This is a guest post by Jerry Graham, aka DocJerry,  of The Coaching Pair.

As you read this, the definition of web marketing is changing.  Like just about everything else, it’s changing so fast that you can hardly keep up with it.

It used to be that web marketing was as simple (?) as getting a web site, much like a brochure in that it “marketed” your products and/or services, but was displayed on a computer monitor.  A great step forward over a printed brochure in a lot of ways, not the least of which being that you could easily send it virtually anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds for little or no cost.

In a lot of ways, web marketing leveled the playing field making it almost impossible for the person looking at the brochure on the computer to tell if this was from a multi-million dollar corporation from or a single entrepreneur who had (or had hired) significant web design expertise.  Now the little guy could compete with the giant.

That caught on so quickly that it wasn’t long before the issue was less what was on the brochure and more of whether or not it could be found in the stampede of marketers producing high-class web sites.

But it was still just a brochure on the screen.  Then along came an innovation now being called “social sites” which began as a way just to be social with each other, but quickly morphed into a giant step forward on the Internet. That innovation is now being labeled by many as Web 2.0.  Most are agreeing that Web 2.0, or the ability to interact with what you are reading, is one or two orders of magnitude more powerful from a marketing perspective than the old, one-way web sites.

This is a bold statement that I’m sure will cause some to disagree with me, but I now believe that Web Marketing must include some elements of the social interaction innovation in order to be relevant in the today’s marketplace.  In other words, in my humble view, a plain old web site, no matter how well designed, just won’t cut it very much longer.

Another major change that is happening and which further complicates the definition of Web Marketing is a concept that coaches should feel very comfortable with, i.e., relationship first, business second.  Just as we as coaches have been trained to quickly make an authentic, transparent relationship with our clients, we as marketers of our services must just as quickly establish authentic, transparent relationships with out prospective clients.

It’s well understood that people are more inclined to purchase goods and/or services from people they know, like, and trust.  So, with that in mind, the goal of a productive web presence is to attract people looking for what you offer, and then quickly establishing a relationship of credibility and trust before you “pitch your deal.”  That, in a nutshell, is social marketing, aka attraction marketing, aka relationship marketing, aka many other names not yet invented.

The most effective way to establish credibility and trust is by giving value first.  This was brought to my mind again as I read the following passage from Luke 6 in Eugene Peterson’s The Message:

Help and give without expecting a return.  You’ll never – I promise – regret it.  Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst….  Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back – given back with bonus and blessing.  Giving, not getting, is the way.  Generosity begets generosity.

My intention is to write a lot more on this idea of giving and how it relates to attraction marketing in future posts, but it seems to me that this is a principle of marketing and business that Christians should just naturally excel in.  What do you think?

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Jerry Graham, aka “DocJerry,” is a professional destiny lifestyle coach and coach trainer who coaches network marketers, small business owners, and ministry leaders on how to properly capitalize on the current Internet trends of attraction marketing and social networking.  He’s half of The Coaching Pair, found at http://thecoachingpair.com.