Zen Garden > Sales Psychology Mistakes - Are You Selling Yourself or Your Products Short?"

The fact that you have knowledge or expertise in a certain field makes you virtually oblivious to how much you really do know. Are you presenting that knowledge in the most easily understood manner?

Let's face it. Most people who have websites are selling something. It can be a service or a product or both. But, the seller has one thing working against him or her. If you are selling anything on the 'net it is as obvious as the nose on your own face but until you realize it you will just keep on making the same mistakes over and over again. Want to know what it is? I thought so. Read on...

The fact that you have knowledge or expertise in a certain field makes you virtually oblivious to how much you really do know. In the back of your mind you might believe that other people already know the basics. There is your first mistake. They probably don't!

Look at it like this. Let's say you have a ladder with ten rungs. You operate from the tenth rung. For years you have been operating from the 8th, 9th or 10th rung. You are a master in your field. Because your knowledge is so vast, over time, you have lost track of how much you really know.

When a prospect - a potential customer - arrives at your doorstep, or in this case, your website, you automatically think that this person has knowledge at the level 2 or level 3 rung on your ladder of knowledge. Now why do you assume this? What if the customer is a complete beginner or novice?

You start pitching your sales routine at level 2 or 3 and they do not have even one foot on the first rung of the ladder. Effectively, they are standing with both feet on the ground. And there you are - ten rungs above - asking them to move upwards three rungs beyond their present level of knowledge or understanding.

Physically, when was the last time you attempted to move from ground level up three rungs of a ladder in one step? It's too much. That is why rungs one and two exist. Mentally, is this what you are asking your prospects to do? Spell it out for them. Make your offer EASY to understand.

Like millions of other people I surf the web looking at all sorts of websites that interest me. Often I become confused. Not only does the sales copy confuse me but the website itself is confusing.

Recently I went to place an advertisement in an ezine. The site that I was looking at was a tangle of links and pages and jumbled information. Eventually I ran out of time and patience then did what I expect most others do. I left. I went elsewhere.

I read a book once where it was stated that it is foolish to assume that most people know even a small portion of what you know about your area of expertise. It also stated that to pitch your sales at a level that is anywhere above basic will cause you to lose many sales. People will become confused. A confused person will not buy. They will want to "think about it" for a while. Most people then forget to do even that. This results in lost sales.

The book (I have forgotten the title but it was something like: "All You Ever Need to Know is Taught in Kindergarten") also stated that if you are using a comprehension level that exceeds a normal 12 year old's ability of understanding then you are being too technical.

Just because somebody is a Professor of mathematics does not mean that he or she has a comprehension level beyond a 12 year old in all areas outside of mathematics. Being a genius at something requires a lot of dedication over an extended period of time. How then, can anybody devote the same amount of time to anything else? That is why we are all specialists in one or two or maybe three things. It is foolish to assume otherwise.

Make your website easy to navigate and make it obvious what it is that you want potential customers to do. Spell your offer out. Make it easy to understand. Pitch to the masses.

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Gary Simpson is a 7th Dan karate master who teaches self defense, motivation, self help and wealth building to students around the world through home study courses. You may reprint this article as you include this author credit and an active link to his web site. Finance - Self Help - Motivation - Self Defense - Personal Growth MotivationSelfEsteem.com