Want More Sales? Stop Trying to Sell!

If you want to sound like a used car salesman, this article isn’t for you.

Still here? Great! I’ve got a huge sales secret for you: Your blog is a powerful sales tool—but not if you’re using it to sell.

Why’s that? Imagine this scenario.

[bctt tweet=”If you want to sound like a used car salesman, this article isn’t for you.” username=”billkerschbaum”]

A Study in the Buyer’s Journey

Let’s say winter just dropped a snowpocalypse onto your front sidewalk overnight. Eight inches of sparkling powder greets you the next morning. You pull out your trusty snowthrower, only to discover it’s not so trusty. It won’t start. With each pull of the cord it coughs briefly and gives up. What do you do?

Chances are, the first thing you do is go to Google. (Well, maybe the first thing is to grab a shovel. And then on to Google.) If you’re like me, you’re going to look for some answers—What’s going on? Can you fix the problem yourself? If it’s too much trouble, who can you trust to do the job right?

Notice the progression. When you start your search, you’re not looking for someone to take your money—you just want to know what’s wrong. And then you want to figure out how to fix it yourself. Only once you’ve decided the job is too big or not worth the hassle do you think about who to hire. That’s when you’re ready to convert.

Turning Your Blog into a Powerful Sales Tool

That’s the typical buyer’s journey. Today’s customers don’t want to be sold to, they want to be helped. They’re looking for valuable content that can help them answer their questions and equip them for success.

[bctt tweet=”Today’s customers don’t want to be sold to, they want to be helped.” username=”billkerschbaum”]

Your blog is a powerful tool to start a conversation with prospects. By continually providing valuable content that equips and informs, you show thought leadership and establish trust. As you direct visitors from your blog to other content on your site, they become leads and begin to realize that you not only understand their pain, but you also have the solution they need.

You’re directing them through the sales funnel until they become a sales qualified lead and convert to customer. And it all starts with your blog.

But if you try to sell to them from the start, it’ll turn visitors off to you and they’ll go somewhere else where they can find helpful content.

The 80/20 Rule in Content Marketing

In fact, only about 20% of your blog posts should be about your company or your products. The other 80% should be about solving your prospects’ problems. You’re the expert who’s there to help—not the guy who’s hungry for the sale—because you want you customers to succeed.

[bctt tweet=”Only about 20% of your blog posts should be about your company or your products” username=”billkerschbaum”]

This is how you turn your blog into a powerful sales tool. Not by constantly selling but by educating, and giving your visitors reasons to trust you when they are ready to buy.

Next Steps

• Got questions about the buyer’s journey? Contact me!