Selling products or services is the lifeblood of any business. So many people spend hours getting the logo, the URL and the legal paperwork spot on, but forget to sell. Without sales, you’ll be out of business before you get round to the launch party.
Your website is an important sales tool, because anyone who logs on is a potential customer. But it’s important to think carefully how you go about it. Customers are getting very good at blocking out traditional internet-marketing sales strategies. You know the ones I mean: the long pages of sales copy where the price of a course is progressively slashed from $599 to $9; the dubious testimonials gushing about how lives have been changed; the e-books with “ten killer tips”.
On our website The London School of Attraction, our blog functions as one vast sales document. We sell high-end coaching programmes to a London-based ABC1 demographic, and we build trust and credibility through our 850 articles, all of which give advice to men and women on improving their dating lives.
We don’t directly market our services. 100% of our sales are made as a result of blog readers e-mailing us to say they’d be interested in taking some coaching with us. We get great results by doing two things: establishing a connection with our readers, and gaining their trust.
Establishing a Connection
Simon Sinek talks a lot about the importance of the “golden circle” when it comes to sales. Truly inspirational leaders have a very clear “why” – the have a very clear set of beliefs about life and about the type of person they are.
People who share your “why” will follow you, because they want to believe in people who share their values. We have a number of very clear values that we passionately believe, and they help us to make a connection with potential customers:
- We believe people should take control of their lives
- We believe if you see someone you’re attracted to, you should be able to go and say hello
- We believe people shouldn’t accept second best in their dating lives
- We believe dating isn’t about tricks and gimmicks
- We believe the key to successful relationships is honesty, and having the confidence to put your real personality across
Our articles burn with these convictions. They’re what we live and what we believe and what we teach. People who share these values feel a connection with us when they read out blog; as a consequence, they feel comfortable buying from us.
In some articles I empathise with readers who feel frustrated with their love lives. I talk about one of my great fears – having regrets when I’m old. It’s critical you really believe in what you’re writing. If the sentiments aren’t 100% genuine, you’ll struggle to build a connection (and you risk being found out).
In one article I talk about our belief that the love is of no value unless it’s been hard work to find. Readers who believe in the struggle to find true love – and the narrative of romance – will feel a connection with us.
Building Trust
Most online companies use aggressive sales tactics to bully customers into buying from them. But people are far more likely to buy if they trust you and they believe in you.
A great way to build trust is to give readers great advice. The successful internet marketer Eben Pagan calls this “moving the free line”. The more great quality stuff you give readers, the more likely they are ultimately to buy a product from you.
- We offer tips on important issues so that readers have belief in us.
- We give readers some great advice on how to get loads of replies when online dating. Once they’ve seen that our message template works, they’re more likely to sign up for our dating profile re-write service.
- We give female readers some tips on overcoming their nerves. The quality of the advice immediately qualifies us to charge for in-person coaching.
- We give a great tips for where to go on a date. Again by demonstrating that we know what we’re talking about, we build trust and credibility.
By sharing your values and your knowledge, you can really connect with customers. It takes a bit of effort up front, but you’ll soon find your sales rocketing. Good luck.
About the Author: Hi, my name is Alex Chubb and I’m the director for a company called the London School of Attraction. We’re based in Soho and we offer dating advice to men and women. Here’s our website http://www.lsattraction.com