Over the weekend I bought a piece of software I first looked at several years ago. I wasn’t ready to buy it back then, or maybe it wasn’t ready for me, but that was then and this is now.
I got it, set it up and fooled around with it all weekend. I’m happy. Yay me.
A few thoughts.
First, I didn’t go looking for this. I happened to find it again when I was looking at something else. I got lucky and so did the developer.
I was lucky because the software will help me save time and make money.
They got lucky because I found them again and I might not have.
I wasn’t on their email list so they couldn’t stay in touch with me and sell me on their product. They couldn’t tell me about updates and new features, prompt me to watch videos to help me see how I could use it, build trust by showing me reviews, make me special offers, encourage me to tell others, and all of the other things you can do when you have clients and prospects on an email list.
Had they done that, I might have purchased this a year ago. I might have told others about it, on my blog and newsletter, and on social. I might now be ready to buy something else they offer, aka “repeat business,” or recommend their product to other people I know, aka “referrals”.
Lesson: get thee an email list and stay in touch with folks.
Second, I found the software (again) not through search but while browsing through a site that recommends software in different categories. I recognized the name as something I had looked at before and took another look.
Lesson: find sites, blogs, directories, et. al., that sell to or advise your target market(s) and do something with them.
Show them what you do and how you can help their customers, clients, subscribers and visitors. Offer to write articles for them. See if they want to interview you. Comment on their blog posts. Share their products and services and content with your subscribers.
Your clients will appreciate you for telling them about things that can improve their life and the people who sell the products and run the sites will see you as someone they should work with and promote.
Third, I didn’t find this product through search, but I might have. Not by searching their name (I didn’t remember it until I saw it) but by searching keywords related to what the software does.
Lesson: use keywords on your site(s). Don’t obsess over it, don’t pay companies exorbitant sums to work voodoo magic, just use those keywords in your content.
That’s all for now. I’ve got to get back to playing with my new toy.
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