My friend Golibemade a great video this week exploring the power of a compelling story.
He briefly highlighted a point I haven’t heard too many gurus talk about:
How “unfair injury” connects you to a story character.
Golibe’s video just touched on the concept briefly, and it inspired me to expand on the idea a little more.
Because it’s a subtle but hard-hitting persuasion tactic.
It’s a key reason we form emotional bonds with characters (even if we don’t realize it) in countless books, movies and even marketing material.
In The Story Solution, Eric Edson says:
“After courage, the second quickest way to bond an audience to your hero is to place that character in a situation where blatant injustice is inflicted upon her.”
This isn’t necessarily the same thing as the “rags to riches” story arc. There are levels to this.
Let me share an example.
I worked with a few years ago who was paralyzed from the waist down as a teenager.
We occasionally mentioned that fact in sales copy. It was the catalyst that drove him to learn the skill he turned into 3 multimillion-dollar business.
One day, the client had the idea to take the story to another level.
He talked about how a group of older teens beat him so badly that he’d never walk again. Then the medical bills crushed his family financially. And that series of events forced him to do something different…
Fleshing out the unfair injury kept people glued to their screens and practically forced viewers to root for my client.
Sales on that webinar were off the charts. (I don’t remember the stats, but I get there were fewer returns, too.
You can use unfair injury to draw readers/viewers into your copy and keep them emotionally engaged.
Share painful stories — and especially of injustices — against your main character. The more vivid the better.
Maybe your boss gave the promotion you deserved to someone else. Better yet, she gave it to the new guy the one who always wears tight shirts — the guy YOU TRAINED.
There are a thousand variations.
As long as the story is believable, your reader/viewer’s heart will go out to your character, which advances the sale.
That’s your homework: Spend some time thinking about how you can use unfair injury in your own marketing.
It’s not the only trick you’ll use. But it’s a good one to have in your repertoire.
Have a productive day!
P.S. Presenting a perfect picture of yourself in your promotions is less persuasive than you probably think.
I know, it’s a little scary to tell your darker stories.
But it works. It can help you with sales now and retention/ascension over time.
Your ideal clients will feel even more connected to you. They’ll be even more excited to hear from you.
I promised this post would explore a kind of urgency that goes deeper than deadlines and emergency situations and cuts to the emotional core of your ideal customer.
Let’s go back to Jonah.
His attitudes and actions are also fascinating illustrations of urgency’s other side.
As you remember, your boy did NOT want to go to Ninevah.
He was happy about its coming destruction. And he knew if he did his job as a prophet, the LORD might spare the city.
You know the story. Jonah hopped on a boat to get as far away from Ninevah as possible… but he couldn’t avoid delivering the warning forever.
And his fear came to pass. The people repented and God was merciful.
Throughout this story, there’s an intense battle of urgency going on in Jonah’s mind.
On one hand, he was convinced if he did what he was put on earth to do… the outcome would be transformational.
He even complained to God after the fact: “I knew this was going to happen. That’s why I got on that boat in the first place!”
On the other hand, Jonah’s actions were driven by his (cultural and spiritual) identity and his attachment to it.
Why didn’t he want the people of Ninevah to “turn from their evil ways”?
As he saw it, God was on his side, not theirs. Mercy for them was a threat to his identity.
So when God spared the city, Jonah expressed it’d better for him to die than to accept a different perspective.
Like Jonah, we’re all attached to our identities.
We’ll go to extreme lengths to protect ourselves from threats and to take actions that line up with how we perceive ourselves (or a future version of ourselves we desperately want).
It’s an urgent need.
Here’s the lesson:
1. When you pursue your purpose so intently… when you become so convinced of the transformation that’s possible when you share your message, product or service…
The urgency of who you are and why you do what you do comes through in your communications in a way that’s impossible to fake.
Every interaction and all your communications resonate with it. Your Ninevah, the people you’re here to help, will feel that urgency and respond.
2. Get familiar with your ideal customer so that you have a solid understanding of how he sees himself and his place in the world.
That identity is a key driver of many of decisions, including the content he consumes, the products and services he buys, and how he connects with experts like you.
What’s the future version he urgently wants to grow into? What role can you play in helping him get there?
That’s a different, deeper way to leverage urgency in your sales copy and marketing.
P.S. If your business is related to the reason you were put on this planet, don’t run away from your “Ninevah.”
Believe in the transformation that you can help create and move boldly forward.
I believe 100% in treating prospects with honesty and respect.
So I’m curious to know what you think about this…
It’s one of the worst mistakes in the history of modern retail.
Back in 2012, JCPenney CEO Ron Johnson decided to eliminate coupons from the department store’s business.
Up until that point, Penney put coupons in newspapers, credit card statements in the mail and online. They were a major driver of sales.
Johnson slashed prices 20-25% on most products companywide to make up the difference. He figured customers would appreciate the built-in savings.
If you’ve studied marketing you can guess what happened — which means you’re more insightful than at least one Fortune 500 CEO.
The strategy flopped hard.
Sales dropped almost 25% and Johnson left the company to “look for other opportunities.”
I remember it like it was yesterday.
At the time, I worked in the stockroom at JCPenney, unloading trucks full of clothing at 3am (I haven’t always been able to pay survive purely on copywriting income).
My stockroom job got whole lot easier because we sold through much less product.
I also remember JCPenney hiring a mob of temporary employees to remove the price tags from all the merchandise in the stores…
Marking prices BACK UP to their pre-Johnson levels…
And starting to send out coupons again.
Revenue popped. Customers came back, happier. And the company tried to forget what happened.
Lots of Lessons. But here’s the main point
Decision-making is not a rational process.
In this instance, customers preferred cutting out a coupon to save $20 on a $60 sweater over walking into a store and picking up the same sweater for $40.
They were happier because they FELT the savings.
So they bought more frequently. And JCPenney raked in more cash.
I’ve been watching Love is Blind… purely for research purposes.
Whether or not you enjoy this sort of entertainment, you can learn a lot by studying the content people have strong emotional reactions to, positive or negative.
(This is why a Netflix subscription should be tax deductible for marketers.)
We’re going to tackle the show’s most captivating aspect:
How can people fall in love & decide to get married in 10 days or less?
Because we want your should-be customers to fall in love with you enough to give you money… as quickly as possible.
The dynamics at play are FASCINATING — useful for your marketing efforts, too.
I’d like to share 5 actionable insights to make people fall for you fast.
These insights will be valuable for you even ifyou’ve never seen an episode of the show.
Check them out in the following video or read about them below.
Or both.
1. Pick the right folks (or let them select themselves)
One of the biggest reasons Love Is Blind “works” is that the producers have curated people looking for the specific outcome:
They want to find the love of their lives. They’re frustrated with the polluted dating pool and they’re actively looking for a solution.
As a marketing concept, this seems basic. But it’s shocking how often we lose sight of it.
In the first place, make sure your offer is something people have a strong desire for. It should help them achieve a dream they already have… or eliminate a pain point they’re already frustrated about.
You don’t need everyone to buy your product/service. Concentrate on the small percentage of the population that’s actively looking for the transformation you produce.
You could argue the Couples on Love Is Blind don’t really fall in love in mere days. Which is probably true. But they certainly develop strong attachments at warp speed.
And they do so based solely on the words they hear in their conversations.
One of the comments you hear on the show constantly is that cast members feel that their future fiancé knows them better than anyone else in their lives.
They feel understood. The feel seen. (Ironic, right?)
Humans crave that feeling… and we attach ourselves to those who make us feel that way.
You can use your words to have a similar effect in your marketing.
And that’s exactly what you need to do to make your prospects fall in love with your business or offer.
It’s more than just using “power words” or hyping up your product or service. It’s communicating a deep understanding, shared values and painting a vivid picture of the beautiful future that’s possible with you.
There’s another theory I feel like we need to address.
Another reason cast member fall in love so quickly can at least be partially explained by a psychological theory called “object relations.”
To keep it easy-breezy, object relations theory describes how someone can instantly form a deep emotional bond with a new person because the new person reminds them of an important emotional experience or relationship from their past.
Most people are constantly looking to recreate that feeling (even if they don’t consciously think about it) in the present.
Now…
It’s impossible to predict how this will work, especially when marketing to groups of people who each have their own unique pasts.
But what you can get close by going for nostalgia.
When you understand your ideal customer, you can predict certain things from the past they likely have strong feelings about.
Work these into your marketing… and even into you own personal brand.
For example, if you know your best customers loved Axel Foley in the 80’s… see if you can embody some of his characteristics in the way you present yourself.
It’s more powerful than you might think.
Google shared data finding that 75% of GenXers watch YouTube to relive the good ol’ days.
Think about ways you can add nostalgia to your marketing to attract prospects, hold their attention and (hopefully) win their business.
3. Use scarcity to position yourself as “The One”
One of the biggest motivators for cast members on Love Is Blind is that they have limited options… and they know it. There are just 15 men and 15 women in the group – and there’s plenty of potential competition.
Having too many options can prevent you from ever moving forward. You may always be looking for the next best thing.
Scarcity helps you focus.
There’s two ways you can use scarcity to help your ideal customers fall in love with you quickly.
Position yourself in a niche where you have few, if any, competitors. No one else delivers exactly what you do… for the exact people you do it for.
Use real limits in your business. Produce a limited quantity of a product… work with a limited number of clients… put a cap on the number of attendees of an event.
Don’t make up fake scarcity to trick people. Honest scarcity can be a spectacular motivator.
4. Commit to spending “Quality Time”
No matter how fast they fall in love, couples on Love Is Blind have to spend quality time together. The more time, the faster they build the bond.
You don’t really see it on the show, but the reality is that cast members can spend as much time as they like in the pods with the people they want to talk to. They don’t have to cram everything into 60-minute daily sessions or anything like that.
The same thing is true for you as an entrepreneur. Your prospects and customers need to spend time with you. It may be less time than you think, but you can’t expect to maximize your relationship with (and profit from) them with just an occasional text message.
You need to be consistent & frequent in your outreach.
The more “love letters” you send… the more marathon phone conversations… the more moonlit walks on the beach… the faster they can fall in love with you.
If you need help coming up with more ideas about topics to write about for emails and social content, check out Inbox X-Factor.
You’ll get access to weekly content plans (so you’ll ALWAYS have a timely topic to write about), proven subject line templates, video trainings and more.
5. Urgency
The Love Is Blind experiment would fall apart if cast members were given an infinite amount of time to propose marriage.
Cast members know they have a short amount of time – just 10 days – to get what they came for. They have to be decisive & take action to avoid missing out.
Urgency also works in marketing. Set real deadlines. Use (honest) countdown timers.
Let people know they don’t have an eternity to make a choice
Using urgency the right way can help everyone get what they want faster, both in relationships and in marketing.
There you go.
I hope you’ll take time TODAY to think about how you can put these insights into practice in your business.
Because they really can maximize the speed with which prospects become paying customers… the amount of money they’re eager to spend with you…
And the positive impact you’re able to have in their lives.
It’s also going to make some people a pile of money.
You get to decide which group you’re in.
(Hypothetically, you can be in both groups. Be angry and sin not.)
I’m going to share one surprising statistic (which you may have heard by now)…
One high-impact implication of that statistic…
And two action steps to leverage the current state of things into that pile of money I mentioned a second ago.
Here’s the startling statistic:
TikTok is now the #1 website on the planet in terms of traffic.
Maybe you aren’t surprised. I was straight-up flabbergasted.
But I shouldn’t have been.
Because, this lines up precisely with one of the lessons I’m constantly promoting:
Entertainment (which is so much more than just humor) is increasingly essential if you want to get and keep people’s attention.
And you can’t get anyone’s money legally without getting and keeping their attention.
Next point.
Google has FELT unbeatable as the world’s top website. People need to know stuff or find stuff, and Big G dominates as a provider of answers and information.
I’m no TikTok expert, but it doesn’t seem particularly search-based (that’s standard for social media).
The platform intentionally and aggressively serves you novel content… and although your interactions inform what the algorithm delivers…
The masses – probably including your should-be buyers – are making time in their schedules for this content… at the same time as complaining there aren’t enough hours in the day.
Think about it.
That doesn’t mean you need to start a TikTok account. That’s up to you to decide.
If you go that route, just watch the ROI on the time you spend there and make the right decision for you.
(Entertainment/enjoyment IS value, so you gotta factor that in, too.)
Here Are Your Action Steps
1. Your potential clients crave entertainment. And they’re going to get it somewhere. Might as well get it from YOU.
Again, that doesn’t just mean humor. It definitely doesn’t mean you have to dance on camera.
Don’t expect people to pay attention to you for long when there are more entertaining options out there. You can be more qualified, more intelligent, more honest… and still lose.
2. Millions of people open TikTok every day… to see videos from people they don’t even follow. The algorithm FORCES videos on users.
So when people say they only want one email a week from you…
Don’t just believe them.
Most of your readers will likely consume your content (email or otherwise) every single day… as long as you’re sending them stuff crave as much as their next TikTok binge.
Shoot, you could even send them an email linking to your latest Tiktok video.
It’s not time to be shy.
It’s time to step up to the plate and consistently deliver valuable marketing and content in packaging your people will devour.
I don’t often do this, but I’m going to share a “shocking” prediction for 2022 that I believe could have a significant impact on your business.
But first, let me tell you a quick story.
It’s actually one of my favorite stories. My own Michael Jordan in Game 6 vs. Utah Jazz moment.
When I was a junior in high school, I was captain of an intramural basketball team — and I predicted my team would win the championship before the first game of the season.
I’ll spare you most of the details and get to the good stuff.
My team marched to the semifinals… and I caught mononucleosis. The doctor told me I could absolutely NOT play basketball. Any rough physical contact could rupture my internal organs.
I canceled prom… and my date never spoke to me again.
But I couldn’t miss the semifinals game. Especially after guaranteeing a championship.
If you’ve ever had mono, you know it drains your energy like leaving your car’s headlights on overnight. So the game was a hard slog. Probably the same way Jordan felt like in Game 6.
You’re going to think I’m making this up, but it’s 100% fact.
My team was down by 2 and I knocked down a 15-foot buzzer-beater to send the game into overtime, where we dismantled the other squad. Then we went on to win the title. Just as I had predicted.
Today, I’m going to make my biggest prediction since the beginning of that basketball season 21 years ago.
If you’ve been skimming til this point, this is where you want to pay attention. I’m going to tell you which…
Entrepreneurs & Marketers I Believe Will WIN in 2022
More importantly, how you can be one of the big winners.
Here it is:
The entrepreneurs who win will be the ones who:
1. understand their core buyers at a deep level
2. communicate that deep understanding to their core buyers — not just use the data for targeting/segmenting purposes (although that’s important)
AND
3. demonstrate that they are “in this together” with their core buyers — whatever that means in their particular industries.
At first glance, this may not seem like a shocking prediction after all. But I urge you to think about this with me for just a minute.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve seen a flood of new businesses, new technologies, new options… and rapid adoption of all the newness among consumers.
More than ever before, there is something for everyone online.
At the same time, we see increased polarization of people around the world. Politically, scientifically, socially.
Folks are cliquing up and forming profound bonds with their “groups.”
In 2022 and beyond, you’ll see this trend impacting commerce more and more.
People will gravitate toward, spend money within and pledge undying loyalty to “micro-communities” where they feel understood… appreciated… even SUPERIOR to outsiders.
I don’t have statistically significant data to prove this, but I am confident that having the “best” product or service won’t be enough in 2022.
Having the “best marketed” offer won’t do it, either.
If you want to win the future, it’s going to be essential to work on developing the “best connected” offer — specifically tailored for your core clientele and obviously repellent to “outsiders” (real or imagined).
I think it’s going to be trickier than ever to be a “faceless” impersonal company. Even if you’re a plumber or contractor.
Think about it. Everyone knows Tesla’s CEO. Who’s the CEO of Toyota again?
Even Zuckerberg is trying craft a more likable public persona.
This is the way the wind’s blowing, my friend.
Take it from a guy who calls intramural championships like Babe Ruth calling home runs.
P.S. I know what you’re saying.
I can’t bring up all this micro-community stuff and skip out on helping you figure out how to actually DO IT.
Well, if you’re curious, you’re just going to have to stay tuned.
If you know me, you know I’m not usually one for bragging.
But I crossed the $100 million in sales (in my career, not in a year) in late September — and I allowed the spirit of pride to rise up in me…
And I started plotting a way to casually mention it to… everyone.
The timing couldn’t have been much worse, though.
Because at that exact same time, all the folks who’d earned a plaque at the Funnel Hacking Live event started posting their pictures.
I figured my plaque-lacking self would look goofy bragging about my achievement from my office chair…
While so many other people celebrated on stage at one of the year’s biggest marketing conferences.
(This is why you gotta stay humble!)
Is there a point to this story? YES. Two actually.
1. Celebrate your wins, big and small. Don’t wait 2 months to do it like I did. And don’t wait until you get props from Russell Brunson or anyone else — no shade to the Two Comma Club.
2. Whenever you’re feeling down or thinking about giving up… remember those wins.
Think about how far you’ve come. It’s amazing, right?
Truth is, you’re not like most people.
You took a chance (or you’re about to take it) and bet on yourself. You’ve mustered up the courage to go after your dreams and build something that can impact your corner of the world.
That’s not easy. Your courage and contribution deserves to be celebrated.
The celebration starts with you.
No copywriting lesson today (unless your takeaway is that bragging about your wins is good for credibility).
Just encouragement to make sure you’re adequately celebrating you.
