Preneur Marketing - The Blog of Entrepreneur Pete Williams

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Todays post is based on the Robert Cialdini influence principle of ‘Liking’… and the two ways you can look at the factor of ‘liking’ when it comes to marketing and selling.

Firstly, you can say people will buy from people they like. Pretty plain and obvious, it’s just human nature that people are reluctant to throw money at people they don’t like.

There really isn’t anything new here… this principle has been openly discussed for decades. No sane marketer goes around trying to piss their prospects off.. that just ain’t cricket.

Although, what I am NOT saying is “try and get everyone to like you”.. trying to do this is a fast ticket to the insane asylum. Dan Kennedy talks about this principle really well and I will dedicate an entire post to it at some point.. but for now the take away is:

“Try and get your targeted prospects to like you… and just ignore everyone else… even Mother Teresa had her haters”

Secondly, you can look at it from the point of view that if, as a marketer, you can get your prospects to think/believe/feel that they are “just like you” it builds a very strong bond that is such a powerful selling tool.

Over-The Shoulder marketing is not just about letting your prospects look over your shoulder so they develop a liking for you… It’s about creating a subconcious connection in the prospects mind that the are JUST LIKE you..

It’s this take on the ‘liking principle’ that forms the foundation of ‘Over-The-Shoulder’ selling and one reason why Twitter has become such a powerful marketing tool.

Twitter is a great way to really engage your customer in this “Over the Shoulder” way.

Some of the greatest over-the-shoulder marketers around are really embracing Twitter to interact with thier herd (read: prospects) but posting what would otherwise be considered the most random collection of tweets (posts on thier twitter feed)… everything from what they had for breakfast, to what they are doing with their family on the weekend, to what random web-site’s they’re visiting.. plus the odd (strategically placed) sales pitch.

By reading the Twitter feed, you are practically reading over their shoulder and getting a glimpse into the persons life.

So is are these tweets really that random ?

Well, what’s actually happening in these prospects mind whilst reading these random tweets:

“Look at Scott… Look at what Scots’s doing. Aww, Scott’s with his family! I have a family… Oh, Scott had to go to the supermarket just like me. Oh wow, Scott has to do the same mundane taks as me… Cool, Scott likes wearing pink tutoos just like me… Scott really is so similar to me. Amazing, Scott is making like $100,000 a month doing this internet marketing thing… Well if Scott is just like me, there is no reasons I couldn’t do that too… Maybe i will buy his stuff and be even more like Scott….”

It’s not just about having someone look over your shoulder and exposing your life to the world (although thats why the majority of people twitter) - it’s about building a rapport, it about allowing your prospects to get a glimpse into your life and create that “i’m just like you bond”.

As Brent says so elequently…. It’s about making yourself similar to other people in your market - with some of the same struggles, joys and mundane day-to-day life. It’s “mirror marketing” - allowing people to see themselves in you.

It makes anything you do seem achieveable.

If you’re a guru, and you’re like them, your success becomes within their reach. It becomes achieveable.

Pete

P.S. - If you want to find out what Fleur and I are doing this weekend then subscribe to my twitter feed here.

P.P.S. - Make sure you check out Brent Hodgsons blog here - http://www.brenthodgson.com/. He’s just started blogging again after a little break and he really does know what he’s talking about.

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As Brent mentioned in his post, we caught up for a long over-due dinner earlier in the week and as always got to talking about all things internet marketing…

Anyway, Brent mentioned he was working on an article about Robert Cialdini’s 6 factors of influence and how they can be used when selling online…

For those who have a mmory like me.. for reference the 6 factors are:

• Reciprocation - When people receive a favor, they feel the need to return that favor;
• Commitment and Consistency - When people commit to an ideal or goal in some way, they feel the need to honor that commitment;
• Social Proof - When people see other people doing something, they become more likely to do it themselves;
• Scarcity - Perceived scarcity in supply will create an increased demand;
• Authority - When asked to perform an action by an authority figure, people will usually comply;
• Liking - People are easily persuaded by people who are similar to and/or liked by them;

As Brent mentioned in his blog, the two factors which we spent most of the conversation discussing were “Authority” (how do you establish authority online?), and “Liking” (how do you get someone to connect with your identity through a sales letter?)…

So here is my take on the first of these two factors…

1. Authority

Traditionally, creating authority online has been done by having esteemed “experts” provide testimonials, or endorsement throughout your sales letter and launch process.

Just look at the latest Frank Kern, Mass Control launch, every perceived Internet marketing expert came out and endorsed the product - Ed Dale, Brad Fallon, Andy Jenkins, Mike Filsame, Jeff Walker etc etc etc

By having these experts, who already have authority in the niche of internet marketing, endorsing Frank (or anyone) and saying how great his stuff is, that he is a brilliant copywriter, that the course is amazing and so on.. the authority that expert has gets “magically transposed’ to the person they are endorsing.. in this case Frank Kern (who by the way didn’t really need these experts to get authority, but just roll with me here)

Another way people have traditionally gone about building authority in their sales pitches online (and offline for that matter) is through PROOF. You’ve all seen the proof online… normally in the form of a click bank screenshot showing how they’ve made like $109,543.37 in the past 46 hours etc etc

…. But how can you create authority if you are not an insider into this elite guru group or don’t want to give away your nett worth to all the identity stealers out there?

Ever thought about… PUBLICITY.

Yep I said it, free exposure in the real world media - radio, newspapers, TV - a very over-looked and under-valued internet marketing tool.

The reason publicity works so well as a authority generator for online marketers is that it’s the most amazing third-part endorsement. It’s the (ultimate) testimonial you can’t buy, fake or get off a buddy in an inner-circle.

If you get exposure from a media source that gives your website or product an endorsement via the story, then no amount of paid advertising can bring you the same amount of kudos or credibility.

If the prospect sees an article about you, your website or your product in the media, it’s instant KUDOS - you are the expert!

Also, if you’re selling information on playing the guitar, imagine the credibility and pre-eminence in the market you will gain by being able to refer to print or television media on your website. This will bring you instant expert status and result in harnessing one of the most precious commodities of the internet – trust.

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