Issue #315
Are You In Hiding?
Are you hiding from your market?
Do you, deep down, really not want to have much to do with them? You just want them to magically find you, think you’re a huge pile of awesome, and throw piles of money at you, right?
You speak (or write)… and they listen. Because you’re awesome. And dammit, they should just realize it and get with the program.
…
OK, I might be being a wee bit dramatic there. However, in essence, this is what I see a lot of people saying. Not with their words, but with their actions.
If you’re trying to spin up a new business, what do you likely do? Well, most people will sit there and ponder about what people need. Then, they’ll create some product based on what they need.
When it comes to traffic and building a list, what do you do? Well, create that lead magnet. Post some stuff to social (even though it feels like you’re talking to yourself). Post some blog posts and hope Google blesses you with some holy traffic water.
What is one thing you probably don’t do?
Well, I’ll tell ya…
You probably aren’t actually reaching out to anybody individually and starting actual conversations.
Conversations really work, you know. 🙂
If you’re trying to figure out what your market really wants to buy, there is no better way than getting some of them on the phone and TALKING to them. And doing a lot of listening.
If you’re trying to raise your conversion rate on an existing offer, what better way than to reach out to the people who didn’t buy and simply ask them “Why not?”
If people are unsubscribing from your list in numbers that concern you, why not reach out and ask them what’s up? Remember, just because they unsubscribed doesn’t mean you can’t contact them. You can’t send them mass email anymore, but just copy/paste that email address into your own personal email and send them a personal, individual email. Make contact… see where things went weird.
Want to spin up a new business but nobody knows about you yet? Get out there and rub elbows with them. Start conversations on social media. Participate in forums. Find local groups, meetups or conferences where they might and and go hang with them in person.
One thing you cannot do, though, is hide behind your computer screen and keep on guessing and spinning in your own head about what’s going on or what you’re missing.
The answer is ALWAYS going to be found out there talking to the actual people you intend to serve.
Never forget that they’re human beings. They’re not an email address. They’re not a blip on a graph.
You can’t sit in your ivory tower and start an online business. You can’t grow one effectively by sitting in your ivory tower.
I always find it weird when I talk to a student or a client who is having a hard time making sales or making things work… and they sit there and keep throwing crap up against the wall to see what sticks. They rewrite their email sequence. They screw with the sales page. They do all those things with no more source for those ideas than what they think up themselves. They sit behind their computer… and figure-figure on what’s going on.
What are you hiding from?
Why aren’t you treating this like the people business it is?
Get out there and TALK to them. Start conversations.
Reach out to subscribers directly to see how things are going and how you can help. Put live chat on your site. Invite people into phone calls.
You know, many times your best way to make a sale is not to put an “Add to Cart” button on there, but instead to get them into a quick conversation where you can answer their questions immediately and route them into what’s best for them.
Human to human.
The internet is just the medium to facilitate H2H (human to human) interaction and conversation. Don’t get so hung up on the “internet” part of this that you rely on it completely.
Want some further reading on this? Check this out:
RE-Humanizing Your Online Business: Scaling Your Business By Doing More Of What’s NOT Scalable