Will you marry me?

Nobody buys your product. No one wants your service. Your conversions are at rock bottom. What's going on? Have you ever stopped to consider that your sales approach might be something akin to this . . .

"Hi, my name is Ralph and you are beautiful. Trust me, I am everything you've ever wanted in a man and even though we've never met, will you marry me?"

Pretty ridiculous, huh?

Yet time after time after time Internet marketers "pop the question" to strangers out of the blue upon initial contact! "Will you buy my product?" Talk about a smack in the face!

If you want to get to "yes" you'd better stop right now and change your approach.

Some of the old time direct marketing greats used to say that every sale involves at least two sales.

Before you ever get the opportunity to sell your product or service, you must first sell your prospect on giving you an audience. Most prospects have been conditioned to be skeptical, cautious, and to keep their defenses up, especially when it comes to being sold.

If you, as a seller, smack 'em in the face with your product on first contact, just how receptive do you think a potential buyer is going to be? It's like asking someone to marry you without ever having dated!

Yet how many products are advertised online by a one page web site and long sales offer that is thrust in the prospects face out of the blue and ends in a call to purchase action?

Usually selling is process, a step by step advancement from the initial "hello" to the final call for the sale.

Typically, the very first step should be to ask for an audience with the prospect. Make this step totally risk-free, irresistibly enticing, and so simple and easy no one in their right mind would say "no."

Are we talking about a squeeze page and freebie? Sometimes, but probably not in most cases.

You see, the usual squeeze page has the sole marketing purpose of capturing an email address and there is a certain level of apprehension or risk involved for the prospect. If it were not so, why are mailing lists peppered with fake or throw-away junk and free email account addresses? The fear of spam is very real.

I think the easiest and most cost effective way to ask for an audience is to offer a unique information product of the highest quality, relevant to the niche, and as high in perceived value as possible without asking for anything in return. Nada. Nothing. Give the prospect a gift and a reason to say "yes" on initial contact!

Then give your prospect another gift, and another, and another. Give the prospect a chance to get to know you through your gifts. Teach him that you're not there solely for the sale. Be genuinely helpful and interested in sharing your knowledge and experience in the niche for the benefit of the prospect.

In each of your gifts you can prominently display your web site and contact information so the prospect knows how to find you. A regular and consistently interesting newsletter is a good gift. So are tips, excerpts from a unique course, and "lite" versions of products, apps or software.

In summary, try to avoid rejection. Don't give the prospect a chance to say "no;" instead, help me or her lower their shields. Lead the prospect step by small step into saying "yes" and then "yes" again and again.

Lower resistance to the selling process by serving up high quality niche relevant content without asking for anything in return . . . yet. There will be time to sell your product (the marriage) but do some seductive dating first! Romance your way into the heart of the prospect and you just might just find a customer for life.

Good luck to you all,

Steve