Like most business owners, when I first went into business
for myself in the 1990′s, back when I was a journalist and
knew nothing about effective marketing — let alone
“information marketing” — I was obsessed with acquiring
loads of knowledge.

I got every course known to man, and I subscribed to
every marketing journal out there. I prided myself on the
fact that I knew how to write an effective, customer-pulling
ad for almost any business.

But there was only one problem. I had virtually no
prospects or clients to talk about this stuff with.

See, I was under the false impression that people cared how
much I knew. That my knowledge base was so powerful,
clients would be compelled to work with me.

I quickly (and painfully) learned, this was far from the
truth.

See, no one cares how much you know, until they know how
much you care.

And the best way to let someone know you care, is to educate
them on whatever it is you do. You almost want to think of
yourself as sort of like a “consumer advocate,” if this
makes sense.

And the best way of doing this, is to offer your prospects
some kind of free information they can learn from.

So for instance, if you’re an investment advisor you can
offer a Special Report called, “7 Biggest Mistakes Retirees
Make That Cost Them A Small Fortune: Which One Of
Them Are You Making Right Now?”

If you’re a limousine service, a DVD taking someone on a
tour of your all your vehicles and explaining how you
qualify your drivers, called “How To Ride Like A King,
Without Spending A Small Fortune” would be pretty
compelling.

And if you’re a network marketer you can offer a “Self
Employed and Rich” email bootcamp series, like we do,
which would offer advice on how to break the shackles
of your cubicle job to become a full-time, work-from-
home internet entrepreneur. Or you could offer them
the Coffee House Letter which outlines the industry-
stifling mistakes 97 percent of network marketers
are making right now.

And the nice thing is, each one of these information
packages not only positions you as an expert, it lets your
prospects know “how much you care,” which is your goal
here. It positions you as generous and knowledgeable,
and it feels good.

Also keep in mind, a concurrent goal of this “education
process” is to differentiate yourselves from your
competition. And sharing information like this, in and of
itself, is actually one of the things that’s going to
differentiate you. So it’s kind of like a self-propelling
system you’re actually creating.

As Ann Seig says … “don’t pitch, teach”. It’s easier, more
effective and it WILL make you more money.