Reader FL recently tried to get in touch with his favorite
\nInternet marketing teacher … let’s call this guru Mr. X … with
\ndisappointing results.<\/p>\n
“I thought: why not reach out and connect with him?” says FL.
\n“Good luck with that idea – the guy lives behind an electronic
\nfortress … which is odd given the story he tells about
\naccessibility in his book.”<\/p>\n
The guru in question, Mr. X – a guy I respect professionally and
\nlike personally – is not alone in using the Internet to put
\nspace between him and his readers. A lot of the Internet
\nmarketing gurus, maybe even most of the gurus, do it.<\/p>\n
I can’t blame them, and I understand their reasons: these are
\nbusy guys, they make a lot of money, and their time is limited.<\/p>\n
But I take the opposite approach: I make myself directly
\navailable to my readers as much as is humanly possible.<\/p>\n
My old friend, marketing guru Jeffrey Lant, referred to this as
\nbeing the “accessible expert.”<\/p>\n
If you’ve ever tried to contact me, you know I promptly answer
\nall e-mails I receive … and if you call me, it rings the phone
\non my desk which I pick up and personally answer.<\/p>\n
If you e-mailed me and got no response, it’s almost certainly
\nbecause I didn’t see or didn’t get it. I do not ignore my
\nsubscribers.<\/p>\n
Being so available to my readers is a deliberate choice on my
\npart. I am not saying I am right to be so reachable, or that X
\nand his ilk are wrong to put so much distance between themselves
\nand their customers.<\/p>\n
All I can tell you is that being an “accessible expert” works
\nbetter for me for several reasons.<\/p>\n
>> First, although I’m pretty busy, perhaps I am not as busy and
\nin demand as Mr. X. So while keeping the lines of communication
\nopen with my subscribers can sometimes be challenging, it is
\ncertainly manageable. So I do it.<\/p>\n
>> Second, my readers like being able to communicate with me
\ndirectly and easily. I know, because they tell me so. And my
\nphilosophy is to do, within reason, what my customers want.<\/p>\n
>> Third, it’s the way I want to be treated by the marketers I
\nbuy from. I am frustrated by customer-unfriendly voice mail
\nsystems that make it a trial to reach the person I want. And it
\nirritates me when a marketer shields himself from e-mail
\ncommunication.<\/p>\n
So how accessible do you have to be to please your customers
\nwhile still having a private life? Here’s what I recommend:<\/p>\n
1-Publish your phone number prominently on your web site and in
\nyour e-mail signature file. Make it easy for people to call you.<\/p>\n
2-When your phone rings, answer it, and give the time of day to
\npeople who call.<\/p>\n
Full disclosure: I do have caller ID. So when I am on a
\ncopywriting deadline for a client, I may not pick up – and
\ninstead will let your call go to voice mail. But once I’m free
\nagain, I return the call – on my dime.<\/p>\n
3-If an e-mail from a customer asks a question which I can
\nreasonably answer in a minute or two, I answer it – for free. No
\ncharge.<\/p>\n
4-If an e-email from a customer asks a question that is answered
\nin one of my publications, I send my correspondent a link to it.
\nIf it’s free, I invite him to download it at no cost. If it
\ncosts money, I suggest he buy it.<\/p>\n
5-If a customer asks a question that is complex or requires a
\ncustomized answer tailored to his specific situation, I tell him
\nthat to solve the problem for him falls under consulting and
\nexplain the cost.<\/p>\n
Regarding point #4, a few of my customers have complained that I
\nam a money-grubber for telling them to buy an information
\nproduct when they ask me a question.<\/p>\n
I do not agree with their criticism. If the answer to your
\nquestion is clearly articulated and well thought out on page 187
\nof my book, I assert that it is reasonable and sensible for me
\nto suggest you buy the book, turn to page 187, and read the
\nanswer there.<\/p>\n
Why should I have to spend my time writing a long e-mail to you
\nwithout compensation, when I have already taken time to prepare
\nthe answer for you in advance – and when my book buyers have had
\nto pay for the same content?<\/p>\n
Regarding point #5, one thing that really irks me is that
\nsubscribers who ask me questions clearly requiring customized
\nanalysis by me virtually never offer to pay me for my time and
\nknowledge. They never bring up money, because they hope and pray
\nI will be a dupe and just answer without charge.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for me, I have to pay my son’s tuition at
\nCarnegie-Mellon, and I have only 24 hours in a day, both of
\nwhich make me disinclined to work for free. When the guy who
\ncomes to my house to fix my busted washing machine does it for
\nfree, then I will reconsider my position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reader FL recently tried to get in touch with his favorite Internet marketing teacher … let’s call this guru Mr. X … with disappointing results. “I thought: why not reach out and connect with him?” says FL. “Good luck with that idea – the guy lives behind an electronic fortress … which is odd given […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":941,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}