Influence

Coronavirus Marketing Kit

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Call me crazy…

I am 98% convinced that this coronavirus scare is overblown.

In fact, I’m about 95% sure it’s completely manufactured and manipulated.

But whether or not you agree with me, one thing is abundantly clear…

The concept has captivated people around the globe.

More than that, it’s driven people to take action.

Think about it: this may be the event that FINALLY gets people wash their hands after using public restrooms.

I don’t mean to be insensitive to those who have been affected by this virus.

But, as I’ve said in the past, anything that grabs the attention of millions can reveal important insights into human nature.

If your business can use some extra attention, can you afford to NOT pay attention to stuff like this?

Agreed.

Now, I encourage you to think about this topic for yourself to see what lessons you can uncover…

But I’d love to share a few of my thoughts.

Let’s start with the most obvious.

Fear Still Works… If You Know How to Work It

You’ve probably heard it a thousand times: the natural human reaction to fear is about twice as strong as the reaction to pleasure.

Makes sense, right? You have to be alive to enjoy… anything.

Despite having heard it, many of the marketers I interact with still hesitate to use fear in their campaigns. It just doesn’t feel right.

And I get that.

But let’s be honest. There are some frightening things out there. Things your customers should be legitimately scared of.

If they eat a pound of bacon for breakfast every day, they should be worried about heart attacks…

If they don’t pay attention to their wives, they should be worried about divorce…

If they can’t get people to buy from them, they should be worried about their relatives mocking them when their business fails. (The resulting money problems could lead to divorce, too!)

[Note the Body, Bank & Boo focus.]

Those are legit fears… and YOU can help them overcome them. Sometimes — more often than you might like — the best way to get their attention is to leverage that fear in your messaging.

Don’t feel funny about it. This is how you make the biggest difference you can make for your should-be customers.

So…

Even though the CDC says most people are infected with some form of the coronavirus during their lives…

Here’s why COVID-19 scares the pants off of so many people — and how that helps you be more influential

One:
This novel coronavirus has been dimensionalized to a greater extent than other strains. It’s seems more “real” and not just a far-away concept

I mean, even if you’re not actively looking for it, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a picture of the virus’ crown-shaped structure somewhere.

Even the name has been leveraged. “Corona” refers to crown. That isn’t unique to this version of the bug… but it now owns a little real estate in your brain that influenza does not.

An invisible germ has been made visible. Memorable.

Two:
There is automatically a fear of the unknown. We all know exactly where this virus comes from, right? An exotic sounding province in China (which is already seen by many as a nefarious force in the world) called Wuhan.

Name another illness that you know EXACTLY where it originated.

If you thought of Ebola and Africa (which is far less specific), remember how scared many people have been about Ebola outbreaks in the past?

Three:
There are lots of specifics. The media continually updates us on how many cases there are and where. The word “pandemic” is thrown around loosely.

They’re also sharing stories about supply shortages, quarantines and other scared people.

Although we don’t see many of stories like this one from the Washington Post…

Which brings us to…

Four:
Social proof works like crazy.

When everyone else is terrified, maybe I should be, too!

And…

Five:
Those supply shortages indicate a complete lack of ability to adequately respond to the potential pestilence.

It’s an effective force multiplier for the fear.

Not only is the disease deadly and spreading quickly… but the people we trust to keep us safe are simply unprepared to deal with the danger.

It’s one thing to go to war with an enemy. It’s another thing to step onto the battlefield with no ammunition.

Six:
There’s mystery about how this germ is spreading. I’ve seen the term “unknown origin” of new cases in the U.S. more than one time.

The unpredictability of “who’s next” makes it all the more nerve-racking… because it could be you.

Seven:
People, especially in America, have already been introduced to the idea of viruses threatening to wipe out our species or turn us all into flesh-craving zombies.

This is a more subtle influence.

Many of us have already seen this doomsday scenario play out in best-selling thrillers or on the Hollywood big screen. In the back of our minds, it’s not all that far-fetched.  

Okay, now…

Here’s a Quick Rundown of Action Steps for You

0) Try to get comfortable using legitimate fear to reach your potential buyer. It is one of the most effective ways to get him to stop and pay attention.

1) Don’t just mention the fear or the source of that fear in your sales copy. Dive into the details that make the fear real… tangible… visible. Refuse to be 1-dimensional in your descriptions.

2) Consider tapping into the fear of the unknown that all of us have. When your would-be buyer THINKS he knows what you’re going to say — or already knows how to deal with the fear — he’s going to tune you out.

3) Share specifics. Not just statistics, but stories. Both images and word pictures go a long way.

4)  Get as much social proof as you can. It doesn’t have to be testimonials or reviews of your own. Just show how many people are feeling what you’re talking about or doing what you recommend.

5) Don’t let your prospect overestimate his ability to fix the problem alone.

We all deceive ourselves some times. If he’s unprepared, it’s your job to alert him to the fact — and make him believe it. Don’t be a jerk about it. You’re not trying to make him feel bad about himself. You’re helping him be realistic and honest.

6) If possible, create an air of mystery about the source of your chosen fear.

Even as you’re giving details and specifics, an underlying mystery that makes the fear even more unnerving — and the solution that more urgent.

7) Leverage fear your ideal buyer already has. You don’t want to have to convince him he needs to be scared of the thing you’re talking about.

If your boogeyman isn’t something he’s already scared of, you can likely make a connection using the Body, Bank & Boo principles.

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Question for you: have YOU taken any marketing lessons from the 24/7 coronavirus news blitz?

Feel free to share them in the comments.

“No, YOU have a consistency problem”

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copywriting consistency habits

Habits are hard to break. Harder than freezer meat.

That’s one of the reasons marketing can be hard work.

The difficulty of a marketer’s job is rooted in the dark nature of habitual behavior.

The habitual behavior of your should-be buyers, to be specific.

Let me explain what I mean.

You’ve probably read Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence — or you’ve at least heard of it. So you’re probably familiar with the principles of commitment and consistency.

People like to be seen as consistent. They want to feel consistent.

Marketers try to leverage that fact by seeking “micro-commitments” and “progressive series of agreement.”

There’s value in those concepts.

But listen…

These are attempts to produce consistency. The truth is, your prospects are already consistent.

Freezer meat consistent.

Therein lies the problem — and the opportunity.

Your potential customers are consistently, habitually doing the same things over and over again.

Buying the same things over and over again.

If they’re buying from you, hallelujah! If they’re buying from the other guy… ouch.

More than that, they’re avoiding doing the same things over and over again — and consistently rejecting the same kinds of offers.

So, let me ask you a couple questions:

1.
Do you think it’s smarter to get someone to micro-commit their way to consistently buy from you…

Or should you target people who are already consistently buying the types of products you sell?

2.
Should you spend all your time chasing new customers and weeding out the ones who stubbornly refuse to commit to what’s clearly the best option for them?

Or does it make sense to focus on (or develop) hyper-responsive buyers who already have habits that make you say “Hallelujah”?

Think about it.

Then do something about it.

One Little-Known Key Unlocks Your Influence

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Unlock Influence

There’s one pain point every single one of your would-be customers is painfully aware of:

The pervasive complexity of life in the 21st century.

Whether they use these words or not, every one of them craves more simplicity in some area of his or her life. (Or more likely, almost every part.)

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be a simplifier in your area of awesomeness.

Do that — and communicate it well — and your power to influence will stun you.

Keep in mind, there’s an important difference between simple and easy.

For example, “97 Easy Ways to Save Money” is NOT simple.

There may be a ton of value there. Someone who has tried everything may still find a new idea worth trying among the 97.

But people don’t want 97 ways to save money, really.

They want 3 ways to save money. Or, better still, the single most effective way to save money… the one trick that will save so much money they don’t have to do anything else.

That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point.

With that in mind, here are 3 things you can do to increase your simplifier status:

  1) Eliminate the clutter. Your reader has an overwhelming array of options and choices to make in every segment of his. As the expert, you have the ability to tell him which options will give him the best results, and which he can flat-out ignore.

Thinking is hard work; most people avoid it at all costs. If you can earn someone’s trust, he’ll gladly allow you to do some of his thinking for him.

  2) Make fewer recommendations & communicate them with conviction. Again, don’t give people new instructions and new systems every week. 97 ways to do anything is intimidating. Spend most of your time talking about a few powerful ideas. Come back to them continually.

It’s much easier to trust someone when he seems 100% certain about what he’s recommending. So speak with conviction!

Here’s the one we really want you to grasp. This is single most important thing you can do establish yourself as a simplifier for your audience.

entrepreneurs mission copywriting

  3) Establish a core “operating system” or personal philosophy.

Your followers should quickly be able to figure out what you stand for, what you KNOW works.

That means YOU need to know what you stand for. What’s the one phrase you’d like to be known for? Decide on that, then pick a small number of big ideas to revolve around your philosophical core.

Your intense focus will make you unique. More to the point…

  • you’ll be simpler to understand
  • your recommendations will be simpler to follow
  • your “brand” will be simpler to categorize, so you’ll fit into the mind of your readers/listeners/viewers more distinctly
  • your expertise won’t be diluted. Your reader’s mind automatically divides your perceived authority by the number of things you claim to be an authority on. You’ve never heard of a neurosurgeon who’s also an expert heart surgeon.

So the message is simple:

Strive to make your would-be customer’s life simpler (not just easier).

You can do it.

Here’s a helpful analogy:

Workshop: How to Create Irresistible Offers

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Who is the most persuasive person in the world?

I bet it’s not who you think it is. In fact, it may be the last person you’d consider.

And I’ll be happy to tell you…if you attend Blue Top Marketing‘s workshop tomorrow (Saturday, June 7th) in South Holland, IL.

We’ll be talking about how to create irresistible offers. This will be my most in-depth treatment of this topic to date. We’ll talk about persuasive techniques as ancient as the human race, cutting-edge discoveries in neuroscience and the secrets behind blockbuster Hollywood movies.

Get the details on Blue Top Marketing’s registration page.

Here are a few of the specific topics we’ll cover in this 2-hour long session:

  • a method proven to “transform insignificant objects into significant ones,” so much so that people happily pay as much as 132.5 TIMES their original value. Your “significant” products and services can skyrocket in perceived value in exactly the same way.
  • why the truth isn’t good enough and how you can fix that — without the slightest bit of deception
  • what kind of marketing messages are magnetically repulsive
  • how one sentence changed the entire TV home shopping industry, breaking sales records left and right — and how you come up with a similar sentence to revolutionize your customers’ perception of your business
  • 3 biological reasons the human mind rejects most perceived attempts at persuasion and
  • how to flip the mind’s resistance using its own force.

I’ll take a look at your marketing materials and make suggestions on how to make your offers irresistible. You’ll leave the presentation with specific advice you can put into practice the same day.

Not sold yet? Let’s sweeten the deal a little bit.

All attendees will get

  • a DVD of all 3 of the Marketing Strategy Implementation sessions courtesy of Boss Lady at Blue Top, Stephanie Walters,
  • a free copy of my book Stealth Selling: Non-Pushy Persuasion for Professionals
  • a second round of sales copy critiques any time in the next 90 days. I normally charge $200 for critiques, but attendees will get a freebie.

When an offer is strong, saying “yes” is easier than walking away. During this workshop, we’ll help make that a reality in your business. Register now

P.S. Sorry for the last minute reminder.

A Practical Follow-Up on the Universal Appeal of Shortcuts

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Yesterday’s article prompted response from one of my readers. We’ll call him John. He asked how he can apply the shortcut principle to his reflexology practice, which offers long-term solutions to clients. What follows is my response, almost verbatim.

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A few things come to mind with regard to the shortcut angle. First, let me say that I think your website copy is pretty strong. Addressing the issue up front is almost always a good idea, and I think in your case, it’s absolutely essential.

Now…

There are plenty of products and services that don’t start working right away, right? Even things like medication don’t solve root problems instantly. It’s all about setting expectations. Which is what you’ve started doing on your website. It would probably be helpful to position your services as longer-term processes, just like any other health-related issue. No one gets 6-pack abs in one workout session, right?

One idea that would be particularly effective, I think, would be to give the client something on your first visit that would have an immediate impact. Let me throw a few things out there; your brain can fine-tune and make applications that will work best for you:

  • Your pre-service consultation is a brilliant idea. Even if it wasn’t necessary, it would be a great idea. If you don’t already do this, you can use that time to come up with a quick (use a template) action plan that shows them the many things that are negatively impacting their health and causing pain/discomfort, things they may not even realize are causing problems. Tell them something shocking or interesting they didn’t know about themselves, their lifestyle or routines.
    • Of course, in that action plan, you recommend 6 weeks of treatment. Maybe you even use a coupon of some sort to get them to take you up on the 2nd session.
  • You could create a comprehensive report or booklet that contains highly-useful insights that show the clients the benefits, create realistic expectations in their minds that decrease the likelihood that they’ll give up after the first visit. Education-based selling, per Chet Holmes’ model.
  • Have you seen those pamphlets doctors give to expecting mothers showing them what’s going on with their bodies and babies over the course of their pregnancy? Can you show/tell clients what begins happening with their bodies during the first session, then what continues happening as they move forward with future treatments? Even if they can’t sense the improvement, if you show them what’s going on and what benefits are beginning to accrue that they’ll see in week 5 and 6, I think they’d be less likely to give up so easily.
  • Is there something you can do that will make them feel good right away? You mentioned that there are pain medications that will give instant relief, even though they don’t fix anything. What if you had a 10-minute massage to get the client relaxed? People spend big money on massages just for the stress relief and relaxing effect. They often set regular appointments.
    • Maybe massage is unrealistic, but you see what I’m driving at. You could offer clients mind-blowingly delicious lemonade while they wait, and if it’s good enough, that might be what gets them to say “Hey, I’ll come back next week.“
  • You may recall the study Cialdini referred to in Influence where gas stations gave a punch card to their customers. One gave a card offering every 8th car wash free, or something. The other offered every 10th one free, but they punched the first 2 spots when they gave the card to the customer. That jump-start toward a goal caused a greater degree of commitment and desire in the customers at the second gas station. The increase in response was remarkable. I don’t remember the details very well, but you see the point. What can you do to get clients to commit in their minds to investing in their own health and well-being by coming back to see you enough times to get the full benefit?
  • You have testimonials. Can you get video testimonials? Or at least pictures to go with the written ones? Either one of those upgrades will add more credibility and impact to your website.
  • Do you have any long-term clients? Can you start offering them incentives to spread the word? If they personally recommend your services to people who like them, some of that “liking” will rub off on you. They can also explain that the full effect takes some time to come about, reaffirming the expectations we want to set.
    • You could try having those long-term clients can refer people by saying something like this. “I’m taking care of the persistent back pain I used to have by visiting (business name). If you need some relief, I think I can get you an appointment, but I’ll only give you his number if you’re prepared to take the process seriously. This isn’t a one-and-done process. John can’t afford to spend his valuable time on building foundations for people who never finish the construction” That’s a bit of an aggressive approach, but it’s effective.

Your services may not be a shortcut in terms of time, but they require less risk than surgery, less side effects than medications and less pain than ignoring the symptoms. When you think of it that way, you’re offering a shortcut through some very undesirable stuff to a better life in less than an hour a session. Sounds good to me!

Cialdini Agrees with My Persuasion Theory

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Conversion is always an internal change. To borrow the words of Jeff Sexton, “all persuasion is self-persuasion.”

You use your words to paint vivid, evocative images in the minds of your prospects…their response will correspond directly with their desires, motivations and priorities…

You base your marketing messages or sales pitch on the quest they’re on, the vision they have for their lives and the way they see their place in the world…

You do your best to be convincing…but those who become your customers are those who convince themselves that you can deliver the results they want.”

Other than Jeff Sexton, I haven’t heard any other expert say that persuasion is always ultimately self-persuasion. But I tell you, it’s the truth.

And whether he knows it or not, Robert Cialdini agrees with this assertion. If you analyze the 6 principles from his book Influence, you’ll see what I mean. Check it out.

Reciprocity – When someone does something for you or gives you something, you feel indebted to them. You want to pay them back, because you don’t like to feel like you own anyone anything. Reciprocity is the desire to rid yourself of that feeling.

No one makes you feel the need to reciprocate, but when they take the first step by giving you something, they start the process.

The outcome is pretty predictable.

Consistency – We all want to stay true to the statements we make. We have an inner desire to maintain consistency to things we say or write. We convince ourselves that it’s important to do what we say we’ll do. We have an even bigger problem deviating from what we proclaim ourselves to be. If I say I’m an art collector, I better start acquiring some nice pieces!

Our desire to be consistent with the positive things other people think about us (or what we want them to think about us) can be even more compelling.

Social Proof – Everyone wants to be seen as an individual. But at the same time, we have a deep-seated desire fit in somewhere. There’s safety in numbers, right?

A lot of times, we really want to do something and all we need to gain the confidence to pull the trigger is the knowledge that other people (just like us) have done the same thing safely and with satisfactory results.

Liking – I like you. It gives me pleasure to buy from you. I enjoy the feeling of supporting you or your cause, feeling like I’m helping you succeed, etc.

So, naturally, I can persuade myself that doing business with you is a good idea. Even if I don’t really need what you’re selling. Or, if I have to choose between two vendors, I’ll often pick the person I like better instead of the cheaper choice or even the one with higher quality.

How many times have you done that?

Authority – We’re designed to trust people in positions of authority. It starts when we’re kids obeying our parents and believing everything they tell us. Even as we get older and gain autonomy, we never fully get rid of this disposition.

We protect ourselves from making bad choices by defer to people who know better than we do. Self-preservation is a powerful desire.

Scarcity – Missing out on something you could have had is a horrible feeling. We don’t want to feel that. We’ll jump through all kinds of hoops to avoid that feeling. That’s why scarcity or urgency works in marketing.

Sometimes we make a choice more to protect ourselves from this feeling of missing out on an opportunity than from the desire for the object itself.

The evidence is plain. Persuasion is always, at its root, self-persuasion. And although he’s never said it, Robert Cialdini agrees with me (and Jeff Sexton, of course).