An Important Marketing Principle: Give Before You Try to Get (Part 2), China Online Marketing, Shanghai, China

There is a fool-proof way to get people to lower their defenses and commit. You just need to manage their impressions of you. You need to change what they think about what you’re doing. You’re not spamming, you’re offering a product that is designed to fulfill needs. You’re not a money-hungry marketer, you’re a passionate individual who loves to help people achieve their goals. Reframing and re-adjusting the prospect’s image of your brand.

So here it comes. Here’s the part when I tell you to ‘always add value’ and ‘build trust’. But let’s refashion this proverbial tip on selling. Let’s put a spin on value or trust and combine them into a single actionable guideline: Always focus on giving before trying to get.

Give them helpful free content. Give them answers to their questions. Give them a freebie. Point them to tools they need and things they should know. Give them tips they can instantly use in their lives/business. Give them pleasant surprises. Give them interaction. Give them promises you can keep. Develop a history of giving. Be known as a giver.

These are exactly the thoughts you want them to think. This is the inner dialog you want in their heads as they look at your proposition, as they wander and explore your website. This is how you get them to buy, subscribe, agree and take action on your suggestions.

Don’t mass spam your links all over the web and think that you’ll get someone’s trust or money easily. That’s a silly strategy. You’re not selling to robots or animals. You’re selling to people who care about the seller. Get what you want by first giving unconditionally. Manage what people think or feel about you and you’ll get what want easily.