Linkcrafter.com – Blog

Be Nice today, ok?

In my professional and private life, I have adopted 3 main ways to praise people:

Catch people doing something good, and praise them instantly,

Praise people in front of other people,

Praise people in their absence

The first one is very effective. It has a tremendous impact on people self-confidence, motivation, and feeling of belonging. Whenever you find someone doing something good, reinforce the action by praising the person in the moment.

The second  one is very delicate and need to be used with great mastery and care.

The third one is the most powerful and the most influential on people and has a boomerang effect. Everyone could practice it, at any time, without any limitation. There is no specific skill needed, but your wish to use it.

Most people are used to speak nicely about people only when they in front of them, but in their absence they will gossip and say mostly bad things about them or talk about things they don’t like in these people. It’s very common and it looks like a human trait. Many casual conversations are about pointing, highlighting the disliked  things in other people or events.

If you follow this practice you act like the crowd and you won’t stand out to become a people star and a recognized leader.

How to practice  the technique of “Praise People in their absence”.

1. To start you need to choose voluntary to abandon the old fashioned way of talking about people in their absence. Instead of pointing, highlighting the disliked  things in other people, make it a conscientious choice Stop this practice, and praise people in their absence instead.

2. Systematically try to catch people doing something good. If you can, praise them in the moment. If not record in full detail  the event, and spread a praise of the event to the world. Next time, when the name the  person will pop up in a conversation, when appropriate, go ahead to tell other people your recorded story and express your personal admiration.

3. Praising in general terms like “he is nice”, “he is hard worker”, “he is smart”, “he is resourceful” still is good, but less effective than praising a person with reference to very specific story, event, achievement, etc. Being specific makes your praise more credible and make the person you are praising stand out effectively like an important and special person.

4. Make it a rule to praise  every day at least one or two persons in their absence. it could people from your team, family, friends, etc. If you could Double this number every month during the next 3 months, you’ll be flooded by invitations of people who want to become your friends. You’ll become a People Magnet.

5. When you start the practice of praising people in their absence, Try to do it in front people who are very close to them. Your praise will spread like a wildfire and reach your target in less than 24H.

6. When your target heard of your praise in his absence, he will feel good and things will look for him like you become his private PR agent, telling the whole world how important and special he is.

7. Practice undercover compliment and praise your friends, your colleagues, your kids, your wife, your husband, your investors, your peers  in their absence. Never stop to praise them. Make it an active choice of praising continually people in their absence.

8. You may be wondering when will you have again the opportunity to say some disliked things about people, like everyone does? It’s so good to be caustic, to ridicule people in casual conversation. it’s a world wide practice, so how can you stop yourself from practicing it? Won’t you look boring? Maybe looking boring today, is a condition for your full success tomorrow.

Praising and complimenting people in their absence is the Most subtle and the most powerful way to win people over. Start doing it actively and systematically from Today on, You’ll be stroked by the results.

Keep me in touch.

Rob Duncan

Rob Duncan is Keynote speaker, author and consultant in the areas of team building, leadership development and marketing intelligence. He is the authors of two great books : Haul Away!: Teambuilding Lessons from a Voyage Around Cape Horn and Competitive Intelligence: Fast, Cheap & Ethical. Currently Rob is Director of Applied Research Liaison Office at British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and CEO at Great Capes Consulting Vancouver, Canada.

When Rob is not sailing 12,000 ocean miles rounding Cape Horn and crossing the Atlantic on a square-rigger, he is passionate by innovation, and beyond innovation the critical issue of innovation commercialization. He dedicates tremendous energy at British Columbia Institute of Technology to helping entrepreneurs and faculty inventors get new products to market through the effective use of marketing intelligence and planning.

British Columbia Institute of Technology

Recently, Rob has made available several presentations to helping less skilled networkers to leverage the power of professional networking websites to grow their social capital, and boost their marketing.

We highlight here Rob Duncan’s secrets for a successful networking on Linkedin, or any other professional networking website :

The Power of Small Favors
Help 50 people with:

• Answers
• Recommendations
• Expert suggestions
• Leads
• Introductions
• When you need help, 50 people will be there for you
• Give generously; the “getting” flows indirectly from your investment in others

TIPs:

• Answer questions frequently and generously; think of yourself last
• Put a Web link in your answers (draw people to your Website, books, or blog)
• Earn expertise rewards & build reputation
• Visit Q&A daily and answer as many questions as you can, insinuating your web address where possible
• Update your status strategically (“Rob is looking for entrepreneurs to assist”)
• Connect 2 people who can help each other
• Be generous with your contacts
• Give more than you get

Rob is a great guy, one that is both inspirational and encouraging. His participation on a project always raised the bar. As a prolific networker Rob is always kind enough to share his knowledge and expertise to show others how to use forums to build networks and grow business. you can reach Rob at this email address : greatcapes [@] gmail.com.

There has been a recent surge in the popularity of leads groups as viable business opportunities. As more and more people flock to the new movement, outsiders have begun to wonder why leads groups are so hot right now. We’re prepared to bring you the answer in today’s blog.

The major advantage of choosing leads groups as a way to expand your business is that they are a highly focused, results-driven method of marketing and promotion. Many people are dissatisfied with the current state of professional memberships and organizations, especially when those memberships aren’t brining in any new business. In leads groups, individuals are highly motivated and are able to track their results more accurately.

Joining or starting a leads group is an organic way to connect with like-minded individuals who can help you. The free flow of information can be exhilarating for those who haven’t experienced it before. New leads can breathe a surge of life into a dusty ad campaign and pump up the volume on a lazy promo team.

The world of business has always been fueled by a unique type of entrepreneurial spirit. When powerful people get together, powerful results are bound to occur. The good vibes are contagious as members feed off one another’s energy. There’s nothing like getting those first few great referrals, and the effect is addictive. Leads are vital to the success of any business, so why not get back in the game today?

Linkcrafter sits on the nose of this revolution. In less than 3 months, Linkcrafter became the #1 leads groups and referral networks utility in the USA and in Europe, managing more than 30.000 leads groups in the US and around the world.

Leads groups have enormous potential in our current economic climate. They give you the opportunity to make real connections with other professionals and see identifiable results almost immediately. All of this begs the question: why not start your own leads group today?

The reason most people don’t start their own leads group is because they’re afraid. Others tell them that their idea will never work and that they will fall flat on their face. But the truth is that many people have done it and taken their business to a whole new level.

The advantage of starting your own leads group is that you get to be the decision-maker. By leading the group yourself (rather than passing the role around), you’ll form a solid foundation for your members. This sense of stability is what is lacking in many groups today, which means that you have the chance to build a working model that will be successful for years to come.

Starting your own group is totally free, so it’s relatively low-risk. You can hand pick all the members to ensure that they will be reliable associates with high-quality referrals. You can also manage the sub-niches in your category to ensure that there is no competition between members.

Anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit can excel at starting a leads group. Take your future into your own hands and start your own group today!

The renaissance of leads groups means that business people spend no money on advertising and less time in networking, yet grow their sales, visibility, and brand awareness. It’s the wave of the future.

Linkcrafter sits on the nose of this revolution. In less than 3 months, Linkcrafter became the #1 leads groups and referral networks utility in the USA and in Europe, managing more than 30.000 leads groups in the US and around the world.

Cooperative Network

First there was traditional professional networking. Then came the internet with all of its bells and whistles. After that, the business world entered an entirely new era that integrated each of these elements seamlessly, resulting in a bastion of professional advancement that we like to call the renaissance of professional networking.

Old networking organizations don’t cut it anymore, because they can’t accurately keep up with the fast-paced nature of the Internet. This is where online leads groups come in. While leads groups have always been immensely successful in building mutually beneficial relationships, combining them with social media has taken them to a whole new level. People are finally getting excited about referrals again!

The vast power of social media connects people from all over the globe and delivers real-time results. Members and managers don’t even have to leave the comfort of their own home or office to take part in rewarding professional relationships. It’s easier than ever to keep in contact with leads and ensure that groups stay focused and motivated.

It has yet to be seen what potential online leads groups truly have in the renaissance of professional networking. All we know is that the smartest business people are getting in on the ground floor of leads groups and even starting ones of their own. There’s no limit to what they can do for those willing to participate! It’s the wave of the future, and we can’t wait to see where it goes.

The renaissance of leads groups means that business people spend no money on advertising and less time in networking, yet grow their sales, visibility, and brand awareness. It’s the wave of the future.

Linkcrafter sits on the nose of this revolution. In less than 3 months, Linkcrafter became the #1 leads groups and referral networks utility in the USA and in Europe, managing more than 30.000 leads groups in the US and around the world.

Linkcrafter-Ad-On-LC-Blog

Attract Customers

Once you begin your journey in the world of leads groups, you’ll need to put some specific strategies in place to manage the leads as they come. Without any type of organization, things can get out of control quickly and you can lose as many leads as you bring in. Here are some tips to avoid this problem:

• Work on differentiating leads. Decide on your definition of an active lead and know when to drop a lead if it isn’t producing results.

• Keep careful records. You need to know exactly where your referrals are coming from so that you know what’s working and what isn’t. This will also help you in the wider field of business contacts in general.

• Respond to leads quickly. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to get a hold of someone who just isn’t responsive. Don’t be that person to your leads! If you don’t get back to them within a reasonable time frame – say, two days – then you’ve let the worm off the hook.

• Approach each lead as a sale. In a way, you’re doing the same thing with a lead as you are with a customer: selling them on your business. So treat them like you would any client and be ready to answer their questions if need be.

Once you have your leads up and running, the key to taking them to the next level is to keep detailed records. Examining your return on investment for each lead is the way to generate more business in the future with the best results possible.

The renaissance of leads groups means that business people spend no money on advertising and less time in networking, yet grow their sales, visibility, and brand awareness. It’s the wave of the future.

Linkcrafter sits on the nose of this revolution. In less than 3 months, Linkcrafter became the #1 leads groups and referral networks utility in the USA and in Europe, managing more than 30.000 leads groups in the US and around the world.

Most people struggle with making choice. They can’t even decide what drink to have in the pub, what to eat, where to take a walk. They’d rather like someone to make the decision for them; to tell them what to do. They will feel relieved.

The end of the scarcity age in developed countries comes with consumers being overwhelmed by the huge number and variety of goods and services.

“Am I buying the right digital camera? Am I getting the best treatment for my chronic ulcer? Am I signing up for the right serve?”  is the inner voice each consumer is hearing when he face this hell of choice.

There are indeed amounts of information to respond to these questions and there are several channels to access more and more information, “But who has the leisure and the proficiency needed to sort through and evaluate all these products and services? [And] The burgeoning complexity of offerings, as well as the associate risks and reward, confounds and frustrates most time starved consumers. Product variety has not necessary resulted in better consumer experiences” C.K. Prahalad

Consumers are lost. Information comes to them as noise.

THE NOISE BELT SYSTEM

Every consumer today surrounded by a “Noise Belt”. The noise belt is getting thicker and thicker and putting a lot of strain on consumers.

To find relevant, trustful information, consumer needs to filter all the noise noise himself. For doing this, consumers need to filter amounts of information, “Most of it isn’t very good. When you need answers, you may end up sifting through contradicting advice, opinionated content and a lot of pretty crappy material. You’ll waste plenty of time” – James Chartrand, from http://menwithpens.ca

No one takes the noise fatigue as his problem, but everyone comes to add his own noise.

The unheard voice of the consumer behind the amount of data sounds like this:

“I need less data, not more data. I need to know what is important, and I don’t have time to sift through thousands of Tweets and Friendfeed messages and blog posts and emails and IMs a day to find the five things that I really need to know. People like Mike and Robert can do that, but they are weird, and even they have their limits.
So where is the startup that is going to be my information filter? I am aware of a few companies working on this problem, but I have yet to see one that has solved it in a compelling way. Can someone please do this for me? Please? I need help.» Erick Schonfeld, Editor at Techcrunch.com

We are now in the attention economy, in which the new scarcest resource isn’t ideas, capital or talent, but attention itself. Today’s businesses are headed for disaster-unless they learn to manage this critical yet finite resource, or fail!- Thomas H. Davenport, John C. Beck

Businesses which will succeed in this attention economy are the one that take customers attention as a loan or manage it as an investment” NOT something they “paid for“. Companies that fully understand and appreciate those distinctions will be the winners in the future. – Michael Schrage

Challenged cartoon by Stuart McMillen – Recombinant Records (via http://saint.ghost.lt/)

The best New year resolution - Challenge myself

Linkcrafter is marketing company that helps small business owners who are struggling to attract clients but don’t have money to invest in advertising nor have time to spend in networking.

Our solutions work for marketing professionals, sales people, home-based businesses, small business owners, Freelancers, services providers, etc.

Some months ago we have started something new for our customers. We build a system like Yahoo Answers for business purpose: to capture business opportunities by answering consumers questions.

It’s a small widget our customers put on their websites or blogs that encourage their visitors and customers to send them their burning questions, needs or requests, even if they are not related to their business. They promise to provide them in a short period, if not minutes, free professionals answers, ALL for Free.

When we have started, we were not sure how things will work out. Some people doubted the foundation of the promise to put a widget on a website that promise to help anyone with answers, even if their questions or requests are not related to your business.

After several months of test now, we can say this is a really powerful marketing solution. It’s working remarkably well because the vast majority of questions involve purchase decision or service need.

For Linkcrafter company, Since we have put the Answers widget on this blog, we are collecting daily 10 to 25 requests from our visitors, readers and customers. Up to 78% of requests collected through this widget are directly related to our business. 15% are opportunities that we route to partners. We receive a small percentage of crappy requests and questions.

For the community as a whole, 36% of opportunities are collected through members Answers widgets, 13% through direct opportunity report by members, and the other 51% come from solution-feed.com ( a public Answers portal focused on before purchase questions from consumers) .

Abe’s of Maine has used Q&A marketing strategy to boost  revenue and loyalty.  Here is Sarah Mishan, Director Marketing of Abe’s of Maine testimonial:

“When we first started, we didn’t really expect it to take off the way it did,” Mishan says.

Within the first seven months, the team approved more than 5,200 questions to their site, 97% of which were answered. The team has seen a significant decline in customer service inquiries since the effort launched in March.

The notification email messages were strong performers:

- Answer emails average about a 70% CTR.

“For every 100 questions that I answer [for which I] have email addresses, I get 70 people back to my site. And that’s 70 customers that I would have otherwise not gotten.”

- 7.5% of questioners who receive an emailed answer made a purchase.

This is compared to the team’s email newsletter campaigns, which see about a 25% open rate and a 3.5% conversion rate.

Also, the team calculates an average cost-per-acquisition of customers through the answer notification emails at $23.81. That’s better than the team’s approximately $40 CPA and 2.5% to 2% conversion rate on shopping engines, although shopping engines deliver more volume”.

How to start?

Create your account on Linkcrafter.com, and pick your Answers Widget. It’s a unique link, badge or form you can use in your email signature, Newsletter, on Twitter, Facebook, or on your blog, website, etc.

It’s in this way that hundreds of small are actually market their business without wasting money on expensive advertising or wasting time on countless networking websites, clubs or events.

The main benefit for small business owners is the shift from chasing customers to customers coming to you, because consumers  first come to you with their questions and needs.

In the present economic conditions, Linkcrafter is a Good solution.

Start today, follow this link: Linkcrafter.com