8 BIG Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make In Marketing

There are always things you should do in marketing, and thing you shouldn’t do in marketing that are usually pretty obvious.  However, there are also things you should and shouldn’t do in marketing that aren’t always so obvious, and can derail you in record time if you aren’t aware of them.

BigGirlBranding.com

Have you got eleven seconds to learn a simple principle?
A principle that will radically change the way you do things?

You do, don’t you?
Ok, tick, tick, tick….here’s the principle.

==========================================
It’s called..um…the 70% Principle
==========================================

So what’s the 70% Principle?

If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing 70% right.
You can always come back to do the 20% later.

Yes, read it again, and no, the math isn’t wrong.

If you’re going to build a website, a 70% effort is fine.
If you’re going to do a presentation a 70% effort is fine.
If you’re going to bake a cake, for that matter…do you need
all the ingredients?

The perfect cake? With all the perfecto ingredients?
Or the cake with ‘70%’ of the ingredients?

The ‘perfect’ wording on a website?
Or the ‘70% perfect’ wording on the website?

==========================================
And nope this isn’t a case for mediocrity
==========================================

No one is telling  you to do crappy stuff. No one’s
saying that you need to keep your project unfinished.
But in the quest for perfection, most of us never start.

The 70% principle is about getting your best effort
out and into the hands of your clients. That you don’t
need to start off with a 100%-kaboom-wow-start.

==========================================
So let’s tell you about our ‘who pushed me?’ start in 2002
==========================================

We started Psychotactics,in the year 2002, with a 16 page booklet.
We called it the ‘Brain Audit.’ And indeedy-doo, it started
with just 16 pages. Those 16 pages, we cheekily sold for $20
or thereabouts.

And you know what?

We weren’t trying to keep the pages down to 16 pages, but we
certainly weren’t trying to pad up the contents of the book either.

The 16 pages of information were all we knew at the time. And yes,
we could have made it 100% perfect, but decided to put our 70%
effort out anyway.

==========================================
Did I say, put it out? I meant, I got ‘pushed’
==========================================

You see, I wasn’t keen to sell the Brain Audit. I wanted to get
the e-book just right. But I was forced into putting it on the
market.

I was forced to putting it on a sales page, by another marketer who
promised to promote the book to his audience.

==========================================
And he never did promote the book
==========================================

I reminded him. Gently. Then became a bit of a nag. But that
promotion never, ever happened. What did happen was that the
‘Brain Audit’ began to sell.

And as it turned out, I was able to add the next 20%,
and the next 20%, and the next 20%.

==========================================
And yes, the math still adds up
==========================================

Because all along, that ’so-called incomplete’ product was selling.
And when you think about it, which product or service of yours is
ever complete?

As your knowledge grows; as your customers ask more
questions; as you apply the concepts in different ways, your
product
or service gets better all the time.

And today, the Brain Audit is a comprehensive document that not
only helps you understand how the customer thinks, but is also the
basis for being a member of 5000bc; for doing any of our
courses like the copywriting course, product-creation course.

What started out as a ‘who pushed me?’ product, now helps us get
thousands of customers. And helps us grow our business considerably
from year to year.

==========================================
Kinda like the iPod, you see
==========================================

When the iPod came out at first, it was just 10GB (yeah, pathetic
ten gigs).

Then it went up to 30GB. And hey, we got video too. Then
whoopsy-doo, it was 60GB. And uppity up it keeps going, both in
size, features and ease of use.

Where’s the market for the perfect iPod?

There’s no market for the perfect product or service. The product
or service that your customers want, is the product or service you
have now.

That 70%-perfect product/service, will do fine for your customer.

==========================================
How can I be so sure?
==========================================

Could this article have been at least 30% better?
Couldn’t I have found more examples? More case-studies?
Put in more details, perhaps?
Tweaked my words just so to make it richer, more vibrant?

==========================================
Sure I could. But you’ve got the point, right?
==========================================

If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing 70% right.
You can always fix the 20% later.

====================================================
Product Offers: Links you should visit
===================================================
1) "I received more response from my direct mail and email
advertising than I have in the past."

I would recommend the Brain Audit, because it lays out a
successful approach that I was immediately able to apply,
unlike all the other "systems" I’ve invested in the past."

Becky DeGrossa, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Judge for yourself
http://www.psychotactics.com/brainaudit

2) The Sec’ret Life of Testimonials:How and Why you need to
use testimonials as part of your strategy.
http://www.psychotactics.com/testimonial_secrets

3) Find Out The Psychological Sec’rets of Compelling Websites…
http://www.psychotactics.com/website-secrets

4) New Product: Do you want to put some sanity into your design
even  though you are not a designer? Have a look at
http://www.psychotactics.com/design-clarity

Sean D’Souza

Here’s why ‘WHY’ is such a profit-making marketing trigger.

“Stop taking two and three plates of food,” my mother said to me angrily.

I was at a wedding and seven years old. Back then, at a lot of the weddings we used to go to, the food would be pre-served on a plate. I could never get enough of those calorie-ridden platters. Waylaying different waiters, (so I would not be recognised), I’d polish 3-4 plates without blinking an eye.

Mum wasn’t impressed, and told me to stop and desist.

“Why?” I’d ask. Her stock reply was always, “It’s bad manners to do that.” This Dustbin Hoffman (yes, I do mean Dustbin and not Dustin) act obviously got her goat, but it left me unfazed. It must have bugged her more than I expected though, because in a short while Dad was peering down at my food-stuffed face.

My question remained unchanged. “WHY?”

“If you invite a hundred people to a wedding, how many would you cater for?” he asked. “A hundred,” I answered, proud of my analytical genius. “If you ate four plates,” he continued, “how many would remain?” He prompted quickly, “Ninety-six right?” I nodded vigorously. “That means some people don’t eat. If you’re so hungry, we can go out after the wedding and get something to eat, but don’t deprive others.”

Dad Made Sense. Do You?

Dad understood psychology. He had to sell my brain an idea that my rumbling stomach didn’t want to understand. And he did it by answering the question, ‘WHY?’ How many of us ignore this powerful trigger in our marketing because it seems too obvious, almost too simple?

Why ‘Why?’ Puts Elvis’ Shaking and Moving to Shame

Let’s examine the six honest men. What, How, When, Where, Who and Why. Which one of these is the most powerful psychological movers of them all? This would be better answered with an example.

Let’s assume you needed to go to the supermarket. All the other triggers (how, when, where, who and what) would make absolutely no difference if you didn’t know ‘WHY’ you were headed there. Everything else would be totally irrelevant. Once you know WHY you’re doing something, everything else is just a matter of logistics.

Why Does 90% of Advertising and Marketing Communication Go Down the Drain?

Simple. Look for the WHY in advertising and scarcity pops up instantly. All the fancy layouts and the smart headlines can’t quite compensate for the niggling question that goes unanswered. All your customers want to know is, Why should I choose you? Why should I take this decision? Why should I spend this money? Why should I look at your website? Why should I read your brochure?’ Why should I listen to your speech? ‘Why? Why? Why?’

Dump the cotton woolly fluff. Get your customer’s brain to go scrambling like an over-enthusiastic pup after a Frisbee. Once you have enough WHY factor built into what you’re selling, everything else is just clip, clop, fall in place stuff.

Be an Accountant, Do an Audit

Look at your communication. Like reeeeeeeaaaaally look at it! What about your website? Does it answer the question WHY straight up? And does it do it on the first page? How about your brochure? Does its headline make it a cinch for dustbin land? What about your speech? Do you have enough beds to compensate for your lack of WHY?

I could go on, but I suspect you get the message.

Be merciless. If the WHYs don’t stack up, dump the communication. Or chop and change it till it does.

Finding the Right Level of Why Power

If you noticed, Mum actually answered my WHY question. She just didn’t answer it to my satisfaction like Dad did. Herein lies a subtle, yet formidable difference.

It’s not enough to simply have the WHY question answered. It’s got to be the most ‘Rambo in your face’ answer, or it will bounce higher than a defaulting cheque. Let your WHYs loose on each other, and let only the one with the most testosterone come out shining.

Aristotle — Man, Was he Smart or What?

All communication must lead to change.

That’s what the old wise man said over 2300 years ago. Not some or most communication.

All.

Yet we are dealing with customers that inherently detest change. WHY is the only motivator that allows them to make that shift. Change is still a scary word, but at least the justification sits nicely in their cranium.

In fact, if you look closely, even a WHAT question like, What’s in it for me?, is really a "WHY" issue. All it is saying is ‘Why should I pay attention?’ Give your customers the WHY factor and their buying sprees will reflect nicely in your growing bank account.

This is simple, down to earth advice. Yet it represents one of the most powerful psychological triggers why people buy. WHY on earth would you ignore it?

Sean D’Souza

http://www.psychotactics.com/

The Power of Marketing With Gift Certificates

Gil-Ad Schwartz is a direct response copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in persuasion psychology and NLP. You can learn more about him at his site, http://www.gil-adschwartz.com

The Great Marketing Separator — Nonconformity

Today I am going to focus on those of you who have small businesses. When I was running my local service business I was afflicted with the disease of sameness…

I never focused on what made my company different, but yet I would always say ‘no other company is like mine’. The problem is we think one way and the marketplace thinks another.

This post is not about getting your message out there, this is about the truckloads of cash you may be screwing yourself out of…. because you are a true conformist.

Rather than focus on what makes you special, let’s focus on what you are not offering or doing that will immediately separate your business from the flood…

It’s So Easy Even a Barber Can Do It

Can you think of anything more mundane than a barbershop? With all the salons taking aggressive steps to focus on men, barbershop’s faithful are far and few. Likely why most go out of business or barely make any money.

If you owned a struggling barbershop what would you do? Think about this for a minute as it is easier to think how you would treat another business than it is your own. How would you get more customers in the door?

Would you…

• Use social networking (like Twitter and Facebook)
  
• Send out direct mail
  
• Utilize television or radio
  
• Put ads in local papers and/or magazines
  

Do you know what will happen if you used all of those? Probably not much, do you know why? Because the mentality of today’s man has changed. We love to go to the salon and have our hair ’styled’ by a hot looking stylist.

We will happily shell out $40 a trip rather than hit the ‘old man’ barbershop for half the price.

Nonconformist Entreprenuers Elevate "the barbershop" Image

I am sure most of your answers in my ‘how to save the barbershop’ question was noble. You tried and likely could not see the forest through the trees. (the trees being your focus on the advertising rather than the psychology… the true enemy here.)

Would you believe a barbershop not only can get a large client base, but charge them membership dues? Some of the top end memberships costing thousands per year!

Check out what these guys have done to a stagnate and dying business type- http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com/

Do you see how you may be missing out on something in your business? Imagine what would have happened if these guys asked people within the industry what they thought about their idea in the beginning… they would have been laughed out of there.

Instead they skipped talking to the barely surviving, narrow minded people and looked at business models outside of the industry. They now have 152 locations, and growing! I wonder how many of those typical barbershops will have a chain of 150 stores and an army of clients being auto-billed monthly.

These savvy entrepreneurs also identified that men like ‘male exclusivity’. Men will pay to be involved in a private club like this, and some will pay a lot.

If you think there is nothing you can do like this in your business, that is fine… but just because you stop moving does not mean the world does too.

go get some

Paul

Sometimes we need to pat ourselves on the back a little more…

I was listening to a seminar the other day and Dave Lakhani was speaking. He brought up something I feel we should all do more often…. celebrate.

We are always waiting for the ‘big thing’ to happen before we allow ourselves to enjoy what just happened.

For example, I just landed a couple of partnerships that really look good. I like the people and what they are going to promote. What did I do after locking these down? Concentrated on the next thing I need to do.

Damn sad aint it? I worked hard to put myself in a position to be offered this, yet I do not stop and enjoy the moment.

When is the moment big enough…. is it ever big enough? I get testimonials from people telling me they loved working with me and I did a great job. Did I stop to say to myself "good going Paul!"… no.

I just allow that positive energy to dissipate into nothingness

I plan on pushing myself hard this new year. The part I will push the most is acknowledging triumphs, both big and small.

That aint going to be easy, but it will be wonderful.

Have a great holiday and a prosperous new year

go get some

Paul

Will Your Ad Break This Man From His Trance? I’ll Show You How…

Without fail, most businesses who advertise screw up their message. Have you noticed that most advertising speaks at you? It is said that in an average day some of us are exposed to 3000+ advertisements.

You would think our heads would explode from all those pesky ads popping up all around us, all day.

How do you manage to stay sane? You ignore them. You have developed blinders that do not allow your mind to be distracted from meaningless messages.

In an effort to show you a perfect example, I’ll use your wife/girlfriend. Let’s say you are watching your favorite sporting event. Your team is behind and making a comeback. Suddenly your lover appears behind you telling you about something that happened at work.

Most men nod and say ‘really, wow’, ‘okay’, ’sure’, ‘maybe later’… or nothing at all. Let’s say the same woman walks in behind her man and says ‘I slept with Ron at work and I am so sorry’.

What happens now, do you keep watching your team drive down the field? Hell no, that game is nothing now. Your full attention has been redirected in an instant.

Most advertisements speak at people that are transfixed on something else or many things. When you speak at them they will not listen. You are no different than the 3000+ messages they are getting hammered by. (that are also ignored)

We are all wrapped up in our little worlds. We have a sick kid, bill problems, dog is crapping on the floor, work, relationship problems, the car has a weird noise, something good is on tv…. all of these more important than your offer.

Until you prove otherwise.

Knowing your ideal prospects well can help you craft what I like to call ‘meaningful relevance‘. If you know who you are after very well it is much easier to grab their attention.

Don’t dream up shit you think should be meaningful, base your actions on an educated analysis, not what you think should be meaningful.

Instead of trying to force them to listen, go with the grain of their everyday life. Relate to them and they will at least take notice for a second. It’s up to you to keep their attention from there.

Please feel free to leave comments instead of emailing them to me. Share your opinion with everyone.

go get some

Paul

Napoleon Hill….. Loser?

It never ceases to amaze me how pathetic we are. Have you ever noticed what sells magazines and news in general- Negative human behavior. We all love to watch celebrities and the wealthy fall on their face.

Why do we find such joy in it? Because we see ourselves as failures. We have actually grown accustomed to feeling that way. We have nothing to live up to so it’s a lot harder to dissapoint.

When we see others elevate above our comfort zone, we resent them. Little by little we start to despise them. They are exposing us by doing things we do not do. They pushed a little harder and found fortune. (this does not make them great people, but it does make them successful at something)

Recently I was on a forum and there was a discussion about Napoleon Hill (author of Think and Grow Rich). The topic was that he died broke. The topic is interesting because rumors have spread that he did indeed die poor. (which he did not)

Think and Grow Rich was not a story about Napoleon Hill as he was far from wealthy when he was hired. He was sent on a mission and connected to the wealthiest people on earth to write the book.

What I found interesting is that some people found joy he may have been a failure. The funny thing is that a lot of very wealthy people attribute their fortune to the concepts of that book. Who gives a shit who lost what. How many of us ever amass anything but debt?

Most of you will never have that day in the sun in your lifetime (me included), but we can if we burn the bridges behind us. Sometimes you need to give yourself no other way but straight at your dream.

I owned a window cleaning business that I started to hate. I fell in love with direct marketing and then copywriting and one day dumped the window cleaning business. I don’t mean I sold it or made a transition. I stopped all income from it.

I knew I had a knack for writing sales copy and my dream is to make a good living doing this. What did I do? … burned the bridges.

Everyone who is successful stopped looking back. Everyday I am closer and closer to my dream. For 7 years I was in a come and now I feel alive. I am not successful in a money sense yet, but I am on my way and I am finally happy. (whatever that is)

I leave you with this excerpt from Think and Grow Rich:

“A long while ago, a great warrior faced a situation which made it necessary for him to make a decision which insured his success on the battlefield. He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own.

He loaded his soldiers into boats, sailed to the enemy’s country, unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to burn the ships that had carried them. Addressing the men before the first battle, he said, “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores unless we win! We now have no choice—we win—or we perish!”

They won.

go get some

Paul

Are Your Ads Broken Too?

Internet marketing can be a glorious business, can’t it? I realize
most are in the "start-up" phase and I also know how head
spinning that can be.

Whether you are a new or well on your way, I see a sticking point
with most…. writing the copy, headlines and offer.

Being how I hang in the underbelly of Warrior (the copywriting forum)
I see many, MANY questions about headlines and such from people
not real interested in learning copywriting.

For those of you unable or unwilling to hire an experienced copywriter,
here is something that may help-

The Mall Walk

The ‘mall walk’ for me is trying to see your product/offer as most will
see it. When you are creating your product page and squeeze pages
what do you see? Just your product, right?

You are oblivious to the fact that your offer is in a sea of millions of
offers. Because you only see what is on your screen you are thinking
that’s what everyone sees…. most see "what the hell is this?"

Not the easiest position to sell from

When you are in a shopping mall you will notice heavy competition
between the stores. They know you have only so much money to
shop with and they want it.

What gets you interested in going into the store normally?

A. Display sign with a sale or other announcement
B. A store that has stuff you know you like

Both are VITAL to get the people that will spend some dough. You
don’t care about those who just walk through. (like getting 10,000
visitors to your page and making two sales) You want the ones
most likely to buy.

If I saw a sign on a store that said 75% off and it was on fishing gear,
I would not notice or care. If I seen a sign at The Guitar Center that
said "New Gibson Les Paul – No Payments for One Year"

I AM SCREAMING IN THERE!!!!

Notice how I did not need a ‘cheap price’ to be totally captivated by
the message. I would walk past the store normally even though I
love playing guitar. I have a guitar, but not a Les Paul.

They not only got me to come in, they have just sold me a Les Paul
for retail. I can’t pass it up as now I already envisioned having
one. They dug into my skull to find a burning desire I was not thinking
about at all. I was not getting ready to buy a Les Paul, not even close.

Your ebook, software, membership site, affiliate up-sells or whatever
needs to find the right people THEN say the right thing.

Most think copywriting is a mystical art…. think of it more as a metal
detector. If you look for coins in the desert, not so good. If you go
to a busy beach…

Find out who benefits most from your offer. If you know who they
are and what arouses them, you’re almost there. You don’t even
need a long sales letter if you have the audience, attention grabber
and offer screwed down tight.

When writing your headline don’t try to be generic or hyped. Just tell
them about their "Les Paul" and then give them no way to refuse.

The Guitar Center may not sell 500 $3000 guitars that day, but they
will have sold many they never would have otherwise.

Anyway, I hope that helps you see what you’re selling a little more
clearly.

go get some

Paul

Your Ad With a Bad Headline Will Destroy Response

You have heard it time and time again, haven’t you? You always hear how important the headline is to your ad. Guess what, IT IS!

I am amazed by how many people who send me their ads (who are aware of how important the headline is) have horrible headlines.

My view of how headlines should be done has been changing recently. As I first started copywriting I clung onto attention grabbers (as that is easy). I read that headlines only need to attract the attention of the reader. I thought "easy enough"….

"Wife Beats Husband to Death With Cat"

Then I would talk about how this new Twitter software would save their lives.

There is no doubt that headline would get read by 99% of anyone who sees it.. Who could resist? Since I captivated everyone’s attention it is only natural they would buy the Twitter software….

You say you don’t think it would get people to buy the software? If you saw that headline and then read the first sentence "Find out how to get 5000 Twitter followers begging for your tweets in 7 days", you think you would stop reading?

You bet your ass you would, so would everyone else

I have begun to despise statement headlines- "23 Year Old College Flunky Makes $100.000 in 3 Weeks"… that is the status quo these days. There are a bazillion of those types of interest headlines out there right now.

I feel that the next generation (web 2.0) of users will ignore these headlines. (I also believe that long online sales copy is on it’s way out the door, but that’s for another day

With online copy, people are coerced into reading your ad. They clicked on something that caught their eye.

When people are dragged onto your sales page kicking and screaming, you don’t have but a couple seconds. Your headline and sub-heads need to be powerful, most importantly meaningful.

Let’s use the Twitter product as that is seemingly a boring product-

Do You Worry About Having a Good Christmas This Year?–Find Out How You Can Have $2000 in Time Using a Free Tool

Writing good headlines or body copy is about isolating your target market. In a down economy with many people stuggling, these people will read a little further.

As I mentioned in my last post- people do not dream about cars, piles of money or mansions… their dreams are usually negative. Most are worried about something. You need to isolate that demographic and punch them in their metaphorical nuts.

Remember, what you are selling is not for everyone, but everyone has worries (even the wealthy). Most people are in survivor mode and think backwards. They don’t care about preventing Cancer until Cancer touches their lives… NOW THEY CARE!

Hit people with question headlines that hit an emotional hot button. It could be money, health, self image, their child’s future, anything that digs into those sleepless moments.

Do not think you can reprogram the human race with your positive drival? Nobody has done it and you wont either.

Hit them where it hurts and promise them a way out of it

go get some

Paul