From Merriam Webster:
Definition of SOLICIT
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transitive verb
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1
a : to make petition to : entreat
b : to approach with a request or plea <solicited Congress for funding>
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2
: to urge (as one’s cause) strongly
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3
a : to entice or lure especially into evil
b : to proposition (someone) especially as or in the character of a prostitute
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4
: to try to obtain by usually urgent requests or pleas <solicited donations>
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No wonder why people do not like to be solicited!!!
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No wonder why they don’t like for you to bug them in the mall.
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No wonder why they do not want you to call them during dinner.
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Humans are genetically disposed to RESIST solicitation and in another lesson I will explain exactly why…
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It really doesn’t matter right now…
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What matters is that you understand that peeps just don’t like it!
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So why the heck does a whole industry train their sales forces to conduct business this way?
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For the life of me I just don’t get it.
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Never did.
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Call me KOOKY but I always thought…
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Why in the world would I do something to other people that I HATE having done to me?
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Am I the only sucker who bought into the GOLDEN RULE?
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So just for a little bit…
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Why not try this???
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Trigger their NOSY GENE!
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(What did she say?)
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Yes…she said NOSY GENE!
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What the heck is a nosy gene?
Aww…come on…you know…
It’s what makes people peak into their friend’s medicine cabinet to see if they’re taking prescription medication.
It’s what makes us all look through our neighbor’s window to see what they’re watching on TV.
You can deny you do this…
But everyone does.
And if you can get people nosy about you, before you know it, they will be on your website…clicking, reading and potentially signing up without your ever asking them to “take a look” at your opportunity.
Instead of soliciting
(which I just find obnoxious)
I spend my days triggering people’s nosy genes and letting the cash register ring.
Try it!
It’s a lot more fun than soliciting, and if you do it right, a lot more profitable.
I found this advice from you ages ago (via Cassie I believe)and it’s true. I did an experiment when Google+ launched. I scaled back all my promotion for my book elsewhere. I did absolutely no promotion at all there for the first couple of weeks, just to see what happened to my book sales. Nothing. That doesn’t sound like a good result unless you remember that I’d essentially cut out all promotion for that two weeks, then it’s interesting. With no promotion my sales didn’t drop at all. In fact, they went up a bit. No effort at all.
I’d just kitted out my Profile page properly. I was chatting away about things that were relevant but non-pitchy and people got nosy and checked out my profile. Kerching!!
People naturally wanna check you out and they will if you don’t repel them first!
Pretty cool Rebecca!
Thanks for sharing.
I am finding that Google+ offers this in such an easy way. Our bios are so easy to access and we can make them as creative or as business pitchy as we want. I just recently changed mine and decided to just write a piece of prose on my bio. I figure if I am a writer I should just write and the link to my blog is at the bottom. Great advice – I hate to be solicited and I am finding all the events and invites recently on FB to be very annoying.
There you go…a whole group of marketers are moving to another platform simply to AVOID being solicited.
Pretty powerful lesson.
Thanks Nicole.
I agree with much of this. BUT.. I think we need to be careful here. To solicit..(strong word) Prospect (slightly softer).. grand opening,talking.. etc. What we do need to do is talk to people about our products or business.I think there is a way to approach people you don’t know.. and ask simple questions.. to se if what we have would be of interest to them. I know in my case,.. if someone didn’t approach me directly many years ago.. I wouldn’t have known about this industry and my life wouldn’t be the same. In this era of “Attraction marketing” . lets not let the pendulem swing too far.. If we are polite and professional. believe in the value we bring to people and the marketplace.. we can talk to anyone .. anytime.. anywhwere. Possibly. the key is to not”convince” . but to ask.. listen .. and keep dignity and professionalism in the center.. Kevin
I agree Kevin…but I have to tell you that for me…I always felt sick to my stomach doing activities like that…so I learned alternative ways.
And most folks just don’t know how to prospect smoothly so they end up offending people.
But of course the bottom line is that we MUST be talking to people every single day.
I just came up with an alternative way to do that.
To me that is not pendulum swinging…
That is just using one’s common sense.
Must be different strokes for different folks, but I don’t ever recall looking in someone’s medicine cabinet, is that a girl thing? And living on farms in Africa most of my life has made looking through neighbours windows difficult and often dangerous!
But you are absolutely correct about the nosy gene, as a male, any hint of something that burns gas and goes fast gets my nosy gene working overtime, as do horses, guns and emails like yours.
That your subject line got me here, so convincingly proves your point.
Good points too from Nicole and Rebecca about Google+.
Thank you Diane.
Nah…in farm life I would think you would be checking out each other’s new livestock or fertilizer and irrigation technique!
Same thing though 🙂
And if you are into guns then NO DOUBT you couldn’t pass up a peek into a buddies gun cabinet to compare
his firepower to yours! It’s just human nature.
I like to market into human nature as opposed to against it.
Good to see you Peter 🙂
Hi Diane,
I remember you from the old Joe Schroeder days. Even with a bag over his head! (Talk about using curiosity or nosy)
Anyway I have been using this technique successfully with my website http://www.tollgatepositions.com
Using curiosity works – just tell people enough to pique their interest. Using free samples works great too. Everyone likes Free stuff. I too give amazing informational stuff away free. I love the things you write about.
Mike
I love to get em wondering what i am up to or thinking “who’s that girl?”
Fun stuff!
It’s like when you are walking down a shopping mall and there are always people standing in the middle of the aisle waiting to pounce on you. It could be for surveys, to try products, and so on. It’s so annoying. I’m there to do my thing, and my thing only. Maybe if they tried a different approach that would catch my attention.
I totally understand what you mean.
Can’t wait to read more.
Roland
I so hate that new trend in the malls of having sales people accost you.
I am sure they make sales…but the mall experience has become so unpleasant for some we just avoid it all together now.
I was just talking to my Mom yesterday about the soap operas and she was telling me about how the Young and Restless came on way back when when I was about 2 or so. The conversation geared up and we started laughing and talking about yesterday’s episode and it dawned on me…..What in the heck attracts so many of us (all walks of life) to these shows? I gotta thinking and this post fell right in line with that phsycology.