Seth Godin mentioned a service where you can do your talk show right into your phone...the service shows you how to post it online, on your blog or wherever.
So, if you have always wanted to start an online radio show, AKA podcast, about any topic you love to talk about, here's a way.
The podcast I do each week now also began life with a phone service just like the one above. THEN, after I decided I enjoyed doing it and decided I would do it regularly, that's when I spent a few more shekels to set up a little recording studio. That's me editing on the right.
"No one wants to hear how wonderful we think we are."
So said the owner of a restaurant near a major ski resort in New Hampshire, when he was asked what he wrote about in his restaurant blog. Its purpose: to retain customers. Not "to sell sandwiches via PayPal" nor to tell strangers they should come and eat.
So how would his blog help him get new customers?
"Word of mouth," he said. From happy customers who read his blog.
And to keep his patrons interested in his place during the off months, his blog talks about what his patrons talk about, like ski and river conditions, historic tidbits on a perilous ravine right in his backyard where extreme skiing began...(From the blog book, Naked Conversations.)
This is of course the idea in Seth Godin's little ebook "Flipping the Funnel." Let your happy customers sing your praises to bring in new converts for your new thing. Not you.
"No one wants to hear how wonderful we think we are."
Indeed.
But tell that to network marketers. Each one's program is touted as "the greatest thing since..." and everyone's products "sell themselves." Other marketers do it too: the wrong people are doing the talking. (Thanks gulliver, for this link.)
Almost no one believes marketers anymore, and the more they scream about how they're the best, biggest, brightest and finest, the more suspicious we all become.
When I was teaching English as a Second Language years ago at Boston University, the teacher trainer I had told me I should talk louder to my students - newly arrived Vietnamese learning English.
I never forgot that. TALK LOUDER? The problem was not their hearing. They didn't understand the words. Their hearing was fine.
Talking louder is not the answer in our business either. Not when the wrong people are doing the talking.
Direct sales is become one of the ways that many are seeking to find their fortunes. However, many leap before they truly understand what they are getting into. There are a variety of approaches one can take in direct sales. First, we must understand that a direct sale is merely the delivery of products and/or services to the end user.
Marketing is the method one uses to get the news out about what you have available. We will take a brief look at some of those methods. You will have to choose which you will use.
One of the oldest is door to door sales. Many of us can remember the Fuller brush man, the Avon lady or the persistent vacuum machine salesman. There are some skills and techniques that must be developed to go out and knock on doors. Never the less all direct sales are based on this method. Belly to belly, eye-to-eye, communication was and still is the springboard that launches any sales. Without understanding how to communicate effectively with another person face to face no sale can occur.
Phone sales are merely letting your fingers do the walking. Selling is considered a numbers game. So with that in mind you can dial faster than you can walk.
Then there is direct mail. We send out lots of our little salespersons in the form of a well-constructed letter. In this case, we use words in print to get our foot in the door.
The internet or World Wide Web is another form of reaching out to touch someone with your sales message. It is much like a big sells letter delivered on your computer screen.
Newspapers and magazines are great ways to make others aware of your offering. You must make sure that your product is targeted to the proper publication.
Radio and television are powerful methods of getting out the word that your are in the direct sales business. However, It is expensive so you had better know what your are doing. In addition, your product must have mass appeal.
There are numerous articles, books and courses on how to use these methods to directly sale your products. All of them cover how to get the prospects' attention, how to keep their attention, how to make a compelling offer, aimed to persuade people to choose your product or service over what your competitors are selling, how to call them to act on your offering and, last but not least, how to make the exchange successfully.
Keep in mind that your enthusiasm for your product will make others want to buy from you. Direct selling has become the ticket for many to a profitable home-based business. Ultimately, this is what direct sales is all about. So choose your method, get educated, and sale, sale, sale!
Both Kim Klaver & Kevin Sinclair are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Kim Klaver has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing, Water Filters and First Date. Kim Klaver is Harvard & Stanford educated. Her 20 years experience in network marketing have resulted in a popular blog,