We get the privilege of working with some of the leading online entrepreneurs inside Information Marketer’s Zone which also gives us tremendous insight into how the top online marketers strike a balance between romancing their niche and applying savvy marketing techniques to persuade and close the deal.

On the one hand, you can’t constantly ask for the sale without having a relationship or adding value to your prospects.  You would never walk up to someone cold and expect them to lend you $100 without ever knowing who you are – correct?

On the other hand, you can’t make money marketing if all you do is make friends…like the plumber who is too carefree with his collections or the internet entrepreneur that constantly talks to people but never sells anything, you can’t make a living selling nothing.

But, combine the two sides, the creative and the technical, the ying and the yang, the story telling and the persuasion techniques and selling skills and you have something very powerful.

Here is a quick 55s clip from entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck making this point exactly.

So it goes without saying that to really dominate your marketplace your business needs to know how to be creative (get people’s attention, engage in conversation, add value to your marketplace, understand and then capture the interest of your consumers) AND use the techniques of persuasion and selling (crafting an offer, testimonials, benefits, remove objections, etc…)

Chances are you are better at one than the other, learning to augment either the creative side or the business/marketing savvy side through your own development or via partnership/employees is critical to winning in your marketplace