You know what I wanted this headline to be?
“Being A Good Person IS The Marketing Strategy”
A Lot Of People Ask Me This Question..
How do I get more exposure for my work?
There’s a ton of ways to get more traffic (I’ve been hopping on the Tailwind Tribes bandwagon lately).
But what about getting people to read your stuff when you’re first starting out as a blogger? It’s tough, isn’t it?
To understand the answer, let me explain the current state of affairs of the internet and people in general.
Generally, People Are In This For Themselves
This is true of everybody, right?
Even me.
We’re all, first and foremost, looking out for numero uno — ourselves.
And we should. But I think this level of selfishness varies from person to person..
There’s a blogger I follow online that literally tries to sell me something WITH EVERY SINGLE EMAIL THEY SEND.
And I love their content — but there’s ALWAYS a pitch at the end.
And you know what? Sales pitches are fine as long as the products genuinely help somebody.
But the problem is — now that I’m getting overloaded with sales pitches from this person — I don’t read their stuff anymore. I see them as fake. I see them as someone who’s just trying to line their pockets and not someone who wants to genuinely help ME.
Numero uno.
This Could Be Your Biggest Strength
Even I have been like this as a blogger. I recently had 600 people unsubscribe from my 5-day email course IN THE LAST 20 DAYS ALONE because at the end I had a link to a webinar I was putting on.
600 PEOPLE.
Before that I had 300 people unsubscribe in 4 whole months!
That statistic blew my mind.
People have no time for yet another online influencer with a course to sell.
And sadly this has sort of become the norm. Everybody is selling something (even me), which is okay, but I think some of us (me included) have started to do too much of it.
And this could be your biggest window of opportunity ever.
Not Many People Are Honestly Good
First off, I think most people you meet online are good people. I understand that I’m contradicting myself here, but hear me out.
When I say “good” in the above sub-headline I don’t mean that people aren’t opening up doors for each other or being unselfish anymore..I just mean “good” in the HIGHEST sense of the word.
Like, I’m talking about Ghandi-level of goodness.
Okay, maybe not Ghandi-level (because he was on another level), but you get what I mean, right?
And I’m not talking about bloggers who write from the heart and have zero call-to-actions either.
I’m talking about the bloggers who will spend 10 minutes writing a thoughtful response to 1 person who commented on their article.
And then that blogger goes and reads some of that commenter’s stuff. And then they leave a comment on their article. And then a friendship blossoms.
And then both parties legitimately water that friendship over the course of a couple months and years to the point where they could ask anything of each other and they’ll honestly be there.
THAT kind of goodness.
Not the kind that sees every comment as a business opportunity.
And, okay look, I don’t know how else to say this… YOU DON’T DO THIS UNLESS YOU ALREADY HAVE A GOOD HEART.
You know?
I have a confession to make, too..
This article is NOT for everybody..
I can’t teach you how to be good. This article is meant for those that already have caring hearts and think this whole “blogging” thing is just meant for slick oil-salesmen who know how to “play the game.”
You know what my message is to you?
You already have the tools to be 100 times more successful than all of these slick oil-salesmen ever could be.
You can make a good living with the help of people that like you. You can do so much more with the help of people that LOVE you though..
And you can only build that love when you give yourself away in ways that nobody else wants to. Remember that.
Caring is your biggest strength. It’s a trait that not many people legitimately have, and this should fill you with so much hope.
People used to get so surprised when I’d respond back to them with a couple paragraphs of words. When I’d actually care.
This gave me a major clue as to how people ACTUALLY act online compared to myself. If they were surprised about THAT, then how was everybody else online acting?
It was then that I realized my biggest strength wasn’t my work ethic or my writing talent (I still don’t think I have much of that) — but my heart. The way I care.
How Does This Help You With Marketing?
By going the extra mile with one person, you better BET they’re going to remember you. They’ll remember you over so many other people they read online depending on just how much effort you put into everything.
Then, if you keep the relationship going (which you will, cause you’re thoughtful), then they may even tell others about you, or share your articles.
And one person that’ll read everything you write is more valuable than 100 followers.
That’s why it’s such a powerful “marketing” strategy.
But the people that want to do this/are already doing this don’t even think of it as a strategy at all — it’s just how they would act anyway.
Thanks for such a helpful article!
Do things don't scale is good advice for when you're starting out. I read all the comments right now on my YouTube channel since it's still small...and as long they're not mean, I'll respond to them either with engagement or a quick message.