Want to watch your list-building and sales soar? Then you don’t want to miss the little known, (and even less applied,) marketing secret you’ll learn in this seventh installment of the 12 Laws of Online Marketing with Business Blogs, RSS, and Podcasts. (If you missed earlier installments to this 13-part series, you can catch up here.)

So many people in life make things more difficult than they need to be. For business owners this seems especially to be the case with marketing.

Maybe it’s because the so-called “professionals” out there have muddied the waters so much with their self-serving idea of marketing that the average business owner has no idea what works. Or maybe it’s because many owners and professionals are so overwhelmed with the many different ways they can market that they procrastinate and doing nothing.

Whatever the reason, you’re about to learn a simple marketing law that will cut through all the hype and B.S. A law that can help you use your business blog to effortlessly build your subscriber list and increase your overall sales.

Law #6. Reverse the risk to watch your list grow and your sales soar!

This is a law that applies equally online and off-line. It’s tied to your online marketing in general, and to your business blogging in particular. It’s a simple law with a lot of hidden marketing power, but it’s easy to understand once you put yourself in a consumer role.

Think about it — have you ever noticed how most companies put the risk of doing business on you, the client? I’m sure you see it all the time, both online and off-line.

Here’s an off-line example I can share with you from just the other day when I was at a garden center. While I was waiting in line to check out, I noticed a sign behind the counter that stated in big bold red letters:

“Absolutely NO REFUNDS After 30 Days.”

When I read that sign I caught myself double-checking my intended purchases to see if my use of any would fall outside this 30-day time frame. I didn’t put anything back, but I did immediately think about how many other people must have the same reaction. And I thought about how many of those people must end up not purchasing some products, or worse — not buying at that store at all.

Now it’s not that I disagree with the policy of the store. As a business owner I understand they need to protect themselves. But the way this policy is stated is destroying client trust. The risk is being put squarely on the shoulders of the consumer, and the business is making it plain-as-day.

Reversing the risk …

In this case, the garden center owner wouldn’t even have to change the actual policy to improve the risk reversal. The exact same policy I just shared could have been stated positively. And in fact, it could be used as a core part of marketing to build outstanding goodwill with clients.

What if instead the sign read, “We will be happy to refund your full purchase price within 30-days?”

See the difference? The first statement seems to put the burden of responsibility on the client. The revised statement implies that you’ll take the risk and bend over backwards to help the client out.

Here are some more examples of great risk reversals:

- “Our prices are the guaranteed lowest in town, or we’ll refund you double the difference.”

- “If we don’t have your size in stock, we’ll special order and have it here within two days.”

- “Join the Business Owner’s Coaching Club and if within 30-days you’re not absolutely thrilled we’ll refund your full investment and let you keep your $397 in bonuses FREE!”

Do you see how powerful these statements are? See how they put the risk on the business, not the client?

If your product or service delivers reliably, you should do everything you can to shout it from the rooftops — and nothing shouts louder than a super strong risk reversal. Even if you get a few more returns or refund requests, they’ll be inconsequential compared to all of the new clients you’ll be attracting.

Risk reversal and your business blog

We’ve discussed here on Advanced Business Blogging many times before the fact that your business blog is not the place for blatant sales pitches, or hard-core marketing language. And in the same way, you don’t want to conspicuously promote your risk reversal policy either.

The content you deliver on your business blog is actually helping to reverse the risk for prospects without direct mention of any risk reversal. Your business blog is a major online doorway by which qualified prospects access your products or services. It’s a safe environment that is reducing risk in and of itself because people are getting to know you and your company.

Think of marketing like dating.

It’s a one on one relationship building process. When a person visits your business blog, it’s like you asking someone you like out for a cup of coffee. You have a good conversation, and you don’t expect to get or give a kiss at the end.

As a prospect joins your list and returns to hear more of what you have to say, they get to know you better (and trust you more.) Whether it’s articles, reference posts, referrals to other resources, audio, or video – they’re all effective in building trust and increasing rapport. That’s how you build bonds that lead to long lasting relationships.

With the right business blogging strategy, by the time a person ever sees your actual risk reversal – its simply icing on the cake. It’s something that makes deciding to business with you a “no-brainer.” Instead of being like most marketers, experiencing disappointment or just getting a kiss at the end of one conversation — you get a wonderful marriage.

I hope you’re excited about this strategy! It really is an eye-opener for many of our business coaching clients. Hopefully you also have a better understanding how Law #6 applies directly to your business blogging.

If you’re a little unsure of where to start, don’t worry about getting everything perfect right out of the gate. Just take some of the ideas you got today and put them to use. When you do you’ll see how easy it is to boost your online and off-line marketing, build your list, and make more sales using risk reversal.

In part eight of 12 Laws of Marketing with Business Blogs, we’ll continue to expand on this concept and we’ll being linking your business blogging to direct sales.

Learn how to unleash the maximum marketing power of business blogs, podcasts, and RSS (in any industry, profession, or niche) with Marketing With Business Blogs™.

John-Paul Micek is a published author and weekly columnist for the business section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin. He’s known as the “Click-and-Mortar Business Coach” by business owners around the world thanks to members of the Business Owners Coaching Club™.


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