Magic Power Gets Anyone To Do Anything
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(NOTE: This is an update of a previous post… enhanced with video. Please be sure and let me know what you think of this “multi-media” approach, okay? It’s quite a bit of work, and I’m happy to do it if you think it’s worthwhile.)
As marketers and entrepreneurs, we have a simple job – to get other people to do what we want them to do.
I’ll leave the discussion about the ethical side of this for another time; let’s just assume that you and I will always work for the best interests of our customers and prospects, okay?
So. We want to get people to do what we want. It will help them. It will help us. But exactly how do we do it?
There is a tactic that gives almost magical powers of persuasion.
You can, quite simply, get practically anyone to do practically anything.
It’s so simple you’ll be tempted to shrug it off.
Don’t.
Take just a moment to think about the fact that you already know this works, because you already know people who have this power. Don’t you know at least one person who seems to be able to persuade people on just about any issue?
Don’t you know at least one person who can seemingly “sell ice to the Eskimos”?
So how is it that some people are able to do that – and more importantly, how can you do the same? Wouldn’t that make an enormous impact on your business?
Here is the big secret…
“Enter the conversation already taking place in your prospect’s mind.”
As far as I know, that idea originated with the late, great copywriter Robert Collier.
If you can “join up” with what your prospects are already feeling and thinking, get in synch with them, and get them to identify you as a “friendly” in a hostile world… they will listen to what you have to say.
Think of it this way: the easiest way to influence someone is with whatever is already influencing them.
It’s a simple principle, but not easy to do.
So how do you do it? Here are some tips that will help you harness this seemingly magic power:
- Listen. Pay attention to what people say. Hang out in online forums. Track trends on twitter. Collect the words, phrases and ideas your market uses. Speak back to them in their own words.
- Watch. Be conscious of what your store or website visitors actually do. What causes them to opt in? To opt out? To buy? To ask for a refund? Nothing teaches like behavior. People vote with their feet. Watch their feet.
- Think. How can you solve their problems? How can you solve them quickly… easily… and with simplicity? Be the “aspirin for their headache” – and abundance will be yours.
If you can do these things, your readers/visitors/ listeners will be nodding their heads, slapping the table top, and saying, “Yes! That’s exactly how I feel!”
And when that happens, Constant Reader, they will do anything you ask.
Because anything you ask will be in alignment with what they already desire.
That’s a deep well I just pushed you into. Follow it all the way down, and be rewarded with the cool fresh water of more sales, more often.
Teddy Roosevelt Business Secrets
I’m reading a book about Teddy Roosevelt.
So even though I’m busy preparing for our next “dollar webinar”, I wanted to share something with you I just read from President Roosevelt.
Stick with me, Hoss – it’s worth it.
If you’ve ever been falsely accused…
If you’ve ever had anyone spread lies or deceit about you?
Celebrate!
Vocal critics are sending you a signal.
The signal is: you’re on the right track.
Don’t take my word for it – here’s what Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt had to say about critics:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
Now don’t get me wrong.
I’m talking about UN-JUST criticism.
I’m assuming you’re doing good things, with right intentions, and you’re being honest and fair in your dealings.
If you’re doing BAD things, you have bigger problems than being criticized.
So let’s say you’re creating value.
You’re being honest and fair.
And then for some reason – WHAMO! Somebody you never even met starts criticizing you.
Congratulations!
The only reason you’re a target for these trouble making complainers is… you’re DOING something.
Most people never do ANYTHING.
Especially the critics.
In fact, in my mind, the letters of the word “C.R.I.T.I.C.” actually stand for:
C – an’t
R – eally
I – nvent
T – hings
I – nstead
C – riticizes
And rest assured, the only way to be sure you’re never criticized is: don’t do anything.
CERTAINLY, if you’re having any success at all, you’re going to get criticism.
Welcome it.
And remember the business twist on all this that President Roosevelt certainly understood.
Your place “shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
’nuff Said,
Ray Edwards
PS - If you’re doing business online, then one thing you for sure want to be DOING is using video on your marketing. We’re doing a whole webinar on the topic of making money with online video Monday.
Darth Vader’s Mastermind Group
What good is a “mastermind group”?
Ask Darth Vader.
I mean, for almost a DECADE we all thought Darth was the villain of Star Wars.
And after more than 20 years in the making, the series of movies in the Star Wars saga tells the whole story.
Darth Vader started out as a good guy.
He got off track. WAY off track.
Then, in the end, he did the right thing.
And turns out he was STILL a good guy.
Why? Because people in his Mastermind Group – the Jedi - got him back on the right path.
Even if it WAS at the last possible moment.
Between the training that Darth got from Obi-Wan…
…and the example his former master set for him…
…and the direct appeals of his son Luke…
Darth did the right thing, and killed the Emperor.
He saved his son… the Rebellion… and his own soul.
That’s what a Mastermind Group – a good one – will do for you.
They will tell you what you’re doing wrong, even when you’re completely full of your own crap.
Even when you think you’re about to Rule The Universe.
Because the moment you start believing your own bull is usually the moment when you’re about to take a big fall.
QUESTION: who do you have in YOUR life who’s willing to tell you that you’re about to “blow it”?
If you don’t have somebody who’s willing and committed to doing that, you need to find them. Pronto.
There’s several ways to do it.
For instance, you can set up your own Mastermind Group. Find the members, recruit them, and set up the meetings, etc.
It’ll take some legwork, but it’s worth the effort.
You could also join an existing small group, but good ones are hard to find and harder to get into. Just make sure you’re not getting yourself into a negative gossip-group that is PRETENDING to be a true “Mastermind”. You’ll know pretty quick.
You can also pay to join a Mastermind.
This is often a good option, because the fact that there are “membership dues” helps weed out the more undesirable loser types.
I’ve been part of paid Masterminds for years now, and even run one of my own which you can try out for a dollar and see if it’s just what you’re looking for.
(By the way, it’s a good time to try it out – we have our annual in-person get-together next month in Vegas).
Whatever you do, make sure you get yourself involved in some kind of Mastermind Group.
If it can save Darth Vader… what can it do for you?
May the Force Be With You
Weak Link In Your Selling Process?
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(NOTE: This is an update of a previous post… enhanced with video. Please be sure and let me know what you think of this “multi-media” approach, okay? It’s quite a bit of work, and I’m happy to do it if you think it’s worthwhile.)
Every piece of your website is a link in the sales chain.
Each link leads to the next, and at the end of the chain is the sale – and profits for you and your business.
Of course, as we all know, any chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
One way to get quick sales boost is: find the weak or broken links in your sales process and strengthen or repair them. And almost every website has at least a few week or broken links. I’m not just talking about hyperlinks, here… I’m talking about any crucial part of the sales process.
No website is perfect – no website is ever optimized fully. There’s always room for improvement. In most websites I look at for clients, there are some basic fixes that can pay off in a big way.
Here are three examples of things you might want to do on your own website:
- Fix Broken Links. The most obvious example is actual broken links. These are frustrating at best for your visitors, and for many it will kill the sale instantly (“if they can’t get their links fixed, what must their product be like?”).
- Remove Inconsistencies. In the world of direct mail, there’s a proven response boost when the message on the outside of the envelope matches the message on the headline of the letter inside; the reason this is so is, we are wired to respond positively to consistency. We like getting what we expect. Even seemingly small inconsistencies send a subconscious signal to your prospects that all is not right. Some specifics to look for: different typefaces or look & feel on your pages; lack of consistent layout from one section of your site to the next; jarring differences between your major sales pages (opt-in page, salesletter page, order page, thank you page). Get fanatical about consistency.
- Remove “Mind Stoppers”. Some things just cause us to “stop our mind” when reading a website. For example, strange or unnatural wording can cause us to stop in the flow of reading and ask “What? Huh?” Even though these “Mind Stoppers” may only cause a pause of 1 or 2 seconds, they interrupt the flow of your sales message. Avoid “Mind Stoppers” at all costs. The best way to find them: read your copy aloud, to another human being, in a natural tone and at an easy pace. Then have them read it aloud back to you. In each case, mark any section that causes you to pause or stumble. Re-write those sections and remove the “Mind Stoppers”.
When you forge stronger links in your “Sales Chain”, you’ll increase your sales results. And that means more profits for you and your small business.
Frank Kern 52% Opt-In Page Conversion
You may have already heard – Frank Kern is getting an insane 52% opt-in rate on his Mass Control squeeze page.
And maybe you wondered, “How the heck does he do that?”
Allow me to part the curtain with this free video where I show you some reasons why this page is getting these insanely great conversions. No opt-in required (you can see the page itself here).
Click Here To See Frank’s “Magical” Opt-In Page For Mass Control.
Quit Working So Hard So You Can Get More Done
Most of us work too hard to really get anything done.
There are many studies that demonstrate that multimillion dollar CEOs spend less than 30 minutes per day doing the work they’re actually paid to do.
Why is this?
It’s because the higher we go in our levels of responsibility (and this is especially salient for entrepreneurs) the more likely it is we will be interrupted throughout the day by concerns, people, and tasks that are urgent (needs attention from someone immediately) but not necessarily important (needs high-level attention from the entrepreneur, CEO, or manager).
This applies even if you are a freelance worker (or perhaps you started your own online business in your “spare time”).
The key to success on a massive scale is to focus on revenue-generating activities as much as possible.
Here’s how you do that…
Read the rest of this entry »
The Heart of Marketing
Funny story.
Back in my radio days, one of the shows I was in charge of was a morning radio team.
And this particular morning team had a regular feature where a couple of psychotherapists woud come on each week.
When I say a “couple”, I mean it. They were actually a COUPLE, and they were both actually THERAPISTS (can you imagine the dinner table conversations?).
Anyhow, I knew this couple only as characters on this particular morning show. “Judith and Jim” was how I knew them. And I knew only their voices.
Fast forward a few years later.
I had left the radio business, and was at an Internet Marketing seminar.
During one of the presentations, I noticed this couple sitting near the front, and I noticed they were asking lots of questions. And their voices sounded familiar. And their names were… Judith and Jim.
We connected for the first time in person, and we’ve been friends ever since. (Okay, so it was “funny” as in “coincidence” and not funny as in “LOL”).
To continue my story…
Michael Port’s “Think Big Manifesto”
You might want to get this book ($15) by Michael Port.
I don’t make a dime for recommending it to you.
I just think this is a book worth reading. Brief story:
I read this book as a favor to a friend (the author).
I did it to be courteous.
Frankly, I was going to speed-read the book just so I honestly could say that I had read it. I am a busy guy, and I had a lot of other books that were higher on my “need to read” list.
I rapidly skimmed the first 5 pages or so.
Then I stopped.
I went back and starting reading more slowly.
Seth Godin: Taking the High Road in Marketing
I was working on a post about why it’s better to take the high road in your marketing, and during my research I came across a post by Seth Godin that says it so well, I realize I don’t need to write the post.
I just need to point you to this one: Seth Godin on taking the high road.
“I Dreamed a Dream” – The Amazing Susan Boyle
It had been a long day on the road, and last night I was wiped out. Tired. Exhausted.
So I was not thrilled when my wife called to me from our home office saying I just had to come watch this video on YouTube.
Yet, a few minutes later, I was watching it with tears in my eyes.
I decided I would write a post about the video today, only to find my colleague Clayton Makepeace beat me to the punch. Read Clayton Makepeace’s post on Susan Boyle here.
