Marketing

You’ve Been Warned

by

Before you write a word of copy, remember this:

Trouble awaits your prospect if your marketing doesn’t work.

Obviously, you’re marketing to win business and earn money. But that’s not the sole objective.

Your message needs to help your dream prospect escape the trouble lurking near his doorstep.

Here’s an over-the-top illustration I often use to make this point.

Which is more arresting? A headline that says “We help churches stay off the IRS naughty list”…

Or this:

Cover of direct mail piece showing man in suit with handcuffs on. Headline says "Pastors, check writer, church boards & trustees, just because your heart is right with God Doesn't Mean Your Book Are Right With the IRS!"
Part of a real direct mail piece from a financial educator giving seminars for religious organizations.

Again, I’m using an extreme example to illustrate the concept clearly.

Most accountants and bookkeepers would never use anything like this. Which is totally understandable.

But if your prospect is in danger of going to jail… having his organization shut down… or falling so far behind in their retirement accounts that he’ll NEVER be able to stop punching a clock…

You might want to shake him up a little to prevent that happening.

Are you pulling out all the stops to help protect your dream prospects from the danger that awaits them?

These are things worth thinking about before you start writing your emails, sales pages, presentation scripts and even social media posts.

A Shortcut to Irresistible Trust

by

I remember exactly when my favorite marketing guru… became my favorite marketing guru.

In fact, I remember the SENTENCE that won me over.

He said “The key difference between rich people and poor people is that rich people get paid upfront.”

(Ten brownie points if you can name the guru. Now that I think about it, that oversimplified bit of wisdom may be attributed to people I’m not aware of. So I’ll still give you brownie points if you name anyone who said this)

Not sure how true that statement is… but that one single idea gave the guru a patch of real estate in my mind. That patch continued to grow for years… and made me happy to spend a whole lot of money learning from him.

You may have your own memory of a paradigm-shifting concept or mental picture that impacted you in a similar way.

This kind of big idea can be a shortcut to irresistible trust.

When you reframe how your prospect sees himself, his goals, challenges or even his place in the world, you can gain permanent residence in his brain, too.

Your insights can become the lens through which he sees everything else in your area of expertise.

It’s almost impossible NOT to trust a person who helps you understand yourself and your world. Then, once the idea takes root, confirmation bias kicks in, and the Semmelweis reflex guards the door.

(Semmelweis reflex, in case you’re unfamiliar, is a behavioral tendency to stick to preexisting beliefs and to reject fresh ideas that contradict them, even in the face of solid evidence to the contrary.)

How do you create these epiphanies, practically?

Look for common, relevant questions your dream prospects don’t have a clear, concise answer for. Or mysteries that befuddle them. Then fill in the blank.

Take life insurance, for example.

People have long wondered what kind of policy they should buy.  Salespeople give answers that sound self-serving. Well-intentioned advisors give the real but complicated answer, “it depends.”

Dave Ramsey took the shortcut.

“Buy term and invest the difference” is a clear and simple recommendation that cuts through the confusion.

No one follows half of that advice, but Dave’s business seems to be doing pretty well. Countless adoring fans swear by his advice.

And who knows how many people have bought life insurance from somebody because he gave them a clear direction to move in?

Argue against the quality of the idea if you like. You can’t deny its influence.

Here’s my advice for the day:

If you’re trying to figure out how to gain credibility with your target audience – and who isn’t? – prioritize your perspective-shifting big idea as a proof element.

Giving your reader/viewer a clearer view of the world will often sink in more deeply than traditional proof.

Your big idea may be the shortcut to trust you’ve been searching for.

Becoming Irresistibly Trusted

by

The first time I needed to file taxes, I was clueless.

But my brother seemed to get it. He’d been working longer than me, so it was easy for me to defer to his judgement. I just got my taxes prepared where he had his done.

A couple years later, he learned about another firm that could (supposedly) get even bigger refund checks. He switched, so I switched. No critical thinking involved, no hesitation. I didn’t need a relationship with the accountant. I trusted my brother.

Then we both got audited by the IRS… right around the same time the accounting firm went out of business.

After that experience, I filed with a big-box preparer. It seemed like the safe choice.

But just a few years later, my brother told me about a solo CPA who told him she’d get him a good return. So I switched again. No critical thinking involved, no hesitation. Because I still trusted my brother, despite previous outcomes.

Now, when you read that, it sounds crazy. And it is a little crazy.

It should have been obvious to me that I needed to do my due diligence, especially after the whole audit situation.

Here’s the thing: your average prospect goes through similar thought processes and experiences when it comes to trust.

Before going further, I think it’s important to clarify…

The Distinction Between Trustworthy and Trusted.

Because there is an important difference.

  • Trustworthy means “I (probably) won’t get burned if I trust this person/firm.” It’s safe.
  • Trusted means “I want to trust this person/firm. It’s in my best interest to trust this person/firm.” It’s attractive & desirable.
Contrasting two images. One is a grassy field with no people and a sign saying "there are no mines in this field." This represents being trustworthy. The second is a packed playground, which represents being trusted.

It’s possible to be worthy of trust but not be trusted by the people who need your help the most.

Showing off certifications, listing licenses, even bragging on your solid track record (in instances where you’re allowed to do that) can make you appear trustworthy.

That’s a good thing, but is it good enough? I’d argue that it’s not. Even the rarest of financial designations are shared by hundreds, if not thousands, of other experts.

Which brings us to the topic at hand: Elevating yourself and/or your firm from trustworthy to irresistibly trusted.

You’ve undoubtedly consumed a lot of educational content on building trust.

I’ll be focusing here on concepts and ideas that haven’t been hammered into your head already.

“What Should I Write About?” 3 Newsletter Ideas for Financial Advisors

by

In many cases, the struggle isn’t a lack of topics to talk about.

It’s figuring out which of the dozens of possibilities you should write about today.

There’s one ultra-helpful filter you that can help you make that choice. I’ll illustrate with an example from last week.

The mail carrier dropped Valpak in my mailbox on Tuesday. If you’re not familiar, Valpak is a collection of ads/coupons from local businesses. Goes to every residence in selected zip codes.

You get offers from restaurants, cleaning services, auto mechanics, whoever wants to pay to insert their ad in the mailing.

I’m a nerd, so I enjoy looking through ads.

Got this from a bank with a branch down the street from my house…

Blue advertisement from bank offering $300 dollars to open checking account

Nice offer, right? Anyone looking for a new checking account may be tempted.

Problem is, the very next ad is from another bank in the neighborhood…

Blue advertisement from bank offering $450 dollars

At first glance, it looks like a stronger offer by 50%. And depending on your specific situation, it may be a better choice.

How many homeowners completely forgot about the previous ad?

They’re even visually similar, so there’s no good reason for the first one to hold onto real estate in your memory.

So perhaps the second ad has the advantage. But there’s another problem.

Valpak arrived on Tuesday.

Here’s a self-mailer that landed in our mailboxes on Monday…

Green and black advertisment from local bank offering $600

See what’s happening here?

Everyone’s doing the same thing! These ads don’t hint at anything different about the banks making the offer.

It’s very difficult to win under these circumstances. And advantage you get may not be sustainable over time.

Don’t get into this kind of competition!

Make your messages (and offers) different. Make them uniquely YOU.

It’s much harder for the competition to undercut you or rip off your idea.

That’s the filter. When you’re deciding what to write your email newsletter about, try not to say what everyone else is saying.

That includes just sending out market updates.

Want some more specifics? Here are 3 ideas you can use to pick unique and compelling ideas for your future newsletters:

Financial Subject Lines: 2 Truths & a Lie (Pt. 2)

by

Let’s jump in.

Truth #1 is that repetition kills readership. If subscribers think they know what you’re going to say, they won’t open your email.

You can avoid that by using various different angles and appeals in your subject lines. Highlighting relevant benefits is great, but it can get repetitive.

Check out Part 1 here.

Truth #2: Fear is good.

I know this is an uncomfortable truth for some. We want to keep things positive. To educate and empower.

But there are some legitimately worrisome realities out there. You know it and so does your reader. It’s a good idea to talk about those things.

Now, I’m not telling you to try scaring your readers pants off.

I’m encouraging you to tap into the fear and/or anxiety your subscriber is likely already feeling.

Here’s an example of creating a little fear without paralyzing the reader:

Firstly, there are few things that get our attention like fear. The human brain dedicates a significant portion of its energy to keeping us safe.

Our senses are fine-tuned to detect and respond to danger.

Secondly, humans hate losing… anything. Behaviorial studies show we’re twice as likely to take action to prevent a loss than to secure an equivalent gain (when the stakes are high enough).

That means fear gives you leverage when it comes to moving people to make a decision.

Don’t leave the reader in a state of fear, though.

Use fear to win attention and focus his mind, then shift into the solution he can take to minimize or eliminate the issue.

Part 3 will be ready for you next week.

Need a set of eyes on your subject lines in the meantime? Send me a message and let’s talk.

Most Financial Subject Lines Are Boring (and the Sender Doesn’t Even Know It)

by

Is this a good a subject line for a financial professional or educator?

Why or why not?

I’d say in most cases, it’s NOT a good one, and not because of what your compliance officer might say.

Here’s why.

Listen, I adore my wife. Marrying her was the smartest — and luckiest — thing I’ve ever done.

But when I read that subject line, my instant reaction is “OF COURSE she could.”

No one gets your blood pumping more (in good ways and bad) than the person you love most. So this idea isn’t as shocking as it seems at first glance.

The curiosity factor is weak, too.

A little specificity about how or why s/he’s going to make your heart explode could have gone a long way. For example:

  • Your spouse’s money habits may cause a heart attack
  • When you spouse buys THESE, heart attack risk goes up

Those aren’t better, even though they’re too long. But they’re still not great.

What would make it a great subject line? Maybe something like this:

  • 3 money habits that can (literally) kill you
  • “The heart attack was your wife’s fault”
  • Money move deadlier than clogged arteries?

It’s aggressive, but the subject line would be even stronger if you implied you could be the one giving your spouse a heart attack…

That said, there are 2 things that I like about the original subject line…

1) If you’re sending the email to an audience that’s nervous about their heart health, they’re more likely to open and read because they want to know about anything that can stop them from having any issues.

2) It’s likely different than any other subject lines you’ve been sending. Predictability is not your friend in the inbox, so there’s good chance a subject line like this will spark some renewed attention from your subscribers.

We’ll going to talk more about email subject lines for financial service pros, educators and coaches in the next few posts.

Stay tuned.

The Truth About Loss Aversion

by
hands fighting over a chocolate glazed donut

Imagine it’s 11:51 PM…

You’re laying on the couch, scrolling on your phone and starting to doze off.

Just as you’re about to put your phone down, you get an email from the bakery you visit every morning on the way to the office.

It says:

“We’re giving away a dozen FREE DONUTS to our favorite customers — if you can come into the shop right away.

“The night shift employees forgot we close at midnight now, so they just pulled 300 fresh glazed donuts out of the oven. We can’t hold these beauties until morning. Get here by midnight and you can have a dozen FREE. The glaze is still dripping!”

You have 9 minutes to jump up and shoot over to the bakery, which is just down the street. You’d have to rush, but you can make it.

Or you could keep scrolling on your phone until you slip into sweet unconsciousness.

What would you do?

Now imagine a different scenario…

It’s 1:51 AM.

You had a brutal day. Your team stayed late working on a big project and they agreed to come in at 6:00 to help finish up before the deadline.

To show your appreciation, you promised the team donuts in the morning. But your favorite bakery doesn’t open until 6:30, so you picked them up tonight.

You just crawled into your bed to get a few hours of sleep.

At that moment, you hear your brother unlock your front door and walk into the house. He pops in whenever he’s in town and doesn’t want to pay for a hotel.

The first thought that crosses your mind is that you NEVER should have given him that key.

Your second thought: that dude eats everything in the kitchen whenever he stops by. And he loves donuts…

What do you do?

In the first scenario, there’s a strong chance you’re not taking any action. You’ll ignore the “irresistible” offer of free donuts and fall asleep on the couch.

In the second scenario, there’s a 99% probability you’ll fly into action. You’re jumping out of bed and running toward the kitchen to make sure your brother doesn’t eat your team’s donuts.

You see where I’m going with this.

We’ve always heard that people are twice as likely to take action to avoid pain than to enjoy pleasure.

Some more recent studies indicate that, in fact, people react just as strongly to gains as they do to losses.

Apparently researchers haven’t been able to replicate results proving that “loss aversion” alone has a significant impact on decision-making.

(I wanted you to hear about this from me.)

Now, I haven’t conducted any clinical studies. When I think about it, I haven’t run loss aversion split-tests in a while.

I assumed the old info was true.

But based on experience, I still believe loss aversion is a compelling emotional force. The scenarios with the donuts above are solid illustrations.

So what’s the big takeaway here?

You know me. I’m always encouraging you to test different ideas to see what works best for you and your audience.

If you haven’t tried loss aversion as a tactic to increase conversions, give it a try. For example, you can use:

  • disappearing bonuses
  • real scarcity where people will miss out on the opportunity
  • expiring credits toward purchase (instead of discounts)

Test this stuff against simply trying to “add more value.” Then draw your own conclusions.

My second point is this: Researchers found that loss aversion begins to take over when losses are serious (because self-preservation is a priority for the brain).

When you’re using the negative argument, intensify the size and severity of the potential loss. Show the reader how much it’s going to cost him not to act:

  • Heart disease is inching closer every minute if you [BLANK]
  • The IRS could take thousands right out of your bank… unless you [BLANK]
  • Your wife will lose interest in you if you don’t do [BLANK]

Big losses, big reaction.

Give it a try in your own marketing.

What Your Spotify Wrapped Really Reveals About You

by

I don’t know about you, but I’m not familiar with too many “offers” that get 50% conversion.

From any company.

Paid or free.

And then there’s Spotify Wrapped.

Fine, maybe it’s more of a feature than an “offer.”

But they package it up, offer it for a limited time and promote the heck out of it.

I haven’t seen this year’s numbers, but 51% of users checked out their Wrapped in 2022. About 14% of them also shared their results on social media.

The whole thing works pretty well. So well that YouTube and Apple have borrowed the idea. (Duolingo, too!)

What makes Wrapped so enticing?

It’s focused on the #1 most interesting topic on the planet: YOU.

We’re all the center of our own universes. So we’re incalculably interested in ourselves. How could we not be?

As an extension to that idea, we’re also fascinated by anything we believe can tell us more about ourselves. Help us understand ourselves better.

With Wrapped, we already know we listened to music all year. Spotify uncovers hidden patterns and tell you what your listening habits really say about you.

Over the years, they’ve diagnosed your music “personality” and assigned you to a city based on your music selection.

All ways of giving you ways to think about and categorize yourself in your own mind… share your (favorable) findings with the world… and compare/contrast/connect yourself with other people.

Genius.

People can get really attached to their categories. Myers-Briggs. Political parties. Astrological signs.

Even a simple dichotomy like entrepreneur vs. 9-5er.

And once they put themselves in a category, they can easily begin using it as the lens they see the world through.

This reality can produce profound influence.

Think about ways you can show your prospects and clients more about themselves. Help them understand themselves in a helpful new way.

And if you put them in categories you define – or give them a way to self-assess themselves into one…

You have an opportunity to shape how they see themselves, their optimal next steps, and more.

It’s a powerful position to be in. Use you power wisely.

P.S. Once people accept their categories, they see things differently. And they see different things.

There are certain ways to “trigger” those individuals with email subject lines.

I share more details about this in the Secret Handshake chapter of Subject Line Science, now available on Amazon Kindle and paperback.

This is one of the concepts David Garfinkel and I discussed on my recent appearance on The Copywriter Podcast. Enjoy!

Boost Your Email Marketing with Subject Line Science

by

I’m excited to announce that you can now preorder my brand-new book…

Subject Line Science: 11 “Made You Look” Secretes to Get Emails Opened and Read.

iphone displaying "Subject Line Science" bookcover

Seems like everyone’s been asking for this.

It’s a quick read, but it dives deep into my process for creating impossible-to-ignore subject lines.

When you devour the lessons in this book, you (or your marketing team) will have the tools to write must-open subject lines that win attention, make subscribers excited to read and open the door for big sales.

You’ll also get some of the AI prompts I’m playing around with to give you even more fresh subject line options.

One of the 11 “made you look” secrets revealed in the book is what I call the “Tootsie Roll center of persuasion.” Here’s an example:

You’ll get a whole lot more insight about this in the book.

Subject Line Science will be officially released on November 17.

But when you preorder the book now for just $9.99, you’ll also get access to 3 exclusive bonuses for free:

  1. The audiobook (also on November 17)
  2. 104 Steal these Subject Lines templates
  3. Big Ideas for Unforgettable Emails video training

If you take action, this information can transform your email marketing results AND your business as a whole.

Get more details and preorder Subject Line Science now to take advantage.

Have a productive day!

Outsourced Thinking (and Why It’s a Good Thing)

by

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 this thinking for him.

If you can display deep expertise on a topic he’s interested in, he’ll happily outsource some of his thinking to you.

If you can minimize the perceived risk or difficulty of changing perspectives/approaches, you may find you have a loyal convert… and a paying client.

[I took this picture earlier this month after speaking at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the city’s largest university.]

This may all sound kind of negative or “manipulative,” but there’s nothing wrong with outsourcing brain work. In fact, most people are craving this kind of leadership.

Nobody can know everything, and even if we could, it would take a lifetime to learn it.

Why do that when we can just plug into someone who’s already an expert?

With that in mind, you may want to:

1) Build your trustworthiness.

2) Demonstrate your expertise.

3) Think about how the person you want to persuade perceives risk as it relates to the topic you want him to think differently about. Can you minimize the risk or reframe it to make it less frightening?

Take these steps and you’ll amp up your persuasive abilities in a major way.