How’d you like to learn how to get a massive amount of comments on one blog post?

Better yet, what if you could use those comments to convince your readers to buy your products or services?

Because you can. In this post, I’m going to take you behind the scenes of a strategy Laura Roeder showed me to pull in 294 comments on my post and eventually attract more than 30 consulting clients.

It uses all of the copywriting techniques and psychological triggers that we promote here at Copyblogger, but it combines them in a unique way that generates a lot of buzz.

Here’s why that’s important:

Why buzz is essential for selling anything

Have you ever hesitated to buy something because you didn’t see anyone else interested in it? You were genuinely interested in the product — you just didn’t want to be first?

We all do it. It’s a well-documented phenomenon that psychologists like Robert Cialdini call social proof.

The question is: how do you deal with it, if you’re trying to sell something?

If you’ve watched any of our product launches here at Copyblogger, you’ve probably noticed that they generate a lot of buzz. People are talking about them on Twitter, course members write about them on their blogs, and many of the influential bloggers in our niche help us promote the course. Altogether, it’s a huge amount of buzz.

And it’s far from accidental. We prepare for weeks or even months before the launch date in order to make sure everyone is buzzing about the product all at one time. We want to give prospective customers as much social proof as possible, so that they can feel comfortable with buying it.

Except . . . what if you don’t have a big blog like Copyblogger? What if you’re just getting started, and you have hardly any readers at all?

Is it still possible to create buzz?

Yes.

Creating fans out of thin air

A few months ago, I noticed a lot of buzz on Twitter related to a video from Laura Roeder about creating fans out of thin air.

After speaking on a panel at South by Southwest, working with celebrities like Brea Grant from NBC’s Heroes, and creating some stellar results for small businesses of all kinds, Laura is quickly becoming a preeminent social media expert, and her video lays out one of the best strategies for generating buzz that I’ve seen.

Here’s how it works:

1. Hold a competition where the winner gets a free sample of your product or service
2. Build buzz with social media (Twitter, Facebook, your blog, etc.)
3. Use that buzz as social proof, convincing folks that didn’t win to pay you for your product or service

The only problem with her approach is that it’s a little simplistic. You can tell Laura is targeting business owners who are inexperienced with social media, and she’s trying to make it as easy as possible. Instead of using a blog to showcase the competition, she shows you how to create a simple website with Google.

But can this strategy work just as well for bloggers?

You bet. Let me show you how I modified it to take advantage of the powerful social proof from comments.

How I launched a consulting service here at Copyblogger

Imagine this.

A reader stops by your blog and sees that you are giving away 20-30 free consultations. All they have to do to have a chance to be chosen is leave a comment with their biggest frustration. So, they take a few minutes to jot one down.

Later, they see that there are 100s of other comments, and they’re not surprised when they don’t win. The demand is enormous!

But then what happens? A few days later, you announce that you were absolutely overwhelmed with the response, but you’re willing to do a limited number of additional consultations for $95 each. The first people to email you get them.

How do you think your reader is going to feel?

Sure, some of them might hold back because they figure they’ve already lost their chance. Others will have no interest in your services, so they’ll go on their merry way. But after seeing all of those comments, none of them will doubt that your services are in demand.

The social proof in the form of comments helps people see the value in the offer you’re making.

It may seem a bit sneaky, but it works. I’m spilling my secrets here, because the above scenario is exactly what I did to launch my consulting services here at Copyblogger, and I’ve been booked solid ever since. The demand was so high that I had several people offering double or even triple the normal rate if I would move them to the head of the line.

The key. of course, is to offer true value. But beyond that, there are plenty of people offering great value in obscurity.

Don’t be one of them.

It’s the power of social proof that makes the difference, and you don’t need a huge blog to harness it. Here’s how to launch a product or service from your blog, even if your audience is still fairly small:

How to launch a product or service from your blog

Step 1: Watch Laura’s video about Creating Fans Out Of Thin Air. It’s the foundation for this approach.

Step 2: Write a post announcing that you’re giving away a limited number of free samples of your product or service to readers who leave a comment describing their biggest frustration with a certain topic. If your audience is small, don’t do 20-30 free consultations like I did. Start with 5 or 10.

Step 3: Use the competition to create lots of buzz on Twitter. Get all of your friends to tweet about it. Also, ask the winners to tweet a testimonial for you, helping you create even more buzz.

Step 4: Offer a special deal on your product or service to everyone who didn’t win. I didn’t even follow this step, and I was still overwhelmed with clients.

Step 5: Write another post on your blog pointing to all of the comments on your first post and telling everyone how you’re overwhelmed with entries, so you decided to go ahead and put the product up for sale.

That’s it.

I used this process to launch a consulting service, but really, you can use it for anything. In fact, Laura has several more videos about how anyone can harness the power of social media to help get customers talking about their business.

Click here to check them out. If you’re interested in learning how all of this social media hoopla converts into money, I really think they’ll help you.

On Monday, Laura is following up with a post about how she helped Brea Grant (Daphne from NBC’s Heroes) use social media to build her career. I think you’ll get a lot out of it, but don’t forget to sign up for the other videos as well.

About the Author: Jon Morrow is Associate Editor of Copyblogger and Cofounder of Partnering Profits. Get more from Jon on twitter.

First off, check out this quotation:

It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.
~Leonardo da Vinci

Now, let me ask you this… How do you spark the buying process without a lot of high-pressure, high-hype selling?

You do it by getting the reader, listener, or viewer to imagine buying from you, even before you’ve presented the full offer.

Why is that important?

It’s important because once someone imagines buying from you, they’ve made a mental commitment. The size of that commitment will depend on how well your content resonates with that particular individual, but it’s a commitment nonetheless.

And at that point, it’s a commitment voluntarily made, without any overt request on your part.

You may still be thinking, so what?

Well, we humans are funny that way. Once we commit to something, we tend to act in a consistent manner with the prior commitment.

The Six Psychological Shortcuts of Influence

In his famous book Influence: Science and Practice, Dr. Robert Cialdini identifies 6 judgmental heuristics that create mental shortcuts that can drive our behavior:

• Reciprocity
• Social Proof
• Liking
• Authority
• Scarcity
• Commitment and Consistency

Note that by giving away free content, you’re invoking reciprocity, which triggers the psychological need to give something back in return.

When people share and comment on your content, you’re invoking the power of social proof.

By creating conversational content that builds rapport, you are also bringing liking into play, because people want to do business with people they like, even if another choice might be technically more appropriate.

And by taking on the role of teacher, you’re becoming an authority figure, which makes what you say more likely to be accepted and acted upon.

Then when you get someone to imagine themselves buying, you’re bringing commitment and consistency into play, and this shortcut can tip the scales in your favor.

This is why in-person sales people will constantly ask you “If I can get this price, or this added feature, will you make the purchase?” When you verbally commit, they know they’ve gotten one crucial step closer to the close due to the psychological principles of commitment and consistency.

Even a smaller level of mental commitment can lead to consistency when the prospect makes the commitment based on their own (seemingly) unprompted decision.

At that point, the sale becomes yours to lose. This prospect will view your eventual offer through a more positive frame than someone who sees the offer cold. As long as you deliver what your content created desire for, you’ll sell a lot more.

Now you understand what da Vinci was saying.

When you come rushing out of the gate selling, it’s easy for people to resist. But when you establish yourself as a teacher who people have bonded with, it gets much harder to say no by the time the transaction is proposed.

Example: Shoemoney Tools

You likely know Jeremy Schoemaker from his popular ShoeMoney blog (and that famous 6-figure Adsense check). Jeremy has made a lot of money from Internet marketing, primarily with pay per click, membership sites and domaining.

Jeremy’s partner and code ninja Dave developed software tools in-house that helped Jeremy enjoy an “unfair advantage” at pay per click and finding link-rich abandoned domain names. Last year, they decided to release these tools to the public (not an affiliate link) on a subscription basis.

For people already involved with pay per click, signing up for Shoemoney Tools is a no-brainer… these are the tools Jeremy used in his own business. But how does Jeremy move beyond this initial group of relatively sophisticated customers?

Easy… he educates people to the point that they see the value in (and actually use) his tools. So Jeremy offers a free 12-week Internet marketing course (also not an affiliate link) where people get up to speed on the basics on all aspects of online marketing.

By the end of the course, people understand the value of the software tools, and are ready to begin learning specifically how to use them. Educating people in this way is a simple concept, but too many people push the product up front instead of empowering people to buy.

Smart Selling Empowers People to Buy

So many people equate selling with hype and shady tactics to trick people into buying. In reality, smart selling is about empowering people to make the right decision. Often times, people simply need to be thoroughly educated on the basics, which naturally reveals the ultimate benefits of doing business with you along the way.

With Teaching Sells for example, we provide a 10-day education process to everyone who’s interested in learning more, even though some people on the waiting list are ready to buy now. We do this not only to provide all the necessary information, but also to make sure we get the right group of people as new members.

The right group for us is a group that will take action. We provide a lot of step-by-step guidance and interaction, but in order for our members to succeed, they have to be willing to do the work.

And if they succeed, we succeed, because their success reflects back on us. And that’s ultimately the best marketing around, right?

Check out Teaching Sells for yourself.

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and co-founder of Teaching Sells. Get more from Brian on Twitter.