you money crosses their mind. There are four main ways to do this (of course it's best to do them all):

1. Social Media Fan-base (Blog comments, facebook fans, twitter followers, and youtube subscribers all serve as social proof)

 

2. Visible Demand (waiting list to work with you, backordered products, wait list at a restaurant - demand exceeding supply)

 

3. Live Demonstration (Actions and images say much more than words)

 

4. Testimonials (Success stories from people who’ve gotten phenomenal results from your program/services)

 

In this article I'm tackling the fourth one, testimonials. A vast majority of business owners view testimonials as an uninspired necessity - they see them as another check mark on the to-do list of things to put on their website. And more often than not, the only reason they share testimonials because they see everyone else doing it.

When done properly, testimonials are one of the most powerful parts of your sales process because SOMEONE ELSE who stands nothing to gain financially from someone buying has taken the time to share their story with the prospect.

 

So how you can you create testimonials that do two things:

 

1. Don't suck

 

2. Advance and support the sales process

 

Common practice for creating testimonials is to get a beaming quote of a customer gushing over how amazing your product is – and how everything in their life is perfect because of you. You see quotes like, “I never thought things could be so amazing.” Or, “this is the best decision I ever made!” Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's just that testimonials can do so much more it's a shame to waste them on fluff. These elementary testimonials are adequate at best. And today, adequate doesn't cut it.

One of the biggest barriers to overcome in all marketing is distrust. And people are largely skeptical of random, perfect quotes, even quotes that have the persons full name, hometown, and picture. Let’s face it, you could hop on Google images and rip-off any old photo, slap a name and city up there, and write the testimonial yourself. (For the four uncool people reading this who have thought about doing that: just don't). 

So here’s a fool-proof formula for the perfect testimonial - a testimonial that's from a real person, advances the sales process, and overcomes objections to buying. The person you’re featuring needs to share five points:

1. What they were skeptical about before buying.

 

2. What made them decide to buy.

 

3. What it was like using the program, service, or product.

 

4. The results they’ve gotten since then.

 

5. Who they’d recommend it too.

So now, instead of just beaming about how awesome you are, they’re voicing some of the same concerns they prospect is having and then demonstrating why they pushed those concerns aside, what it was like to work with you, how it changed their life, and qualify the prospect hearing the testimonial by sharing who they’d recommend it to.

 

Notice how this is a linear story building the sale and responding to the train of thought in the prospects mind instead of just fluff.

How to present the testimonial:

 

1. Do NOT call it a testimonial. “Testimonial” sounds salesy. People know what they are. Instead call them “Success Stories” or “Case Studies.”

 

2. Get video of them. Video is best. Audio with a photo works well too. And you don’t want the photo to make the person look like a model. In fact, the grainier and poorer lighting the better. Unless you’re marketing to models, or some kind of beauty product – no one will relate to a supermodel. Here's a great example of this; go to casinos in Las Vegas and you’ll see this done really well. Remember those huge million dollar jackpots on slot machines they advertise? The one's with a car as the prize? Next time you see one of these look at the photos of the winners. They’re usually pretty bad photographs of people who are sweaty, overweight, and poorly dressed. Why would they do this? Wouldn't they want it to be a sexy young model? Not at all. When you look at those photos you subconsciously think “oh, if that person won I could totally win.”

 

3. The stumblier, and bumblier – the better! The “success story” must be believable and relatable. And people who speak perfectly are more difficult to relate to. So if the subject you’re filming or recording says “ummmm” a lot, that’s actually good. (Obviously they need to sound competent – but it needs to sound real, not scripted).

 

Follow that five step formula, make sure you get video or audio of them saying those things in that order, and you’ll be set. Oh, and make sure you get their permission to use their story in your promotional materials.

 

That pretty much does it. Do that, and you're creating better testimonials than most businesses ever will.

 

Website: JacobGudger.com

 

 http://www.facebook.com/embarkinternetmarketing

 

 http://www.twitter.com/JacobGudger

 

 http://www.youtube.com/jacobgudger

 

G+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/106727615256336158405/about

Send Us Your Stuff and Please Spread the Word!

We hope that you had a wonderful holiday and that the New Year has gotten off to a good start for you. ReciProty has some exciting news that could possibly make this your best year yet, read on...

In November, ReciProty.com president, Renee Wilbur, was chosen by Evolution Magazine as Business Trendsetter and was recognized nationally on the Home Page of Evolution Magazine. Now, we are excited to announce that the same thing can happen for you!

We have grown so much that it is now ReciProty's desire to see each of our members grow and succeed in their personal and professional pursuits. In cooperation with Evolution Magazine, ReciProty.com is pleased to offer our members the same nationwide opportunity for publicity and exposure!

In December, ReciProty was named a managing editor for Evolution Magazine. What does this mean to you? This means that just by being a ReciProty member you now have two additional ways for your business to BE KNOWN NATIONALLY, if you are selected as a ReciProty Business Trendsetter!

Two Ways to Gain Additional Business Exposure!

• The first opportunity is getting recognized as a Business Trendsetter. A Business Trendsetter is someone who specializes in a certain field and adds value to small and moderate businesses.

• The second opportunity is to share a content marketing article written by you. According to contentmarketinginstitute.com, “Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action. Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent”. Basically, it is an article about something that you have learned and others can learn from.

ReciProty will then submit all of your information to Evolution Magazine. If selected, your article will be posted NATIONWIDE on Evolution Magazine and on ReciProty for all national and international viewers to see!

Our goal is to feature one member's company per week and to PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS TO THE MASSES. ReciProty’s website and Evolution Magazine’s readership are growing daily and we are both delighted to offer this valuable and effective advertising tool to businesses that are on the move.

All we ask is that you:

• Be an active member of Reciproty.com and promote ReciProty and Evolution Magazine with your colleagues, friends and family members.

• That you click "like" on Evolution Magazine's business page http://www.facebook.com/#!/evolutionmag and ‘like” on ReciProty's Facebook page as well: http://www.facebook.com/#!/ReciProty

• Invite one other person to create a professional profile on ReciProty.com. This way, they can have the same opportunity as you.

Although we do a great job of putting the link in front of many eyes it is twice as effective when your visitors see it coming from you. Not only will it create and build a “buzz” about you and your network, it will likewise trigger a buzz about both ReciProty and EvolutionMagazine. As a result, we hope to grow in the amount of visitors to our site, as well as, to your site.

We are truly excited about having the opportunity to feature you as a Business Trendsetter and post your content marketing article on Evolution Magazine and ReciProty.

ReciProty and Evolution Magazine desire to show support to small business owners who are making a difference in the business community. If interested, please send your contact information to media@reciproty.com.

Good Luck and Best regards, 

The ReciProty Team

 

 

(pronounced: Re-sip-row-tee)

Could you use over 800 new customers right about now? That's the number of members on ReciProty.com wanting your product and services who have products and services of their own waiting for you! It's New - it's FREE - it's reciprocating business and it's working! The more we grow - the more YOU grow!  

By Joining ReciProty you are joining one of the largest local personal and business support networks on the web! Network like never before to get the support, resources, business networking and marketing opportunities that most people only dream of!

ReciProty is growing every day because our members recognize its value and are spreading the word. You can join them by offering this cost free opportunity to family members, friends and colleagues. All they need to do is create a profile.

Spread the word that with ReciProty they can:

• Advertise their business for free
• Increase their sales
• Support non-profits and their causes
• Get support for a loved one even in another state
• Create or join local networking groups
• Increase leads and referrals from each other
• Track leads and referrals in one place
• Be found instantly when searched for
• Learn within minutes what it takes others years to learn
• Post discounts, promotion and specials to connect to new & existing customers
• Share and gain access to local events, networking functions and community info

A Little About Us:

ReciProty® was complete in March of 2012, yet has already received the Stevie® International Women in Business Bronze trophy for the Website of the Year category. We have also been recognized as a Business Trendsetter by Evolution Magazine and have been featured on the home page of Evomag.com.

Free Marketing Exposure for YOU!

The president of Evolution magazine, Darnell Davis, has just appointed ReciProty as a Managing Editor! What does this mean to you? It means as an active and contributing member of your community and ReciProty.com YOU can submit YOUR story to media@reciproty.com. Then, each month a new ReciProty member will be selected to be featured as a Business Trendsetter NATIONALLY by EvoMag.com. Now that is Priceless Marketing Exposure!

In Case You Were Wondering