Last week I ordered Seth Godin’s oldie but goodie, “Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers.” Although it’s over 10 years old, its message is just as clear today as it was innovative then. Let me summarize from a modern web marketing point of view…
Your web site gives you the unique opportunity to build a relationship with visitors, who can then become prospects, and later become clients. Most business building web sites (large and small) include “permission marketing.” As an example, my website gives away free articles and a free small business website checklist in exchange for your email address. That’s permission marketing. You’re giving me your email address in exchange for something of value. And there begins our relationship. Other ways you can begin a relationship with your web site visitors is to provide links for them to join you on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn; or a link to get your blog posts via RSS. You can see I do this with those little colorful icons that you see up to your right.
It’s getting more difficult year after year to break through the clutter with your marketing messages using traditional “interruption” marketing (though I’m still a fan of local radio advertising because of its target-ability). And although traditional media is still a necessity for most small businesses, it’s more important than ever that your web site includes the important elements of permission-based marketing. So be sure your site has an email marketing component, a blog, and access to your social media pages. That way you’ll have all your bases covered.
Many marketing books from 10 years ago (especially those that involve new media) are too dated to get a lot of good from them. But I found Permission Marketing is stuffed full of good lessons that you can still incorporate today.
You can buy Permission Marketing – Turning Strangers Into Friends and Friends into Customers from Amazon or download the audio version from Audible.com
