Blogging is a platform that allows you to deliver a message, serve people solutions to their problems and at the same time, create multiple streams of income. Those may take the form of affiliate commissions, your own product sales, offering services, and many more.
When it comes to marketing and selling your products and services, as bloggers we’re often sabotaged by our own fears. And that is what we’ll be talking about in this post, how to overcome these fears to serve our people better and create a loyal customer base who will refer others.
1. The Fear of Losing the Sale
How many times have you been tempted to lower prices or add more benefits when someone questions the pricing of your product or service? This is the fear of losing the sale. To the potential client or customer you appear desperate for the sale and more concerned for your own bottom line than you are about them and the problem they need solved. How do you overcome this?
Be confident in the value you offer for the price, and don’t waver. When they see the value too, they’ll be glad to pay that and more for the solutions you’re offering. For instance, you sell a handbook for putting together an electric car. You don’t lower your price because someone complains about it. If they really want the handbook, they’ll come back and buy it when they have the money.
Set your pricing based on buyers perceived value. This happens with ebay auctions. Those who most value the item, are willing to pay the most for it and the higher price wins. This might also be proved in setting up an application for your services where prospective clients tell you how much they have budgeted or expect to pay, before you negotiate prices. Often the solution is worth more to them than you might have guessed it would be worth.
2. The Fear of Looking Dumb
As experts in our topic or field of interest, bloggers often feel like we have to have all the answers. We’re often afraid to admit that we don’t know something or don’t understand terms. We feel like we risk looking dumb if we ask questions of those we serve, when really the opposite is true.
Be interested in them. Questions show interest. Questions let your readers, customers, and clients know that you are truly interested in them, their problem/situation and in helping them find the solution that is best for them; as opposed to you just doing research about them, coming in with all the answers, collecting your fee and moving on.
Make them feel heard and understood. Don’t be afraid to ask the dumb questions. They want to know you have their best interests at heart, and often this assurance comes through the communication of questions and answers. And when they answer, be sure you really listen to what they’re saying.
3. The Fear of Being Taken Advantage Of
Society at large over the past 10 years has struggled to see bloggers as professionals. Brands pay big bucks for advertising via traditional means while expecting advertising with online influencers to be free. People pay retail prices for curriculum in stores or on Amazon but expect bloggers’ materials to be free or low cost.
In 2018, at least in my experience, it seems we’re finally seeing a shift away from this way of thinking as more and more services and products become available online; however, many bloggers still suffer under this fear of being taken advantage of.
Give your best: No matter who you are or what solution you offer, you should be willing to give your best, your most excellent work to help your people, regardless of their response. That sounds counter-cultural, I know.
But think about it. The brands and individuals you’ve worked with that have given you the best experiences… most of them have gone above and beyond what was expected. They outdid themselves in service, kindness, competence, met your expectations and then some, and you raved about them to your friends. You want your readers, customers, and clients to have this same response to your brand.
Overdeliver: Do folks sometimes take advantage of those who work like this? Yes. And you should never let a customer or client abuse your services, that’s something different entirely. But more often than not people respect you when they experience your excellent work ethic that consistently overdelivers, and it will pay off in loyal fans and word of mouth referrals.
So how do you overcome these fears and stand out in the crowded online marketplace?
- Be confident in the value and pricing you offer, but willing to flex to meet the perceived value of the client.
- Show greater interest in helping your customer solve their problem than in your own knowledge or profit.
- Do everything with an excellence that gives them more than is expected.
If you want a term for this, it’s “relationship marketing.” When your concern for the success of your reader, customer, or client is greater than your concern for your own financial bottom line, you will overcome these fears, serve your people better, and create an amazing community around your brand or service, which in turn will improve your bottom line, and everyone is a winner!
Other Relationship Marketing Resources:
- People Over Profit by Dale Partridge
- Getting Naked: A Business Fable, by Patrick Lencioni
- The Noticer by Andy Andrews
- The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
- QBQ: The Question Behind the Question by John G. Miller
- Ask by Ryan Levesque
