Flipping Readers into Customers

Okay so you have been out their publishing articles like a mad person, and you have been blogging like crazy - you have the readers but how do you turn them into customers? This is a frequently asked question on the internet, how does one turn readers and subscribers into customers? Before I explain flipping readers and subscribers - lets talk about what it means to be branded. Its funny how often on the internet people talk about building a brand and the various ways of building a brand, but very few times do you hear what being branded means, how do you know when you are building a brand vs when you are branding and just building exposure? I have a friend named Jim Smith (you can find him here on apsense) who likes to say "When I need legal services I get a lawyer. When I need accounting services I get a CPA. When I need internet marketing services I go to Bruce bates and The Marketers Co-op." I think thats actually the best explanation of what it means to be branded. Being branded means you are the go to person for whatever you branded yourself for - it could be marketing, it could be graphics, it could be web design, it could be social networking, it could be fashion design, whatever it is - the purpose of your branding it is to become the sole goto person for all your contacts. Now first ask yourself, is your content of a high enough quality, and written with such a level of authority that you will achieve your goal? If so you are half way there. If your content still needs work, there is no shame in that. The best way to get better at writing content, is find a few people who re more experienced than yourself at writing, follow them, and learn from them. Notice what they do - how they form their paragraphs, add their images, engage their readers, etc. Keep perfecting your writing and your ability to educate others until your content is worthy of helping you brand yourself. After you master content creation and article writing, you have to start using your content in your favor to become an authority. To do that, you need to get REALLY social. Start finding the niche sites and web forums. Every time you leave a reply it should look like "I actually wrote about this some time ago, I think you will enjoy my response. To give you a sum up .............. you can read the full post here http......." The longer you do this, the more places you do this, you will find what happens is without even trying to sell people start to contact you .... "hey you seem to be experienced... do you know about... know where I can get... can you help me with.... will you teach me...." When THOSE questions start coming in, you are branded. NOW flipping readers into customers, becomes easy. Its a natural process. Thats when you can begin to alter your content to recommend products right inside your posts. Your readers will start to sy "I already know this guy knows his stuff... I talked to him over on the xyz forums.... or I know him from apsense..." or what have you. I know a lot of people are struggling in life and they need money today and feel they can't go through such a long drawn out process. The desire to make money becomes so strong they say "I will add products from the start, even if its just a sale every few months its better than nothing". The truth is you will struggle for years to make a successful brand until you stop focusing on sales and start focusing on spreading knowledge. Let your knowledge mixed with your interactions brand you, and let that brand lead to sales.