Do you know what pitch is? You may think you do, but let me tell ya, it is not what you think.
So what is pitch?
They use it to seal asphalt. If you have ever watched a crew laying out pitch you probably noticed FIVE really, really, important things about pitch:
Pitch is black.
Pitch is really freakin hot.
If you get too close to it, it sticks to you.
If you do get it on you, it burns the hyde right off you.
Like naplam.
Once you get burned by pitch, you avoid pitch at all costs.
Once you know what pitch is, you do not go near it again.
Pitch sucks.
Things have changed and it is harder to sell something on the Internet that ever before, but I do have a solution for you that will change your marketing for good.
It used to be you could just drive traffic to your sales letter and people bought it. Easy huh?
Not anymore, If you attempt to sell someone something right of the bat, you have already killed the sale. Done, goodbye lead, goodbye sale(s). Notice I said “sales.” Plural.
Internet consumers have seen just about every pitch there is. It is like trying to market MLM. “OH, you mean like Amway” is the first thing you hear right out of their mouth. MLM can make millionaires, but MLM usually comes with pitch. Once you know what pitch is, you avoid it at all costs.
“How the hell do I sell anything without pitching it to the lead” you ask, thinking I am an idiot.
You don’t try, that is the key. I am a student of human nature. I am also a student of how some men seem to have it made when it comes to women and that is one of the best ways to watch marketing and learn from it.
Let’s say a nice, good looking guy goes to a party on friday night. He is looking good, but not overdressed, fresh haircut, feeling confident and charming.
9:00 The first girl he approaches gives him the cold shoulder.
10:00 He tries again, same thing.
11:00 The party is huge, the girls are hot, and they are everywhere, our “guy” has a few beers in him, and is having a great time. Confident, all American smile, outgoing, funny, he will definitely succeed. He puts on his best PR smile and goes back in. Can’t lose, Right?
11:30 Midnight, shot down twice more, no numbers, not even a decent conversation. NOTHING.
All he has to do is up his numbers and try a little harder, flash that smile, make em laugh. He will not be beat. The place is full of hotties, he can’t lose.
2:00 AM, cut to the chase, our guy is eating at Denny’s with his buddies. Male buddies. They also did not even leave the party with a number. Guys 0, Pitch 4.
Every time our guy got shot down he tried a LITTLE harder. The more he did not succeed, the harder he tried. Beer had its effect. Not good.
Every girl in the world has heard every line there is and so has every web site visitor.
Everyone on the Internet has been there for a while, they know what pitch is. Pitch will burn you if you get too close. You avoid pitch at all costs.
OK, OK, I got it, so how do I sell without pitching?
I am a very average looking guy. REAL average. I am getting a little old, few extra pounds too. But while at the same party where our “guy” and his buddies struck out, the average Joe left with the info of a extremely intelligent, worldly, very attractive girl in his pocket, 10 years younger than him too.
I can do that because I do not try. DO NOT TRY. (no pitch, it burns you)
AND, I did not ask for the phone number, DID NOT ASK! DID NOT TRY. I asked for their email address. Most have not heard this, but it works like a charm and that is what you should be doing on YOUR web site.
Asking for email addresses and NOT trying to sell anything. Not trying to sell. Not trying at all, no pitch.
Your sales letter sells.
You do not sell.
Your blog does not sell.
Your auto responder does not sell.
You market. Your blog markets. Your auto responder markets.
The Bottom Line
After someone gets to know you, after you have sent proven content that HELPS your email subscribers. After your readers know you have a product, after they know that you do better that the rest because you use that product yourself. After your readers know your name, what you look like, what you sound like, after they realize that you are not some salesman knocking at the door. After your readers realize you don’t sell Amway. After your readers know you are not a spammer, con man, full of crap or full of picth, then you sell them something.
This is the time for pitch, when your subscribers have come to trust you! Full on sales letter, best headlines, tons of bonuses. You are bringing a valuable piece of information into your FRIEND’s life.
How do you do this? With an auto responder. You can decide at what time in your marketing process your subscribers get the pitch, what time they get pure content, what time they get marketing that makes them a warm market lead.
Because you cannot sell without pitch. You just have to know when to use it.
Get That E-mail Address!
Chris Lang is a social marketing consultant. He works from home, devising wickedly evil social marketing tactics and trying to take over the world.
Good article, Chris, and as a student of observation… I especially love the story you gave about the guy going out and trying to get the girl and ending up with his buddies at the end of the evening. This story is something I’ve seen played out in the bars and night clubs around the world, it’s not just an American thing.
There are numerous reasons why guys strike out, but a common one is that they try too hard. There is a short-circuit in the synapses of some people (mostly this manifests itself in the males of the species) that interferes with the understanding of the term “No means No”… sometimes a person will only get as far as “No means Maybe”. They don’t realize that if someone is unsure or is hesitant, that you can turn them right off by the “hard sell”.
Internet Marketing, Social Marketing and just about anything involving sales can be very similar to the guy trying to pick up a woman in the bar. I’ve noticed that many “Salesmen” are too focused on selling that they forget what it is to be a real person. They think in terms of selling their product and service and forget that real people get turned off easily if they feel someone is trying to force them into buying something that they are not sure they want.
Part 2 in now available here on SMJ:
http://socialmarketingjournal.com/2008/07/31/sell-without-selling-and-pitch-without-pitching-part-2/