I'm a teacher, and in the early days of my career, we crammed the
children's heads with knowledge. That's what's called teacher-centred
teaching. It turned out imbeciles. Things have changed now and teachers
use the learner-centred method instead which involves the children in
the learning process and produces better students. The same phenomenon
is true in online work. If you want to succeed online, take a cue from
this: you must sell from your customer's perspective and not yours.
But
instead of that, what do we see? Most of the content online straight go
into selling prospects on the "features" of a product. Also when
creating content, people either forget about the reader or they get so
immersed in the "process" that they don't give any thought to them.
Yet to sell online people should be uppermost in your mind.
Know
that people that you are looking to recruit into your business are
real. They have feelings. They have thoughts. They have doubts. They are
looking for help. So if you can connect with them, that's to say, if
you can put yourself directly in their shoes by finding answers to what
they are thinking, they can and will not hesitate to buy from you. Have
the perspective on your audience, get under their skin and put your
finger on what they are thinking when they come to visit your site.
Doing this successfully will enable you connect with your prospects
through the story lines within your content.
Now, let's look at some of the things that people think when trying to start a business online.
How different is this opportunity?
The
person considering your proposal has tried other online opportunities
before coming to your site. They either failed or didn't get much from
what they did before. As once bitten twice shy, they scrutinize your
offer for what sets it apart to assure them success.
I am not going to throw my money out the window anymore
People
coming to online work are usually seeking to change their financial
situation. Instead of that, uncouth people made them spend money on one
thing or another, purported to bring success. As these opportunity
seekers kept on spending and success kept on eluding them, they became
very bitter. Although they haven't abandoned the dream totally, now they
are very choosy.
I wish this was it
As
potential web workers search online, they wish they could find something
really interesting which could also make them make money. This is the
state of mind in which they consider your offer. Let's take an analogy:
supposing you went to a dealer to buy a car and didn't like the
different models proposed to you. Your question would be: if only I
could find that one car. And what would you do if you found it?
I wish there's nothing technical in it
I
have myself been forced to abandon certain businesses or at least
certain aspects of them because they demanded technical knowledge.
People fear the technical aspects of internet businesses and baulk at
the idea of having to learn something new they think they cannot master,
or at least, for the time being when all they wish for is the
uncluttered road to success.
What will friends and family say?
People
who have tried web-based businesses before had excitedly explained the
benefits to friends and family. Generally family and friends try to
discourage them. But the online opportunity seeker believed so strongly
in their dream that they kept on. Imagine what blatant failure means to
such a person! If they don't lose their enthusiasm for online work, at
least they henceforth approach it with utmost caution. So when your
offer isn't made from their perspective, it triggers the small voice in
their head, "What would friends and family think when I say I'm trying
another new business online?"
Will my spouse accept another "online thing"?
The
family's finances suffer when a person's online efforts continually go
up in smoke. The bitter partner vows never to let them get into that
"folly" again. But from my own personal experience, if one believes
strongly in internet work, it's difficult to give it up. But before
getting into another business, they want to make double sure it isn't
going to make their spouse believe that they really had gone crazy.
Can I get help without people bombarding me with things to buy again?
Who
likes to go from the frying pan to the fire? Many people trying online
work are looking for help to move from "dire" circumstances to
profit-making situations. Their burning desire is to meet someone who
can make their dream come true without any up sells which risk sinking
them further into debt. So their thought often is, "What's the catch?"
Does your offer assure them there's none?
Those are just a few of
the worries people have when they are trying to join an online
opportunity and even when they sign up to one. Many other thoughts
bother them.
You've been there before and should know them.
What
sort of things did you want? What were you looking to do? What were
people around you saying? What were your fears? What were your hopes?
Now, who can "relate" and come up with some more ideas?
You.
You
because before joining the online work you are in now, you were
probably a skeptic. So the answers to these questions will help you find
more ideas that you can use within the story lines of your content to
help you attract prospects into your business.
If you can put your
finger on people's perspectives and are able to relate to what your
audience is thinking from THEIR perspective, you can sell to them
without their feeling pressured to do so.
Now, why is all this important?
Because you want people to like you
This
is important because when you like someone, you very much trust them.
That is why first impressions in the online world are so important to
"get someone to like you".
Now, what makes you like someone?
Something you have in common with that person.
Let's look at some of the things you have in common with the audience that is visiting your site to consider your offer.
Alarm clocks drove you nuts
Alarm
clocks do us a favour by waking us up in the morning to go to work. But
they made you feel as if you could just bang them on the head and make
them shut up. Yeah, alarm clocks are driving your website visitors crazy
too. How did you escape it? They are eager to know.
You hated being in traffic
Commuting
to and from work, and especially being caught in traffic, is something
everybody hates. Your online job saved you this headache too, something
your audience also crave.
You hated your job
Most
people are looking for something to do online because their jobs aren't
giving them financial nor psychological satisfaction. If you can let
them see you had been there too, then they know they can do it too. This
makes them bond with you.
You love relaxing and being able to just have no stresses in life
Spending
the day on a job that you hate takes the joy of living from a worker.
And naturally this makes them become tense. Furthermore, people find
themselves under emotional or intellectual pressure or tension. No one
likes these situations so people are looking for activities which
provide relief, enjoyment or rest. Have you been in these situations?
And how did you come out of it?
You wanted to spend more time with family
Commuting
to work and spending the day on a job takes up most of your prospects'
time. People come back home battered and demoralized. This makes it
difficult for them to spend quality time with their families. Since it
is not of their making, from time to time remorse sets in and they wish
they could spend more time with their families. You had been there too
but now you are able to spend more time with your family thanks to
online work. Share this story on your website, and as birds of the same
feather flock together, your visitors will like you.
You hadn't been able to travel to places you have never been before
As
the economy slides into weak growth and inflation bites into salaries,
it's hectic trying to make ends meet. Yet people dream of the joy of
being in interesting places. Can you share stories and pictures of you
on worldwide jaunts now? This will fire their resolve to join your
web-based work.
Were you an ordinary worker?
I
recently was at a webinar where the speaker told us that he was a
construction worker without much education who is now making a 7-figure
income. Do you know the thought that runs through the heads of the
audience? If such a person has been able to do it, so can I. And from
whom do you think are they going to seek help? Your answer is as good as
mine.
Did you go to college or the university?
I
was following an online training created by a guy who said that while
at college he was earning more working part-time online than his
professors were doing teaching fulltime. Having been to the university
too, I bonded straightaway with him. Chances are that a good deal of
your audience also went to college or the university, and most of them
will still be able to relate.
There are many other stories you can share with your website visitors and make them like you and wish to work with you.
You
have kids, so do MOST other people. So why don't you share a story in
relation to that? Do you like to go to the movies? So does everyone
else. Talk about it. What about childhood memories? People can relate to
all of those. Write about them. Do you seek out the same goals as
someone else? Share them with your audience.
Let's look at just two typical examples of how waiters and waitresses make clients like them and bond with them.
In
a restaurant they will engage in conversation that touches a chord in
you and this resonance creates a dialogue that shows that they are just
like you.
"What are you up to today?" is the common question a
server usually asks to strike a conversation outside of your meal. This
touches something human in you and you loosen up and just talk.
And when on vacation a waiter or waitress might ask, "Where you from?"
This
usually leads into a conversation where you tell about your place and
the waiter does the same. Before you know, you're sharing "me too"
stories.
This is what makes you like waiters and waitresses and
give them big tips. They relate to you and believe me we like people
that we can relate to... naturally. People that move into the "like"
zone very quickly. Do you remember how you felt about a waiter that just
served you your food and treated you like another sale coming through
the door? Disgusted, no doubt.
That's how folks feel too when you
treat them like just another visit... or another "click". If you did not
feel like giving that waiter any tip, why should you expect this
prospect to honour you with a sign up?
Treat them like YOU,
because they are just like YOU. Banish the marketing process which made
you ignore there is a real, breathing human being on the other side of
the Google search or the click-through from a social network.
Cultivating
this mindset will make you write "interesting" content, make people
like and trust you, and ultimately have much success promoting your
offers.
Apply this little lesson in perspective within your content and offers and see your results skyrocket!
I work as an affiliate marketer, and attract people into my business through Wealthy Affiliate.
How does it work?
1. Choose an Interest
There are millions of different ideas and we help you come up with your very own "topic" within Wealthy Affiliate.
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Building your very own website is going to lead to a successful venture.
3. Attract Visitors
Your goal is to focus on getting actual people to that website. No traffic, no business so this is a critical stage.
4. Earn Revenue
Once you have an audience (traffic), you can promote products and services through FREE "affiliate programs."
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In
the lively Wealthy Affiliate community, you'd find many people just
like you who'd been everywhere and never found what they were looking
for. Come and see them rave about how different this opportunity is, how
it is what they have been looking for all this long.
Are there
any technical aspects? Yes, a little, since you will be trained to
create an authority website. The difference is the thousands of
community members, from newbies to millionaires who will answer your
queries within minutes of asking and make technical matters seem like a
child's game to you.
Any up sells? No. Except when you grow and you wish to take your business to the next level.
