Success Starts in The Fan Base
When you have fans, then you can build your success from there.
English: Asian fan dance Deutsch: Asiatischer Fächertanz mit Briséfächern Español: Una escena de una danza asiática con abanicos (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In Eat the Rhino, I talk about the importance of your contacts and who loves you. These people are important to your business because they already know you, know what you can do and know if you are trustworthy.Who are your fans? And why can fans help you grow a business
Often your family is part of your fan base but for many people, their family can be anything but fans. My mother constantly criticized my efforts no matter how successful I was or how many awards I won. Many people have one or both parents who think that praise will cause swollen heads or open them to the evil eye so praise is something removed from their parenting skill.
Fans come from friends and colleagues. The challenge here though is that often friends can get jealous and tear you down or put obstacles in your way. And often friends are the last people who will buy from you as they think you should give your product or service to them because they are your friend. The corollary of this is that often you will give it to them because they are your friend and you hope they will do a review or give you a testimonial. Let me warn you, this RARELY happens.
Your best fans are your clients. They chose you. They paid you (hopefully). And if you exceeded their expectations, they will happily provide you with a testimonial and endorse your product as well as sing your praises. That is what a FAN does – they shout your name to the rooftops.
And a fan base, a referral network, opens doors for you. Unfortunately for many business owners asking who a friend or colleague might know who can use your product or service is often scary for us. It is sometimes a real challenge for new business owners to ask for a referral and to follow up that referral.
I remember years ago when I worked with the Born Rich Program and Bob Proctor, talking to people who constantly told me that they had no reason or no money to buy the program but Bill or Sarah down the road needed it. And depending on how I followed up on those referrals depended on the success I had with the sale.
As a Baby Boomer, we know many people. But often we lack the brash confidence of youth. Our confidence is often eroded by rejection. Our confidence needs to be refocused on who loves us and what all the great positive accomplishments we have and those who both admire and are jealous of us for the good stuff.
Your challenge always is to build your fan base. Find the contacts who love you and will recommend you to others. Find the people who will make a difference to who and what you do.
Oh and patting yourself on the back, boasting about yourself (truthfully) is ALWAYS a good thing
Here’s to fans? In the comments share your thoughts on your fans and how important they have been to you and how important they can be your future success. Oh and please share this post if you found it useful
One of your FANS! 
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- Contests build fans! (purposefulperformancegroup.com)
