A reason why…
There is a reason why people who sell things online plaster their faces everywhere. Heck, in many cases they don’t just plaster their faces, but they also plaster their family’s faces everywhere as well.
You might think at first glance, that they just like being the centre of attention or revelling in the “fame” that putting themselves out there brings them. None of that is really true though.
These people are putting themselves out there because it is a really fast way to start building trust and rapport with an audience. People tend to buy more readily from a person that they know, than from a faceless business.
I mean, all the time you are hearing about this person getting scammed or that person getting their identity stolen. It’s a big problem and never have people been more distrustful online OR offline than they are right now.
So how does someone go about marketing and selling online without revealing their identity? Won’t it make it impossible if people would rather buy from people they know like and trust, and not faceless strangers?
Well, to be honest…
Of course, you are at a disadvantage by not putting your face out there. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. In fact, some people thrive on their anonymity. Just look at Banksy.
But the question truly is how?
The short answer is you focus on the people you are marketing to and the education you are giving them. You don’t focus on yourself. Sure, speaking about yourself is ONE of the ways that you can build rapport…
…however, it is not the only way.
At the end of the day, entertainment and education are the combination punch that wins the sale. It doesn’t always need to be about you, personally.
People buy based on emotion, and they justify the purchase based on logic. There are ways to present emotion and logic while still keeping your identity hidden.
Consider the story I told about Banksy the street graffiti artist in the first email of this series. It was a story that was entertaining, which can appeal to someone’s emotion, and yet it also made a point about anonymity…
…which appeals to someone’s sense of logic.
Stories about famous people, historical characters, events, well-known books, movies, etc. all can convey emotion and present opportunities to educate without revealing your identity.
Stories are very powerful, but there are other things you can do to build trust and rapport. In our next email I’ll go into a little more detail about how you can do just that, but for now, let’s wrap this one up.
For homework, think about some stories you can tell surrounding famous characters, historic events, books, or movies and how you might pull out a lesson or takeaway from them.
Until Next Time
Dominus Owen Markham
