Active Rain shares some key valuable features with The Value Pages Group. Like any other business networking group or referral group, you get out what you put in. With Active Rain and The Value Pages Group, it's a little bit different though, because you can't measure your activity by the number of hands you shake, or the amount of business cards you pass out. Here, activity is measured by the amount of information you put out about yourself and your business.
There are several advantages to this business model. The first is that there's tremendous flexibility. We don't have to be at a certain place at a certain time to put out information about ourselves and our businesses. We can do this whenever our individual schedules permit us to do it. That's why we're all here, for the flexibility.
Another big advantage is that the information that we compile on ourselves and our business is able to be put on the internet and live on forever as advertisements of our expertise and abilities. This information becomes searchable and available to anyone who may be interested in what we have to offer. In short, the time we spend composing this information is invaluable because the information itself continues to work for us indefinitely.
The final big advantage of this business model is the act of writing itself. We all carry around a business plan in our heads. Every day we have an agenda and we execute it. That agenda may be based on a very detailed business plan, or a loose direction for our business that we are carrying in our minds. As anyone who has taken the time to transition an idea from their head to a piece of paper can attest, the writing process purifies ideas. When we write things out, inevitably weaknesses will appear and questions will be raised. Addressing those weaknesses and answering those questions galvanizes our ideas, sharpens our focus, and energizes our direction.
With these things in mind, I'm announcing a Writing Contest! The goal is to educate your readers. These articles should be educational. They should not be blatant commercials for your business. There are two categories.
In the first I'm asking members to write on the topic of growing maintaining or improving your business. What important lessons has your business taught you that can be cross-applied by business owners in other professions? Please see the rules at the bottom of this message.
In the second I'm asking members to educate their readers about their profession. Choose a topic, pull back the curtain. What do your customers not understand about what you do? What do your business partners not understand about what you do? How can you describe your job or a portion of it so that your reader has a greater understanding and appreciation for your products or services? Please see the rules at the bottom of this message.
By now I'm sure you're wondering what the prizes are. The winner for each category will be featured on the home page of the website for 1 month and the overall winner will have their blog featured on our organizational pages on both Facebook and LinkedIn for a month, which are available to view by millions of readers. Remember all participants will win because all articles will be included in our soon to be rolled out "Articles" page on http://www.TheValuePagesGroup.com.
Rules:
You must join The Value Pages Group as a Basic Member in order to participate. Basic Membership is FREE.
Helpful: The idea here is that all articles will be rated on a helpfulness scale. It will have to pass a basic test of helpfulness before it is approved for publication. You should be able to read the article and think, "yeah, that would be helpful to me as an independent business owner."
Not overly self-promotional: There is a fine line here - you will write on topics you know, which will raise your profile, and make you more likely to be hired or consulted. That's fine and encouraged. But you can't use an article to sell your service directly - that's what member promotions are for. We don't allow direct links back to the author's website within the article. Blatant self-promotion is frowned on; indirect self-promotion is encouraged!
Articles must be between 500-1,500 words in length. Longer articles can be broken into multiple parts, but that is strongly discouraged (rating such articles is difficult). We recommend re-writing longer articles to fit within the length limit, or creating two stand-alone articles from one longer piece.
The deadline for entries is Feb 28, 2009.
Jason Sanders
President
Hello, I’m Michael Sanders. I’m a public speaker and a member of The Value Pages Group. As a public speaker, I deal with the subjects of life, whether we deal with them at home, in the work place, or at school. So if you’re ever looking for anyone who wants to address the subject of life head on, I’m the person. I have a unique view of life and how to deal with it.
What I want to talk to you about today though, is The Value Pages Group and what it means to you and me. Imagine the opportunity of being able to network with different people of different abilities, without leaving the comfort of your home. After all, it is casual Monday here in my part of the world. You do have this ability with The Value Pages Group. There are low membership charges, the wonderful ability to associate and to mingle with others without having to get dressed up and go somewhere just to pass out cards. So then think about what it can do for you, what it can do for me, and what we can do to help build this group up. Tell others! Work with others, and before you know it, your business is going to grow, and you’re going to prosper financially from it! It’s a good thing!
ML Sanders: Motivational Speaker
We recognize that there are lots of options for business owners looking to expand their businesses. If you've been researching what is available to you, you may be confused as to what the best way to proceed is, and what will generate the most results for your time and money. Let's break down some common options available to you and weigh them against The Value Pages Group .
•1. Traditional Business Networking and Referral Groups (think BNI or LeTip). These groups usually have 15 to 50 members and meet weekly at a restaurant for breakfast or lunch. Members' networking opportunities usually consist of standing up to give a 15 second commercial about their businesses, while their fellow members enjoy their meal. What is the cost of membership in such a group? Membership dues average $300.00 annually. Then there is the cost of purchasing your meal each week. If you take a meal cost of $15.00 X 52 weeks in the year, you get an additional annual fee of $780.00 per year, making your total investment $1,080.00 per year! That is quite a bit of money to spend, but it still doesn't take into account the time you spend traveling back and forth to the designated restaurant and enjoying your networking lunch (usually 2 hours, one day a week). If you usually take an hour for lunch everyday, you're only losing one hour per week. But how much is your time worth? If you figure it out, that hour per week lost probably costs you more than the annual membership over the course of a year.
The Value Pages Group improves upon the concepts of traditional business networking and referral groups. It gives you more members, and more members = more referrals. The Value Pages Group supports up to 150 members per chapter offering immense potential for business networking and building referrals. It also allows for instantaneous conversation in just seconds from anywhere with a computer and an internet connection. That's right, you don't have to travel or purchase a meal and it only takes minutes per week to get your message out and educate your fellow members about your business. The Value Pages Group offers all of this superior networking and referral building capacity at a truly incredible price point. You can get a taste of what The Value Pages Group has to offer with our Basic Membership for FREE! For more information about the levels of membership that are available and their benefits, check out the website .
•2. Online Business Networking (think LinkedIn). LinkedIn is an incredible website, but most members will tell you that they are confused about how to effectively use it to build their business. Unfortunately LinkedIn restricts communication between members, so many users end up viewing it as a Job Search engine. In online business networking, just because you have a list of names in a column labeled "Business Network," doesn't mean those people are actually working for you.
At The Value Pages Group , we can help you turn your LinkedIn contacts into a dynamic referral generating engine. The key is technology that allows for open and instantaneous communication between members and doesn't limit frequency or quality of communication so that members are able to build deep and meaningful business relationships that lead to increased referrals and strong business growth.
•3. Social Networking (think Facebook or MySpace). Business owners considering using a social networking site to build their business should not forget that it's Social Networking. The Social aspect comes first. If your thinking of using one of these sites as an advertising medium, be prepared to alienate your friends and irritate people, in short - failure. Business can be generated from these sites, but it is a long term strategy and can not be the focus of your activity on these sites.
The Value Pages Group is a business first site. You don't have to be shy about putting yourself out there! Members are encouraged to educate one another about their businesses. If you choose to become a member of The Value Pages Group , you're accepting a promotional role, not just for your own business, but also for the businesses of your fellow members. With this kind of mindset, each chapter of The Value Pages Group will thrive and provide tremendous value to its members.
When it comes to building your business, you're the only one who can choose the right path for you. We're not discounting any of the above methods, because they've all proven to be effective. They are also not mutually exclusive, you may use one or all to benefit your business. Hopefully this discussion has shown you that The Value Pages Group is a solid investment of your time and energy and would be a great addition to your overall strategy to build and grow your business. If you you're not yet convinced, or would like more information, feel free to check out the rest of the website . We're looking forward to working with you to create a sustainable referral generating engine for your business.
Hi, my name is Charley Hopson. I’m a retired financial executive, having spent 35 years in the insurance industry. I retired and started a company called Creative Cash Flow Solutions with the idea of purchasing mortgage notes secured by real estate, and that led me into the real estate business. I have been buying and selling home for the last few years. My strategy is to market to free and clear homes, people with a lot of equity, which gives us a lot of options. I have a website. It’s www.ez4uhomesales.com.
I’m a good friend of Jason’s and decided to join The Value Pages because I think it gives me a great opportunity to network with other individuals and save time in running around. Thank you.
Charley Hopson: Real Estate Investor
Our approach is simple. Instead of traveling to a specific location once a week to meet with other members and exchange referrals, The Value Pages allows members to network without leaving their offices and at any time of the day or night that is convenient to their schedule. Members are able to prepare written commercials, announcements of new or discounted products or services and other advertisements and requests through a single post to our online forum. With the click of a button your single message is received by all the members of your chapter of The Value Pages Group, who can then respond with any follow up questions and referrals to match the content of your post. It's incredibly easy. If you can send an email, you will have no problem operating The Value Pages. Imagine the dynamic ways that you can grow your business with this kind of structure! You can post information and advertisements any time day or night, instead of waiting for a weekly meeting. This Is Networking At The Speed Of Business. This is The Value Pages.
Mission: To provide online business networking and referrals to local businesses nationwide through a unique system that maximizes member's time and resources.
Products: Business Growth, Business Networking, More Referrals, More Sales, More Money and More Time.
Members are encouraged to do a weekly commercial highlighting a feature of their business and outlining what a good referral is. Members can post to the forum as often as they would like, as long as their posts are informative and business oriented. Members are encouraged to post referrals from their client base in order to grow confidence and increase referrals from other members. The Value Pages Group is, bar none, the best value you’re going to find to expand and grow your business through networking and referrals. Don’t believe us? Just see what some of our current members are saying about The Value Pages Group. You can get a taste of what The Value Pages Group has to offer through our FREE Basic Membership. For those who just can’t wait to take their business to the next level, the Silver and Gold Memberships offer unparalleled features and dynamic ways to grow a low maintenance referral stream for your business. For more information about the different levels of membership and their benefits, please check out the website: www.TheValuePagesGroup.com. If you are interested in increasing your sales and growing your business, Join Us.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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