TIP: Teach Facebook who to connect you with.
TIP: Send a friend request and “like” or comment at the same time.
How to find business partners.
Is there a room somewhere with all the potentially awesome rock star business partners sitting together, and we can walk in, pick a couple of them, and be on our merry way? I’m joking, obviously. It comes back to the same thing that I said about finding your target market: write it down on paper. What are some of the traits of your ideal business partner? I wrote out a few of mine: high energy, multitasker, high Facebook engagement, a large network, caring, giving, kind, positive, an entrepreneurial background. Facebook tells a story about each person. You can read it. What are you looking for? And then ask yourself, “Where am I going to find them?” Put in the work that nobody sees and stay consistent with it.
If I’m in a conversation on a group post and feel a connection, I “like” or comment on something they posted and then immediately send the friend request. Here’s why—their newsfeed will show two back-to-back notifications from me. The first one might be, “Jen Sebbas commented on your post in the cooking group,” and the next one, “Jen Sebbas has requested to be your friend on Facebook.” This way the person instantly makes that connection. It makes sense to them. The trust level is there, and they are far more inclined to accept the friend request. I usually send out about five friend requests a day, and I track them all on paper.
Facebook will offer “suggested friends.” You’ll find them in that little bar you often scroll past. Don’t simply add them all, because things could go wrong very quickly. Instead, click on each person and then immediately click on “common friends” and look for a connection to Melaleuca with that person. You’ll see it right away if they have one. If you discover that a suggested friend is connected through Melaleuca, click to dismiss the suggestion . The more that you do that, the more Facebook knows you don’t want to be connected with people who have Melaleuca in common, so it won’t put those people in front of you anymore. Imagine if you inadvertently friend request a new business partner’s mom and then, without knowing better, approach her about Melaleuca? That would be terrible. You also teach Facebook who you DO want to connect with. Last October I went to the Rise Leadership Circle networking event in Chicago, connected with a few attendees in person, and sent them friend requests. Facebook picked up on that, and instantly I started getting friend suggestions from other people in the Rise Leadership Circle! I now have more than 200 amazing entrepreneurial- minded leadership women in my contact list, and many have become customers.
TIP: Don’t post in groups participate instead!
How do you know when to approach a Facebook friend?
Once you are in your groups, don’t drop a fishing net into a sea of strangers and see who you can pull in. A commercial- type post may get lots of requests for information, but the truth is it doesn’t really produce anything. It’s just a big mess! Connect by watching for opportunities to engage with, comment on, and “like” or “love” their posts, and get to know the group through good old- fashioned conversation.
The best advice I can give you is to ask yourself if it were reversed and that person were reaching out to you and asking you to take a look at something, would that be welcomed? Would you feel enough rapport? Would you feel a high enough level of trust, which is really what it comes down to? Or would you be thinking, “What’s her name again? Who is this person?” Just test it, and you absolutely will know. It’s a gut feeling. There are those who just jump right into somebody’s inbox immediately and gush Melaleuca even before the friend request is accepted and they’ve said hello. Others think, “I’m going to foster this friendship forever because I need to build the relationship! I’m going to get to know their dog’s name, their children’s school schedules, and their birthday!” Find yourself somewhere in the middle.
36 JANUARY 2021 | MELALEUCA.COM
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