| |
Increase Sales By Flying Under Your Prospects' "Radar Defenses"
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.
About the Author
Jim Edwards, a.k.a. TheNetReporter.com, is a syndicated newspaper columnist, nationally recognized speaker, author, and web developer. Owner of nine (9) successful e-businesses as well as a professional consulting firm, Jim's writing comes straight off the front lines of the Internet and e-commerce.
Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to
your website for weeks, even months... without spending a
dime on advertising! ==> "Turn Words Into
Traffic"
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/author-articles/4208/1.html
| If you wish to add the above article to your website or newsletters then please include the "Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/author-articles/4208/1.html" as shown above and make it hyperlinked. |
| Some other articles by Jim Edwards | Web Casting - The Future of Online Education
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Despite the communications power of the Internet, nothing
beats good old human interaction when it comes to learning
a new ...
Top 7 Ways to STOP Junk Email
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Nothing makes me angrier than opening my email in-box to
find over 150 messages, ...
3 Better Ways To Search Online
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Nothing creates a more frustrating online experience than
pulling up your favorite search engine to find something
simple and coming away empty handed after an ...
Share Your Best Life Story With The World
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
=====================================
When most people sit down to write a book, they expect it
will take ...
My Top 10 Favorite Internet Tools
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
When you make your living on the Internet, you can
sometimes forget that the tools and resources you take for
granted might ...
It Truly Is a "World-Wide" Web
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Let me tell you a quick story that started way back in
1962...
An Idaho farm ...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
