Most people won’t buy right away

It’s unfair to ask somebody to buy from you the first time they see your work, isn’t it? I mean, here you are a perfect stranger, talking to another perfect stranger, and trying to convince them you are a good use of their finite resources in just a couple of minutes.

That’s crazy, right? I mean most people won’t do that.

Sometimes I do it, and sometimes people do it to me, but usually, people need to know me a while before they buy from me, and that seems normal for me as well. This is a work where a lot of people are trying to trick you out of your money, and our money is finite. It takes a lot to pry it out of my hands.

Are there ways to convince the right people to buy right away? Sure, and you should learn them. It often works for me to have people buy all at once, but when it doesn’t, I don’t feel bad about it., because that’s normal. People generally need to know you a while before they are going to feel comfortable spending money on your work.

There are so many ways to spend money nowadays that it’s becoming even harder for people to part with their money on the first interaction. Usually, it will take 7-14 interactions, or touchpoints, before somebody gets comfortable with you.

The more expensive it is, the more they will need to know you, and the more touchpoints you will need to get them to trust you. Don’t treat this as a failure. Treat it as an opportunity. If you can just make them understand that you are amazing, then they’ll buy from you later.

Your business is not a short term play. Yes, we need money right now, but we also need money in a year, and two years, and ten years from now, and the more people you can bring into your ecosystem and show that you are awesome, the more who will get comfortable enough to buy from you in the future, and future you will appreciate it when they do.