One of the biggest problems we face with our marketing is that the messages we want to get across to potential clients aren't necessarily things they want to hear.

And that's particularly true when 95% or more of the time they're not ready to buy (yet).

If they were ready to buy, then information about our products and services would be useful to them. But if they're not, it's just so much blah blah.

Of course, we'd ideally like them to know how great our stuff is before they're in buying mode. And often, when we're communicating with people we have no idea whether they're in buying mode or not.

That poses a problem.

We want them to know how great it is to do business with us, for example. But if they're not in buying mode then shoving testimonials at them just comes across as bragging.

We want them to know we've got a great new product that would be perfect for them. But leading with that comes across as a blatant sales pitch and it switches them off.

In fact, fear of coming across as too salesy like this is what holds many of us back from getting in touch with our very highest potential clients as I mentioned in my last email.

And that's where Mary Poppins comes in.

“A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”.

It really does when it comes to marketing.

In commercial advertising, entertainment is the spoonful of sugar.

We're intrigued to see where the Gold Blend couple's relationship goes. We find Alexander Orlov the meerkat funny. So we pay attention and the marketing message piggybacks on that.

For us, value is the spoonful of sugar.

If you lead with value in your marketing then potential clients are open to it and pay attention whether they're ready to buy or not.

And you can piggyback whatever message you want on top of that.

You don't even have to do it covertly. People are smart. If you've just given them something of value then they'll lend you their ears for long enough for you to get your point across.

A simple example:

You've created a new course on teambuilding you want to promote.

The problem is that not everyone in your audience is into teambuilding. And even if they are, they're not all ready to buy right now.

So there are only so many times you can tell your audience about the benefits of the course before they get bored and switch off. Maybe forever.

So instead, lead with value.

Record some short videos with tips on team building and at the end of the videos tell them about the new course.

Then message them to tell them about the videos rather than messaging them to tell them about the course (again).

That way four wonderful things happen:

1) No one gets annoyed by your messages because you're being generous and offering something valuable – even if they don't happen to be interested in it right now.

2) The only people who go off to watch your videos are the people interested in teambuilding – so you now know who your warmer prospects are.

3) Your videos with useful tips build your credibility and their desire for the course.

4) The people who watch to the end of your videos and get the details of your course are the warmest prospects of all. It's highly likely they'd be interested in the course and because you've given them some useful information first they don't mind hearing about the course at all.

Much, much better than continually blasting your audience with a sales message.

The exact same principle applies to what we were talking about in my last email: getting in touch with potential clients to begin a discussion about an area you could help them with.

How do you do it in a way that doesn't feel icky or salesy?

Use a spoonful of sugar.

Lead with value in your message first. Point them at a useful resource related to what you'd like to talk about first. Ideally, something you've created yourself.

That way your request to talk to them about working together piggybacks along with the value. 

The value you give first puts them in the right frame of mind to receive your message.

And just as importantly, because you're giving value first you feel good about it. So you don't hold back from getting in touch.

Make sense?