Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make – How To Avoid Making Friends Feel Like Dollar Signs

Everyone wants to own their own business, and claim themselves an Entrepreneur.

But many receive improper training through courses that can have you doing everything wrong!

There are good ways and bad ways to promote your new business ventures. But what happens when bad practices are taken too far? Could it cost you personal relationships?

Read on to learn the ways you may be making your family and friends feel like dollar signs, in order to promote your business and gain sales.

There’s nothing wrong with promoting your business…

However, there are tactful ways to accomplish this, without annoying your family and friends.

Unfortunately, many online courses, gurus, and “training” services can have you made some big mistakes.

There’s also a line between advertising and shameless self-promotion.

Let’s look at a few ways small businesses promote themselves, that are ethical and effective…

• Social Media – creating social media profiles, such as Facebook Pages, for instance, are great ways to gain an audience that can turn into potential customers. Creating engaging content to promote your product or service, will get people interested in what you’re selling.
• Websites – every successful business has a website these days! With the proper SEO, content, and presence, you can reach an unlimited number of potential customers. As well as provide them with all the information they will ever need about your business.
• Local Advertisements – extremely effective, even today! Not only for brick and mortar businesses with an accessible location, but even small online businesses can use local advertising to gain customers. Most people want to shop local and are willing to help out the little guy next door.
• Sponsoring Events – one great way to get advertising is to have your businesses name alongside other businesses at events.

All of these methods are proven effective for any business. The advertising is typically evergreen, done professionally, and tastefully.

But many online gurus, business courses, and “brand representatives” will teach you things that toe the line of annoying, and downright disrespectful.

The wrong way to use your friends and family to promote your business…

These tactics are commonly used by MLM’s (direct sales), and inexperienced business owners.

Or, those wanting to sell a course on business, but don’t actually know how bad their methods are in the long-run.

• Direct Messaging & Emails
• Cold Calling
• Adding subscribers to email lists/social profiles to groups without permission
• Self-Promotion at the expense of others

Let’s go a little deeper into each of these tactics, and why they make your friends feel like dollar signs…

Direct Messaging & Emailing

This method is mentioned, and praised, in many business courses one might buy online to jump-start their new career.

It’s also a favorite of those ever-so-hated MLM companies.

Now, it might seem like a good idea to slide into your friends or family members DM’s or inbox.

Just to let them know of this “exciting new adventure/chapter/journey” you’re taking with your new business. Or, whatever new basic buzzphrase is trending right now.

A one time message might not actually be a bad idea. Maybe you know your friend is looking for some new skincare products. Or, your cousin mentioned wanting to lose weight.

But when you do this, you’re sending another strong message that means a lot more than, “Hey, I sell *insert business here*!” You’re letting that person know that this isn’t just a friendly message with no intent – your intent is very clear. I want to turn you into a source of income.

Now by doing this one time, you are successful in letting people close to you know of your new business. Because they just might want to use your product or services!

But usually, it never ends with just one message. Soon you’re making a habit of regularly checking in with the same people, pitching them more products and services, until they eventually bite.

Or, you’re ultimately rejected (and sometimes blocked).

This method is largely ineffective because the payoff usually isn’t equal to the work involved. Sure, you might get your cousin to buy a few things, but how many cousins did you go through before one transitioned to being a customer? How many of your friends ignored your DMs until one finally agreed to use your service?

While you might have a “win some, lose some” mentally over the results, remember this. With every sales pitch you send, those who aren’t interested only have so much of a chance of becoming interested.

But the impersonal, unwanted messages? It’s a huge turnoff that has a higher chance of leaving your friends/family feel like they’re just being advertised to. Especially if they didn’t ask for it.

With every message you send, unsolicited, you’re just giving out more bad impressions until your friend has enough of it.

Cold Calling

Cold Calling is the time old tactic of making an unsolicited phone call, direct message or personal visit, to someone in an attempt to sell products or service. Sound familiar?

Well, this time we aren’t talking about just people you know – we’re talking total strangers!

Many small businesses, and large businesses, still make this mistake. It’s time consuming, ineffective, and gives a horrible representation of the company – just like sliding into the DM’s of your friends.

The telemarketers and vacuum-cleaner salesmen of yore aren’t the only ones still doing this. In fact, many online business courses still teach this method!

But the time spent cold calling, whether electronically or in person, only gives bad impressions.

People are either annoyed, become wary of a scam, or both. If you’re one of those people who try to feign friendship in order to be able to pitch products and services, beware.

This is a great way to quickly let that person know just how fake you are when your only contact is to tell them about an “exciting new product!”

Adding Subscribers to Email Lists/Groups Without Permission

Another sure-fire way to have your family and friend feel like dollar signs is by adding them to things they didn’t ask for. And, don’t want.

Like Instagram pods, Facebook Groups, and email lists.

While building these groups and lists can be a great way to stay connected to customers, and vital assets to promotion, they can be abused as well.

Nothing says “I’m just trying to make money off you” quite like adding someone to a Facebook Group Text they didn’t want to be added to. It’s entirely impersonal, and a huge waste of time if 99% of the people you’re adding don’t want anything to do with your products/services.

And if they ever needed your particular product or service in the future, they probably won’t use you for fear of being sucked back into Spam City again.

Self Promotion In All The Wrong Places, Like Your Friend’s Social Media

There are a time and a place for advertising your business. On your buddy’s Facebook wall, isn’t one of them.

This is another tactic a lot of MLM businesses use, but I’ve seen everyone from Bakers to Wedding Planners do it.

They use their friend’s birthday to post on their Facebook Wall – with an advertisement for their birthday cakes. Or they comment on a photo of an engagement announcement, to promote their own wedding planning services.

If Aunt Mildred is excited about her upcoming trip to the Bahamas, it’s really poor taste to share a photo of your Travel MLM’s Logo as a comment.

You’re not only promoting in the worst way, but you’re showing what could possibly have been potential customers just how inauthentic, and shameless, you are. That’s not a good look for any business!

But aren’t friends supposed to support one another?

Yes and no.

It’s not your friend’s job to buy your products and services, just because they’re your friend. Your Mom shouldn’t feel obligated to throw parties so you can peddle badly-made leggings to the Church Choir. And your neighbor shouldn’t be bombarded with a dozen texts about new weight loss products when she didn’t ask to be part of a group for weight-loss.

MLM businesses are the worst about promoting the idea of pre-selling products to friends and family. Off the very basis that they will be the source of income because everyone wants to help a family member or friend.

It’s a really shady tactic and guilting someone into buying from your business really does no one any favors.

Your friends and family should support you because they want you to succeed. But if they aren’t within your target demographic, and have no need for what you’re selling, then why keep pushing advertisement on them?

By forcing sales pitches on unsuspecting/unwilling family and friends, you’re placing them in the position of making a choice. A choice to either buy something just to be a good friend or be forced to appear unsupportive when they decline. No one wants to be put in that position.

Support shouldn’t come through relationship, guilt, harassment, or sympathy. It should come because they have a need for your business, point blank.

All these bad promotional and sales tactics achieve, is creating animosity. Your family and friends will feel like you’re only interested in engaging with them to make a sale or using them to appeal to others.

At the end of the day, is it worth it?

That’s your call

If you’re drinking the kool-aid and trusting those who say cold calling, unsolicited messages, and shameless plus are the way to go, then who am I to stop you?

Just don’t be surprised when you look around one day and notice that circle of friends shrinking. Because no one wants to feel like they are seen as a piggy bank.

Author: Jasmine

SAHM to one little boy, and wife to a former member of the USMC. I blog about parenting, relationships, brands I love, and product reviews!