Nobody says ‘sell me something’

I hate selling, mainly because I hate being sold at.  That doesn’t mean I don’t buy things, I definitely do, but I like to feel like I’m in the driving seat, not being driven to a destination I’m not sure I want to be at.

I know people who can sell ice to the Eskimos, but only once.  I’m not interested in single sales, it makes much more sense to have repeat sales, one ‘sale’ and then people keep buying.

That’s usually because they’ve done that thing all the networking groups talk about – know, like, trust.  It’s all about relationships.

It’s about telling people enough that they want to buy – and there’s the difference.

Back in the dark ages when I learned sales skills (selling hotel function facilities, then bottles of pop in two different roles, where I was sent on a sales course), I learned all about features and benefits.  I was told that you can’t just explain what the product is, but what it does AND how that benefits the customer.

I think today’s selling isn’t quite so structured.  Yes, there are still elements of all that, but strong businesses work because their customers like the person they’re dealing with and have built a relationship.  The supplier is someone they can call up and ask for help when the going gets tough and feels like a part of their team.

It’s not just “Here’s a product that will be £50 please!”

It’s more “What do you need the product to do?  OK, have you thought about product X – it does everything you need, and is a bit cheaper?”  or “You could save more time if you used X instead, even though it’s a bit more expensive, you’ll get that back in the first production run.”

In other words, it’s about the supplier understanding their customer well enough to make intelligent suggestions. 

When you’re meeting a potential customer, it’s important to get to know them as people as well as their needs as a customer.  Back in the hotel sales department we were forbidden to talk business with potential clients over lunch.  We had to find some common ground and get to know them, whether it was their love of sailing, golf addiction or their newest grandchild.  It’s not a bad strategy, the better you know your client, the more comfortable they will feel and the more likely that they will actually want to work with you.

Content marketing isn't a megaphone, it's a relationship

I once worked with a client who wanted every blog article and social media post to end with ‘buy now’.  Every. Single. One.  I explained that if I asked you to marry me on a first date, you'd run a mile — and yet that's exactly what a lot of businesses do with content marketing.

Content marketing is not advertising in disguise.  It's the slow, unglamorous work of showing up, being useful, and letting people get to know you before you ever ask them for anything.  Think of it as the world's longest first date, except you're allowed to bring biscuits (and I do bring biscuits to some of my clients!)

The problem with impatience

Most businesses give up on content marketing after about six weeks, because six weeks in, nobody's beating down the door.  That's not failure – that's just how trust works. You don't trust a stranger after two conversations, and neither does your audience.  They need to see you turn up, consistently, sharing value and saying useful things, before they'll believe you're worth their attention (let alone their money).

The businesses that do well at this are the ones who treat content like a long game rather than a lever they can pull for instant results.  They write the guide that actually answers the question, rather than teasing it and hiding the answer behind a form.  They share the thing that makes them look human, not just professional.  Over time, that adds up to something advertising can't buy: familiarity, and eventually, trust.

What good content marketing actually does

It answers questions before your prospects even ask a salesperson.  It demonstrates expertise without shouting "we're experts!" (nobody believes that one anyway).  And it gives people a reason to come back – which is the entire point, because most buying decisions don't happen on the first visit.

None of this means content marketing shouldn't work commercially.  It absolutely should.  But the commercial bit is the outcome of trust well-earned, not the opening line.

TIP: Get the habit of asking new enquiries where they’ve heard about you.

Where people go wrong

They confuse volume with strategy.  Churning out content for the sake of a content calendar, with no clear idea of who it's for or what it should make someone feel, is just noise with better formatting.  Before you write anything, it's worth asking: who is this actually for, and what do I want them to think, feel, or do next?

If you can answer that in a sentence, you're already ahead of most of the internet. 

So next time you're tempted to end a blog post with ‘buy now’ –  don't.  Say something useful instead.  The buying bit will follow, eventually, on its own terms.  It always does.

How to brief a web designer

Before we get into this, let me just say I am not a web designer.  However, I’ve worked with a lot of people who are – and a lot of customers who I’ve written web content for, so I’ve heard all the horror stories – and also quite a few ecstatic reviews.

Your web designer is not clairvoyant!

When you start out you have a blank page – and, unless your chosen web designer already knows you and your business well, any site they create will be based on their best guess and, maybe what type of site your competitors have.

The questions is, do you want to look like everyone else?

No, probably not – you want to stand out from the competition and that means you need to tell your web designer what you’re aiming for.

Whether you’re commissioning a new site or a revamp of your current site, you’ll get a better result if you:

• Explain to the designer what you want the site to do
•  Give them 6-10 examples of websites you like the look of – and, most importantly, WHY you like them
• Provide a hi-res version logo, colour references as hex numbers (that’s the ones that start with #) and your preferred fonts.  In relation to these, it’s probably best to have a discussion with the web designer as they will have some input into what works and what doesn’t.
• Some information about who your target audience are, what’s important to them and the problems you solve.  While they may not be providing the copy, it will influence the images they choose.

A picture tells a story

But only if it’s relevant.

That banner image at the top of the website needs to support your message.  It’s not eye-candy.  If you have images you want to use, then you’ll need to provide these as hi-res versions.  A picture that looks perfectly sharp when it’s 8 cms by 3cms, can look horribly pixilated when expanded to a full screen size for viewing on a desktop.

If you’re not providing original images that you’ve either taken or commissioned, then be 100% sure that there are no copyright requirements for the images you choose.  Most web designers have access to image libraries, so if you’re not sure about copyright, show the web designer the image you like and ask them to source something similar.

If your designer suggests scrolling marquees (image that slide in rotation), resist!  Anything that moves is distracting – and nobody sits still to wait for three or four banners to scroll through, so that information is never seen.

Copy comes first

Unless you’ve been told otherwise, do not expect the web designer to write your copy – most designers aren’t commercial copywriters, although bigger companies may have a copywriter on the team, or have a freelancer who will write content – but that will be an additional fee.

In an ideal world the copy should be written first, so you’re happy with the message, the headlines, subheadings and calls to action.  A professional copywriter can help with this and your web designer will thank you, as it will make their job much easier.

Before you decide to write it yourself, think about whether you have studied how to position the message for your reader, in their language and know how to write to persuade the reader to take action.  It’s not about simply sharing information, it’s writing to persuade.

Navigation

Your web designer will be guided by you.  So a bit of guidance!

The menu SHOULD include ‘Home’.  Not everyone knows about clever shortcuts, don’t make them work any harder than necessary.  If your web designer tells you ‘Everyone knows to click the logo’, don’t believe them – ‘everyone’ doesn’t know that!

The next item on the navigation should be the place you want people to go and where they’re likely to want to go first – that is usually products or services, or both.

Contact is the last item on your menu and About is usually the penultimate item.

Blogs, Resources, Media Centre and other pages are usually between your sales pages and your useful information pages (About, Contact).

There’s a ton more – but with this information in mind, your web designer will find you to be a client that they love working with!