A few weeks ago Kellie, I, and the girls watched Soul.
At its core, it's a movie about a middle-school band teacher, Joe Gardner, whose life hasn't turned out the way he hoped.
Joe's passion is jazz piano. And he's talented. But, he feels stuck teaching music instead of living his passion for playing music.
Joe eventually gets an opportunity to audition at a music club, during a live gig, with a jazz legend.
Unfortunately, on his way to the audition he falls into a manhole. And finds himself, as a soul, on the way to the afterlife.
But, he's not ready to die. And this is where his adventure to save his soul begins.
For a Disney flick, I found it to be deep. Like, really deep, thought-provoking.
I definitely enjoyed it. As did Kellie. But, the girls... not so much.
And I can understand why.
Despite it being from Disney... a cartoon... having goofy characters... and some fun music... it felt way beyond the level of thinking and understanding of most children.
So, despite it being a solid message and an overall great little movie, Soul didn't have great success. Nor do I think it will gain any significant traction going forward.
It shows you the importance of matching your message to your audience. Of knowing what's appropriate for them, and what the audience does and doesn't understand.
In the world of marketing, it's the principle of Avoiding the Curse of Knowledge -- not talking to your prospects based on your own level of understanding, but talking to them based on their level of understanding.
If they don't understand or grasp what you're trying to communicate, they're not going to buy.
Like I say all the time: When crafting any marketing message, you have to get out of the way and put your prospect front and center.
What do they want, what do they know, what do they feel, what do they understand, what are the words and phrases they use?
It's NOT about you. It's about THEM.
You must speak their language. And everything you say must be simple and immediately understandable to them, to your prospects.
If not, you'll end up with a "great" little marketing message which has little impact on your audience. And, obviously, that's not what we want.
With that, let's get to this week's goodies...
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MY FAVS THIS WEEK
- 10 Psych Principles to Attract and Grow Your Audience
A quick and simple refresher on the core persuasion triggers. Cialdini-type stuff.
Fact is: So much effective marketing is grounded in one or more of these principles.
So, this post is well worth perusing even if this kind of persuasion stuff is already second nature to you. - 10-Point Scale & Wikipedia
A self-proclaimed perfectionist shares an interesting method for turning his OCD into a weapon of productivity. And I dig it.
While I wouldn't follow his system exactly, there are some steps shared which I think are smart. - Dark patterns, the tricks websites use to make you say yes, explained
They say certain design patterns on websites and apps manipulate or heavily influence users to make certain choices. And these patterns, when done correctly, are somewhat hidden, stealth.
It's pretty juicy stuff. Not much actionable content here, but an interesting read nonetheless.
ODDITY FROM MY LIBRARY
I first read Fund Your Cause With Direct Mail about ten years ago.
Legendary financial copywriter, Mike Palmer, recommended it to me.
Despite the title, it's a valuable read for any entrepreneur or marketer using direct response.
At its core, this is a book about using direct response (via direct mail) to move people to take action. And how to do it by leveraging emotions and deeper values.
It's not the easiest book to find. There seem to be limited copies available.
But, right now, looks like there's a handful of used copies available on Amazon for under $10 bucks.
Well worth it if you're a serious student of copywriting and direct response.
WHAT I'M TELLIN' MY TEAM
This week on our internal Team Marketing Training...
I walked the team through the 6 core criteria of what makes for a bonafide irresistible offer.
The first two criteria -- arguably the most important ones -- have to do with how the solution being offered is positioned.
This is critical. Far more than most entrepreneurs and marketers realize.
When thinking about new offers, most entrepreneurs and marketers immediately go to price, terms, guarantee, bonuses, and reasons to respond to now. They tend to invest little time thinking through what would make for an extremely attractive solution in their prospect's eyes.
Yet, fact is: If the core solution isn't attractive to the prospect, it doesn't matter what the price, terms, guarantee, and bonuses are; the offer won't convert well.
While those components of an offer are valuable, they're only there to make it a no-brainer for the prospect to say yes to investing in, what they see as, a compelling solution.
Two of the criteria for this type of solution are: (1) It's easy, and (2) It works quickly.
Prospects are attracted to methods for solving their problem that are simple and easy, and don't require a lot of learning or a lot work. And they're attracted to solutions which work fast, producing the start of results right away.
When engineering new offers... before you think about price, terms, guarantee, bonuses, and reasons to respond now... you should invest time developing a solution which meets these two criteria.
Ironically, this isn't always easy. Nor does it often happen quickly.
But, when your offer is built on the foundation of a core solution which your prospects see as easy to use and something which produces fast results... you're on your way to highly effective offer.
TEAM TAKEAWAYS IN THREE BULLETS:
- When we engineer offers, we need to start by first engineering attractive and compelling solutions. It's the core solution which is the shining star in the offer. It's not just a matter of what the solution does for the prospect; it's also about how easy it is and how fast it works.
- When we can present a solution which takes the responsibility for achieving results off of our prospects, it motivates prospects to say yes. Why? Because it takes away a lot of the fear of failure -- which is a big reason why many prospects don't buy.
- The more we can lower the prospect's perceived risk, the more of a lopsided value proposition we're presenting. A lopsided value proposition makes the prospect feel like what they're giving is far less than what they're getting. And this is huge.
"Incredible marketing takeaways every week!"
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MY ADVICE
A question posted inside the E5 Nation Facebook Group...
Below is a spot-on response from Paul Mascetta:
While it may seem I shared Paul's response because he's encouraging purchase of the E5 Method book...
That's not why I included it here.
I shared it because... Paul's response is spot-on. Those are the attributes of a good video sales letter.
Of course, not every VSL needs all of those elements every time. But, it's a great list for you to use for the majority of the video sales letters you engineer.
***
NOTE: If you're not in the E5 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 E5 Nation Group (it's FREE!).
ROCKSTAR RESOURCE
Social Blade is an interesting marketplace research tool.
According to their website, they give "all users access to their public database which, using advanced technology, is able to provide you with global analytics for any content creator, live streamer, or brand."
I find one feature in particular super-valuable -- the ability to see the top video content on any YouTube channel.
With a couple of clicks you can see which videos have the most views, likes, and comments.
It's a great way to gain insight on the topics a marketplace finds most interesting.
PIC OF THE WEEK
This past week the Brown family did some damage.
We spent a half-hour taking our frustrations out on a room of electronics, tables, glassware, cabinets, picture frames, mugs, and more.
We each chose two weapons. Armed with golf clubs, bats, a sledgehammer, and mace... we destroyed everything in the room.
It was fun, cathartic, and exhausting.
We went to a place called Smash & Grab. For us, it was all smash and no grab.
If you've got some pent-up rage... I highly recommend it.
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