Earning

Facebook as a Marketing Tool

As you may know by now, I make a decent amount of side income through both passive income streams as well as doing online and offline work. My favorite side income stream is, of course, my passive income endeavours, but I’m still always trying to find ways to make more money, so I can use that income to generate even more passive income.

All of my side jobs are service based. I staff and ghost write, offer blog commenting and consulting services, and make some decent affiliate income from my blogs. However, lately, I’ve been looking at product based side businesses as a way to diversify my income and also give me something fun and new to do.

I’ve made a few hundred dollars from re-finishing and flipping furniture, and while I have fun with that, it’s not my product-based side income idea; my idea is something else entirely, that would rely almost 100% on online sales.

Facebook as a Marketing Tool

I am getting married in just a few months, and that’s how my side business idea came to me. I was doing something wedding related, which it turns out I have quite the knack for.

I posted the finished product to a social media site, to show off the craft, and I got a lot of positive feedback.

I thought “what if I could make this into a viable side business?”. I haven’t dabbled in product based businesses in years, so before I jumped on the perceived opportunity, I did my research into the different marketing tools (free or otherwise) available on the web.

When I opened my mind to it, I noticed how strong of a tool Facebook can be for certain niches, and weddings is one of those niches.

Building Personal Relationships

As a small side business, building personal relationships with clients is a huge deal. Facebook definitely helps with that.

I’ve seen businesses (specifically the ones that my Facebook friends have started) really take off because of Facebook. I’ve actually seen Facebook based businesses – their website is their Facebook page and people buy things, or services, right off of Facebook.

I think people like to know who they are buying their products and services from; specifically if it’s for a special occasion, such as a wedding, birthday party, or another special event. In the example below, I was not only able to look at a portfolio of examples, but also get to know who it was that was offering the service.

You’re able to build personal relationships on Facebook so much easier than just having a website, for instance.

Facebook and Word of Mouth Marketing

I came across the power of Facebook for word of mouth marketing accidently. I am a member of a wedding buy/sell/swap group, and I put out a message to the other members (about 2,500 people) to find a good hair dresser.

I quickly got dozens of responses from women in my own and neighboring towns, suggesting people and showing me pictures of their own hair that their favorite hair dresser did.

They were sending me links to Facebook fan pages, the hair dresser’s Facebook pages, and their own (as examples). I got to window shop before I picked the hair dresser that I went with.

 

This just touches on the power of Facebook as a marketing tool. Shopify digs deeper into Facebook strategy and promoting your business on Facebook. If you have a business that could benefit from Facebook (and it surely could), make sure to take advantage of the powerful tool.

One Reason Why Someone May Need To Keep Up with the Joneses

We all know that one of the golden rules in personal finance is to never try to keep up with those darned Joneses.

We all know at least one or two people who are our coworkers, neighbours, friends and even family that are constantly trying to emulate the Joneses. They show off with their big houses and fancy cars and you can think one of two things, either they are making a ton of money and thus can afford to pay for these things (but the million dollar question we need to ask is: Are they SAVING a LOT of money as well? If they are, then all the more reason to hate them, right? Ha ha), or they are in deep debt and want to keep it a secret.

keeping up with jonses why

via https://www.flickr.com/photos/drljohnson

Who Should Try to Keep Up With the Joneses?

So you might be thinking who would need to keep up with the Joneses? (Or maybe for all the Gen Ys and millennials, it’s keeping up with the Kardashians)?

People in sales, real estate, investment bankers, that’s who. If you’re selling something, you need to look like you can sell. Image is everything in this case.

I’ve had very minimal experience in sales and haven’t had much to show for it. All I can say is that I’m horrible at it and kudos to the people who are amazing at it. They have the right look, attitude, and confidence to gain a person’s trust. They always know exactly what to say.

Presenting Yourself Well

Regarding looks, as superficial as it seems, if I saw that my realtor was driving some sort of economy car or their car was in a bit of rough shape, I would think to myself, Is he/she really good at selling houses? Or can he/she find the right house, for the right price?

I think we’d all rather have someone who was a successful realtor and aside from word of mouth recommendations and perhaps their company’s reputation, what else could help determine if this realtor was good enough?  The type of car they drive seems to be a common type of assumption. If they have a higher end car (maybe they did buy it used, but we don’t have to know that), then it seems like a symbol of success. It’s a symbol that indicates they have made a lot of profit on the houses they’ve sold and this is what they have to show for it.

The same can go for any type of sales position. My partner’s friend gets a company car for work and it has to be relatively new. The model can’t be any older than 2009 or something like that. Looks seem to be everything when it comes to sales and that look is bright, shiny and somewhat new. Whether or not you have to pay for it, you have to show your buyers that you are successful by having a high-end image.  You need to show them you can make money for yourself and/or money for your company and that they should do business with you.

They also have to wear the nice suits, which is also can cost a lot of money if you’re looking for good quality and the right fit. Again, you can always buy secondhand, but it may not have that same new look to it.

There may be such a thing as the “Wealthy Barber”, but I have yet to hear the term the “Frugal Salesman”. There are  also “Next Door Millionaires”, but I doubt many of them are making the big sales pitch.

 

Can you think of other occupations in which people need to look like they are keeping up with the Joneses? Have you judged a realtor by what type of car they drove? Maybe I’m the only superficial one here. 😉

Up Your Networking Game By Playing Golf and Squash

 Aside from hockey, the game of golf can be the most expensive sport to play. You have to purchase golf clubs, shoes, gloves and other golf apparel.  There are also green fees to pay. Some golf courses require you to rent a golf cart. Let’s not forget the social aspect of golf, so you may end up adding alcohol to the list of expenses.

I have played a round of golf once in my life and gone to the driving range twice.  Due to my lack of patience and abundance of frustration, I never bothered to try the sport again.  I felt I was this close to pulling a Happy Gilmore. Like all sports, it’s all about technique, but I wasn’t willing to try to learn the technique. I found golf rather boring. It amazes me even more that people can actually watch golf on television.

networking game golf

via https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/

I think I’ll stick to miniature golf instead.

What amazes me even more is the amount of people play who play golf. Quite a few people at work, including my boss, play golf. So there is a lot of golf talk around the office.

Golf is a Networking Sport

An ex-boyfriend of mine once told me that I should learn to how to play golf. I just gave him this weird look and asked, “WHY?!?!” He told me that the golf course is where connections are made and that it is a good place to network.

Initially I didn’t give his advice much thought, but thinking about it now, it makes perfect sense.

As I mentioned before, golf can be a rather expensive sport to play, thus people with higher incomes are likely to take up the sport.  The town I live in is considered one of the most affluent communities in Canada. Interestingly enough, it is also home to several golf courses/clubs.

There does seem to be somewhat of a link (no pun intended for all you avid golfers) between wealth and golfing.  However, that’s not to say that people with less than six-figure salaries can’t play the game either. There are both private and public courses available.

Golf Provides a Relaxed Networking Environment

According to Mike Moran, from Life on the Buy Side, “Golf is by far and away the most common sport played by anyone is the business world.”  Unlike formal business events where networking can be a little more awkward and somewhat forced, golf provides a more relaxed environment. I’m not aware of other sports in which you can drink while playing. The fact that it’s a slower paced game than most sports may help. You never hear of people making business deals on the soccer field or on the sidelines of the basketball court.

Squash is Also a Networking Sport

Although it may not be as obvious to some, but based on my observations at the gym, it seems like squash is also a business game.

For one thing, squash may be a slightly cheaper business game to play because you only have to get a squash bag, racquet, ball and a pair of squash shoes.

I have noticed a lot of men (and a few women) walk into the gym with their business suits and giant squash bags. There are several armchairs in front of the courts in which players and non-players alike can chat and watch the game in action, therefor giving ample opportunity to network and make that connection.

It’s one of those games where single players can find other players looking for a game. Sometimes I’ll see three guys playing in the same court, taking turns hitting the ball throughout the game.

Since it’s a game played indoors and can be played year round, perhaps a lot of golfers are squash players as well? And maybe vice versa.

Do you play squash or golf? If so, have you been able to make any connections from it?