How I Made a Sale with a Blog Comment
Many people wonder if being active on blogs and social media can grow their business. I have been active online for years, but I never had a concrete example of how it helped bring in new business...until now.
A few months ago, we signed up a new customer that I met by commenting on a blog post. Here’s the story.
To respect our NDA, I will call the company WidgetCo (not their real name).
It All Started with Leaving a Comment on One of My Favorite Blogs
WidgetCo's company blog is one of my favorites, and I have read it for nearly a decade. I was also a customer of theirs when I had my own website design business. I rarely comment on blogs, but this post was about Internet redundancy, something I actually know something about, so I left my two cents.
Starting a Business Relationship on Email
Coincidentally, WidgetCo was having a problem with an XO partner at the time.
The network guy from WidgetCo saw the XO email address on my comment and emailed to see if I could help. I looked it up and told him everything I could, but unfortunately I could not help much. I guess he appreciated me trying because when I asked if I could help with anything else, he said their data center Internet contract was up and asked for a quote.
A few months later, WidgetCo bought the Internet connection. A little after that, they purchased a Gigabit point-to-point to their second data center and more Internet.
The Key to Making a Sale...Don't Try to Make a Sale
Reflecting on the experience, I think the key was that when we started, I legitimately was not trying to sell anything. I genuinely just wanted to help if I could because I was a huge fan of the work they do.
By helping instead of being salesy, I earned the right to discuss business. Being human and helpful went a long way.
Just goes to show…businesses can find new customers anywhere, even in a blog comment.
