If you sell a service or a high priced, complex product, rather than a simple commodity, people are not going to come to your website and click the buy button immediately. So how do you build a list of people who might be interested in buying what you have to offer either now or in the future?
I was talking to a friend last week about producing useful fact sheets or articles to give away free on her website or use as blog posts.
Not only will this help to establish your credibility as an expert in your field, but by offering a PDF download in exchange for an email, and possibly other contact details, you will start to build a list of people who have said that they are interested in your subject area – and they may be interested in your services now or later.
My friend has more than 20 years sales experience & has just retrained as a trainer
“But what could I write about?” she asked. I said, “Can you tell me the top 3 mistakes people make in cold calling?” “That’s easy” – she reeled off several points. So I asked her to tell me some more about each of the top three.
By the time she’d done that, and answered all my supplementary questions, she’d said enough to cover 5 pages of A4. And she hadn’t even started on how her training could help someone to do it right (obviously the topic for her first training course)!
So my advice is to pick a topic you know well and pick a good title. People like lists so go for something like – 3 top mistakes . . . or 7 steps to . . . or top tips for . . .
Then get someone to interview you – preferably someone who knows your field as they are likely to ask more probing questions; record the interview; get it transcribed (use transcription software or pay someone if you don’t want to do it yourself); turn it into a pretty PDF and advertise it – online using Google Ads; in a magazine; on flyers at network meetings; in a blog – wherever your potential customers congregate.
If you don’t have someone to interview you then follow this process:
- Start by making a note of your 3 mistakes or 7 steps or 5 top tips, etc. Then as fast as you can, without thinking much, write a sentence on each one.
- Next expand each sentence into a paragraph by writing down anything about that point that you can think of. You might want to take a break after each one.
- When you come back to it, expand one paragraph into two or even into a full page – depending on how much you need.
- Do the same for the other points one at a time, without putting any pressure on yourself – take as many breaks as you like and take as long as like.
- When you think you’ve done all you can, take another break and come back to it when you are ready to tidy it up and put the finishing touches to it.
As long as you’ve picked a subject you know well, you’ll be surprised how much you can write down about it.
You may even find you have a whole series of articles or blog posts!
Jayne Reddyhoff of The Adword Adviser specialises in helping businesses get their websites onto the first page of Google and, more importantly, convert website visitors into paying customers. The Adword Adviser provides a range of website marketing services including Keyword Research, Website Usability Reviews, Search Engine Optimisation and Pay Per Click Advertising – all delivered in plain English for businesses that want to keep control of the costs and still get excellent results.
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