Content Crooner

photo credit: Andrew 94

In a world where we can now fast forward through commercials, receive live updates in the palm of our hands and immediately retrieve virtually any morsel of information we want, it’s understandable that we’ve become more accustomed to instant gratification.

However, since today’s marketplace is more competitive than ever before, business owners need to respect the almighty sales funnel. Instead of immediately asking for their business, article marketing aids companies in walking prospects through a proper sales funnel, providing comprehensive value and reasons why they should invest.

Prepare your prospects and make them receptive

“Hi, my name’s Andrew, would you like to purchase my $1,000 service?” Who wants to buy anything aside from a $1 candy bar without at least a few good reasons? Even if your website does a fantastic job of explaining your product or service it’s still relatively one-dimensional. Article marketing rounds out your marketing plan by smoothly taking your prospect from the vast world of the Web and leading them to your website. By reading through a few articles that provide useful information and subtly address your product or service first, they will be much likelier to buy from you by the time they get to your website. Gently massage your prospects by providing them with helpful resources and they’ll be nice and loose for your full business proposal.

Don’t rush the sales process! It’s all about building value. Build a solid foundation by taking your time to build value through relevant article marketing. Do you have a better chance of the sale going through when the process is built on a balsa wood structure or a concrete slab? Take your time to establish a slab of useful information, address hot buttons, and clarify common confusions regarding your industry. Maintain diligence in this process and you will steadily build your prospects’ beliefs, wiping away all doubts in their mind.

Build solid relationships and win repeat sales

Even if someone’s ready to buy before they’re lead through your sales funnel you must sill obey the funnel—if you get them easily, you can lose them easily. Leading your prospects through a solid funnel will not only improve your success rates for immediate, one-time sales, it will also insure that they keep buying from you. Regular article marketing that promotes a solid sales funnel builds loyalty. The more reasons they have to remain a loyal customer, the fewer reasons they have to leave you.

And perhaps you’re thinking that because you provide a relatively simple product or service you don’t need to establish a proper sales funnel. If this were the case then you’d have prospects knocking down your virtual door. While establishing a solid sales funnel may seem more appropriate for more significant purchases or high-end products, they are still crucial for any industry. Even if you do have a basic product or service that doesn’t seem to require much persuasion, you’re still going to be in competition over price with other businesses. Article-marketing sales funnels create a wedge between you and your competitors, demonstrating to prospects that there’s much more than price to be considered.

What happens when you crack an egg before the chick has a chance to fully develop? Well, it’s not pretty. Use consistent article marketing as an incubator, allowing the embryo to fully develop. Don’t rush the hatching process—you can earn a lot more money from a full-grown chicken that continues to lay eggs as opposed to a one-egg omelet. A comprehensive sales funnel will allow your prospect to develop into a full-grown client who will reward you with repeat business.

To your success,

Andrew Rossillo

Andrew Rossillo is Content Crooner’s Marketing Blogger and Staff Writer. He’s ready to put his years of copywriting and online marketing experience to work for your business—he’ll help you get noticed!