Do you know the definition of insanity?
"Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
-- Albert Einstein.
Funny isn't it?
It's funny because you blog regularly thinking it will make you more money.
You read posts that say something to the extent of "How to make money on ______"
You buy training on the promise that you'll learn the secrets, only to be left with more questions.
You do it over, and over, and over again...
...and nothing changes.
Why are you doing this to yourself?
We've been sold on this idea that we can start with nothing and build an empire by writing incessantly about what we love.
It's partly true, but it's far from the whole story.
When I started out almost three years ago, I didn't have a blog. I didn't write articles that talked about what I knew.
I talked to people, listened to what their problems were, and learned how to fix it, then took experimental action and it worked.
Three years later, I sell services at a higher price. I teach how to do that and a number of other things.
Blogging didn't do this for me.
In fact, I had running my business for nearly a year before I ever started blogging.
But it blows my mind that people think they need to blog, need to have an auto-responder sequence, need to be doing videos, need to be doing Facebook, need to be on Twitter, need to write an ebook, and need to get people to know, trust, and like you before they'll buy from you.
What you need to do is identify the Biggest problem of your target market, then create something that solves the problem.
Focus on the problem first.
Just recently, I had a conversation with someone who sells a high-priced physical product.
For confidentiality's sake, let's just say they sell hard to find, old, hard to find, art-house movies. That's not the product, but it'll work just fine as a substitute...
They describe themselves as "commodity rich but cash poor." In other words, "I have a bunch of crap I can't sell"
Now they've optimized their Linkedin Profile, as per the recommendation of some well known Linkedin Training, understands the importance of doing video, has all sorts of ideas for different blog posts, categories, and How to's and tutorials and so fourth...(sound familiar?)
...but really, none of this stuff addresses the problem of the target market... which is...
"I want to buy old, hard to find, art-house movies."
In reality, a person who wants to buy old art house movies, would be willing to pay a higher price, especially if they've been trying to get their hands on a certain piece for a long time.
They don't need to know how to critique the movie, or repair and/or maintain the equipment, or price and resell old, hard to find, art-house movies.
They just want to watch the movie.
Don't over complicate the process.
You've been lead to believe that people will buy from you because they know, trust, and like you.
But really, the question is "Do they know you can solve their problem? Do they trust you can solve their problem? Do they like the way you do it?"
To sell old, hard to find art-house movies, you don't need to show them how to frame it, critique it, and appreciate it...
...you need to sell it.
Basic Marketing principals say
"Find the people who have a problem, have a solution for the problem, deliver solution"
Yet, we blog. We optimize our profiles, we pay for programs...
We tell people too much, we do all sorts of stuff we never wanted to do in the first place.
Meanwhile, we make other people rich, and still our problem of being "commodity rich and cash poor" isn't really solved.
So here's a suggestion...
Do less.
If you sell a product, sell the product.
Find a book on copywriting, and book on direct response marketing.
Then write a product description that gets people to want to click.
Study Skymall for a good example of enticing copy.
Buy ads.
Point people to your product pages.
Test copy.
See what works, and do that.
Woah wait what! Buy ADS!!!
Yeah, buy ads. It's the fastest way for your target market to come to you.
Believe it or not, when you're spending time writing getting to "know, trust, and like" you, you're also wasting money.
"BUT WAIT, what about those people with 6 figure product launches?"
Consider the hours that are put into years of blogging to build an audience, then a month of creating "launch content".
If it takes two years to have a 6 figure launch, and a person puts in an average of 90 hours a week on their blogging, marketing, networking, commenting, etc...
90hrs x 104 weeks = 9,360 hrs/$100,000 = $10.68/hr
Awesome...
Now I've also known plenty of bloggers who have been at it longer than two years, and still can't figure out a 6 figure launch... so figure that one out.
Don't contribute to the noise.
Taking a more direct approach is greatly appreciated.
Relying solely on word of mouth, and search engines is not a sustainable form of business.
There are too many moving parts, and too many things to consider.
Plus, doing that does not help you get the root of a person's problem.
If you're giving them more than they need to solve the problem, you're short circuiting their brain making it impossible to solve the problem at hand.
It's like giving a kid a backpack full of schoolbooks when they only have history class that day.
It's weighing them down.
Your content is valuable, only if it helps people understand they need help.
You want people coming to you saying "I need help", only then can you help them.
Otherwise you'll spend more time trying to convince them, instead of just fixing the problem.
