Pete Olsen didn't start out in marketing. As a 1993 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, which, by the way, is ALMOST as good as the United States Air Force Academy!, he served his 5-year commitment as a naval officer and then entered Corporate America with J&J and Taylor Made.
But, like me, he hated having a boss and "fired his boss" in 1999 to pursue his entrepreneurial dream. He moved to Montana from SoCal and did quite well in real estate until the big collapse of 2008.
It was then that he learned about social media and how he could build something that is more permanent. Now he helps others do it as well.
Rubber-Meets-The-Road Sales Tip
- “If you’re not changing you’re dying.”
- Dec 2008 and he was looking at Facebook and he thought “do I care what my high school friends are doing?” Then he put it all together.
- Be more deliberate and patient in building your following. Interact with them.
- Build laser-targeted followers and deliver good content. You can share content. Let people see you as the expert in your field.
If you're not changing you're dying"
- It’s all about the conversation. When someone Retweets he sends an @ reply and says, “Thanks. What do you do?”
- Build rapport. Have a conversation. Then when they need a Realtor or a Plumber or a Sales trainer they’ll think of you.
- Don’t be all business all the time. Let them know you care.
- Set aside a little time each day to work on your social media.
- Get back to people that @ reply and ask you questions. Thank those that engage.
- We all like to be acknowledged.
Don’t be all business all the time. Let them know you care."
- Pete doesn’t like the validation tools on Twitter. It just makes it harder for people to engage with you. You’re telling people “Hey. I’m a real difficult people to deal with. I’m not a trusting person.”
- You can have a welcome message that sends a direct message to new friends. They’re “okay.” They can be “spammy.” Avoid that when you can and engage personally.
- Pete agrees that you can flood the feeds of your followers with silly, generic “thank you’s”, so make it personal. Look at their profile and personalize the message.
- Pete has only had his website for a year. He would just chat with people and say “Hey, can we take this offline to continue the dialogue?”
- “I hustled hard during the transition to put food on the table.” His income had dropped 80% from real estate. He started helping people with social media and was figuring it out quickly so he did for others what he was learning.
Pete did for others what he was quickly learning and doing for himself."
- He was like a school teacher that stayed one chapter ahead.
- Act confidently and people will think you are an expert. (The military taught him to remain calm and act confidently.)
- This isn’t rocket science. It’s just steady, consistent effort.
- You can’t be bombarding people all the time with your products. 3/4 should be content you share about your industry plus personal posts. Let people see you are real. Be transparent.
- His clients appreciate getting a personal call instead of hiding behind assistants, etc.
Act confidently and people will think you are an expert."
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