If you are like most, you probably have the basic concept in your mind on how you will do business. Pretty simple and basic right, you have something to sell and a buyer trades you money for it. It’s a simple exchange. Then, your task is to find as many of these potential buyers as possible to put your offer in front of, right? So the supporting mindset is, if I give you what I have, what will you give me.
So you have set up a blog or website and are saying to yourself, “I just need to get people here so they can give me what I want.” You’ve tried that right. If you straight out ask them for money in exchange for something, how many take it? Most will likely be reluctant because they don’t know you, they are unsure if the quality of what they are offered is worth your price? No trust has been developed. So how do you get around this reluctance? Well, if you have been around online marketing very long you probably have seen many internet marketers giving something of value first.
What are you doing when you are giving people something first without requiring the normal exchange. First, in an unspoken way you are finding out what they want. Only the people that want what you are giving will do something to get it. And second, in the receivers mind, now you have given them something that they want, you have helped them. And if what you gave has value to them, a level of acceptance and trust will be built.
When you are on social sites such as Twitter, what do yo do? Do you Twit about yourself, your blog posts, your products and your offers? What about what the other people want? Yes, we all are out for ourselves, but helping others in some way is the best way to succeed. Do you take the time to respond to what others are saying when it’s not directly related to your latest offer? Do you offer assistance to someone asking around for help with something? Or, just add in a comment acknowledging their post or situation. People all want to feel cared about and appreciated. A lot can be gained by helping others feel this way with your actions. Most people on the receiving end will appreciate your efforts towards supporting them.
One of the key points taught in any sales training is building a relationship. People buy from people. We all want to interact with people we feel comfortable with. Even in a sales ‘pitch’ format, a well trained salesperson spends time developing a relationship before going into the product presentation. Doing business online is basically no different. It’s still all about people forming relationships or at least positive impressions, before the business action takes place. Yes, you can make sales by just placing a provocative ad in front of the right person, and this is fine for the one off sale. What I am talking about here is developing a customer, not just a buyer. A customer is the one who will get on your list, stay there and purchase some of what you suggest.
This is why the effective sales and marketing models for online business usually include some sort of free item or information at the beginning of the sales process. It can start with articles and blog posts that anyone can find. And if with these you have provided some sort of real value, the reader will follow the links to your pages and sign on to your list.
This concept also shows up in the MLM business, even as it’s done online. MLM has always been based on relationship building. And online, the most successful business builders don’t recruit from the company website, rather they use their own personal sites where they are able to start building that personal relationship before sending the person to the company site to get the facts. Their relationship with you becomes the basis of the emotional reason they buy or sign on.
These sales situations show how setting aside your personal big agenda for a while, to find out about the other person and what they are looking for, is really the only way to get to the final result you are looking for. Basically have the mind set of ‘give before you receive’. Successful marketer Andrew Fox recently said, “You gotta program your mind to GIVE! Help people get more out of life, and trust me, it will come back 100 times over.”
By looking at things with a different perspective your mindset on selling and building an online business can change, and your actions will then be in alignment with this mindset. Wayne Dyer said, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
So help others get what they want and provide value to them, and you will realize what you want. Wouldn’t it would be a shame to see something like impatience knock you off from what you know is right. Yes, this approach take some time, but so does all that one shot sale marketing. The big payoff is in the long run, when you have a whole bunch of loyal followers that are repeat customers . . . and friends.
