Well I’m back here in the good old US and A, after my trip to the UK and Portugal. I learned quite a bit while overseas and I’ll be discussing it in next month’s offline newsletter. I also got caught up on some new reading, but there again… nowhere near the amount I would have needed to accomplish just to offset the new books and material I bought while I was abroad.

Anyway, that’s life and that’s a good problem to have so it’s no big deal.

Here’s a curious tidbit of information I picked up while on the plane:

Apparently 66% of Americans who want to start their own business would choose Oprah Winfrey as their business partner over Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, or U2’s Bono (why he was even included in with the others makes no sense, but that’s another issue altogether).

This shows some surprisingly good judgment on the part of the American public, since Oprah Winfrey has a much greater net worth than The Donald or Martha Stewart, but I have a sneaking suspicion very few of the survey respondents thought about Oprah’s net worth while they were answering this question.

I believe they were thinking about their “relationship” with Oprah more than anything else — or, more accurately — they were thinking about their relationship with Oprah versus their relationship with The Donald. (Let’s not think about Martha for this exercise. Please.)

You see, when you see someone repeatedly, or when people interact with you repeatedly, there is a relationship formed with that person. And there are two things which will affect (or is that effect?) the depth of that relationship: The media where interaction takes place, and the intimacy of the information being exchanged.

I believe this is the hierarchy of media, from least intimate and meaningful to most meaningful:

E-mail… teleseminars… radio… regular telephone contact… television… live and in-person. Based on my experience, and the experience of my clients, sales also increase as you move up that media, just like the intimacy of a non-selling relationship will increase.

However, in reality, you should prospect and acquire new customers across all forms of media, just to keep your business balanced, and to capture a variety of customers with different buying habits.

Now let’s talk about the intimacy of information being exchanged, because this too SERIOUSLY affects the nature of your relationship with your prospects.

Oprah Winfrey is very in touch and open with her audience. She’s revealed many of her heartaches and setbacks in life, and she lets you know — in spite of any money she’s made — she’s just as vulnerable as the rest of us. She deals with relationship problems, family problems, and weight problems, just like so many of her viewers.

Now let’s look at The Donald. See, while Donald Trump also has his fair share of problems, he’s not the one discussing them with his audience. In Trump’s case, you know about his mishaps only through the media — in fact, he doesn’t appear to have any vulnerabilities — and this is why Oprah’s viewers feel much closer to her than Donald Trump’s viewers do.

Personally, I’d rather work with Donald Trump, but that’s because he’s more affiliated with the things I’m most interested in — business, marketing, and real estate — but no doubt, I’d grab the chance to work with Oprah as well.

Remember, when dealing with your prospects — they may come to you initially for content about a specific subject — it may be marketing, it may be bird watching… but it doesn’t really matter what that topic is — but… they will stick around with you for the long haul, and take a personal interest in what you have to offer, for the entertainment and experiences you give them, NOT for the original content they came to you for.

So ask yourself, how can you be more intimate with your prospects and buyers. Can you escalate the level of media you’re using so you can forge better relationships with them?

Can you speak to them on a more personal level?

Remember, it’s going to be awkward at first — just like riding a bicycle was — but after you dip your toe in the water a few times, it’ll be normal. So get out of your comfort zone and then let me know how it works out. I promise you it will turn out a lot better than you may think.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. I’m no Oprah, BUT… On page 12 of this month’s Seductive Selling Newsletter I reveal some personal stumbling blocks I’ve had to overcome myself. Check them out and take a fre.e test-drive of the Newsletter at: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl (get 2 fre.e critiques as well!) Only 8 days left to get this month’s issue, so get on this NOW.