How To Create A Relationship With Your Market 

People want to do business with people they like. This is true even in the online business arena. If your customers are treated with kindness and look upon you as a friend or trusted advisor, they will feel as if they know you and have a relationship with you. When you take the time to establish relationships, you will also notice that your customers will be more loyal and will refer more business your way.

Establishing relationships with people will take time and effort, but it's well worth it. So how do you go about creating relationships online?

Offer appreciation and help

Your customers are coming to you for a reason; they need your product or service.  The "thank you" pages that your visitor sees after buying your products or even just signing up for a newsletter should remind them why they made a smart choice picking you. Offer them your most sincere “thank you”, and make sure you point them to any help they may need. Some examples would include your FAQ page, or a section of your site that shows them how to best consume the product.

As an example, if you sell cloth diapers, after your customer places an order, why not offer them a discount on their next order? Or ask them to sign up for your newsletter for a free report on keeping their diapers white without using bleach. These things help prevent buyer's remorse and refunds as well as impressing upon them that you're someone to be trusted.  

Let them see the real you

Yes, it is important to present a professional image if you want to be taken seriously, but you don’t want to seem stodgy!  Let them get to know the real you as a person, not just a business. One way to do this by putting a blog on your website. You don't want to share every detail of your life of course, but post about things that concern your target market, answer questions your customers send you, and allow your blog readers to comment.  If people can see that you are “one of them”, your chances of a sale go up.

Communication

A key component of any relationship is communication.  Keep your customers updated on a regular basis through your blog or newsletter.  It's a good idea to publish a contact email, mailing address (a post office box for privacy) and even a phone number (even if it just goes to a voicemail box) on your website. Even though most of your visitors won't ever use it, it makes them see you as a real person when you can be contacted.

Another idea is to put a message forum on your site so that your customers can even meet each other and share tips on how to use your products. Going back to the cloth diaper example, your message board members can discuss washing tips, potty training tips, and anything that interests them. This also produces extra traffic for your site via search engines.

Carrie Lauth is a mom of 4 and creator of the http://www.NaturalMomBusinessGuide.com It's the Internet's only complete tutorial for people who want to earn a full time living in the natural family life market. Visit today for more rock solid advice for marketing your online business.