Social Commerce

People in social groups drive commerce, whether it be cars, blue jeans or a particular brand of hot dog.  People "buy in" literally with their wallets - and figuratively with their opinions and behaviors.

What we do is no different.  We drive commerce by earning people's trust and influencing opinions. We provide information and act as a guide.  In this process, we talk about aggregating and leveraging resources through a group of people with a common purpose.  This purpose is greater financial security.  All this makes sense to us.

Here's the thing... not everyone will be enticed by our offer. Our job is to find and appeal to people who are hungry for change... not everyone is.  In our world, most people are stuck in the status quo and are not "hungry" (enough) to change.

Ultimately, your success is predicated on your ability to understand the social nature of our business and "frame" what we do as:

1. Education
2. Helping people with an aspiration [to achieve and have more] decide to participate with us.

In the context of a social group, people consciously and rationally choose to participate in and contribute to a cause that is larger than themselves, and at the same time in themselves.  In our case, "the cause" is their own financial well-being, made possible by being involved with and supporting the larger community that makes it all take place.

This defines Social Commerce.  It defines Affinity Marketing.  It defines Referral and Word-of-Mouth Marketing.  Ultimately, the strength of your business is predicated by the strength of what binds the people in your business.  These metrics are their commitment and their loyalty and these two factors are a function of their success - monetarily, in regard to status and leadership and their knowledge they are making a difference in others' lives.

A Way to Make Money

This post is about simplicity.

Recently, I found myself talking with a 20-year old guy about his future... whether he had a resume... and his frustration with being overlooked at his job for "promotions".  The conversation migrated to what I do for extra money and I found myself talking about our Community, getting into the "weeds" about "how" we make money... about the industry... about the products...

In retrospect, I would have been much better off if I just kept it to, "It's a way to make money".  Then I should have said, if you want to know more, go to this website, then if you have any interest in learning more, send me an email at ______.

We have many, many websites to point people to - depending on the person we are talking to.  Then, "our system" is to have a Gmail autoresponder message set up that provides information in detail and they have this within 60-90 seconds.

That's it.  Keep it simple.  Don't oversell.  Let the system(s) do the work.  Especially if you are "new", the last thing you want to find yourself doing is defending... by providing too much information to someone who is naturally curious and typically skeptical.  The problem is you do not yet have "the marbles out of your mouth" to concisely convey the power of what we do and you will end up talking past and confusing what is really a simple proposition.

We offer people a way to make money.

Construction

We build things.  On the hub, we build groups of people who share a common interest of greater financial security.  In the spokes, we build other things.

We build knowledge and skills which builds self-esteem and self-confidence.  Along with this, we build hope and optimism that people can live a better future by simply participating in a Community Group that exists to steer people in a common direction.

We aspire to the good and noble in constructing the elements that form our whole. This whole has every potential to elevate individual lives beyond their current circumstance.  Daily, we lead people to a window and invite them to look outside at a new world of possibility. This cycle simply repeats itself.

We build a passion for helping others - with success begetting success - as we grow personally and collectively - as a Community.

And, in the manner we approach what we do, we build trust because without trust, none of the rest matters.

Agreement

One way to look at what we do is simply to get people to agree with us.

We have a proposition that involves two components.

1. People work together to leverage money in the context of a Community that is "ours" and something we choose to be a part of.
2. Our foundation is a learning environment where we share knowledge and resources. 

Members of our Community are inherently inter-dependent and literally support each other with their ongoing financial participation - all equally, in a "parallel economy to our jobs".  This involves a commitment and responsibility that we all agree to.

Our tagline is also our mission statement, "We organize knowledge, people and money for everyone's benefit."   Our goal is to be as simple and straightforward as we can be in describing who we are and what we do.  At the same time, we never want to shy away from the fact in agreeing to participate, each member has a responsibility to grow.

Inherent in this growth, you create value.  You learn new things you will be able to pass along.  And, you will be paid in direct proportion to the level of value you create.

These are some of the basic ground rules for what we do.  Our job is to find people who understand and agree to a mature sense of purpose in helping elevate lives by inviting people to participate with us.

Agree?

Close Your Eyes, then You Won't See

Preface:  This title is loosely borrowed from the Bonnie Raitt song, "I Can't Make You Love Me".  I listen to music when I write for both entertainment and inspiration.

Here is what I believe.  Most people are complacent and "satisfied" with their lives, even those who struggle and complain, those who are frustrated with life to wit's end... however, at the same time, the metaphor for the title of this post is that they are living with their eyes closed.  This is the reality we confront in "finding" people to work with... to "join" our business... and who show the initiative to elevate themselves from the drudgery of a job.

For whatever reason, they simply won't see that options do exist.  What we offer is simply one... and even though what we do is solid and credible, many may have a look, but stay frozen with their eyes closed.  Why is that?

The broadest stroke I can paint to answer this is HABITS. It is about being creatures of the "same old, same old".  It is about not living with or wanting to endure the discomfort of change.  This is the biggest reason people stay "stuck".  It is resistance to change and disrupting the status quo - and consciously or subconsciously not wanting to let go of a living a life that is familiar and predictable.

So, they pack their lunch in the morning and go do it again.  If eyes not closed, then it may be more apt to say they are sleepwalking through their lives... seemingly conscious, but nonetheless "living the dream" that never confronts the reality of barely scraping by - and doing something about it.

Sad, really.