What truly sells on the internet? Â No really, is it your product, your service or is it a fantastic state of the art website? Â Maybe it’s in the claim that your product or service can work wonders… Or maybe not!
These are questions I receive from clients on a regular basis. Â The biggest issue I see from others who are selling online is that to many online marketers, whether it be individuals or small to mid-sized businesses looking to expand their business online, almost all of them aggressively sell their products and/or services to the masses. As an internet marketer and successful internet entrepreneur myself, I’ll admit, even I started out doing the exact same thing, but this is the WRONG approach and will not bring you the success you desire online.
No one starts out on the internet getting it right from day one. Â Heck, I can provide a testimonial to that! Â I’ve fallen on my face over and over again during the last 15 years when it comes to internet marketing, yet through it all I learned many valuable lessons, and still continue to do so. Â The most important lesson of all, sell yourself, not your stuff! Â I know, I know, you’ve heard that before, or have you? Here is an example of how the approach of being yourself can have a tremendous impact on you, your clients as well as your financial well-being.
A few months ago, I had a client hand me a payment for a $50,000 website and say to me:
“Now we looked at a lot of other companies to do this for us and the only reason we chose you was because we truly believe you have our best interest at heart.”
Now that’s a pretty profound statement, but it illustrates the fact that not once during the course of my discussions with the client did I ever sell a service to them, not once! Â I did however, answer their questions, solve minor email and computer issues while I was at their offices and even discussed the ups and downs of running a business all in an effort to relate to the client. Â In a sense I became a friend. Â The great news is, I’ve been doing business with that client for over 10 years now and this isn’t the first time they’ve said that to me.
The bottom line is this, the internet and social media are one big party of people networking, connecting, sharing and communicating through a vast media outlet in which products and services are secondary to the overall community that has and still is forming on the internet.  You wouldn’t go to a party and immediately try to sell your box of widgets to every person you might meet at the party now would you.  Just as you wouldn’t attend a business networking event in your industry and aggressively sell your products to the people you meet.  The whole premise to success online boils down to one single point.  People buy into YOU!
Ok, Ok Sean, I get it… But how do I go about convincing others to buy into me. Well, that’s easy, be yourself! Â Share your joys and passions with them. Â Let them get to know you. Â This is how it’s done at a party, let alone at a business networking event. Â Let people truly know who you are, what you’re about and how YOU can help them solve a problem they may have, not your product or service. Â You see, if you take an aggressive approach selling your products to your target audience online, their view of you will always be as though you are always trying to sell your products to them. Â Rather, if you share your knowledge, power and passion with them they will buy into it, get to know you, which allows you to establish credibility, earn respect and gain trust which will lead to SALES!
Let me ask you this, what do you do for a living? Â Are you a sales person? Â If you’re reading this blog post, more than likely not. Â You most likely an aspiring internet entrepreneur who wants to succeed within your niche market. Â If that is the case, then why are you selling your products. Â Don’t, stop, it isn’t what you are passionate about nor is it why you created your product or service in the first place. Â Instead share with your niche market your passions behind your business, products and services. Â This is what they buy into and it works beautifully!
Engage in REAL conversations with people and take a genuine interest in them and in how you can help them. Â Visit and comment on their blogs and various social networking sites and offer up your own experiences to associate with the conversations they are engaging in and you’ll find that you’ll connect with them as well as others on a level that your products and services cannot.
I hope you found this post informative and enlightening and I invite you to leave your comments, questions and feedback below. Â And don’t forget to subscribe to Powerofmore to receive fresh new content direct to your inbox as soon as it’s posted!
To Your Success!
Sean Smith
You May Also Like To Read
Did you enjoy this article? Please tweet it, share it on Facebook and subscribe to Powerofmore to receive FRESH, NEW tips on Internet Marketing & Social Media advertising as soon as they are posted!
