Donnie Bryant - Direct Response Copywriter

Read Part 1 of Unexpected Insight for the Christian Entrepreneur.

"On hearing it, many of his disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?' Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, 'Does this offend you?'

"From this time many... turned back and no longer followed him." - John 6:60-61,67 (NIV)

Although Jesus' words were meant for everyone, they weren't accepted by everyone. In fact, scripture says that many people deserted Him because of His teaching.

Was this a surprise? Of course not. Verse 64 indicates that Jesus knew some would stumble. So why did He say what He did, knowing that He would alienate a significant portion of His audience?

Because the truth is the truth, no matter who rejects it. The truth will appeal to some and offend others. But the essential message itself must never be changed or watered down to make it more palatable to a wider "market."

What in the world does this have to do with your business? More than you may think. Take a look at these sections of 2 Charles Atlas advertisements from 1935:




Can you think of anyone who might find these ads offensive? Did the potential backlash stop him from running them (and making a huge impact on the culture of the day)? Clearly not.

Atlas wasn't worried about the people who might not like what he had to say. He wasn't trying to convince them of anything. But the men who could relate to these messages were more than happy to send him money.
 
This is what Charles Atlas stood for, and he became an icon taking that stand in his unique, in-your-face manner.

So, what's at the heart of your business, product or service? What do you stand for? Boldly take your stand right there, even though some people won't like it.

(Example: In the copywriting arena, there's always the long copy vs. short copy debate, or direct marketing vs. Madison Avenue-style general advertising. It's simple enough to pick a side, and when you do, you immediately inherit opponents.)

There are 3 kinds of people you'll encounter: 1) people who want what you offer, and with whom you can have a mutually profitable relationship, 2) those who never intend to buy from you and 3) people who don't know you. If you want your business to become everything it's capable of becoming, you need to tell your story, stand up for your position and be yourself. You and your message will resonate strongly with the people in group #1.

Who cares about group #2? Does it matter if they hate your ads or are offended by your stance on issues? 

Individuals in the 3rd group will self-select their way into one of the first 2 groups when they get to know you.

Here's the thing: if you dilute your message to appeal to everyone, it's more difficult to tell the difference between people who are really with you and the ones that are "tire kickers."

"Hard sayings" have a way of pre-qualifying your crowd.

In His 3 year earthly ministry, Jesus never backed away from the speaking the truth, even when it was harsh. As a result, He made more enemies than true followers. But in the subsequent months and years, those faithful few turned the world upside down for Him.

So here's the point (which I've probably taken too long to get to): you can water down your message or choose not to take a bold stance on issues that are important to you, and you'll get a bigger crowd. But that crowd will be full of the lukewarm.

On the other hand, you can tell your story full-strength and create fired-up disciples and evangelists along with some folks who really dislike you and your cause. But there will be no lukewarmness.

Which way will you choose?

"The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD." - Proverbs 21:31 (NIV)

There is an interesting dynamic at play that Christian entrepreneurs in every industry have to deal with: finding a balance between taking action and having faith in God as Provider. How do we avoid going to one extreme or the other?

The verse above paints a clear picture we can apply to our business lives.

As people of faith, we know that God has promised to supply all of our needs (Philippians 4:19), and we should trust Him fully for this provision. But does that mean we sit idle and wait for Him to do all the work? Obviously not.

Ultimately, victory and success comes from His hand. (That's even true for people who don't believe it!) But He still expects us to "make the horse ready for battle." It's less a matter of God "helping those who help themselves" (which isn't in the Bible, by the way), and more an issue of cooperating with what He wants to do.

In most cases, the Lord uses His people to accomplish his will in the world. He works through us. E.M. Bounds said that "Men are God's method...When God declares that "the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him," he declares the necessity of men and his dependence on them as a channel through which to exert his power upon the world."

He wants us to be willing co-workers (1 Corinthians 3:9).

What does that mean?

It means do your part. If you want to win the battle, you have to prepare the horses. If you want to get customers, you have to market your products or services. If you want to retain clients, you have to treat them right and provide them with real value.

Do the best work you possibly can, then leave the results up to your Provider.

Read Part 2 of Unexpected Insight for the Christian Entrepreneur.

When people say to me, "the economy sucks," I ask them, "Whose economy?"

That's not to say that time aren't hard: they most certainly are. But not everyone is suffering. (Hence the Occupy movement.)

Rather than curse the macro-ecomony, you'll get much better results focusing on improving your personal economy.

To that end, I'm teaming up with a group of 6 brilliant entrepreneurs to deliver a series of webinars and teleseminars designed to help you give your business the boost you need to make 2012 your best year yet.

You may already recognize some of the names: Mike Seddon, Ian Brodie, Dov Gordon, Bnonn Tennant, Bill Silverman, Steve Washer. These are some of the smartest business minds I know. I'm blessed to have the opportunity to mastermind with them periodically.

Now I want to share their knowledge and expertise with you.

Visit The Magnificent Seven Ride to find out more about my colleagues and our upcoming presentations.

You won't want to miss these. We'll be covering topics such as:

• video marketing
• conversion rate optimization
• creating consistent flows of customers
• pay per click advertising
• persuasion
• and more.

I'm signed up to attend all 6 of the sessions. Well, 7 if you count mine.

Hope to see you there!

People love to buy but they hate being sold.

You're familiar with the instinctive reflex: when potential clients or customers feel a sales pitch coming on, they start putting up the defenses.

No selling means no business, so how do you get past the ever-present sales resistance?

Start selling in stealth mode. That's the topic of my newest e-book.

Stealth Selling: The Coach's Edition explains the psychological roots of sales resistance. Once you understand how it works, you'll be able to defeat it. Then you'll learn leverage point that enable you to turn the force of the resistance against itself, effectively neutralizing it.

Rather than trying to blast through the walls of resistance, you'll learn to slip through undetected.

Lots of valuable information, specifically designed to help you become more persuasive when selling and marketing.

Find out more by visiting StealthSellingBook.com.

P.S. If you'd like a "taste test" of the solid content you'll get in the book, here are two free sections:

The Strongest Incentive
Teach A Man To Fish

Enjoy!