It is always a great day when I find myself in a position where with a little of my time and energy I am able to have a profound impact on someone’s business and financial future. While many of you reading this have a profound respect and admiration for the impact that social media can have on your business, there are countless numbers that have not been so blessed.

On the other side of that coin, called networking, I tend to forget that there a large number of people that are not as blessed as I to live in an area where there are so many great opportunities to network in person. On any given day I am able to participate in local Rainmakers networking meetings that are packed with business professionals looking for strategic relationships.

For the benefit of those that do not live in Indiana, Rainmakers is a business networking organization that provides a platform for business professionals to be more and serve more. We view networking as a chance to find a relationship that will bring you a stream of business rather than a one-time sale. Our focus is on long-term strategic relationships.

Rainmakers is based on the idea of “givers gain”. Rather than passively passing leads, Rainmakers actively prospect for each other. By working with other Rainmakers we are able to offer our customers solutions that are larger in scope. We become strategic advisors to our current customers while at the same time we pick up additional customers and/or business contacts from other Rainmakers.

Rainmaker, being nearly 1500 members strong, is a great organization for building those strong relationships. However, think about the vast numbers of networkers that you are able to connect with vi the Internet and the numerous social media channels available to you at any time. With 32+ events around central Indiana during any given month, with up to 300 members present, that is an incredible opportunity for networking and building relationships.

Compare those numbers with the number of business professionals that I connect with on a daily basis via sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc and you begin to realize that at any given moment via the Internet you may be connecting with thousands of prospects. Having just finished a conversation on this subject with a fellow Rainmaker, I felt compelled to recap some of that conversation here.

Again as many of you may have heard me say in the past, social media and sites like Facebook are not a magic bullet. If you can’t network in person, won’t take the time to build relationships with those that you connect with and try to sell everyone that you meet, before understanding their needs and desires, you will not experience success via social media. This applies to all businesses. The thing that strikes me as being so odd is that I have never seen a business that could prosper without building relationships. However, Network Marketing (or Multi-Level Marketing) is one of the few industries that the business model focuses on this concept as the very foundation.

If you expect to experience prosperity in the Network Marketing Industry, it is so very important that you understand the need for personal development. Learn the following skills: Networking, Sales, Leadership, Communication (Listen More, Less Talking) and continue to improve throughout your career.

For any of you that have a background in sales you have heard the term, “The fortune is in the follow up”. The same applies to social media. If you go to anyone of the multitude of social media sites available, create an account, connect with a lot of people and then never follow up or touch base with them, they become nothing more than a list of cold contacts. Great you have created yourself a list of people that you can cold call (cold email). What do you think your odds will be of generating any business from that list?

Do NOT try to sell people on anything before you have taken the time to get to know them. Are there exceptions to this rule? Yes. There are times that you can create business from a very new contact. I will say that I am blessed to have had that happen more times that I can count, but in all cases it is because they started the conversation. There always will be, but as a general rule I do not try to sell someone before understanding something about them. Most importantly, I want to know if they have a need that I can fill for them.

Social Media and Network Marketing both will always be filled with those individuals that will try to sell you on the next big thing, before they even know your name. However, please do not let that discourage you from participating in either. Both have lot to offer and can be a tremendous boost to your business and financial future if you are willing to spend the time. Add value to people, by providing them with information, resources, support, or just a friendly ear to listen. The same rules apply, “help enough other people get what they want and you will get everything you want and more”.

If you are blessed enough to live in an area where you can take advantage of a networking group such as Rainmakers, take every opportunity to do so, but make sure to keep social media as a integral part of your Networking/Marketing Plan. Make 2009 your best year yet!

One of the largest niches online today is the relationship niche. This niche can be worked into almost any niche out there if the marketing is worked right. So in this article I am going to show you the big three ways to use relationship marketing in your campaign.
The main way relationship marketing is spread is through the use of dating sites and social networking. So you should sign up for as many dating sites as you can and create profiles that you think people in your niche would look at and be sure you list the homepage address as your landing page. Now be sure you use SEO in your name and also in your profile, so people will have an easy time locating you. The next thing you should do is join some social networks and keep the same rules in mind. Be sure you SEO your profile in every way possible, and also be sure your profile name reflects your niche in some way. Most importantly be sure when they ask if you have a homepage you provide your landing page address as your homepage. You can get programs now that automate most of the work for social networks and these can make your marketing even easier. They can search and add friends to your account even while you sleep. They can even notify all new friends of your homepage automatically. After this initial automatic contact it is probably best to then actually communicate with them. It will help your chances of turning them from a prospect into a buyer. Another more traditional view of relationship marketing comes from the direct mail ideas of the 70s and 80s. This form of relationship marketing is all about customer relations. This does not differ too much from the above. The approach may be different in the beginning but it all ends the same. The goal of both forms of relationship marketing is to gain the maximum number of customers and retain them as long as possible through our relationships with them. This can be attained in many ways in today’s market. Social networking and bookmarking sites make up a lot of relationships now. Services like livejournal.com and okcupid.com also are making it possible to be both friend and customer to people you first meet on these relationship sites. I think if you want to make the most use of relationship marketing in our modern digital market you need to think outside the box. I know that the old theories of relationship marketing still apply today, but I do want to propel us into the 21st century with new and exciting theories of relationships and marketing in general.

Can a bad economy put a dent in your sales? Sara, a colleague of mine, thought so as she watched her sales decline during the last six months. Like most of us, Sara has heard the news reports suggesting that we are in a recession. She wondered if the reason her sales are down is the bad economy. I asked if she had recently cut back on her advertising and marketing.

“Yes, I am pulling in the purse strings and limiting my expenses,” Sara replied.

I asked if she was meeting new people and developing relationships.

“No,” she admitted.

This could be part of the problem. History has shown us that businesses often reduce—or completely stop—the dollars spent on marketing and advertising during economic slowdowns.

The economy may have something to do with fewer people spending money, but there is nothing we can do about the plight of the economy. What we can do is practice relationship marketing with people in our sphere of influence to increase our own business sales.

Joe Girard was listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the “World’s Greatest Retail Salesman” for twelve consecutive years. Joe was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Joe was abused by his father as a child, lost jobs as an adult, and then went bankrupt. He finally landed a job at a Chevrolet dealership. Joe did very well, personally selling more cars than most dealerships! In fact, people stood in line to buy a car from Joe. What was his secret?

Joe practiced relationship marketing. Here’s how he did it. He sent 13 handwritten cards to each of his clients and prospects every year: one card a month and one on Christmas. These cards were cards of appreciation, tips, and giveaways—never about special sales, discounts, or promotions. During his 15 years, Joe sent 13,000 handwritten cards! Every one of his recipients began to anticipate a card from Joe every month and he was the first person on their mind when they were ready to buy a car.

What can we learn from this story and how can we expand upon it? Here are a few strategic objectives we can put in place now, so our businesses can better withstand the impact of economic downswings.

Develop strong relationships.

People do business with people they know, like and trust. It’s our job to make this connection happen. To do that, we must go beyond the superficial and become genuinely interested in our customers and prospects. For instance, we can meet clients at a coffee shop and get to know them personally, without the usual business discussions. I often do that. I make mental notes on what is going on in their lives, so I can refer to it the next time we connect. Then I nurture my relationships by consistently staying in touch.

Consistency is the key.

We can stay connected with our contacts by sending heartfelt cards like Joe did, or by phone calls, emails or newsletters. We lose 10% of our influence every month we do not have contact with our clients. And just a 5% increase in customer loyalty could add 20-80% to your bottom line. A disappointing statistic shows that 91% of all real estate agents are forgotten by clients within one or two years after they close or represent a buyer on a home because they did not stay in touch with them.

Form a strategic objective to stay in touch.

Here are a few ideas. Try one on for size. Set up campaign postcards to go out once a month. Find or develop a system for remembering birthdays. For those in real estate, record closing dates and send anniversary cards. Veterinarians can record the birthdays of client’s pets and send birthday cards.

I personally use an on-line service that has a phenomenal system for managing my contacts, as well as printing and mailing postcards and greeting cards. I customize and personalize the cards with my own handwriting font, signature and photos. I have found that a simple and sincere card can make a huge impression on someone, especially if they are having a bad day. Sometimes I include a gift card or small gift of teas or sweets with a thank you card.

Understand and use the Law of Attraction.

When we express appreciation, recognition or encouragement, we are focused on giving and abundance, not scarcity. Every human being wants to feel acknowledged, loved and appreciated. When we send love and thanks out into the world, we get it back tenfold. What we focus on expands, so if we are focused on our lack of money, we will continue to have a lack of money. This is the Law of Attraction. We can inspire ourselves by feeling and visualizing what we now want in our lives. It helps to begin the day by meditating, listening to beautiful music, taking a walk, or calling someone with whom we have had good business results. The popular book and independent grassroots movie, The Secret, shows how to apply this law to achieve anything we want in our personal and business lives.

Kody Bateman, a mentor and colleague of mine said, “Appreciation wins over self promotion every time.” That sums it up beautifully.

Use the Rule of 250 to build a referral network.

As small business owners and entrepreneurs, we each know at least 250 people. Some of us know many more than that. Each one of those 250 knows another 250, and so on. See where this is going? When we make a commitment to stay in touch with people we know—and remember they each have hundreds of contacts—we have the potential to reach thousands. Additionally, we can build our networks by joining local and online business networking groups. Referred customers are usually already sold on us through the testimonial of the person who referred us. Did you know that in occupations such as real estate, as much as 90% of the business comes from relationships or referrals?

When we build strong networks and nurture meaningful relationships with the people we serve, we will garner unlimited referrals and be less affected by economic down cycles. Start making relationship marketing part of your business today and watch your business grow.

Quick! Answer this question: What do you think of when you hear the term “relationship marketing”? If the only things that came to mind were your local business networking group, local chamber of commerce, or service club, you might not be aware of new strategies in 21st century relationship marketing.

There is nothing wrong with any of these organizations, but if your relationship marketing efforts begin and end with them, you are not only operating under the old rules of relationship marketing, you are stuck in the 20th century. 21st century relationship marketing makes active use of Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 and Social Media

Only a few years ago, social media was something most people thought of as a tool for teenagers and college students. That has changed. Facebook now has more than 80 million active users and the fastest growing demographic of Facebook users is the over-25 age group.

If that didn’t make you sit up and take note, it should have. Your customers and potential customers probably have a computer and probably have high speed Internet access. And if they are not already using social media of some kind, just give it a few months. They will be.

Think you are immune? How did you access this article? There is a good chance you came to it online. The communication mogul of the 21st century is the World Wide Web and the tools that make it work have advanced so much in such a short time that the buzz is now about Web 2.0.

What is Web 2.0? No, you don’t need to throw out your year-old computer or buy new software. Web 2.0 really relates to the growing trend to make the web more interactive, collaborative, innovative, and social.

If you favor relationship marketing over the hard sell, then this is good news for you. The growth of interactive social vehicles on the Web supports anyone who prefers their marketing to be personal. Blogs, wikis, business-oriented media sites, and social networking sites allow relationship oriented business people to potentially touch exponentially more people than any community networking event could. Why? Because they not only have the power of the World Wide Web and its spider web of connections behind them, but they are structured to make viral contact more than a concept.

But if you are new to this world of social/business media networking, how can you get started? Here are three options to get you into the Web 2.0 world fast.

Blogging

If you have a product, service, or interest about which you are passionate, there may be no easier way to connect with potential customers, colleagues, and others who need what you have or know than through blogging.

If the idea of creating a blog makes your palms sweat, fear not. Not only are blogs easier than ever to set up (even a complete amateur can create one in a few minutes these days), but you may not need to create your own—at least not immediately.

Comment on Existing Blogs

Do an Internet search of key words relating to your interest. Let’s say you are an Audiologist. Do a search using words like “blogs about hearing loss” and go exploring. Read what is being posted. Submit comments. If this feels a bit foreign to you, think of it exactly as you would if you were at a face-to-face networking event chatting with folks. It is really an online way of doing just that. The difference is that you will potentially be touching many more people, including potential customers. Be a frequent visitor to sites that are related to your professional expertise and you may find yourself becoming the go-to person for those in need of that expertise.

Create Your Own Blog

Consider starting your own blog, too. It has never been easier to create a blog. Both WordPress (www.wordpress.com) and Blogger (www.blogger.com) offer free blogging that is so easy to set up, you can do it in less time than you can eat lunch. By creating your own blog, you have the opportunity to introduce the subjects you want to address the concerns of your clients and potential clients. If you are an Audiologist, that might include information on advances in the area of implanted auditory prostheses, tools for addressing hearing loss amongst baby boomers, hearing screening protocols for newborns and school-aged children … or virtually any other area of the field.

Consider treating your blog as an interactive newsletter. That is, write a blog post and email your list (clients, colleagues, friends, and others) that a new item has been posted. Tell them the subject of the post, give them a hyperlink to it, encourage them to leave a comment, and suggest that they let others know about your blog. Keep the discussion going when you get comments by responding to them.

What else can you do with your blog? Use it as a way to collect customer feedback. Do an informal survey. Add a link to an RSS feed service. Include an event calendar. The possibilities are endless. Keep your focus on fostering and nurturing relationships that will further your business in an organic way and always, always make sure your blog and website are linked.

Facebook and Its Relatives

Facebook is just one of the many social networking sites on the Internet. Other well known ones include Ning, MySpace, and LinkedIn. Some sites, like Facebook and MySpace, have a broad focus. Others, like the business-focused LinkedIn, are specific in focus. What they all have to offer is the opportunity to touch more people than you could ever touch on your own, no matter how many networking groups you belong to.

Some sites, like Facebook, provide the opportunity to add a customized page you can use to promote a business. Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn, and other sites also allow the creation of groups (such as groups focused on the field of audiology). By joining these groups, you connect with a virtual network of colleagues. You also become more visible to potential clients who need your services.

And You Don’t Have to Drive to an Event

Not only does Web 2.0 impact the possibilities for relationship marketing in the 21st century, but it allows you do it from your office or home instead of attending meetings and events. Time is precious, fuel is expensive, and the options for networking are many. By spending just a bit of that precious time and only enough juice to power your Internet connection, you can market your business, deepen your relationships with clients and colleagues, and reach potential customers who might never find you otherwise.

Of course, like all relationship marketing, it takes good will, time, and a great product or service to win customers. But your customers are out there—and they are probably online right now.

“List building is everything!”, or “the money is the list”, your fortune is in the follow-up”. You have heard it all before but do you really understand exactly what list building is and why is important to your future?

What is List Building?
In its simplest form, list building a two step process: the one step is the act of “capturing” a potential customer’s name and email address and the second step is to use that information to create a relationship with that person. Notice I said “create a relationship” not to sell. I’ll get back to that in a minute.

You want to use your list building process to collect the names and email addresses of as many people who have shown an interest in you and your business as possible.                                            For more details go to: www.build-huge-list.com Basically you want to put a list building link (subscription form or something like it) in front of as many visitors as you possibly can. Put subscription forms or a link to a subscription page on every page on your website.

List Building and Relationships
Old time sales guys love the saying, “Nobody likes being sold, but most everyone likes to buy.” And this is true for the most part. People have become very immune to hard sells and fast ball pitches. They don’t like being pressured and will put up a lot of resistance to the idea of being “sold” something.

Now on the other hand, almost everyone loves to buy things, myself included. If you look at the national consumer debt figures, spending money is not most people’s problem. They want to buy things that remove pain, increase pleasure or make their lives a little bit better and they want to enjoy themselves while doing it! That’s why shopping with friends is so much fun!

That is what you want to happen with your list. You should think of your list as a community of like minded people looking to “buy” things to solve their problems or make their lives more pleasant (like a virtual shopping center). And they want to buy those things with the input of their trusted friend and advisor, “YOU”.

List Building for the Long Term
List building should be renamed relationship building. People like to buy things from people they know, like and trust. You want to create an environment of trust for your list members. For help visit: www.autoresponders-unlimited.com Trust is the cornerstone of all business interactions. No one is buying anything if they feel they are going to lose money or be tricked. So creating trust is vital to the welling being for long term list building.

So how do you create trust? Just like in face-to-face interactions; be honest and be yourself. Being honest is simple; don’t lie to people to get them to do something. They will find out, get angry and they will go away…and bad mouth you in every email and forum they can find. Let folks know who you are and what your business stands for.

List building is one of the most important elements of any online business and now that you understand why it so vital, you should be ready to start work on list building on your own.

“List building is everything!”, or “the money is the list”, your fortune is in the follow-up”. You have heard it all before but do you really understand exactly what list building is and why is important to your future?

What is List Building?
In its simplest form, list building a two step process: the one step is the act of “capturing” a potential customer’s name and email address and the second step is to use that information to create a relationship with that person.
For more details go to: www.confessions-followup-marketing.com Notice I said “create a relationship” not to sell. I’ll get back to that in a minute.

You want to use your list building process to collect the names and email addresses of as many people who have shown an interest in you and your business as possible. Basically you want to put a list building link (subscription form or something like it) in front of as many visitors as you possibly can. Put subscription forms or a link to a subscription page on every page on your website.

List Building and Relationships
Old time sales guys love the saying, “Nobody likes being sold, but most everyone likes to buy.” And this is true for the most part. People have become very immune to hard sells and fast ball pitches. They don’t like being pressured and will put up a lot of resistance to the idea of being “sold” something.

Now on the other hand, almost everyone loves to buy things, myself included. If you look at the national consumer debt figures, spending money is not most people’s problem. They want to buy things that remove pain, increase pleasure or make their lives a little bit better and they want to enjoy themselves while doing it! That’s why shopping with friends is so much fun!

That is what you want to happen with your list. You should think of your list as a community of like minded people looking to “buy” things to solve their problems or make their lives more pleasant (like a virtual shopping center). And they want to buy those things with the input of their trusted friend and advisor, “YOU”.

List Building for the Long Term
List building should be renamed relationship building. People like to buy things from people they know, like and trust. For can visit to: www.craigs-list-profits.com you want to create an environment of trust for your list members. Trust is the cornerstone of all business interactions. No one is buying anything if they feel they are going to lose money or be tricked. So creating trust is vital to the welling being for long term list building.

So how do you create trust? Just like in face-to-face interactions; be honest and be yourself. Being honest is simple; don’t lie to people to get them to do something. They will find out, get angry and they will go away…and bad mouth you in every email and forum they can find. Let folks know who you are and what your business stands for.

List building is one of the most important elements of any online business and now that you understand why it so vital, you should be ready to start work on list building on your own.

In particular the sections on selling Ebooks, building a mailing list, and using your EBay About Me page successfully all contain superb information. The advantages of building an opt-in email list go on and on, because once you build up a trusting relationship with your customers, you can contact each and every one of them with the click of a button. This generally means purchasing a list from a list broker and then building on it.

Building a list is one of the single most essential things you can do to survive and stay alive in business. This is the magic of building your client list.
 Harnessing the power of innovative marketing bluntly stated, the significance of this is that we should separate out the merits of list building and relationship building and find novel ways to complete success in both fields. One of the most valuable ways of building your customer list is to use direct mail. So, for people who are not yet aware of the importance of building a highly targeted Opt-in list and would like to know how to build them, here are some tips that could be very constructive. Build List and Reorder Questions – This type of question asks you to indicate the correct answer by building an answer list. Refer back to the issue on keyword list building for keyword avenues you can explore.

http://www.mailing-list-gold.com 

Identification recalled that an acquaintance, Sue, who worked in the campus center building, had mentioned to me that she had a list of groups who were holding events in the concourse of the campus center that summer. Here are some of the skills you should learn and develop: a) Market research and analyses) Website design and management’s) Keyword researching) Developing content for your website) Effective Site promotion strategies and techniques) Traffic generations) List building and maintenance’s) Website conversion; I) Business automation. Building an opt-in email list is one of the best ways to ensure the long-term viability of any long-term internet venture.
 
With good targeted traffic, you can pretty much do what you want with them – test and track your conversion, your clickthroughs, list building, to name a few. In this case, there is very little good information about list building. If they don’t already offer a list before the sale, chances are, they don’t have list building integrated into the sales process. 11 attacks in New York, or the August blackout and a whole list of building failures by the central phone system.

Affiliate marketing has become one of the most effective ways to advertise online. It is also one of the easiest ways for anyone with a website to make a profit online. Affiliate Marketing is an agreement between a merchant and a website owner. The website owner, or the affiliate, allows the use of their site for the promotion of the merchant’s products by linking to the merchant’s website. In exchange, the merchant pays a commission to the affiliate on all sales generated by the affiliate. Every time someone clicks on the link on the affiliate website and proceeds to make a purchase, the affiliate gets a commission. The merchant will pay the affiliate only when a customer clicks on the product link and makes a purchase. Affiliate marketing programs are described as a win-win situation for both the merchant and the affiliate because of the pay-for-performance scheme. Both the merchant and the affiliate enjoy some benefits in affiliate marketing. There are many benefits on the merchant’s side. It gives the merchant a wider market in which to advertise a product or service. Affiliate marketing will give the product or service the maximum exposure that it may not get with other traditional advertising techniques. The more affiliate sites a merchant has, the higher the traffic, which can convert to sales. Affiliate marketing is the equivalent of having an army of sales people who will do the advertising and will only get a commission if a customer purchases you can visit www.greatpromotionsite.com meanwhile, since an affiliate marketing relationship is a win-win situation, the affiliate also enjoys many benefits. Foremost among these is the easy way to make a profit. The affiliate can earn by having an ad or link to the merchant’s website, which prospective customers will hopefully click and proceed to make a purchase. As soon as the customer clicks on the ad on the affiliate’s site, is redirected to the merchant’s website and goes on to buy that particular product, the affiliate earns a commission. The more referrals there are the more profit for the affiliate. Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to earn money while at home. There are virtually no production costs. The product is already developed and proven by the merchant, and all you have to do to is find, as many prospects as you can that will bring in the profit for both the merchant and the affiliate. Affiliate programs are usually free to join, so affiliates do not have to worry about start-up costs. There are thousands of products and services you can choose from. You can find affiliate programs for every product under the sun. Surely, there is a product or service out there that is relevant to your website. In addition, there is absolutely no sales experience necessary. Most affiliate programs offer excellent support when it comes to providing marketing material. The simplicity of affiliate marketing allows you to be an affiliate marketer at the least cost and the most comfort you can visit www.boost-websie-traffic.com
You can even build a successful affiliate marketing business right in the convenience of your own home. In affiliate marketing, your responsibility is simply to find prospects for the merchant; you do not have to worry about inventory, order processing, and product shipping. These, along with customer service support are the duties of the merchant. Because of the global reach of the internet, you can easily find thousands of prospects. You can intensify your advertising campaign by exploiting more aggressive and productive strategies such as viral marketing. By attracting more prospects, you also maximize your potential to earn. Another benefit of an affiliate marketer is the minimal risk involved. If the product you are advertising is not making money then you can dump it and choose another. There are no long-term binding contracts tying you to products that are not making enough money. All the same, the best benefit of being an affiliate marketer is the opportunity to increase your income; and you can make a profit even if affiliate marketing is only a sideline business. With your own affiliate business, you can earn easily earn extra income, although you do have to exert effort and use your imagination to maximize your earning potential. Indeed, affiliate marketing is one of the simplest and most effective business opportunities on the web today.

The overall reason people stay in relationships that just aren’t working is because of fear of being alone. Many people are basically considered “walking dead” when it comes to being in a relationship that has no merit of making it. Gabby Love at http://www.gabbylove.com offers many key warning signs that a relationship is on the brink of failure and it’s time to move on.

A. Fighting for no reason at all. When you start fighting over petty points that seem to blow out of proportion, i.e. leaving the toilet seat up is a favorite. The man being used to living his whole life on his own all of a sudden is considered inconsiderate and uncaring by the woman if the toilet seat is left up.

B. Showing little or no affection. It’s funny how this is such a gray
area that can break up a relationship because it’s usually determined by the disgruntled party. What is really too much or too little?

C. The dreaded friends of the disgruntled party take center stage. Remember how excited you were when you first met and that special person was considered your true “soul mate” ? Now the meeting of disgruntled friends opinion appears center stage for discussion in your relationship.

D. If there was sexual involvement in the relationship it basically has been stopped or so mundane that you can’t wait until you are through. To me this is the real sign it’s over. Sex should be considered 90% mental and 10% physical.

E. Conversation in a relationship has become null and void. Remember the long hours on the phone and in person talking about everything? Now you can barely say one word to each other.

F. Finding your focus shifted to others instead of the one you are with. Remember sitting at a table and gazing into each others eyes when you first started dating? Now you look elsewhere instead of with the one you are with.

G. Finding excuses to not be together alone is becoming more evident. One of the favorite cop outs is work. Always working late becomes a popular tool because the other party can say they are too tired to get together.

H. Vacations are spent apart. Let’s not forget the movie “How Stella Got Her Groove Back.” Vacations apart are meant as a reason to explore new potential recruits. If your mate says they are going to a particular romantic getaway spot by themselves or with friends….boy… the signs are on the wall! It’s over!

The above are just a few key points to look out for in a relationship that is going bad. Always remember a healthy relationship should be uplifting and positive.

The overall reason people stay in relationships that just aren’t working is because of fear of being alone. Many people are basically considered “walking dead” when it comes to being in a relationship that has no merit of making it. Gabby Love offers many key warning signs that a relationship is on the brink of failure and it’s time to move on.

A. Fighting for no reason at all. When you start fighting over petty points that seem to blow out of proportion, i.e. leaving the toilet seat up is a favorite. The man being used to living his whole life on his own all of a sudden is considered inconsiderate and uncaring by the woman if the toilet seat is left up.

B. Showing little or no affection. It’s funny how this is such a gray
area that can break up a relationship because it’s usually determined by the disgruntled party. What is really too much or too little?

C. The dreaded friends of the disgruntled party take center stage. Remember how excited you were when you first met and that special person was considered your true “soul mate” ? Now the meeting of disgruntled friends opinion appears center stage for discussion in your relationship.

D. If there was sexual involvement in the relationship it basically has been stopped or so mundane that you can’t wait until you are through. To me this is the real sign it’s over. Sex should be considered 90% mental and 10% physical.

E. Conversation in a relationship has become null and void. Remember the long hours on the phone and in person talking about everything? Now you can barely say one word to each other.

F. Finding your focus shifted to others instead of the one you are with. Remember sitting at a table and gazing into each others eyes when you first started dating? Now you look elsewhere instead of with the one you are with.

G. Finding excuses to not be together alone is becoming more evident. One of the favorite cop outs is work. Always working late becomes a popular tool because the other party can say they are too tired to get together.

H. Vacations are spent apart. Let’s not forget the movie “How Stella Got Her Groove Back.” Vacations apart are meant as a reason to explore new potential recruits. If your mate says they are going to a particular romantic getaway spot by themselves or with friends….boy… the signs are on the wall! It’s over!

The above are just a few key points to look out for in a relationship that is going bad. Always remember a healthy relationship should be uplifting and positive.