Adventures in Relationship Marketing
Using your networks and other people’s networks to get the word out

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Relationship marketing
Relationship marketing is a hot topic these days. I’m not sure how “the experts” define it, but I know what it means to me. And it means a lot.

Letting people get to know you
Many years ago I subcontracted seminar training to an international seminar company. Part Linda Larsen photoof my job was to offer resources – books and tapes. I didn’t just stand up and pitch the items – I carefully built relationships between myself and my audience. I told relevant personal stories and shared my own triumphs and foibles. I also carefully built a relationship between my audience and an author, Linda Larsen, whom I featured. I introduced Linda early by quoting her, sharing her stories and crediting her ideas I used in my seminars. By the time I was ready to talk about her 12 Secrets for High Self Esteem audio, people already felt like they knew Linda and wanted to know her better. They were delighted to discover they could take this 12 Secrets to High Self Esteem CD set cover imagewoman home with her in the form of CDs.

My seminar mornings were mornings of building trust – in myself and in Linda Larsen. Of course, if I built that trust and violated that trust by misrepresenting what I offered, I would have violated the principle of responsible relationship marketing. Some relationship marketers use false openness, which spoils it for the rest of us.

Electronic relationship marketing
My A PowerPhrase a Week Newsletter is a type of relationship marketing. I don’t just contact subscribers when I want to offer something – we relate on a regular basis. I interact with some readers via email and my blog. I plan to increase the relationship aspect as I start teleseminars again in the fall.

My relationship with my readers is precious and I make a point not to abuse it. I receive weekly co-marketing requests which I decline out of my desire to respect my readers. I freely recommend resources that I believe readers would benefit from, but won’t tell them to get something I don’t endorse, no matter what would be in it for me if I did.

One on one
Several years ago I had the pleasure of meeting the master of one-on-one relationship marketing Donna Vessey, when I hired her to play Bunny Bubbles in my Center for Lowered Expectations video.

Donna Vessey photoI don’t think I would become as good of a friend with Donna as I did were she not building her entertainment business. She attended numerous networking events and relentlessly stayed in touch with a vast network of people as she built Donna Vessey Entertainment. She was straightforward about her agenda of seeking referrals as well as her desire for information from me regarding writing and publishing. But that didn’t take away from the fact that she sincerely related to me in a personal and nourishing way. I had lunch with her last week and was delighted to hear what her pleasant persistence has created. She earned her success.

My own adventures
Fittingly, I’ve plunged into a new level of relationship marketing in promoting The UltiMate™ Relationship Seminar. It’s a tough challenge to get people to commit a weekend and a few hundred dollars to a speaker they’ve never met, teaching a topic they know nothing about. I knew it would take a lot of relating to get the word out.

My approach is similar to the approach I used when I promoted Linda Larsen’s 12 Secrets CDs. Just like I attempted to help people relate to Linda, the author, I see my job in promoting The UltiMate™ Relationship Seminar as to help people develop a relationship with presenter Jeffrey Armstrong. To accomplish that, I’ve written articles. My article:
The Secret Power of Tears: How to cry your heart open and SpeakStrong in love
is the most forwarded articles I’ve ever posted. This week, I posted an article called Be the Soul, Love Soul to Soul.

We also offered two teleseminars. We recorded them, and I hand out CDs to people who agree to listen. I also wrote summaries and posted them with the MP3s online.
Jeffrey Armstrong

But the real relationship marking takes place in the form of personal interactions. I invite people to get to know Jeffrey Armstrong through me in one-on-one interactions. My efforts would make Donna Vessey proud. In the past few weeks I’ve bought over twenty people lunches, and I’ve attended more networking meetings and spoken to more groups than in the last several years combined. I’m looking forward to eating my own cooking again.

In the process, I haven’t just told people about why I’m so excited about The UltiMate™ Relationship Seminar. I’ve actually formed some really fabulous friendships.

I’m stunned at people’s willingness to share their own networks with me. Information has gone out on more lists than I can count. I continually hear people tell me they’ve already heard about the event from someone they know. To illustrate the dynamic, I held a preview at my chiropractor’s office last week. One person came because she 1) Saw me at a networking event, 2) Read about it in her minister’s email, 3) Heard about it twice at a local bookstore, 4) Read a post a colleague made on a yahoo groups service, and 5) Received an invitation from my chiropractor to the preview. I’m sure she’ll hear about it in one or two more places before all is said and done.

And it didn’t hurt a bit when the chiropractor told the group that he was behind the event because he saw the difference The UltiMate™ Relationship Seminar made in me.

The woman at the chiropractor’s meeting invited me to send her some press releases for her to pass on to her network. Why? Because she liked what she heard and believed she would be doing her network a service to let them hear about it too. I agree.

Relate first, market second
I confess, I love marketing. It relates to my PowerPhrases platform. I love finding ways to present ideas that get through the filters. And just like I do every time I create a new PowerPhrase, I make sure I’m being authentic in my relationship marketing. It comes down to an old phrase many of you have heard. Say what you mean, mean what you say, and don’t be mean when you say it. If you are marketing something that has value you believe in, relationship marketing can get the word out. If you’re promoting junk, you might prefer to hide behind traditional marketing.

However, if you’re marketing something of limited value, a better option would be to find something that you believe in enough to want to tell people about personally. I did, and that’s why I sold so many 12 Secrets CDs. Donna Vessey did, and that’s why she’s been able to build an entertainment empire. And I believe that’s why I am experiencing such an amazing level of support in promoting The UltiMate™ Relationship Seminar.


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Meryl Runion and Speak Strong (SpeakStrong) provides Power Phrases (PowerPhrases) and other tools to help you improve communication skills at work and at home. You can read more about her at www.speakstrong.com.

Meryl is the author of six books on communication that have sold over a quarter million copies worldwide, including Speak Strong, PowerPhrases!, How to Use PowerPhrases, Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisors, and How to Say It: Performance Reviews. You can reach her at 719-684-2633, or by email:

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