Time to read: 3 minutes. If you’re blogging for direct sales—wondering why sales aren’t showing up you’re not alone. But there is a better, new way that is fun for bloggers AND effective at creating leads. Better yet, it grabs the attention of new and existing customers, helps them and earns their trust in you. I’m talking about mythbusting.
Blog Less, Sell More
If you’re like most direct sellers you’re showing your human side on social media—proving that there’s a charismatic person behind your tweets, posts and updates. You are frequently blogging and telling stories about your business.
You’re doing what does not work.
Well… the truth is these tactics are NOT generating sales for most direct sellers and small business owners. But for good reason.
Infomercial expert, Ron Perlstein says it so well: “Frequency is the benefit of success, not the key to success.”
In other words, you can increase frequency of promotion after you generate sales revenue.
Want to be blogging less and selling more? It IS possible. Myth busted. now I’ll show you how to do it.
Start Mythbusting: It Works
Winning new customers online is all about your ability to create irresistible curiosity. That means giving prospects a reason to get a focused conversation started with you. Sure you can ethically bribe them to get the ball rolling—to create a lead for you to nurture.
Most of all you’ve got to solve a problem for customers with your blog stories. This is where mythbusting comes in.
In plain English, Mythbusting
- gets people to read your blog;
- converts readers to business leads faster when combined with a call-to-action;
- often involves less work on your part.
Ultimately, Mythbusting is a very engaging way to help readers achieve a goal or avoid a risk… in a way that is contrary to popular wisdom. It’s an editorial tactic that really works—better than frequent blogging does.
Mythbusting works for your customer—and earns sales leads for your business—because it’s the story most people want to hear:
“Hey… what you’re doing is popular yet not effective… here’s the secret on what actually works… I’ll prove it to you and show you how to get what you want.”
Best of all, this technique creates distinction in what you’re offering on your blog. It allows you to separate out from all the redundant, unoriginal thoughts out there—noise that otherwise drowns out your online voice.
Stand Out, Be Original, Get Trusted and Earn S-A-L-E-S
You’re probably thinking, “But Jeff, this isn’t a popular idea.”
That’s precisely why it works.
Mythbusting (as a blogging tactic to create sales leads) is not terribly common. That’s because it works so well people don’t blog much about it!
Think about it. The best way to stand out in social media and create leads with it is to have something honestly new to say to customers. Until you can do this, say less. You’ll become known for publishing less on your blog and, when doing so, releasing remarkably useful content more often.
People will FIND and LISTEN to you more often!
Tom Webster agrees and says the surest way to fail at blogging for sales leads is to write to a schedule, “and not in the service of ideas.”
“The tyranny of the content calendar is responsible for a lot of weak content on the Web,” says Webster.
He says “keeping up that pace out of deference to some kind of received wisdom about publishing frequency” may not lead you to intellectual dishonesty but it often does. At best, Webster says, it places dangerous stress on the system. Sound familiar? 🙂
Here’s What to Do in Plain English
Here’s how to do it. The key to success when blogging for direct sales is giving blog readers (prospects) a compelling, irresistible reason to discover something new—a way to solve a problem that goes against popular wisdom. Do what I did in this very blog post (shoot me for practicing what I preach!) or check out my free online sales training videos on this subject.
Being silent until you have something honestly meaningful to say flies in the face of advice being given by most social media experts. These voices often over-emphasize the role of frequent blog posts, video uploads, etc. The result? Madness AND lack of sales.
Focusing on having something new to say works better. It is the key to successfully using LinkedIn for sales leads, for instance.
Here is the Mythbusting system in a nutshell:
- Make the myth you’re debunking clear up front.
- Be clear how you’re dismantling popular wisdom to prove it wrong .
- Offer proof of better way—again, up front.
- Create a pathway for prospects to get more details (to create leads).
Feel free to use this blog post as an example.
Follow These Steps: Take Action Now
To generate more sales leads apply the mythbusting concept on your blog in ways that create:
- Confidence: Shine a light on the success your unique perspective brings; do it in a way that gives prospects clarity; help the customer feel like they can experience success too.
- Curiosity: Explain your remedy in a way that creates clarity AND active curiosity.
- A Way: Show prospects a way to take immediate action on the thought you just provoked; help them choose a pathway to make the needed change a habit in their everyday lives.
A Free Training Course to Get You Started
This will get you started but if you really want to get moving on discovering the best content for blogs (the stuff that sells!) take a look at my FREE Make Social Media Sell Now Training Program. Good luck!
Photo credit: 96dpi
