You'll Sell More if You Don't Sell Anything

I agree 100%

As I meander through the internet I subscribe to many newsletters, often for no other reason than to experience other people's styles and techniques.

I actually stay subscribed to very few. I don't need to be bombarded with high pressure sales, and I didn't subscribe to be sold to; I subscribed (in a vain hope apparently), to learn more on their niche.

The good newsletters are those that engage me and inform me; seldom sell to me.

I agree with you. Newsletters or e-mail list that are constantly trying to sell me something are the ones that I make a habit of unsubscribing too. More so the ones that are sending me an e-mail every couple of days trying to get me to buy something.

On the flip side to that are the e-mails and newsletters that are providing me with value. That is what I strive to do with my e-mails and newsletters. These e-mails and newsletters give me information I need, want or can use and are not charging me for it. When I get e-mails and newsletters from these senders I look forward to reading them.

Every so often these newsletters and e-mails will explain how I can use a product to or service benefit me. For example I recently received an e-mail that gave some really good ideas to SEO. In that e-mail near the end they had a link for a product that would help enormously in this area. Needless to say that kind of sales pitch worked.

These are just my thoughts, I hope they are useful to someone out there.

Ben

It's about balance.

Focusing only on making the sale is BAD.

Equally, focusing only on giving away free information
is also BAD

(Unless you want to be a free information bureau).

The pre-text of your view is that selling is BAD.

It's possible to sell AND help your customer improve
their situation and you benefit in the process.

Good relationships are about WIN-WIN, not WIN-LOSE
or LOSE-WIN.

Dedicated to mutual success,

Shaun

I'm totally agree with you, sometimes I feel sick with their campaign via email and newsletters. They see me as their fu...ng money machine!

But not all affiliate marketer like that, there is always one or more of affiliate marketer (not many) that send me some good information and help me to make a good decision in my IM career.

Here is what has worked for me:

1 Give relevant and useful information

2. Spread it over few days and teach extensively on it.

3. At the end of the teaching...promote a product.

And then rinse and repeat...

I so totally agree. I really hate to be sold to. However, if like a banker just want to meet me and instead of trying to sell me he just tries to help me. Then i prob end up buying some service since i feel comfortable. If he try to push some service on me i will just say no and get negeative.

I agree with you totally. I have unsubscribed from many lists simply because I was always solicited for a purchase instead of being offered any relevant up to date info.

haaaa great analogy!!!

"What do you think would happen if everytime you went out to lunch with your prospect, let's say once each month, and you tried to sell them something? My guess is they'd stop having lunch with you."

lol nice......thanks for that...

Indeed your lists aren't just emails....they are actual people..build the relationships...and your bank will build also...

Sounds good in theory. From personal experience I can tell you that you will always sell more when you have an offer and a call to action. Obviously balancing it with good content that provides value and keeps people opening your emails is a good practice. But if you are afraid to sell things, you're in the wrong business.

If your goal is to be the most respected, most admired, most subscribed to broke person on the Internet - just give lots of high quality free content and never sell anything.

You have a point, however this is not completely true. It really depends on your business, who you are, and how you operate.

There are times when my phone rings and I know I'm gonna get pitched. But I do expect and want to get pitched because these are people who always sell me good products.

I don't believe you'll sell more if you don't sell anything.

But you'll sell more if you build relationships with your customers (which is part of selling anyway).

I agree, you make a good point. You always hear the saying that the money is in the list,but it is left out that you must first build a relationship with your list not just sale to the all of the time.

That would be an inappropriate reaction considering the purpose of having lunch with a prospect in the first place is to generate a sales lead or to close a deal of some sort.

I prefer newsletters that point to relevant, useful tools and strategies, product updates, fixes, new services, articles that help me understand something, etc. What I don't appreciate is people wasting my time with elongated descriptions of their weekend activities, personal suffering-to-success stories, weather predictions, and anything else that's a painfully obvious (and poorly written) ploy to "connect with me."

Whoever thought that was value wasn't wearing a thinking cap.

This is a secret that only the highly intelligent in this society are aware of.

But to me its also one of the most obvious things in the world. I just don't see a lot of people who seem to see it that way. Almost anyone, smart or stupid, hates to be sold too. They prefer a friend or a mentor to merely make recommendations, motivate them, educate them. I have a lot of salesmen in my family and my 1 brother who I consider the best does not really do any hardselling at all, but closes like 35% of all the leads we send to him.

He's able to do this merely on his personality and friendliness. He's just one of those types of people you immediately trust, so selling for him just involves going into homes and being a friend for a few minutes. Gaining rapport, making a person smile, educate them with a bit of humor. This is all he really does and I've always been amazed at how many jobs he can close.

Thats NOT the way he always was I should say that too. When he first started out he was SUPER aggressive, drueling from his mouth type of hunger for money. He was told from previous bossess if people aren't backing out of appointments that he's not trying hard enough.

That wound up being total bs. He just had to try in a totally different way. Don't sell the people, don't act like a car salesman. Be their friend, actually relate to the customer, listen to them. As long as you can get that human element across, I really think it helps a ton in closing sales. He's totally changed his pitch over the years to this more laid back approach where he just befriends people almost like Tony Robbins would. Very positive and enthusiastic. Creates the enthusiasm people need to believe in your company.

If you can't do that, and you're just trying to brainwash people with social proof and a book full of testimonials... just try acting like a human being. You'll notice a huge difference imo.

I'm not sure if the average IM'er would define their optin list as a newsletter. As such they aren't trying to bring you news.

In fact your expectations probably differ from their intention. Which perhaps could be to bring you the most up to date catalog of product offerings they'd recommend.

I wouldn't expect to go out to lunch, dinner whatever and not expect them to sell something. Or in some way get around to discussing some sort of mutually beneficial business deal.

I'd stop having lunch if I felt they were just wasting time. lacked clear intention and/or a point for the meeting.

Gotta be honest. Whenever I hear people start talking about "relationship" I want to puke.

In a business relationship the only thing I care about is whether the seller understands my needs or desires and can get me what I want. That's the only relationship I want.

I have family and friends for everything else.

That's not to say I won't be friendly to a sales rep. Nor that we may not become great friends. It's just not my main focus, as a customer.

I'll reiterate: As a customer the only "relationship" I want is one where I'm getting my needs met.


For instance I'm subscribed to an art e-newsletter. In each issue they're selling something, ie. a new book, DVD, supplies, etc.

There has never been an issue where they weren't selling something.

And I'm grateful because

• I'm reminded of inventory I'd forgotten they have
• I'm informed of new techniques and strategies along with the costs and means to get the supplies
• I don't have to scan through their online store to see if I can find something interesting or inspiring to do. They bring it right to me each and every day.

Again, in every issue they're selling something. It's just that they do it in a manner that meets my needs first.

On the other hand, I do unsubscribe from a lot of IM "newsletters".

Mainly because they all seem to promote the same launch. They don't seem to want to differentiate themselves and bring anything new to the table. And while they stick within the IM niche they're all over the place with no clear direction in their product offerings. Rather than helping me get to where I want to go I find them distracting.

A good newsletter owner will write or hire a copywriter who knows how to bring value while extracting value.

They'll write clear concise messages that will take a customer/prospect from one end of a funnel to the other. All in a well thought plan.

But here's the rub. Sometimes you're on a seemingly constant "pitch fest" list because you haven't taken action to buy something within the seller's funnel. At least that's the impression I get from some of the people here who talk about "buyers list vs regular list"

For what it's worth. Those were my thoughts.

Rashell

Yeah, giving free of charge valuable information is a MUST. Otherwise, if you send only promoting products to your list, of course it'll make them run away.

I agree. If you want a lasting business, it has to be built on trust. If you're just in for the short run, then you can go ahead and sell crap products and pretend they are awesome. I believe in the former - business is about relationships.

I agree with it 100%. You need to maintain a relation first and then only sales should happen. It works this ways only and it should be.

With out knowing you and your requirement how should I sell my stuff? It does not make sense.

Thanks.

Lots of great opinions on this post and whether you agree or not. I would just be careful about crossing over line that says. For Sale...

Mixing it in using the soft-sell approach works way better. I usually send atleast 2 -3 valuable emails that informs and educate for every 1 soft-sell email. Give more value first

Great Post Dianne,

Yeah, People understand when your trying to "get" something from them. Rather if you want to give them something wow, then huge difference in their reaction and willingness to trust you.

Some people have forgot this.


-Mike

If you get on my list it was because I offered you information, a tool, or some resource to help you make money online. You specifically signed up for a specific purpose. You want to expand your bottom line.

I build business relationships both on and off line. Very few of those off line business relationships end up in close intimate relationship that is reserved for family and lifelong buddies.

If my wife ...children... father .. mother .. sister .. aunt .. I am sure you get the picture, come and ask me to show them something that pertains to making money, the information would flow freely.

Now if my brother from another mother, my best friend since grade school, ask for business advice, I would tell him .. you idiot, you are the reason we are in this emergency room .. You would just have to know Johny.

If I am engaged in conversation with someone I am in a business relationship with there is usually the typical "how is the family" intro but conversation will usually quickly head in the direction of business.

One of us might tell the other about a product that is converting to the extreme or a service that has really ramped up customer satisfaction. Neither of us would ask the other for a review copy or would we expect the other to simply turn their CS rep over to the other free of charge.

The value of the tip is mutually considered high end. Neither of us would be offended at the point we would need to spend some of our own money to get the product or get the service set up and working in our favor.

If the list member signed up to learn to make money online with me they have entered into a business relationship. It takes a lot more than a few emails for me to go from business relationship to family or friend relationship status. I would hope it does for the list member also.

If I sign up to someone's list who I think can improve my situation, it is nice if they ask how I am doing. Great when they share a free tip but ... if that is all I get, I will not be on the list very long. I want something from them that most of the time .. free can't buy.

Listen just a little longer.

I have tested the good buddy method. Built list in the thousands. I gave away the farm. The ROI sucked.

If you are on a list and the list builder is constantly bombarding you with unproven junk .. fire them ... but quit getting offended so easy when someone offers you advice to take you from point A to point B for a price.

Do you want to learn to make money online? Do you want to advance your business .. or do you want to hold hands and skip through the park?

Hi Dianne,

I'm glad to see that you've brought this up. Well said.

Our RELATIONSHIP is the most important thing.

It's important for us to provide real-word high value to help our readers, before (and even after) asking for a single penny.

"People love to buy but hate to be sold to"~Peter Barry.

Maybe send valuable info 5 emails in a row then sell on the 6th...

I have a suggestion. If your focus is to only provide high quality content and never sell anything, then simply sell a subscription to your newsletter. You can earn a monthly income, which will allow you to focus on providing high quality content without needing to sell anything to make money, AND your list will be far more likely to read your emails and value what you have to say, since they're paying for it.

My $0.02.

I look at newsletter as relationship building with subscribers.

If my subscribers like me, they will buy from me without I pressuring them for the sales :-)

This is SO true. When I only hear about products I "need" to buy from a specific marketer and don't actually get anything useful out of my email interaction, I am guaranteed to unsubscribe from them. I sign up for peoples' lists because I want the good, free content that they are offering. I do not want my inbox flooded with advertising.

I think that many marketers need to learn this. Obviously, everyone should promote good products once in a while, but the ratio of free, useful content to product promotion should be high.

Most subscribers dont mind the product link. I think they pretty much already know "what the deal is". I suggest that you send out helpful emails every so often, and also include a link back to your product page in all emails that you send.

Good stuff folks, I'm specifically talking about the newsletter the newsletter is the tool to build that trust. The newsletter in my mind is not created to sell but to give. I definately don't believe you should sell.

The newsletter is to provide tips and information to your niche. But with emails, on the other hand of course you can promote.

But do it in a specific order, send a couple of warm emails then promote on the third one, another warm one, then a promotional one. Structure it any way you like, just so you're not sending out each email with a sales price on it.

most people forget to build relationship with their subscribers.

Selling is over-sold.

The balance has to be right as well as the environment.

For instance when I went to buy my car and the salesman was telling me the functions of the car, the engine size etc... all in all making it sound good I EXPECTED to be sold too and it would of been strange if he didn't do this.

Same with an email list.

Free info is great but TOO much free info can actually turn off prospects.

All of us here sell something online and the REAL question is "Do you make sure you offer VALUE to your list?" whether that be paid or not?

You are totally right. Personally I don't have a newsletter but I receive numerous newsletter everyday and the point is what you describe here: it is really tiring to see that everyone is trying to sell you something. I don't trust people who do that even if they recommend some good stuff. It is the communication method they use that is wrong to me.