Month: February 2021

This Story Can Put Money In Your Pocket

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“Did you seriously tip that waiter 37 percent?”

Wifey is clearly irritated with me… mainly because we’ve had this conversation before.

“Did I? I didn’t do the math. I just gave a flat $50.” Which is true, but we both knew that I knew I overtipped for our anniversary dinner.

I promised my queen I’d stop “showing off”…

Which explains why she was annoyed when the credit card company sent a message asking if the charge was legit.

But I did it anyway.

So why the heck did I do it?

I was manipulated by the waiter!

And it was so smooth I didn’t even realize what happened until 4 days later.

(It’s possible the manipulation wasn’t intentional, but I doubt it. I’m bet he uses this routine all the time to put more cash in his pocket.)

Here’s the short version of what happened:

We ate at a nice steakhouse in downtown Chicago. Food was amazing and the service was top notch. The guy was attentive, funny, even charming. Very likeable.

As we’re getting close to finishing the meal, the waiter points out a group of men hanging out at the bar… and he starts to tell me a story.

This is so doggone smooth…

He says the group remind him of another group of guys who didn’t want to leave the bar when the restaurant was closing one night.

The ringleader was a high roller. He’d spent about $8 grand on drinks that night. Tipped the bartender $1,000 and the waiter (the guy taking care of us) a couple hundred. Everyone loved the guy. But they didn’t want to keep the bar open all night for him.

Conveniently, the exterminator arrived for their monthly inspection, and our waiter concocted a ruse to convince Mr. Money Bags everyone had to leave.

And everyone lived happily ever after.

See the trick?

The story felt very natural. I couldn’t detect any ulterior motive. It was just another way our waiter was entertaining us during dinner.

But through the story, he introduced a couple insidious ideas:

  • Patrons of this restaurant are big tippers.
  • Waiters recognize your status by now much you tip… and you don’t want to be a man with lower status, do you?
  • Big spenders are admired — and have stories told about them.

He said all that without explicitly saying any of it. And there was zero pressure.

Masterful manipulation for maximum tip.

Let’s call it “maTIPulation.”

Long story short…

Stories can be the powerful persuasive tools.

Use them wisely.

P.S. Want help writing story-based emails that put money in your pocket? Inbox X-Factor is a good place to start.

The Whistledown Effect: 3 Copywriting Insights from Bridgerton

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So, this writer got tricked into watching Bridgerton a couple weeks ago.

Have you watched it? (If not, don’t worry. There are no spoilers here.)

Personally, I didn’t feel like it lived up to the hype.

That won’t stop me from getting a Duke of Hastings costume for Halloween. Think I can pull it off?

Seriously though…

There was one element I found really compelling, and it can boost your profitability if you can emulate it.

I’ve dubbed it the Whistledown Effect

A.K.A, how to get everyone in town to read your letters.

Now, if you haven’t seen the show, Lady Whistledown is the character who more or less drives the entire plot. She writes and distributes a gossip column that has the whole ‘Ton buzzing.

That column is the only reason the main characters get together in the first place.

So what’s the secret? How does Lady Whistledown get everyone to voraciously read every word she writes?

More importantly, how can you use the Whistledown Effect to get (and keep) more eyeballs on your copy and content?

Here are a few keys:

1. Talk about your reader

In Bridgerton, Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers are all about the people in town. You never knew when you’d see your name pop up.

When you write copy or content, it’s should be all about the reader. You may not be calling them by name (although it’s a good idea to use personalization where possible)…

You should write about the issues your reader is facing in his life today… the pains and problems he wants to get rid of… the dreams and desires he wants so badly to attain.

He needs to be able to see himself, his reality and his desired outcome in the copy you send him.

Too many entrepreneurs focus on themselves, their products or their business. The reader doesn’t care much about those things. And why should he?

If you want the reader’s attention and continued interest, talk about him and those things that concern him specifically.

2. Reveal juicy secrets

Whistledown also dropped bombshells about the hidden personal lives of Bridgerton characters — including the Queen herself. Humans have a hard time resisting secrets.

Your copy should at least at secret things. Lessons the reader won’t hear anywhere else. Hidden solutions no one else knows about. Facades that have everyone fooled… but you’re about to enlighten them about.

Of course, you may not reveal the secret until after the reader hits the buy button.

3. Be surprising

If the reader thinks he knows what you’re going to talk about, or he knows the secret you plan to unveil, he’s a lot less likely to pay attention.  He already knows that stuff.

Be unpredictable.
Be polarizing.
Ruffle some feathers.

Think of the great marketers and communicators you know. You were never sure what they were going to say or how they might say it. But you knew it would be good.

Lady Whistledown rarely disappointed. That’s why her readers were so rabidly loyal.

Dear reader, make sure every message you craft has something surprising in it.

It’s worth the time you invest in doing so.

Super Bowl-Inspired Marketing Ideas

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Quick one for you today.

I honestly didn’t realize the big game was happening yesterday, but that won’t stop me from jumping on the “lessons from the Super Bowl” trend.

Here are a few marketing concepts you can better appreciate right after a public spectacle like this.

You can probably guess what a direct response guy like me is going to say. But you’d be wrong today. ?

1. It’s helpful to build an audience

Word on the street is that 30-second commercial spots during the game cost $5.5 million.

Why? Because there are literally millions of eyeballs glued to the screen to see them. And people are trained to actually watch these commercials. Where else does that happen?

The lesson for you, of course, is to start building your own audience — preferably an email list. Get intentional, even aggressive about it.

Your list (and the interest+trust you’ve earned from it) is your greatest asset as a business owner.

2. Focus on entertainment value (which makes #1 easier)

This is about both the game and the commercials.

All those millions of people watch because they want to be entertained. That’s really the only benefit they get from watching — especially for people who didn’t have parties this year.

People have been conditioned to pay attention to advertising messages during the Super Bowl because they’re designed to be entertaining.

How profitable they are is debatable (and in many cases impossible to determine).

But there’s no debate that entertaining marketing messages CAN be profitable. In fact, I’d argue that pretty much all entrepreneurs would benefit from adding some entertainment value to their marketing… and a majority are actively hurting themselves by neglecting to do so.

People have better things to do than be bored by your marketing in 2021

3. Leverage the “love-hate” in your target audience

The moment I realized the game was today was when my next door neighbor told me “I hope Brady loses tonight. I’m tired of that guy.“

A good percentage of Super Bowl viewers felt the same way.

That love-to-hate character is in itself entertaining. People will pay attention to your message if you talk to them about something or someone they’re ready to see eat some AstroTurf.

(I’d bet that 50% of the money Floyd Mayweather’s made in the past 5 years is from people who were hoping to see him get knocked out. His anti-fans have put millions of dollars in his pockets.)

Who’s the bad guy you can trash talk in your marketing to keep engaged — and spending money?

Think about it. Then do something with it.

Have a productive day.

P.S. It’s kinda weird I forgot about the game, considering Inbox X-Factor focuses on turning current events into email ideas. But I look more for the less obvious stories.

Anyone can tell you to write an email about the Super Bowl. 

But how many people are showing you how to write an email about the couple who got married underwater in India last week?

He Wanted to Break My Jaw (True Story)

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If your ideal customer has a problem that needs to be fixed (whether he knows it or not), this may be helpful for you.

It’s the tale of two dentists.

You see, I’ve always had crooked teeth and a slight underbite.

(You can see the crookedness in this selfie I took with my queen, who is perfect in every way.)

When I was a child, our family dentist suggested that he could fix that… by breaking my jaw and resetting it “properly.”

It was a fool-proof solution, apparently.

But he couldn’t sell it.

Most mothers don’t jump at the chance to break their children’s bones.

So I went through my childhood and adolescence feeling self-conscious when I smiled or laughed. Took a long time get over it.

Fast forward to 2019. I’m perfectly happy with my flawed smile.

But every time I go in for a checkup, my new dentist finds a new cavity and has to use a bazooka to knock the tartar from between my teeth.

After a few appointments, she told me:

“Based on what I’ve been seeing, it’s going to be impossible to get ahead of this. No matter how faithfully you brush and floss, you will develop gum disease and your teeth will eventually fall out of your face.

“It’s not your fault. It’s just the way your teeth grew in.”

She sold me Invisaligns in a single conversation.

What’s the difference between the two dentists? And…

… How Does This Help You Sell More?

Here are a few thoughts.

Your solution should be “easy.”

The first dentist wanted to break a child’s jaw to fix a few imperfect teeth. The fix required too much work, too much discomfort.

Talking with “problem aware” prospects isn’t enough.

My parents could clearly see an issue, but they weren’t compelled to do anything about it.

People live with their unresolved problems all the time. That’s the default for many of us. If you want to sell, you have to figure out how to shake them up to make them dissatisfied enough to change.

Fear is a legit selling tool, but there must be evidence.

The second dentist would never have been able to sell me $4,000 Invisaligns to fix my smile. She couldn’t have sold them to me if they were FREE. Because I was fine with my smile.

But I was NOT about to let my teeth rot out.

Sometimes you gotta go negative in your messaging. (SORRY!)

I wouldn’t try to scare a prospect about something they don’t know about. Rather, help them appreciate the real severity of the problem they already see.

“Sell” the diagnosis before you sell the solution.

When your should-be buyer believes that you really understand what he is going through, he’s more likely to convince himself to see things your way.

In many cases, that’s where you want to start.