Have you ever poured your heart and soul into an information product only to have the marketplace ignore it?
Consider this email I received from a former client:
Our first product is still selling well, and we recently completed our second product. We’ve poured our heart and soul into this and even recorded eight videos. But no one’s buying it. We’ve tried everything! Do I have to resort to selling “money making” info products to make it – or can we find a way to sell something like this that has real value?
After an experience like this, I can see why some info-marketers think they have to “sell-out” and focus on a product that’s more “mass marketable” instead of something they really believe has value.
I maintain that if you have the patience to find your crowd and build a relationship with them, you can sell virtually anything online — as long as you focus on these four emotional connectors that sell products.
1. Focus on your core passion.
Build your business around something you know and love – something that really drives you.
The days where you could throw up a product page hooked up to Google Adwords are vanishing. More and more, your product sales pages must be supported with a surrounding site with lots of relevant content, and that’s true even if you’re not selling through Adwords. Churning out regular content takes lots of work. So, you’ve got to love your topic, and know enough about it to be continuously thinking of new ways to talk about it.
What’s more, you’re going to be generating content to send out regular emails related to your topic. You’ll want to make this part of your marketing strategy — because not everyone’s ready to buy immediately. Build a relationship with the 80% of your list who aren’t ready to buy yet, and you’ve got a business with legs.
To accomplish all of this—and stick with it long enough to get traction online– you’ve got to know and love your topic.
In fact, I’ll take this one step further: I think you’ve got to really feel your topic can change lives. That’s the difference that gets you up in the morning, helps you make it through the dips any business experiences.
2. Draw people to your product by promising love, health or money.
Like it or not, no matter how “evolved” someone may be, these three things are the primary-buying drivers for most humans: what you’re selling either has to save or make them money, improve their health, or bring them love.
Can you translate the results of your info-product into love, health, or money?
This isn’t as hard as it may sound. Virtually anything can be linked to one of these three. And I mean anything.
Even bunnies.
Consider the guy who is selling eBooks about bunnies through Adwords. How can one possibly link pet bunnies to love, health, or money?
Well, his site is about bunny health. And bunny owners love their pets. (Turns out bunnies don’t bark or “make mistakes” on the carpet – what’s not to love?) As long as he focuses on the bond between bunny owners and their furry little pets, he’s got a steady stream of customers.
3. Sell by focusing on a pain your audience has.
The more pressing the pain, the better.
If your product isn’t selling well, you haven’t linked it to a strong enough pain.
What pain could bunny owners possibly have? Bunnies have been known to have notoriously short lives, and if you’ve ever been around a little kid who has just lost a pet bunny, you know what pain is.
His sales page talks about lengthening the life of your beloved pet bunny, thus preventing needless pain and suffering from the kids, and the parents who love them.
4. Get inside your customer’s head – and heart.
Marketing and copywriting pros can be pretty good at “approximating” the kind of emotional connection from which sales are made, and today’s sophisticated consumers are getting really good at sniffing out this kind of emotional manipulation.
People are drawn to others whom they feel really understand their needs. You need to know your customer in order to understand their pain. This is really an extension of our first point: if you are passionate about your topic and your products, you’ll better understand the reasons people would need what you have.
Do you have a clear picture of whom you’re writing and selling to? The more precise description you have of your ideal customer, the more compelling and emotionally connected your blog posts, emails and sales pages will be.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with a product that the marketplace was ignoring – and sometimes, by just changing the title, the cover, or the positioning, I turned it into a best seller.
Focus on these four “warm and fuzzy” strategies for connecting with your audience, and they’ll buy from you–and thank you for the experience.
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