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In today’s post, I want to talk about something that has really changed my thinking and my approach to my entire online business, and has also had a huge impact on the profits my business generates. This simple strategy really has the potential to change your online business too, no matter what market you are in.

So what is this mystery strategy? Well as you might have guessed from the title, I’m talking about the idea of giving to your market.

Still confused? Let me try and explain this strategy a little more….

No matter what market most business owners are in, the majority always seem to focus on what they can get from their market. Now while there is no harm in seeking out opportunities in your market, I’m confident that if these business owners changed their thinking to consider what they can give to their market, they will in turn find that more opportunities present themselves and in turn they make more money.

Now, I think the best way reinforce the importance and effectiveness of this strategy is by demonstrating some examples of how you can give to your market, and show how it can benefit you further:

Content On Your Blog

No matter what kind of online business you have, I always recommend you have a blog. This is a great place to build an audience for your products or services, and also a great way to build authority in your market.

Posting regular, high quality content to your blog, is a great way to give to your market. This in turn will increase your audience, as other people share your content and it becomes spread across the Internet. You will also gain authority status in your niche as you continue to provide useful content to others, this positions you as an expert. This can have a dramatic impact on your business and allow you to sell more products or gain more clients in your business.

Answering Questions And Interacting In Your Market

Helping other people in your niche is a fantastic way to give back to your market. This could be on niche forums, on Facebook, or perhaps answering someones questions on Twitter. Whatever you do to help others, this creates new opportunities for relationships with others in your niche. The people you help may become customers of yours, or may recommend your business to others. They may also become business partners or joint venture partners on future projects.

I’ve built fantastic business relationships with my of my clients from my design business through offering exceptional service and going above and beyond what was expected. In turn, many of these people have offered me help as I’ve been growing my other businesses.

Your Own Calling Card Content

If you’re running a blog, or building your own information product business, this is one of the most powerful methods of giving back to your community that you can use.

Create a piece of unique content (ebook, report or video), or a unique tool or application which you can give away to your market. You will usually give this away in return for a name and email, but people will be happy to give you their details if your free content (which I call a calling card) looks like it has value.

Although you are asking for something back with this form of giving, it’s still a great way to build relationships and more importantly build a list of interested prospects in your niche market, which you can market to in the future. However, if you want to improve your success with this new list of prospects, you must continue to provide high quality information to them, as well as offers. By doing this you will establish yourself as an authority, but also as someone who wants to provide value and not just sell to them.

I hope you can now see the power of changing your thinking, and considering what you can do for your market, rather than what it can do for you. This strategy has honestly brought me a lot more money as a result of the relationships I have built by giving back to the niche markets in which I operate.

I’d love to hear your ideas for giving back to your market – what are you doing to give to your business community, and how has it impacted your business?

Tags: calling card, give back to your market, giving back