Advertisement Ideas: Leveraging Relationships!!!
It was a few Tuesday’s ago when I was at Tijuana Flats and I met a group of business men from the Oakley Vault and they made me an offer to come to one of their stores and pick out a pair of sunglasses for consideration of promotion by me. Today (7/3/2015) I went to the store and picked out the glasses seen in this video. This had me thinking about how important it is to leverage relationships. I have learned in all my years in marketing, advertising, public relations, and media relations that the key is to make it a win-win situation. In this case The Oakley Vault had a product I could use and I had a platform that they could use. The key is to see how you can be of value and service and how the person you are dealing with can be of service and value to you. I began leveraging relationships at a very young age as I hosted my very first special event, A Backyard Carnival to benefit The Muscular Dystrophy Association, at age 11. I went to all the places where I spent money and asked for their support. It was at that time that I learned if you return the favor and give something of value you will obtain either monetary or in kind donations. The key is to make the introduction and then find ways that everyone can benefit. I have used the idea of leveraging relationships for many years and the examples I can give are numerous just like the one in the video.
You may be wondering what oracle cards have to do with leveraging your relationships. Well there is a story behind these cards that illustrate a great point of leveraging your relationships and having a purpose in mind. I am very involved with The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of West Boca Raton,FL and I have been the leading fundraiser for this relay for several years. In 2015 I raised $2726.90, the webpage http://main.acsevents.org/goto/jdogg2 will be up until 8/31/2015. One way I was able to do this is by leveraging relationships. I was on Facebook one day and I wrote to both Doreen Virtue and Sonia Choquette who I had been interacting with on Facebook for a while and I asked them for items to use in chance drawings and they sent me oracle cards and other items and in return I am promoting them to my followers. When you have something that can benefit the person you are asking for support be it in business or in your charitable endeavors you can better leverage your relationship. I have always believed that the worst someone who you have built a relationship with will say is no and no today does not mean no forever. Think of what you have to offer that will help you to leverage a relationship so as to strengthen your brand and increase your revenue.
When leveraging relationships look at who you are networking with and how you can be of service and value to them and how they can be of service and value to you. In my case I will invite a president of a public relations firm onto my show giving them an opportunity to reach over 50,000 viewers on a Tuesday Night at 6:30 PM on www.wrpbitv.com and giving me a chance to show them just how beneficial it is to be on my show for their clients and for their clients to purchase the clip of their interview. This creates a win-win as I get more guests and the president of the public relations firm has added value.
As I was raising funds for The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of West Boca Raton I leveraged relationships by asking on Facebook and in person with the promise to promote those who donated, which I have done quite effectively. I also make it a point that when I seek a product or service that I consult the businesses who donated list and go to them before I go to someone else.
One of my friends on Facebook saw my post and when they came to be a guest on my TV Show they presented me with a check for $100. Who do you think I will recommend to people when they ask for places to stay or host events in The Palm beach Gardens Area. The bottom line is that it all come down to leveraging relationships so all parties benefit.
As you celebrate this weekend make time to create a list of those that you have a relationship with and find ways to help each other.
