Despite all the craziness, 2020 has been a phenomenal year for my clients.
Or maybe more accurately, 2020 has been a screaming success because of all the craziness.
Last week, I revealed 3 simple “secrets” behind that success in my first room on Clubhouse.
Specifically, how we’ve generated $17 million from email year-to-date.
You may not have been part of that Clubhouse conversation (it was a small audience)… and those conversations aren’t recorded…
So I’ll quickly tell you what I shared.
“Secret” #1: Be consistent and persistent
My clients email daily. And they make offers in every single email.
You can probably send more emails than you do. (That goes for me, too.)
One of the main points I made was that unsubscribes go up when you email LESS.
You let people forget who you are and why they were excited to hear from you.
Depending on your business and your capabilities, I recommend no fewer than 1 email per week. Most businesses can send 3 or more — and the only difference you’ll see is more money in the bank.
“Secret” #2: Curiosity
Don’t give away the punchline in every email.
Tease a juicy benefit… tantalizing opportunity… or potentially imminent danger…
And make the reader click a link to find out exactly what you’re talking about.
Create emotional tension that can only be resolved by clicking… and give your sales pitch on the other side of the click.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this.
You can get more insight into how curiosity works — and the right and wrong ways to use it in your email — in this video.
“Secret” 3: Easy on the education
I’ve discovered that a lot of entrepreneurs believe they have to educate prospects into buying from them.
Education can be helpful. But the truth is, information isn’t what sells.
You know that people buy on emotion. In a way, they’re buying the emotion itself.
(That’s one of the reasons people don’t do anything with the stuff they buy. Making the purchase provided the emotional payoff.)
Your copy’s job is to stimulate the emotions — hope, desire, guilt, fear, etc. — that make your prospects take action.
There’s no shortage of information.
But your prospects are dying for emotional MOTIVATION.
So be careful how you educate.
Each fact you present should be designed to inflame desire… not to make the reader smarter.
That sounds cynical, I know.
But when you’re going for maximum profits, it’s an approach likely to serve you well.
Having read this far, you’ve figured out why I put “secrets” in quotations.
They’re not unknown concepts. They’re just underutilized.
If your email marketing efforts are coming up short, these 3 ideas could be helpful.
What was your initial reaction to the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma — or even just discussions about it?
(I’m assuming you’ve had at least one discussion about it. Seems like everyone was talking about it a few weeks ago.)
Here’s a review I saw that captures a snippet of the conversations I had after the film was released:
“This exposes truths about big data, manipulation, & warnings from the people who designed Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Everyone should definitely watch this to understand how these social media platforms are using us and how Humanity will be destroyed by Technology in the near future.”
A lot of people are “mad” at the social media companies, which Netflix should be counted amongst.
As a marketer, what was YOUR reaction?
The proper response should have been inspiration.
Because the film is practically a field guide illustrating how to build an army of happy little addicts…
And we marketers should be taking notes.
Do you want your own army of happy addicts?
You can start taking notes right here, right now.
(BTW, I’m curious to know what your reaction to THAT statement was. Leave a comment and let me know.)
I’ll just briefly hit on a few points that are especially important.
What’s Wrong with an Echo Chamber?
One of the big criticisms leveled by the producers of The Social Dilemma is that Facebook and others feed you more and more stories to reinforce a particular opinion… one that you hold already.
News flash: humans already do this automatically. It’s called confirmation bias.
People enjoy the feeling of being right, smart, and on the right side. The crave it.
You should harness that reality.
When planning out your messaging, you must use your ideal customer’s view of reality as the starting point.
Don’t fight your prospect’s brain.
Stake Your Claim
To a certain extent, you have to own real estate in your prospect’s mind.
How do you do that? Through regular, consistent, engaging communication.
Our brains are biased towards information we’ve heard recently and repeatedly.
You’ve heard that a lie told often enough is believed. But it’s not about the lie. It’s about the repetition.
A few things you can do to claim more real estate between your prospect’s ears:
Frequent communication via email, YouTube, social channels. You don’t have to use them all, but the more you use, the more you can dominate your prospect’s time and the more opportunities you’ll have to reinforce your ideas.
If possible, be present in the physical environment. Get a book, a t-shirt, a printed checklist, something physical into homes or offices. When you can do that, you’re in a rare group — and as a result, people convince themselves you’re more important.
Studies also show there’s a stronger and longer-lasting neurological response to physical marketing (e.g. direct mail) over digital version of the same ads.
Impact ONE THING that’s part of your prospect’s daily routine. Now you own part of his day.
A recent poll found that 80% of people check their phones before doing anything else in the morning. It’s a routine set by social media (and email).
What part of the day can you own?
By the Power Vested in Me
A huge reason The Social Dilemma is so hard-hitting is that it’s filled with admissions from THE experts on this topic: the people who designed these addictive apps.
People are eager to defer to authorities and experts, sometimes without even realizing it.
I’ve talked about authority several times in the past, so I’ll just mention one important point.
Your personal story — how you came to experience and understand the idea you’re trying to share — is likely to carry more weight than scientific studies (which make fantastic supporting arguments).
Your story makes you an authority, whether or not you have credentials or position.
Now listen…
This topic can make some people squeamish. I get it. Most people don’t want to feel manipulative.
As a marketer, it probably happens more than you think.
(Civilians don’t really understand what we do.)
I remember sitting in church with my family a few years ago… when the preacher — who happened to be my father-in-law — started railing on the vile schemes of marketers.
Free trials, for example.
Marketers know some people won’t cancel before the free trial is over, so why do we “trick” people into spending money that way?
That part of the sermon probably only lasted 2 or 3 minutes… but it seemed much longer.
I know marketing isn’t evil — I dealt with that false belief long ago.
But it was still uncomfortable.
Good thing the preacher didn’t call me out by name.
The church is full of civilians who don’t understand what I do, so I’m pretty sure no one knew he was talking about me.
He probably didn’t even know he was talking about me!
Has anything like that happened to you?
(If you have a good story, please reply to this email and share. I’d love to hear it.)
Let me clear up a few things.
Copywriting and marketing are NOT evil.
You probably already know that or you wouldn’t have signed up to hear from me.
Marketing is leadership… and I know you’re using it to improve people’s lives
Better marketing = more lives transformed for the better.
If you’re selling something that helps people, promoting it aggressively makes the world a better place.
Free will always wins.
We marketers can’t force anyone to act against their own best interests.
All we can do is paint a clear picture of a specific outcome our should-be buyer already wants… and make it as easy as possible for him to say “yes”
Jonathan Edwards, an 18th century preacher (which makes him a little older than my father-in-law), wrote that people…
“…always act according to the strongest inclination they have at the moment of choice.“
You make the big bucks when you can create moments of choice where the reader’s strongest inclination is to buy your offer.
Email gives you the best opportunity to create moments strong inclination… over and over
I recorded a video describing a few of my best techniques for doing exactly that.
One of the strategies is what I call intense opportunity curiosity…
Which was the real secret behind the $218,337 5-email campaign I told you about last week.
This video training will be exclusively available to Inbox X-Factor members.
No big sales pitch. I still haven’t written the sales page.
But if you’d like to learn more about how I’ve been making MORE money with email instead of less (which so many people are complaining about these days)…
You’ll want to see the video I’m uploading tomorrow.
Plus, you get weekly email plans… winning subject line templates… and more.
$99 a month (no contracts) is a small investment to help you make your email list significantly more profitable — and to spend less time doing it.
Just one of the ways I’m striving to make the world a better place.
We have a tendency to make copywriting (and persuasion in general) more complicated than it needs to be.
A lot of the blame can be placed on the countless “experts” who make it seem complicated…
I fear I’ve fallen into that category at times.
Today, we’re going to simplify things.
At it’s core, copywriting is helping someone make a decision that will improve his life in a specific way.
Humans make most of their decisions — not counting habitual “autopilot” programs we run for so many parts of our lives — based on emotion.
You already knew that.
One of the most effective ways to make another human feel emotion is to feel it yourself.
Emotions are contagious like a virus — and symptoms start showing up FAST.
When you sit down to write, start out by feeling the feeling you want you reader to experience.
Excitement… Fear… Hope…
Let those feelings bleed into your copy.
You already do this in face-to-face conversation — and even more so when it’s someone you care about.
Your emotions are transferred to the audience to some extent.
And when he’s feeling the way you feel, you have the opportunity to lead him where he needs to go to improve his life in the specific way only you can deliver.
Make sense?
Have a heart-to-heart conversation (through your copy) with your readers this week.
Your should-be customer or client has developed a sophisticated system for NOT buying from you.
(The system is deadly effective, even though he was hardly aware that he was building it.)
One of the main components of this system is disbelief. No surprise, right?
But what most marketers don’t consider is that disbelief comes in two flavors:
1. Disbelief about your or your product/service
and
2. Disbelief about his own ability or worthiness to experience the transformation you promise.
In other words…
Your prospect can believe that you help save marriages… and disbelieve you can save HIS marriage.
To neutralize this part of the anti-buying system, you have to
1. Prove that you can deliver a result
and
2. Prove that you can deliver a result FOR HIM.
I want to talk about #2
How do you do it?
Identify the B.S. stories he tells himself… about himself.
A significant percentage of your prospects will never buy from you — not because they don’t want what you’re selling or because they don’t believe you’re good at what you do…
… but because of their limiting (dis)beliefs.
*All figures are estimates
Some generic B.S. stories include
“I’ve failed before, so trying again is pointless”
“I’m not smart/handsome/wealthy enough”
“People who look like me don’t/can’t do that”
“I haven’t paid my dues yet”
“I don’t deserve to be rich/happy because I did XYZ in the past”
You can uncover more specific crippling B.S. stories by talking (or having your team talk) with people in your target audience.
Get on the phone. Send surveys (but take responses with a grain of salt). Spy on them online (social media, Reddit, Amazon reviews, etc.).
You’ll gain fascinating insight you can to overcome objections in your copy.
Showcase People Like Him Who Got the Result
Once you know some of the B.S. stories, find examples about people who contradict those stories.
The more unbelieving prospect see himself reflected in your marketing messages — including his dreams, challenges, and B.S. stories — the more your message will resonate…
And the weaker his disbelief will become.
Leverage A Unique Mechanism
Position your offer as a special, proven approach your prospect has never seen before.
Show him why it’s different — and why other solutions fail.
Your unique solution helps him understand why he may have struggled in the past. And it can give him hope for future success.
Make it Ridiculously Easy to Take the First Step…
Offer a sample. A free or low cost trial. A 7-day challenge.
One of the main reasons people fail is because they never MOVE. Get them to take the first step and you unlock optimism and even confidence by default.
That confidence can force your prospect to re-examine his disbelief — especially if you…
Give Him a Quick Win
Provide information or action steps that will give him some forward momentum.
It only takes a little… and you can deliver it right inside your marketing copy if you like.
This give the prospect more confidence and trust in you. More importantly, it builds confidence and trust in his own ability to reach his goal.
An obviously you’re the person best equipped to help him do it.
Now, there’s something to be said for not convincing anyone who’s not already sure he wants to work with you.
But no matter how you approach your own business growth, it’s helpful to identify the disbelief and B.S. stories that hold your prospects (and customers) back.
You can work that knowledge into your marketing or use it to improve results inside your paid offers.
I hope this helps you grow in one way or the other.
Have a productive day.
P.S. Overcoming a prospect’s disbelief in this way is part of “killing them softly” with their own song.
So an irresistible offer should be driven by “desire stacking.”
Which brings me back the offer I mentioned at the beginning of this email.
One of the most attractive, no-brainer offers I’ve ever seen.
A chance to rent out the mansion from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
You may have seen this. Airbnb posted the link about a week ago, and Will Smith gave a video tour on YouTube on Monday.
When you see this, what’s your instant reaction?
For me — and countless people like me — the response is…
1st: WHERE DO I SIGN UP?
2nd: Please, God. Let me get a spot before they’re sold out.
I did not wonder how much it costs (and I definitely didn’t try to compare price vs. other lodging in the area).
Flying cross-country in a pandemic didn’t dampen my excitement.
If I could have grabbed a spot, nothing would have stopped me from booking a night.
Of course, different people have different responses. But for the right people, this offer is totally irresistible.
And the core reasons the Fresh Prince mansion is a no-brainer… are the same reasons behind most offers that are too sweet to ignore.
Let’s quickly break down 4 of them.
1. Status
Your offer should raise your prospect’s status — in his own eyes or the eyes of others.
When he says “yes,” what does he get that instantly makes him feel better about himself… like he’s just jumped to the next level (or at least finally discovered the elevator)?
How will he look to his (future) wife? His kids? His golf buddies. His competitors?
What will he have that others WISH they had?
A few bonus ebooks ain’t gonna get it.
2. Story Factor
Does buying from you give the customer an exciting, envy-inducing story to share at his next dinner party or networking event?
Does it change the story he tells himself about himself?
Or the story his parents tell to brag to their friends about their son?
Does it give him content that will get tons of likes on social media?
You might be shocked how much people will spend or suffer through to have a good story to share.
Think of all the great stories you could tell after staying at the Bel-Air mansion! And unlike a lot of business stories, you can share this one with just about everyone.
3. (Aspirational) Identity
Every conscious decision we make is influenced by the way they see ourselves and our place in the world.
If your offer connects to your should-be buyer’s identity in a unique way…
Helps him express externally how he sees himself internally…
Or moves him closer to being the person he wishes he was, letting Clark Kent be Superman, as it were…
It taps the deep-rooted desire.
How can your offer link your buyer to that identity?
4. Exclusivity
You don’t have to convince anyone there’s a limited amount of nights to book a stay in a mansion.
And you don’t have to convince anyone there’s high demand for the available slots.
But only about 365 people will have the privilege of securing one in the next year — if Airbnb keeps it open that long.
That kind of exclusivity and scarcity amplifies desire that’s hard to replicate in any other way — as long as you’re offering something people want in the first place.
It multiplies the status and story factor. Being part of such a small group boosts the impact to identity.
Leveraging exclusivity makes your offer significantly harder to resist. Use it to your advantage.
So there you have it.
When you’re thinking about how to make your offer as compelling as possible, remember…
Put value on the back burner. It’s all about stacking desire.
***UPDATE***
When I sent this article out as an
I sent my broadcast email newsletter earlier this week, I tested two very different subject lines.
One promises a valuable lesson about a topic I hear a lot of questions about…
The other seems to offer a voyeuristic peek into the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
I have to admit, the split test results surprised me:
If you’ve read my emails before, you may assume the mansion I promise a tour of is my own home.
(That’s kinda deceptive, but not maliciously so).
After the first hour, the voyeuristic subject line was opened TWICE as many times as the benefit subject line. Honestly, I thought the “Anatomy” subject line would win.And I definitely didn’t think either version would double the open rate of the other. There are a few takeaways here:
TEST. You really never know what will work until you get it out to the market
I’ve said it a thousand times, but must have forgot when I sent this test..
Sometimes entertainment is the most valuable benefit you can provide. That subject line brought MTV Cribs to my readers’ inbox.
If you want to keep your open rates from dropping over time, entertainment value is practically nonnegotiable.
People really do want to go behind-the-scenes, especially if your business has a personality component. They’re curious about the non-business stuff going on with you and others in your industry.
One of the top copy rules is that the copy must be about the reader. And while the “mansion” subject line doesn’t seem to be about the reader, it really is. It’s providing something they want: entertainment… escape… scratching the curiosity itch… aspiration… connection.
I’ve had more conversations than I can count with entrepreneurs and marketers who struggle to email their lists as often as they know they should.
Many of them really aren’t sure how to make money with email.
As a result of those conversations, I launched Inbox X-Factor earlier this week.
Inbox X-Factor is designed to
make it as easy as possible for you to send more emails to your list (and spend less time doing it), and…
showcase effective tactics and strategies that are working RIGHT NOW to help you make more money from each email.
In short, Inbox X-Factor gives you access to:
Live email clinics, where we’ll write an email from scratch on video. Watching the process can help you find your own rhythm and gain confidence
Timely email ideas and inspiration, so you never run out of reasons to email your list
Unique subject line templates and examples
In-depth training to help you unlock the money-making power of email. Studies show email produces 40X ROI. These lessons will help you get there.
For THIS WEEK ONLY, you can become one of first members of Inbox X-Factor for $47/month.
On Friday night (July 10), the price goes up to $97/month.
If you have a list and an offer (or clients who have them)…I believe Inbox X-Factor can help you making MORE money with email in LESS time — starting as soon as today. If you’re interested, click the link in the first comment.
>>> Click hereto lock the discounted price of $47/month for Inbox X-Factor.
Really, I could talk about 7 or 8 helpful copy insights. There are so many gems.
If you haven’t already seen the video, you need to.
I encourage you to check it out before you continue reading the rest of this article.
It’s brilliant.
(I only wish I was as good a storyteller as Dave. It defies logic how good he is.)
I’m going to try to leave out any spoilers, just in case you decide to keep reading. I know how you are.
Alright, let’s dive in.
Copy Tip #1: Use open loops and callbacks.
At about the 2:10 mark, introduces a hot topic, then says he’s going to talk about it a little later.
This is a topic the audience KNOWS he’s can’t stay away from. Many of them are desperate to hear him address it.
But he teases it anyway. “I’ll talk about it in a minute.”
As a copywriter, open loops like these can help keep the reader/viewer strapped in and attentive.
You make him curious… then you make him wait for satisfaction.
When you do it right, he can’t close the email or stop the video until you close the loop.
And the impact of the payoff can be even stronger when you set it up this way. The anticipation and rising drama make it more satisfying when you finally reveal what you’ve been holding back.
Chappelle doesn’t wait long to close the loop in this case. You can play with the length of time you wait for your big reveal.
Copy Tip #2: Tight analogies and metaphors are persuasive uppercuts.
3:30 into the video, Dave tells a story about the first earthquake he experienced. He described the confusion and fear he felt.
Then, instead of evolving into a joke, he makes the story an analogy for the topic (in part) he teased in the beginning of the set.
The comparison adds a new perspective to the topic. A new way of looking at something you may feel you already understand.
Or maybe the analogy gives you a frame of reference to understand something you’ve never experienced.
In sales copy, you want to paint a picture that sucks the reader in. You pull them into your world by helping them mentally and emotionally experience SOMETHING related to the thing you’re selling.
Analogies and metaphors are effective ways to do that. These metaphors often take the shape of a personal story.
Your reader already has strong associations with and feelings about certain topics. You don’t necessarily have to create new associations, thoughts or feelings.
The right analogy can unleash the power of those associations and attach them to you or the product/service/idea you’re presenting.
At 10:40, Chappelle shares another analogy in the form of a story.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I was totally transfixed for 3 minutes as he laid out the details. You don’t really know where he’s taking you, but you’re deeply invested in finding out.
(Again, this is a skill we MUST have in this new decade.)
When he finally ties the story back to the main topic… man. It’s an experience.
Different people will feel different ways about that analogy. One of those feelings is validation — and if you can make anyone feel like he’s been right all along, you’ve probably earned a friend for life.
So analogies are a very useful tool for persuasion.
Copy Tip #3: The copy isn’t about you, but you should weave yourself into the narrative.
My favorite thing about 8:46 is the way Chappelle weaves himself into this topic in various ways throughout the set.
It’s crazy.
Somehow, he links
his birthday (24:28 into the video)
his time of birth (at the 9:05 mark)
his connection to Kobe Bryant (by some miracle 24 minutes in)
a police officer that pulled him over (18:55)
his father’s death (5:24)
his great grandfather’s place in history (25:50)
… all into the topic he’s discussing.
It’s seamless and fascinating.
Here’s the big idea. Your sales copy isn’t supposed to be about you. It’s all about your should-be buyer.
But, the more you can smoothly tie yourself into the thing your buyer wants or needs… the more you can build up your authority in the area your buyer is interested in…
The more effective your copy can be. And the more likely you are to take ownership of real estate in your should-be buyers mind even if he doesn’t buy today.
Great copy is focused on the transformation your buyer desires to achieve.
The very best copy reveals that YOU (your product, service, idea) are inextricably linked to that transformation.
Keep that in mind next time you’re writing a sales piece.
Dave Chappelle isn’t a copywriter, but he can teach us all a thing or two about persuasive communication.
I encourage you to study him and other great comedians along with your favorite copy guru.
Ambition. Quick thinking. Ruthlessness. First kisses.
What’s the common denominator?
According to research from Netflix, these 4 story elements are highly effective at turning casual viewers into a devoted followers.
Through this research, Netflix also knows the precise episode of a series when people become “hooked.”
This is probably NOT the kind of information you’re used to hearing as a marketer or entrepreneur.
But it’s exactly what you need to hear right now — and I’ll tell you why.
While the economy sank into the abyss in March…
My clients experienced record sales. One had beat it’s previous best month by a massive 25%.
A huge part of our success has been telling the right kind of stories to our audience. Another huge factor is that we KEEP TELLING those stories.
We’ll dive into storytelling more in the future, but today I want to encourage you to inject more emotionally-engaging stories into your marketing and the content you’re producing.
Your pains and problems — and how you overcame them…
Your fears and frustrations — and how you found relief…
Your dreams and desires — and how you finally grabbed hold of them (or what you’re doing now that’s getting you closer)…
Even the mistakes you made…
These stories captivate.
If you tell the stories well, they audience will insert themselves into the story, experience some of your feelings and mentally/emotionally prepare to take the action that you took.
Then, keep telling those stories.
According to Netflix “In our research, we found that no one was ever hooked on the pilot.”
The pilot sells the audience on watching the next episode. But without the second and third episodes, it’s easy to disconnect and pay attention to something else.
If you feel like you’re being repetitive, just think of how many people binge-watch 10 episodes of their favorite shows at a time.
No one says, “I wish they’d make FEWER episodes of this show I love.”
It’s a challenge… but it’s a bigger challenge to keep your business running without devoted followers.
