{"id":2182,"date":"2013-05-16T10:17:37","date_gmt":"2013-05-16T14:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/?p=2182"},"modified":"2025-07-01T11:44:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T16:44:15","slug":"hard-sell-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons Not To Hard-Sell Your Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What is the most annoying sound in marketing?<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re bombarded in Houston by the hard sell every day, whether we are ready to make a purchase at the time or are just casually looking to see what\u2019s out there. From department stores, to car dealerships, to magazines and TV programming, to the internet, we can\u2019t escape the push to sell us something.<\/p>\n<p>The hard sell has even come to blogging. Can you think of anything more unpleasant than an overt sales pitch when you\u2019re looking for information to help you make a decision? Most probably you cover your ears and run for the woods, leaving the pitchman in the dust.<br \/>\nAre your customers any different from you?<\/p>\n<p>It used to be blogging was all about reaching out to people, sharing, and building a community. In your face selling didn\u2019t even enter the blogger\u2019s mind. If you discovered a cool, new product, you might make one or two posts. Blogging wasn\u2019t pitch after pitch. The really good blogs had plenty of traffic, and bloggers made money without hard selling anything.<\/p>\n<p>In the rush to sell, companies have forgotten the customer. They are so focused on closing the sale, and use their blogs to hard-sell the customer. They have forgotten the motivations for why people prefer a certain brand or buy from a particular salesperson.<br \/>\nAmong other factors, people buy because<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Like and trust the company or salesperson<\/li>\n<li>Have a need for the product<\/li>\n<li>Perceive value from buying the product<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a title=\"Michael Trolove [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons\" href=\"http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AHard_times%2C_hard_sell_on_Dartmouth_Road_Olney_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1175026.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/63\/Hard_times%2C_hard_sell_on_Dartmouth_Road_Olney_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1175026.jpg\" alt=\"Hard times, hard sell on Dartmouth Road Olney - geograph.org.uk - 1175026\" width=\"512\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When you look at it from the customer\u2019s viewpoint, blogging is a good way to find out the customer\u2019s initial interest. A company blog allows customers to ask questions and you to address your products singly, and in depth.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing questions and providing useful information without a sales pitch does wonders for your branding efforts. Blogging is one platform that businesses can use to put a person behind the company image. People have a tendency to form relationships with people rather than the company.<\/p>\n<p>Think about it for a minute. Just how many times have you said XYZ is a great company because you really liked the customer service person who resolved your problem or a repair tech that went out of his or her way to explain the issues instead of just looking and handing you an estimate? It wasn\u2019t the company you liked; it was the person behind the company.<\/p>\n<p>The reasons not to hard sell in your blog are easy to see if you go back to the basics \u2013 reaching out, sharing, and community \u2013 of blogging. Hard selling is a detriment to your blogging efforts to attract new customers in many ways.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Using your blog to hard sell destroys your credibility. You tell your customers that you are interested in them and what they want. But just exactly how honest is your statement if your customers only see pitch after pitch?<\/li>\n<li>Hard selling overloads customers\u2019 senses. Often a hard sale requires you to bombard the customer with information. But did you know that people process new information in trios? Most people can only digest 3 pieces of new information at one time.<\/li>\n<li>Hard selling destroys customer perception of concern. Hard selling is telling a customer that you think they\u2019re lazy so they\u2019ll make a quick decision to buy. You\u2019re telling them that you think they aren\u2019t smart enough to make an informed decision.<\/li>\n<li>Hard selling erases value. Your customers must believe that they are getting something more than just the product. If they have to wade through all your attempts to get them to buy before finding the information that they need, they probably won\u2019t receive any value for their efforts to directly connect with you.<\/li>\n<li>Hard selling torpedoes your public face.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Sharing and establishing a community is what blogging hopes to achieve. High pressure, in-your-face selling destroys the rapport your blog creates with your reader. If you turn something useful into a sales pitch, people aren\u2019t likely to trust you enough to return, much less buy anything or share your post.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.directoryone.com\">Directory One<\/a> is the SEO firm in Houston to find expert bloggers to help kick start your blog. Call them today at 713-465-0051 and talk to one of their content developers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the most annoying sound in marketing? We\u2019re bombarded in Houston by the hard sell every day, whether we are ready to make a purchase at the time or are just casually looking to see what\u2019s out there. From department stores, to car dealerships, to magazines and TV programming, to the internet, we can\u2019t escape the push to sell us something. The hard sell has even come to blogging. Can you think of anything more unpleasant than an overt sales pitch when you\u2019re looking for information to help you make a decision? Most probably you cover your ears and run for the woods, leaving the pitchman in the dust. Are your customers any different from you? It used to be blogging was all about reaching out to people, sharing, and building a community. In your face selling didn\u2019t even enter the blogger\u2019s mind. If you discovered a cool, new product, you might make one or two posts. Blogging wasn\u2019t pitch after pitch. The really good blogs had plenty of traffic, and bloggers made money without hard selling anything. In the rush to sell, companies have forgotten the customer. They are so focused on closing the sale, and use their<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[488],"tags":[1006,1002,1004,1005,1003],"class_list":["post-2182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo-blogging","tag-blogging-for-brand-trust","tag-blogging-for-your-brand","tag-content-marketing-strategy","tag-engaging-blog-content","tag-hard-sell-blogging"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Avoiding the Hard Sell: Better Blogging for Your Brand<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn why hard selling turns readers away and how to write blog content that builds trust, engages audiences, and supports long-term business growth.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Avoiding the Hard Sell: Better Blogging for Your Brand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn why hard selling turns readers away and how to write blog content that builds trust, engages audiences, and supports long-term business growth.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Search Engine Marketing &amp; Optimization Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-16T14:17:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-01T16:44:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blogging.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"699\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip O&#039;Hara\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip O&#039;Hara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Philip O'Hara\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2c12d79fe6de0228be0c8b1a5f638e8\"},\"headline\":\"5 Reasons Not To Hard-Sell Your Blog\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-16T14:17:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-01T16:44:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html\"},\"wordCount\":726,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blogging.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"blogging for brand trust\",\"Blogging for Your Brand\",\"content marketing strategy\",\"engaging blog content\",\"hard sell blogging\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Blogging | SEO Blogging\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html\",\"name\":\"Avoiding the Hard Sell: Better Blogging for Your Brand\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blogging.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-16T14:17:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-01T16:44:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2c12d79fe6de0228be0c8b1a5f638e8\"},\"description\":\"Learn why hard selling turns readers away and how to write blog content that builds trust, engages audiences, and supports long-term business growth.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blogging.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Blogging.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":699},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/hard-sell-blog.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 Reasons Not To Hard-Sell Your Blog\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Search Engine Marketing &amp; 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