Month: February 2020

We’ve all been there – you’ve spoken to someone, they sound really interested in what you’re offering, you show them some information, maybe they even come to a meeting. It’s all looking good, then they come out with this:

I don’t have the money (right now)

This probably means:

• I’m not interested
• I don’t think I can do it, or
• I don’t really believe it

This is really frustrating, you know they’d be really good and they need this business, because you’ve spent some time listening to them and finding out about then (you have done this, haven’t you?). So is there anything you can say or do before you wave them goodbye?

What to do?

Don’t rush in and try to convince them, you will definitely lose them if you look desperate. But you can say a couple of things which may help them to stop and think:

• How would you feel if you made that money back in the first month? (Don’t make promises!)
• Oh, I see, do you have a different plan for leaving your job/paying off your debts/saving your deposit – that’s great.

Of course, they may not have the money, or think they don’t have it. Your job is not to get them into debt, but to see how committed they are. The only real way to know is to ask – ‘Is it that you genuinely don’t have the money? Or are you just trying to spare my feelings? Please be honest’ If so, you can both feel satisfied with the outcome. And if they are still interested, you have an opportunity to discuss some possible arrangements.

Just think about this – if you offered people the chance to go on a luxury cruise for a month, all expenses paid, and they just had to pay their air fare to Spain (or somewhere near), how many do you think could come up with the air fare so that they could take that fabulous free cruise? Quite a few, I bet.

So your job is to make sure that people have had all the information they need to make the right decision for them. And that they go on their way happy about it whatever they decide.

http://www.4livinggroup.co.uk

Mistake no. 1

I thought it was like Instagram, and I didn’t want to know. But … once I found out that it wasn’t, I saw the potential for my business.

Mistake no. 2

I messed about for a while because it was all strange and new and I had no idea what I was doing.

Then I realised that everything is strange and new at some point so I watched some videos, got a bit of an idea, and dived in. Still pretty clueless.

Mistake no. 3

I pinned loads of product images and information because I thought people would be interested. They weren’t. So I looked at what did get impressions and engagement, watched a couple more videos, checked out other people’s pins, and started trying to pin what Pinterest and Pinterest audiences liked, rather than what I liked! Eventually I realised – content, content, content!

Mistake (sort of) no. 4

I used a lot of images provided by my company, for business and product. This was only a partial mistake, because they are professional images, good quality, and often the right size with no cropping. But they’re not me. I realised that if I want to make an impression (pun totally intended), I needed my own brand and identity. This didn’t mean an expensive ‘branding exercise’. I just picked a few colours and fonts for my pins, started to get a look and feel. I can have something a bit more polished if and when I’m ready.

And I started to produce my own graphics and templates in Canva. I’m no expert (as you can see from my pins!) but I’m learning.

Mistake no. 5

No biggie, I tried to figure out why some pins get thousands of impressions and some get four, even though they seemed similar. Don’t bother. I think the Pinterest algorithm is just as much of a black art as the other social media. Just expect that some will get thousands and some will get four!

http://www.4livinggroup.co.uk