As a conscious business owner the last thing you would ever do is send SPAM emails – right?   Well, if you have ever sent a bulk email to your Facebook friends list, then this blog is for you.

There’s been a trend building over the last several months on Facebook that has on a daily basis, filled my inbox with dozens of unwanted solicitations from well meaning “conscious” business owners trying to get the word out about their products, services and events.  My experience is not unique, as I’ve talked with others who say they too are getting an increasing number of solicitations in their Facebook inbox.

In my opinion, these Facebook emails are SPAM just as unrequested and unwanted as a Nigerian 419 letter or those never ending offers for free drugs to encourage the growth of certain body parts.

It’s understandable why so many are resorting to spamming their Facebook friends – it is a heck of a lot easier than building a real direct response list – but bad marketing practices have never been the path to a solid and sustainable business.   The few sales you gain short term, cannot make up for the damaged relationships and lost credibility over the long term.

Also, while bad marketing practices are annoying when applied to your own products and services, spamming as an affiliate can be grounds for loss of affiliate promotion privileges and even forfeiture of commissions in some cases.

If treating your Facebook friends as a direct response list is not the way to go, what are the options?

Here are my suggestions for upgrading Facebook marketing practices and results:

1) Create an event and invite every one of your Facebook friends to the event. The invitation will show up under “Events” and not in their email inbox.  Then, and this is VERY important, send confirming emails only to the invitees who reply “yes” or “maybe” and NOT to the ones who do not reply or who say no.   Ask your confirmed and maybe attendees to use the Share option on the event page and post the event on their wall or share with individually selected friends via personal email thereby increasing your exposure to others who will be interested.  It’s the Like attracts Like principal, and it works.

2) Create a fan page – which is much more like an opt-in list because by becoming a “fan” the person is essentially saying, “I am interested”.   If you are going to be sending marketing emails to your fans on a regular basis, I recommend you give them a heads up right on your fan page.   Fan pages are getting very creative, and many businesses are making a fortune from well designed Facebook fan pages.  Go for it!

3) Get personal – if you’ve got some “good fit for my stuff” peeps in your friends list (and of course you do), why not send them a personal email inviting them to look at your offer?  Yes, a personal email takes more time but it is proven more effective.  It also creates an opportunity to maximize the real value of Facebook, which is building relationships.  Instead of getting “unfriended” or “blocked” because of unprofessional social media marketing strategy, a personal email could lead you to a new client, a great referral partner or a gold mine of a joint venture partner.

4) Get organized – if you feel you simply must treat your Facebook friends like a direct response list, at least take the time to segment your friends into groups based on demographics or what you perceive their level of interest could be.  Minimally this will prevent you from looking like a dork for inviting friends in Montana to a networking coffee in Florida.

These are some of my thoughts on the subject of email marketing via Facebook, and I’d love to hear yours!  Comments are welcomed and encouraged but please, hold the blog spam.

Mary Kay Morgan is founder of AffiliateWealthPartners.com the only affiliate and joint venture resource exclusively serving the needs of the conscious business community.  Sign up now for our FREE membership into our Affiliate Community and gain access to our library of affiliate tutorials and to our approved list of high integrity, proven affiliate opportunities.

It’s finally here! Not the holiday season, although that’s here too, but the new FTC regulations governing endorsements, testimonials and affiliate promotions.  The 81 page document and the much shorter press release from October 5, 2009 have been the topic of much conversation, blogging, tweeting, teleseminar-ing, webinar-ing, and even an info-product from info-industry titan Joel Comm (Disclosure Statement: I’m an affiliate for Joel’s product).

This blog will not rehash the information that you can and (hopefully) have reviewed as the regs officially take effect Tuesday, although I’m sharing some links and resources for you if you at the end of this post that I found very informative. Instead, I’d like invite a discussion on the opportunity these regulations bring for an “integrity check” on our own business practices.

In the wild, wild west that is internet based direct marketing there are a lot, a whole lot, of unscrupulous marketers willing to do or say pretty much anything to get people to type their magic 16 digit number into the space provided. It’s unlikely that either you or I have ever engaged in that type of low-life marketing.  It’s also unlikely that the FTC is going to pay our marketing practices much attention, at least in the short term.  However, it is still a darn good idea both practically (they could be watching “little” guys like us) and energetically to get into alignment with both the letter and the spirit of the new regulations.

The letter of the regulations is complex and as of now at least, no one really knows exactly what you need to do/not do beginning December 1.  The spirit of the regulations, on the other hand, is simple: tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when communicating about your products and services.

Here’s why I believe a stark naked with the over head light on integrity check is due for all businesses:

1) Energetically, a lie is a lie. There is no difference between a big lie and a little one.  A lie is a lie.  A fudge is a lie. An exaggeration is a lie.  Failure to disclose is a lie – but there is an increasingly fine line between full disclosure and TMI.   That’s why the inner integrity check is essential.   You will feel it if there is something in your marketing that is not congruent with truth.  It will either feel “ew”, “not right” or the ego will rationalize a subtle arrogance, “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”  That’s the pleasure center of the lower self in action.  Lying is energetically quite sticky.  The more we lie, the easier it gets and the more we rely on it to get our needs met.  Besides, we all know what happened to Pinocchio. There’s just no hiding it!

2) It’s lack consciousness. A business  based on the principals of abundance cannot be lead with lack goggles on.  The willingness to be anything less than authentic and honest with people is rooted in lack consciousness. We secretly fear we are not enough, we will be discovered as frauds and soon bit by bit our communication becomes more staged and contrived.  It’s a slippery slope with nothing good at the bottom.

3) It’s not sustainable. Being out of integrity even in a small way undermines the foundation of “know, like and trust” essential to strong, sustained growth especially during times of economic stress.  Your audience “feels” you and if they feel something is off, they will take no action on your offers or move on altogether.  While it is unlikely that those of us who define ourselves as conscious entrepreneurs would intentionally create a strategy for quick cash at the expense of reputation, it is always fascinating to observe who we become during times of stress such as a cash flow crisis?  Make or break situations are going to happen in business, and are guaranteed to bring up the not-so-pretty “stuff” that lives deep inside.

4) You can’t take it with you. I’ll risk going a little woo woo here, but unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are aware that we are in a major shift like we have never experienced before.  Evidence of the shift is everywhere including and perhaps especially in the financial markets.  This shift is an up leveling of the consciousness of all humans, and the tolerance of the Universe for the “old” ways of doing things is going to become, I believe, extremely slim.   It is time to shed the baggage of who we are not, stand tall and “walk our talk”!

My belief is that the more in alignment you are with the natural integrity of your soul, the more successful your business will be.  Successful financially and successful in it’s mission to make a positive impact on the world community. An experience of success well worth the discomfort that comes from a thorough self examination and the minimal time and effort required to make the adjustments in your marketing to get fully compliant with the new regulations.

A few links on the subject that are well worth your time:

http://www.AskJamesHolmes.com/FTCRulesExplained – get a pen and paper out for this  information packed, not-to-be-missed 75 minutes with the guy who probably knows more than the rest of us about this hot topic, Mr. Kevin Houchin, Esq.

http://www.michelfortin.com/disclosure-policy/ – great ideas to model when developing your own disclosure policy and language.

http://www.copyblogger.com/affiliate-marketing-disclosure/ – great article as it demonstrates how the sweetness of integrity plus a twist of perspective makes some really good lemonade.

Mary Kay Morgan is founder of AffiliateWealthPartners.com the only affiliate and joint venture resource exclusively serving the needs of the conscious business community.  Sign up now for our FREE membership into our Affiliate Community and gain access to our library of affiliate tutorials and to our approved list of high integrity, proven affiliate opportunities.

We all know and hopefully do our best to practice The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It is simple even for the youngest child to understand, and when followed, creates a special kind of lubricant that allows relationships to flow easily with minimal grinding.

What happens however when in our minds this Golden Rule goes something like this: “Do unto others only if they do unto you as you would expect them to do based on all the doing you have already done for them.” <Insert crossed arms and defiant posture here.>    And before you begin thinking that this could not possibly be you, think again because this is the not so golden attitude I hear on a regular basis from disgruntled business owners who genuinely believe they have given more than they have received in their affiliate and joint venture relationships.

These business owners genuinely feel entitled to the promotional support of those they have promoted previously. Perhaps you would agree – after all, if you mailed for me, shouldn’t I mail for you?  Maybe. Maybe not.  There is more to consider and that is why I have established the 4 Golden Rules of Affiliate and Joint Venture Relationships:

Golden Rule #1: Say “yes” to mailing for a friend, colleague, or new business associate when and only when your “yes” can be unconditional. An unconditional “yes” reflects your belief that the product or service you are being asked to promote is rock solid and in alignment with the purpose and mission of your business.  You are excited to be a part of the promotion and you WANT your list to have access to it.  The only reason to say “yes” to promoting is you believe the product to be highly valuable and in service to your peeps.

Golden Rule #2: Respect the “no”. In order to receive the kind of big “YES” that will provide your campaign with the enthusiastic boost that will significantly up levels sales, you must be respectful when someone says,”no”.  No one owes you promotional support – not your good friend with the big list, not your coach, and not the business you mailed for so enthusiastically last month.  The reason for the “no” is none of your business and it likely has nothing to do with you or your product.  Accept it with an open heart knowing the “no” to be in your best interest and move on to the next potential partner.

Golden Rule #3: Know the difference between an “affiliate” relationship and a “joint venture”. Put simply, in an affiliate relationship there is no obligation for the  affiliate to do anything for the business.  If the affiliate chooses to promote and their promotion results in a sale, the business sends the affiliate a check.  Happy end of story.  Anything over and above a simple affiliate relationship, including reciprocal mailings, moves the relationship into joint venture territory (stay tuned for much more on joint ventures in future posts).   Which brings us to Golden Rule #4

Golden Rule #4: Never assume! I’m going to say that one more time: NEVER ASSUME.  It seems so simple yet over and over the conversations I hear behind the scenes where an business owner is peeved because so and so did not reciprocate could have been avoid if the parties involved had treated their business relationships as business relationships instead of star struck new lovers.  You honor your friendship and your business when you communicate appropriately to the situation and then put that communication in writing.

How does this look in action?  Consider:  if you agree to promote for a colleague (see Rule #1), and you choose to ask them to promote for you (see Rule #2 and Rule #3), and both parties say “YES!”, there must be absolute clarity on what each party will do.  Mail to their list 3 times in February for your Live Event Launch? Put it in writing.  Host a call with you to their list in December?  Put it in writing.   Put every detail including number of mailings for each party, dates and other seemingly minor details (Will you tweet for each other? How frequently?) put all these seemingly obvious, even “silly” details in writing (Rule #4), in an agreement, and have each party sign it.

If you adopt and follow these 4 Golden Rules, I can promise a significant improvement in your results both subjection (like how I feel about my relationship with Sue) and objective (how many sales Sue referred in my last launch).   It can also go a long way towards keeping your business legal fees to a bare minimum – and THAT is a good thing.

Mary Kay Morgan is founder of AffiliateWealthPartners.com the only affiliate and joint venture resource exclusively serving the needs of the conscious business community.  Sign up now for our FREE membership into our Affiliate Community and gain access to our library of affiliate tutorials and to our approved list of high integrity, proven affiliate opportunities.

At his live events my mentor engages his audience, an audience made up in large measure of service-minded, heart-centered “conscious” entrepreneurs, with a question: “Why are you in business?”

Someone will always take the bait, raise their hand and when called upon wax poetic about all the deeply meaningful work that is the “reason ” why they do what they do. My mentor listens carefully to the entire spiel, pauses briefly to take a slow breath and then responds, “No, that is not why you are in business.”

The 300 or attendees squirm a bit as a silent “thank gawd that wasn’t me” wafts through the room.   Most would have, if called upon, given a similar answer.  Then he asks the question again, and this time just a few brave hands rise.  Almost always, the next person called upon has the correct answer: “I’m in business to make a profit.”

It’s true – the goal of a business, any and all business, is to make a profit, but increasingly there is shift that is placing the “why” and “how” of making profits at the same level of importance as the profits themselves.   This is the root of today’s “conscious business” movement lead by and large by gutsy, purpose driven entrepreneurs (like you) and a handful of enlightened companies such as Newman’s Own, whose donations to charity are legendary, and Zappos for its “impossible” customer and employee care policies under the leadership of CEO Tony Hsieh.

When you bring your passion and purpose to your business while keeping your eye on the bottom line the result is typically a much higher levels of personal satisfaction and greater profits too.   Conscious businesses of all persuasions are proving that you can merge meaning with money for exceptional results.

While most affiliate networks focus exclusively on how to make lots (lots and lots) of money as an affiliate, if you consider yourself a “conscious” entrepreneur or small business owner, you must consider both profit potential and the effects your chosen revenue streams have on the end user and in some cases on the world at large.  A few considerations to begin your evaluation of any affiliate opportunity include:

• Alignment – is the product or service complementary and in alignment with the purpose, mission and values of your core business?
• Value – does the product or service provide a valid solution to a real problem at a price that makes sense?
• Hype – marketing language is designed to create an emotional response however be watchful for promises that are simply too good to be true, and reject any company that will not back it’s products with a full money back guarantee!
• Reputation – take a few minutes and research a company you are considering representing.  Do a Google search on the company, its products and its owners before enthusiastically jumping in with both feet.  Better yet, stick to opportunities recommended by Affiliate Wealth Partners who do this “vetting” for you.  Remember the old saying, “If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas!”
• No harm – does the product/service you are considering add to life or does it take away from life?

Profits and purpose.  Money and meaning.  It’s the why and way of business today.  As a conscious entrepreneur and affiliate marketer you are a part of the “serve more to sell more” revolution.  Congratulations and welcome.
Mary Kay Morgan is founder of AffiliateWealthPartners.com the only affiliate and joint venture resource exclusively serving the needs of the conscious business community.  Sign up now for our FREE membership into our Affiliate Community and gain access to our library of affiliate tutorials and to our approved list of high integrity, proven affiliate opportunities.