I'm absolutely exhausted...
Intellectually, emotionally, and physically.
For the last several weeks I've been knee-deep in the most audacious project of my entire two-decade entrepreneurial journey.
In a nutshell:
I've been documenting everything... and I mean everything... I've learned and developed over the past twenty years for effective client acquisition and monetization, and rapid business growth. All through the lens of the E5 Method.
Well over 35 hours of content. Over 100 videos. All brand new.
In hindsight, this should have been done over the course of several months. If not longer.
Instead, I agreed to do it over the course of several weeks.
Meanwhile, my entire team has been equally hard at work creating the infrastructure to bring this new material to our tribe and the entrepreneurial world.
And I have no doubt, this new program... and the customized delivery model designed by our CTO, Teddy Garcia, will forever change the way we propel clients to entrepreneurial success.
Not too mention, I predict this new model will have a seismic impact on the way the business development and coaching industries guide clients.
You'll understand why I say this when I share more with you in the coming weeks.
For now, I want to leave you with one thought.
Many clients who know about this crazy project have asked what's been my secret for getting it all done.
Truth is... I have no secret. No whizbang productivity hack. No special focus booster. No innovative time management system. No magical procrastination antidote. None of that.
Sometimes... most of the time.... if not all the time... you just need to sit down and do what needs to be done. Period.
I've said it many times before: You either want it or you don't.
If you don't, no hack is going to fix things.
If you do, then get to it.
With that, let's get to this week's goodies...
MY FAVS THIS WEEK
- What Are You Waiting For? Start Firing Already!
One of the best business books you can read is Ready, Fire, Aim by my friend Mark Ford.
Here, Mark shares an excerpt from the upcoming revised edition. All about what holds many entrepreneurs back from executing on their ideas. - Charles Ponzi The Documentary: History of the Ponzi Scheme
I've always been fascinated by what leads people to fall for conmen and scams. Is it something inside those who've been duped? Or is it something in the conmen... a trick or tactic or method?
I found this documentary on Youtube to be interesting. It tells the story of the original Ponzi scheme and the guy behind it. - PKM Primer: An Introduction to Personal Knowledge Management
As entrepreneurs and marketers, we're in the idea business -- the business of generating and developing interesting, compelling, unique, fresh, and timely ideas. Ideas our prospects find captivating.
So, it only makes sense for you to have a reliable system for collecting, managing, and organizing ideas. A system which ensures your random ideas... and the seeds of ideas... don't get stored somewhere and then evaporate into thin air.
This article gives a great overview and introduction to the world of Personal Knowledge Management.
It's a topic not enough marketers take as seriously as they should.
ODDITY FROM MY LIBRARY
If you're like most in our tribe, you read a lot. Or, at least, you try too.
But, do you know how to best read books for maximum comprehension?
If not, How To Read A Book can be a valuable addition to your library.
It's not an easy read, by any stretch. But, definitely worthwhile.
Originally published in 1940, this little gem has gone on to become an absolute classic... with over half a million copies in print.
And, while it covers a variety of topics... including how to read a variety of genres... the heart and soul of How To Read A Book is in the explanation of the different levels of reading.
If that's all you consume out of this book, it's still worth it.
Remember, learning more and growing in knowledge isn't just a matter of reading more. It's about understanding more of what you read.
How To Read A Book can help you do that.
WHAT I'M TELLIN' MY TEAM
This week on our internal Team Marketing Training...
We covered how to prove the claims, benefit statements, and promises you present in your marketing campaigns.
Obviously, this is a critical topic. Because without proof, you don't have a marketing campaign; you just have a string of claims.
And, today, your prospects know... anybody can claim anything about any topic at any point.
To believe you, and accept your claims and benefits statements and promises as fact, your prospects want to see proof, evidence, support.
"How do I know that's true," is a typical internal response your prospects have when you claim anything about your product or mechanism.
The role of proof is to give them the reasons to accept your claims as true.
Now, when it comes to proof, for most marketers their default is client testimonials and case studies.
But, testimonials and case studies are only one type of proof. And, they're used primarily during the offer presentation.
So what about proof when you're talking about your Unique Mechanism (i.e. how your product or service works to deliver the result, benefits, promises)?
A simple way to provide evidence and support here is with Reason why copy.
If you claim your Unique Mechanism is able to produce superior results, give prospects the reasons why.
If you claim your Unique Mechanism is able to produce fast results, give prospects the reasons why.
If you claim your Unique Mechanism is able to produce more consistent results than other methods, give prospects the reasons why.
Of course, in each of these instances, you need to be honest and give legitimate reasons.
Good?
Good.
Just always remember: No proof, no marketing campaign.
TEAM TAKEAWAYS IN THREE BULLETS:
- Every claim we present must be backed by a preponderance of proof. And our biggest claim shouldn't be bigger than our biggest proof point.
- There are two areas within a campaign where proof is essential: (1) the offer, (2) the argument. And the proof elements used in each are not the same. Case studies and testimonials are appropriate for the offer section. Usually, not for the argument portion. Here, we need to provide evidence to back-up the claims we're making when explaining how and why the Unique Mechanism works.
- To keep our claims and proof chunks from appealing too much to the logical side of our prospect's brain, we need to follow them up with benefits. So once we've made a claim and provided evidence and support, we need to immediately tell the prospect what it means for them. This is how we're able to present an air-tight, logical and emotional argument for Mechanism.
You Missed The Full Internal Team Marketing Training. But, You Don't Have To Miss-Out Anymore...
👍🏽 Get the full unedited recordings of Todd's Marketing Team Trainings every week. See and hear everything Todd shares every week -- every conversion tactic, copy hack, AOV booster, hook method, and more!
MY ADVICE
This question was posted inside the MFA Nation Facebook Group...
One of the comments it got...
Below is my response to the comment:
Almost all rewards in life require work, effort, commitment, and time.
Most good things don't come easy.
When first building a business, most certainly, the ratio of work to reward will be skewed in favor of work.
That should be expected.
Building a successful business requires delayed gratification. If someone is not willing to operate with that principle in mind, the entrepreneurial path is not for them.
If, however, after many years of effort and development you still find your business "costs more than it gives back", you've done something wrong.
As an entrepreneur, you're the architect of your business. You get to build what you want.
If your business isn't yet what you want, change it. Rebuild it. Restructure it. Change things. Make it what you want.
But, again, doing this will require work, effort, commitment, and time. It will require a period of delayed gratification, where your work outweighs the reward.
As it relates to not being able to resist the temptation to sell crappy products...
Well, without being too harsh... that has a lot more to do with you and your character than it does with the entrepreneurial journey.
Part of being a successful human being, let alone a successful entrepreneur, has to do with your ability to choose to do the right things... and choose to avoid doing the wrong things.
If that's an issue for you right now, I would suggest you work on that before pursuing any other path.
Lastly, while I don't know your deontology -- what you see as your duty or obligation -- I do have my suspicions why you mention this.
Maybe you feel capitalism, making money, marketing, selling things, building for-profit businesses, and the ilk, are evil or bad. Or, not what you were put here to do.
While I obviously disagree with that sentiment about business, if that's how you feel, you should honor those feelings. You should pursue what you feel is your calling.
Not everybody is meant to be an entrepreneur...
And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
***
NOTE: If you're not in the MFA Nation Facebook Group with us yet, you're missing out on the opportunity to have me answer your questions. Not too mention, some killer content and live streams only shared inside the Group.
Go here and join us inside the MFA Nation Group (it's FREE!).
ROCKSTAR RESOURCE
If you want your written marketing communications to resonate more with prospects, lower your FK Scores.
FK Score is based on the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test. It's a tool which analyzes your writing and rates it in terms of reading ease.
The higher your FK Score, the more difficult to understand your writing is; the lower the score... the easier to understand.
For example, an FK Score of 10 or above is very difficult to read. While a score of 5-8 is much easier to read.
According to my friend and legendary ad man, Mark Ford, you want to shoot for a rating of 7 or lower.
This is the level of most of today's best-selling fiction.
Stephen King's writing is about a 6.
J.K. Rowling is about a 7.
Cormac McCarthy is about a 5.
J.R.R. Tolkien is about 6.
Ernest Hemingway was about a 4.
Like Mark shared with me years ago when introducing me to the value of using FK, "The easier your writing is to read, the more believable your reader will find it."
The free FK Readability Test I use, provided by Perry Marshall, is this one.
PIC OF THE WEEK
At night, before going to sleep, I often watch an episode of The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. You know... the guy with the perm hairdo doing those "tiny little friendly bush" paintings.
I find him relaxing. And impressive, the way he was able to whip together detailed landscape scenes with such ease.
The painting above is one of my early attempts, from a couple years ago, at a Bob Ross piece.
Not quite the masterpiece. But, had a lot of fun doing it. And found myself caught-up in the moment and fully focused -- a rarity for me with most hobbies.
I haven't done any painting recently. But think I may give it another crack one of these weekends. I'll be sure to share the result if I do.
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