How to Win Without Pitching

Pitching - verb to throw something out or hurl something away to get rid of it, to throw something away.

In marketing your pitch is your sales message trying to sell something to a prospect. You could be selling an e-book, a report, software, etc.; you just want them to buy something from you.

If all you are doing is pitching you will be throwing away sales. Pitching is a bad thing-repeat that to yourself often. People hate being pitched to-imagining a used car salesman by any chance? You should be, your prospects are and they are running for the hills.

So how can you win without pitching? Build a relationship with your prospects by giving useful information away! I can see you now, recoiling in horror from that idea, but this will be your first win.

Build a relationship

You need to concentrate on building a relationship with your prospects so they will buy something from you in the future. Keep that 'in the future' part in the back of your mind because most of them are not going to buy from you right away.

I know you feel you have a great product and it is unfathomable to you that people would not want to buy it. But trust me; you need to establish a relationship with them first. And yes, it will be work, but it will be worth it.

Let them get to know you

Post a picture of yourself on your website so they have a face to go with the name. Do not feel like you have to post pictures of your family and all of your pets and tell your prospects every detail of your life. I have seen some marketers do that-I personally think there is such a thing as 'too much information', but sharing some things about yourself helps your prospects get to know you.

Continue building the relationship by asking for their email address and DO NOT try to sell them anything. If you do, you will watch your un-subscribe messages grow very quickly.

You can capture their email address and first name on your website by asking them to sign up for a newsletter or give them a free report in exchange for their address. Do not ask them for anything else, no phone numbers, no addresses, nothing but an email address and first name!

You do not sell

You start sending them great, useful, and most of all, free information.

You can send them the information in your newsletter or by using an auto responder that sends emails on a time frame you define. You can also blog on your website and let them ask you questions and respond to your blog postings.

Ask them what their most burning questions are... and then answer those questions for them.

This positions you as someone they can turn to for answers... someone they can trust to give them the right information. You can position yourself as an expert by answering their questions-a second win for you. They tell their friend and their friends give you their email addresses and your list grows-a third win for you. It just gets better and better, right?

Now they feel like they know you and they have received proven content from you that helped them. They know your name, what you look like, how knowledgeable you are and how you are willing to share that knowledge with them you. They have come to trust you because you have not been pitching to them all this time. Your fourth win.

Market to them now

You heard right... market, not sell.

Now that your prospects know you are not spamming them, a used car salesman or full of crap they are ready to hear about your product.

Use your blog, your auto responder and your newsletter to market to the prospects on your list. Tell them about the product, that you use it and how it helped you in your business.

Your marketing will make them a warm market lead. Your fifth win. When you are ready to send them your sales letter with a great headline and loads of bonuses they will feel they are getting a valuable product from a trusted friend.

They will not see it as a sales pitch-your sixth, and final, win.

Imagine- this great relationship all started with a simple e-mail address. So go out and get those email addresses!