Q. I keep hearing that I’ve got to get people to know me, like me, and trust me before they buy from me, but how do I do that?
A. You’ve got two choices, and I recommend you do both. First, position yourself as an expert in your field. If you’re not an expert, surround yourself with experts by interviewing them, letting their guest post to your blog, and working with them. Second, be generous. Give away great content that instills confidence in your abilities and expertise that builds your reputation. Offer free teleclasses or podcasts, guest posts on popular blogs with info-packed posts, and author a book or report.
The better your free content is, the more people will trust you and your content. As a bonus, they’ll be more likely to share your content with others, helping you build your reputation and following.
Q. Can I reach a wider audience while delivering more value to my current customers?
A. Consider lining up some partnerships or joint ventures in your niche. First, make a list of the areas your customers are interested in. You’re not looking for direct competition here but rather complimentary sub-niches. For example, suppose you teach how to do Forex with a particular method. In that case, your customers will likely be interested in how to trade on Forex with other methods and even how to invest in other areas besides the Forex market.
Once you list areas, choose an expert you’d like to partner with. Go online to get their contact information and then approach them with a win-win reason why they should partner with you. They should benefit, you should help, and your customers must also benefit.
Do something together that you can offer to both your customers and your partner’s customers, whether it’s a free webinar with an offer at the end, creating a series of videos together, or even starting a new membership with a free introductory period. This will add value to your customers and theirs and expand your reach to a broader audience.
Q. I’m just a newbie in my niche – how do I approach the “big dogs” and get their attention so they’ll partner with me?
A. Two words – help them. Comment on their posts, share their stuff through social media, ask if you can re-post their work to your blog, etc. Please find a way to be of service to them so that you can get on their radar and start building a relationship for the long haul.
Note that the bigger the person you’re targeting (IE: The more extensive their following and the greater their influence in your market), the longer it will take to attract their attention as someone they might want to work with. It’s recommended that you begin by targeting more accessible people and work your way up to the giants of your industry.
Also, consider writing a book, devoting one chapter to each “big dog” you target. In this manner, you can make friends with these players, and some of them will promote your book to their audience.
Q. I keep hearing that I must “have a story” to share with prospects. What does this mean?
A. In a marketing context, ‘your story’ led to you doing what you do today. For example, someone who teaches basketball techniques may have been a lousy basketball player themselves until they learned and mastered certain fundamentals and techniques that caused them to become an all-star player. In a nutshell, that’s their story. Of course, they’re going to want to embellish with details, such as how rotten they felt when they got laughed at for missing the easiest of shots.
The purpose of having your own story and sharing it with your readers is to make a connection. Someone having trouble making the junior varsity basketball team wants to know if you went through some of the same trials and tribulations they are experiencing. This bonds them to you and causes them to be far more receptive to your message. Remember, “birds of a feather flock together.” Once they realize you’ve been through the same struggles they’re currently going through and that you not only persevered but overcame, they’ll want to know exactly how you did it.
Q. But isn’t that manipulating them?
A. Not at all. You show that you have indeed walked in their shoes, experienced their problems, and found a solution.
I heard a story once that illustrates this beautifully. Imagine you’re in a foreign country and don’t speak the language. For days you’ve been struggling to understand and be understood. Then all of a sudden, someone says hello to you in your language and asks how you are. How would you react? No doubt you’d rush up to that person and start talking, feeling that you finally are making a connection with someone. Imagine the relief you would feel, finally being able to communicate, to understand, and most of all, to be understood.
Telling your story does the same – it creates a bonding connection that lets the prospect know you understand what they’re going through because you’ve experienced the same problems.
Q. If I want to create a product or success system based on my own experiences, how do I go about that?
A. If you’ve become successful at something, you have a ready-made product you can sell to others who want to master that same skill. Here’s how to get it into product form: Recall where you were at the beginning of your success. What was the first thing you did? The second? Write down everything that you did and put it into step-by-step form.
Now you’ve got the ___ number of steps to accomplishing ___. Name it something appropriate, contact the domain for that name, and start marketing it. You could do it as an ebook or audio/video course or offer it as a series of webinars or even one-on-one coaching. Each step will represent one chapter in your book, one webinar, or one coaching session.
HOT TIP: You can use this same process to partner with anyone who’s mastered a skill others want to learn. Interview them extensively to discover precisely how they succeeded and then create the product based on the interviews. Split the profits with the expert, rinse, and repeat with more experts or the same expert and different topics.
Q. I have a friend and fellow marketer who’s continually writing posts for other people’s blogs. I think she’s foolish because she’s giving away her valuable info on other blogs instead of using it to boost her standing in search engines. She says it’s worth it because she’s getting new prospects through her guest posts. Who’s right?
A. You both are correct, to a degree. While it’s true that placing her best content on her blog may help to get her site ranking in the search engines, SEO is always a gamble. On the other hand, guest posting on popular blogs practically guarantees exposure to new prospects and new alliances with the blog owners.
When your friend guest posts, she’s hopefully targeting blogs that already receive plenty of traffic interested in her particular niche. This will help her to gain exposure to new audiences and get her endorsed by leaders in her field (the blog owners).
Q. I’ve contacted blog owners about being a guest blogger for them, but I don’t get much response because I’m new in the niche. What can I do?
A. Begin by repeatedly posting in their comments section. Join the conversation, add relevant comments, ask good questions, and answer other people’s questions. Hyperlink your name to your website to get new visitors (this is automatic when you fill out the comment form – just be sure to fill out the website URL box and your name, and your name will become a hyperlink to your URL.)
Use a catchy, memorable photo on all of your posts. Register your email address along with your picture at: en.gravatar.com.
By participating in the community, the blog owner will likely notice you and be far more receptive the next time you offer to do a blog post. In addition, visitors to the blog will begin to recognize you and visit your blog.
Q. I write a newsletter, but lately, I get the feeling that no one is reading it. What am I doing wrong?
A. You may need to contact your market to find out what they want to know. Go to forums and watch social media to find out what they’re talking about, especially what they’re asking. Ideally, it would be best if you were answering their questions and helping to solve their problems because when you do that, they will read every word of your newsletter.
Q. I HATE writing headlines and subject lines, and I wouldn’t say I like using headline templates. Any ideas?
A. Interestingly, your best headline is often buried inside your copy or email. You already know all the best selling points about your product, how best to present it, your target market, and how to craft the best call to action. So forget the headline, write your copy or email, and then go back and reread what you just wrote. You’ll often find your jewel of a headline inside your document, just waiting for you to pluck it out and place it at the top.
No comments yet.