Forget about trying to make money online, putting in banner ads, google AdSense and what have you and trying to make a quick buck. It’s the wrong way to go about it. Make relationships and build trust. I want to tell you a story I had recently that involved a fine wine shop and a $100 voucher.
Usually I buy my wine from the large liquor warehouse down the road. It’s close and the cheapest so why go anywhere else? The $100 voucher I had however, could only be used at the ‘Fine Wine’ shop which was a lot further away and prices aren’t always the cheapest. But I had no choice in the matter I had $100 voucher to use there so there I went!
Make Yourself Known – Help Out
So I walked into the the small wine shop, there was wine EVERYWHERE. Very well organised. It wasn’t long until someone came up to me and was happy to help if I had any questions. He wasn’t in my face or anything, just a simple ‘can I help you with anything’. I told him that I didn’t know a great deal about wine and was looking for a summery type of red (it’s summer here in Australia). To cut a long story short, he was just really helpful, taught me a few things about wine I didn’t know about, introduced me to rare wines that were very affordable and even took the price down on the grand total as I had amounted to $102 or something like that, so he took it down to $100 neat which my voucher covered. Just a small act like that and the fact that he was really helpful meant so much to me. He now has me as a return visitor in me.
I compare this to the liquor warehouse chains where there is no customer service like we experienced at the small wine shop. It’s like being in a store filled with robot workers. No-one goes out of their way to help, the people at the counters are in a zombie-like state. There just isn’t any personality or engagement. The only reason you go there is because it’s cheap. But buying ‘cheap’ isn’t exactly a nice feeling either.
The Best Part
The best part about this story is where it originated. The wine voucher was a gift from my work mates. The gift came from the relationship that had been built from my time of working there. They knew I was into wine because I’d told them through the many conversations we’d all had in the past. Usually the birthday person would just get a credit voucher that they could use anywhere with no personality behind it. But the fact that they bought me the wine voucher shows that my relationship with my former colleagues had value.
How Can We Apply This To Our Sites
When you get people coming into your site (or wine store) – make them as welcome as possible. Sure enough they’ve probably come from a reliable source (my work mates recommended the Fine Wine shop) for a specific purpose (to buy wine). Make sure your content (wine) is fantastic. Use your expertise to help new readers (customers) as much as possible (wine selection, teaching about various types of wines). Give them more than they will expect (learned about new wines, slashed prices, customer care). Engage with them afterwards (business card).
Deliver care and engagement to your visitors and the people you have just met online. Give them a reason to trust you. I feel so much better now buying wine from the Fine Wine shop than the local liquor warehouse even though the Fine Wine shop is a bit further away and a bit more expensive.
So don’t be too warped worrying about making money through your blog. Worry about making relationships online and care for people enough that they’ll go out of their way to come back to you. Give them kindness, helpfulness, genuineness, value and trust and you’re in for a great ride.
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This is a great story and it can be translated into so many different aspects of our lives. As a blogger, this can be the key to making your blog stand out in a crowd. It’s those personal touches that make people remember you and it also helps build credibility with your audience. Thanks for starting my day off on a positive note.
Good story Sarge, and a good lesson. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the online world, and forget to apply basic retail principles.
Sarge,
Well done. It’s good to see people taking lessons like this from real world examples. The most important part is to remember that this shouldn’t stop after the sale.
Yup, making your visitors feel welcome is always a good idea. And you’re right, with blogs, you want to build a long-term relationship of trust.
OT, but you may want to consider using ComLuv on the blog – encourages commenting and is quite welcoming to fellow bloggers.
@Ileane – Glad it kick-started your day Ileane! Indeed it’s often the small things that mean the most to us.
@Mike – Yeah, while online is totally different to face to face contact we still have to respect the fact that we’re dealing with humans just like we would deal with humans if we ran an offline business. So treat people well and you will go far!
@Nathan – Great point, continue relationships. I think that’s something that newer bloggers may forget that once they have a sale it certainly isn’t the end of the road. Always think beyond and always develop deeper relationships.
P.S. Thanks for stopping by and leaving some ink the last couple of posts
@Anne – I will take on board your suggestion about comment luv. Currently in the middle of a redesign so the commenting section will be greatly improved
I completely agree with this, great post. I find building real relationships has been so rewarding and those rewards will last far longer than trying to make a quick buck!
The thing that took you to that particular wine store was the voucher – something for nothing. How do we persuade people to visit our blogs. Give them something for nothing: a report of some sort, perhaps that you advertise elsewhere on the internet.
Great analogy with the wine store, it is absolutely true in blogging and in life in general. Being outgoing, helpful and even over-delivering has always been a means to winning the trust of others.
Sarge,
Great story here and true it is.
Give people you. Ask them what they want and learn about each of them as real people. We all are. Stay true and keep delivering.
Something interesting also… This story brings to mind about when people say to have the end in mind. Well, do that. Have giving all you can to others and respecting their wishes no matter what in mind. Making a buck or two should be the last thing on your mind, period. If you’re offering something worth value, make sure you are considered value before offering something at all.
Great article man!
Along with this is something I want to point out on my blog as well… Lets All Help Each Other
http://bluepop13.com/2010/01/25/lets-help-each-other/
First visit all the way directed by whatawebsite.
I actually feel welcomed after reading this post. My principal in blogging is mutual respect and help one another. Too many times I see people trashing somebody’s post when disagreeing, which I think it’s far from necessary. This is a relevant story how it works both ways – on & offline. I agree with Eric, ‘Stay True’. Be helpful and most of all, be kind for trust & relationship building.
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
@Ruth – Exactly! Even if you just make a ‘quick buck’. It’s only a buck
Relationships are worth more than that, they’re priceless. Some peoples priorities need to be straightened!
@David – Great point – that’s how we invite them in. A lot of bloggers offer a free ebook or have a competition or something – that’s to get people in the door. Once they’re in it’s our job to make them want to come back. One way to do this is to open our arms to people, help them out. Don’t just sit in the staff room ignoring all the visitors walking around in your store
Go out and interact with them!
@Jimi – Yep – good word there ‘over-delivering’ If you give more than the ‘customer’ expects than they’ll be more than happy and most likely return. ‘Customer’ expectations is something we could discuss further in the blogging world – especially with the amount of free stuff available – we have to work even harder because people are expecting free ebooks, reports etc now it’s basically the norm.
@Eric – Yep – always helping each other out will lead to bigger more wonderful experiences like great relationships. It’s also just great being able to help people out in need and making their day. It’s unfortunate that we can’t always see who is behind the computer screen to see the smile we could potentially be putting on someone
@Ching – Thanks for stopping by Ching! Definitely works both online and offline and in life in general. Build trust and be true to yourself it’s as easy as ABC!
Very well writen and certainly a motivating article. Sometimes I forget that a customer isn’t going to return just because they like the product. I need to make them remember me. Thanks for the great read!!!