I must be crazy when I write the second article on Suleiman the Magnificent.
For those who don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, read the first one here.
During the New Year’s holidays, the series was paused for 3 weeks.
I thought I was going to cool down and never watch it again.
Guess what? I was wrong.
There was one interesting thing, I noticed this time that I want to talk about is gaining trust and giving valuable informations.
What has changed since the time of Suleiman the Magnificent until now?
Difference in approach #1
Inside the palace walls, if you wanted to make friends, (business) partners, connections, there was a very simple but effective approach.
Straight question – face to face: Are you with me?
The only possible answers to this were YES or NO.
If your answer was “no“ you were automatically against that person.
It was that time – the time of living dangerously.
You didn’t ask
If you’re trying to build a business today, at some point you need to actually ask your audience to buy something.
It’s one of the reasons why your copy isn’t converting.
I realize it seems bizzare, but if you explicitly ask your reader to click the link, dial the number, or whatever other means you use to get that sale, they are much more likely to do it.
So links that say “click here“ actually get clicked more often. Weird, but true.
The price of loyalty
When Sultana Hurrem or Mahidevran were receiving the staff in their service, the benefits they gave were very attractive like:
- Separate rooms
- Better clothing
- Better food
- Better protection
But, in return they demanded loyalty at the price of life.
I remembered what Sultana Hurrem asked from one of the servants who wanted to serve her:
What valuable information you can give me?
Besides the better living standard and security, each piece of valuable information given by the servants was paid for in gold.
Back then and nowadays, the valuable information has always had its price.
The question is, how much are you willing to pay?
I know this is a rather delicate question and depends on the benefits you can have, in the first place.
As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
Difference in approach #2
Outside the palace walls Sultan Suleiman had a very clever way to find out what people thought of him.
Since the ordinary people didn’t know what he looked like, he would dressed up like any other villager and started to ask questions:
- Are you satisfied with your work?
- What do you think about Sultan Suleiman?
- What’s bothering you?
Using this method, he found out what people thought of him and how they felt, first hand.
The digital world makes this tricky
How do you make connections online? What about when you need to expand your reach? What about when you seek to grow influence?
Again, the thing is in approach, how you do it will make or break what you get from the effort.
You may recognize people don’t know you well or you believe you only have one chance to get their attention.
Sounds familiar?
Don’t worry because there are recipes for that.
- As you approach the small group, even online, start by commenting on their work, and just “being there.“
- Be helpful to your audience far before you ask for something.
- Always have a condensed and simple story to retell about you.
Chris Brogan in his article (Are you turning people off?) talks about self-promotion and why providing a lot of value before asking anything for himself (read yourself) is the gold standard.
Giving something of value with no expectation of reciprocation was known far before Suleiman the Magnificent, so I want you to keep this in mind:
A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer. ~ Seneca
Are you ready to give something of value with no expectation of reciprocation?
Let’s discuss about it in the comments…
