Back to blogging with the #1 rule for selling online

From the desk of Roy Furr, Wednesday, 5:03 am

So with my new son reaching a healthy 4 months old and some exciting things happening in my business, I figured it’s time to pick back up with blogging (at least occasionally).

What’s going on — been doing a bit of work with AWAI recently. Here’s a couple articles I’ve written for them that you may find interesting:

How to “Steal” Videos and Quickly Add Content to Your Money-Making Website

Unlock The Twitter Traffic Tempest – 5 Traffic-Getting Tactics For Your Money-Making Website

Not only should you read those articles for the content (which people are already raving about) but you should also read them for the format. What do I mean?

Well, those articles are both great examples of advertorial selling online.

I don’t know how much I’ve talked about this here, but I have a rule for selling online. 90% high-value content. 10% pitch. And it works like gangbusters.

Why does this work so well?

Because of two reasons.

#1 — Build credibility.

It’s easy for any hack to put up a web page. And it’s easy for any hack to talk about and try to pitch you on — well — any topic online. But if you want to be perceived as an expert, you have to prove it.

And one major way to prove it is by demonstrating your expertise with high-value, actionable content your reader can apply immediately. Then they can try it for themselves and understand whether you’re just some hack, or if you’re The Real McCoy. So providing high-value content is credibility builder like none other.

#2 — Get attention.

Do I have to quote yet another statistic about how many advertisements assault our senses in a day? It’s well into 4 figures, and it may be approaching 5 figures. And it used to work to just be louder to stand out. But even louder gets ignored today.

However what still doesn’t get ignored is the meat. People still turn on the boob tube to watch that show they want to watch… Still open the newspaper or magazine to read the article they’re interested in… Still browse the web for something informative or funny or that solves a problem in their life…

And if your advertising and promotional materials are actually meaty — meaning they solve a problem or deliver content that’s of high perceived value to the reader — then they’ll stand out and get attention far more than any yelling or screaming or bold red headlines ever can.

Now there is one place you might violate the 90/10 rule.

If you have a long-term relationship with a prospect, and have already delivered them content followed by content followed by content, you may have an opportunity to break this rule.

Once you’ve established a strong relationship with a prospect, you are then able to present them with a strong sales message online and still maintain their attention and your credibility all the way through. Because you’ve got the credibility — you’ve built it with them through time. And because your sales message is targeted to someone with whom you already hold favor — the reader — and it speaks directly to their needs in the context of the content you’ve already delivered.

Only in a situation like this should you break the rule.

Does AWAI like how those articles/advertorials have been performing? Well, they’ve asked me to present on the topic of money-making websites at their annual Bootcamp in Delray Beach, FL in November. Will I see you there?

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