Hey Rudy; ========================================== People selectively listen or hear what they want to hear, not what they should be paying attention to. If I would post in my forum about reducing automotive maintenance and operation expenses with a certain product option, do you think people would flock to that forum? If I could show you that your car will start and run better in sub zero temperature with my product option, do you think my monitor will start smoking with emails? I doubt it. If I showed how girls will mob your car if you use this product, it would get more attention. I'll be going to church in the morning so I'll stick with the straight & narrow. ========================================== Going to church in the morning has nothing to do with understanding human nature and learning to fine tune one's marketing. For example... 1) In your sig file, instead of the links you have, why not put "Get better winter performance from your car" or "pay less to maintain your car" and make that a link to your site. Those things people can relate to. 2) And as for topic - if you ran a forum for car buffs, I don't think you'd find any shortage of visitors. I know there are guys that *don't* stick their head under the hood - but I've never known any of them. There's lots of topics in the "car buffs" area that you could choose from. I know of a guy that makes his entire living from a site about the Ford Mustang. Apparently, there's a lot of following for the stang. You don't need to build an entire site. Just think of a topic - related to cars - that people want to talk about. And it needn't give you guilt pangs in church. Food for thought... : ) Linda

Hi Linda, There are two types of sales approach and they both work. The one you decribed about how to get people to your forum is called the soft sales approach. Useing it you beat around the bush about what your really trying to do. The other sales approach is the hard sale approach it is like the first invites you spoke of. It get right to the point. In my experience of working with marketer it works best and this is why. They are business people and they are very busy. They don't want to read a 2 page email, forum, blog, or ad or even take a 30 min phone call just for you to get to the punch line. Personally I hate it when I get a call and it Starts out "I did not call to seel you something" I just wanted to ask you a question> then ten mins later they are into what they are selling. The reason we have two sales approaches is because one does not appeal to everyone. In my case the forum title I use you probley would not show up. That is ok with me! The reason it I do use the "hard sale" aprroche most of the time. It does work and it weeds out people that are not interested in what I have to offer. To me it is the most honest approch to business and shows the most respect to other busy business people. Thanks and keep up the good work, great topic. Johnny Ford

Hi Johnny; Nope, I'm not talking about a soft sales approach OR beating around the bush. I'm talking about developing respect and familiarity with people BEFORE we try to sell them anything. Do you know why so many big companies use celebrities to endorse their products? Because the celeb has "familiarity" with the public. They think... oh, I know who that is. If he says it's good, it must be. Nevermind the fact that the celebrity is paid to say it, the familiarity aspect still works. The same thing happens when we read a story about a business in a magazine. Oh, if Oprah says this is a good book, it must be. Familiarity builds trust. Trust inspires people to buy. You don't build familiarity by saying "buy this, buy that, buy this, buy that" to a bunch of strangers that don't know you. But, if they know you and like you, they will come see. When it comes to sales approach, there is not just the soft sell and the hard sell. I don't like either of those. I prefer to generate interest, have the customer come to me instead of pitching them - and then assume the sale. Works like a charm. But, in this case, I am not talking about sales style. I am talking about building familiarity and trust. : ) Linda I hate when people beat around the bush, too. If a telemarketer calls, they have 30 seconds to get to the point before I hang up.

Hi Linda, Thank you for the sensible advice, its just a shame that too many of us ignore the fact that people buy people first. Best Wishes John.

Hi Linda, Your forums just get better and better. I think people would get a much better response from other memebers here at Adland if they did do more of what you suggested. I for one usually go to forum invites that are asking for some kind of help or prayer. You can't keep up with all the "get rich overnight" forums. I think that if you just let people get to know you and who you are, the rest will come. Your Friend Deborah