How many times have you received a telephone call at home, and the person on the other end was trying to sell you something. Usually, you tell them you are not interested (even if you may be interested).

This is similar to a young man (let’s call him Joe) walking up to a woman he doesn’t know, and asking her to marry him. You can be assured that the answer will be “NO”!

Joe probably is a good guy, and he may make a great husband and father. But the woman doesn’t know Joe yet, and has no basis to trust him.

When you ask someone to buy your products or services without first having a relationship with them, you are doing the same thing Joe did. Joe tried to close the deal too soon.

Take my business for example. I provide consulting services to companies managing their websites, monitoring social media, and developing web applications. If you perform a search through Google for “Web Companies”; the search will return over 1 million hits. This indicates that there are a lot of companies offering web services.

For me to get noticed in this crowded space, I must start my engagement process off by giving something away for free.

For example, I have a client who now pays me over $8,000 a year to manage their web infrastructure. To get this client, I initially for free developed a website for a conference they were conducting.

It took me hours to build it. But, since I did such a great job for them, they hired me to manage their entire web infrastructure.

So, if no one knows you, give something away for free. This will get you in the door, and people will start to get to know you. If you are successful in delivering what you promised, you will gain the trust of your target audience; and get referrals.

Among the noise of everyday life and other business competition, you have to get people interested in you, and in what you are doing.

In our new internet age, this can be done by creating a website that creates helpful “how to content” that helps your target audience live life better or learn something useful for their life or business.

You could also create videos on “YouTube” showing your product or service in action. And ask people that know you to write reviews for you. The goal is to create an atmosphere of excitement around your business.

#3 Discover their Pain Points

Instead of just telling your target audience what you do, ask them questions. Inquire about what is truly frustrating them; ask them what pains they are feeling.

Once you know this, you can then speak directly to your target audience’s emotions and pain points. And now show how your product/service can be used to solve those types of problems.

Here is the deal! People really don’t care about what your product or service does, they really only care if it can help solve their problem.

After successfully executing steps 1, 2, and 3, customers will ask you to sell them what you are selling. The product or service will almost sell itself.

What! I know that sounds crazy, but it happens all the time. In fact, I have personally experienced this in my other business of “helping Christians develop their God-Inspired business.” Here how it happens for me ...

And on many occasions after I have for “Free” advised Christians on what God has called them to do in business, they have asked me to sell them something.

There is nothing magical about businesses making a lot of money from selling their products or services. It’s all about the relationship you have with customers and potential customers.

This is why big brands like “Nike” and “McDonalds” do so well. People know them and trust them.

I am not going to lie to you and tell you that it is going to be easy or quick. It takes time to build up a reputation, so start today.

Go do something for “free” so people can get to know you, and don’t ask too soon for them to buy something from you. Be patient with the engagement process.

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