No, not like that, but in the good way! 
The following is a guest post by Jim Kukral highlighting one of the most fundamental tips to succeeding online.
Have you ever really taken a step back from all the technical SEO stuff and thought about why Google wins? The real reasons why they have mass-market share and why they continue to dominate? It’s time you should, because once you understand how to start thinking like Google, you can finally begin to go beyond just ranking better, but also how to be a master Internet marketer so you can get more sales, leads and publicity.
After all, once you’ve been found, you now have to convert. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time.
So why does Google win? Because Google is the world’s biggest, and best, problem solver. The truth is that there are only two reasons why we all go online, using Google or not. Those two reasons are:
1. To have a problem solved
2. To be entertained
That’s it. Everything, and I mean everything you do online falls under one of those categories. For example, let’s say you’re planning on cooking your wife her favorite chicken marsala dish for your anniversary. You go online and do a search for “chicken marsala recipes”. Boom, you now have recipes, and videos, and images and cookbooks and all kinds of information to help you solve your problem.
As another example, let’s say you wanted to relax after work and watch your favorite musician play some of your favorite songs. You go to YouTube and do a search for “Rolling Stones Videos” and boom, you’re now watching video content that entertains you.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, is already the number two most searched search engine on the Internet (behind Google of course). That means that today billions of people are actively searching the Internet for video content. That also means that because of the public’s fast-growing massive hunger for content in video form, that regular people and businesses alike are now able to profit from the creation of that said video content.
The truth is, Google (and your business) has to solve problems for their (your) customers, the Internet searcher. If they (you) can’t do that, they (you) lose customers. It’s that black and white.
So I’ll ask you again. Are you thinking like Google? Have you sat down and figured out what your target audience’s biggest problems are? If you haven’t done that you need to do it now. Anticipate what they need. Figure out their pain and then create products/services that take that pain away.
Just like Google.
For over 15-years, Jim Kukral has helped small businesses and large companies like Fedex, Sherwin Williams, Ernst & Young and Progressive Auto Insurance understand how find success on the Web. Jim is the author of the book, “Attention! This Book Will Make You Money“, as well as a professional speaker, blogger and Web business consultant. Find out more by visiting www.JimKukral.com. You can also follow Jim on Twitter @JimKukral.
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Yes, deliberate mistake 
It grates when people write poorly, huh. When writers write well, the words almost become invisible. The focus shifts away from technical details, and onto the message.
Is there an easy way to write better blog posts? E-mails? Web copy?
Let’s take a look at three guidelines for web writing.
1. If You Can Say It, You Can Write It
The Dilbert Mission Statement Generator – sadly now offline – comes up with convoluted gems this:
“Our challenge is to assertively network economically sound methods of empowerment so that we may continually negotiate performance based infrastructures”
Satire, one would hope.
However, the US Air Force uses the following mission statement:
“The mission of the United States Air Force is to deliver sovereign options for the defense of the United States of America and its global interests – to fly and fight in Air, Space, and Cyberspace”
“Deliver sovereign options”?
Who talks like this? Well, apart from the US military.
Nobody.
Good web writing is the same as good spoken language. Use short sentences, short words, simple structures and a natural, predictable flow of ideas. Avoid waffle, hyperbole and words that hide meaning. Whenever you finish a piece of writing, read it aloud. Cut or rephrase phrases that sound clunky, because they’ll read clunky, too.
Your writing will sound warm and human.
The human voice is especially important online. Communicating at a distance, particularly two-way communication, is relatively new to humans. To help people connect with one another more easily, it pays to write in a warm, conversational style that mimics personal conversation when conducted in close, physical proximity.
When you think about how you would say something, especially to a specific person, you choose words, expressions and structures based on that personal context. Try to imagine that person in front of you as your write.
This approach works well for all applications – from formal legal sites, to personal sites.
2. Planning
Planning what you’re going to say helps you to complete any writing task more quickly and easily.
- 1. Identify and list your goals. What is the message? What is the desired action you want your reader to take? What is the key thought you want your reader to take away?
For example, a goal list might look like this:
*inform people the last project went well, even though there were problems
*highlight the good aspects about the project
*highlight the problems
*present ideas on how these problems can be overcome in the next project
*get everyone revved up and excited about the next project
- 2. Think about the audience. Who is your audience? What do you know about the person or group?
- 3. Determine the right tone and format based on answers 1& 2
- 4. Write quickly. Don’t edit, even if your writing is a mess. Separate out your writing and editing functions.
- 5. Draw a solid conclusion. Calls to action work well.
- 6. Read aloud what you’ve written. Cut, fix and tighten. Writing comes alive in the rewrite.
Solid blog posts sound spontaneous, but they’re not. They’re often structured, worked and reworked.
3. Hyperbole Doesn’t Work On The Web
Hyperbole means extreme exaggeration. i.e. “All the perfumes of Arabia could not sweeten this little hand”. Web readers tend to gloss over the flowery and the convoluted.
On the web, people scan, so the shape of your writing – how it appears on the page – can be just as important as what you say. So think about the shape and form of your writing. Can you use bullets, headings and images to break up large blocks of text? Sometimes, the best thing to do is not write at all. Can an image convey your message? If so, use it.
Also consider context. When visitors arrive on a page, a page deep within your site, do they know what your site is about from glancing at that one page? If not, consider using chunks of content to provide context. These chunks of information can be repeated on every page of your site, and should be self explanatory. Think directory entry. Your repeat visitors will become blind to it, but your first time readers will appreciate it.
We could go on all day about web writing. However, we’d like to hear your tips. How do you approach writing on your site? Do you plan? Do you wing it? What style of writing gets the best results?
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Does the thought of selling fill you with dread?
If you see yourself as a technologist, or marketer, then selling may not come easy to you. But we all need to sell something, even if it is just our opinion! If you’re a consultant of any description, it comes with the territory.
So it pays to know a few techniques. Luckily, sales isn’t something you have to be born to do – it does not require supernatural charm, charisma, a hide as thick as an elephant, and a superhuman drive.
Selling can be like a doctors consultation.
A Visit To The Doctor
When you go to the doctor, do you expect the doctor to just guess what is wrong with you?
A doctors consultation involves the doctor asking you a series of questions. This questioning is to help determine what the problem is, and how it can best be solved. At the end of the process, the feeling is probably one of relief and assurance i.e. that the doctor has your best interests at heart, and will cure what ails you.
It’s the same in business.
Any client you encounter has a problem. Like a specialist doctor, it is your job to ask a series of questions to help nail down the problem and find a solution. The very act of questioning – known as consultative selling – helps build trust and rapport with the client in the same way you may experience with a doctor. This works especially well in the field of consulting, which is based on information sharing.
The emphasis is on clients needs, as opposed to getting a signature on the dotted line. You first establish a client’s needs, then you provide a solution, if you have one. You’re building a relationship, based on trust, by asking a series of questions.
Not so hard, really.
The Mechanics Of Consultative Selling
Ok, so how do you do it?
First, you need to understand the buyers buying process. You then match your selling process to their buy process.
All buyers go through a specific process. For example, if a company needs internet marketing services, do they go to their established provider – possibly the web design company who built their site – or do they go direct to the SEO market? Do they attend conferences? If so, which ones? Hint: they may not be SEO conferences. Do they ask other business people in their business network? Do they go with a known brand?
It’s pretty simple to determine the buying process if the buyer comes straight to your website, fills out the contact form, and requests a call-back. But life often doesn’t work that way.
A prospective client may ask their web design company. Their web design company may not have had a clue, had you not been in to see them a week earlier. You asked the web design people a few questions about whether they had an SEO capability in house, found out they didn’t, and found out they had a lot of clients who quite possibly needed SEO. You proposed a joint deal whereas they would refer their clients to you, for a 10% commission.
Try to find out how your prospective clients buy SEO services, and position yourself accordingly. Think business associations and clubs, their existing providers in related areas, and the other companies they have an association with.
You need to get yourself positioned correctly in their buying process.
If you’ve managed to get in front of them, you then need to think about the questions you are going to ask. You should be asking about their business, where they see it going, what problems they are having, their place in the market, and their competitors. Business owners typically like doing this, and will welcome your interest, so long as you’re seen as a “doctor” i.e someone they trust to help. You’ll also need to make a presentation, which, depending on the context, need not be formal. It could consist of showing them case studies of how you’ve helped solve this problem before. Let’s face it, most SEO/SEM problems and solutions are going to look pretty much the same.
It’s all about trust relationships. It’s a fact of life that people buy more readily from people they trust.
But how do you know if you can trust your prospective buyer?
Screening Buyers
Consultative selling is also a great way to screen out tire kickers. A person who is just pumping you for information will reveal very little about themselves. The conversation will be one sided.
If they are genuinely interested in your service, they are more likely to answer questions. They do have to trust you first in order to do this, so try to think like a doctor if you encounter resistance. i.e. “I want to help you get more traffic, but I can’t do so if I don’t know more about your business before I can devise an appropriate solution”.
Be prepared to walk if they don’t volunteer the information you need. Even if you did land the job, you may end providing a substandard solution to their problem, which will likely end in tears. Better to find clients who you can work with, rather than against.
Another method of screening is to pre-close the sale. When you are gathering needs, ask that if you can solve their problems to their complete satisfaction, as a result of this discussion, that they will buy your services.
This will sound to them like a fairly safe bet i.e. you have to propose something that solves their problem. However, it also creates an implied obligation on their part to do so. There is no risk on your side, as you can either solve the problem, in which case you’ll likely get the business, or you can’t, in which case you’ll walk anyway.
If they are hesitant, it is either an opportunity to walk, and thus stop wasting your time, or an opportunity to find out something more about their buying process.
In short, when thinking about sales:
- You are not a salesperson. You are a “doctor”
- Focus on the needs of the client, not landing the job. Sale hucksters typically focus on the close too soon, which can destroy trust
- It’s ok to walk away. You won’t be able to help some clients
- Insist that the client engage in conversation. A client who asks you questions, and volunteers little information, might be pumping you for information
These consultative sales techniques are covered in various sales theory books. Check out “Consultative Selling“, by Mack Hanan, Jay Abrams “The Sticking Point Solution“, and “Stop Telling, Start Selling: How to Use Customer-Focused Dialogue to Close Sales” by Linda Richardson.
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