How To Sell Your Products & Services Without Really Selling!
Every webmaster knows that sales are the heart of surviving online in the long-term, but did you know that you can convert more prospects without ever selling them directly. Like most of us that go on the Internet, we are primarily seeking information. This information may be about how to get more visitors to our website, it may be about finding a better way to make money online, or it may be simply about how to automate the things we already do online.
First and foremost, most people go online to get information and if we as online business owners or administrators keep that in mind and give our visitors what they want, they will at some point in time, do business with us. Like traditional “brick and mortar” businesses, business online operates from a marketing perspective in very much the same way. People who visit you want value in the relationship that they establish with you, often, even before they spend a single penny.
Give your visitors something free or low-cost, but high-value to them. Doing this helps you establish a relationship with your prospect and at some point in your relationship with your prospect; they will buy from you, or join one of your programs, because of the value you have shared with them. For example, when I’m on the Internet and come across a technique or strategy that has made a difference in how I do business online, I immediately share it with my site visitors. Why? I pass on to my visitors those techniques and strategies that have had a profound impact to my business and feel that others doing business online will benefit from what I’ve discovered.
You won’t have to engage in any direct selling or anything like that, just concentrate on giving your visitors great content and if they appreciate what you’ve written, they’ll visit in the future. You don’t even have to be involved in selling the top selling items on the Internet, such as information, electronics, books, cds, dvds, software and tools. You don’t even have to be in one of the top business opportunities, so long as you are not having to stock or ship your products and/or services.
By some accounts, marketing information can be the best, if not the one of the easiest commodities online to be associated with. You can give it away for free and for the more advanced content, you can have a subscription-based, paid membership site that gives your users access. It’s kind of like the “Microsoft Business Model,” whereby you give something away for free, in this case, information that helps others achieve whatever their trying to do, until you have sufficient market saturation and then charge for the “upgraded, more advanced” content. If, enough people find your free information valuable enough, they may want to purchase the “more advance content.”
What you do want to do is find a hungry market where people needs aren’t being met, for whatever reason and satisfy that hungry market. Look for a hungry market that fits whatever it is that like so much, that others would say, you are passionate about that. Whatever that something is, do it and find an affiliate network that manages the products and services that fit your hungry market that you are so passion about and market it. You will find that if you locate a hungry market first and if you have a genuine interest in that hungry market, your task won’t seem like work at all, but an exhilarating rollercoaster ride that you can get on and off at will. You won’t have to worry about sales, because your products and services have the blessing of a hungry market.
The benefits of finding a hungry market first and then matching it with your interests is that your customer acquisition costs will be greatly reduced. When you locate relevant, quality products and services to fill the demand of your hungry market, your products and services will virtually sell themselves, because there is a “market appetite” for it.
That hungry market has an established “market appetite,” that is there is demand for what they are seeking and all you have to do is to fulfill whatever it is they’re seeking.
You can take the route online of pursuing your hobby or interest, so long as you such burning desire that you can’t be swayed, but remember this, unless there is a hungry market for what your hobby or interest is, you’re going to spend a fair amount of time and money to sell your product or service. So, do yourself a favor and find a hungry market and if you are one of the luckier ones, that hungry market will fit your interests enough that it won’t seem like work when you pursue it.
Remember a hungry market is very much like finding a problem. You may not even know that a problem exists until you go searching online to see what people concerns are. I sometimes frequent websites that offer answers to people’s concerns and from that I gather a host of solutions in which to write about. You can do the same thing with some of your spare time, if you aren’t sure about what to market online. You can generally find a problem that is repeatedly expressed online and if you take the time to find an affiliate network that offers a solution to a problem that people are having, that is the beginning of a win-win situation, both online and offline.
Eventfully, you want to position your website as the “go to” site for all things related to your hungry market. You want to establish your website as the authority site related to your hungry market. Learn what other successful online businesses have done right and understand what failed online enterprises have done wrong, so that you can avoid those mistakes. Don’t be so overly concerned with sales to the point that you blind your site visitors with advertisements. Always give them something that they can take away from your content and use right away to effect what their doing online. You do this and you will build a loyal following that will reward you with referrals and ever increasing sales. Remember that you want to build community with your site visitors, so make it easy for them to subscribe to your newsletter, blog or forum.
It’s these selfless acts of sharing what I know to be valued information that keep my site visitors returning again and again. So, don’t be afraid to share what know that has proven invaluable in your business model with others. When you do, you’ll find that the basic nature within us all is to play it forward. Don’t worry too much about seeking your reward right away, because if you share what you know, you’ll be justly compensated in the end. That has been my business model since the beginning and it has given me many returning visitors and repeat customers.
