- by Jim Edwards
How do you persuade someone to do what you want them to do? A
whole world of marketing exists around us trying to do that every
minute of the day. Do you even notice it anymore or, like your
prospects, have you subconsciously set up a system of "radar
defenses" against the daily bombardment of marketing messages?
Take a minute and count up the advertising methods which fight
for your attention (and money) every day. Just the basic list
includes:
▪ Yellow page ads
▪ Newspaper and magazine ads
▪ Postcards, catalogs, and direct mail circulars in your "snail mail" box
▪ Radio pitches interrupting the flow of your favorite songs
▪ TV ads - about 20 minutes worth per hour now
▪ Hundreds of storefronts, "mega" malls, and strip malls
▪ Highway billboards by the thousands
▪ Circulars hung on your doorknob
▪ Illegal signs on stop signs and telephone poles
▪ Legitimate email messages
▪ Spam email or UCE (unsolicited commercial email)
Just these 11 sources can
overwhelm your brain with marketing
messages. Like trapped rats, people develop defenses against this
never-ending onslaught. They throw up a wall or a "radar defense"
that goes into action the minute they smell a "pitch" or a sales
job. Don't blame them. We all do it!
So how can you get around this psychological wall against the
constant sales and marketing messages? Well, the answer does NOT lie
in hitting people with more frequent and obnoxious advertising or
sly, sneaky tactics. You might get them to trust you for a minute,
but it will backfire in the long run.
You must do
two things instead:
1. First, you must
establish credibility
for
yourself and your business as an expert.
2. Second, you must
reduce their fears about
doing business with you. |
Doing these two things will get you past their defenses and allow
you the opportunity to persuade them to buy your product.
So how do you accomplish these two "simple" things? What will win
someone's attention, raise your credibility, and lower their fear
factor all at the same time?
The one-word answer really applies to most everyone.
Trust! |
If a seller can get behind your defenses with information which
makes you trust them, then that credibility will carry over into a
sale much of the time.
How can you get this credibility?
Well, take this next fact as
"online marketing "gospel," for many
people have proven its effectiveness.
Fact: Publishing and
promoting with free articles gives you one
of the most powerful opportunities available to tip the buyer's
credibility scale in your favor.
How can we prove this works? Quite easily actually. Take a break
from reading this and go check out a newspaper or magazine for a
minute.
Which do you trust more, the ads or the articles? Most people
will choose the articles hands down. Why? Because the articles don't
try to "sell" you anything. Instead, they hand out useful
information for educational or other practical purposes.
Most of us grew up in a culture which says we can believe and
"trust" what appears in the standard "news" or "information" format.
In other words, if it appears in print, then we can believe and
trust the author.
So go ahead! Use this
lifetime of conditioning to your advantage
in selling your products and services! Very few things will create
an atmosphere of trust and confidence in people as reading one of
your articles on a subject that greatly interests them. It shows you
know your business. It also demonstrates you will do more than just
try to sell them something.
Publishing articles literally lets you fly under their
advertising radar" defenses." So remember these points
when deciding
whether or not to use articles to promote your business:
1. Few things create as much trust and confidence in the minds of
potential customers as reading an article you wrote on a subject
which specifically and intensely interests them.
2.
Articles establish credibility
quickly because, right or wrong, we've all been trained to trust the
"news."
3. An article, or series of articles, will differentiate you from
the competition, who bombard people with nothing but sales messages.
4. Providing content-rich, non-sales-oriented articles will also
help build and solidify your relationship with existing customers so
they give you repeat business.
(c) Jim Edwards -