People can sense when there's real truth in marketing 

There aren't many of us who enjoy admitting to our weaknesses. Recognizing our own vulnerabilities makes us feel, well vulnerable. Here's the thing, though. If you want to emotionally connect with your audience - and you do want to do that - you have to find the strength and the courage to be vulnerable. I personally think one of the most powerful ways to really take your marketing to a whole new level is to find within yourself that courage to be vulnerable.

I'll give you the perfect example. At a two-day intensive workshop, I met a gentleman who was really intense about studying direct marketing, copywriting and Internet marketing.

He had really been going for it. But he was very frustrated and shared that he was spending as much on his advertising as he was making. So he was basically at zero.

When I looked at his website, I observed what I call "copywriting by numbers." If you looked at it, on the surface, you could find absolutely nothing wrong with what he was doing.

If you looked at it with this kind of copywriting, direct response mindset, everything he was doing was ticking all the boxes. On the surface nothing was wrong.

But the fact was, there was something missing.

He had a very personal, very vulnerable reason for creating his business, but he wasn't sharing it. He had no real emotional connection with his audience.

The story is basically that he had a dog who was his lifelong companion. The dog became sick, was diagnosed with cancer and given a very short amount of time to live.

And he obviously wanted to do everything he could to save his dog, and ended up finding some different techniques for really assisting dogs in this situation.

He packaged the information he found into an e-book which he sells to other dog owners in the same situation. But when you visited his web site, you didn't feel the emotional connection to him as a dog owner. He didn't relay anything about his own personal situation.

He could have been selling anything from his website from the way that he was - or actually, wasn't - emotionally engaging his audience.

As we talked about it, he shared that he was finding it difficult to be that vulnerable and open up about his experiences. It was such a soft spot for him. It was easier to just play it safe and try to keep the copywriting at an intellectual level.

He was actually frightened that people would laugh at him.

And that couldn't be more untrue. In fact, quite the opposite. People can sense when there's real truth in marketing. And it was obvious as he talked about his dog that there was genuine true feeling there. His motive for setting up his business wasn't just about making money.

His purpose was really to help other dog owners in a similar situation get through what had been a very traumatic time for him. But because he wasn't allowing himself to be vulnerable, this message wasn't coming across in his marketing.

And yes, he is selling information on saving a dog's life, but the same could be true if you're selling products or information to business leaders.

That feeling that you have the courage to share is actually what's going to inspire your customers and turn them onto your message.

That is what's going to make them feel that you're the person they want to learn from.

About the Author

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free, weekly newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you'd like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com