Experts have talked about this before. How many times did someone tell you about 'adding value' for your audience? How many times did you come across the term 'building trust' with your readers/prospects?

Alas! Yet, it still bears repeating, because some people just don't get it. What's the underlying principle for successful online marketing, selling or networking? The art of giving before you try to get. Before you get something from someone, you need to first give them a reason for them to give it to you.

It's a defense mechanism designed for self-preservation in a life that is nasty, brutish and short. Living ain't easy. People are fed-up with hard-sells and sledge-hammer pitches. They're sick of hustlers always running game on them. Their walls grow stronger, reinforced by the plaster of bad experiences. Once they pigeon-hole you as a 'spammer/scammer', it's all over. Don't bother with getting them to take out their wallets. Won't happen.

There is a fool-proof way to get people to lower their defenses and commit. You just need to manage their impressions of you. You need to change what they think about what you're doing. You're not spamming, you're offering a product that is designed to fulfill needs. You're not a money-hungry marketer, you're a passionate individual who loves to help people achieve their goals. Reframing and re-adjusting the prospect's image of your brand.

The whole idea of "social media marketing" or SMM has become a cliched concept to many, today, yet not many succeed in following the golden rule of "Karma" (ala Bhagwad Gita). The problem is, even the marketeers who supposedly "get" social media still find it difficult to resist the temptation to turn Twitter into a one-way street - going all guns blazing with "lucrative" offers and hoping for immediate gains, in return.

Speaking of Twitter, it is very important to understand that it is more of a relationship building tool than a marketplace. While it helps you create conversations and buzz around your product, it will never help you sell it unless you also have a kick-ass product up your sleeve. One also needs to keep the two-way street concept in one's mind in order to go a long way towards keeping the perception of their marketing efforts positive.

It was just today, while I was devising an online marketing strategy for one of our events, I pointed out that it is very important to be trusted and have a good reputation, in any domain, before we expect ourselves to be heard by the crowd. This respect comes only from relationship-building. And we all know, the most effective way to build bridges with those anonymous avatars over the internet is by providing advise and help, unconditionally. Please note, while 'unconditionally' was the keyword in the last statement, one must also make sure that one's 'help' is also useful to the ones it is extended to. This will always go a long way in building the "social capital" for you.

Allow me to put forth a real life example before you. If you walked into a room filled with people you never met before and shouted at the top of your voice about how great your product or service was, they would run a mile away from you and so would I. You have to build a relationship first, with those people, and give unconditionally, in an effort to get them to trust you. The more you give, the more you get back - more people will listen to what you have to say! And yes, you must be completely transparent and honest, in the whole process.

The Power of Brand Building

Look at the whole idea, this way. Today, nobody questions the quality of Adidas shoes, or the Ferrari supercars or even Apple iPods. This is because these behemoths have been spending millions and billions of dollars, till date, in their efforts to create conversations, connect with their customers, interact with them and, of course, by churning great quality products. Now, assuming that you already have an awesome product that is just waiting to be unleashed, all you got to do, today, is spend some time to show genuine concern and affection towards the needy (in your domain), give them what they need, make them have faith in you and then you become the king!

Before I joined EFY, I used to consult a few clients on Social Media Marketing. They used to be amazed to know that I would analyze their situation and create a complete marketing strategy, something that could span anything between a week and 10 days, for absolutely no cost. Well, before you start considering me a fool, allow me to present my case.

By offering my analysis for free, I could achieve two targets at the same time:

1. If I was very thorough with the analysis and they liked it, they would never think twice to pay me for the implementation part even if I quoted them 1.5 times the market price, thus covering up my analysis costs in the process.
2. Even if they did not end up hiring me for the job, my whole investment of time would help me analyse the marketing needs for another company that would belong to the same domain.

What can you give to the people?

Yes, that is a very valid question. Let us take a hypothetical situation where you own a property dealing business. In that case, your company can start a blog and give away secrets of how a property-dealing company works. You could write on how to rent out vacant houses to the tenants. Even your office staffs could write on what they do in the company. The receptionits could write on how to calm down angry tenants when they call in with maintenance problems. The marketing folks could write on how to use Craiglist to rent out your home.

So, as you can see, with hardly any extra effort, you already have so much to give to your target audience. If you stay genuine while writing those articles, you shall always manage to create a fan following, and in turn, a community for yourself.

Every time you give out something, it may not lead to a subscriber, or a sale, and that's the number one reason not to think of it that way. Give because that's exactly what you wanna do. It sounds illogical to say that the rest will follow, but it does. Take a look at Om Malik or Darren Rowse. They gave and shared before it even seemed like it would lead to making money. That built their popularity. That built their brand! A percentage of the people they are popular with, turned into the folks that fueled their incomes.

Think about it in your own life. At one point you bought a book or went to a movie because you saw the author on TV, or saw an entertaining trailer. Someone gave you a little of what you want and eventually you moved on to become a buyer if the content was compelling. Of course, it might not happen with every person. But when it does, it sticks.

Again, the key is management. Turn your giveaway tendency into a system. Make it so that no matter how a person gets your information, RSS, content marketing, newsleters, twitter feeds - all the roads at the end of your information share leads back to you.

"Do Unto Other as You Would Have Others Do Unto You"
This is a paraphrase of the words of Jesus Christ to his disciples: "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

A thousand years before Christ, King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, taught a related principle: