The way I do business
There are a couple of things that I want to mention in the way I do business. For me, it comes down to three things: people, content and process. In my internet marketing business, I help people make their businesses better by using the internet. The way I do that is by building cool websites, building blogs, and making ads campaigns.
People
Before, I was doing a lot of Search Engine Optimization ( SEO) and social marketing. In this business, you have to do a lot of networking, but that’s what I do. I like to meet people, tell them about what I do and what they do. Usually the way I find clients is that I get into talking to someone who has a really interesting idea but doesn’t have the skills to pull it off on the internet; or has the skills to pull it off, but I have some good ideas to add to those skills.
I usually meet the people at some kind of networking event, local event or at a workshop. Then I also get introduced to a lot of people by clients, friends, or partners. I look for people to do business with that I would like to be friends with. I don’t necessarily have to become friends with everyone I do business with, but that person needs to be someone that when I go away for weekends somewhere, we can just talk and it won’t be boring, or there won’t be a huge conflict or something like that. Don’t get me wrong though. I like to discuss different opinions, but there needs to be some kind of a click. Before, when I was starting up, I met people that I work for or I work with that I didn’t like. That totally went wrong every time. Now, I only work with friends and it’s great, and we have a great time.
Just right now, I’m actually going to a meeting with two people from the Netherlands. I’ve seen the business develop over the course of the year. They jumped in last summer, and since then they have been growing and growing. We have a lot in common because we almost have the same way of doing business. We like to have fun while working and we are very well together because I am a little bit more technical savvy, and they really know the Dutch market. They are really good in doing social media and so that’s what we come together. It’s the same for my employees. I have a few people in the Philippines working for me and I had other people in Germany and in the Netherlands that I do project with on a frigate base. For every one of them, one thing is true; I like to hang out with them. I just like to talk to them, they inspire me, they have a great character. We have a relationship that is not based on financial or economical stuff but on social stuff.
Even though sometimes I am the boss and I need to tell how I want things to be done, and I sometimes get probably much too direct for the Filipino culture, so that I tell what I don’t like and how I want things to be done, this is always on the boundary of our social relation. I know that I can say things because we have that relationship. I think the most important part for me in doing business is that I carefully select the people that I want to do business with. Not on economic factors or financial factors, but on emotional factors. It needs to feel good to have contact with that person.
Content
What is the content of my work? Usually, it is a product or a service and pretty much everything that is connected to that. It’s the same with people. I need to have a good feeling about the content. A few years ago, when I discovered affiliate marketing, I did some affiliate marketing for stuff that had a high pay out, but thinking back, that was just not my thing. There are a couple of products that I promoted that I didn’t like and that totally does not work. People consciously or unconsciously get if you’re real or not, especially nowadays where most products are marketed by social media. People can feel right through you. If you promote something that you don’t like or you wouldn’t use yourself, or you think isn’t actually worth your money, then you lose credibility and you lose yourself.
Now, I only do stuff that I like. If it’s a website and it is about something that I don’t want to support and see in this real life, then I just don’t do it. If there’s a product someone asks me to make a promotion for and I don’t like the product because I think it’s a scam or whatever, then I just don’t do it. I only do products which I think have some kind of social benefit to them. I have a business, so I have to face economic reality, and it becomes a social benefit if my clients make sales that generates value. However, that’s not the way I think of it. If the maxim of your behavior will be the general rule, that still makes sense. The way I think about it is, if I will promote that product and that will be a huge success, would I want the world to have that? Would I want my parents to go and buy that thing or that service? If the answer is yes, I will promote it. I’m also often asked to suggest someone to someone else and the same applies here. When I’m convinced that this is a great service, that people involve are doing a great job, I’m more than happy to network them into other relations. If I’m not I’ll just leave it for that.
Process
I am a very process-oriented person. One of the things I do is to make websites with products I don’t really care too much about, at least as much as I care about the process. This doesn’t mean I don’t have goals; the end goal for my clients and for me is what I work towards. I have a clear goal and I’m going for that. That also doesn’t mean that I’m more interested in the product and the service.
Well what do I understand about process? The process about how things are done need to fit my personality, and I’m a very special person, and I sometimes drive my girlfriend mad with that, but I need structure to be creative. I see myself as a very creative person, but that can only work for me if I have enough structure to keep the chaos out. I’m really focused on finding the right process for me and sometimes this process doesn’t work out for my client. Sometimes they want me to do different stuff or they want to do differently. I’m flexible, but only to a given point; I don’t think flexibility is one of my key strengths. The process needs to fit me.
For example, what is very important to me is that there is a clearer definition of who’s responsible for what. How things will get done. I need some kind of planning. I want to set goals together with my clients and I want the process to be fun and creative. Furthermore, it needs to be adjustable. So if it doesn’t work out for both of us we’ll need to reassess. To keep the process open and flexible to me, communication is very important. I want to have good communication with my clients and I’ll do everything I can to make sure they get that from me in return. As good as I can.
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