Have you as an entrepreneur ever been nervous about asking someone to buy what you’re selling? Fear of selling is a problem for many – whether it’s in person, via email or a sales page on your website. We don’t want to appear pushy.

Here are a few tips that will help you feel comfortable asking for the business. (And if you’re comfortable you’re more likely to do it.)

1. Be Direct.

Let’s think about it from the perspective of your prospective client…

Imagine being invited to someone’s home for a “business presentation” and you’re not clear what she wants from you. Your head’s racing with questions. Is she selling me something? Expecting me to buy? What does she want from me?

Now imagine the same situation but this time your host is more direct in her invitation. “I’m working with a great company and I’d love for you to see it. If it makes sense, I’d love for you to become my partner, or at least my customer. Come listen with an open mind and see what you think.”

You need to put your cards on the table and state what you want directly, the tension of the situation dissipates. People are greatly relieved because they understand your expectations.

Being clear at the beginning is usually the best approach. This way there are no surprises. I know I’ve had great success simply explaining my expectations upfront. It helps them, and it helps me as an entrepreneur to overcome my fear of selling.

2. Allow Your Authenticity to Shine Through.

Don’t put on a show. Let them get to know the real you. Be straightforward and authentic versus pushy and overeager. Keep it simple and easy-to-follow, you’ll come off more sincere if you’re not too fancy and overly polished.

3. Keep It Compelling.

Tell your prospect your WHY. Why were you motivated to share your product or service? This answer will create your connection. You can even share a compelling story. What’s great about a story is instead of feeling like your pushing yourself on them; you’ll know you’re sharing something authentic and of value.

Speak about the benefits of your products or services. Communicate the value of what you’re offering by showing your prospect how this opportunity will make her life better.

Your focus on service will help you overcome fear of selling.

Applying these suggestions will help you as an entrepreneur overcome your fear of selling and make it much easier for you to ask for the business, help more people and make more money. Remember that sales is not a 4-letter word, it’s the opportunity to provide someone with a solution to their problem.

“We Don’t Ask for the Business” is one of the sins I cover in my Action Guide “The Seven Deadly Sins Women In Business Make…and How to Avoid Them”. Learn from my mistakes and how by making a few, small changes you can become the entrepreneur who overcomes your fear of selling, attracts more clients, makes more money and has more fun. Click here to learn more.

It can be overwhelming trying to figure out who to connect with on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Should you friend and/or follow everyone? How can you really use the social networking platform in a truly authentic way?

I gained some valuable insight into this process when I spoke with my friend Amy Miyamoto,  at the Metromom Online Success Telesummit. Amy, who has thousands of friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter, and has developed them into authentic sharing relationship, provided many great tips on how to make meaningful connections.

The first step is to really be clear on who you are. How would you define yourself in one word?

Personally, I’ve always thought of myself as a “connector” but after reading the book “The Go-Giver,” I’ve decided those two words feels much better to me. A “Go-Giver” is someone who’s more concerned with “how can I give” than “what can I get.”  The beauty of choosing your own “word” is that once you sit in the space of your  word, it dictates how you put yourself out there and therefore how you come across to others.

Next, at the heart of authentically showing up in all that you do is recognizing the importance of being known, liked and trusted. People want to see who you really are, which then allows you to attract the right people, whether its mentors, potential joint venture partners or potential clients.

Amy also shared three different kinds of friends and follower to have in the social media landscape:

1. The “Influencers.” These are usually the first ones you look for—the experts in your industry. Ask yourself: Who do you want to learn from? Who are the mentors you want to get involved with? You’ll want to start friending and following those people.
2. “Colleagues.” These are people both in your industry as well as connected with people who are working with your same target market. They are a wonderful source of potential joint venture partnerships.
3. “Potential Clients.” This would include people who might be connected to potential clients. For example, my clients are entrepreneurial moms, so I would also want to look for people who know these moms.

By creating these types of connections you’re building a foundation that opens up many doors of opportunities. Each one is like making a deposit of social capital in your social bank account. If you spend time creating a quality base in the beginning, versus just focusing on numbers for numbers’ sake, you can appreciate that the exponential growth will be quality related.

This is only the beginning when it comes to social networking, To listen to my entire interview with Amy Miyamoto, “How to Leverage the Power of Social Media to Create a Community of Raving Fans and Still Have Time for Your Family and Yourself”, click here. FYI – She shares the one essential component for maximizing your Social Media success that most people are missing.

This morning I got to speak with Chris Velardi at WTNH in New Haven CT about how businesses can use social networking to increase their public awareness and break down the barriers between the “brick & mortar” facade and their customers.

My business girlfriend Laura West wrote a great article about creating more visibility and credibility to easily attract more clients my interacting authentically that I really want to share with you.

The real secret behind successful marketing is realizing that marketing is really about building relationships. As you promote yourself to potential clients you are really building their interest and their understanding of what you do and their trust in you in that you can help them with a solution to their problem.

Part of this relationship building experience is to increase your visibility so you get noticed and build your credibility, so that they view you as a specialist in a certain area. Many people call this being a "rock star" in your market. As a conscious entrepreneur I know that most of you are more modest and rock star makes you cringe. I like to call it creating "Celebrity with Integrity." You are creating "celebrity exposure" in your small market and doing it with integrity and a real sense of connection.

Creating "Celebrity with Integrity" can be fun, and the great thing is that all your efforts build on one another. You are creating a tipping point where your attraction marketing actions build and attract in bigger and bigger measurements.

It can start out slowly and easily with a few small steps, such as sharing client stories and photos from a workshop you attended. The steps get bigger – as you gain confidence, clarity and embrace your creativity. You’ll start being featured in other people’s newsletters, ezines and blogs. Then the energy of your "visibility & credibility" strategies gain momentum and you start to gain leaps in your results. Soon you are posting pictures with "famous people" in your market and successful clients.

Initially as you start, the first people who notice are your current clients. They always want to know what you are up to since they are already working with you. They like to know that they are working with a successful person. The second group of people who notice are your colleagues. You’ll start receiving kudos, emails, posts of congratulations on Facebook and shining star messages.

Then you’ll notice that there is an immediate layer of people around you who are potential clients. You haven’t worked with them yet but they are noticing everything you do. They are paying attention. I call them the "flirts." They’ll congratulate you on a speaking engagement or a recent award and you can tell that they are taking note.

What starts out as a step-by-step strategy to build your list and gain visibility can quickly start tipping into a big wave of results including:
•    Fans
•    Flirters or potential clients
•    Clients who want a small taste of what you have to offer (like a book or ezine)
•    Clients who are ready to invest

You’ll also start receiving invitations for more opportunities to promote yourself by participating in:
•    Products
•    Teleseminars
•    Events
•    Contributing articles
•    Contributing to collaborative books

It really is pretty fun – especially when it comes from your heart! Although many of us go through a period of frustration at the beginning. Something like, "I’m doing the marketing right, why isn’t it working?!" I know this question well as I was there a couple of years ago. I felt I was the poster child for perfect internet marketing. Now, you can see the wave of momentum by how busy my inbox is!

Marketing is a process, not a one time event. You don’t put it out there and it’s done. You are always tweaking your message. You are always getting clearer about your niche and your offering by listening to what works and what doesn’t work. Then tweak again. More – "Rinse and Repeat." This means you keep marketing consistently.

What is your "Celebrity with Integrity" strategy for this week? What’s one photo, testimonial, or client story you could share on your blog, ezine or Facebook to let your potential clients know that you are up to big things?

This article was written by Laura Howard West. She is and award-winning online entrepreneur and president of The Center for Joyful Business. If you are ready to shift your marketing and mindset for more success with joy and ease, get your free report: Business Attraction Success Kit

About a year ago my friend and fellow mastermind buddy, Rochelle Togo-Figa, came back from an event telling me I had to meet Debbie Phillips from Women on Fire. I checked her out and discovered that she’s my kind of woman – doing a lot of different things to support entrepreneurial women. She’s got a Women on Fire Community, offers these cool Tea Parties, hosts Vision Days with her husband Rob Berkley and has just completed her first book.

As luck would have it, I found her recently on LinkedIn and saw that she lived in Martha’s Vineyard which is where I was heading for vacation. I reached out, she responded enthusiastically and we agreed to meet for breakfast at the Black Dog cafe (a MV institution). She’s just huggable, I knew that right away. She arrived with open arms and a beautifully wrapped gift of her new book. We talked easily, vulnerably, and honestly as two old friends all morning. And…if I didn’t feel the pressure of my kids really wanting to go to the beach, I would have stayed with her all day.

My family said – where are you going mommy? Who is she? Do you know her? What will you talk about? Again, call it good instincts but I knew. Where will it go? I don’t know but I know I want to be a part of her world and share mine with her. To get a little background about how I feel about connections, please read a blog I wrote a few months back about the value of connecting and how one person can make a huge difference.

I do know I’ll be attending her next tea party in NYC in October. My biggest advice is follow-up on your instinct the next time it tells you to reach out and make a new connection. I truly believe it’s always worth the effort.

Social networking is the place to be for online marketing. Websites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook will allow you to generate new client leads and partnerships for your business. The question becomes, “Are you using it effectively as a lead generation tool?”  I’ve learned a lot about social networking this year and would like to share what I’ve discovered.

The first key to successful networking is to remember you’re building relationships. In whatever form you choose to put it out there, whether it’s written, verbal, audio or video, it’s all about people developing a relationship with you through your words and ideas.

Patience is required when building relationships – it takes time! Many people jump right into the sales pitch before they have had the opportunity to make the connection which is an instant turn off. Think of how many times you’ve gone to the local networking event where someone just hands you their business card and starts pitching you their business in public. It’s even more uncomfortable online because you haven’t even seen that person’s face.

Be observant. Over time you’ll be able to identify the goals, personality, and interests of others. By paying attention to those around you, you can jump in at the right time and make a connection. Start off with casual, small talk. It may sound like a time waster, but it’s actually an ice breaker.

Once you’ve found something in common, you’ve officially formed your connection and the relationship begins to build. By taking this approach, once it’s time to introduce the business side, you are a real person versus a salesman. Now that they see you are a real, trustworthy person, people are more likely to want to do business with you.

But how can you build your credibility as an expert? To learn how and get many more tips on how to social network successfully, get a copy of my Social Networking Bundle that includes a great interview with Nancy Marmolejo. 

I’d love to hear positive experiences you’ve had with those you’ve met via social networking channels.

"Web 2.0" – the second generation of the web – has a definite advantage to the way we as women do business, since the focus is on communication, information sharing, and collaboration. So how can you make your web presence interactive? AND, how can you do so easily and authentically?

 

 Easy, Fun and Inexpensive Ways to Interact with Your Audience [Metromom Podcast] [6:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

While connecting is clearly one of my intentions in all that I do, I’ve discovered that not everyone understands its intrinsic value. Are connections important? How many do you need? This week’s podcast examines the value of connection.

 

 Networking and the Value of Connection - Quality vs. Quantity [Metromom Podcast] [9:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I received so much great feedback on my last article about How to be an Authentic Entrepreneur that I chose to continue on the theme of authenticity and how it relates to online social networking. I think this is really valuable to women working from home because we need to form authentic relationships, both online and offline.

 

 Creating Authentic Online Relationships [Metromom Podcast] [8:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As an entrepreneur it’s so important to have a network of people you can turn to when you have questions. By getting other people involved in your business success, you’ll not only get answers to your questions, you’ll be inspired by their ideas.

You truly empower yourself when you involve people that will both cheer you on and provide valuable knowledge – people who can show you the “how”.

What if you don’t feel like you have enough people in your life that can give you the support you need? This is a big issue for mom entrepreneurs because we’re home alone and it’s difficult to find the business support we’re looking for. I believe there’s no need to go it alone as mom entrepreneurs are very generous in their support.

I recently had a Metromom in my community approach me on the side and say, “Kim, I’m really struggling. I have a full-time business and a direct sales business that is just not where I want it to be. Times are tough economically, and it’s just not working as I want it to.”

This woman opened herself up to me in a very vulnerable way. Because I understood her situation, I was able to connect her with other women I believed could support her. One of these women got her to think about something professionally that was completely out of the box.

This new idea caused me to say, “Aha. I can make another connection for you.” Together we were creating a spider web of new connections for her. It was such a glorious experience to watch and realize she had tapped into a handful of other people who could provide great support for her.

This story really emphasizes the importance of opening up to others to find the right answers to your questions. You might feel vulnerable admitting that you don’t know the answer but what better way is there to get support?

For myself, by asking good questions and finding the right people to support and help me find the answers, I’ve been able to move my business forward at a much quicker pace. Don’t underestimate your ability to get your business moving forward. With the right support, you can be empowered to be truly successful on your own terms.