Selling online requires one simple thing...SELLING! That means you have to MAKE OFFERS! Making money online is not a mysterious process. The fear of selling is one of the biggest production-killers out there 
I just read a very insightful quote from Jeffrey Zeldman at zeldman.com in the latest INC magazine. I want to share it with you, because selling…and how to do it well…is a common theme I cover here. I think his thoughts on how to sell tactfully are beautiful. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Here you go:
There is a difference between being arrogant about yourself as a person and being confident that your work has some value. The first is unattractive; the second is healthy and natural. Some people respond to the one as if it were the other. Don’t confuse them. Marketing is not bragging, and touting one’s wares is not evil. The baker in the medieval town square must holler ‘fresh rolls’ if he hopes to feed the townfolk.
I’m a huge advocate of selling aggressively and fervently. I think if you don’t believe in what you’re selling, you need to get out of business, period. On the other hand if you DO believe in what you’re doing, you have a duty to tell people about it, and make sure you do good business with as many people as you can.
How do you feel about this?
I personally witness a lot of people visibly hesitating to make the pitch, out of fear of being perceived a salesperson. We need to get past this and realize what sales is, and what it isn’t. I’m telling you…there’s so much confusion and indecision out there about how to build a successful blog, how to build a successful online marketing strategy. Of course, there are some things to learn, and there are definitely some techniques to implement, but if you get past the biggest hurdle of making offers…the rest is honestly a piece of cake
Seriously, it’s amazing what you can get when you just ask!
Honestly, I am one of those people who are afraid to make a sales pitch. Perhaps my lack of faith on my work is making this feeling. I do want to sell my products and I know that I will overcome the negative feeling I have inside of me about this. For now I want have the motivation and inspiration to prepare me for my endeavor.
“if you DO believe in what you’re doing, you have a duty to tell people about it, and make sure you do good business with as many people as you can.” I will remember this.
Great to hear from you Walter; I appreciate the feedback! I’ve been training sales professionals since ‘99. The people who perform the best are those that truly believe in what they’re selling. They are sold themselves. You cannot sell something effectively if you’re not sold on it yourself. By truly believing in the product, you get the motivation to study the craft of selling and marketing, and by studying the craft of selling and marketing, you get the confidence to make offers effectively and regularly.
It always kills me that in this day and time, “sales experts” will still refer to closing techniques…
In this day and time, if, and granted it’s a big if, you have laid groundwork and developed real value of what service/good you sell, the only closing is “What do you want to do now?”
Between cooling off periods, click/click and they’re gone, etc… If your value is there then just ask the question.
Hi Joe. I’d argue that “what do you want to do now” is a great closing technique
Placement and timing is crucial, and there are a number of things you can do to bring sales in…they all involve “closing techniques”. You’re either making sales on purpose or on accident. When it comes to business, I prefer to be deliberate in my approach. I have a feeling you and I are on the same page. Let me know if not!
Twitter: remarkablogger
Selling “from your heels” is a common disease. “You wouldn’t really want to buy one of these stupid things, but if you do there’s a buy button somewhere…”
I’ve seen sites do write ups of their services and then fail to provide a means on the page to actually conduct a transaction—or even make contact! (Hint: having a contact page isn’t good enough.)
And despite what Joe says, there are indeed closing techniques and we would do well to know them and use them. Why? Because smart, successful people already figured this stuff out a long time ago and there’s no sense at all in trying to reinvent the wheel. There are only so many ways to ask for the order, both in face-to-face selling and when selling online.
Michael, great way of putting it…”selling from your heels”. If you don’t believe in the value of what you’re doing…don’t sell it! If you DO believe in what you’re doing…sell it with confidence! You’re right that sales fundamentals are consistent from industry to industry, medium to medium. Blogging is a selling medium, no doubt about it. You can always choose to ignore developing your sales system, but it does a disservice to your readers and to your business.
so michael, give a few of your closing techniques that we would do well to use..??
Twitter: remarkablogger
Many people ramble on too long when they need to simply tell the prospect to order now and then shut up and get out of the way so the prospect can do just that.
Other techniques revolve around various forms of risk-reversal:
“Try it free for x number of days. If you’re not thrilled, return it.” This is the “puppy dog” close. Just take the puppy home for a few days and of course you will fall in love with it and wouldn’t dream of returning it. And of course then the bill comes.
The use of relevant and related bonuses can also clinch the close. Just as you see on cheesy infomercials, only we don’t have to be cheesy about it. For example, the first 10 buyers of an information product also get a free 30-minute consulting session.
Time-sensitive price changes can also be an effective close: begin with a starter discount price that ends by a certain time or certain number of orders, then it’s over and the normal price takes effect.
Without an effective close, there is no incentive to buy NOW, and that is what we want. Because we all know how “thinking it over” leads to procrastination.
These were only 3 examples. As you can see, they have to be used quite deliberately. It takes practice and guts to do them in face-to-face selling. Copywriting is “salesmanship in print” and it’s easier to write it than to do it with a real person in front of you (for me, anyway, though I’ve done my share of face-to-face selling in my time).
Very good stuff Michael. Thank you for your input. The puppy dog is classic! “Selling in print” is a great way of putting it. http://www.copyblogger.com and http://www.michelfortin.com are two sites off the top of my head that rock the “selling in print” art of copywriting in every way possible. Everyone serious about selling online in my opinion, should be subscribed.
To add a bit more to the technique in selling…being deliberate in targeting specific hot buttons/triggers in your approach is powerful, and it’s another example of something that just does not happen by accident. It must be deliberate, and it requires research. What specific, painful problem are you solving? How does it directly appeal to your customer’s sense of greed, lust, envy, fear, etc? What specifically are you doing to align your product/service with this need or compulsion? Piggyback sales/upselling is massively profitable…IF you design a well-executed selling sequence.
Of course, volumes have been written on each individual technique mentioned here. Suffice to say…many of us are compelled to feel that “relationship selling” is the way to go. We want selling to just happen naturally. The fact is that good selling only *feels* natural…but a hell of a lot of work goes into it.
Look at a professional basketball player sink one jump shot after another without effort. Then go try and do it yourself. Looks easy. On TV it looks like the most natural thing in the world, but in reality it’s sweaty hard work. That’s what gets it done
Jeffrey Fox wrote a great book on selling called “Secrets of Great Rainmakers”. He addresses the “relationship selling” myth with a chapter called “Relationships are Bunk”. It’s beautiful!
Twitter: remarkablogger
Christian, I absolutely agree that Copyblogger and Michel Fortin are two must-subscribes.
The thing about “relationship marketing” is that because of the relationship, you know exactly which close to employ.
Ha
You’re right. I’m always compelled to mention the responsibility that comes with knowing how to sell. Any craft can be used for either good or malice. Guiding a person from point A to point B in a sale can be done ethically, with the customer’s best interest at heart, or it can be done selfishly for shortsighted gain. I urge anyone studying copywriting or the art of selling to always put their customers first. Because the closes really do work when implemented.