Chapter 4: Lead; Don't Sell
Your goal as an online seller is not to sell per se but to build your business into the market leader position.
People instinctively want to buy from the seller who's best in class. Only in rare situations will consumers gravitate toward a company in second or third place. Granted, every company would like to think of itself as being in first place, but statistically and objectively, that's just not true. There is a reason why brand names dominate around the world, whether soft drinks, movies, music, clothing, etc. People are willing to pay a premium for the brand name, and that's simply because of perceived quality.
Quality is a given with market leaders.
Your goal as an online seller is not to sell per se but to build your business into the market leader position. You need to dominate your niche and develop your brand name so that it's recognized as a leader. When times get hard, as they are now, people gravitate toward leaders, not willing to risk their money for a product that may be of lesser quality, even if the price is better.
So have you established market dominance as a leader in your niche?
- You must be visible. As we discussed above, you are your brand name. Your personal name recognition is essential for dominance in your niche. There are countless ways to do this, but one of the most important is to get your name out there and visible on the Internet. You can do joint ventures with other marketers, perhaps even competitors in certain situations. There's no rule against print advertising, such as magazine or newspaper ads. The pay-per-click campaign, managed effectively, can be crucial in building your brand name recognition. Even if people don't click through on the link, they begin seeing your name over and over again on various sites they visit. One interesting way many online marketers don't think about is running an affiliate campaign. If you have affiliates who are compensated for selling your product, then they have every motivation to spread your name in as many places as they can. While you may give up some of your profits because you have to reimburse the affiliates, what normally happens if the affiliate marketing campaign is run correctly, is that your business gains momentum and begins to grow exponentially.
- Establish your authority. You must be seen as the "go to" person in your niche. People automatically trust and take advice from authority figures. There are many ways to establish yourself in this position, and some of the more well- known methods are article writing, forum posting, and publishing e-books. Each of these methods will add to your authority as time goes by and more and more people become familiar with the quality of your work.
- Polish your blog. Your blog is the one place that existing and potential customers can hear your real voice. Put your picture on your blog. Talk about your life. You are not obligated to reveal everything about yourself, but blogging gives your readers a taste of who you are as a person. Then, when you need to speak as an authority, they will be more likely to accept what you say. Of course, we should point out that authority once again can be quickly lost due to careless writing or factual errors. Pause and think before you publish each and every post.
Think of people in your own life who are authority figures for you. Why do you view them as an authority? Most likely, it's a factor of knowledge, experience, wisdom, and that gut-level instinct of knowing what to do and what not to do. The same principles will hold true in Internet marketing; you simply use different tools to get to the same goal.
Building your authority takes time and effort.
While there are many companies that claim to have a shortcut to establishing your authority, there really is no better way than the old- fashioned way. You must become known for consistent, persistent, and trustworthy content of the highest quality that actually helps people.
