Satyagraha, Your Secret Marketing Weapon
Posted on 02. Jun, 2011 by Daniel Levis in Articles, Blog, Ghandi, hype, Influence, John E. Powers, John Wannamaker, Martin Luther King Jr., mindshare, Motivation, relationship, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, story, transparency, trust, truth
Satyagraha was popularized by Mohandas Ghandi in his fight for Indian independence and became synonymous with the use of civil disobedience as a political tool.
Ghandi believed that truth had great moral power to galvanize resolve against an oppressor, while also garnering support from the rest of the world. And history proved him right.
A young black minister in America studied Ghandi’s struggle and ideas and was profoundly influenced by them. He used Ghandi’s Satyagraha precepts to achieve a similar human rights triumph here in the West. His name was Martin Luther King Jr.
In both cases, people from around the world with no direct interest in the conflict sided with the freedom fighters. Unyielding non-violent revolt in the face of violent counter-reaction was shocking. It seized global attention and sympathy.
These watershed moments in history prove that human nature has a built-in recognition and appreciation for what’s right and just and true.
Ever since the motorcycle accident I’ve found my brain has a weird way of associating things. As such, it seems to me this core kernel of Satyagraha has broad application to sales and marketing as well.
In times of over-communication and intense battle for consumer mindshare…
… Brutal, uncompromising truth has enormous attention-getting power.
One of the father’s of direct response advertising built his entire career on this fact.
His name was John E. Powers, arguably history’s first hired gun copywriter. In 1880 Powers was earning $100 a day as a freelance copywriter, an enormous sum at the time. And his ads often worked like gangbusters. Why?
This was the first golden age of advertising. The industrial revolution was sweeping the developed world. All manner of time and labor saving conveniences were making their debut. And John Wannamaker had just invented the department store.
By the late 1800s, newspapers and magazines had become so stuffed with advertising that an arms race took hold with each advertiser trying to out-gun, out-claim, and out-hype the next.
Power’s approach was so novel and rare it was shocking — Tell the Truth.
One of his headlines read: “We have a lot of rotten gossamers we want to get rid of…” Another famous Power’s ad announced, “We are bankrupt. We owe $125,000 more than we can pay, and this announcement will bring our creditors down on our necks. But if you come and buy tomorrow, we shall have the money to meet them. If not, we shall go to the wall.”
The sad truth is that most marketers lie through their teeth. Somehow, this has become accepted, part of the game. It’s just what marketers do.
Clever flim-flam artists know what their customers want to believe, and they twist the truth into a mangled wreck to give it to them. The even sadder truth is that in many cases this actually works, at least in the short term. And the saddest truth of all is the toll this approach takes on the trust of the consumer. The honest eventually get tarred with the same brush as the abusers. And everyone loses.
The answer is of course: Tell the Truth. The truth the flim-flam artists are so cleverly hiding. The truth that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt you’re here to create real value for people and win/win relationships capable of withstanding the test of time.
Let there be an arms race of truth.
Here are a few practical ideas for cutting through the clutter, gaining attention, and inspiring trust in today’s cynical, over-communicated world:
Amp up the Transparency — Show your customers the inner workings of your business, the good, the bad and the ugly. If the truth is untellable, fix it. Rectify what’s wrong with your business. Trust is such a rare commodity these days. Start looking at it as a competitive weapon.
Reveal Your True Motivations — Tell people the real reasons you created this product… why you priced it the way you have… why you need them to order right now… and so on. Don’t be afraid to reveal what’s in it for you as well as what’s in it for them. A sale is a transaction where both parties should win.
Avoid Unsubstantiated Hype and Exaggeration — There is a difference between delivering honest, heart-felt enthusiasm and spouting baseless, over-the-top claims. The former, when backed up with sound reasoning, leads to conviction. The later demands even more lies and obfuscation to maintain.
And as we all know, sooner or later, a business built on lies falls down like a house of cards. If your product or service doesn’t make your heart race with breathless excitement about what it can actually do for your customers, work on it until it does.
Commerce is a relationship. When you harness Satyagraha — openly revealing your vulnerabilities, imperfections, and limitations as a seller in an interesting and dramatic way – you quickly build a bond of trust, even affection with your market.
Can you think of a better way of sweeping aside the number one obstacle to acquiring a new customer?
Until next time, Good Selling!
This article appears courtesy of
Satyagraha, Your Secret Marketing Weapon
Posted on 02. Jun, 2011 by Daniel Levis in Articles, Blog, Ghandi, hype, Influence, John E. Powers, John Wannamaker, Martin Luther King Jr., mindshare, Motivation, relationship, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, story, transparency, trust, truth
The word, Satyagraha, is a portmanteau of the Sanskrit words Satya and Agraha. Loosely translated, the word means “Truth Power”.
Satyagraha was popularized by Mohandas Ghandi in his fight for Indian independence and became synonymous with the use of civil disobedience as a political tool.
Ghandi believed that truth had great moral power to galvanize resolve against an oppressor, while also garnering support from the rest of the world. And history proved him right.
A young black minister in America studied Ghandi’s struggle and ideas and was profoundly influenced by them. He used Ghandi’s Satyagraha precepts to achieve a similar human rights triumph here in the West. His name was Martin Luther King Jr.
In both cases, people from around the world with no direct interest in the conflict sided with the freedom fighters. Unyielding non-violent revolt in the face of violent counter-reaction was shocking. It seized global attention and sympathy.
Eventually, these outsiders — bound to the protestors by nothing more than their humanity – put unbearable pressure on those they perceived to be outside of the realm of truth. And justice was served.
These watershed moments in history prove that human nature has a built-in recognition and appreciation for what’s right and just and true.
Ever since the motorcycle accident I’ve found my brain has a weird way of associating things. As such, it seems to me this core kernel of Satyagraha has broad application to sales and marketing as well.
In times of over-communication and intense battle for consumer mindshare…
… Brutal, uncompromising truth has enormous attention-getting power.
One of the father’s of direct response advertising built his entire career on this fact.
His name was John E. Powers, arguably history’s first hired gun copywriter. In 1880 Powers was earning $100 a day as a freelance copywriter, an enormous sum at the time. And his ads often worked like gangbusters. Why?
This was the first golden age of advertising. The industrial revolution was sweeping the developed world. All manner of time and labor saving conveniences were making their debut. And John Wannamaker had just invented the department store.
By the late 1800s, newspapers and magazines had become so stuffed with advertising that an arms race took hold with each advertiser trying to out-gun, out-claim, and out-hype the next.
Power’s approach was so novel and rare it was shocking — Tell the Truth.
One of his headlines read: “We have a lot of rotten gossamers we want to get rid of…” Another famous Power’s ad announced, “We are bankrupt. We owe $125,000 more than we can pay, and this announcement will bring our creditors down on our necks. But if you come and buy tomorrow, we shall have the money to meet them. If not, we shall go to the wall.”
The sad truth is that most marketers lie through their teeth. Somehow, this has become accepted, part of the game. It’s just what marketers do.
Clever flim-flam artists know what their customers want to believe, and they twist the truth into a mangled wreck to give it to them. The even sadder truth is that in many cases this actually works, at least in the short term. And the saddest truth of all is the toll this approach takes on the trust of the consumer. The honest eventually get tarred with the same brush as the abusers. And everyone loses.
The answer is of course: Tell the Truth. The truth the flim-flam artists are so cleverly hiding. The truth that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt you’re here to create real value for people and win/win relationships capable of withstanding the test of time.
Let there be an arms race of truth.
Here are a few practical ideas for cutting through the clutter, gaining attention, and inspiring trust in today’s cynical, over-communicated world:
Amp up the Transparency — Show your customers the inner workings of your business, the good, the bad and the ugly. If the truth is untellable, fix it. Rectify what’s wrong with your business. Trust is such a rare commodity these days. Start looking at it as a competitive weapon.
Reveal Your True Motivations — Tell people the real reasons you created this product… why you priced it the way you have… why you need them to order right now… and so on. Don’t be afraid to reveal what’s in it for you as well as what’s in it for them. A sale is a transaction where both parties should win.
Avoid Unsubstantiated Hype and Exaggeration — There is a difference between delivering honest, heart-felt enthusiasm and spouting baseless, over-the-top claims. The former, when backed up with sound reasoning, leads to conviction. The later demands even more lies and obfuscation to maintain.
And as we all know, sooner or later, a business built on lies falls down like a house of cards. If your product or service doesn’t make your heart race with breathless excitement about what it can actually do for your customers, work on it until it does.
Commerce is a relationship. When you harness Satyagraha — openly revealing your vulnerabilities, imperfections, and limitations as a seller in an interesting and dramatic way – you quickly build a bond of trust, even affection with your market.
Can you think of a better way of sweeping aside the number one obstacle to acquiring a new customer?
Until next time, Good Selling!
Photo: Wikipedia
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to creating wealth and success through inspiration and practical, proven advice. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Satyagraha, Your Secret Marketing Weapon originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.
Customer Relationship Management for IM Dummies
Posted on 09. May, 2011 by Daniel Levis in Articles, Blog, customer, intelligence, logic, pareto, relationship, resource, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, spending, spreadsheet, system, tracking
The Pareto Principle says 20% of your customers produce 80% of your sales and profits. This has profound implications to the wealth and wellbeing of ANY business…
Resources are finite. There is only so much time, money, and energy to invest.
One of the keys to increased conversion, customer value, and retention — and the increased profits they bring you — is the strategic application of your resources.
If you can deploy them with surgical precision… obtaining the highest possible return on resources invested… while avoiding their squander in places where they have negligible or negative contribution to your bottom line, you have a decided competitive advantage.
So why do so many online marketers pursue the quick fix, churn and burn school of marketing that treats all customers alike? Chalk it up to ignorance… temporarily too easy pickings… shoddy products that are anathema to repeat business… laziness… stupidity… pick your poison…
Despite the obvious logic and benefit of the surgical, systematic strike, few entrepreneurs have even considered it… still fewer pursue it. And as a result, billions of dollars are left on the table. Worse, businesses that flourished in cushier times are now floundering on the rocks of extinction.
The first step to avoiding this fate is to start tracking the behavior of your customers… and using that intelligence to take specific actions that encourage continued and increased spending…
Doesn’t it make sense to spend more money marketing to people with a proven propensity to buy from you?
What do you think might happen on your next product launch or promotion if you were to separate your best buyers from the great unwashed? What if instead of just sending them a series of emails you send these VIPs a series of print pieces as well?
What do you think might happen if you were to send your very best buyers a surprise gift in the mail once a year? Or your bread and butter buyers a free printed catalog once a quarter?
Do you think that might increase sales far and above your mailing costs?
Do you think it might also make these customers more responsive to your regular email promotions?
Does the Pope wear a beanie?
But here’s the real million-dollar question:
How do you know which customers are likely to respond enthusiastically to this special attention?
Here’s what I told one of my brightest coaching students who asked this question just the other day…
Your first step is to create an RFM value for each record in your customer file.
R stands for RECENCY (customer purchased within the last x days). F stands for FREQUENCY (customer purchases on average every x days). M stands for MONETARY VALUE (customer’s total purchase volume).
So let’s say Jill Customer made her first purchase a year ago. Her most recent purchase occurred 7 months ago. In between she made 2 additional purchases. And her total spend with your company is $2,780.
How do you compute Jill’s value in order to make a resource-leveraged decision about how much you should be willing to spend to convert her into a customer for your latest offering?
First, you need to create a few simple rules that make sense for your particular business. DISCLAIMER: Every business operates around different purchasing patterns and customer lifecycles so this is a purely an illustrative example…
Recency Rules:
- Customers who last purchased within the last 30 days get an R value of 5.
- Customers who last purchased within the last 30 to 60 days get an R value of 3.
- Customers who last purchased within the last 60 to180 days get an R value of 1.
- Customers who have not purchased within the last 180 days get an R value of 0.
Frequency Rules:
- Customers who purchase every 60 days or less on average get an F value of 5.
- Customers who purchase every 60 to 180 days on average get an F value of 3.
- Customers who purchase every 180 to 360 days on average get an F value of 1.
- Customers yet to make their second purchase get an F value of 0.
Monetary Value Rules:
- Customers who have spent $2,500 or more with your get an M value of 5.
- Customers who have spent between $1,500 and $2,500 get an M value of 3.
- Customers who have spent between $500 and $1,500 get an M value of 1.
- Customers who have spent less than $500 with you get an M value of 0.
You now have a system for ranking the relative value of your customers on a scale of 0 to 15. So what kind of customer is Jill?
Well she hasn’t purchased for 7 months. That pegs her R value at 0.
During her 1-year history as a customer she made 4 purchases. That gives her an F value of 3.
And her total spend with your company is $2,780. That gives Jill an M value of 5.
You now add these figures together to determine Jill’s RFM value — 8. This is Jill’s relative value as a customer.
Your next step is to decide what action you will take in order to maximize that value. Maybe you sub-divide your buyer’s list into three groups — 0-5, 5-10, 10-15. And on your next product launch you send all three groups a couple of postcards inviting them to consume your pre-launch content online.
The 5-10 and the 10-15 group have proven by their past buying behavior that they are quite responsive to your offers. So in addition to the postcards, you send them a sales letter and a couple of follow up reminders by mail counting down to the deadline.
And the 10-15 group — your most responsive and therefore highest value customers — also receives an amazing shock and awe package that includes all of the launch content on DVD, an audio CD they can listen to in their car, and beautifully printed transcripts.
Result: More sales, more profits, more loyalty and retention!
Parting comment. This is not rocket science to pull off. You don’t need high priced consultants or fancy pants CRM software to do this.
Anybody with elementary school math can download a .csv file from their shopping cart and perform the above calculations in a simple spreadsheet.
Will you give it a try?
Until next time, Good Selling!
Customer Relationship Management for IM Dummies originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.
Five Ways to Turn No into Yes
Posted on 17. Jul, 2010 by James Chartrand in action, argument, benefit, Blog, confidence, Contributions, Copywriting, Dean Rieck, decision, doubt, objection, offer, purchase, question, resistance, response, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
No is a very powerful word.
It’s one too easily spoken, as any parent of a small four-year-old will tell you. It’s also detrimental to effective copywriting and sales, because it’s an absolute brick wall of resistance.
The minute a potential customer says no, you’ve either lost the sale, or you have to pull out some pretty convincing arguments to sway them back to a yes. Chances are you’re not going to make it.
It’s much harder to change a person’s mind when it’s already made up.
Here are practical tips on how to turn a potential customer’s no into yes, where you’ll learn specific resistance you’ll face and how to magically turn it into sales.
First, Address the Doubts
To believe that people are going to land on your page and immediately say, “This is exactly what I need,” is a belief best left to amateurs. (Of which you are not one, because only smart people read this blog.)
Everyone has doubts. You have them, I have them, your potential customer has them.
Now, no one enjoys having doubts, because they make us feel worried and uncertain and unsure. That’s not a good place to be, and instinctively, we know it. So we seek reassurance that erases our doubts and takes them away.
We look to be confident. When we feel confident, we feel able to make good decisions that are right for — which include, of course, saying, “Yes, this is exactly what I need.”
So address those doubts in your copywriting. Put them on the table right from the start. Show people that you know their concerns and worries, and give them the appropriate answer that provides reassurance.
This doesn’t mean raising questions that weren’t there to begin with. What it means is acknowledging potential questions and concerns and responding to them appropriately before the potential customer picks his own response.
The Best Example: Your Local Garage
Here’s an example of how you can address a potential customer’s doubts:
Let’s say your garage mechanic tells you that repairing your car will cost you $800. You can bet that you’ll have buyer resistance, and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll say, “This is exactly what I need!”
It’s far more likely you’re already trying to figure out how to get out of paying that amount.
Then your mechanic says, “I’m sure you’re wondering how necessary it is to repair these parts.” And he proceeds to tell you exactly how unsafe your car becomes if you don’t have them repaired — and if you have kids, he points out, their safety means everything.
Then your mechanic says, “Now I know you’re probably wondering whether you can wait a while. But let me explain why that’s a bad idea.” He goes on to show how much more costly repairs will be if you don’t get this fixed soon.
By now, you’re not thinking about how to get out of the repairs. You’re into thinking about where you’ll get the money to pay for it all. You’ve already started moving from no to yes.
The mechanic doesn’t really know what’s going through your mind, but what he’s doing is covering his bases. He’s presuming you might have doubts, he’s assuming which doubts you might have, and he’s addressing them before you even voice them aloud.
If he guesses wrong? No problem — call it extra bonus arguments. You know, just in case. And if he guesses right? Then you haven’t had to say a word, and you have all the answers you need.
Be that proactive in your copywriting. Assume the arguments, address them with confidence, reassure your potential customer and you’ll be turning no into yes before you know it.
How do you feel about addressing doubts in copywriting? Are you great at dismantling arguments? Do you hate forking money over to garages? And how reassured do you feel when your doubts are addressed?
The Copywriter’s World is One Filled With Battle
It’s your copy against the consumer, and his defensive shields are strong — so very strong. Each time you valiantly knock down an argument he’s presented, another flies up, as if the consumer creates them right out of thin air.
Dean Rieck once wrote, “Selling is simply offering the right product to the right people at the right time in the right way. You aren’t forcing your customer to say yes; you’re taking away his reasons to say no.”
The consumer holds all the power, the final decision, the last word. But if you’ve done your job copywriting job well and taken away all his reasons to say no, the only word he’ll have left to say is, “Yes.”
How do you take away his reasons to say no? Here are five ways to do just that:
“I Don’t Need This.”
When people tell you they don’t need something, what they’re really saying is that they don’t want something. There’s a huge difference between need and want.
Take the lowly car, for example. We don’t need more than a basic box with wheels that gets us from A to B, but we consistently buy vehicles that offer far more luxury, bells and whistles — and we pay dearly for them too.
Turn needs into wants. Tell people why they want this. Get down and dirty in desire, play up how much their life will change for the better and let them visualize how fantastic their future will be. You’ll be changing “I don’t need this” into “I want it so bad I can taste it” in no time.
“I Can’t Afford This.”
Let’s face it. When people want something — really, really want something — they find a way to make it happen. They stretch their budgets or go without for a few weeks or tighten the bootstraps until they’re straining. They’ll even go into debt, all just to get what they want.
But you need to make sure they want it, and then you need to make this purchase a priority above other wants they have. Show them the benefits of buying, and convey that the value of what you’re selling is worth the price.
Make the offer too good to pass up. Make it unmistakably clear that turning away now means losing out in the long run. And make it a priority — they can’t afford not to buy.
“Mmm… Maybe Tomorrow.”
If someone’s not feeling the need to check out your offer today, there’s been a misfire on the urgency front. You can guarantee they won’t be back, because out of sight is out of mind. Or, maybe they actually want to think over their decision to be sure it’s the right one for them (which is fine), but leave them thinking too long without following up, and the result is that they just plain forget.
Or something more important comes up. And there’s no money left for you.
Convey the need to consider the offer today. Set a deadline or create scarcity with limited offers. Give rewards for fast action with a special price or an extra-value bonus. And if you can’t do that, drive home what happens to people if they wait — prolonged pain, extended misery and longer unhappiness. Who wants that?!
“I Don’t Really Know Who You Are.”
This really means, “Why should I buy… from YOU?” And this baby is a big one these days, with all sorts of unknown people cropping up as overnight experts without the backup to prove their cocky claims. No one wants to risk wasting money on something that’s not very good or useful.
Show people you’re trustworthy by showing them the credentials, skills, background, history and testimonials they need to believe you know what you’re doing. Downplay the wing and a prayer that got you where you are today, talk up what qualifies you, even if it’s your first sale, and hush up with the expert claims.
Experts don’t need to tell people they’re experts; it shows.
The Value of No
If you don’t get the sales you hoped for and your copy converts horribly, don’t despair. There’s a positive in every negative, which means there’s a yes in every no.
There’s a learning experience in why your potential customer didn’t buy, and you can take the opportunity to climb into your prospect’s head and find out what went wrong. That lets you improve your copywriting, your offer, your business and your sales.
Which means less people say no next time.
So go ahead and find out why people didn’t buy. Send out a survey or even personal emails that say you’d like help so you can improve and offer better products or services. Their feedback is valuable to you, so ask for it. Open your mind to what people tell you, and receive the feedback with a willingness to learn from it.
Be objective, and be respectful of the person’s decision not to buy. You’re not going to change their mind; they’ve said no already, and this isn’t about pushing a sale. It’s simply about learning what didn’t work, and how to make it work better the next time.
Ask people what might have swayed their vote, too. By knowing what might have tipped the scales of sale in your favor, you’ll have a good idea of what to add to your next piece of copy — and you’ll just get better and better.
Five Ways to Turn No into Yes originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.
Why People Are Addicted to Info-Products
Posted on 12. Jun, 2010 by Ryan Healy in addiction, attention, Blog, Contributions, dopamine, drug, focus, guru, information, Matt Ritchel, productivity, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, spending, success
Have you ever wondered why people buy dozens of info-products… and yet never seem to get around to consuming them, much less using them?
I have.
And for a long time I just blamed it on people being lazy. In my own case, I blamed it on being too busy with client work to get around to some of those extracurricular learning pursuits not necessary to my daily work.
But there is now new research that discounts “The Laziness Theory” and “The I’m-Too-Busy Theory.”
Turns out, it’s not that people are lazy or unwilling to take “massive action” — it’s simply that living an always-on wired life causes people to become addicted to new information.
Addicted to Information?
I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true.
Check out this article — Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price — by Matt Ritchel.
As Ritchel explains, scientists have discovered that reacting to a never-ending stream of “information bursts” causes the brain to become excited and release dopamine, which in turn causes feelings of happiness.
As Wikipedia reports, “Dopamine is commonly associated with the reward system of the brain, providing feelings of enjoyment and reinforcement to motivate a person proactively to perform certain activities.”
So let’s connect the dots…
- Whereas, responding to “information bursts” causes the brain to release dopamine;
- And, whereas, dopamine reinforces the behavior that produced it;
- Thus, replying to emails, tweets, Facebook updates, forum threads, and other forms of real-time interruptions can lead to compulsive behavior, possibly even addiction.
Yikes!
If you’re not careful, you could find yourself checking email dozens of times a day, replying to text messages the minute they arrive, logging onto Twitter multiple times an hour, checking for Facebook updates, seeing what’s popular on Digg…
…and on and on and on in a never-ending dopamine-reinforcement loop.
It’s a dangerous, time-sucking, attention-killing cycle.
Social Media: The Drug of Choice in the 21st Century
Once you’re hooked on social media — with your cell phone in your pocket and your laptop on the kitchen table — you’re little more than a human version of Pavlov’s dog:
- Every time you hear (or see) a notification, you respond immediately…
- Your brain rewards you with a little more dopamine…
- And the cycle becomes a little bit stronger, a little bit harder to break.
The negative side effects of constant distraction (a.k.a. “multi-tasking”) are many.
Ritchel reports, “While many people say multitasking makes them more productive, research shows otherwise. Heavy multitaskers actually have more trouble focusing and shutting out irrelevant information, scientists say, and they experience more stress.”
Let’s not beat around the bush here. Research has plainly shown that multitaskers get less done and are more stressed out than people who focus on a single task at a time.
So I think it’s reasonable to ask: Are email and social media keeping you from success? While you’re pondering this, let me tell you…
Why People Pay Good Money for Information…
… Information They Don’t Need and Will Never Use!
Stress and decreased productivity are not the only consequences of an always-online, always-distracted lifestyle.
You may also find yourself inexplicably compelled to buy information — even information you don’t need and will never use.
This is because multitasking literally rewires your brain.
Recent tests conducted at Stanford “showed multitaskers tended to search for new information rather than accept a reward for putting older, more valuable information to work.”
Are you feeling compelled to buy yet another home study course even though you have multiple home study courses gathering dust on your shelves?
Or are you wanting to sign up for another membership site even though you already have multiple online memberships that you never use?
Well, now you know why.
The More Distracted You Are, the More Money Marketers Make
Marketers like to whine about how hard it is to sell to people who are distracted… how there’s so much competition for people’s attention that it’s hard to make a buck.
I think there’s some truth to this. But I think there’s more truth on the flip side of this argument.
Here’s my theory: The more distracted you are, the more money marketers make.
That’s because the more caught up you become in the distraction-dopamine cycle, the more likely it is you’ll continue to reinforce those positive feelings by seeking out new information.
And the more you seek out new information, the easier it will be for marketers to sell you “secrets” you think you don’t yet possess.
Which means: Not only does multitasking rob you of your productivity, it robs your bank account, too!
Now you know why all the gurus want you to follow them on email, Twitter, and Facebook.
They want you to be distracted.
Because the more distracted and confused you are, the easier it will be for them to get your credit card number — and sell you yet another overpriced course you’ll never use.
With that in mind, don’t you think it’s time to reconsider your use of social media?
Tips for Breaking Information Addiction
(And Taking Back Your Life)
In spite of the risks, I don’t necessarily recommend swearing off cell phones and social media. So here are a few suggestions for getting value out of social technology without letting it rule your life:
- Limit your connections. Connect only with people you really want to connect with. Don’t follow just to be followed.
- Tether social media profiles together so you can control multiple profiles from a single control panel or with a single RSS feed.
- Spend no more than 30 minutes a day on social media. Set aside a specific time to update your profiles and reply to people.
- Turn your cell phone off to block unplanned interruptions. Being accessible all the time should not be a badge of honor.
- Use a tool like RescueTime.com to block distracting web sites during periods of focus time.
- Be cautious about spending money on new information, especially if you have information you’ve paid for that you haven’t used yet.
As we sail deeper into the uncharted waters of the 21st Century, I believe one of the keys to success will increasingly become a person’s ability to block out distractions and focus on completing one task at a time.
Ultimately, self-control and constant vigilance win the day.
Why People Are Addicted to Info-Products originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.
How to Capture and Captivate Attention
Posted on 23. Feb, 2010 by Michel Fortin in appearance, Articles, attraction, believability, Blog, comfort, controversy, curiosity, emotion, information, interest, layout, logic, love, picture, prospect, psychology, readership, salesletter, scarcity, sex, shock, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, solution, success, urgency
After completing all of these steps, you then quickly glance at the letter to decide if the letter is worth reading.
If not, you throw it in the garbage.
But if the envelope looks like junk mail, there’s copy on the envelope and it screams “hype,” or the printed address label just says “dear occupant” as the addressee, chances are you won’t even think about opening it and you’ll just throw it away.
However, let’s say the envelope works, curiosity takes over, and the letter does get opened at this point. Once unfolded, though, if it looks like some kind of sales pitch at first glance, not even a single word will likely be read. So into the round file it goes!
Your website is the envelope. What does it say about you?
Actually, studies show that it’s less than one.
There are many aspects, beyond copy, that will cause a letter to be opened and read. Does it look “cartoonish,” with garish-looking typestyles and colors? Does it look like a typical salesletter? Does it seem to come from a trustworthy source?
In other words, is there a logo? A real address? Maybe even a picture of the author? Is there any eye gravity, such as attention-capturing photos or graphics? How does it make you feel? Does the letter make you feel good? Or does it make you feel uneasy?
All those things are important in a direct mail salesletter.
But once you’ve passed that hurdle, then in order to capture and keep people’s attention, one of the important elements of direct mail copy is the headline.
Albeit a crucial component of sales copy, the headline is the last in a series of attempts to get the reader’s attention and “pull them in.” Scientific tests have proven that people make a decision (often called the “halo effect”) within a quarter of a second.
It means that, within literally a fraction of a second, people will make a decision whether to open, read, believe, and buy from your sales message. And that’s true, regardless if the letter is targeted, the copy is topnotch, and the offer is fantastic or not.
That’s why the envelope, the label, the picture, the fonts, the quality of the letter, and any “grabbers” (such as any inserts, liftnotes, gifts, etc), even the overall appearance of the package, are all elements that often precede that all-important headline.
Online, those things are still there.
It’s more than just the look of your website. It’s also the “feel” of it. When people say “the look and feel,” people don’t quite appreciate the latter. Looks are important, true. But how does it make people feel the moment they hit your website? You can’t ignore this.
People make an unconscious decision about you, your website, and your products based on many things — from the logo, the photos, the layout, the color scheme, the typography, even the loading time, to the ease of navigation. And everything in between.
I’m not saying copy is not important. Of course, it is. What I am saying is that the headline, which is the first element to be read and the most important element in copy, is really the last in a series of things they see in this brief attention-getting process.
But when people click on a link or visit a website, and after they’ve gone through this extremely rapid appreciation process, then they immediately see the headline. If you’ve managed to keep them there to this point, then and only then is the headline important.
Online, it happens even faster. There are no mailboxes to go through, no envelopes to tear open, and no unfolding to do before reading it. These steps are nonexistent. The sales message and especially the headline are right there, in their faces.
Those same tests I mentioned earlier discovered that the “halo effect” occurs not within 1/4 of a second, as originally thought, but on the Internet it happens within 1/20 of one.
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense.
Look at websites as newspapers instead of unsolicited direct mail pieces. Most often, you actually seek the newspaper out. You see it on the newsstand, glance at the headlines, and make the effort to pick it up. The web is the same to a large extent.
Whether you’re visiting a website by intentionally clicking on a link or entering the address into your browser, you are directly visiting the message with the full anticipation of reading it once you’re there. You’re eager if not at least curious to digest it.
You’re in a different state of mind when reading the newspaper than when reading a direct mail piece. (Even when the piece is solicited, the steps one must go through, from mailbox to sales pitch, is the same. In other words, there are more of them.)
A newspaper, on the other hand, is already open, with the front page, above-the-fold message right in front of you. It’s filled with photos and bold news headlines, ready to grab your attention, build your interest, and persuade you into buying it.
Like the newspaper, if the first-screen, uppermost section of a website’s home page doesn’t pull you into the copy (or cause you to scroll further), you will click away.
And you would do so faster than you would throw a direct mail piece into the garbage!
And like newspapers, you don’t read websites. Instead, you scan. If you’re like most people, you skim through the newspaper to look for stories that interest you. And you do so by quickly checking the headlines, pictures, and any headers the newspaper contains.
Plus, you can manipulate a print publication in order to fit your reading style. You can spread it out on a tabletop, where stories that interest you are easily and quickly accessible. That way, you can scan an entire piece or newspaper at a single glance.
Online, to read further you can only do one thing: scroll. So the desire to skim and scroll a website is greater than a printed piece. Therefore, once you’ve passed that important “envelope” hurdle, the need to capture the reader’s attention is exceedingly faster.
Crafting a great headline that immediately captures the prospect’s attention is critical to your message’s success. It may be the last in a series of attention-grabbing steps, but since there are less of them it is therefore important your headline works harder online.
In other words, online the headline’s role is ostensibly greater.
If the prospect hits your front page and does not immediately “feel” a need to read any further, she’ll leave at the single click of a mouse. No second thoughts. No wasting time. No hesitation. The rest of the AIDA formula goes straight down the tubes.
Writing headlines is the most important — and oftentimes the hardest — part of salescopy to write. There are as many ways to write great headlines as there are salesletters. So for the sake of brevity, let’s stick to the top three most important ones.
They are three sets of human qualities to which you can cater in order to increase the attention factor in your copy. Use them, and your readership will increase. They are…
The Three Greatest Human Goals
Everybody wants more time, money, and energy. From the headline to the opening copy of the letter, one effective way to capture attention is to focus on three core goals almost all humans have, which are to either save or make 1) time, 2) money, or 3) effort.
If your headline instantly communicates something that can help your reader to make money, save time, work less, make things easier, get things done faster, spend less energy, and so on, your chances of having your copy read will be greater.
The Three Greatest Human Desires
This should be the most important one of the three, but it’s second since it may not appeal to everyone. However, this particular set of “three’s” is very potent. And that’s not an understatement at all. Reason is, it appeals to dominant emotions, desires, and fears.
For example, take supermarket magazines. You’ll notice headlines on the cover or front page almost always cater to any of these three. Take a moment to read the cover of Cosmo, Men’s Health, Vanity Fair, National Enquirer, etc to see what I mean.
Headlines and even ads in these types of newspapers, which are often long copy advertorials, more often than not cater to the three human desires. They are 1) greed, 2) lust and 3) comfort. If you incorporate any of the three, you will boost your attention-factor.
Here are some examples:
- “How to make $1,678 with my system!”
- “How to save thousands usually wasted on utilities.”
- “How to melt away those ugly, unwanted pounds fast!”
- “How to make him/her fall in love with you all over again!”
- “How to build a web business in only 14 days.”
- “How to write breathtaking copy in minutes!”
By the way, you may ask, “Mike, isn’t ‘comfort’ similar to ‘less effort’ you mentioned earlier under ‘goals’?” In terms of desires or feelings, look at comfort as the opposite of fear. Avoidance of fear is a powerful desire. Think of it as a need for security and safety.
Your aim is to instill fear in the minds of your readers, or to bring it to the top of their minds, in order to offer them a solution that will comfort them and allay those fears, such as the fear of loss, the fear of death, the fear of failure, and so on.
Granted, there are other core desires. These are simply the top three. Plus, these three may seem somewhat general and categorical, but there are also many variations, too. Don’t limit yourself the direct definition of these three. Think about what they imply.
For example, “greed” may not necessarily involve money. It may include prestige, ownership, pride, options, etc. “Lust” may be to feel good about oneself, such as a lust for life and not just sex — like health, well-being, advancement, sociability, esteem, etc.
Nevertheless, if your headline contains a hint or a slant of any of these three, you’re a step ahead. You can cater to any of these three in a number of different ways. If you want some help, simply think about Maslow pyramid of human motives to get you started.
Finally, the last three are…
The Three Greatest Human Teasers
Of all the attention-capturing devices out there, these three are often the most effective. Why? Because the first three cater to human needs, and the next three to human motives. But these three cater to human nature. Good ol’ human psychology.
I call them the three provokers or arousers, if you will. These three elements stir. They pique, push, and prod. They mesmerize and hypnotize. They fire up hormones and tug heartstrings. Why? Because they cater to three fundamental human characteristics.
They are: 1) curiosity, 2) controversy, and 3) scarcity. Try to add an element of any of these three and you will boost your chances that the reader will be sucked into your copy will increase substantially. Even better, mix them with any of the above six.
In terms of curiosity, don’t mention everything to your readers at the beginning — give them ample information to pique their curiosity but not too much so that it pulls them in. People are intrinsically curious. So use this to your advantage.
Leave some interesting tidbit out or keep them on the edge of their seats, hanging onto every word, eager to read further. Be intriguing, fascinating, puzzling, etc.
For instance, say, “Discover these nine most closely guarded secrets for tripling website sales in less than 26 days!” People will then wonder, “What are these nine secrets? I want to know what they are!” And they’ll read your sales letter, intently, to find them.
Second, controversy is something that works extremely well. If your copy addresses something that stirs people’s emotions or causes certain “lights to go off” in their heads, you can pull them into the copy just as effectively as any of the other elements, above.
Howard Stern, a well-known radio “shock jock,” was one of the first to break many of the rules while on the air. In his semi-autobiography, “Private Parts,” the story goes that people who loved him had a tendency to listen to his show for about an hour.
But people who hated him listened up to two or three hours, or more.
Maybe it’s because they wanted to see what he’ll say next. Maybe it’s because they wanted more ammunition to bring the guy down. But whatever the reason is, Stern’s highly controversial approach undoubtedly made him extraordinarily rich and famous.
While you may want to stay away from the more sensitive topics (politics and religion come to mind), you can use milder forms of controversy — such as piggy-backing on current events, hot issues, popular trends, newsworthy topics, etc.
Using a bit of controversy in your approach will help build your case and create an almost instant desire to read your copy. You can add a shocking news item, make an outrageous claim, offer an unique twist, or make an unbelievable statement.
There are many ways to be controversial without being rude, condescending, or unethical. The key is not to make people hate you or love you, but to get people to read your copy. The body copy is where you can substantiate, explain, clarify, etc.
Often, brilliant copywriters will tie their copy to a recent event or some controversial subject. Sometimes, the angle they choose has nothing to do with the overall topic discussed in the letter. Not directly, anyway. But it’s quite effective to pull them in.
Now, I’m not talking about those infamous ads that start with the headline that says “SEX!” And the first line goes on with, “Now that I have your attention, keep reading…”
No. I’m talking about a headline that’s relevant but not necessarily the focal point.
Not long after 9/11, many ads, commercials, and websites have surfaced that capitalized on that recent, tragic event to sell security equipment, self-defense products, public transportation other than air travel, home alarms, and the like.
Another caveat: I’m not talking about profiting off the misery of others. I’m talking about using copy ethically to take advantage of your market’s current level of awareness about a certain hot topic. As the blacksmith says, you hit the iron while it’s hot.
Controversy can also be something significant or slight, or simply funny or different, such as with the use of a personal story, a unique angle, or an original twist.
Think of the times you’ve seen a story about someone starting an online business. While that may sound a little trivial (and usually, it is), it isn’t if that person suffers from some kind of disability or is raising 10 children at home. The odds seem to be against them.
Years ago, a client of mine, an inventor, was trying to promote a backpack with special straps he created. These straps made carrying backpacks a little more comfortable, distributed the weight more evenly, and were less strenuous on the shoulders and back.
After some research, I realized that his invention was born from a personal need. He was an amputee and lost one leg in a car accident. But he didn’t want that seeming disadvantage to hinder his love of hiking. So he created his special backpack straps.
I told him to use his lack of one leg as being the inspiration behind his creation. So, the copy’s headline opened with: “One-legged man lightens people’s loads!”
Finally, adding an element of scarcity to your copy is to somehow limit the offer by making it time-sensitive, quantity-bound, urgent, or scarce in some way. Naturally, the easiest way to do this is to add a deadline or put a cap on the number of sales.
But don’t just limit yourself to quantities or time. You can even make the offer something that’s secretive, exclusive, unheard of, inherently scarce, or otherwise unavailable to the general public, which can arouse stronger motives in the psyche of your readers.
It’s about adding a realistic sense of urgency, and not making it urgent in itself.
But in order to give your added sense of urgency some credibility and believability, never just leave it as a plain limit. Always back up your deadline, limitation, or scarcity with some kind of logical, commonsensical justification, lest it make your claim suspect.
Ultimately, remember that your headline is the most important element in your copy. Try infusing it with any of the three elements above, and you will improve the attraction factor, instill credibility, and increase your copy’s readership and response.
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