By Marj Galangco | Published: 1 February, 2009 Page viewed 1478 times
If you are self-employed or a business owner and you still haven’t utilised the internet to boost your sales, you are leaving loads of money on the table.
If you operate mainly through offline vehicles, this means you are using mainly the following methods to create income for yourself:
Networking – attending events to meet as many people as possible and establishing relationships through constant communication
Holding events yourself -holding free events for your prospects like an open house, or a taster workshop
Exhibits – paying a company so you could set up a stall to exhibit your goods for X days
Advertising- in magazines, newspapers, billboards, etc
Press Releases
Cold calling or door to door knocking
Direct mail – catalogues, brochures, postcards, etc.
The above tactics are viable ways to reach your prospects, but there are common downsides:
They limit your reach - if you are networking, you can only talk and connect with one person at a time; if you are holding a free event or participating in an exhibit, you are only reaching a small handful of people at a time
They require a big investment of your time – if you are networking, can you just attend 5 events and never have to attend ever again? Of course not. You have to keep going in order to get some results, probably see the same people and hear the same things. The same thing applies if you are promoting mainly via cold calling or if you are advertising. You have to keep putting lots and lots of time in.
The audience you are reaching don’t necessarily belong to your ideal target market - when you set up an exhibit stall, not everyone who will come to the event and browse through your goods has a strong interest in what you have to offer. When you go to a networking event, not everyone you’ll meet there will meet your criteria
Case Study
Let’s say for example that you are using exclusively offline vehicles while working as a self employed sales agent for an investment property business. I am doing this for illustrative purpose only, but the principles I discuss here can also apply to Nutritionists, Life Coaches, Consultants, Therapists, etc. The value you offer is that you help investors select ‘the best’ properties for their particular situation as investors and individuals. You carry out extensive research and give your clients all the information they need to make an informed decision.
So you’ve got a great service. You prevent people from making costly mistakes. You educate people and arm them with viable ways towards financial freedom. You help increase the quality of their lives by doing much of the legwork and just presenting them with the relevant, accurate and timely information that they need in order to make the right investment decisions for themselves. I’d say you’ve got so much to offer! Are you reaching enough people by using offline communication methods? I doubt it.
Because of the nature of your offer, your ideal communication channel is one that easily allows you to:
Reach a GLOBAL audience- regardless of where they are and where you happen to be
Get a consistent message to your target audience
Get the right people to find your message at the right time – that is, when they are proactively looking for just the sort of thing you are offering.
Leverage your time, money, energy and resources
And what else can you use to do exactly all these?
A Blog!
I am not suggesting you completely do without your current offline marketing strategies. They work as well. However if you change your business model so that it also makes use of online vehicles like a blog, you could reap the following benefits if you do it properly:
Benefit # 1 : You open up your message to be highly and easily accessible (24/7/365!) to THE exact hungry crowd you are after
Think about it – once you have writtten your entry about say, “The top 12 Common Mistakes Overseas Property Investors Make and How You Can Avoid Them”, it will be there for anyone to read anytime, it can be accessed by many people at the same time, and it delivers a consistent message each and every time. Once you have put that work in, that’s it. You can then move on and work on another article that addresses a different angle of the same big problem that your prospects want to solve.
Benefit # 2: Build a relationship with a huge amount of people from all over the world interested in hearing what you have to say
If someone goes to your blog, subscribe to your RSS feeds, or leaves comments on your entries, chances are they are genuinely interested in the information you have to give. If they’re not interested, they wouldn’t waste not even 3 seconds on your site. Over time, as they become more educated and well-informed, they will make a buying decision. And who do you think they will buy from? YOU, of course!
Benefit # 3: Build your prospects database easily and automatically.
Opt-in boxes will allow you to collect names and details of people who is basically saying, “Yes please! Email me, I want to hear from you!”
These are people who want what you are offering. These are people who are open about what you have to say. These are people whom you can build a relationship with. These are people who will come to rely on you for advice and guidance, and when they continue to get immense value from you, soon everything you recommend to them will be taken seriously. It is possible to earn thousands of dollars just by emailing your list and recommending a product that you really believe will help them.
Can you see the potentials now?
Benefit # 4: Interact with your audience
Through the blog comments, your audience will be able to ask you questions, give you feedback, share their problems, doubts, plans, etc. This will give you the chance to uncover what it is they are really looking for, what bothers them, what keeps them up at night, what they like and dislike – thus putting you in a strategic position to offer the solutions they want or need.
Benefit #5: No more Selling
As someone who is mainly disseminating information about the best property investments, you will NEVER need to sell ever again because your blog will PRE-SELL your offers. “Pre-selling” simply means building a trusting relationship with your audience which makes them eager to buy. People don’t like being sold to so you might as well stop trying.
Benefit # 6: You will be able to earn passive income while helping your customers and other businesses!
As someone who is knowledgeable in property investments, chances are you will be able to write intimate descriptions of the properties you’re selling, and in the process you can recommend the best restaurants, reliable car rentals, the best night clubs, or any offline business in that particular area – and take a commission! You can also do the same practice online. This is called affiliate marketing. In affiliate marketing, you recommend a product, provide a link the reader can click through, and if they buy you get an automatic commission. Have enough links in your blog and have enough people clicking and buying through your links and you will see the money roll in – while you’re sat at home sipping your wine.
Benefit #7: Targeted Advertising for your company
You can set up big banners in your blog displaying ads for your company. This will boost their brand and online presence through your blog. When viewers click on the advert, they can be taken to your company’s official website, where they can see all the other information about your company. Alternatively, you can use some of the banner space to rent out to other related companies, thus serving as another stream of passive income.
Benefit # 8: Sell Premium memberships
As someone who is in the information business, a particularly effective way to create an income stream from your blog or website is by selling Premium Memberships. You can offer to give Premium Members the latest news about the best properties available, give tip and tricks, special discounts, etc. Many people are willing to pay for this type of service as long as they perceive the information they are getting is worth it.
Benefit # 9: Create and launch your own products
As an expert in your field, chances are you know enough already to write and produce e-books, or create audio CDs, educational videos, printed books, even create your very own branded t-shirts and mugs! When you create your own products, you boost your credibility to your audience.
Benefit # 10: You’ll establish your reputation and credibility and be known to a worldwide audience of HOT prospects who trust and like you – and you can work wherever!
If you give useful content constantly, people will look to you for advice and guidance, and they will trust you if they sense that you really are trying to help them as best as you know how. They will recommend you to their friends and their friends will do the same. They will forward your emails to other people they know, who in turn will get curious and read your message. It’s viral, and since it’s online you can be anywhere in the world and it wouldn’t make a difference. You can have a mobile lifestyle!
There are other ways you can make semi-passive income while having fun through your blog, but we will cover that later on. My main objective for this post is to make you see what you could be missing by not having a blog.
But before you wet yourself with excitement, let’s answer the next logical question:
So HOW do you do it properly?
As with any endeavour worth doing, you will need to invest time, energy and money in order to learn how to do things successfully. The beauty of changing your business model from offline-only to mainly-online is that once you have set up the foundation, you need not spend as much time on it. Most of it will eventually be automated, and you will not need to spend as much time doing research and maintenance and relationship building. Many professional bloggers out there are able to earn six-figure incomes while spending 4 to 6 hours a week on their blog.
You will need to learn the following:
Set up the blog and design the blog, with your own branding, domain name and logo. This is a must because you are blogging as a way to boost your business
Update the blog at least 2 to 3 times a week. You must know how to research your niche and give timely and relevant information that your prospects would want to read.
Research and strategise so you know exactly what to write about, when to write them, and which keywords you must use in order to get lots of relevant traffic
Research, analyse and identify merchants you can affiliate with, then apply to get the affiliate link and put these links strategically in the blog content.
Create online presentations in the form of videos, audio files, teleseminars, podcasts, etc.
Set up polls and surveys regarding the most important issues experienced by your audience (e.g., what is your biggest issue when it comes to property investing?)
Perform the ongoing maintenance and improvement of the blog
Set up the graphics and adverts in the blog
Create/ set up the News feeds
Create a Forum in the blog (eventually, when there’s enough traffic and comments)
Build your list: manage your opt-ins and how to use autoresponders effectively
Set up your ezine or email subscriptions and manage its distribution
Set up the many glowing testimonials you have received from various businesses / people (provide their contact/website details if they are OK with it)
These are just some of the basic things you need to do. The good news is that you don’t have to be an expert in any of these – just know enough so that you fully understand the earning potentials and see the big picture. Also, if you know nothing about technical stuff, you don’t have to learn them. Just get someone else to do it for you – you’re much better off doing what you know. Just focus on writing great and useful content that your target audience will really find helpful.
Setting up a blog can be done in minutes, and it’s free – so you can literally be up and running NOW. However because you will be doing this as a business, you must do whatever it takes to do this as properly as possible in order to get the maximum results, so you will have to buy your own domain name, customise and optimise your blog (business branding is very important), acquire tools that will save you time, prevent mistakes, and drive people to your blog.
If you are an absolute blog novice, it is best to get someone to guide you and show you the ropes. Trying to suss out how to choose the right person to listen to could overwhelm you, as there are many courses and people out there targeting novice bloggers like you. So if you are seriuously considering setting up a business blog, please email me and I will consider your individual circumstances and point you in the right direction.
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The Business Value of Blogging
Page viewed 1478 times
If you are self-employed or a business owner and you still haven’t utilised the internet to boost your sales, you are leaving loads of money on the table.
If you operate mainly through offline vehicles, this means you are using mainly the following methods to create income for yourself:
The above tactics are viable ways to reach your prospects, but there are common downsides:
Case Study
Let’s say for example that you are using exclusively offline vehicles while working as a self employed sales agent for an investment property business. I am doing this for illustrative purpose only, but the principles I discuss here can also apply to Nutritionists, Life Coaches, Consultants, Therapists, etc. The value you offer is that you help investors select ‘the best’ properties for their particular situation as investors and individuals. You carry out extensive research and give your clients all the information they need to make an informed decision.
So you’ve got a great service. You prevent people from making costly mistakes. You educate people and arm them with viable ways towards financial freedom. You help increase the quality of their lives by doing much of the legwork and just presenting them with the relevant, accurate and timely information that they need in order to make the right investment decisions for themselves. I’d say you’ve got so much to offer! Are you reaching enough people by using offline communication methods? I doubt it.
Because of the nature of your offer, your ideal communication channel is one that easily allows you to:
And what else can you use to do exactly all these?
A Blog!
I am not suggesting you completely do without your current offline marketing strategies. They work as well. However if you change your business model so that it also makes use of online vehicles like a blog, you could reap the following benefits if you do it properly:
Benefit # 1 : You open up your message to be highly and easily accessible (24/7/365!) to THE exact hungry crowd you are after
Think about it – once you have writtten your entry about say, “The top 12 Common Mistakes Overseas Property Investors Make and How You Can Avoid Them”, it will be there for anyone to read anytime, it can be accessed by many people at the same time, and it delivers a consistent message each and every time. Once you have put that work in, that’s it. You can then move on and work on another article that addresses a different angle of the same big problem that your prospects want to solve.
Benefit # 2: Build a relationship with a huge amount of people from all over the world interested in hearing what you have to say
If someone goes to your blog, subscribe to your RSS feeds, or leaves comments on your entries, chances are they are genuinely interested in the information you have to give. If they’re not interested, they wouldn’t waste not even 3 seconds on your site. Over time, as they become more educated and well-informed, they will make a buying decision. And who do you think they will buy from? YOU, of course!
Benefit # 3: Build your prospects database easily and automatically.
Opt-in boxes will allow you to collect names and details of people who is basically saying, “Yes please! Email me, I want to hear from you!”
These are people who want what you are offering. These are people who are open about what you have to say. These are people whom you can build a relationship with. These are people who will come to rely on you for advice and guidance, and when they continue to get immense value from you, soon everything you recommend to them will be taken seriously. It is possible to earn thousands of dollars just by emailing your list and recommending a product that you really believe will help them.
Can you see the potentials now?
Benefit # 4: Interact with your audience
Through the blog comments, your audience will be able to ask you questions, give you feedback, share their problems, doubts, plans, etc. This will give you the chance to uncover what it is they are really looking for, what bothers them, what keeps them up at night, what they like and dislike – thus putting you in a strategic position to offer the solutions they want or need.
Benefit #5: No more Selling
As someone who is mainly disseminating information about the best property investments, you will NEVER need to sell ever again because your blog will PRE-SELL your offers. “Pre-selling” simply means building a trusting relationship with your audience which makes them eager to buy. People don’t like being sold to so you might as well stop trying.
Benefit # 6: You will be able to earn passive income while helping your customers and other businesses!
As someone who is knowledgeable in property investments, chances are you will be able to write intimate descriptions of the properties you’re selling, and in the process you can recommend the best restaurants, reliable car rentals, the best night clubs, or any offline business in that particular area – and take a commission! You can also do the same practice online. This is called affiliate marketing. In affiliate marketing, you recommend a product, provide a link the reader can click through, and if they buy you get an automatic commission. Have enough links in your blog and have enough people clicking and buying through your links and you will see the money roll in – while you’re sat at home sipping your wine.
Benefit #7: Targeted Advertising for your company
You can set up big banners in your blog displaying ads for your company. This will boost their brand and online presence through your blog. When viewers click on the advert, they can be taken to your company’s official website, where they can see all the other information about your company. Alternatively, you can use some of the banner space to rent out to other related companies, thus serving as another stream of passive income.
Benefit # 8: Sell Premium memberships
As someone who is in the information business, a particularly effective way to create an income stream from your blog or website is by selling Premium Memberships. You can offer to give Premium Members the latest news about the best properties available, give tip and tricks, special discounts, etc. Many people are willing to pay for this type of service as long as they perceive the information they are getting is worth it.
Benefit # 9: Create and launch your own products
As an expert in your field, chances are you know enough already to write and produce e-books, or create audio CDs, educational videos, printed books, even create your very own branded t-shirts and mugs! When you create your own products, you boost your credibility to your audience.
Benefit # 10: You’ll establish your reputation and credibility and be known to a worldwide audience of HOT prospects who trust and like you – and you can work wherever!
If you give useful content constantly, people will look to you for advice and guidance, and they will trust you if they sense that you really are trying to help them as best as you know how. They will recommend you to their friends and their friends will do the same. They will forward your emails to other people they know, who in turn will get curious and read your message. It’s viral, and since it’s online you can be anywhere in the world and it wouldn’t make a difference. You can have a mobile lifestyle!
There are other ways you can make semi-passive income while having fun through your blog, but we will cover that later on. My main objective for this post is to make you see what you could be missing by not having a blog.
But before you wet yourself with excitement, let’s answer the next logical question:
So HOW do you do it properly?
As with any endeavour worth doing, you will need to invest time, energy and money in order to learn how to do things successfully. The beauty of changing your business model from offline-only to mainly-online is that once you have set up the foundation, you need not spend as much time on it. Most of it will eventually be automated, and you will not need to spend as much time doing research and maintenance and relationship building. Many professional bloggers out there are able to earn six-figure incomes while spending 4 to 6 hours a week on their blog.
You will need to learn the following:
These are just some of the basic things you need to do. The good news is that you don’t have to be an expert in any of these – just know enough so that you fully understand the earning potentials and see the big picture. Also, if you know nothing about technical stuff, you don’t have to learn them. Just get someone else to do it for you – you’re much better off doing what you know. Just focus on writing great and useful content that your target audience will really find helpful.
Setting up a blog can be done in minutes, and it’s free – so you can literally be up and running NOW. However because you will be doing this as a business, you must do whatever it takes to do this as properly as possible in order to get the maximum results, so you will have to buy your own domain name, customise and optimise your blog (business branding is very important), acquire tools that will save you time, prevent mistakes, and drive people to your blog.
If you are an absolute blog novice, it is best to get someone to guide you and show you the ropes. Trying to suss out how to choose the right person to listen to could overwhelm you, as there are many courses and people out there targeting novice bloggers like you. So if you are seriuously considering setting up a business blog, please email me and I will consider your individual circumstances and point you in the right direction.
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