Have you ever gone into a shop and the owner or salesperson is super knowledgeable and enthusiastic? They don't slap items on the counter like some retail salespeople. They bring out each item like they made it themselves, holding it carefully. They love the merchandise and can tell you how it was made, where it was made and why it is so valuable or different.

You are in the hands of a pro. They are transferring their knowledge and enthusiasm like a mind meld.

Are you being sold to? Of course. But it is so well done, so real, so professional, so much fun, so enjoyable, before you know it you are standing out in the midday sunshine with a watch you didn't really need.

Sell them like that.

Not entirely.

So you're saying you have a loyal fanbase that buys things without too much convincing or selling, but you feel you must sell them?

That's mistake #1 - Don't consider your clients or prospects "friends". Business is business and that's how it stays for me. When you regard customers or clients as "friends", they'll want to talk forever and their expectations of what they expect from you go way up. My friend as a web designer had people calling him constantly when he was freelancing because he got way too close with them.

They would all want to talk about their site for an hour, they'd constantly want changes, etc. The second he switched to a strictly business relationship and started billing them for the time spent on the phone as "consultations", the calls started slowing down/nearly stopped, giving him way more time to work on things that were profitable. Even more than that, all those edits, revisions and changes they wanted... they wanted for free. So he started charging for them and let's just say they started to become more happy with their delivered and final product.

I'm sure some people like to only do business with friends but not me. I'm not in the business for friends, I'm in it for the business aspect. The only true friends I want are like minded individuals for the intellectual stimulation and the mutual business benefits they offer.

As far as the selling goes, the only time selling them something is going to downgrade the quality is when it's regarded to as "spam" or just bad. If you're selling something relevant and your copy is convincing, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Does your list/client base have a problem that they need solved? If so.. bingo.. people are never going to be mad if you offer to help them solve a problem.

People buy things to get away from pain or move towards pleasure. Figure out what kind of pain the clients of yours want to get away from or what kind of pleasure your clients want to move towards.

Examples:

Moving away from pain

Debt - People want to make money online because they want to get out of debt.
Living Paycheck To Paycheck - While this is a content style of living for some, some people consider it to be a terrible nightmare they want to escape.

Moving towards pleasure

Moving - This could go either way. Some people want to make enough money to move to a tropical place so they can either get away from their current place they hit or to move towards pleasure.

Of course, these are just geared towards the make money online niche but it can apply to pretty much everything. Once you figure that out, you'll then know what you can sell to people and have them convert without seeing you as a sell out or spammer.

Don't sell them too hard if you don't need to. Just give them solid content and educate them on the process and they'll appreciate your honesty and knowledge.

Hard selling does come across pretty desperate. One example of the best soft selling I've ever seen was a Frank Kern seminar.

At the beginning of the seminar he told every single member of the audience, "Do not buy anything from me.. I'm not selling you anything. I don't want your money." He basically just BSd and talked for an hour then at the end he said, "I want to do an experiment."

"Raise your hands if I were to sell you something today for $1,000." A lot of people put their hands up. "Ok, raise your hands if I were to sell you something for $5,000 today." Quite a few people still had their hands up.

Subconsciously he was still selling to them by proving he was an authority on the subject but he put them at ease at the beginning by saying DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM ME.

It's kind of like approaching a girl at a bar. She sees some random guy approaching and the first thought is "Oh god.. another winner coming over to hit on me." Sure enough, the majority of those guys try aggressively to get her out of the bar and into bed. the guys who are just calm, cool and relaxed usually put them at ease and cause them to put their anti-creep guard down.

A lot can be said by acting like you could care less if they buy anything from you or not but don't be a dick about it. From what I've seen through the eyes of my friend who works for a pretty well known national web development firm, their salesmen are neutral. They don't try to sell anything but they don't turn perspective clients into their friends either.

While I'm going to agree with if it ain't broke don't fix it, I still believe everything could use improvement. There are a lot of tweaks you could try out on the site to see if you have more conversions or less conversions.

You can write sales copy without being a "salesman."

If you truly believe that what you are selling will be helpful to your readers, then you would be talking about it in an enthusiastic way. Let your sales copy be an extension of your voice.

Like you said, your readers are your friends. Then, talk to them in that voice. Tell your friend how much your new product/serve will benefit them. Tell them how the price your offering is beneficial to both of you -- give a discount or a coupon code.

Getting read to write sales copy is not flipping a switch. You don't suddenly switch from Blacklion the friend and personable dude to Blacklion the sleazy used care salesman. People who write in a salesmanlike voice would be better off doing mock commercials for Saturday Night Live or somethin'.

It might help if you show us the site you're selling from. I'm assuming it's not your blog

It would give us an idea of how you're selling currently.

Yeah, I think the key for you is to not create an imaginary distinction between "writing sales copy" and all other forms of communication between you and your blog readers.

You say you and your readers are friendly.

O.K. Then, how do you talk to your readers normally? Imagine you're talking to a friend (in person). Let's say you get to talking about movies. You saw a movie recently that you really enjoyed, and you think your friend would enjoy this movie, too. How would you recommend your friend go and see this movie? Let that conversation play out in your mind. See how low-pressure and natural it is?

Now, replace the movie from my example with your offer.

Hope this helps,

Corey

How is that a downgrade?

Are you in business to make friends or customers? People don't buy from friends, they buy from experts. People usually don't expect to pay their friends for their expertise either. Respect your clients, demonstrate trust, show compassion...but be the expert first and foremost.

Gary Halbert said that after putting out tons of free information through his newsletter for years, he'd actually get people emailing him asking to buy something. It was a cross between wanting more and feeling obligated. If your readers already buy from you, there's no need to feel nervous about selling to them, because you're giving them something that's useful in their lives. Right?

You remind me of someone just being introduced to salesmanship, worried that they'll come across as "sleazy" if they try and sell someone a product. You know that's not true. If what you have provides value, then let people know so that they can benefit! You're not forcing their hand or anything.

Guys, these were such amazing responses. It's definitely changed the way I look at things and will help me increase sales and benefits for my readers. THANK YOU!