Relationships

I Don't Have to Keep in Touch, They Already Know…

We make assumptions. A huge one made by many is that others "already know" how we feel about them, their special occasions, what's important to them, things we can do to help them, or that we're interested in what they have to say. This includes family, friends, colleagues, customers and prospects.

So… being that we assume they already know all that, we don't communicate with them. Besides, it's a lot of effort to find their contact info and to keep up with what's going on in their lives.

Or is it?

If you put all your contacts into an easily organized and retrievable system, then no, it's not a lot of effort. And the payback is massive!

It goes without saying you should keep in contact with family and friends, but it's equally important to stay in touch with your business contacts.

You can't have a business without developing relationships. It's that simple.

For an example of a great organizational system that we use ALL the time… Go Here! It works amazingly well for us!

About the Authors

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Pat and Lorna Shanks deliver the "COOL" Goods and connections to "COOL" People. They provide tips, tools, education and informative sessions with knowledgeable people that enable entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small business owners to attract more clients and make more money. For more "COOL" tips, tools, knowledge and people, go to www.TheCoolestCouple.com or follow us on Twitter.

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Filed Under: Cool Knowledge, Pat and Lorna Shanks Tagged With: Business, Contacts, Organize, Relationships, System

How Posting Pictures from Events While They’re Still Fresh makes a Huge Impact, with Emma Tiebens

By Pat & Lorna 1 Comment

It was truly amazing to be able to catch Emma Tiebens for a COOL interview during Mike Klingler’s “Marketing Funnel Mastery” event held in Las Vegas.

Emma explains how getting those event/seminar pictures off your camera and onto Facebook right away can have a huge impact. Don't take our word for it; listen to the interview with Emma!!!

Emma knows what she is talking about, and definitely lives her role as The Relational Marketer. She is genuine, kind, and totally full of energy!

If you got any value from this interview, please comment and share.

To find out more about Emma, visit her at: EmmaTiebens.com

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Filed Under: Cool People, Emma Tiebens Tagged With: Emma Tiebens, Marketing, Pat & Loran Shanks, Relational Marketer, Relationships, TheCoolestCouple

Tag You're It! Are Your Connections Still Inside Your Camera?

By Pat & Lorna 1 Comment

Click on the Picture to See the Tagging Party in Action

You go to a seminar or event, and you take what seems to be a million pictures with the speakers and attendees that are there. So what do you do with those pictures? Do you take action and post them on your Facebook profile, with all the people tagged, while you're still at the seminar? Or do you promise yourself (and others) that you'll do that as soon as you get home?

What usually happens when choosing the latter situation, is you get home and the pictures don't even make it off the camera. Or… you download them off your camera, and they still take days, weeks, even months to make it to your Facebook profile. By then, half the people don't even remember who you are (or you don't remember who they are).

People love it when others remember their name, and they also love it when the pictures they volunteered their time for are actually posted with their name attached. And if you want to contact them later for help or to joint venture with them… do you think they'd be more willing to say yes if they felt you actually took the time and effort to acknowledge them before? We're pretty sure they would.

You asked people to have a picture taken with you for a reason… and you've made the connection with them. Don't lose that through procrastination on posting your pictures. In fact, they will be tickled pink if they go back to their room at the seminar and find the picture they took with you a few short hours earlier was already online.

Here's what someone wrote to us, and a few others, after finding out her picture was posted and tagged when she got home from the seminar…

Your business is about relationships… and you need to be diligent in maintaining those connections you've made. Making sure you post and tag your pictures as soon as possible after you've taken them is one way of strengthening that connection.

We also understand how much of a challenge it can be to remember who all the people are that you've connected with, and to know where to keep in touch with them. We have a system for doing just that, and it works amazingly well.

To see how we organize and manage our connections, Go Here!

So when it comes to staying connected and maintaining relationships, one very COOL step is to take action and get those photos posted!

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Filed Under: Cool Knowledge, Pat and Lorna Shanks Tagged With: Facebook, Photos, Relationships, Seminar, Tag

It's Remarkable How Much "Stuff" is Out There

By Pat & Lorna 9 Comments

Take a trip down the Internet yellow-brick road… the what?

Well, you start in one of the social networking sites, then follow a link that someone has put there. Once you get there, you'll find that there are more links to follow… more sites to discover, products to buy, free things to get, and on and on.

Now, not all of the things you come across are going to be meaningless, uninteresting or things you want to pass by. A lot of the information, products and services are going to draw your attention as something you'd really like to purchase or get involved with.

The unfortunate thing is that getting lost, and going in several different directions at the same time is often the result of heading down this road.

How do you make sure you don't end up lost or out of focus on where you want your business to be? Look at each piece of information or opportunity as how it relates to you and your business. Is it something that you can implement that will help you to grow your business? Or, is it something that you can use personally to grow you?

Not only do you have to determine if it is something that relates to you or your business, you also have to decide if it is something that you can and WILL implement. Even if something appears really cool, you also have to look at the probability of you actually using it.

Think objectively and choose wisely. Look through the hype to how it relates to you and what you are looking to achieve.

One way to physically "see" the relationships between information, courses, offers and the people you meet (physically or online) is to capture it all in a Dynamic Information Map. This is an uber Cool Tool that not only enables you to store and retrieve information and connections, but to actually see the relationships between it all.

To check out this totally Cool Tool and how you can use it to "see" how things relate to you and your business: Go Here!

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Filed Under: Cool Tools, Pat and Lorna Shanks Tagged With: Dynamic Information Map, Information, Relationships, Social Networking Sites

We Learned Something from Jimmy Kimmel?

By Pat & Lorna 50 Comments

Image Courtesy Pedro Mourelle

Here's Johnny! Oops, we mean Jimmy. Jimmy Kimmel… the late-night talk show host (and comedian) who had previously declared Twitter war with us on his TV show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and on Twitter.

It was an interesting, fun and very cool experience… and one that we learned a lot from as well.

What exactly did we learn?
This is what we learned:

1. Branding is important.

Having a brand that people can associate you with is very important. Unless you are extremely famous and everybody knows your name, having a brand that's different, something people can relate to or remember easily, and even something fun, will go a long way in getting you noticed by others.

Once you develop a brand you need to make sure that everything you do is through that brand. The more you put your brand out there, the more people will remember it and the more people will get to see it. It's also a good thing to tie it into your tweets and postings on Facebook… just a word here and there that relates to your brand.

Another thing we found is that it really helps to have a brand that fits you. If it is a brand that you can't relate to, or just doesn't speak to who you are, then you are less likely to use it to the fullest… and a lot of people will notice the disconnect and not buy into it. Find something you can be comfortable with. After all, you will be promoting yourself through this brand.

2. It doesn't happen overnight.

We've been working on our Twitter relationships for two years… following people, tweeting, getting involved in Twitter groups, re-tweeting, and building a lot of relationships. Usually, unless there's extenuating circumstances like having your own TV show, getting up to 57,000 followers takes time.

So the secret… get on Twitter and build relationships. Get involved. That doesn't mean you have to be on Twitter 24/7 either. A little bit here and there connecting with people goes a long way. As well, you can take advantage of auto-tweet programs, such as HootSuite. But use the auto-tweet programs as a compliment to personally connecting… don't use them for everything you do on Twitter.

3. Communicate with your followers.

One thing that was mentioned by Jimmy's followers as well as ours was that Jimmy wasn't on Twitter talking to them. Again, social media, no matter which site you're on, is all about relationships. We even got a few of Jimmy's followers to switch sides because we were actually talking to them.

4. Don't take it personally.

Because our name and picture were seen by a lot of people, we got a lot of not-so-complimentary comments; we just didn't take any of them to heart. You are not going to be liked or put in a good light by everyone. The interesting thing is that nearly all of the people who don't have anything nice to say about you, don't even know you at all. So what do they base their comments on? They make it up.

To get noticed you need to stick your head above the sand… and some people will take that opportunity to use it as "target practice". Criticism and detrimental comments are part of life, but one that we don't need to buy into.

Social media can be a lot of fun, while meeting a lot of cool people at the same time. You never know who you'll meet and what crazy and interesting experiences you'll have along the way.

Leave us a comment on what you've learned about social media and getting noticed online… and some challenges you've had in that regard as well. We'd love to hear about it!

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Filed Under: Cool Tips Tagged With: Branding, extenuating circumstances, Facebook, Jimmy Kimmel, jimmy kimmel live, late night talk show, Relationships, Social Media, talk show host

Top 5 Reasons to Organize Your Social Media Relationships

By Pat & Lorna 45 Comments

You, like most everyone else, have a ton of contacts you’ve met through Twitter, Facebook, your blog, and numerous other Social Media networking sites. And that’s where any information you have regarding those relationships stays… on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

You need to organize and manage those relationships… for your benefit and theirs. So now you're wondering… how beneficial can that really be?

Well here it is (drum roll, please)… the Top 5 Reasons why you need to organize and manage your Social Media relationships:

5) Facebook, Twitter, etc…
With all the contacts you have today, some seriously potential relationships can slip away without you even being aware of it. You need to keep track of your major relationships… at least have the names of your contacts, their Twitter page, Facebook page, and website or blog.

4) Joint Ventures
You have a great idea for an amazing online or offline business venture. What you need is someone else with specific skills to make the idea work and rocket to success. If you’ve organized your Social Media relationships, and have basic information on those contacts, your joint venture partner may be as close as your keyboard.
[Read more...]

Twitter Comments

	claudeoggier Sounds so easy:) RT @Pat_Lorna: Top 5 Reasons to Organize Your Social Media Relationships http://TheCoolestCouple.com/2cn #TCC
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	TBsocialmedia RT @ruthbelena: Reading @Pat_Lorna: Top 5 Reasons to Organize Your Social Media Relationships http://TheCoolestCouple.com/2cn => Thxs
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	Pat_Lorna RT @ruthbelena: Reading @Pat_Lorna: Top 5 Reasons to Organize Your Social Media Relationships http://TheCoolestCouple.com/2cn => Thxs
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	ruthbelena Reading @Pat_Lorna: Top 5 Reasons to Organize Your Social Media Relationships http://TheCoolestCouple.com/2cn #TCC
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Filed Under: Cool Tips Tagged With: Facebook, Relationships, Social Media, Twitter

Fond Memories, or Just Plain Ole' Fed Up?

By Pat & Lorna 29 Comments

Our son is graduating from high school this year (this will be our second one… wow, time flies). He is looking forward to having a very memorable experience with all of his best friends. There's the new suit, limousine rental, picture order, after-party planning, etc., etc.

Basically, he wants it to be an experience he'll have fond memories of for quite some time. All the work planning this event will be worth the effort considering how long the memories of his graduation will be with him.

Are you creating the same experience with your social media efforts? Or… are you just finding it a lot of time-consuming, hard work that has you just plain ole' fed up with the whole experience?

What is so Cool about social media is that it provides us with a venue to create new and long-lasting connections and relationships. Ones that can be with us for a long time, and ones that will be memorable and beneficial to both parties. By looking at social media that way… by creating experiences for ourselves and for the people we create relationships with, we can have fond memories of these experiences for a long time to come.

After all, that's what all of this is about. It's about relationships and helping each other out. We give and share and meet people along the way.

We can't look at social media as purely a way to sell to other people. It's not a virtual billboard or classified ads section, it is a place to connect with other people and develop relationships with them. Only once the relationships have been developed are people open to you sending them info on what it is you have to offer. By then they already know, like and trust you enough to realize that you are promoting to them things that will help them and are designed to make their lives better. And… wouldn't you rather promote your business from a place of connection and mutually beneficial relationships?

Create those fond memories with your social media efforts… meet people, connect with them, build relationships and have fun… that's what it's all about!

Filed Under: Cool Knowledge Tagged With: Promotion, Relationships, Social Media

The Power of a Tribe… And So Many Connections

By Pat & Lorna 16 Comments

Tribe. The word brings to mind thoughts of a group of people working together for a common goal.

In the online world it is no different. The "goal" or purpose of a syndication tribe is to get the great content and messages of the tribe members spread a lot farther than if they did it on their own.

By having your tribe members comment on your blog, and letting their followers, friends and fans know about your content, the reach of your content grows exponentially. This is a good thing… because people want to associate with people they know, like and trust; and their purchases are based on the same criteria.

Knowing how powerful this is and because we want to help and support others, we joined the Tribe Syndication Association.

Of course, the result of the added exposure from the tribe is a lot more connections and new-found relationships. With all these new connections to people comes the challenge of how to manage them. Basically, how to ensure you keep these relationships viable… that you're connecting with these people on a regular basis, and how and where to connect with them.

Yes, you can bookmark their blog or any of their other social sites, you can put them into a contact organizational tool such as Outlook, or you could enter all their information into a spreadsheet. But keeping track of each of their websites, various social media sites and other modes of contact are difficult and not very easy to retrieve in any of these organizational tools.

But there is a way to store and organize all these contacts and all their relevant information that works the way you think, is visual, and has search features that make information retrieval a piece of cake.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cool Tools Tagged With: Connections, Dynamic Information Map, Relationships, Syndication, Tribe

Organizing Relationships and Information for Review and Planning

By Pat & Lorna 1 Comment

Planning where you want to go personally, spiritually and professionally is a must. If you don't have a plan of what you want to accomplish and what you're going to do to get there, it can feel overwhelming or a lot like being lost.

To plan for the future, you need to know where you're at right now.

First let's look at relationships. You have a lot of relationships with other people; the question is what type of relationship is it? Is it a personal one, strictly professional, or both? How did you get to know this person? How can you help them? Do you have common relationships with other people?

So, to know how to keep and develop your relationships, it's important to have an understanding of what they look like now, how they relate to you and their connections with other people, events and information.

Now let's look at all the information and knowledge you've amassed over the years. It is said that knowledge is power. But as Goethe said, "Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do." Knowledge is of no value if it is not used.

How can you make use of, or act on, any information or knowledge you've acquired if you can't remember it or find it? To plan on where you want your business to go, you need to understand what you have in terms of information and knowledge you can use. Most of us don't need more information, we just need to know what we have and make use of it.

Now that we've demonstrated the importance of organizing and managing your relationships, information and knowledge, there are a couple of places you can go to to find out how we organize and manage it all.

To see a cool video on organizing and managing social media relationships,
go here!

And… for a cool video on organizing and managing your information and knowledge,
go here!

Trust us… knowing where you're at in your relationships, what information and knowledge you have… and being able to find it and make use of it, is a huge step in successful planning. That in turn is a huge step in your future happiness and success.

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Filed Under: Cool, Cool Knowledge, Cool People, Cool Tips, Cool Tools Tagged With: goethe, Information, Knowledge, knowledge is power, media relationships, Organizing, Planning, relationship, Relationships, Review

Connections and Relationships… And Other Things We Are Thankful For

By Pat & Lorna 6 Comments

As we sat here in the comfort of our home office, we thought about how thankful we are to have a house to live in. Others are not so fortunate… they do not have a place to call home.

So then we asked ourselves… what else do we have to be thankful for? A LOT!

We've outlined a few of the things we're thankful for in this mindmap:

So who said Thanksgiving comes around only once a year? We can be thankful (grateful) for what we have all year round. Think about and write down what you are thankful for, it's a very uplifting experience.

For us, our connections and relationships are especially important. On a daily basis we connect with so many people… in person as well as through all the wonderful social sites and technologies. Without even really being conscious about it, we are continually connecting with others.

These people teach us, support us, enable our success, bring us more joy… and basically complete us as human beings.

That is why on our blog we invite you to "Be Social With Us"! It is also the reason we organize and manage our relationships inside our knowledge maps. It is important for us to develop new relationships and to keep our established relationships alive.

It's all about relationships… how do you stay connected?

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