Image: “Cannonball” (CC BY 2.0) by jasonippolito
When it comes to online sales techniques, it’s easy to get stuck in bad habits. This is especially true if you’ve been in business for a long time.
You find something that works, and you stick to it.
You probably know the lesson of Seth Godin’s Purple Cow. Unfortunately, your competitors are often using the same techniques, offering the same products, and even making the same claims.
The question is, what can you do to set yourself apart?
For the answer, we need to take some advice from Marcus Sheridan, AKA the Sales Lion.
Hailed as a web marketing guru by the New York Times, Marcus developed five simple online sales strategies for his company, River Pools.
When I interviewed Marcus for my Marketing Speak podcast, he revealed that when he implemented these strategies during the Great Financial Crisis, he saw a massive increase in sales, and managed to blow his competition out of the water.
What is his secret? Shockingly, his approach was very straighforward: he was honest about what he offered, and he proactively addressed people’s concerns.
Along the way, he broke a few long-held taboos of online marketing. But by doing what others where too afraid to do, he built trust with his customers and achieved amazing results.
Here’s how he did it…

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