Sep 25, 2008

Here’s How To ‘Pimp Out’ Your Profile to Create a Magnetic Brand, Attract a Constant Flow of New Leads, and Avoid Looking Like a Total ‘Poser’…

Earlier this week, I sent out a great training piece on how to use forums and since then the activity on the Better Networker forum has picked up like crazy, and we are even getting noticed by top-tier marketers thanks to the awesome teaching and sharing that’s being done.
Videos, podcasts and articles are also being posted at an insane pace, (I’ll come back to these topics in a later newsletter).
But where many of you are dropping the ball is with your profiles.
What good does it do if you put together an awesome article, an entertaining video, a compelling forum post, and racked up 2,000 rewards points, if your profile is as bare as bones?
Understand that your profile is how you are going to create that personal connection with your prospect and brand yourself as an authority in their eyes. They are going to read whatever training you put together then want to learn more about you.
At that point, if all they see an a lame 1 paragraph “About Me” section, 1 fuzzy picture, ugly affiliate links for your websites and very few friends/connections… what are they going to think?
I’ll tell you what they are going to think, “Oh, this person is a poser. There’s not much going on here”.
First impressions are everything. You can’t screw this up.
Your Magnetic Profile Formula

So here’s what you should pay attention to when working on you profile:

Main Profile Pic – Use a professional, and cool looking picture for your profile. Remember, you are a business owner, a leader, and an example to follow – look like one!

I HIGHLY recommend you hop on Google and find a professional photographer in your area and get some excellent pictures taken. You will be judged by your picture more than anything else at first glance, and it will either send the right message, or the wrong message. There is no in between. It will be the best $200-$300 you’ve spent.

Gallery – Add at least 8 pictures of you doing various activities. These can show you in a variety of settings, which can include business, sports, parties, family pics, vacation pics, etc. You want to demonstrate what the lifestyle of a successful entrepreneur looks like.

About Me – Tell your story, be genuine, be honest but confident. Remember, there is only one of you, therefore no one can compete with you. Think of this as the sales letter, which is selling you as a friend, mentor and leader. Tell people about your pains, struggles and your victories.

Friends – Be social. If someone lands on your profile and sees that you have just a few friends, they’re going to think one of two things… Either this person isn’t very active on this site or in the industry… Or that you’re a newbie and you just don’t know anyone. Introduce yourself to people on this community, by sending them a private message and connecting with a friend request.
Be Mr. (Ms.) Popular!

Note: Everytime you send someone a message or write on their guest book, write it from scratch and address it directly to them. You want to give the impression that you actually read their profile. (duh!) I hate copy past messages and it’s obvious when you are doing this. People who copy and paste the same message to everyone, or sign guest books with using the same strategy are seen as lazy and opportunistic. Be GENUINE.

Groups – Join groups and show that you are active, but don’t join too many groups. You want to demonstrate that you are active in the community, but that you are selective about with whom you hang out with. The rule is simple… Only join a group if you actually plan to participate.

Status – update your status at the top of your profile with some cool blurbs. If you are writing some copy or updating your adwords campaign, mention it. You want to be both fun and active.

My Websites – I recommend that you don’t post naked affiliate links here. Whenever you post an affiliate link or a link to your replicated company page which looks like http://susan.mycompany.biz, the first thing people will think is “Oh, this person is a newbie. They don’t even have their own website or domain”. You CAN post affiliate links, but buy a real domain name had use a redirect to send people to the actual affiliate link. This is about “image”, and using naked affiliate links is an amateur move.

If you need help with this kind of thing, invest in courses like Magnetic Sponsoring and services like Instant M L M Profits (IMP). So you can learn how to setup your own lead capture page, email newsletters and unique domain (.com).

Magnetic Sponsoring is the 'how to' on lead generation and IMP takes care of setting up your marketing in less than an hour for only a buck! I highly recommend both of them if you need help generating leads.

My Content – be an active participant of this community. Your history of activity will be shown on your profile for everyone to see. Just setting up a profile and hoping someone finds it is not enough. Demonstrate that you have a lot to contribute, by having a history. Update your blog regularly with cool pieces of news or tips, be active on the forums, post more extensive training pieces as articles and so on.

Points – and of course, the more active you are, the more points you build up for yourself. Again, show a history of activity but post quality content. Don’t repurpose articles and claim them as your own.

Note: If you want to reference an outside article, post a link to it on your blog or in the forums and comment on why you think it’s important. Don't not post it under Articles. Do this enough times and you risk getting booted from BN.com.

So that’s my quick overview on creating ‘magnetic profiles’. A few great example profiles you may want to look at, while creating yours are below…

All of these people are BN Admins or Moderators.
http://www.betternetworker.com/members/lisaalexander
http://www.betternetworker.com/members/ferny-ceballos
http://www.betternetworker.com/members/lena-bjorna
http://www.betternetworker.com/members/mike-dillard

So to get started, head over to:
BetterNetworker.com

You may use this article to post on your blog or website as long as you do not change anything in the article including the links and full give credit to the author.

No comments: