Yesterday I discussed the risks you take in being too “salesy” with your blog: when your blog is a business tool, NOT your business!
Firstly, I would like to say thank you to everyone who commented, tweeted and emailed me about this post “How to make sales from your blogs“. Quite a few of you were a bit stunned that “The Sales Encyclopedia”, recommended that you DON’T sell on your blog at all! (thanks @darrensrjohnson for that lovely tag btw, don’t mind if I do accept that compliment!!). I know, it is one of those paradoxes that is a little hard for me to even grasp, as I am always touting the benefits of never missing an opportunity to sell; but some of the comments and emails I got really got me thinking, so I would like to clarify that there is indeed an opportunity for you to sell in your blog posts – BUT THERE IS AN ART TO IT!!
Those of you who know me will know that I teach: If you come on strong with the sales pitch before someone “knows, likes and trusts you” they will be put off and you will likely loose a potential customer. As @wordmistressAUS and @susanliving pointed out, your blog is a tool to share your knowledge, often it is people’s first introduction to you – a free way to advertise your expertise, akin to standing in the mall and handing out flyers to encourage people to visit your shop! And as Gina stated, you don’t sell 50 paces from your shop selling, you sell in your shop!
Here is the fun part I promised: here’s how you CAN sell in your blog posts! You can use 2 sales tools, what we Sales and Marketing people love to call:
- “Persuasive Selling” (tip: I love Shamus Brown, find access to heaps of his tips and advice here!), and
- the “Call to Action”
Persuasive selling is the new method – gone are the days when sales people could corner unsuspecting consumers and scare them into buying with their clever closed questions and sales techniques! We are savvy now, we have access to heaps of free information at our finger tips and we know what we want! A clever sales person uses that consumer knowledge to their advantage – they engage a prospect on a personal level, find out what the prospect is REALLY wanting / needing and then helps them to find their solution. You can capitalise on this by asking in your blog posts what it is your readers want to hear and know!
The “Call to Action” is simply giving people a reason to act, perhaps you might sign your blog off with “see our products page for more helpful tools and resources” or “til end of June we are offering 10% off all products”. Make sure you put in hyperlinks to make it easy for people to get to your products (and get your hyperlink to open in a new page too!).
As with my previous post, I want to reiterate that your blog is not the forum for the “hit them on the head, get the sale at any cost” method! Your business blog is about helping your potential consumer, asking what it is they want to know – providing that information and offering them the tools and resources to increase or expand on that knowledge with your products and services!!
Tags: blogging for business, call to action, good small business tips, how to make sales from a blog, increase business, make money from your blog, organic search, persuasive selling, small business tips and advice, Stellar Strategies, tools and resources, word of mouth referrals
Well there’s absolutely nothing wrong with helping people to do business with you
. Sometimes, when you read a brilliant blog post and you feel motivated to act, you need help to figure out how to take action. This is particularly the case with off-site blogs; blogs that are hosted separately to the actual website, and with a different domain name. It’s so frustrating when someone dangles a carrot in front of you but you can’t taste it because they make it so hard to know how to contact them, where to find the follow-through button, where the info is on pricing etc. I still say don’t write blog posts specifically to sell. The key is (on the blog), to ’sell’ the benefits of the product you’re about to mention at the bottom of the post. Give the free advice, create the desire to act. Provide an anecdote, a case study, a set of before/after photos and then say something along the lines of: “You can have this too if you … [insert call to action here].
Wow, I never new that, much appreciated.
Hey, awesome site! Keep it up! I will be difinatley be coming back in the near future =)
Do you think retail is still in the midst of recession? April sales looked good, however it seems there is cautious optimism with many retail chains in the throes of recession. Wal-Mart has just downsized close to 14,000 employees! What is your opinion?
I can’t tell why bing sent me here but I must say I have become actually interested by the information you have patched together. How many years did it take to begin to get so many users showing up to your blog? I am fairly to this web site stuff.
Hi Nola, thanks for your comment! Can I ask what you were searching for that brought you here? I have only been seriously blogging for 2 months Nola – I don’t actually blog with the intent of attracting users, but rather wanting to help people with my passion for sales! I have become friends with so many wonderful people online, who have such amazing information to share – perhaps that is a big part, I love to read and comment on other people sharing their knowledge and wanting to help others succeed! You might like my post on “Abundance Mentality – How to Simply and Easily Create Business Success” I guess this is proof of just that sentiment!
Thanks Gina!! Anecdotes are EXTREMELY important to sales success! People look to other people to help them make a decision (I will write a blog post on this one!). If any of my readers are struggling with just how to ask, please contact me – leave a comment on our FaceBook page so the response can help everyone! And if you need help finding just the right words, you can’t go past Gina and her command of the English Language: http://www.wordmistress.com.au!!
Hi Talitha – I honestly can’t comment as I am in Australia, we are fortunate enough that the recession seemed to miss us – retail spending has remained strong. I think people are still spending – but they are being more choosy, what better reason than to use every sales tool at your disposal?!
I am also a great fan of this subject and I love seeing some new posts in this niche! Thank you
Hi, great article!! I got you bookmarked. Thanks and best wishes
Blog looks great and I’ve been chugging through content! You share some great opinions and insight here. Always looking for motivating blogs to keep mine going!
you are very talented.
Howdy, your site is on air in the radio! Good job mate. Your posts are truly great and bookmarked. Regards
How to ask for the sale on your blog:
Yesterday I discussed the risks you take in being too “salesy” with your bl… http://bit.ly/bYSgOv
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New Blog Post! How to ask for the sale on your blog – Yesterday I discussed the risks you take in being too “salesy… http://ow.ly/17BPi2
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
New Blog Post! How to ask for the sale on your blog – Yesterday I discussed the risks you take in being too “salesy… http://ow.ly/17BPi6
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
How to ask for the sale on your blog http://bit.ly/ajMIIQ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter