A marketing strategy you simply cannot afford to ignore especially if YOU are the product!

Are YOU the product you need to market?

Do you offer a service as a consultant, speaker, counselor, life coach or ‘expert’ in a niche?

If so, you’re probably aware of how critical it is for your business that YOU, and not just your services, appeal to your market. Some marketing gurus would go so far as to say that YOU are the deciding factor in a potential client’s mind.

I’m sure you can appreciate why. Who would you rather do business with? Someone you like and feel a rapport with or someone you don’t?

In services where trust is especially important, your potential client wants to know that YOU can be trusted and that they will feel comfortable with you.

How will they ‘know’ this? By feeling it. It is not an exercise in objectivity. It’s a highly subjective, *feeling* thing.

So, how do you stack the cards up in your favor when it comes to creating a trustworthy, feel-good impression of yourself with people who don’t know you from a byte of html code?

Interviews.

It is one of the most effective ways of letting potential clients get to know you beyond the product or service you sell. And it need only take a few minutes.

As you know, an interview is a conversation between two people. One asks questions and the other answers. If not done properly, this format can feel contrived and rigid where both interviewer and interviewee are too afraid to depart from their prepared ‘script’. But in the hands of a skilled interviewer, a Q&A can set up a vibrant conversation where you, the interviewee, can shine!

A good interview lets you showcase the best of who you and your product or service are without ‘hard selling’, deception or deflection. Instead, you engage in a dialogue that develops smoothly and naturally, allowing you to share some of your cherished ideas in a sincere and uniquely personal way.

Your potential clients want to get to know you as a person, not just an ‘expert’. An interview helps that to happen by reducing the ‘distance’ between you and them, making you accessible. It is how you create rapport without exchanging even one word with them!

Besides, your potential clients will generally appreciate, if only subconsciously, the risk that you are taking by revealing yourself to them, a risk they don’t have to take just yet!

Still not convinced of the importance of interviews as a marketing strategy? Think of any successful ‘guru’ and you’ll notice that giving interviews is an essential item in their marketing arsenal.

Interested in being interviewed? I’d love to discuss possibilities with you!

M J Dew
Your Product, My Passion!

Three things you must look for when choosing the person to write your ebook or salescopy

You're looking for someone who will write your ebook for you. Whether you plan to sell your ebook or offer it for free, you know it's got to be written well. Heck, it's got to be better than 'written well', it needs to establish you as the expert in your field, someone who knows what he's talking about and, just as importantly, someone who cares about his potential clients.

Or you might be looking for someone who can craft such a compelling copy, it'll drive a reader near insane waiting for your ebook or ecourse to download. I exaggerate a little, you don't want the reader to get anywhere in the vicinity of insane. You want them to be sane enough to keep coming back to you for more great material :)

The point is, you need great material and you need it written in a great way. How do you select the person who's going to craft such material? After all, the internet is flooded with writers and copywriters who will promise you the galaxy and give you grit.

They're not necessarily dishonest, at least not the majority of them, but they are not necessarily the 'best fit' for you either. And by the time both of you realize this and admit it, too much time and money might have been wasted. So how do find the 'perfect fit' for your writing project?

I have been on both sides of the client-provider relationship and over the years, I have learned what to search for in a service provider. They are Reliability, Competence and Match.


Reliability

I want to know that I can rely on my provider to get the job done to the required specifications, of the quality I desire and within the agreed timeline. Anything more is bonus which I may wish to reward, although this is not at all compulsory. Anything less without a compelling reason and an assurance of some compensatory action, leaves a bad taste in my mouth which I am certain to avoid in the future.

If your provider is already established in her field, you'll be able to view feedback from previous clients. This is often a good indicator. But whether your provider is established or new, here are three questions that you could put to her to gauge her reliability:

• What do you do when you're running late with deadlines?
  
• What are the things that typically set you back?
• What have you done to minimize the risk of those things happening?
  

I'm certain that you'll be able to tell whether your potential service provider is up to the mark by listening or reading (if you're using email or text chat for communication) not only to what she says but how she says it. Everyone has had the experience of not meeting a deadline and if you're realistic, you'll be able to tell an honest answer from one that isn't.


Competence

Does your potential service provider have the skills to deliver the quality of work that you require? Can she provide you with samples of work (yes, samples, not whole assignments) she has done that provide the look, feel, flavor, depth and breadth of what you're after?

Does her writing suggest that she is capable of crafting something that matches your personal style and the impression you wish to create of yourself and the services and products you wish to sell?


Match

This is probably the most subjective of the three criteria I've listed but, interestingly enough, it can be the easiest to determine as it relies very much on your gut feeling. That said, there are some guidelines or questions you could be asking yourself (not your potential service provider):

• Does this person 'get' what I need?
• Will she be willing to follow instructions and give me what I want?
• Is she willing to give me the time and creative energy for the best possible outcome i.e. product?

Reliability, Competency and Match are the three things that I consider the most important when deciding who to hire for a writing project. They are more important to me than pricing.

Having said that, it is true that certain pricing will give me an instant indication of whether to ask for a proposal or even make contact. The kind of pricing I am talking about here generally falls in the 'way too high' or 'way too low' categories.

In my experience, the work that has been most pleasing to me has come from providers charging in the 'upper middle' range. On one occasion, I was delighted beyond belief by work from someone charging in the 'lower middle range' and on another, painfully disappointed with the work that came from someone from the high end.

My advice on pricing? All things being equal, go with your gut rather than the price when it comes to choosing your writer! It's always worked for me and I've often paid dearly when I've ignored 'the ole' gut feeling' :)

To finish, even if you prefer to go with your 'gut' all the way, it is still useful to keep the above in mind. If nothing else, it'll give you a clearer idea of what you're after and the sort of provider you're likely to be most happy with.

Let's face it, when all is said and done, having confidence in and a 'cheerful expectancy' about your provider can only work to your advantage!

MJ Dew
Your Product, My Passion!

Don't even think of selling before *buying* this!

You may have what you think is the greatest ebook or online course on earth but if it doesn't connect in a personal and persuasive way with your potential client, they won't be 'showing you the money'. Nope, and especially not when there is so much available online for FREE!

Yes, I'm afraid that's what you're up against. Your competition is offering something similar but offering it for FREE. And it's not just any old run-off-the mill stuff either. It's content with quality.

You may wish to convince yourself that 'If it's free, it can't be any good'. Take off the blinkers. If it used to be true, it ain't any more. In fact, some of the top gurus in most fields you can think of offer their best material for free. It's the ultimate hook.

Your potential client (PC) might pay good money for your ebook or ecourse on a good day, but it's equally likely that she'll hesitate a couple of seconds. Those are critical seconds in which a decision is made either in your favor or against it. Why take the chance?

By making your product FREE, that tiny but crucial gap of time is squashed along with any resistance, doubt or misgivings she may have. Instead, your PC is tripping on her keyboard as she excitedly enters her email address (which you will now have handy to market your follow up, priced product) for the 'instant download'.

And forget about beefing up your main product with 567 bonus products. That's long lost its appeal. Why? People are just overwhelmed by too much information. There is simply no more room for it in their inspiration-starved brains. And there's not enough time either. Besides, quantity will never make up for quality and if your main product ain't the 'real McCoy', you've not only lost a PC, you've earned yourself a bad reputation.

So, if you want to make sales, 'sell' your best for FREE because what you're really selling and buying at the same time is...wait for it...

Goodwill.

That's right. It's an old-fashioned word but its relevance has reached new heights thanks to the volume of online marketers who will persuade people to part with good money on mediocrity.

Give your best for free and you're buying something priceless - your potential client's goodwill. And what does goodwill bring you? Two equally priceless things - appreciation and loyalty - so that when it comes to choosing between you and someone who has charged them for something they could have got free, you can be confident they'll be choosing you!

M J Dew
Your Product, My Passion!