The Community is Your Asset

There is a point of confusion that most digital marketers to not adequately address.

This entire blog talks about culture and community, and here's why.

Businesses (can) come and go.  Unless you literally "own" the company - you are promoting someone else's opportunity.  You are not in control of your business.  What you do control, however, are the relationships, the "group think" and the alliances and common purpose you build with people.

This is your asset - and it is all relationship-based.  Some call it your "list".  And... the industry adage is "the money is in your list".  Actually, some marketers advocate collecting names and having a lot of names to make different offers to - over time.  As such, they say that this large list is the asset.  I agree with this to a point, but am also inclined to disagree.

There is also the industry mantra of "know, like and trust".  The admonition is that people need to know, like and trust you to do business with you.  I have no argument with this.  The question for me is that from a large "list",  you may or may not have people who are currently participating with what you do - and putting money in your bank account.  Therefore, all of the good will, liking and trusting is of no tangible monetary value.

Therefore, the notion of inter-dependence is key to my definition of community.  Or said differently, having a stake, or "some skin in the game" is a requirement.  As such, names and email addresses are of little utility other than the "potential" of them participating with you financially at some future date.

Again, the asset is the sum total of the relationships you build - one at a time - with the trust of everyone holding everyone else's best-interest as a core value.  And, with the understanding that this community moves forward as its own economy where everyone has a vested interest in ensuring that all who participate have success.

Our Marketing Sites (so far)

You can click on any of following sites to get a sense of how we approach market segmentation and drill down on specific groups, or geographic areas.  You will note they are all "neutral" in terms of contact information and does not disclose nor link to the business that drives our incomes.

Also, you will note that each site is built on a FREE Google Sites host.  They are simple, one page sites that encourage people to get back to the person who led them to the information.  As you advance in your skill sets, you can develop your own.

In any event, here's the list:

• 401Konundrum - Targeted to people who are about to retire, but have done a less than adequate job at saving and planning for it.

• Business Owners - Targeted to individually owned, small retail shops, food establishments, child care centers, contractors, etc.

• Independent Grad - Targeted to college students, including fraternities and sororities as well as student organizations.  These can and should have discrete sites.

• Money Club - This site is Money Club Warwick, which is my "home town".  It is obviously intended for local marketing.  The Banner can be changed and used in any town, anywhere.

• Our Money Bus - This was one of the very early sites that is now primarily used as a follow-up site - to send people to as a further explanation.  You will note that the video is used at the end of a couple of the other sites.  This can stay or go, if you get to the point of creating your own sites..

• Union175 - Targeted to Unions of any labor stripe.

• Motivated Volunteers - Targeted to Fundraising Groups.  Youth Sports, Religious Affiliated, School Groups... any group seeking to make money.

It is important that you understand that these are additional resources that are specific to our Marketing Community.  There is a whole host of additional resources that our business provides and the larger marketing community provide.

Our group is one of many that all lead to our core business.  You will note on my "About Me" page on this blog, I am just one person out of thousands carving out "one way" to get from Point A to Point B, in terms of educating people about what we do, and then enrolling them in our business.

One aspect of our training is to teach you how to "employ" any of these sites.  Again, you need to develop some of your own resources to make this work.  This will begin your learning curve.  

The first thing will be to make a landing page that you tell people about yourself and the business.  This will be a Google Site.  It is not complicated and there are tons of YouTube videos that teach how to make it happen, in addition to our training.

The point here is, there are things to do, and things to know as you ramp up your skills and knowledge.

The Launch to Profitaiblity

This is critical.  People need to launch to profitability as quickly as possible.  This does not happen on its own - and therefore hand holding, cajoling or any other means of motivation in the first weeks is essential.

Perhaps a bit over-stated, but the general idea is that if people are in profit, there is no reason to quit. Therefore, initial profitability is a first little insurance policy.  It follows that to get into profit, something needed to have been "done".  It is a bit more complicated than wash, rinse, and repeat because at that point the "recruit" having just had their initial success - now has two roles, instead of one.  In addition to finding people to get involved, they need to apply the skills necessary to support their newly enrolled person.

This defines the life cycle of our business:  enroll and support.  Or said differently:  marketing and teaching.  It defines the success cycle.  We really only do two things:  1) find and enroll people into our business, and; 2) support them i whatever they need to be doing to become competent and profitable.

Literally: Our Business is Others' Success

Your main responsibility as a business owner (in our business) is to do all you can to ensure people [those you rely on for their monthly participation in your on-going income] have success.  This happens on a number of levels, the most fundamental one is ensuring you develop a relationship and you engender a culture that includes a sense-of-belonging.

Servant leadership obviously involves serving.  There is nothing more important than serving others and ensuring they are on track and have the skills and habits to apply on a daily basis.  We are in the people development business.  If "our" people are not evolving and gaining competencies (incrementally, day by day, week by week) then our business(es) will be made of sticks, and not of bricks.  (Three Little Pigs analogy, intentional)

The tools of the trade in this regard are that of any other relationship.  Phone calls, emails, texts, participation group training, getting on company calls.  You need to get comfortable with asking the question, "What did you do to build your business today?" in the context of how can I help?  Nothing happens in our business without "activity: and doing the things that will get what we do in front of other people for them to evaluate.

Your success is in direct proportion to the success of the people you support and work with.  Your income is in direct proportion to the amount of money the people you are working with are earning. The size, stability and total dollar value that passes through your group is the asset you are working to build.  However, please understand this point:  economies are made of people.  People drive business. If people go away, the money goes away... or said differently, everything is people-dependent.

You are building your own economy that is independent of your job, the State, or the National economy (other than owing taxes on what you earn).  Our business is a people development business. If we engender competence, if you and I are competent and can pass along what we know - the money is a by-product of this value you bring to the equation.