HIRE ME TO SPEAK
HIRE ME TO SPEAK

Social selling means making a lifestyle change

I write about strategies to turn fans into customers and customers into fans. I also share ways to use real-time strategies to spread ideas, influence minds, and build business.

Social Media  |  Personal branding  |  New Rules of Sales & Service  |  Best Practices

ChinupsMaking social networking part of your selling strategy requires making a change in your life.

But it’s scary to make a lifestyle change. I know that. I did it two years ago myself.

It means a different routine. It means you need to find time. It means you will be out of your comfort zone (at first).

Over the years, I’ve interacted with thousands of people who want to begin creating content on the web for sales purposes. I’ve discussed how to get active on social networks like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and the like to reach buyers directly and at the moment they are interested.

Social selling means making a lifestyle change

The advice I give to someone who, say, wants to start a blog to reach buyers and sell more is they need to make a lifestyle change. You can’t just dabble here and there. You need to be consistent and update the blog a few times a week because each post is a real-time update of your expertise and every one is a link that search engines will find and index.

So how do you find the time to create several blog posts (or YouTube videos if you don’t like to write) a week? Simple! You make it an important part of your life.

I recommend that you don’t even try to find the time to create content and participate in social networks. You’ll fail, just like finding the time to exercise leads to failure and wasted money on health club memberships.

Many people are surprised when I say that I probably spend about six hours a week on social networking—about the same amount of time I spend exercising each week. I don’t even think about it. It’s important, so I do it. And I can’t really say how. It’s mainly in microbursts of one or five minutes throughout the day.

Exercising and getting fit

I’ve found that finding the time to participate in social media is much like exercise; you need to make it an important part of your life. If it is important to you, you don’t even think about it anymore. It just is.

Two years ago today, I started the P90X fitness program, a series of videos starring Tony Horton. I’ve “graduated” from all three of the 3-month routines: P90X, P90X2, and P90X3.

The P90X program focuses on “muscle confusion” a fitness philosophy of mixing up routines. The idea is that while running every day of the week is good, doing seven different things during the seven days of the week is better.

I now do a modified P90X. Most weeks I’ll do a day of gravity routines including push-ups and pull-ups, a day of core work such as Pilates, Yoga a day a week, a day of swimming, Dumbbell work another day, some lower body stuff another, and if I’m near a beach or trail I’ll go for a run or a mountain bike ride.

I hit all the muscle groups and never allow my body to become accustomed to the same exercise.

My fitness level has increased significantly.

I’ve gone from being able to do 2 chin-ups two years ago to 15 chin-ups in one go today. I even do some crazy stuff like pull-up-crunches and 4-medicine-ball-push-ups. Today, at age 53, I am more fit than ever before. I’m stronger than when I was a teenager and have much more endurance than when I was in my 20s.

You have a choice

You can choose to exercise regularly in order to stay fit. The most effective way is when exercise becomes part of your routine.

You have the same choice with implementing social selling. Make it a part of your life and you’ll succeed.