by admin
Small Business Owners – It’s Time to Buy Local, Virtually That Is
July 16, 2010 in small business by admin
If you are just starting out in the business creation process, or you currently own an on-line business, chances are that are member of certain lists and forums. Perhaps you even participate or run them. There is a growing movement of people that think we need to get everything for free on-line and get angry when people that provide content occasionally ask for money. Read on to find out how to combat this.
If you provide on-line content or you enjoy someone else’s content you need to start asking for some support. There are many customers that will rebel against a marketer that has created free content for years, and all of a sudden they start pitching a product here and there. The people on the lists bail out in droves. At first glance it just appears as though the groaning customers are just being greedy, however this is the fault of the business owner.
If you own an on-line business, it is just that. Creating valuable content for free is a way to increase readership, but you cannot be shy about asking for the sale. If you set up your content from the very beginning by asking people to purchase your products if they want to know more information and educating them that it is the way you make your living, then you will create a list of people that respect that.
On the flipside, if you just begin a business on the basis of giving everything away, you will never lose that stigma. People revolt later thinking you are greedy, because you have built the wrong list of non-customers. Instead, start with a profit model from the beginning, showing your customers that they are “buying local” from the person that is creating all of the great content they enjoy on a daily basis.
Sure, you will lose people here and there, but you should look at losing a few people off your list as a good thing. That just means that your message did not match with what they were looking for. The people that are left are the ones that are going to put money in your pocket. The “unsubscribe” button is a blessing not a curse. Once you have developed your voice in the content that you create, make sure that every message that you send out also contains some kind of profit generation for you as well. Get the customer to take action or you are going to go a away hungry with a pile of free content and nothing to show for it.
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