Marketing to a Receptive Audience

Your biggest sales are going to come from your most receptive customers, those with whom you have built trust and a solid relationship. You do this by providing value over time. When people see that the information you provide is reliable, valuable and interesting, then they will begin to trust in what you recommend.

A prime example of this is Darren Rowse at ProBlogger. Over the course of time, Darren’s audience has grown. Because of the quality of posts he offers, readers have become quite loyal. So much so that when he turned a recent series of posts (31 Days to Build a Better Blog) into a workbook, readers bought it. Darren estimates sales at 3500 copies — and counting.

And Darren has earned over $100K from Amazon Associates. Because his site, DPS, offers reviews, recommendations, and gear ideas, readers like what he has to say. So when he drops an affiliate link in the post, people buy. And they buy all kinds of things: books about photography, cameras, and a variety of accessories.

He expanded all of that into a newsletter as well. And that equals more opportunity for links and referrals. Darren stated that his sales go up on Thursdays, the day he sends out his newsletter. So not only does the newsletter drive traffic to his web site, it is an opportunity to sell to his readers. Because they signed up for the contact, telling him that they want to hear more from him.

Your goal is to find and engage people who are interested in what you’re selling. Darren has found a way to do this by offering value to his readers. In return, they trust his recommendations. If Darren endorses it, there will be people on either of his sites that will buy. Can you build up a rapport with customers? Can you offer so much value that they will trust you when you are ready to sell to them?

image: sxc.hu