A few months ago I was watching a stream meandering back
and forth across a flat plain in a high mountain valley.
The stream reached it's destination - a small lake - but
only after dozens of loops and curves. It occurred to me
that Water and clever Web Marketing have something in
common - they both follow the path of least resistance.
Let me explain.
Your first contact with a future customer usually starts
with an email. It could be an Ad in an Ezine, it could be
your Resource Box at the end of one of your Articles,
or it could be your Signature File in your correspondence.
But in the chain of events that leads to a web sale, an
email is the point of greatest resistance.
Why is that?
Firstly, your future customer is reading your message
offline. She or he has to fire up their modem before they
can buy your product. And that requires effort (and
expense).
Secondly, if your message is in an Ezine, it's
probably one of a dozen other messages all clamoring
for attention.
Thirdly, whether your message is an Ezine Ad, a Resource
Box, or a Signature File, you've probably had only a few
lines to explain why your widgets are so good.
So if an email is the point of greatest resistance, what
is the solution?
The ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism (pronounced
'Dowism') - also known as 'The Watercourse Way' - gives us
the answer. Taoism tells us to be like Water and follow the
path of least resistance. Water flows. It is soft and moves
easily around obstacles in its path, instead of attempting
to go through them.
Nothing in the world
is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
nothing can surpass it.
The soft overcomes the hard;
the gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true,
but few can put it into practice.
(Tao Te Ching, ch. 78)
"What is the path of least resistance in an email?", I
hear you ask. Offer something free!
Successful web marketers know this already. I recently
did a survey of the Resource Boxes of fifty well known
Ezine Writers. Over 90% of them were not trying to sell
anything from their Resource Box. In fact, an overwhelming
majority were not even trying to get a click-thru to their
website - they were simply offering a free subscription to
their Newsletter. In other words, they were more interested
in building a long-term relationship than they were in making
a quick sale.
When I started out on the Internet, I was pretty impatient.
I certainly didn't want to the follow the path of least
resistance. The path I had in mind was more like the flight
of an arrow - straight to it's target.
But the statistics suggest that most web sales
are not made like that; on average your customer will have
to see your message seven times before he or she buys your
product.
So next time you plan your marketing strategy, why not
take a lesson from Water and follow the path of least
resistance?
About the Author
Michael Southon shows
webmasters how to boost their Traffic and increase
their Sales. Download the FREE version of his
popular new E-Book: http://www.theezine.net/ezinewriter.html