The power of persuasion is a vital skill every online entrepreneur needs to learn. It’s how you convince people that your services or expertise matches their particular need. It’s how you convert lookers into buyers. It’s how you establish the trust that enables you to build a relationship with your following. On this episode of the podcast, I had such a great time chatting with one of the most persuasive people I know, Bushra Azhar. She’s been able to build an incredible online business focused on teaching others the power of persuasion and how to apply it to their online businesses. The funny thing is, she started her business as a bet with herself. You can hear Bushra’s amazing story on this episode of She Means Business. She started an online business as a bet with herself. When Bushra Azhar first thought about starting an online business she wasn’t very convinced that it would work. The only way she knew of to earn money through the internet was by selling naked pictures of herself - which was NOT what she wanted to do. So she started inventorying the things she felt she could provide to people and realized that from a young age she’d been actively persuading people. It was not only an interest but something she felt she was truly good at. So she started pitching bloggers with a proposal that she write a guest post on their blogs - and many took her up on it. It’s those posts that attracted her first clients and she did it all before she even set up a website or refined what she’d offer as a service. It’s an unusual, hilarious story that worked out for her to the tune of millions, and you’ll get to hear it from Bushra herself on this episode. She started by guest blogging about the power of persuasion for online entrepreneurs. The only way Bushra Azhar could think of to get herself known was to borrow the audiences of people who had already built an online presence, so she started pitching bloggers that she could write guest posts for them about the art of persuasion. She got quite a few takers and started writing. Each site had it’s own particular focus and she crafted her guest posts to appeal to each site’s particular audience. She did it as a sort of experiment, to learn what niche areas of the business world had the greatest need for instruction in the power and art of persuasion. She got great insights as a result and her business started to gain traction. You’ll love hearing how she did it, so be sure you listen. Powerful persuasion starts with relatability. Since I had an expert on the power of persuasion as my guest on this episode of the podcast I thought I’d take the opportunity to ask her for some tips regarding how to be more persuasive. The first point she made was that persuasion begins with relatability. The person on the receiving end of your pitch has to feel that you are like them in some way, or at least that you were before you learned what you want to teach them. If they feel you are perfect and have it all together, they won’t believe that you can help them. But if you can show them how you are or were in the same situation they want to change in their own life, you’ve just connected with them on the level of relatability - and you’ve probably gained a customer or client. How believable are you to those you’re trying to sell to? We’ve all seen the infomercials where something about the presentation or the person making the pitch doesn’t feel trustworthy. You just can’t quite get yourself to believe that the thing that’s being sold really does all that is being claimed. That’s an issue of believability and Bushra Azhar says that it’s one of the key things you’ve got to be able to establish when you’re trying to sell a product or service. You have to come across as genuine, as trustworthy and believable to the people who need what you’re offering. If you don’t, you can forget about making the sale. It simply won’t happen. Find out the other tips Bushra Azhar gave me to be more persuasive on this episo