Hello Readers!
You know that “Negative Nancy” that people talk about, never bring into the loop, don’t ask to join in on the fun? Then that Negative Nancy complains when everyone else is doing it or talking about it and they hadn’t heard a thing about it (so it must be a scam or something), right? Don’t be that Negative Nancy. This is great life advice, but what I am applying it to here is business. Let me explain:
If you walked into any establishment – a restaurant, a bank, a grocery store, a hospital – whatever…and you were greeted by the owner of the company (not a boss, a supervisor, a team leader, a regular bottom line employee, or even a CEO, but the OWNER of that company), you would feel awed and privileged and tell all of your friends, right? Say it was the restaurant, and the owner sat down with you and asked you what you liked, what you didn’t like, any allergies you had, preferences, and listened to you talk about yourself, maybe even made a few suggestions to help you pick out the best meal that would fit in perfectly with your diet and preferences, then continued to serve you during your meal to make sure you were completely satisfied. That one on one experience with the owner of that business would not only bring repeat business from you, but you would tell your friends in the hopes that they would go and get the same treatment. You would have listened to all of the owners suggestions, thanked them for taking time out of their schedule to cater to your needs, and you would feel like royalty. Right?
How about another scenario, let’s use the grocery store this time. You walk in with your list, and the owner greets you with a smile, takes a look at your list, and asks you about things that you might need that aren’t on the list (maybe you couldn’t afford them, or it is just something you wanted not needed). Then the owner takes the time to walk around the store with you, offering suggestions on better products on your list (maybe one brand is better than the other, or two brands are the same but one is cheaper) maybe the owner even offers you a discount for talking with him or her and allowing them to help cater to you so you could afford all the things on your list, and those extra things they got for you that you mentioned earlier. Best experience ever right? You’d Facebook it, tweet it, and tell all of your friends about your awesome red carpet treatment, again earning your repeat business, loyalty, and promoting more business by your referrals to your friends and family.
Where am I getting at? This is a great example of referral marketing – however, how many times have you gone into a bank, grocery store, hospital, or restaurant and had the owner take the time to do this for you? Most likely, you haven’t – I know I haven’t. Does that mean they are a bad business? No, of course not. The owner can’t do that with you because they are busy running the business and keeping a chain open so that you can go into these places and be served by the people they hire to do this part of the job for them. Again, where am I getting at?
No business starts at the top like this, they all start small, and with loyalty and customer word of mouth they grow. So will you stop being a Negative Nancy and take the time to listen to the small business owner or the owner running their business out of their home that is trying to give you this exact same one on one treatment? Bingo, here’s my point.
So, let’s say you have that friend that “works from home” (also known as WAH – Work At Home), whether they are offering memberships to an amazing business with phenomenal products, selling their own lotions, potions, makeup, and candles, or whether they are offering discount services for things you already use and need all the time anyway. Listen to them. Out of the millions of people on this earth, if they came to you, then they thought of you. Something they have to sell or sign you up for made them think that it would make your life easier, make you happier, or make you healthier. They want to offer that red carpet treatment to you. They own their business, they are business owners, which means they have no boss. The point I am trying to make is that these people either know you enough that they think they can help you, or they want to get to know you so they can help you get what you need and want. These business owners, whether out of their home or starting up their own small business in town want to cater to YOU, they want to help YOU.
I have seen, heard, and observed so many times where a person puts themselves out there in the world as a servant to those they know and those that are strangers in the hopes that they can help other people. NOT to make money and become rich, but to HELP and SERVE others, by talking to them and listening to what they say that they need, then doing their best to provide what they ask for. So many times, I see them being brushed off by either being rudely cut off with the “No, thank you” or “I’m not interested” before they’ve gotten past the “Hi! My name is…” part of their well constructed script that they have no doubt poured hours and research in to perfecting in the hopes that someone will hear it and listen to what they say, so that they will be allowed to help someone. So many times I have seen their own so-called friends and family roll their eyes, look at each other and laugh while the owner is sharing the information, and even quit talking to that owner because of “that stupid thing they are trying to do”.
The people that are brave enough to put themselves out there and try to start their own business are a special kind of person, often with a big heart and bigger dreams. They need the support of their friends and family. Starting your own business is NOT easy, it is taking their time, resources, investments, and they have to work really hard at it all the time. Do you have to buy what they are promoting? If it’s not for you, then no, of course not! Should you at least listen to what they have to say and actually critically think about what they are saying so you can make an informed decision? YES. Maybe what they are offering is not right for you, but I bet you that you know at least 5 people that it would be right for that you could refer them to. You know why? Because you know people, just like they knew you – and with the information sharing of our personal lives, likes, dislikes, prayer requests, needs, fundraisers, and everything else we share electronically with the world every second of every day – we pay attention and store that information for later.
What on earth am I talking about? That person that is building his or her business selling candles called you because they know how much you love candles and has spent numerous times in stores picking out candles with you – so they know what you think is too expensive, what smells you prefer, and which ones give you a headache – so they’ve called you because they think you’ll love these candles they have that are made organically with your favorite scent that won’t give you a headache or pollute the air in your home, and for cheaper than going to the store. You get what you want, you are satisfied, and tell your other candle loving friends, or that person at the store next to you looking at the same candles that just can’t seem to decide – maybe you give that person your friend’s business card and tell them how they made your candle buying experience awesome.
How about that person that wants to share with you the awesome eco-friendly product line for this online store that pays them for referrals. They thought of you because you have kids and pets, they know you use Lysol and Clorox, maybe someone in your house has Asthma, Eczema, or gets migraines if you use fabric softener – so they are dying to talk to you because this product line covers everything you are buying anyway from first aid material, to cleaning supplies, to dog treats, to bathroom supplies like toothpaste and shampoo, even to snacks and glucose control shakes – and is made all naturally with no fillers, reduces wastes and your carbon footprint, is cheaper than the crap you’ve been buying in the store, and will remove the toxins out of your home making better if not curing the Asthma, Eczema, and migraines all while saving you money. This one is a real go-getter – helping you save money, live healthier, removing toxins from your home, and saving the environment all at once — but you won’t listen to a word they have to say, or listen with a grain of salt because it’s just that friend or family member that’s “always doing something like this, and it never works” or whatever your lame excuse is.
Maybe this friend worked in the medical field for years, and growing tired of feeling helpless every time a patient, family member, or friend either can’t afford their medical care, or had to file bankruptcy due to medical bills, or they see them paying way too much regardless of insurance. Insurance is not the cure all to medical bills either – they have high deductibles before the insurance ever even kicks in, low yearly caps, restrictions on prescriptions and procedures, high monthly premiums, long waiting periods for larger procedures, and often times won’t cover needed procedures at all, let along include things like Dental, Vision, Chiropractic, and don’t even get me started on being denied for pre-existing conditions or age. Let’s say this friend found a discount benefits company, that worked along side insurance, or was a great plan to “fill in the gaps” left by insurance (or lack there of) that was cheap, covered everyone in your household, and had the potential to save you thousands in a year. That prescription you get every month that’s normal $425? They can help you get it for $85 instead. How many times have you posted that you were at the hospital again? Or complained about another expensive medication you have to start taking? Or asked for prayer on Facebook because you were headed back to the ER or to the doctor? That person sees these things that you posted, has prayed for you, liked your statuses, replied to your texts, and when they started their very own business to bring this service to others, they thought of YOU. You know what happens though? They see you post about going to the ER again and asks for prayer, so they send you a private message and tell you that they are praying for you, and asks you about your insurance and if they had a few moments to talk about a discount service they could use right away to make that ER trip cost less for them – and the other person gets angry that the business owner would be so selfish as to market to them during their time of need or crisis. Yes, I said that person would GET ANGRY at the business owner for trying to HELP them before they go and get into more debt. If that doesn’t happen, then they simply ignore the private message sent by the business owner, and never even give them the opportunity to tell them how they can help.
One of my favorite face-palms of the WAH life, is the ones that you are trying to help never believe you, won’t listen to a word you say, don’t believe in you, don’t try to help you at all, laugh at you, leave you out of family or friend circles — and when you succeed against the odds they GET MAD at you. Here they are, laughing at you during your struggles, all the while complaining that they hate their job, they want to quit so bad, or they can’t get a job, and don’t know what they are going to do to pay bills or feed the kids – then they say things like, “Why didn’t you bring me in this with you at the beginning? We both could be paying bills right now!” or “I didn’t think you were serious” or my personal favorite, “You are making so much money now, will you give me some money/let me borrow money”. What?! Are you serious? No. I TRIED to help you, you didn’t want help then, so I won’t give you a hand out now. You know that phrase, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for the day, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life”. This applies here. Yeah, right here. If you are just now ready to do this, I’ll help you with every available resource I have -I’ll train you, answer your questions, cheer you on, be your mentor, introduce you to people and help you market and network – but I will NOT just hand out my hard earned profit to you after you scoffed me off but want to be friends now that I’m successful. Don’t be that Negative Nancy that asks for a handout later. Be productive, be supportive, LISTEN and SHARE what your friend or family member has to offer. They are trying to make something of themselves, they are trying to make a life and make a difference in and for themselves by helping others. NEVER make them feel ashamed of what they do, never scoff them, never roll your eyes at them, or pick on them when they go through rough patches. EVERY business goes through rough patches, even billion dollar companies that have been established and successful for years – don’t believe me? What was that Obama Bailout for again? Oh right…see? If they fail at their business, it is not entirely their fault – it’s yours. How far would you have made it in school if your parents, teachers, friends, and strangers were constantly making you feel like learning was a joke and that you’d never succeed? Think about it.
Honestly, I could write a book on disgusting human behavior and how we can change it. I’ve probably written so much that none of you have made it to the end, or if you did, you lost my meaning behind it all. If you did get through it, congrats! I’m proud of you, celebrate that accomplishment. Bottom line is this: There is NO difference between the owner of a business run out of a home by your friend or family member and the owner of a large billion dollar industry – accept that WAH business owner is more likely to give you that red carpet treatment and go out of their way to help you. So listen to what they have to say, be thankful that they cared enough about you to know that they can help you and WANT to help you. Be grateful, be supportive, and help them any way you can, even if it’s just dropping a flyer off at a store you were going to anyway, handing out a few business cards for them, or referring other people to them that you think would benefit from what they have. Don’t stand in their way to help other people, just because the business they have isn’t what you’d call traditional doesn’t mean it will fail, they are wasting their time, or it isn’t 10 times better than what’s already out there, so:
STOP BEING A BIGOT, YOU PESSIMISTIC FREAK, and stop crushing the spirit and dreams of those that have bigger hearts and more bravery than you. Be supportive, open minded, and optimistic. Think about it.
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