About one year ago a good friend invited me to a popular networking site and told me it would be a great way to promote The Afro Party House. I was very excited and signed up right away. I set up my page and added photos of myself and of my products. The mistake I made was adding personal photos that were in fact sending out the wrong message. Immediately I started getting lots of friend invites from various men (none of which were interested in my products but wanted to tell me how beautiful I am and how sexy I am). I got sucked in to this new found popularity and spent hours upon hours “networking” with my new friends. Soon my page was full of comments and gifts from various men and I was hooked!!! I was popular and it felt good!!! Every once in a while men would approach me about my business and offered to help me. I got involved with a couple men only to find out that what they really wanted was to take advantage of what I have to offer. Thank God I was smart enough to guard my heart and my dreams and soon cut those men off.Still, I was hooked on this site and couldn’t go one day without feeding my addiction. I had so many invites that I did not have to send out any friend requests. Soon I had over 800 friends (most of which were men) and when I closed my account I had over 20,000 hits. I spent so much time on this site that I lost focus of my initial purpose for being on the site. I was no longer focusing on my business plan. I was getting behind on important aspects of building The Afro Party House and delaying responses to customers and other companies of interest. I will say that one good thing about the site I was on is that I did use it to “test my product ideas”. Everyone knew me on this site as the “Party Supply Queen” but still, my orders were not coming from this site. In fact, most of my orders were coming from my press releases which continue to drive people to The Afro Party House’s website. In addition, my press releases helped me build a nice sized email list.Fast forward one year. I finally saw the light and cancelled my account with this popular site. I weighed the benefits of being on that particular site and realized it was allowing people to have access to me that are not likeminded or genuine in their interest and support of what I do.Presently, cancelling my membership on that networking site led me to search for other networking sites that are specific to my interest. I searched “Black Networking Sites” on Google and found Black Moms Club, Black Business Women Online and knew my blessings were beginning to change direction. I found LaShanda Henry and remember my eyes filling with tears as I read through her site. Just thinking about it now makes tears fill my eyes. Everything LaShanda mentioned in her videos and online courses was exactly what I needed to hear.Namely:• Are you on the right networking site?• Find your target market (just because you sell a black product does not mean all black people will buy from you)• Bundle your packages (I was doing this but didn’t know it was a strategy)• Up sell (I was already up selling since I sell my products in bundles and always offer the deluxe packages because it includes the favor boxes which are very popular)• If it doesn’t make dollars it doesn’t make sense (a Richelle Shaw quote replays in my head daily)• Invest in yourself (skip McDonalds and invest in solid online courses that offer what you need)In closing, The Afro Party House is thriving. We have been able to grow and add new products in spite of changes in the economy. I no longer waste my time on networking sites that drain my time and emotions. I learned to set up my sites specifically for what my interests are, to network with likeminded people, to support my sistas to the best of my ability, and to focus on my business plan.God placed a vision of The Afro Party House in my heart back in 1998. I knew the road would not be easy but cannot give up because my heart won’t allow me to let go. I keep the faith and when there is doubt someone comes along that inspires me to keep going. Customers tell me they love our products so that keeps me going. It’s about building relationships and loving what you do.Michelle B of The Afro Party Housewww.theafropartyhouse.com/party_themes.htmlwww.theafropartyhouse.com
Caught my eye, too. I had to put a disclaimer on a few networking sites I was on that basically said, if you're not here for business, you might want to move on!! These days, it seems it doesn't matter how professional you look, there's still some wolves out there!
Comments
Good post. Thanks!!
Thanks.