One of our strongest held beliefs at my agency is that it’s a wise marketing practice to give away what you sell. We fight and struggle to get a prospect’s attention and when we do, the first thing we want to do is show them what we know and how we can help them.
So why not reverse the process. Why not freely share your knowledge and then the prospects are drawn to you! No cold calling, no chasing them down. They have already seen what you’re capable of — so they seek you out.
Think of it as sampling — demonstrating your expertise and giving your potential customers a taste. It’s a great way to establish your abilities.
There are lots of ways you can give away your expertise.
- Write a newsletter filled with tips.
- Host a monthly networking meeting and in the first five minutes, share a fact your guests need to know.
- Create a blog.
- Join a forum and answer newbie questions.
- Surf other blogs in your category of expertise and jump into the conversations, adding value.
The key to this technique is this isn’t the place for a hard core sales pitches. This is soft sales, so tread lightly. If you’re good — you don’t need to push.
I agree that sharing what you know first is a great way to to attract new customers, particularly if you combine methods of connecting. I often find people start following me on Twitter, they connect on Facebook then subscribe to my ezine. The key is building the relationship with potential customers one step at a time. By the time they subscribe to my ezine they’ve had a chance to get to know, like and trust me. Making the decision to buy is a much easier choice because I’m not an unknown. They know they’ll get value from me.
Thanks Drew, great read. I use and believe in what you are saying completely on my blog, and I think that your biz model is perfect for bloggers, the content leads to trust and reliability and that leads to sales.
Andrea,
That’s the key — they aren’t buying from a stranger any more. It vastly reduces the sales cycle and gets the new relationship off on a very good foot.
Drew
IMS —
Agreed, blogging, when done right, is all about sharing your skills and knowledge. I believe that many bloggers who’ve been doing it for awhile will tell you that it leads to new relationships and new clients.
And it’s also a brilliant strategy for creating your personal/company brand presence online.
Drew
Drew,
Thanks for the post.
I have a lot of great experience educationally and professionally. I have people around me with great experience and success affirming my ideas and perspectives, but I have had the hardest time “selling myself”. I could be confidence . . . I could be not wanting to sound like a know it all . . . whatever it is, I know as a business owner this could be the thing that makes me or breaks me.
Great information!
I’ll be reposting this on my site.
Jason