Content and Relationship building

[tchashow]

Ok, so I have been reading up some more on the art of preselling and I have a question.Preselling is about building relationships so the customer can trust you and want to buy, right? And in order to have the customer trust you, you should provide some valuable information, content, etc,. My problem and question is how do i incorporate valuable content into my presell without providing too much information? By too much information, I mean making it look like your promoting the product.My previous and failed attempt at preselling was remarked on here that is resembled a sale page and not a "pre-sales" page. I'm not sure im explaining this right so I'll tell you exactly what I did.I started off with a story and told the beginning of it and how i struggled with my problem. I then digressed and talked about other solutions I had tried did not work and why they did not work. I got back into my story after that and broke off with a happy ending. It wasnt good copy but that was my outline. Is there something I did wrong?I dont quite understand how to tone it down from the "sales-page" look while still having unique and valuable content.Help, Please and Thank you

[tchashow]

sorry, i didnt mean to have the post all crowded up like this but i cant space it out for some reason. dont know why.

[Loren Woirhaye]

If you are doing affiliate marketing you have two objectives -

1. get people to trust your recommendations - that's the relationship
part.

2. Drive traffic to affiliate offers - the sales copy on the offers
you send traffic to will take care of the real business of converting
browsers into buyers.

These days people are increasingly skeptical of BS pages because
of all the Flogs - fake weight loss blogs for Acai berries and things
like that. New FTC regulations say you have to disclose on your
blog that you are promoting a product for your own financial gain,
if in fact you are an affiliate of the product and you wish to earn
commissions.

So that's a legal thing, but as a practical matter what you should
be doing, if you just want to sell affiliate products, is put out
a lot of content in different media: videos, blogs, press releases,
articles, podcasts, flyers around town, and so forth.

The content is "pre-sell" copy but really, in today's hyper-skeptical
market if you "push" too hard you'll make people skittish - so try
to position yourself as a sincere person making a sincere recommendation.

If you have expertise or personal experience with the product
or issue the product solves, then write in a way to show your
credibility and you will stand-out from the sea of ignorant marketers
spamming the net with meaningless and shallow content.

[tchashow]

what! the FTC ruling say that i have to say im an affiliate in my blog. well how will people ever trust me if they know that im selling it? people will most likely assume im just promoting it because if they buy it, i get money.

[Loren Woirhaye]

Ok. Maybe affiliate marketing isn't for you then.

[tchashow]

im sure most people share my opinion.if someone was telling you how great a new keyword software was and how they used it everyday but then told that they got paid if they sold you one, how likely would you be to buy it? im sure, very less likely. thats all im saying.

[tchashow]

and online, its going to be much worse because your trying to build relationships and get people to trust you. but how will they trust you if they know your just trying to get them to buy it for your own benefit.

[erinwrites]

"I liked this product so much I decided to sign up to sell it!" Ta-Da! Not the most eloquent, but it gets the job done I call it the Hair Club for Men approach to keeping the FTC happy.

If you've built a strong connection with your reader, they won't mind that you're selling the product for a profit.

[tchashow]

thats a great idea! maybe i can just straight out say "i'm an affiliate for this product." most people dont know what the heck affiliate means.