No matter what you sell, along with it you are selling yourself and your abilities. In order for expertise to be seen by others, you need to leverage your abilities, now some take time, but, that doesn’t mean that your expertise offline cannot help you online.

Something as simple as selling comic books makes you more informed about them than I am. If I’m a buyer, I’m going to assume you know your product and can answer my questions and concerns. This puts you in the favorable position of having information your customers want. Even if it is just current prices and market trends, because you are in the business, you are a relative expert. This expertise can be leveraged into more contacts and sales.

Sell your expertise on your webpage

Mention somewhere on your landing page that you have, “15 years of experience providing quality electronic components to stereo hobbyists” or whatever fits. And then solicit questions.

Have valid contact information and a form where customers can ask questions and get information about your product. They will leave an email address for a reply and this goes toward your list building. Try and reply to all inquiries in a timely manner. You are going to have to monitor your emails and respond within 24 hours if possible. Consider an auto-responder that verifies the email address and sends an acknowledgement (”your question/comment has been received and you should hear from our help desk in X hours…”).

Start a Newsletter

Sure it’s a big step. Depending on what you are selling though, a newsletter might be just the thing you need to get and keep customer loyalty.

The advantages are obvious:

1. You promote yourself and your products along with sending relevant and useful information to your customers.
2. You get a ready-made opportunity to keep in contact with people who are interested in your product category.
3. You can sell or trade ad space with other online businesses that have related products.
4. You can even sell ad space to your customers by either trading links or giving a free ad with a certain level of purchasing.
5. Old issues are archived and become part of the SEO package for your domain.

You might need to have an incentive to get people to signup for your newsletter- a free add-on bonus with purchase or a discount (free shipping when you sign up for Attraction List Building Tips & News, our monthly newsletter). Join our Team!