For those of you who don't know, in addition to teaching and speaking about small business leadership and success, I also lead IBN, a trade organization for manufacturers of health, beauty and lifestyle products. Recently, the business building conversations at IBN's private networking area have increased considerably. If you haven't visited for a while, today is a good day to stop by and learn something new.
(And if you're not a member, today is a great day to consider joining IBN!) As you may know, our public networking site is open to everyone, including non-members. The private area is where IBN members speak more candidly and personally about the steps we are taking to grow our businesses. Here are some of the latest topics of discussion.
- How and whether to raise your prices
- How to respond to bloggers's requests for samples and products to review
- How to assess consignment store opportunities
- Share your blog link so we can check you out
- Suggestions for laser printers for your product labels
- How to handle bloggers who promise product reviews, but don't deliver
So that's some of the latest! From time to time, similar issues are discussed at the public site, but the private area is quite a bit more revealing since it's peer to peer. IBN members pay annual dues to participate in these frank discussions. We learn from each other and the pooled collection of knowledge and experiences is amazingly useful for those who want to really step their businesses up a notch.
After you've learned and shared something new, if you have a minute, IBN members can add new promotional product photos to the Photo Gallery at the public site so your products can be featured in an upcoming site update. Here are instructions for adding your product photos for maximum exposure. There are nearly 5,000 people at the public site — all are welcome! It's a great way to connect with like-minded small business owners in the health, beauty and lifestyle industries!
If you have any questions about our private learning area, or about joining IBN, leave them in the comments section below and I will answer them. And if you have questions about anything else related to small business leadership and success, you can always post them in comments too. I love hearing from you!
