Fool's Gold Or Real Gold?

Recently there has been a lot of chatter going round about a term that was coined by Andrew Cavanagh. This term is "Offline Gold." Basically what this all boils down to is selling your internet marketing knowledge and skills to brick and mortar businesses. But the question is, "Is this Fool's Gold or Real Gold?"

The answer to this question depends upon a couple of things. One is your ability when it comes to internet marketing. The second is your ability to sell to someone face to face. This is the main reason that some marketers report great success, but many more report total failure. Unfortunately, all the internet marketing knowledge in the world is useless if you can't sell water to a fish. This article is going to go over the biggest reasons why mamu Internet marketers fail when approaching offline clients.

First and foremost, many would be offline gold marketers go in without a plan.

They think they can just walk into a store, ask the owner if he has a web site and then, when he says no, give him some sales pitch about how he can make all this money by just having a site online. Many times they take the sensationalist approach when they meet a business owner. Promising them the world. It takes a little more finesse than that if you want to succeed in the offline consulting market. You actually have to form relationships and be subtle in your approach. You will have far greater success if you start out in casual conversation and show interest in that person's business. If you can show genuine interest in their business the relationship grows much faster.

Eventually, your prospect will ask you what you do and that's when you can tell him that you are an internet marketing consultant. Many times they will ask what that is and that is your opportunity to educate them NOT sell them. Be honest. Tell him the REAL benefits of having a web presence, specifically for HIS/HER business. Generally you don't have to make a sales pitch if you simply educate them on the basics of internet marketing. Just like online marketing you give away value to gain trust and build relationships. When this happens you will make sales. Guaranteed! I do it all the time.

Now comes the part that no one wants to admit to. It's quite possible that you just suck in a face to face meeting. It could stem from nerves, fear or any other reason but that fact remains that you just can't sell in a face to face meeting. There are ways to overcome this. You can write out a script, you can interview and hire salespeople to make the sales for you. You can partner with someone who can sell while you do the online magic. There are plenty of ways to succeed in the "Offline Gold" market.

The most important thing is to have a plan. Never go into any endeavor, business or otherwise blind. Always have a plan A and a plan B. Know how you're going to open, how you're going to close and everything in between, if you have things mapped out ahead of time, things will take care of themselves.

Much of the information that is being sold specifically to the "Offline Gold" market, just like their online counterparts, make is seem easy to make a 6 figure income. And just like many of the online products happen just like that. Approaching offline clients, contrary to popular belief, is NOT easy. It's a lot different interacting with real people, who have real faces than it is to interact with the faceless names online. However, once you get used to actually talking to people, I believe it's one of the best ways to make a living with very little work on your end.

So my answer to the question, "Is it Fool's Gold or Real Gold?" simply depends on your state of mind. Can you sell face to face, if not can you hire or partner with someone who can? Are you willing to put in the effort required of any business endeavor? Do you truly care about helping your clients succeed. These are questions that only you can answer. But as for me, I say, "There's GOLD in them thar hills!"