Your Photo

TRAINING ARTICLE: The Significance Of Your Photo, Profile, & a2a

02/10/2016

Article by: Yank Elliott, SFI Team Leader

Ref : https://www.sfimg.com/Support/Solution?id=197408

While it may seem obvious to some, many new to online business (and even some with lots of experience) don't fully understand the relationship between their SFI Affiliate photo, profile, and a2a friends list and their online success. Indeed, several of these otherwise dedicated, hard-working business owners may actually be sabotaging their own profits, downline success, and leadership credibility.

Don't let this happen to you! You owe it to yourself and your PSAs to take full advantage of these valuable SFI tools.

YOUR SFI AFFILIATE PHOTO

Your actual photo gives you and your SFI business a look of professionalism. Your photo should only contain YOU as the subject. Any substitutes or additions--such as an avatar, icon, a pet, or children--divert attention away from what you want to convey; namely, your SFI business. The picture you use should be of good quality, not grainy, and very clear. Your picture represents you as a real person to your new affiliates--a person who will be there to help them with any problems they may have. A good, professional, attractive photograph of yourself is one of the first steps in helping to build a strong relationship with all your affiliates.

When you upload your photo, pay special attention to the instructions about cropping, resizing, and other actions you can take to improve your image. Some places where your photo will be displayed:

• On your Affiliate Greeting your new PSAs and CSAs see after logging into sfimg.com for the first time.
• On many of your SFI Gateway Websites.
• On The Boss Is Really Cute E-card that you can use to promote SFI and TripleClicks to your family and friends.
• On your Affiliate Snapshot.
• On SFI Lleaderboards.
• On Team Mail messages.
• On your TConnect page at TripleClicks.com.

In all of these cases, a professional looking photo will help you maximize your credibility, professionalism, and SFI income.

OTHER REASONS FOR PROFESSIONALISM

Although SFI and TripleClicks are online Internet businesses, some affiliates will choose to do things a bit differently. Some ways affiliates may decide to operate outside the normal SFI box are:

• Seminars online, also called Webinars.
• Seminars offline.
• YouTube presentations.

A Webinar is a seminar or other presentation that takes place on the Internet, allowing participants in different locations to see and hear the presenter, ask questions, and sometimes answer polls. When an SFI Affiliate decides to conduct one of these presentations, one question that comes up is how to dress for the occasion. One of the selling points for an SFI home-based business is the lack of an enforced dress code. Many SFI entrepreneurs operate their business in pajamas, or even less. This is totally acceptable, unless you forget to turn off the camera on your computer! Others believe you should dress as you would if your business were open to the public to help remind you that your SFI business is a REAL business.

When conducting a Webinar, offline seminar, or YouTube presentation, however, it is very important you dress in a way so as not to distract your viewers away from the focus of your proposal. Your objective is to project confidence. Be sure you appear like someone you would like to do business with.

Here are some factors to consider when deciding how to dress for your presentation:

• How will people in your target group expect you to look?
• Is the local culture professional or casual (for offline, in-person presentations)?
• What kind of background will my presentation use?
• Will my expected audience be working today?
• Will my expected audience be mostly homemakers?
• Will my expected audience be professional people?
• Will I be talking to students?
• What kind of image do I want to project to my group?

However you dress, do it in a way that your appearance gains respect and credibility from your audience. Make an effort to look your best at work or play, and everyone will want to be your associate.

YOUR SFI AFFILIATE PROFILE

Your SFI Affiliate Profile in its complete form is here.

NOTE: SFI does not share any SFI affiliate information with ANY third parties. If you wish to share your profile information with your SFI Sponsor, Co-Sponsor, other upline members, and/or a2a members, select those options in the Permissions section at the end of the profile.

• GENERAL INFO: This section asks how you learned about SFI and other information about you personally.
• PRIOR EXPERIENCE: List your business experience, if any, and plans for your SFI business.
• YOUR SFI UPLINE: Discusses relationship to your upline.
• YOUR GOALS: A list of what you want to accomplish.
• PERMISSIONS: Lets you determine who can see your profile information.

A FEW FORUM COMMENTS ABOUT THE AFFILIATE PROFILE:

"Please be honest when you fill out your affiliate profile. If you have not had experience with Internet marketing then say so. No one will be mad with you for being honest. If anything, this may actually help your sponsor to get to know you better and provide the kind of help that you really need. Finally, if you have no money to invest, that's okay too. We are all here to make money. So just send your sponsor a letter of commitment and say that you are willing to invest the time in to earn the money. I am sure you sponsor will understand and help you achieve your goals. Finally, a business needs capital to grow. SFI is no different. So how about being honest with yourself about the money that you can afford to spend to grow your business. Once you have decided this, then follow through!" --Williams Ford, SFI EA

"I know my expectations as stated in my profile will manifest steadily with each passing year by God's grace." --Debbie Ukiri, SFI Affiliate

"I have recently updated my profile will check again this evening and make sure it is up to date. Having your profile and goals side by side is very helpful. You can not really predict how. This way you know each day, how you are progressing; it helps keep you on top daily." --Donna Yule, SFI Affiliate

You should make a serious effort to give the best answers you can to all these questions. Your sponsor and other upline members can use your profile information to give you personalized help. They can't do this unless you give the most accurate answers you can.

YOUR A2A FRIENDS LIST

A2A is an abbreviation for "Affiliate-to-Affiliate," SFI's exclusive social networking program for its affiliates. Here are some things you can do through a2a:

• You can search, browse, and exchange messages with ANY SFI affiliate!
  
• Identify SFI affiliates in your own country, state/province, or city; or search by gender, age, join date, common goals, and more...or any combination!
  
• Create "buddy lists," brainstorm, share tips, and discuss SFI news. 
  
• By contacting other SFI affiliates in your area, you can learn about the best marketing methods and strategies for your region of the world.
  
• Contact local affiliates in your area and form local SFI support groups.
  
• With a few clicks and a quick search, you can locate other SFI affiliates of your same age, gender, and location who started in SFI the same time as you did.

SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT A2A

Why should I become friends with affiliates not in my upline or downline? Seek out successful affiliates in your country to learn the strategies that work best for your country or region of the world.

Why would I want to lend assistance via A2A to affiliates not in my upline or downline? When tens of thousands of SFI affiliates become more active due to great support from other a2a members, those affiliates start generating millions of dollars in new sales at TripleClicks...and this synergistic activity starts attracting thousands of big-name ECAs and name-brand products at highly competitive prices to TripleClicks--and, of course, that results in the Executive pool values skyrocketing, sending everyone's commissions UP, UP, UP!

My personal experience with a2a demonstrates the importance of being a member. I've been an SFI Affiliate since 1999, but, for most of that time I was unsuccessful at sponsoring, so my business went nowhere. With the launch of Pricebenders, I was able to build my business on co-sponsored affiliates I won in the auctions.

Then, I began to notice who the top enrollers were on the Growth tab at the SFI Affiliate Center home page. One of them was an a2a friend I had talked with about other things in the past. I asked for help with sponsoring, and she immediately supplied information that has increased my sponsoring enormously. My business is thriving and I have my a2a friend to thank for it.

You may be able to solve some of your SFI problems with a2a, as well. Give it a try; it's free.

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Yank Elliott is a freelance writer living in the swamps of Hurricane Alley, North Carolina, USA. He is an SFI Team leader who has been an SFI member since 1999.