That is no less true today, for those of us who do our business on bandwidths. Since our business is conducted by way of an impersonal, if not anonymous medium, it is up to us to personalize our business relations and dealings in a manner that best suits our customers and ourselves.

Enter Opt-In mailing list of 21st century.

The only difference between our lists and lists of Karbo and Powers is that we collect names and email addresses, rather than street addresses and postal codes. For most part, underlying marketing techniques haven't changed.

Gratefully, cost of launching a large email campaign is only merest fraction of cost incurred with a similar sized campaign by traditional ground mail.

Imagine picking up 2 competing product catalogs with 2 different messages on cover.

The first one says: "Let us tell you how much our products cost."

The other one says: "Let us TEACH you most effective ways to be attractive to opposite sex."

If you automatically decide you'll read second one and throw other into trash, then you would've proven one of best business strategies to be true: In order to become a successful seller, you have to be a teacher, too.

Good Morning, Clients! ----------------------

Whether you sell a product or provide a service, it pays to view yourself in role of "teacher" rather than "haggler" when dealing with existing & potential clients.

"Teachers" maintain an attitude of sincerely wanting to help people achieve best results possible, and clients invariably pick up on this attitude.

And although "teaching clients" may take a little more time than cutting to chase and directly talking about specs & prices, it actually brings in 3 MAJOR BENEFITS that affect your business in longer term:

* Benefit 1: More Clients Will Trust You

Teaching clients about ins and outs of your product and industry gives them impression that you're an authority in your field -- and this could be most advantageous position you could ever have.

Being an authority means (in your clients' minds) that you'll provide them with best service, that you'll be worth every penny of your price, and that you'll make an excellent recommendation to their associates & friends.

In business world this is called "trust," and once you earn that, a satisfying relationship ALWAYS follows.

* Benefit 2: More Clients Will Approach You

In process of educating clients, you might encounter people who ask questions that aren't directly related to your products, but still have a lot to do with your industry in general.

Although this signals that client is still "shopping for services," don't ignore this important opportunity.

The fact that your prospect chose to ask YOU instead of someone else already puts you in a unique position to demonstrate how you (and your products) can become even more worthy of their trust -- and ultimately of their purchases & investments.

* Benefit 3: Potential Clients Become COMMITTED Clients

Because by time they are ready to use your services, all your teaching would have prepared them enough that they now know EXACTLY what they want and need.

These are no longer kind of prospects who would ask you to "fax them a quote and set an appointment to discuss it."

Instead, these are ones who say "this is what we need, tell us how much, so we can write you check."

There's less talking and more buying -- all because you chose to be "the teacher that sells."

Teaching Styles = Selling Strategies ------------------------------------

So how do you become an effective "teacher" to your clients, while running your business successfully on web? Here are 4 of MOST EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES that you can use today:

1) Articles On your Website

You've seen them before, and you'll see them over and over again. Mainly because they actually WORK!