How to Sell Anything to Anyone
I know what you are thinking. There is no way to sell "anything to anyone"! You are absolutely correct. You aren't going to sell an anchor to a man without a boat. However, it is possible to get your name out there and find that man with the boat that wants your anchor! Not only is it possible but it is easy and fun. You found this article because I am selling myself, or at least some of my knowledge. I'm "selling" information, to you, the reader, and the cost is a bit of your time as you read the article. I advertised my product by sharing on social media and by making my site interesting to search engines. I could just as easily be trying to sell you an Xbox, iPhone covers, or earmuffs. WHAT you are selling isn't important. HOW you are selling is. First, in today's age of technology, unless you have the funds to start a brick and mortar business, you are primarily going to be selling online. For that you are going to need a website
Your Online Identity
The most important thing you are going to be selling is you. It is your expertise, your products, your explanations, and your reviews that are going to draw people to your site. Think of it this way: when you are in the market for a new big ticket item, who are you going to trust to give you the best information? Your friends maybe? Or are you going to trust the pushy salesperson with a fake smile who is trying to sell you what they want you to buy instead of what you really want or need? You want your audience to see you as that friend. Your online identity can help you to be a friendly face in the crowd. You are going to want to research URLs in order to find something that says "hi! how can I help you?" rather than "buy my stuff because my website has all this stuff". My website, A Succulent Life, doesn't scream at people "HEY, there's stuff for SALE here!". In fact, selling anything is really far from the point of my site at all. I'm guessing what drew you here was not the thought that you wanted to buy anything at all. I'm guessing you came by this post either through social media because the article sounded intriguing, through a Google search for "how to sell anything to anyone", or because you are a returning user who has already found my other content interesting and want to see what else I had to say. In order to research which Domain Name (your online identity for your website) is best for you, you can go do a search on Google or other sites, trying to find a Domain that isn't taken or doesn't sound ridiculous. You could. It would take a lot of time and energy and possibly frustration. On the other hand, you could use a tool like Site Rubix. Site Rubix is a free tool available at Wealthy Affiliate (see my review here). I also use it to build my website and keep track of my sites, my emails, and get feedback on my content.
How to Get Traffic: Keywords and Content
Now that you have a website, you need something for people to see once they find you. Let's go back to the anchor example. How are people going to trust that you know a thing or two about anchors? Content. You have to give your audience a sense that you are not just any source but the best source for their anchor questions. Also, how are they going to find you? How did you find me? Did you look at Google by typing in "how to sell anything to anybody"? Perhaps you found me through social media and thought that this article sounded like something you would be interested in. Or maybe you are a returning user who saw that I posted something new, you already liked what I said on my other posts, so you trust that I am going to have something else good to say. This is where keywords come into play. Keywords are sort of like a sales pitch to search engines. They tell the algorithms that you have something to say about the topic you are talking about and rank you according to how well you do so. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is. I do not deliberately sprinkle my keywords in my articles. I talk in the same voice as I would if I were talking to a friend over coffee. I don't make it sound unnatural and weird by saying "sell anything to anyone" every other sentence. That's just weird and awkward. Nobody wants to be that guy at a party. Don't be that guy. If you are passionate about something, just let the words flow as if you are talking to a friend. The keywords will come naturally and your content will be all the better for it.
Research
How do you know what it is that people are typing into search engines to find whatever it is you are selling? You have to research it. There are a few tools out there that take the hard work out of it and make it super easy and fast to figure out what keywords you should be using. I use a tool called Jaaxy. Jaaxy is pretty nifty. It lets me search for keywords and shows me how many people are searching that word or phrase on Google, approximately how much traffic I can expect in a month if I rank high enough with that keyword, how much competition I have for that keyword and so much more. Here is an example screenshot I took for our anchor example just to give you a taste of how powerful Jaaxy is.
Participation is NOT Optional
Once you start getting traffic, you have to be sure that your audience knows you are a real living, breathing person who care that they are there. This means you make it your duty to reply to every single comment that is posted on your site. You have to engage with your audience to build a level of trust that will keep your audience coming back for more. Also, if you do become a member of Wealthy Affiliate, engage with others on the site as well. This will not only build a great reputation in the community, but also these people can help you if you are stuck. You ask questions, you answer questions, you look at people's websites and suggest improvements, and they do the same for you. I really cannot say enough great things about the community at WA. It's just a bunch of really great folks who genuinely care and who want you to succeed. Did I mention they are awesome? I get on chat at least once a day just to see where everyone is at in their own quests. I also am happy to answer questions when I have the knowledge. Knowledge shared is the best kind of knowledge!
What Are You Waiting For?
You've got great ideas. I know you do or else you wouldn't be reading this article about how to sell things. YOU can sell whatever it is you want to sell. Now you have the tools and a bit of knowledge to go out there and get started. Best of all, all the tools are free for the trying! If a nearly 50 year old, disabled, set in her ways woman can learn this stuff and put it into practice successfully (because you are reading this, right? Hence, success on my part)! then, believe me, you have everything you need to be successful too! Join me on Wealthy Affiliate for more training and I will personally respond to and help you through any questions you might have. As always, feel free to leave comments or questions here as well. Yours in Succulence, ~Mishi Read the full article
