Attract Without Selling
I don’t know about you, but I’ve grown leery of anything that even smells remotely of a sales pitch or worse, click bait. I’ve done my time. Once I’d click on every offer that intrigued me, schedule discovery calls, watch webinars, get free e-books—you name it, I followed it. Then I found myself on so many email lists, it made my head spin. To tell you the truth, I had no interest in what 90% of them were offering.
I’m extremely selective about the email lists I join these days, and frankly, if I visit a site and the first thing I see is a sales pitch or a pop-up asking me to join their email list, I close the page faster than you can say “pop-up”. I don’t want to be sold. I want to gather information and make my own informed decision without pressure, without fluff, and in my own time.
Over time, writing about things that interest or baffle me, showing my soft, mushy side, and letting my vulnerability show. I’ve found there are people who want to read what I have to say, and more, appreciate having someone they can relate to. At times, the people who approach me to say they read one of my posts still amazes me. There are quite a few who don’t fit the image of who I believe I’m writing to. I think that’s amazing! I love learning I’ve underestimated my audience.
When Warm, Fuzzy Works
That isn’t to say I haven’t thought about investing in fancy landing pages designed to attract 
people who might hire me, but when I did get help, I had to leave most of the heavy lifting to the designer because my heart wasn’t into being sales-y. As it is, I influenced the process enough (and made her crazy in the process) to keep it on the low-key side. It’s not what I use to draw interest to my writing anyway. In my mind, it’s where they go after they’ve decided they’re interested.
What about you? Are you of the mind-set that you need to attract clients with gimmicks or freebies, or fancy sales pages, or are you trying to reach people on a more personal level? Are you willing, or even able to let them see your imperfections, your flaws, and even things you’d consider weaknesses? Wait a minute before you answer that.
How do you feel when you read something personal, heart-warming, or gut-wrenching about someone’s life? Do you feel appalled and disgusted, or do you feel a sense of connection; like the writer is a person you’d like to get to know better? Do you feel like they’ve overshared, or like they get what you’re going through? Most important, would you like to make people feel the same way about something you write or put out there on your website?
Attracting the Right Clients in the Best Possible Way
Now that you’ve thought about it, here’s something else to think about. Are you happy with what your sales page, or sales copy are bringing to your business? (there’s no wrong answer here.) If so, what I’m going to say next probably isn’t going to resonate with you, and that’s OK.
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is none of us is right for everyone. No one technique or method works for every market. That’s why there’s variety to begin with! The key is to figure out who you want to work with, and what approach will be most likely to attract them. After all, who really wants to spend their time chasing down potential clients? Wouldn’t you rather open a door and have them walk through it knowing your approach and the product or service you offer is the one that makes them feel comfortable. More important, shouldn’t they be willing to pay your price knowing they’re getting value for their money?
Making Real Connections
I’ll be honest with you. I absolutely hate writing sales copy. I’ve never felt the need or desire to 
try to convince someone they wanted something. I’m much more comfortable talking to people about their hopes and dreams, the things that make them crazy, the successes they’ve had and, the sometimes painful lessons they’ve learned along the way. But I’m also selective.
I don’t do small talk well, and in fact, find it exhausting. If I can’t find common ground, I lose interest and find a reason to drift off, even if it’s into my own head for awhile. But when I find someone I connect with, I’ll talk their ear off before reminding myself to give them a chance to share more of themselves—the stuff that intrigued me enough to continue the conversation in the first place.
Learning this about myself, I realized I also love helping other people connect on a deeper level. I’m happy to leave the superficiality to other writers who are both good at it, and enjoy doing it. I write for a specific cross-section of the entrepreneurial world, and though it might be a smaller group, I get a much greater sense of satisfaction from helping people express the beautiful, vulnerable, flawed human being underneath all the smoke and mirrors society has taught us to effect to protect our soft, mushy center.
People Who Are Willing and Able to Talk About the Tough Stuff
My own evolution has brought me to a social group who isn’t afraid to talk about suicide and mental health, family struggles, personal challenges, spirituality or anything else that’s on a more personal level. (we do draw the line at deep political or religious discussions only because such things often scrape wounds better left scabbed over). As such, working with people with a similar mindset means working with people I love and respect. How can you not love that?
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably one who’s grown tired of the facades and appreciates people who are comfortable with themselves and don’t need to pretend, or try to fit in. The question is, are you writing to those people on your blog or website, or are you following “convention” and giving them a sales pitch, a call to action, or a freebie just to get them on your email list?
Wouldn’t you rather be the email they can’t wait to read rather than the one they can’t delete fast enough? If so, start writing to connect with them, or if writing is low on your priority list, hire someone who gets you to do the writing for you. Today’s followers are tomorrow’s most desirable clients.
If writing regular, relatable content keeps getting pushed to the bottom of your To Do list, maybe I can help.
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri 
believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income. If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author. And check out her new group, Putting Your Whole Heart Forward.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.
