An Essential Marketing Principle: Give Before You Try to Get
Experts have talked about this before. How many times have you read about the importance of ‘adding value’ for your audience? How many times have you read about ‘building trust’ with your readers/prospects?
Many, many times. You know it well. Every marketing guru has spoken about this topic. I’m sick of hearing it. But it STILL bears repeating.
Because some people still don’t get it. What’s the underlying principle for successful online marketing, selling or networking? The art of giving before you try to get. Before you get something from someone, you need to first give them a reason for them to give it to you.
It makes sense, doesn’t it? Don’t you know that everyone has walls around them? Don’t you see them at all? They don’t like to be scammed out of their money. That’s why they’re cautious and won’t just click to buy immediately. They don’t like to waste their hard earned salary on crappy products or services. That’s why they do a thorough research online.
They don’t want to be lied to. That’s why they are hesitant to believe what you say or claim. They don’t want their feelings to be exploited. That’s why they are wary about trusting you with their true thoughts. They have been fooled before and no one wants to feel stupid again.
It’s a defense mechanism designed for self-preservation in a life that is nasty, brutish and short. Living ain’t easy. People are fed-up with hard-sells and sledge-hammer pitches. They’re sick of hustlers always running game on them. Their walls grow stronger, reinforced by the plaster of bad experiences. Once they pigeon-hole you as a ’spammer/scammer’, it’s all over. Don’t bother with getting them to take out their wallets. Won’t happen.
There is a fool-proof way to get people to lower their defenses and commit. You just need to manage their impressions of you. You need to change what they think about what you’re doing. You’re not spamming, you’re offering a product that is designed to fulfill needs. You’re not a money-hungry marketer, you’re a passionate individual who loves to help people achieve their goals. Reframing and re-adjusting the prospect’s image of your brand.
So here it comes. Here’s the part when I tell you to ‘always add value’ and ‘build trust’. But let’s refashion this proverbial tip on selling. Let’s put a spin on value or trust and combine them into a single actionable guideline: Always focus on giving before trying to get.
Give them helpful free content. Give them answers to their questions. Give them a freebie. Point them to tools they need and things they should know. Give them tips they can instantly use in their lives/business. Give them pleasant surprises. Give them interaction. Give them promises you can keep. Develop a history of giving. Be known as a giver.
“This person has given me many valuable things. I have benefited from these gifts. I like her. I will pay attention to what she says. I think I will trust her words. I will lower my guard a little and run with it. What else could go wrong? I’ve only had good experiences with her so far. She has proven herself to be beneficial to me. I think I may…. no, I will commit and take a chance this time. It’ll be fine, I’m sure. Don’t worry too much.”
These are exactly the thoughts you want them to think. This is the inner dialog you want in their heads as they look at your proposition, as they wander and explore your website. This is how you get them to buy, subscribe, agree and take action on your suggestions.
Don’t mass spam your links all over the web and think that you’ll get someone’s trust or money easily. That’s a silly strategy. You’re not selling to robots or animals. You’re selling to people who care about the seller. Get what you want by first giving unconditionally. Manage what people think or feel about you and you’ll get what want easily.
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Interesting point as I am a bit sick and tired of so called internet gurus saying that they offer value yet all they want to do is sign you up to the latest internet marketing course because, ‘this one folks is the greatest yet!’
Do me a favour.
I’ve started offering unlimited email support on another site of mine because I think it’s time that I gave back. I earn from another job so I’m able to do it and it’s the best thing I’ve done, both from a moral and emotional standpoint.
This is a grand-slam post and instant-classic marking philosophy. Bravo! How well people understand this principle is pretty much the acid test of whether people “get” social media or not.
Maki this principle is valid for many aspects of life not only for marketing. I’d like to extend this concept to all the social media behaviors that before ask, give a lot as a normal way, applicable online and offline too.
It’s very common for me to receive asking for “votes” from people who you don’t know till this moment…so the idea of giving before ask, is useful not only for marketing.
You are absolutely right. I was actually writing pretty much one on one post with this but now I’ll just try to add more value to mine
I think many marketers are taking this giving thing as an exercise or task and not realizing the true nature and the meaning. I think true nature of it is just to be honest and interact with people in proper manner. Do you often pitch and lie to your friends? That’s why I’m writing here now. I want to have a link to my blog but I’m also telling my honest opinion. I believe that Maki can appreciate my opinion and agrees that giving me the link is very small price for good comment & content to the page. See, it’s that simple. Just be yourself, tell what you have to offer, why they should care and what’s the price of it. If your offer is right for them, they will take it and now they will trust you because you are starting to remind them of a friend. And if you get lucky, you might just have made a new friend.
Simple=Win. Just give back and help out those around you. Being a good person WILL make you successful and it will increase your reputation amongst your fellow marketers/bloggers.
Make an effort, comment on a post, randomly call someone. It’s there for the taking. You just have to want to go for it
.
This is a great post. Some good ways to give away things on your website, are to give away things like Ebooks, and 7 days email courses, and have people opt-in to your aweber or email list in order to receive them.
“Move the Free Line” as Eben Pagan says, and people will love you for it..
And, give away your very best info, don’t save it for until after people buy!
I couldn’t agree more.
“There is a fool-proof way to get people to lower their defenses and commit. You just need to manage their impressions of you. You need to change what they think about what you’re doing.”
Although this have been said a million times, many internet marketer still doesn’t get it.
Start giving and people will start buying doesn’t work if you don’t give something that is beneficial to them.
Networking and conversations are becoming very important these days as @twitter “What are you doing”…
Great, great post. It’s such an important concept, especially in these times on the social driven web. And, just for the record, giving isn’t affiliate links and self-promotion — it’s actually adding value — a very important point in your post
Maria Reyes-McDavis
The base for building a good relationship is to create trust and it comes from, how much you care about other person you are dealing with, so giving it before asking is a solid principle for building lasting relationships with your customers.
People buy from people that they know, like and trust!
I am surprised that some people still keep promoting and promoting and never try to build relationships and cater to people still!
Come on Marketers!
Get on the right boat! lol… “i’m on a boat!”
Thanks for the great post!
I think that a lot of people just getting into internet marketing become impatient with tried and true internet marketing principles like this one. Once they discover that they can make money online they try to rush the this process or try to skip it altogether creating inevitable failure. Patience is the key to building a valuable relationship of trust with subscribers, customers, and website visitors.
I know exactly what you mean… One of my first mentors Joe Schroeder who was actually the upline for Yanik Silver before he wrote autoresponder magic told me about the marketing funnel, and he said something that hit home with me… what marketing does is gives people opportunity to CONVINCE THEMSELVES you have what they want…
In using this strategy I was able to give away a free boot camp teaching about web 2.0 when it was all the buzz and still new to the industry and sell $4,000 coaching packages based off of the FREE info they received…
So I will have to say…
AWESOME POST DUDE YOU ARE RIGHT ON!
Gregory Drake
http://meetgregorydrake.ning.com/
Its hard to sell something to someone when they are not really interested in what you have to say, so a good way to do this is show them what you have done in the past and show them that it works and explain that you can get it to work for them as well. I think once people have seen it for themselves they are more inclined to buy.
This is so true. It’s not just useful for marketing it can be used in personal relationship too. When you give more, you will receive even more. Of course, we have to sincere and happy about our “gift” otherwise it’s meaningless.
Excellent post. Reflects perfectly what I shared with my audience in a short 650-word document I called the “VALUE FIRST” manifesto. Being known as a ‘giver’ is a seriously under-estimated asset – one that those who have experienced the power of will cherish as their biggest competitive edge, in business and in life!
All success
Dr.Mani
http://Niche2.com/valuefirst.htm
I think the whole “social media” thing (sorry another cliche) is a great advantage for marketers creating conversations, a good impression, and offering free advice. The problem is even marketers who supposedly “get” social media still find it hard to resist the temptation to turn Twitter into a one-way street – offering specials and deals and “act now” kind of stuff. If they can keep the two-way street concept in their minds it will go a long way towards keeping the perception of their marketing efforts positive.
In the Web 1.0 days internet forums were the place to go to do this – because that’s where the people and conversations were. Even then marketers did the one-way street philosophy and got labeled as spammers in the forums. But there were always the ones that added real value to conversations and spent time trying to explain concepts and so forth on forums, and then only when asked would point to services and products that were useful – because they had built up a good reputation, built social capital, or “whuffie” as one person likes to put it.
While technology comes and goes (email to websites to forums to blogs to Twitter), the same human element remains the same: make connections, make conversations, be useful and that valuable relationship will develop between customers and marketers.
Don Makoviney
I totally agree with this, if you walked into a room filled with people you never met before and shouted at the top of your voice how great your product or service was, they’d run a mile to get away from you and so would I. You have to build a relationship with people first and give unconditionally in an effort to get them to trust you. The more you give, the more you get back, more people will listen to what you have to say and they’ll respect you more too!
You have to be completely transparent and honest.
Great post Maki!
You have provided very nice information to online community.
@Maria – yes, I agree with you, it’s the value that you’re providing.
Keep up the good work.
You’d think this was common sense wouldn’t you – but I suppose how common is common sense? Going back hundreds of years – then in the market place regular visitors would have got to know and trust the vendors face to face on a regular basis. Right now – you can be sharing and doing business with people all around the world and may never physically see them – who are these people? Hence the power of branding – when one reviews the superbrands – they have built up communications (probably costing millions and millions of pounds) over the years to communicate to us all exactly what they do and provide. So as individuals participating in social media then we naturally have to build our own brands – and in doing so we’re going to have to put the effort in and give and share. It doesn’t have to cost millions of pounds – but we should most certainly be generous with what we have to offer – as if we don’t give then how is anyone going to see what we’re capable of providing? I have always run my ‘marketing consultations’ which are incredibly indepth and usually run to about 3 hours consultation – and then take about 2 days to formulate an analysis review report – for FREE. Having worked with firms of accountants in the past – who have a mentality of charging by the hour – they look at me bemused when I say I will do all of this for them for free – no charge – it’s my fact finding opportunity to review how I can add value to their business. I’m sure some consultants charge for the service – I know in the global consultancy I was employed with – a session like this cost over £1000. Needless to say – these sessions tend not to prove to be a waste of time. The conversion from consultation to project is very high. It not only provides me with time to get them thinking about things they haven’t thought of before – but also they see the level of detail I go into in the analysis. This is what I call pure marketing…
I know people who have been in business 50 years who still don’t understand this concept. I had a client recently where I recommended that he start a blog and give away the secrets to how he manages homes. I told him to write an article teaching people how to rent out their vacant house to a tenant. I also recommended that he have his office staff write various articles on what they do at the company. For example, the receptionist could write an article about how to calm down angry tenants when they call in with maintenance problems. His marketing guy could write an article on how to use Craigslist to rent out your home.
Why did I recommend this?
Exactly what this article talks about.
The added benefits of doing this are several. First, it uses what we marketers call the law of reciprocity. The law of reciprocity is when you give someone something, they are more inclined to give you something back. You’ve probably experienced this around Christmas time. Someone gives you something and you think, “OMG, I forgot to get him something!” So you rush out, last minute, to buy something, anything!
Secondly, it sets you up as an expert in your field. Think about the show on PBS called “This Old House”. These guys show you how to build various things for your house. They show you step by step how to fix things. Guess what? Those guys on the show are rich. They have a backlog of work that people what them to do. There business soared after they started showing people how to fix things. Why did this happen? Because the perception of these guys changed. What nice guys to show you how to do this yourself. Look at how smart and intelligent they are. OMG, I can’t believe he just repaired that, I thought it was impossible to repair something like that. I want these guys to repair xxxx in my home.
My client refused to follow my advice and that was that. He said, “But if I just give what I know away, why would someone need me, why would someone hire me to manage their home?” That’s the gut reaction all people have. But the truth is that people are lazy. Once someone sees how in depth it is, how they have to know all the Real Estate laws, how they have to do tenant screens, how they have to be confrontational with a tenant who pays late by hitting them with a late charge, how they have to evict a tenant who doesn’t pay, how if they do the eviction wrong they could be sued for thousands of dollars, how they need to negotiate with vendors to get the cheapest prices on work that must be done to clean the house and get it ready to rent again, how they should use YouTube to do a video walk-thru, how they should link their Craigslist ad to that YouTube video, what sales copy they should use in their Craigslist ad….. do I need to go on? Once someone learns all the things they need to do, oh heck, it’s worth paying this guy to manage my home for $70 a month. Sure you’ll have a few people who will learn everything you teach and go out and manage their home on their own, but that guy will remember that you helped him, you taught him everything he needed to know and if the need arrises to where he can’t manage the home on his own, you can bet that you will be the first person he thinks of. Most people though, after reading your blog, will now view you as an expert at what you do. In fact, you want your business to look like you have a team of experts all working for you. Most people will say that’s the team I want to hire to manage my home.
Hey great article I did a article on the same thing (similar) about the 4 pillars for VALUE. Its bigger than marketing the reason we are in a recession is because a lack of value.
Providing value means
1. Solve a problem
2. Help them either grow, save, and/or enhance their (11+) resources (I explain in another post)
3. Helps them increase productivity with their time.
4. Peaks their Interest (curiosity, emotional, holistic, concern)
I also pointed out that the perception of value is more viral than actual value
However actual value is more sustaining.
You hit it right on the head Maki
Very powerful, I hope some of the people who spammed me last week read this. I recent had a marketing email come to my inbox that drove me nuts, 5 email before noon 1 an hour. Very annoying, I will never buy anything from someone who spam’s me like that. What you wrote is very true if they had attempted to gain my trust before sending me a ton of junk mail I might have trusted them. Now I just think of them as spammers I blocked there domain and will not hear from them again.
I agree with mark, I’m tired of the top gurus saying that all their products are the best in the industry, and then when you finally pay a bazillion dollars to get it, it’s just as redundant as the rest of them.
I often feel like I give away too much stuff on my blog, but I can’t help it sometimes–just the giving type..However, giving obviously doesn’t lead to profit–so perhaps I should just be as selfish as the gurus…
People that can gain my trust instead of bombarding my email box with “marketing tools” would see a better turnover if they tried to establish some sort of credibility.
I’m surprised that no one has bothered to mention the Golden Rule that some of us were taught from an early age, “Do Unto Others as You Would Have Others Do Unto You.”
This, of course, is a paraphrase of the words of Jesus Christ to his disciples: “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) In other words, the entire teaching of the ancient Hebrew scriptures boiled down to the idea of…love.
(See also Matthew 22:36-40 for a fuller explanation of this concept by Jesus.)
A thousand years before Christ, King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, taught a related principle:
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
Do not say to your neighbor,
‘Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it.’
When you have it with you. (Proverbs 4:27-28)
Ever had an employer or customer wait until the last possible moment to pay you for work you went out of your way to do well, and on time? Or perhaps you’ve enjoye the good fortune of working for someone who was gracious and appreciative of your efforts and never hesitated to pay you right away. Which of the two was likelier to be the recipient of your best efforts?
Obviously, anything can be taken to an extreme, with detrimental results. Balance is an important consideration in all of life.
Generally speaking though, I’ve not had reason to regret being generous with my time and efforts where my clients are concerned.
Giving also gives a test drive and builds faith which helps in conversions later on.
A nice read. I’ve been thinking it very much myself. I’m not opposed to advertising and people promoting their products. But I believe we’ve been smothered by ads. It’s beginning to show. It’ll be more evident with the newer generations.
@Melody – No, don’t give up. Giving does lead to profits. Remember to manage the way you give. I learned this the hard way- you put something valuable on your blog for free, out of your giving nature, someone rips the content, turns it into a $97 book. Meanwhile, you’re not getting paid for being altruistic.
I know how it feels. But think of several things.
1- A lot of the gurus really Are generating the *revenue* they say that they are. Few are generating the *profit* that should result – those are the Real gurus. So without knowing which ones are and which ones aren’t, are these really your models for success? Stop looking at what they do, because you may end up with what they have. What do YOU want to be?
2- Every time you give of yourself, it may not immediately lead to a subscriber, or a sale, and that’s the number one reason not to think of it that way. Give because that’s who you are. It sounds illogical to say that the rest will follow, but it does. Look at Maki or Shoemoney. They gave and shared before it seemed like it would lead to making money. That built them popularity. A percentage of the people they’re popular with turned into the folks that fueled their incomes.
Think about it in your own life. At one point you bought a book or went to a movie because you saw the author on TV, or saw an entertaining trailer. Someone gave you a little of what you want and eventually you moved on to become a buyer if the content was compelling.
So it won’t happen with every person. But when it does, it sticks.
3- Again, the key is management. Turn your giveaway tendency into a system. Not where there are strings attached to everything you do, just a plan. Make it so that no matter how a person gets your information, RSS, article marketing, email, twitter – all the roads at the end of your information share lead back to you.
As far as your guru problem, paying for stuff that doesn’t work… do more research before you buy. And follow a different set of experts. Look for people who do what you do. Follow people who lead the way you want to. Who gives away free stuff that’s better than the stuff you buy? THAT is the person who can probably give you the best value when you actually spend your money.
Here, here!
I’ve been doing this for years now, but sort of started by accident. I began my Web Development Blog to offer advice to Web maintainers at Case Western Reserve University where I was then Webmaster. I wrote about everything from HTML and how to FTP files to marketing strategies, content development and social media. Then I discovered that people from outside the university, both in academia and business were finding it helpful too.
Now I’m in business for myself, and I’ve moved the blog to my own domain, but I continue to offer the same types of advice. One series of articles evolved into a “Planning Your Web Site Tutorial” that I have clients read before we meet. I’ve found it to be a helpful way to get them into the marketing mindset so that we’re both on the same page. I’m currently working on upgrading it and turning it into an e-book. But I also share it with others who are looking to build a site, whether they are planning on hiring me or not. Ideally they will, but if not, at least I can get them started in the right direction.
I’ve also been answering Web development and marketing questions on LinkedIn. In many cases I can link to blog entries I’ve already written to add supportive details to my answers. This gives the questioner a more thorough response and drives traffic to my site. I give the advice away for free but in return I get site visitors and in some cases am awarded “best answers” that then show up in my LinkedIn profile to show that I have expertise in those topic areas. That’s important because each “best answer” is like a recommendation–it’s not a matter of me claiming expertise but of others confirming it.
Using LinkedIn in this manner has helped me connect with some interesting people, some of whom pass on leads for potential clients. Just yesterday I submitted a price quote to a fellow who asked how much it would cost to rebuild his site based conversations that stemmed from a question he and asked and I had answered on LinkedIn. Whether I’ll get the job or not is now a matter of price, but I never would have gotten the inquiry if I hadn’t taken the time to answer his questions.
Blogging and answering questions are a great way for me to give away free advice because the knowledge is already in my head, built up over years of working on the Web. It takes time, but the rewards one gets through job leads, new friends, recommendations, etc. is rewarding on many levels.
My site is free to use, and everyone tells me it’s a great idea (I’d like to think they’re not just being nice) but I would say I expected more registrations. I think, although I can’t be sure, that I’m suffering from the “too good to be true” phenomena where people aren’t trusting that it could be free. How do you tackle that?
The theory of reciprocity applies to most areas, not just online marketing. I agree, the only way that it will work is if you offer someting of value, something that will benefit them. One of the best parts is that if they think they are receiving great value from, you they will spread the word and share that value with others thus increasing your potential revenue pool.
Your post hit the nail on the head! I am working on a team developing an exciting online business opportunity for entrepreneurs and we implemented the same concept: give something first. We are hosting a free seminar providing our potential clients with tools and knowlegde. And I agree with Tinu above that it does pay off in the end. I would want to spend money if I know the company has my interests in mind…and that is established when they are willing give away things that would be useful, whether I buy or not.
Truth be told, my absolute #1 favorite thing about what I do is that it gives me the opportunity to help those in need of assistance. Whether it’s talking on the phone with someone who’s thinking about creating an online business/website, or emailing someone some great links that will help them with their project, being on the giving end of the equation is one of those things that makes my business truly come alive for me.
SWEET!
Articulate, well said.
Thank you
Jim
This post pretty much reiterates the saying- ‘You pat my back, i’ll pat yours.” If you offer a product or service that is worthwhile to the customer they will in turn part with their money for it.
One of the most important things to remember in marketing is that you are a person and you are selling to people. I think many sales people forget this.
I also believe that writing is extremely important in this. If you convey in a description of a product, article or press release why a product or service will benefit the customer, what they can get out of parting with their hard earned cash, then I think 9 times out of ten you will be pretty much onto a winner.
Really interesting post, a simple lesson that most marketers need to learn!
Excellent advice, but most people are greedy and stupid, and will probably never take this route. I, on the other hand, have just made permanent note of it. Thanks Maki!
Great point. As my father John always says, “Give, then take.” http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1286/174/#P9
I couldn’t agree more and I have used the Golden Rule as my business motto. It is also refreshing to hear the truth coming out about the self-proclaimed “gurus of internet marketing”.
I also offer unlimited email support to all my customers because I believe they deserve it and I enjoy w0rking with such a wide variety of people from all over the world!
Seems we all agree with the post. Give before you get, works both in marketing and the rest of human lives.
But shouldn’t we wonder about the quality of what we give? If we post yet another obvious and boring post about added value and ask people to subscribe for more info, won’t they feel scammed anyway? Let’s not just give before we get.
Let’s meaningfully contribute to the web resources and then let’s ask!
“Be known as a giver.” Such a simple truth that applies both on and off line. I do business online with people I trust, or as much trust as can be generated through a computer monitor. Being a giver taps into another truth “people like free stuff”. So the idea of managing an online image as a giver in order to eventually, “get” makes a ton of sense.
Big thanks for this spot-on post!
Thank you for repeating what all the marketing gurus have touched upon. Give, and you shall received!
great post.
thanks to share with us.
Maki, I think this is pretty much my favourite post for the day. In our subscription business we constantly tried to find ways to over deliver – and surprise our members in a nice way. We often found the small, unexpected tactics were the most effective.
Two of the smallest, cheapest things worked the best – we used to give a free coffee mug when people re-subscribed for another year. They knew the mug was coming, but we’d tuck a small chocolate frog inside so there’d be a little surprise when they opened the box.
The other tactic was to reward loyalty out of the blue. We started the subscription business in 2000, and there are still people subscribed today who joined back then. A few times a year we would dig into the database and look for members who had been continuously subscribed for 3, 4 or 5 years, and send them a personal ‘thank you’ email, and tell them we’d added an extra few months on their membership. Cost us nothing other than a few minutes of our time, and the recipients always responded incredibly positively.
Cheers…David
http://www.NicheContentMillionaire.com
it is true but today there is so many give away so it is hard today to find the perfect give away to add high value to our business
Really great read – are you having fun with it? Keep up the good work and good luck with your site!
Too many people forget this part! If the blog or website is packed with great information and has some loyal readers, it will make your job of marketing to them much easier. Content is King, right?
I definitely agree with this. thanks for the tip.
I agree totally with this post. Frank Kern preaches the same principles in his Mass Control product.
That’s exactly what I try to do with my website. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m here to help people and not to make money. When you’re able to do that, you’ll make a lot more money. I always put my customer first. I learned that a long time ago and continue to do that today.
Hey there Maki and to your Visitors,
You got my attention from the first paragraph.
I totally agree with you and that’s why i think that a marketer should know a bit of Psychology and Sociology, because after all, they are the legs of Marketing. Not many marketers know that these days. They think marketing is money. I think of it as a way of living, people when they first meet do market themselves.
Your post also falls on sellers outside the digital world. By observing the surrounding marketing activities, they tend to be pushy. It’s like you wanna tell them “Think like a fisher-man, he doesn’t catch the fish,but he let the fish come to him.”
Give before you take..!! Lovely yo..!!
See you in another post, Maki and everyone else.
This seems to be the consensus amongst top bloggers, such as yourself. I think it’s also a karmic principle.
Could agree more with your comments its always worth give something away in the short term as trust and understanding between a company and the customer is what makes a sucessful business you need to show you want the customer
What we do with all new clients is sit down for up to 2 hours and just give out free ideas… we basically tell them what we would do if we owned their company, then make a note of the ideas they like, and follow up with a proposal.
They are often buried in day to day operations and miss out on easy to do, low cost opportunites that are literally right in front of them.
Excellent post my friend. As many times as this ancient principle has presented itself to us over the centuries, you would think that we would be getting a clue about this.
Not only does practically every religion on Earth refer to this in some form or another, every single philosopher, theoretical scientist, and any other spiritual sage has spoken about its importance to us as human beings.
In spite of all this, we still need to be reminded. All you have to do is look at current events. The political and corporate leaders in our society have become extremely self serving over the last decade or so – but has any of that paid off for them and do they seem happy with themselves? Many of them may be rich, but we have seen the lives of rich people go down the tubes for years and years.
Bad karma never wins in the end ….
Chuck
I agree with everything that Mr. Maki says. In fact I will introduce an example of a particular sales call where a sales man took his vice president to visit the vice president of a company with whom they were doing business. The customer had issued a requirement for a computer printer.the sales man had brought one of their printers with them and given it to one of his teckies on the way to the meeting.
The customer asked, ‘is this printer any good?’
‘No, its a piece of s**t. But it’s the cheapest piece of s**t that meats your specs.’
‘It’s really that bad?’
‘Well,’ the sales man said, ‘it prints OK after you get paper in it, but putting paper in it is difficult.’
The customer smiled a little. “Yeah, I used to have one, I could never get the paper in it.’ Then he turned to his VP and said, ‘That’s why I like to do business with him, he doesn’t lie to me.’
They changed their specs and down through the years the sales man sold them an awful lot of printers.
I think that this story illustrates what Maki is saying. Make a friend, a trusted friend out of a customer or prospect and you can expect to get returns far beyond what you might expect, but only if you are a trusted friend as well.
You are so right. I think what sometimes stops people from “giving before they get” is fear – fear that they’ll give so much away for free that no one will buy anything. Fear that they’ll get taken advantage of. Fear that maybe (just maybe) they’re not quite as “expert” as they claim to be. But until you move past that and put yourself out there, you can’t expect people to trust you enough to buy from you.
Very nice article. I am practicing the very same concept on my website. I am offering valuable financial information for free. And in return I know that will help me with my finances. Thanks for the article.
Most people can’t grasp the concept of giving first. They want instant results and can’t wait for the benefits of giving first to arrive.
Very true. Very cool. Very Zen. Very Burning Man and gift economy.
Thanks for the great article!
Actually there is a lot of research on the principle of reciprocity. I write about this and other psychology-applied-to-the-web research in my latest book: Neuro Web Design: What makes them click?
It’s a really great post. I’ll try to stick with this strategy in my online business. Thanks again.
Giving before receiving!
Its that a topic for the ages!
Should you give with reciprocity in mind? …or just because it’s either right in a particular instance or you just feel altruistic at some point.
I think reciprocity is a different subject altogether from giving or creating value for others before you do for yourself. Are they connected yes, should they be?
It is what it is, the universe makes its own rules that we can neither alter nor use to our sole benefit, even though at times we think we can alter them.
Great post!
Apart from being an essential marketing principle, giving before you try to get is essential in a lot of things. Like everything else in life,in order to gain something, something of equal value must be given. Be it in business, internet marketing and blogging, try your best to give the best side of you to be able to get that ‘goal’.
That hits the nail on the head. There is so much of “buy this” and I alone get a TON of emails just pushing so much STUFF!!!!! You have go to offer something useful otherwise they are just being greedy and it hurts you in the long run DEFINITELY!
Once again Dosh Dosh is a valuable read. Too many try to short cut the process by offering a small bone of value and then expect to reap huge rewards.
It’s like that saying, it’s easy to withdraw but tough to deposit in the bank of credibility.
Diferente esse blog é muito bonito.
That was a perfect marketing tips! As internet marketers, we should learn how to build trust with our prospect clients.
It’s true that you definitely need to give before you receive. This is especially true in the business of internet marketing and making money online. The more information, resources, and training you give for free the more fame and fortune you will eventually get back in return.
A very informative post. I’ve preached this over and over to my coaching clients and some get it and others don’t.
At least I can send the doubters here to validate my stance…
Regards,
Karl
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good techniques to follow
I live by this methodology and have figured out what value is and why people will follow you, read about you and also buy from you. It’s simple really.
If you understand what people value and you’ve established the relationship it is a win-win. Value can break down into four categories.
+Help people save money.
+Help people make money.
+Help people protect their assets.
+Help people advance their cause.
It all comes down to helping others.
The relationship aspect of this is also valuable. Not only for the first time sale, but for residual sales.
If you build a relationship first, listen attentively and understand what people want or need and you’re able to deliver on the specific value based needs they require, they will:
+Get to know you.
+Start to like you
+Grow to trust you
and….
+They will want to help you and buy from you.
Wonderful post. Thank you for inspiring me.
Dan