This week, our featured Shop Consultants are successful UnFranchise® Owners Lisa Lieberman-Wang and Yardley Wang. Last Tuesday we asked our Facebook audience what questions they would like to ask them about building a successful business. Interested in seeing if they answered your question? Read on!
Market America: In your own experience, what is the best way for a new person to learn how to effectively retail a product?
Yardley Wang: The best way to sell anything is to be a product of the product. There is no better way to understand, experience or learn about anything other than to use it. As a result, you will have greater confidence in yourself and belief in the product. People aren’t interested in all the ingredients, facts, and science; they just want to know that it works. Facts tell and stories sell. Your enthusiasm, conviction, understanding of the health benefits and how it can help someone is what makes retailing a breeze. Create your own story or get someone else’s, but tell, don’t just sell.
MA: Do you have any tips on how to get people to your portal who may never have heard of Market America or SHOP.com?
Yardley Wang: We ask, “Do you shop online?” If they say “Yes”, we ask,” Do you get Cashback from your purchases?” If they say “no”, then we ask, “would you like to?” You can imagine the answer is always a resounding YES! After which we tell them that we would like to give them a free Gift. We take them to our web portal and show them the incredible features and comparison shopping experience. Then we register them as a Preferred Customer for FREE so they can now do what they do anyway, but get paid for it.
We also have them download my BFF (Best Friend Forever), also known as ShopBuddy after they’ve become a Preferred Customer. We tell them “Now no matter where you are shopping on the internet whether or not it is my website, the Shop Buddy will pop up with all the latest sales and promotions and ask you if you want to get Cashback on your purchases, all you have to do is click on the button and continue shopping.” It is a win win! They save money and we make money.
Another way to get new customers to your portal is listening to people and asking questions. If there is something that they are looking for and I know of a partner store or a ma® product that will fill their need, I send them a direct link to that item or store off the web portal. Our greatest success is showing them something they are already looking for and getting them engaged. Once they see the benefit, they will go back on their own.
MA: What’s a common challenge that you’ve encountered as an entrepreneur and how do you overcome it?
Lisa Lieberman-Wang: A common challenge that an entrepreneur starting a new business encounters is dealing with rejection. People are going to tell you it’s not going to work. The conservative ones will tell you to get a job for security, your family will try to protect you, your friends will tell you it’s one of those things, your neighbors won’t listen to you and you will begin to doubt yourself. The first rule of success is to believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in you, who else will? You’re conviction has to be so strong that all the rejection you receive is a reflection of their beliefs, not yours. You need to stay focused and stay the course.
In the beginning, we started to question ourselves when others didn’t see what we saw and when our business didn’t grow fast enough. But our need, desire and conviction were strong enough to get us through the tough times so we can today bask in the glory of having done it.
Our biggest ally is ourselves, but it is also our greatest enemy. You need to decide which side you are going to take and stay true to yourself.
MA: What is the one mistake that UnFranchise owners make when using social media to build their business, and how can they avoid it?
Lisa Lieberman-Wang: One of the biggest mistakes people make with social media is they forget that social media is social. They go online and start selling to everyone they can and lose any of the friends that they might have had. Social media is about pulling customers in, not pushing a product or service. Treat Facebook, Twitter and Google + like you’re going to a party. Wonder around, say “hello”, get to know the people, join a conversation, let them get to know you, share something that would be of value to them and become a true friend. They need to know you, like you and trust you. Old school values still apply here; no one is doing business with someone they do not like. Be likeable! Share things of interest. Show a personal side. Share free stuff that you have no vested interest in other than community service. Post about what you do, your accomplishments and experiences, and how passionate you are about your business. Be interesting and people will start to ask questions.
We once shared a promotion for a training we were doing that was about selling websites and setting appointments. After we posted the training, two people started asking us questions to see if it was something they could do. They both became business partners!
We believe in the 80/20 rule, 80% social and 20% business. One time we posted about the TLS Contest with $50,000 in Cash Prizes and got 7 new customers and did $3000 in sales in one week. We leave breadcrumbs online but we sell offline.
MA: JR talks a lot about getting over our fears, taking massive action, and learning to make a “mess” and clean it up later. On your road to success, how did you learn to let go and just make a mess?
There is a secret to doing this and unfortunately not enough people know it. People will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure, but the key here is to create more pain by not doing something than doing it. For us, not doing whatever it took would have been more painful than the fear of what someone would say or think about us.
We had gone from prosperity to desperation overnight. The fear of losing everything we worked for and not being able to support our family or have a roof over our heads was painful enough to keep pushing us forward and taking massive action. We would have done anything to get out of debt and find a solution. We made a decision and just forged onward. We didn’t have any support of senior leadership at that time and decided, “If it’s going be, it’s up to me.” This was an advantage for us because we didn’t have to wait on anyone else or plan our actions around other people’s schedules. No one will work harder for you than you, so we just did it.
We would like to thank Lisa Lieberman-Wang and Yardley Wang for taking the time to speak with us and revealing some of their best business-building tips! To submit a question, keep a close eye on the Market America Facebook page. This Thursday at 12pm we’ll give you an opportunity to submit questions for next week’s Shop Consultant. Then, read the ma® Blog on Wednesday to see if your question has been answered!
Now it’s your turn: which one of Lisa and Yardley’s tips do you think will be the most helpful to your UnFranchise® Business and why? Comment your answer below!