You'll find a Tough Crowd when you Hard Sell

You've been there before; you've got a bit of time to kill so you wander off to the mall to do some browsing. Seconds after you walk into a store 'he' appears, clipboard and pencil at the ready, anxious to 'help'. Smiling, you politely decline. You tell him you're 'just looking'.
Your attention is drawn to an interesting item and you walk towards the display, unaware that you are being followed. As you reach out to touch, you are startled by a voice behind you explaining the material and my, how great that color would look on you. It's 'him' and it's apparent, he will be your shadow throughout your visit to this store. He works on commission and he's hungry. In fact, if he doesn't make any sales today, he's going home... for good!
You can feel the desperation. It makes you uncomfortable; annoyed; so you leave.
You've also been in those cavernous warehouse outlets, lost somewhere on isle 48. The item you want is 20 feet up on the shelf and there's absolutely no one around to help you get it down. You wander around a bit and finally find someone who might be able to help. Unfortunately, there are a few people ahead of you. Since you really need that item today you decide to wait your turn. After 30 minutes, the 'helper' tells you - regretfully - it's not his department. Then 'Poof', he's gone!
And in a few more minutes, so are you!
Is Your Website Like That?
Sometimes you just want to research some information on a product. While many of the better sales pages do a decent job of highlighting the benefits or their product, they don't always answer all of your questions. Instead, they continue to pound you with compelling 'reasons' to buy using tactics such as scarcity 'only 5 left' and fear of loss 'this great opportunity will be taken down in 10 minutes'.
Frantically, you scan the page for some assurance that buying this product is the right decision for you to make. But the more you look, the more you see hype and other 'buy NOW' high pressure tactics. And just like the desperate sales clerk in our real-world example, most customers will feel uncomfortable and leave.
The other extreme is to have an info-only site that whets your appetite - even makes you crave and beg for the product - then gives you no outlet where you can make a purchase. There are actually people who provide great info sites where they also HOPE to sell, but because they don't want to appear too pushy, they provide no outlet or one that's vague and difficult to navigate.
The Best of Both Worlds
I think by now you can surmise that you'll stand the best chance of success making money online if you provide both great information AND a quick, clear way for people to acquire your product.
If you can provide great content on your site along with links to your sales page, you are most of the way there. But remember, even when you provide great content and a smooth sales process, the majority of your first-time visitors won't buy. They'll want to 'think' about it; just like you in a real-world buying decision.
This is where a good auto responder follow-up series wins the day. With this series, you will have multiple contacts with your audience; this means repeated chances to educate, build a relationship, gain trust, and eventually SELL!
Hard Selling is Hard!
You won't make any money if you hard sell. You also won't make any money if you don't sell. So make it easy on yourself and your web visitors:

• Give them quality information first
• Give them a smooth, easy buying process
• Follow-up. Most people won't buy on the first visit

It might take a little time to get this going. But as one of my mentors used to tell me, "The long way is the short way, and the short way is the long way."
In other words, take the time up front to educate, build relationships and trust. In the long run, you'll have loyal customers recommending you and your product to their friends. You simply can't buy advertising that beats word-of-mouth!  Remember to be customer friendly and have fun.  You can click on my name for more information and various opportunities.  That's all for now, "Enjoy Your Coffee"

Michael Stanley