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The Tao of Web Marketing by Michael Southon
The Tao of Web Marketing
by Michael Southon
A few months ago I was watching a stream meandering back and
forth across a flat plain in a high mountain valley. The stream
reached it's destination - a small lake - but only after dozens
of loops and curves. It occurred to me that Water and clever Web
Marketing have something in common - they both follow the path
of least resistance.
Let me explain.
Your first contact with a future customer usually starts with an
email. It could be an Ad in an Ezine, it could be your Resource
Box at the end of one of your Articles, or it could be your
Signature File in your correspondence.
But in the chain of events that leads to a web sale, an email is
the point of greatest resistance.
Why is that?
Firstly, your future customer is reading your message offline.
She or he has to fire up their modem before they can buy your
product. And that requires effort (and expense).
Secondly, if your message is in an Ezine, it's probably one of a
dozen other messages all clamoring for attention.
Thirdly, whether your message is an Ezine Ad, a Resource Box, or
a Signature File, you've probably had only a few lines to
explain why your widgets are so good.
So if an email is the point of greatest resistance, what is the
solution?
The ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism (pronounced 'Dowism') -
also known as 'The Watercourse Way' - gives us the answer.
Taoism tells us to be like Water and follow the path of least
resistance. Water flows. It is soft and moves easily around
obstacles in its path, instead of attempting to go through them.
Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for
dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.
The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice.
(Tao Te Ching, ch. 78)
"What is the path of least resistance in an email?", I hear you
ask. Offer something free!
Successful web marketers know this already. I recently did a
survey of the Resource Boxes of fifty well known Ezine Writers.
Over 90% of them were not trying to sell anything from their
Resource Box. In fact, an overwhelming majority were not even
trying to get a click-thru to their website - they were simply
offering a free subscription to their Newsletter. In other
words, they were more interested in building a long-term
relationship than they were in making a quick sale.
When I started out on the Internet, I was pretty impatient. I
certainly didn't want to the follow the path of least
resistance. The path I had in mind was more like the flight of
an arrow - straight to it's target.
But the statistics suggest that most web sales are not made like
that; on average your customer will have to see your message
seven times before he or she buys your product.
So next time you plan your marketing strategy, why not take a
lesson from Water and follow the path of least resistance?
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Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over
3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use
this simple technique to build a successful online business.
Click here to find out more:
http://ultimateaffiliatecentre.com/hop.cgi?i=mhsouthon
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