You can usually tell a newbie on Facebook or Twitter by how often every day they make a pitch about their book or their business. Something really heavy-handed like: “Looking for that special birthday gift? Buy my book!” That deafening silence you hear is everybody ignoring your pitch.
There’s a few things wrong with selling this way.
1. It’s old-style selling. Nobody on Facebook or any other social site wants to be sold on anything.
2. It’s really annoying when you tweet or post that 6 times a day.
3. It’s really easy for the rest of us to hide you on Facebook or unfollow you on Twitter because that’s all you post.
People buy to solve a problem they have. If you have a solution to their problem and they know and trust you, they will buy your book or service. No pain, no sale.
I was on vacation in Cabo a few years ago and went to a time share pitch to get a discount coupon book for my hotel. On the surface, a guaranteed vacation every year might be a great deal. Except I wanted to buy a house, not a time share. No pain, no sale.
Rather than pitch everyone you can, look for people who really need your book or service. Work on establishing your expertise. Then, surprise! There won’t be any selling involved. People will line up to buy.
It’s a fun way to sell.
