One of the great leverage questions you could EVER ask yourself is, “Now that I have this, what else does this make possible?”
That’s how you kill two stones with one bird, as my mantra says.
And the cool part is, when you plug your blog into that equation, the creative sales possibilities are endless.
SO, HERE’S THE SECRET: Your blog is non-threatening, not salesy, value-driven tool that you can use to close more sales, if you do it right.
Today we’re going to explore six strategies to incorporate your blog into your sales process.
1. Attraction. Can’t seem to fill your prospect pool? No worries.
Consider writing practical, focused, pithy, not-to-long, meaty blog posts that help people make more money. Use emotional headlines, limited self-promotion, consistent humor and of course, list-based content, which, according to my experience, will work for these forty-three reasons; and, according to Copyblogger, will always work because of these seven reasons.
Make your posts easy to read and easier to spread. Oh, and include basic contact information at the end of each one. Do this every day for six months, and I guarantee you’ll have more new prospects than you know what to do with.
2. Outreach. Can’t get new customers to email YOU? Fear not.
Just remember: Your writing becomes persuasive the moment your readers take action on it.
Now, ideally, you want them to contact you. Either to thank you for your awesome post, ask a question, or, hopefully, to buy. The secret is to include a Call to Action or Response Mechanism at the end of each post to garner a response.
For example, you could offer a fifteen-minute phone consultation, a complimentary ebook or a free price quote. Anything to get your readers to personally reach out to you, right now. (See the end of this post for a perfect example of this strategy.)
3. Objections. Noticing some resistance to the sale? Understandable.
Check this out: Next time a customer says something like, “Well, we’re not sure if we want to buy yet because our budget is cut and…”
Simply respond with:
“Actually, I’m glad you said that. Just last week I wrote an article on my blog that explains the five best ways to preserve your budget…” Who could resist?
4. Testimonials. Current prospect still need convincing about whether or not to hire you? No problem.
Consider sending him a link to a blog post that includes one of the following:
*A funny, yet practical success story from a recent business trip to visit one of your clients.
*A video testimonial from a variety of past/current clients, each of which are positively describing their experience with you.
*A glowing email you received from one of your customers – not saying how great YOU are, but rather, how great their lives are now that they’ve started working with you.
5. Follow-Up. Not sure how to approach that indecisive client? That’s cool.
Instead of emailing your prospect with the vomitous, “Just wanted to see if you had any questions on my proposal…” you could use a value-driven follow-up approach like:
*“Hey Steve – I thought of you when I wrote this blog post this morning…”
*”Mary! I just wrote an article using your company as a perfect example of (x)!”
*”Morning, Mr. Randolph! Today I blogged about your biggest competitor. You won’t want to miss this.”
6. Repeat Business. Got an old customer you’d like to work with again, but don’t have a non-salesy reason to contact her? No biggie.
Try this. Send her an email request for an interview. Explain that you’d like to share her company’s philosophy, mission and unique approach to doing business with your (thousands?) of readers.
Email her a half-dozen powerful, penetrating questions. Let her think about them for a while, then conduct an informal, virtual lunch conversation/interview over the phone or Skype. Then, when the piece is published, send her an email right away.
Oh, and make sure to remind her to send it to everybody in her company. (Which she’ll probably do anyway.) The odds of her buying from you again will double.
CAUTION: Keep in mind that none of these six blogging practices will work unless you’ve already taken preparatory action.
That means you need to actually HAVE a blog.
That means you need to be WRITING, every day.
That means you need to POST on your blog, every day.
That means you need to attract decent TRAFFIC to your blog.
That means you need to gather TESTIMONIALS from your customers fans.
That means you need to earn your readers’ TRUST through (consistently) practical and helpful content.
Hey, come on. If my Pitt Bull can write a blog, so can you.
Look, these strategies work. I’ve been using them weekly for years to close LOTS of sales. And I’m not the only one.
SO REMEMBER: The ultimate leverage question to ask is, “Now that I have this, what else does this make possible?”
The answer?
A more creative, more unique, more unexpected, more value-driven; yet a less threatening, less salesy, less pushy and less predictable sales approach.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How are you incorporating your blog into your sales process?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “75 Ways to Take Your Blog from Anonymous to Award Winning,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!
* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]
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