I didn’t give up video. I just got busy.
You know how it is, right? You want to do something and then you make this grand list. Then you do a bit of it. And you do some more. And some more. And you get results. And then you do a spectacularly stupid thing.

You give up.

Why? No one knows for sure.
It’s not like video took me more time. In fact, the first time I tried to make a video  (I say ‘try’ because I didn’t complete the video) it took me five hundred and eight hours.

A couple of hours of shooting. Five hundred hours of wondering how lousy I’d look and sound on video. And the remaining six hours of fiddly stuff with the right location, video software etc.

And yet a month or two later, we were shooting eight videos in an hour

My wife, Renuka would set up the camera. We’d switch on the lights. And I’d speak. No teleprompter, no reading from notes, nothing. Just speak as though I was speaking to a client.

And no, I didn’t start out that way. I needed the notes. I bought several teleprompters. Then I just got sick of the whole process and decided to shoot whatever I possibly could in an hour.

And it was ONE take. No second take. The less I focused on getting it right vs. getting it done, the more videos got done. But it was killing me to script, shoot, edit, put titles, keywords and upload the darned thing.

Bah! It was maddening!

So I hatched a devious plan

I contacted some kids at school and one of them showed up, keen to edit video. Now he had standing instructions. He had to show up and never call. If he called, I might say something like, “Let’s skip this week”.

But if I knew he was going to show up anyway, I had to do the video. This kid was free for a few hours on Saturday. I’d shoot on Friday evening. One hour. Eight videos. Back to back. Then I’d need a beer or two.

But something happened along the way

I can’t remember the details. But I just gave up. The kid stopped showing up. Maybe we went on vacation. Maybe something else happened. The point is irrelevant. I just stopped.

And that’s what we all do. We stop. And we have to be re-booted once again.

So towards the end of last year, I did the reboot. I contacted a film school and asked if their alumni were keen to earn some money. Three eager beavers showed up. Two dropped out, for some weird reason. One stayed. And he’s good!

And that’s a lesson in itself

Trying to do the scripting, shooting, editing, rendering, uploading is a pain in the you-know-where. You may start off all nice and cheery, but projects come in the way, chaos drops in for a beer and then all hell breaks loose. You definitely need to get some help. Kids all around you know how to use video cameras and all tend to have access to a computer.

And they will spend the time editing, if not shooting for you. I prefer to have the person shoot and edit, and that is the best way going forward. That way you, the talent, can do the prep work, get time to actually comb your hair and then do the shoot in one go.

Or two. Or five. But at least once it’s done, it’s done.

And so in two weeks, we’ve shot seventeen videos

Not in two weeks. In two hours, just spread over two weeks.

I know, I know. It sounds intimidating, but it’s only intimidating for the first five hundred and eight hours. After that you get used to the camera, just like you get used to looking at yourself in the mirror.

And while those seventeen videos were the live videos, I got back into making screencasts as well.

Now screencasts are tough

They’re tough if you want to do a good job. Because there’s no live movement, you have to create the movement. So a 30-minute video may have as many as 250 slides and about 300 specific animation points.

That’s not counting the audio recording time (which I do separately) and the graphics. And the layout. And the storyboard. And another half a dozen things. In short, it’s a big production. And often people make screencasts because they’re afraid of facing the screen.

Well don’t let me stop you from making 250 slides

But if you’re looking to save time, live action is better. It’s quicker. It’s easy to trash and start again. You may not like your voice and you may not like your face on video, but you’ll get over it sooner or later.

Probably later, but there will be a time (and get this) when you will actually like your voice. No, I’m not kidding. Then people have to shut you up.

The final reason for making screencasts is because you have something that needs to be demonstrated, rather than spoken.
Of course the final reason is just that you’re a sucker for punishment—which I am.

So why did I start making video again?

Well, I don’t know about you, but if there’s a page of pretty pictures to see, or if there’s text on this page, I still click on the video. I will head to an Apple.com page in all its glory and pretty pictures and bingo—it’s the video I want to see.

Well-made video is quicker and more tidy than reading a whole page of stuff. But let’s say you’re not me. Let’s say for instance you are the one who reads the pretty words and loves the pictures. Well, then there’s a good chance you have a client like me.

A client who wants videos. And so you may not be a video-watching person yourself, but your client loves video. And so you do what’s needed.

So I buckled down and made the video.

I made live videos.
I made screencasts.
And I’m going to make videos for our sales pages as well. Because I know they work. I’ve seen them work on painful people like me, who don’t want to read or see pretty pictures. And while it’s not always fun to get the script, the topics and do all that speaking etc., it’s now a lot of fun to see the finished product. It’s nice. It’s effective.

And more importantly, it doesn’t take five hundred and eight hours any more.

Phew!

P.S. If you’re considering video, and especially if you’re considering screencasts, you will want to look at Black Belt Presentations. It really, really helps.

Do you have a similar story to share? Post it here.

The Brain Audit really teaches you the art of persuasion because it gives an insight into how people’s brains work. I have used the principles in writing WebPages, writing articles, making presentations, networking, negotiating and even writing submissions for a judge!

But the best bit about the Brain Audit is that it actually works.The principles are easy to understand.

Would I recommend it to people serious about getting on in business? Absolutely.

Michael Smyth, approachablelawyer, Auckland
Judge for yourself —The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy And Why They Don’t

“If you suspect that your business could be bringing in a lot more revenue but you don’t have a clue how to make that happen without hype or hassle, 5000bc is a must-have resource.

I honestly didn’t see what 5000bc could offer me that I couldn’t get from Sean’s books. Besides, how could a bunch of people – most of whom are not business experts – help me build my business?

I joined anyway because the price was right and I wanted the information that came with the premium membership.

The information and support I received from Sean and my fellow “cavers” about a single Web page was directly responsible for selling $10,000 worth of books in less than two weeks.

Unlike many Web communities, 5000bc members are active and to the point. Sean keeps adding content that drills down to specific problems in business and then shows you how to solve them.

Try it. You won’t regret it.”

Molly Gordon, Master Certified Coach
Shaboom Inc, USA

Judge for yourself—How 5000bc can make your business succeed.

1) Do You Often Hit A Wall Called ‘Writers Block’?
Learn how the core elements of outlining can save you from the misery of writing your next article.

2) Do you know that visuals immediately improve your sales conversion?
Learn how to create drama and curiosity and help improve your web page conversion with visuals.

3) Do your websites, brochures, presentations, etc… confuse your clients?
Put some sanity into your design, even though you are not a designer?

4) Chaos Planning
Year after year you sit down and create a list of things you want to achieve. Then suddenly it’s March, and you’ve not really moved ahead as you’d expected.
Learn Why Most Planning Fails: And The Critical Importance of Chaos in Planning.

5) Nothing bugs you more than a painful client.
A client who hassles you at every step of the way. Learn how to use the power of the ‘six critical questions’ to get incredible testimonials—and attract clients that make every day an absolute joy.

$250 vs. $250

So a client has two sets of $250.

One says $250.

The other says $250.

Do they look exactly the same to you?

They do, don’t they?

But how the client spends the $250 on your business is what’s crucial. If they spend one type of $250, they may consume a bit of it and never come back, or come back infrequently. If they spend another type of $250, they come back over and over, and then spend far more than $250.

In some cases, they move from $250 to $500, even $10,000 or more. And over the lifetime of the client, they may not just be very profitable for your business, but also get in other clients just like them, thus adding to your reputation and revenue streams.

But which $250 will you choose?

Heh, heh, I’ve been teasing you, but let’s get to the point with an example, shall we?

Let’s say a client is a member of your membership site. And the annual fees for the site are $250. A membership site is a lot like a gym membership. If you use the gym facilities, you keep paying for it over the years. But if you don’t use it, along comes your New Year resolution day, and you let your membership lapse. The same applies to a membership site that’s not being used.

And there’s a reason why membership sites are not used to their fullest

But now that client has paid $250 for the membership, and so they feel the need to dip in their toes from time to time, but it’s not enough. It doesn’t matter what’s in the site—doesn’t matter at all. You could have the most amazing content, the greatest interviews etc.

It doesn’t matter for a good majority of the people on your membership site. That’s because your fantabulous content is driving the clients nuts. They want to consume the content, but for most of your members it comes too thick and fast. And so, like the gym membership, they don’t consume and the renewal doesn’t go through.

But what if the clients were to do a $250 course?

Now things change. This course has changed the dynamics completely. They’ve got their membership and yet they want to further their education, and so they spend the second $250 on the course.

The course may be something like learning how to draw cartoons, or how to write headlines, or write articles etc. It may not necessarily be a very long course and may just last four-eight weeks. But the value of the additional paid course is often greater than the membership.

“Of course it is”, you say aloud!

“The membership has a ton of information, but it’s not always specific to a person’s needs. A course on the other hand is specific. ” Fair enough. But that’s not the sole magic of the course. The magic of the course lies in the factor of identity.

The moment the client is segregated from the rest of the member’s group, there’s a shift in their brain. They’re now a select audience. And this gives every member a sense of identity. Being in a smaller group is critical (this is why at Psychotactics we have just 33 participants at a workshop, and no more than 20 people on any given course).

Now they consume at a far greater level

And more importantly, they get a sense of identity. A member that hasn’t participated at all in a larger group, when encouraged well, will suddenly sprout wings and become exceedingly prolific in their contribution. The more prolific they get, the more they’re respected and accepted by the group. And the identity grows.

Now the member is not just a member of a boring membership site. Now the course has made them feel relaxed. Made them feel at home. And it just so happens that the member is learning a new skill and gaining enormous confidence as well.

What happens next?

A course is a drug. If conducted well, a member will want to be part of another course and another and another, always upgrading skills as they go along. But with every minor upgrade, they get more confident and wander into the main membership area where they start to contribute as well.

So someone doing the cartooning or headlines course may stay well the limits of the cartooning course for the duration of the course, but once the course is over, an inevitable emptiness fills the space.

That emptiness has to be filled

And it’s filled by the main membership area. Almost the entire group will then move to the main area where they will participate with invigorated gusto and bonhomie. The identity factor has kicked into top gear. They no longer feel they’re just another name or number. They feel part of the group and hence participate willingly. Incredible as it may sound, they need to pay the second $250 to get the greatest value from the first $250.

The membership did indeed cost them $250 (that’s the first $250) but it’s the second $250 (for the course) that makes the difference to ease the transition of no identity to identity. The more they participate in the course, the more they tend to participate in the general area.

Makes sense, doesn’t it? After all we’re all slightly unnerved when we get into a new space, or travel to a new city. But give us a few days in that city and give us a few friendly faces, and we’re happy as clams. Makes perfect sense!

But if this is so effective, why charge $250? Why not have the course free?

For one, courses take enormous time and planning. Even if you’ve done a course before, there are still squillions of things to consider. So unless you’ve got tons of resources and time, it’s better to do a paid course. The second factor is that of increased consumption.

A member that joins a paid course is thrice as likely to completely the course as one who hasn’t* paid for the course. This doesn’t mean you can’t make a free course extremely valuable. It can be done. However if you can charge a client, it’s important to do so, both for the client as well as you.

But this is where the first $250 comes into play

If the client is not a member of your site, then they go out into the ‘wild open spaces’ once the course is complete. But if they’re a member, they go right back into the community and start contributing. This enhances their sense of identity.

In their own minds they’re no longer newbies. But more so, and I know you’ve been paying attention, they are part of this group. This is their herd, tribe, hangout—whatever you want to call it. This is where they have a space to congregate and participate.

So goody, this applies to some fancy information site. But how does it apply to a cafe?

Or a yoga class? Or an online site that sells tea?

It does. And the moment we go through the first example, you’ll work it out for the others as well. Let’s say you have a yoga class. And heck yeah, you get people to show up to that class on a regular or irregular basis. But see, there’s no identity in place. Everyone shows up. They unfold their mats. They nod politely to their neighbour next door. And they’re off. No one cares. No identity at all.

Now change the identity dynamics

Offer a weekend course, or even a 5-hour course. Keep the numbers small. Then make sure everyone knows each other at the start of the course. And as the course advances, get the participants to work in groups (there’s safety in numbers).

The more they work in the group, the more they get to know the others within the group. And by the end of the course or weekend, they get to know everyone. They may not need to get along with everyone, but to know everyone and develop additional knowledge on the subject is enough to create a solid sense of identity. Once the identity has been melded into place, this spills back to the regular yoga class.

Now when they get back, they’re no longer just participants.

You got it! They have a sense of identity. They’re part of something and better at something and they know someone. The same applies to a cafe. Yes you drink coffee at the cafe and you do the same nodding at familiar faces, but there’s no sense of identity. But have a special event just for the cafe folks—even a small wine and cheese evening, and watch the change in dynamics. But what if you’re that online tea company? There are ways to create a niche group.

Everyone gets to meet and introduce each other. Then everyone is tasting the same tea. The person from New Zealand is drinking the same tea as the person from Paris, Texas. And they’re interacting. They’re getting a sense of identity and expertise. And you’re getting a sense of the importance of identity as well, aren’t you?

But you may well miss out on the important aspects of this second $250 exercise…

The most important factor is not to simply have another course. If the yoga class instructor has a weekend course and doesn’t get the group to work and mingle, this concept of identity doesn’t come to the fore. If the groups are not made into smaller groups, it won’t work.

Then all you’re really doing is taking the big yoga class and creating a mini yoga class. You’re not getting the group to mingle and meet. And it’s in that mingling and meeting that you foster the sense of identity.

This is one (just one) of the reasons why a Psychotactics course has such a high rate of success

The Article Writing Course course is the toughest writing course in the world (one participant said it was the toughest in the universe). Yet between 80-90% stick out the entire duration of the course (we’re talking three months of daily grind here. Think of 90 days of slog and you’ll get the idea).

And the same applies to the Headlines Course. We’ve seen more drop off in some courses, but it’s work in progress. Sometimes the course itself needs tweaking. Sometimes it’s the group dynamics. Sometimes it’s the pricing (higher priced courses get higher consumption). But we’re going off track here…

So the high rate of success is because every course is firstly, small.

Yes, we could easily have a group of 500 people, but it wouldn’t help foster any sort of lasting identity. Then every group within the course is split into smaller groups.

So a group of 20 will be split up into 4-5 groups. The sense of identity is greatly enhanced in the tiny group, then taken over to the main group and finally finds a voice in the larger group (that is the membership at 5000bc). The small, small, small groups are critical. The merging into the bigger groups are also critical. This isn’t about just having a workshop. This is kinda like making buddies. People you know and trust, at least on some level.

Which is why we’ll have a Psychotactics workshop

We live in New Zealand, and yet we’ll fly half way across the planet to have a workshop in the US or Canada (Yes, we’re coming to Europe) just so that we can do this very thing. We need the Psychotactics group to meet at a course, get smarter, get into smaller and then bigger and then bigger groups. If a person is part of a course, they are more likely to join 5000bc to keep their sense of identity and expertise going. If they don’t join 5000bc, they go their own way.

The members that stay within 5000bc consume more and buy more

This boosts revenue and longevity of the client. But the client isn’t an idiot. They would buy more and consume more only if they’re getting a return on their time and money investment.

And they do, so they keep coming back. This becomes extremely important for the group, because now the group has members with a solid sense of identity, expertise and hence the conversation becomes extremely rich and diverse. And confident. You see passion and confidence oozing and this spills over to other members, who in turn benefit. This allows the participants in the course to give back, when they can. And participation soars, even with a small community.

But what happens to the person that goes their own way?

They may come back. They may not. If they don’t join the membership site, their identity isn’t forged. It’s possible to get them to come back and start anew, but the whole process is a lot more time-consuming. Therefore you need to have a place where a client can spend $250 and $250.

$250 gets them into a membership.

$250 gets them into a course.

Which one is better? If I had to choose, I wouldn’t. Because it’s a bit of a toughie. The key is the understanding that over time you need to have both the elements in place. You need the course and you need the membership area. So you need to have your regular yoga class and you need to have the course. You need to have the coffee addiction and the special event. You have to have the membership site at 5000bc and the live workshop.

But what if you don’t have both?

Then a good place is to start somewhere. Somewhere a person can get a sense of identity. A membership site may well be some distance away. So announce a course. And get people to join and interact. Then you can move them onwards. If you don’t have a course, put together a book (or a booklet).

When we started with Psychotactics, we had no book, no membership. But we did have a tiny list and they bought into The Brain Audit (which was just 16 pages long at the time). That group of buyers were invited to join 5000bc in the year 2003. At a annual membership of $7 a year (yes, a year). They joined. Later the fee went up and up—and it continues to rise. But the members stayed. We had courses that they attended and they came along. And it reinforced their identity. So they stayed.

We obviously do things a lot better than we did back in the year 2003, or 2004 or 2010 for that matter. And you want to start somewhere. And realise that having a course leads to the membership, which leads to the course, which leads back to the membership, which leads back to a course, which leads to the membership…you’re getting the picture aren’t you?

You may not charge $250. You may charge $7.

The concept is the same. If you want lasting revenue, you must create a sense of intense identity with your clients. They in turn will repay this identity by adding to the group and learning from you, and buying your product or service over and over again.

Do you have story about how identity affects membership? Share your story here

Does your marketing campaign tend to go suddenly quiet? The phone should be ringing off the hook, your web server should be crashing with the number of orders, yet all you hear is the sound of silence.

One psychological factor could throw your entire marketing campaign out of whack. What is that factor? And how can it make your campaign come alive again? Read this article to solve the puzzle.

Grandmas never moved so quickly!

Let’s go back to the 70′s. Imagine we’re in a department store. You, me and a whole lot of other people. No one seems to be in any sort of hurry.

You’re looking at beachwear, I’m looking at some shirts and we’re not even remotely thinking about jeans. We’re not even thinking of buying anything.

Then suddenly there’s an announcement.

“Attention, K-Mart shoppers. We have a Blue Light Special in the Men’s department: Levi’s jeans for only $19.95. Hurry, this sale ends when the blue light stops spinning.”

You hear it before you see it. It’s a low rumble. Then seconds later like an army of wildebeest on the move, a multitude of shoppers seem to roar ahead. And God help you if you’re in their way!

Mild mannered grandmas turn into menacing Indy 500 racecar drivers. Housewives push, shove and jostle to avail of the bargain as soon as they can. Teenagers bent on stretching their allowances join the fray.

Shopping carts tumble, angry words fly. And while the blue light flashes, it sounds like a zoo with a hundred angry wildebeest.

Which psychological factor creates such a level of pandemonium?

Could it possibly be the bargain factor?

You’d be quick to jump to that conclusion wouldn’t you? I mean a bargain is a bargain is a bargain. What else is there to consider? What you may have missed in the thunderous stampede is the fact that the blue light has stopped after a duration of about 15 minutes.

Suddenly there’s a kind of hush.

Notice how the buying euphoria has died down. The shoppers go back to their fitting rooms. They window shop, perhaps buy a few things. Perhaps not.

You still think it’s the bargain price, don’t you?

So go figure this one out.

It’s Friday, December 22, 2000. Parents across the United States were going bananas in their attempt to get the mother of all Christmas gifts: The Playstation 2. For some parents, the Bambi look of their five year old, coupled with the emotional guilt is just too much to handle.

Look what happened next.

- In Georgia, parents rented Playstations at video stores and never returned them.
- In Berryville, Ark., teenagers mugged a father and his son as they walked out of a Wal-Mart, and stole their PlayStation 2.
- Some parents paid up to $2,500 for the $299 Playstation on Internet auction sites.
- And The Wall Street Journal reported that a 20-year-old Canadian man, who was later arrested by local police, took $400,000 from desperate customers wanting to get their PlayStations before Christmas.

As you can see, there were no bargains to be had. In fact, it was quite the opposite. People would have gladly paid a premium to get what they wanted. So the psychological factor certainly didn’t hinge on price.

But the words *blue light* and *Christmas* should give you a clue.

Yes indeedy, you’ve guessed it. It’s a sense of urgency. That flashing blue light signalled the start of the madness. When it was switched off, everything went back to normal. So also with Christmas. Fancy telling your child that Santa isn’t going to deliver till March. Ooh, there would be tantrums!

It’s urgency that drives people bonkers.

People? Did I say people? Well your customers are people aren’t they? So if it works for K-Mart (God bless their soul) and Sony (and theirs too!) why wouldn’t it work for you? And why aren’t you implementing it in your business?

Because you don’t have products, right?

Yeah any old dodo can put a sense of urgency on their products. Drop the price, do some promotion, hold back the goods and you create scarcity out of nothing at all. But how do you do this with services? Admittedly this is much harder.

If you’re dealing with small business…phew!

By default most small businesses are expected to be jugglers. Their 48 hour days and eight arms are still not quite adequate to handle the twenty squillion issues that pop onto their work desk each day. They are always on the lookout for a supplier that can offer them a little additional incentive.

So go ahead, offer them the goodies.

Turn on the pressure by offering a whole series of services that would no longer be available after a certain date. Throw in the email support, drop in the add-on training and lay before them a smorgasbord of yummy stuff for their business.

Hey, they need your service anyway. They don’t really want to think about it, they just want to put it off till the last possible second.

If you fail to put an urgency factor on the product or service you’re offering to a small business, something else will take precedence and your offer will be buried under the paperwork, possibly never to see the light again.

Workshops and training use this urgency tactic extremely well. By restricting the seats and dates, they pummel our little brains with the need to improve and grow our businesses.

Research has shown that the maximum numbers of signups are in the second last or last week of a workshop. The scarcity factor kicks in and the seats get filled.

How to deal with the dinosaurs called Big Business…

Big business looks at you in scorn. Humph! Don’t even try that trick with us, they snort haughtily. And it’s true. Putting pressure on them is like trying to scare a dinosaur. One swing of the tail and you’re history.

However you’ve got to remember a big business is only a small business with lots of people.

People with their own agendas, their own little private victories to be won. Aha! There’s le loophole. Focus your efforts on an individual’s issues, instead of trying to take on the entire company’s problems.

The key is to tie your service offering to some external compelling event. Something that is compelling to the buyer.

Their fiscal year- ‘Do it now so you can charge it to this year’s budget’ or results before the next board meeting-’Be a hero at the meeting!’ or demonstrate a solution before the annual stockholder’s meeting -’Solve this problem so that the CEO can calm the shareholders’.

Big business is like a small business with deeper pockets. If you recognise this fact, you can create a sense of urgency.

Now don’t forget to look before you cross the road…

And don’t ever back up on your offer. Once it reaches its expiry date, pull the plug on the day you’ve promised.

Your public is watching you all the time. If you get just that bit greedy, they’ll remember that you’re pliable. One flinch and you’re dead in the water!

Where’s the urgency in your communication?

Urgency is a very powerful psychological factor. It transmogrifies the most unmotivated customer into fiercely determined buyers. Put the urgency factor into your communication and watch your customers go bananas, as they scramble to buy your products and services.

And eliminate that sound of silence for good!

Recommended Product: Is the Customer Ready To Buy?: Customers give you a clear indication when they’re ready to buy. But we read the signals all-wrong. We make a simple mistake and it drives the customer away. You’ll be amazed that you’ve never realised this obvious buying signal before.

Do you remember what you’ve learned? Or are you a Sponge Bob?
Soak a sponge with water.
It will absorb all the water willingly.

And as you pick it up, the soaked sponge will drip.

A good chunk of the water will drippity-drip all over you if you’re not careful.

But let’s say you are indeed careful

Let’s say you then go on to squeeze the sponge.

Let’s give it a good squeeze, shall we?

And here’s what happens…

Most of the water, gets squeezed out of the sponge. Yet the sponge is still wet. That means the sponge retains a minuscule part of the moisture. Kind like your brain does when going through a new learning experience.
 You know the feeling of being in a workshop.
 You learn one fact, then another, then another.

If you start learning a new concept by 9am, your brain is pretty tired by 11am.
 Of course you don’t realise this if you look around you. After all, everyone’s happy, smiling. And everyone’s keen to get new information.

But here’s what’s happening in your brain
Your brain can’t process a whole bunch of facts without rocking back and forth between understanding and application. So even as you get new information, the brain is trying to work out the overview, as well as the details required to implement the information. And at the very same time, it’s trying to find the relationship between what you already know, and how this new information relates to the old information.

Hah, you had trouble processing that last paragraph, didn’t you?

Now imagine what happens when you go to a seminar or workshop, and there’s speaker after speaker. Your brain keeps getting new information, and it absorbs the information like a sponge. Most of this information doesn’t sink in at all. In fact, most of the information can’t be recalled by you, even if you tried.

Which is why as a trainer/coach/teacher you need to understand the importance of time

- The brain needs to learn a concept.

- Then play with it.
- Discuss it.

- Make mistakes.

- And see the connections between the existing concepts and new concepts.

Most seminars have no such review process
Most books swing wildly from one chapter to another.

Most training courses (and we’ve had quite a few at Psychotactics in the past) have so much information, that the concept of time is ignored.

And when the concept time is ignored, real learning fails to happen
To learn, the brain literally needs to boot down.

Take a nap.

And restart.

What’s weird is that this time isn’t just required for educational purposes. It’s also critical for sport, or learning a new language. In fact all learning requires downtime.

If you don’t have downtime, you have sponge learning.

Most of the information drippity-drips away.
Which is a shame, really.
———————
Next Step:
“There are marketing books and there are marketing books – I bet there are not many you have read many times over?
The Brain Audit really teaches you the art of persuasion because it gives an insight into how people’s brains work. I have used the principles in writing WebPages, writing articles, making presentations, networking, negotiating and even writing submissions for a judge!

But the best bit about the Brain Audit is that it actually works.The principles are easy to understand.

Would I recommend it to people serious about getting on in business? Absolutely.”

Michael Smyth, approachablelawyer, Auckland
Judge for yourself The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy And Why They Don’t

———————
“The membership fee is less than what I pay for my annual chamber of commerce dues, but the value I get is so much greater.”

“5000bc has some amazingly brilliant, successful and inspiring business people from all industries. I can’t believe how helpful and friendly the forum members are.

One of my objectives when signing up was to be in the company of business people more successful than me so I could learn from them. I definitely found an abundance of them here. I am also impressed at Sean’s involvement in the day-to-day conversations taking place in the forums.

The quality of interaction and the caliber of the other members makes this a great place to visit and be inspired to improve my own business.”

Natalya Murphy
Washington, DC, USA

Judge for yourself http://www.psychotactics.com/5000bc
———————
Products: Under $50

1) Do You Often Hit A Wall Called ‘Writers Block’?
Learn how the core elements of outlining can save you from the misery of writing your next article.

2) Do you know that visuals immediately improve your sales conversion?
Learn how to create drama and curiosity and help improve your web page conversion with visuals.

3) Do your websites, brochures, presentations, etc… confuse your clients?
Put some sanity into your design, even though you are not a designer?

4) Chaos Planning
Year after year you sit down and create a list of things you want to achieve. Then suddenly it’s March, and you’ve not really moved ahead as you’d expected.
Learn Why Most Planning Fails: And The Critical Importance of Chaos in Planning.

5) Nothing bugs you more than a painful client.
A client who hassles you at every step of the way. Learn how to use the power of the ‘six critical questions’ to get incredible testimonials—and attract clients that make every day an absolute joy.

Choice is a good thing
Yes, but too much choice is a bad thing. It confuses customers and causes them to abandon whatever it is you’re selling. So what if you have many products or services to sell to your customers? What should you do?

You should use the Two-Options Sale Strategy in your email newsletter.

So what’s the Two-Options Sale Strategy?

You’ve probably seen it in many email newsletters but never really paid close attention. And if you look closely, you’ll see that there isn’t just one offer made at a time.

In most newsletters (unless we’re creating urgency) there are two offers made right at the top of the newsletter.
For example:
Offer 1: Product 1
Offer 2: Product 2

Then again, at the bottom of the newsletter, the same offer is repeated.

So why not one offer? Why two?

The logic is that one offer is good enough. It prevents clients from getting distracted. And you couldn’t be more right. But in many cases, your business is operating on limited marketing-bandwidth. That means you can only send out so many newsletters, direct mail etc. each month.

In that limited bandwidth, you have two types of customers

You have customers who’ve probably already decided they don’t want to buy one of the two products. So let’s say they decide they don’t need Product 1, and they want the Product 2 instead.

Um, you know what comes next, don’t you? Yes they buy Product 2. And there’s also the situation where they’ve already bought Product 1 earlier. So their eyes automatically glaze over Product 1 and head right to Product 2.

But, but, aren’t you cannibalizing your space by making two offers?
Contrary to what you may believe, your sales actually go up. With two distinct offers, clients tend to choose between one product or the other. And off they go to your sales page and you make the right sales argument, they’ll buy your product.

So should you have just two products consistently or can you add and remove products?
Most people have fewer products, but if you have a new product then you should use the Product 1 spot for your best-selling product and Product 2 slot for a new product. And yes, be sure to put the word “New” or “Announcing” right next to the name of the product. A simple addition of “New” makes customers look more intently.

Of course, you may be tempted to turn up the heat a bit and take the Two-Option Sale Strategy and turn it into a Three-Option Sale Strategy. And I say, “goodonya mate!” Go for it. Don’t listen to me. Try it for yourself. Maybe it will work.

What works best for us is Two-Options method

And it’s worked exceedingly well over the years. Try it for yourself—and see the results.

———————
Next Step: “There are marketing books and there are marketing books – I bet there are not many you have read many times over?
The Brain Audit really teaches you the art of persuasion because it gives an insight into how people’s brains work. I have used the principles in writing WebPages, writing articles, making presentations, networking, negotiating and even writing submissions for a judge!

But the best bit about the Brain Audit is that it actually works.The principles are easy to understand.

Would I recommend it to people serious about getting on in business? Absolutely.”

Michael Smyth, approachablelawyer, Auckland
Judge for yourself The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy And Why They Don’t

———————
“I’m one of those people who has a lot of trouble spending money on training and education, so paying a fee to join a membership was a big step for me.”

What I’ve found, is that people are serious and they contribute. That makes a big difference. The forum is completely worth the price of admission, though of course I wish I’d joined several years ago when it was cheaper. (Ironically, it seemed too expensive to me then, but I’m sure if I’d joined then I’d be further in my
business.)

The biggest piece of value for me so far is the “critiques” section of the forum. After seeing the quality of feedback people were getting, I took the plunge and wrote a sales letter I’ve been meaning to write for almost two years. In the days after I posted I got a lot of helpful feedback that’s helping me make it stronger.
But the most important thing is that I actually got it written. Without a friendly and intelligent audience to evaluate the draft, I might never have sat down to do it.

I’m also enjoying the general discussions. As a solo entrepreneur, most of my days are spent in isolation. And because of where I live, I’m not around other similarly-minded folks. The forum is inspiring; it’s great to be in contact with other people who are working hard on their businesses and facing so many of the same challenges I am.

I just wanted to say that I’m finding the content and community in 5000bc so valuable, and I’m very glad I joined.

Joe Thoron, Eastsound, WA, USA
Judge for yourself http://www.psychotactics.com/5000bc
———————
Products: Under $50

1) Do You Often Hit A Wall Called ‘Writers Block’?
Learn how the core elements of outlining can save you from the misery of writing your next article.

2) Do you know that visuals immediately improve your sales conversion?
Learn how to create drama and curiosity and help improve your web page conversion with visuals.

3) Do your websites, brochures, presentations, etc… confuse your clients?
Put some sanity into your design, even though you are not a designer?

4) Chaos Planning
Year after year you sit down and create a list of things you want to achieve. Then suddenly it’s March, and you’ve not really moved ahead as you’d expected.
Learn Why Most Planning Fails: And The Critical Importance of Chaos in Planning.

5) Nothing bugs you more than a painful client.
A client who hassles you at every step of the way. Learn how to use the power of the ‘six critical questions’ to get incredible testimonials—and attract clients that make every day an absolute joy.

Imagine we go to a buffet that contains about 80 different dishes
And I start a countdown clock.
From 12:15 pm to 12:56 pm you have to taste all the dishes in the buffet.

Does a gulp come to mind?
And yet most of us will force clients to gobble our buffet.
Go to any workshop. Go to any presentation. Go to any client meeting.
 They’re overstuffing their clients and it’s not a good thing.

But what do you do as a consultant?
What do you do as a trainer?
Surely your client wants access to the entire buffet.
Surely your client wants to sample whatever catches their fancy—and have a good time.

What should you do to make the client’s lunch more enjoyable?
Do you steer the client away from the buffet completely?
Or can we still go to the buffet?

Of course we can go to the buffet.
But what you now have to do differently, is you have to point the client towards a few good dishes. And make sure the client tries those specific dishes first.

This is a dilemma if you’re the buffet-creator
Because you created the buffet.
And you want the client to eat the buffet.
And you want the client to eat as much as possible, because you need to close the buffet at 1pm.
And yet you’re doing the client a disfavour by over stuffing him/her.

However, when you point the client to a few dishes, you’re now creating an а la carte factor
And yet, the concept of à la carte is a problem for your little brain cells.
You want the client to have everything.
The client wants access to everything.

So how do we solve this problem?

Here’s how I resolved it in my own brain:
1) You paid for the buffet.
2) You get the buffet (all the materials and downloads)
3) My job is to give you access to the entire buffet of information.
4) Then I get you to focus on the dishes that I think are the best for you.
5) I point you in the direction of those dishes.
6) It becomes an à la carte meal (even though you think you’re at the buffet).
7) We enjoy as much as we can of that a la carte and you’re happy (instead of being overstuffed).
8)  You’re happy because you have control over what you’ve eaten (control over what you’ve learned and can help implement)
9) You now have access to the buffet at any time (*you have all the materials and downloads).

As a teacher/consultant I felt I had to give everything…
I felt I was giving less by not covering everything in the syllabus.
But I’ve found that less is more.

I had to learn this in workshops way back in 2003
Then I had to apply it in online learning and courses.
And then in live presentations.
Each time I felt the need to fill up the buffet table.
And even now, I’m finding I have to step back and stop over stuffing my clients.

I now apply this a la carte concept for my ebooks
For my courses.
For my online courses.
But something will trip me up. I’ll end up being the buffet master.
And I’ll have to re-learn that I’m actually the buffet provider, not the a la carte master.

That learning is hard to remember
And I have to keep reminding myself.
Because otherwise all we have is shock and awe.

—————

“What do your customers think? What would make them buy?”
In the Brain Audit – Sean teaches 7 steps on how to form killer communication pieces that makes people buy from you. The Brain Audit is a simple psychological system that everyone can use in their communication to increase their profits.”

Ankesh Kothari – Biztactics, USA
Judge for yourself
Read how The Brain Audit can help you…
———————
“When I went to 5000BC it sort of looked like a lot of the same information that was on Pyschotactics.”

The only real difference I saw was that 5000BC had a forum. I just couldn’t get past the price tag for what seemed like I was getting for free. At first I just didn’t get it. Then you kept talking about all the great stuff in 5000BC in your newsletters and I thought I’d give it a try to see what it was really about.

What I found was there was more to it than I thought. That there were resources and articles that I wasn’t getting at Psychotactics. And that Sean was there – not just running the site but THERE for anyone who needed help

I see so many people who just don’t know where to start when they are marketing – they are all over the board trying things and none of those things seem to work. Mainly because they aren’t focused. 5000BC can help hone that focus.

Cathy Graham, Owner/Designer
Grafix Unlimited, Memphis, TN, USA
Judge for yourself http://www.psychotactics.com/5000bc
———————
Products: Under $50

1) Do You Often Hit A Wall Called ‘Writers Block’?
Learn how the core elements of outlining can save you from the misery of writing your next article.

2) Do you know that visuals immediately improve your sales conversion?
Learn how to create drama and curiosity and help improve your web page conversion with visuals.

3) Do your websites, brochures, presentations, etc… confuse your clients?
Put some sanity into your design, even though you are not a designer?

4) Chaos Planning
Year after year you sit down and create a list of things you want to achieve. Then suddenly it’s March, and you’ve not really moved ahead as you’d expected.
Learn Why Most Planning Fails: And The Critical Importance of Chaos in Planning.

5) Nothing bugs you more than a painful client.
A client who hassles you at every step of the way. Learn how to use the power of the ‘six critical questions’ to get incredible testimonials—and attract clients that make every day an absolute joy.

You’ve been told that FREE works really well.
Well it does
But only when attracting a customer. 
If you really want a customer to benefit, you have to stop the free dole out.
 Because the moment something continues to be free, the consumption of those products/services plummets like a rock.

You don’t have to believe me, but you might as well.
 Because we’ve tried this concept several times over.

So let’s take a real case study
We used to have free marketing courses at a cafe and we called it ‘BizBrew.’ Each of the Biz Brew courses were complete in every detail. It was the kind of course that you’d readily pay $75-$100 for, without the coffee. I say, without the coffee, because the coffee brewed up a latte, a frappe, or just about any coffee you wanted. And yes, it was free.

Think about it: A free course. Free coffee. And a pretty decent presenter. Would you miss sessions?
You’re shaking your head thinking there’s no way you’d miss it, but the converse is true. When given a free option, people turn up sporadically, and then not at all. In fact, we were so sure we were wrong about this concept, that we started a new course series called the ‘Learning Rock’.

While every session of the ‘Learning Rock’ was full, they were filled with 60% of new customers. Only 40% of the customers were repeat customers.*

Then we had paid courses. And 95% turned up for every course. Without fail. Come rain or shine.

So what does this teach you about consumption?
That the concept of FREE is wonderful for attracting customers. That FREE forms a beautiful attraction factor. But it’s only the first step in the sequence of attraction, conversion and consumption. Once a customer has gone through the attversumption steps; once they’ve opted in for the FREE whatever, and consumed the FREE product/service, the next step should be paid.

And that if you truly want to help your customers, you must make them pay.

* Note
We’ve tried this FREE model both online and offline. We’ve tried it both for products and services. We’ve tried it once, twice, thrice, hoping somehow we were wrong in our assessment. And no matter what options, media or method we tried, FREE always failed at consumption stage.

It’s not like a paid product/service works 100% of the time. Even when a customer pays, they are not always consuming the product/service. However, the consumption factor is far, far greater when the product/service  is paid for—and especially if paid for in advance.

—————

“What do your customers think? What would make them buy?”
In the Brain Audit – Sean teaches 7 steps on how to form killer communication pieces that makes people buy from you. The Brain Audit is a simple psychological system that everyone can use in their communication to increase their profits.”

Ankesh Kothari – Biztactics, USA
Judge for yourself
Read how The Brain Audit can help you…
———————
“When I went to 5000BC it sort of looked like a lot of the same information that was on Pyschotactics.”

The only real difference I saw was that 5000BC had a forum. I just couldn’t get past the price tag for what seemed like I was getting for free. At first I just didn’t get it. Then you kept talking about all the great stuff in 5000BC in your newsletters and I thought I’d give it a try to see what it was really about.

What I found was there was more to it than I thought. That there were resources and articles that I wasn’t getting at Psychotactics. And that Sean was there – not just running the site but THERE for anyone who needed help

I see so many people who just don’t know where to start when they are marketing – they are all over the board trying things and none of those things seem to work. Mainly because they aren’t focused. 5000BC can help hone that focus.

Cathy Graham, Owner/Designer
Grafix Unlimited, Memphis, TN, USA
Judge for yourself http://www.psychotactics.com/5000bc
———————
Products: Under $50

1) Do You Often Hit A Wall Called ‘Writers Block’?
Learn how the core elements of outlining can save you from the misery of writing your next article.

2) Do you know that visuals immediately improve your sales conversion?
Learn how to create drama and curiosity and help improve your web page conversion with visuals.

3) Do your websites, brochures, presentations, etc… confuse your clients?
Put some sanity into your design, even though you are not a designer?

4) Chaos Planning
Year after year you sit down and create a list of things you want to achieve. Then suddenly it’s March, and you’ve not really moved ahead as you’d expected.
Learn Why Most Planning Fails: And The Critical Importance of Chaos in Planning.

5) Nothing bugs you more than a painful client.
A client who hassles you at every step of the way. Learn how to use the power of the ‘six critical questions’ to get incredible testimonials—and attract clients that make every day an absolute joy.

In Africa, there’s a saying: If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a group.

A group? Why would you want to go with a group? Have you ever tried to see a movie with a group? Everyone wants to go their own way, and you end up in complete chaos most of the time.

And you’re right.
Groups may not exactly be prime material when going to the movies, but they sure rock when it comes to learning. And yet when we train our clients, we do one-on-one consulting. We think it’s somehow superior. We think the whole private-sessions are what they need. And yet the one-on-one sessions are nowhere as effective when compared with group learning.

So why do groups matter when you have to learn?
There are three core reasons why groups are more effective.

Reason A: Don’t work in isolation.
Reason B: Your assignments are public.
Reason C: You get to copy.

Let’s start with Reason A: Don’t Work in Isolation
Learning exhausts the brain. Try to do something you know and it’s pretty much samba time. Try to do something new and you’re cursing and ranting, because your brain doesn’t know what the heck it needs to be doing. So learning becomes a horribly frustrating battle.

What would make this battle so much easier would be simple motivation. Once a group has a goal, it’s almost natural for group members to motivate each other constantly. And because it’s a group effort, they’re also quick to give feedback.

Working in isolation works less effectively because it takes enormous motivation. And to be motivated all the time is exhausting. But that’s not the only problem, of course…

The second problem is that your assignments are private.

So why do public assignments work better?
In school your assignments were private. You did the assignment. And no one got to see how you did. You got marked. And no one but your mum, dad and your sneaky sibling got to see your marks.

And this system works less effectively because everyone’s methodology is now a secret. The entire group attacked the same problem and you can be sure that almost the entire group approached the same problem in different ways.

And nope, you didn’t get to see the myriad ways in which you could solve the same problem.

This means you’re stuck doing it your way.
Which of course could be great for one problem, where you’re ahead. But then is terrible for another problem, where you seem as slow as a three-toed sloth.

Working in public means you can compare methodologies and pick ideas that speed up your learning considerably. And best of all, when working in groups, you get to copy.

Copying is a mortal sin in school.
If you copy you are banished to the gates of hellfire. And yet, copying is critical for us as a society. We learn more by copying than by any other method. When you work on a one-on-one basis with a client, there’s nothing and no one to copy. But the moment you work in a group, copying is easily the best way to move rapidly ahead.

And hey, we’re not talking about sharing your big company secrets here. We’re talking about learning. And while you may be coy to share your patented (or un-patented) secrets, this article is about learning.

When you see someone’s else’s work and you copy, you don’t get worse. You get better. And that’s because you’re smart. You want to move ahead. So you tend to copy the method that’s smarter and more efficient.

But of course the question is: Does this group learning work in real life?
Yes it does. At Psychotactics, we do almost no one-on-one learning with our clients at all. Every course from cartooning to copywriting and article writing is purely a group exercise.

And you can tell if it works by the enthusiasm of the group. Having experienced group-learning, it’s almost impossible to get a client to work alone. They yearn for the group, and if you get back to one-on-one, the dropout rate rockets.

However there’s another point where dropout rates increase
And that’s when you don’t consider the size of the group. For effective group learning, you can’t have more than 20-30 people in a group (depending on what you do).

And even with this group size, the groups must be further sub-divided into groups of 4-5 people. If you keep the group size more than 4-5, the workload gets too crazy and learning takes a massive beating. Plus there’s also the factor of “introverts”. Introverts are happiest in smaller groups—and extroverts don’t really care. They’ll hop from group to group happily

So groups work. And they really work because they:
1) Make sure the motivation and feedback stays high.
2) Sharing of methodologies help speed up learning.
3) Blatant copying actually creates an acceleration like never before.

So if you’re a consultant, think about tinkering with your one-on-one system of consulting. And work instead with group learning. Once you do, you’ll realise that just like the African saying, you’ll indeed go far.

Probably even farther.:)

Next Step: About The 5000bc Family

“To join or not to join. That was the question weighing on my mind for weeks.”

“Were my questions really going to be answered? Was Sean really active in the forum? I’ll tell you this much: I can’t imagine NOT being part of the 5000bc family!

As a matter of fact, being inside The Cave is like being inside the brains of the universe. My understanding of how people think and communicate has forever changed how I think and communicate; from conversations, interviews with others to solving problems and writing posts from my blog.

Plus, there’s access to amazing interviews from innovative and thought-provoking people and mini-series on practical topics. Would I recommend joining 5000bc? In a heartbeat.”

Thomas R. Clifford | Filmmaker | Fast Company Expert Blogger

5000bc now has a Waiting List.
The waiting list joining time is approx. 30-45 days. So if you are serious about getting your business to the next level, get on the waiting list now.

Judge for yourself http://www.psychotactics.com/5000bc
———————
Products: Under $50

1) NEW! Do You Often Hit A Wall Called ‘Writers Block’?
Learn how the core elements of outlining can save you from the misery of writing your next article.

2) Do you know that visuals immediately improve your sales conversion?
Learn how to create drama and curiosity and help improve your web page conversion with visuals.

3) Do your websites, brochures, presentations, etc… confuse your clients?
Put some sanity into your design, even though you are not a designer?

4) Chaos Planning
Year after year you sit down and create a list of things you want to achieve. Then suddenly it’s March, and you’ve not really moved ahead as you’d expected.
Learn Why Most Planning Fails: And The Critical Importance of Chaos in Planning.

5) Nothing bugs you more than a painful client.
A client who hassles you at every step of the way. Learn how to use the power of the ‘six critical questions’ to get incredible testimonials—and attract clients that make every day an absolute joy.

Your marketing strategy.
Your advertising campaign.
Your website landing page.

They’ll all fail. Not miserably. But enough to make you wonder why you’re not converting as well as you should.

And there’s a reason why enough customers aren’t buying

You’re missing out the distinct gap between attraction and conversion. The gap gives the customer a chance to react to attraction and catch their breath, before moving on to buying what you have to sell.

If you don’t pause, you create a mish-mash in your communication and consequent response

So how do you avoid the inevitable mish-mash?

Let’s assume you’re in a bookstore. What do you see first when you look at the bookshelves? Why of course, it’s the colour of the book cover or the name of the book.

Example 1:

So a book would have a name like: Don’t make me think.

Yet the subheadline would be: A Common-Sense Approach to Web Usability

Example 2:

The headline: Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

The subhead: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth

Example 3:

The headline: The Brain Audit

The subhead: Turning lukewarm prospects into red-hot clients

Did you notice the pause between the attractor and converter?

Notice how the purpose of the headline was simply to get your attention. In the examples above, the headline was short. But that doesn’t need to be the case. A headline can be short or long, and be just as effective. But the main reason for the headline’s existence is to get your attention.

No more or no less.

The subhead on the other hand is the converter. It’s often much longer and more detailed than the headline.

The headline is more of an idea. A spark. The subhead is what’s selling you the system.

There’s a difference between an idea and a system

An idea attracts. The system converts.

To be an attractor, your headline needs to promise an idea.

-Let’s analyse the headline below:
Wouldn’t you like to write copy that turns tentative prospects into red-hot clients?

-Let’s then analyse the system (which is the subhead)
Learn the step-by-step system to increase your profit and get your products and services selling faster than ever before!

Notice how the headline (attractor) talks about the idea of turning your prospects into clients. It’s an idea that many businesses would be quickly attracted to.

The subhead then spells out the system that shows you how you can create profit, and sell your products and services better than before.

So how does this affect your marketing?

1) If you’re running a lead-generation campaign

Your first step may be just to get customers to opt-in. So you offer a product or service that can be sampled, and you get the customer’s details and permission in exchange.

You don’t try and sell anything. You simply get the customer’s details. That would complete the phase of attraction.

You’d then move to the next step of conversion, by speaking not to the whole list, but only to those customers who’ve opted in.

2) If you’re writing a book:

You’ll want to choose a really interesting name that gets my attention and curiosity. You don’t need to cram the entire message in the book title.

You can lead the conversion factor in the subtitle, the back cover and the inside covers.

3) If you’re writing a headline

Again, your headline needs to create the attraction; the idea; the curiosity factor. The subhead and the rest of the copy needs to convert you to the program or system.

The mistake most marketers make

They fail to understand the difference between the idea and the system. That the idea is the attractor. That the system is the converter. That if you mix up the two you, all you get is a mish-mash.

Splotch!

In Summary:

1) Don’t attempt attraction and conversion in the same thought, line or book cover. Concentrate on an outstanding attraction message. Then move on and work on an outstanding conversion message.

2) Remember that there’s a gap between attraction and conversion. Customers need that pause to get them from attraction to conversion. Don’t hurry customers through.

3) When constructing your attraction statement make it an idea, a big concept. When constructing your conversion statement, make it a system. Customers are attracted to ideas and converted by systems.

Get a weighing scale. Put ‘Like’ on one side. Put ‘Risk’ on the other side. And your eyes start to roll as you figure out the obvious. That the higher the risk, the less you’re liked.

But is there more to the like factor than you think?

The biggest reason why customers don’t buy You know it, and I know it. It’s called risk. We don’t like the idea of being cheated, fooled and gypped. So if we sense risk, we don’t buy the product or the service. Of course, you’d assume that if you took away the risk factor, you’d end up with the like factor, wouldn’t you? And we’d all live happily ever after, right?

Yet look at your own buying behaviour

There’s no risk in buying petrol. In most cases, the prices are well posted, and in most cases, the product is identical to what you’d get at the next petrol station. So why do you buy petrol from one place, instead of the other. Or rather, why would you drive a couple of miles, instead of buying it from the petrol station that’s convenient.

You see, reducing risk is important

Yes indeedy, you must get the risk down to nothing. But at the same time, you’ve got to increase the intensity of the like factor.
Simply lowering the risk factor, does not improve the chances of converting to a sure sale. The reason why you buy at the next petrol station and not at the most convenient petrol station, is because you like something about the other petrol station.

You probably like the exuberance of the owner

You probably like the surroundings. Or the service. Or the fact, that they stock up your favourite candy. Or the fact, that they call you by name. Whatever the scenario, when it comes to conversion, customers are looking for low risk, lots of like.

Ooh, here comes the hard part

How do you make your customers like you?

On the Internet: Customers like personality. Photos (smiling photos, please), little quirks in your words, or pictures, make you likeable.

Off the Internet: Chocolate, Phone calls, Wine and Cheese Session

Thank you cards: They all work to increase your likeability.

Personal Experience:

On our website, we have recipes, lots of photos (weird and normal touristy ones), recipes, cartoons, one-of-a-kind words like kazooza, squillion, waka-waka. So how do we know that all of the above works? Because clients write to us all the time about the recipes. They send in their own recipes. They comment on the whacky word usage. They complain when we don’t put cartoons. And they tell us about how they love the photos, and
how it makes them feel like they know us.

Offline, we have small parties for clients. We send them movie tickets. We send them chocolates. We use Amazon.com from time to time. We remember birthdays. we send little notes of encouragement. We use thank you cards.

Risk. And Like.

They’re twins. Work on both of them simultaneously.

Who needs better marketing?

“Who needs better marketing? Why would someone choose a method of deeply rooted psychological principles that speaks directly to the mind of potential prospects? The answers are “everyone” and “because they work!” This is one of the best marketing programs in the world today.”

Chris Ellington, doublehelixcommunications
Dublin, California, USA

Find out Why! Your marketing might not be zooming ahead because of a fundamental flaw in your message.

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Last week a client wrote to me. He was amazed that we’d managed to sell an extremely high-priced course in a matter of 24 hours. He was curious. How is it possible to sell a course in fewer than 24 hours when the price tag is well over $2000?

And here’s what I wrote back to the client:

Imagine a situation like this. You are going to meet a guest for dinner. But you know nothing about a guest. And you’re informed that this person you’re about to meet is a rude person. And so in your brain you form a picture of the person.

Now let’s take the exact opposite. And let’s say that you’re told that the guest you’re about to meet is wonderful, warm etc. And is pretty famous and intelligent. Now again your brain forms a picture.

This picture is the simplest form of pre-sell. Where you haven’t really seen the product/service but you are exposed to the concept long in advance.

So how did this pre-sell concept sell out in fewer than 24 hours?

The Article Writing Course for instance had just 34 seats. And we made one announcement to a tiny list of less than 400 people, and all the first 17 seats were taken. We then went to another much larger list, made another announcement and another again all the seats were taken in fewer than 24 hours. Ok so big deal. But what makes all of this so interesting?

Here’s what interesting about these statistics

1) Both batches were all filled up in a 24 hour period.
2) The number of people who saw the sales page was an extremely tiny number. e.g. In the first 24 hours, fewer than 50 people saw the sales page, yet 17 seats were taken, despite a reasonably high price of over $2000 for the course.
3) There were no affiliates, no joint ventures, no adwords—no hoopla involved at all. And only two emails (yes, just two) were sent and all the seats were taken. How’s that possible? Is it just reputation and trust?

Yes there’s a factor of reputation and trust

But hey, this didn’t happen in the year 2005, or 2006, or 2007 or 2008, or 2009. So why did it happen in 2010? Because the pre-sell was far more detailed in 2010 than any other years. Far more time and effort was put in the pre-sell of 2010 than in any other years. And we also had things like the prospectus (which didn’t exist before).

What’s important is that we started the announcement for the Article Writing Course in our membership site of 5000bc.com, as far back as early October. And now it’s almost December. At this point, that one topic in 5000bc has been read over 1330 times. So when you think about it, the client has had time to think about things; to ask questions; to evaluate their time and their budget; to think about it more; to gain more trust; to read the prospectus. And let’s just stop here for a second.

Because the prospectus makes a huge difference.

You don’t always understand what you’re signing up for…

You have a feeling. You read the bullets but all you do is read testimonials on a sales page. A prospectus is different. It gives you the methodology. And it gives you the experiences of people who’ve gone before you. This is more than just another ton of testimonials that you glaze over. No this is about experiences.

They’re persuasive stories that don’t use persuasion, but persuade any way. Each of the experiences isn’t randomly placed in the prospectus. Each one is carefully chosen to reflect the objections of the client. Each one is chosen to highlight the importance of something. E.g. you may not like to work with forums.

And for the Article Writing Course the forum is of critical importance. So I can jump up and down all day and tell you how very important it is to work with the forum. Or I can send you a prospectus and you pre-qualify yourself.

Now here’s the important thing about pre-qualification

If you’re a coach, whom do you want on your team? A bunch of losers who moan and groan about everything? Or those who know what they have to do, and are willing to do what it takes? Who do you want: Folks who say, “I didn’t know this was all about the forum. I don’t have this kind of time to spend every day.” Or do you want someone who knows what to expect because they’ve read the prospectus and are now pre-qualifying themselves?

And yes it sounds sneaky, because you’re actually choosing winners, and so your results will be far more impressive than if you had a bunch of losers and whiners. The testimonials and experiences will be far richer. You’ll have fewer tantrums.

And that’s what top coaches do. They pick on winners in the first instance. If a coach chooses to work with losers, then good luck to them. So as you can see the prequalification helps in more ways than one.

But pre-sell isn’t just about this course.

Pre-sell is about everything you do before the sale. Every article plays its part. Every video. Every audio. Every email exchange. If you wrote to me and I didn’t respond, or didn’t respond with great detail, you may not think much of it. There are lots of people who don’t respond.

But if I take the time to respond like I’m doing here, I’ve scored some major points, because I’ve gone well over and beyond the call of duty. And it works for me as well, because not only do you get a great response, but this response could be used as an article, a case study or be used in two dozen different ways. Just responding to the question makes me think through my own process, so it’s very useful for me as well, even if I chose not use the response elsewhere. So as I said, everything plays its role.

“Everything” is everything

So if you look at the course composition, you’ll see the first batch got filled up with all 5000bc members. I tried to get to that target last year, but was not completely successful. This year in 2010, it worked—and not by fluke. And pre-sell works for everything including products or services.

Apple spends enormous time pre-selling its products. They won’t even tell you what the darned product is, and yet people spend months speculating. And Apple will announce the product—and you don’t get the product in the stores for at least two-three months later.

Look at the time lag between the announcement of the iPad and the actual date you could get an iPad. Look at how they’ve already started to tom-tom their new operating system, and there’s no operating system in sight for a while. Even an update of their operating system from iOS 4.1 to 4.2 was pre-sold for weeks in advance.

Harry Potter does the same.

So does every major movies that comes out from Hollywood. The PR machine goes into overdrive, pre-selling the “story” to the media. If Pierce Brosnan is in a soon to be released movie, go and look at the newsstand. Almost all the magazines covers have Pierce on the cover.

So he’s in the gossip magazine, the film magazine, the health magazine. Waitasec? What’s happening here? Why is Pierce everywhere? He’s everywhere, because that’s pre-sell. Harry Potter does the same. Pre-sell. Wimbledon does the same. The Rugby World Cup isn’t for a while. Doesn’t matter. Pre-sell is in full swing.

So is pre-sell just a propagation of ideas? Or is it actually a sale?

Ideas are powerful things. Ideally an idea is the way to go. Also the problem is that customers aren’t ready to buy when you’re ready to sell. And we have to clearly define the concept of “buying” (at least in this context).

In this context, I mean “buying” as in “buying an idea”. Or to put it in a phrase: Customers “buy” before they “pay”. If you pre-sell an idea for a while and do it correctly, you will indeed find that the payment step is just a mere formality. But is it?

Not really and yes, really

So you still need to have a sales page. Every brand that sells like crazy teaches us that. Just because you pre-sell doesn’t mean that the customer can do without the sales page. Just because you pre-sell doesn’t mean you don’t create urgency.

Just because you do all of this, doesn’t mean you sit back and start sipping Piñacoladas. There’s also the sales letter. The graphics play a role. The captions. The exact placement of testimonials. The clear barrier—you can’t sign up to our courses until you’ve read The Brain Audit. All this and more is needed and it’s not just us that are pedantic about this level of detail. Every organisation that sells well goes into the same intricate detail.

Pre-sell is in the detail.

Without pre-sell you need hoopla. And if you don’t get hoopla, you don’t get enough sign ups or sales—and this is the same for a product or a service.

Because pre-sell sets your brain in motion.

Just like it did when your friend told you what to expect when meeting the guest. In your brain the wheels started turning long before you met the person. And this article has done the same.

If you’re not on the Article writing course, you’ll want to know more…

If you are on the Article Writing Course you’ll be more eager than ever to get started. If you’re not a member of 5000bc, you’ll want to know more and possibly join up. And if I were to say I was going to write a book or course on Pre-Sell, in your mind there’s not a shred of doubt that you want that book or course—or both. (In fact I just announced the course in 5000bc two days ago, and already seven people are keen to sign up).

Note: There’s no fixed date yet, there’s no pricing, there’s no sales page, there’s nothing you’d expect to see. And yet there’s a demand. A very strong demand.
This is it: Pre-Sell in action. You now know what it is. You’ve seen it in action—even in this article. Now use it for your own products and services!

And say goodbye to hoopla forever.

Resources:

1) Prospectus : http://tinyurl.com/article-writing-prospectus

2) The Brain Audit: http://tinyurl.com/The-Brain-Audit

3) 5000bc: http://www.5000bc.com
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“I thought that I could get by using only the newsletters. That was a huge mistake!”

As it turns out, the newsletters were great at helping me see things from a new perspective.

But what I really needed next was to take ACTION. For that, I needed to know exactly what to do, step-by-step. I’ve gotten more stuff done in the two days after I read the Brain Audit than I did during two years of reading newsletters alone.

Don’t fall into the same trap I did, thinking to yourself, “I get the idea,” or “I can figure out the details on my own.”
Order the Brain Audit now and put it to work in your business,before your competition does!

Stephen Webb, Meta Loop
Memphis, TN USA
Judge for yourself
Read how The Brain Audit can help you…
———————
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“I avoided joining 5000bc for a long time due to the cost, but I am glad I did.”

“5000bc had been recommended by a Caver, and I took a look at it. The cost of joining was small relative to my recent terrible purchase, but I was in no spending mood at the time…understandably.”

Within a couple days of joining, I soon realized that Sean walks the walk and talks the talk. Not only was Sean contributing to the forum, but the caliber and quality of the feedback from other members was invaluable and definitely free flowing.

What I found instantly on 5000bc were answers to my most pressing questions related to my business. That made the cost of joining 5000bc, even after only a week or so of being a member, insignificant relative to the value received.

Peter J. Draper, Equity Transitions Inc., Mississauga, Ontario.
Judge for yourself http://www.5000bc.com
———————
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Take out that Nokia from your bag.
And look at the features.

It can tell time; it can be a stopwatch; it can keep diary appointments; it can help you pass time with ingenious little games; it can probably take photos; send text messages; maybe even double up as an mp3 player or a torch.

You could probably call the moon with your Nokia.

Now let’s assume we zapped back in time a bit…

Let’s say you were in the phone store. To buy a cell phone (what else?) And let’s assume the salesman showed you a phone model that could only…um…take and make calls. Would you buy that phone? Or would you want to see another model, with..uh..more features?

It’s not that much different when customers buy into your services and products.

They want the whole jangbangdoowahwholeshebang

They know they can’t use all the features you offer in your service or product. But it doesn’t matter one itty-bit to a customer. And herein slips in the paradox of choice.

Customers want it all, when buying a product/service, and yet are appalled, even intimidated by the post-purchase scenario.

So how does the post-purchase scenario roll out?

Let’s take an example, shall we? Customers buy a program like Photoshop for its myriad features. Then end up using just a few tools. They buy a VCR or DVD recorder that dances, prances, and schmances. But they use just the basic functions. And yes, just like you, they go for the cell phone that has the most tantalising features, but end up using a few, if any.

Ok so we’re a greedy race, but how does that make a difference to your marketing?

It’s the intimidation factor of choice

We like to schmooze with the concept of ‘more for less’, but when we get more, we actually gulp. We don’t know where to start.

What to do.
Where to go.

And this is why you need to roll out two distinct steps to make the intimidation of choice go away.

Step One: Load up the wagons

When you’re selling a product, don’t hold back. In your sales pitch, load up every single benefit and feature you can think of. Pull out every single bonus out of your bag. Stack the stuff high, if you know what I mean.

The customer will see what you’re offering. She’ll drool a bit. Her brain cells will go boppity-bop, and if the offer is just right, she’ll buy.

Which brings us to Step Two.

Step Two: Only show the customer the good stuff

Take step one. Strip out all the lah-dee-dah, and you have Step Two. In effect, in Step Two, you’re out to make darned sure the customer feels the least amount of intimidation possible. So your post-purchase note or instructions should stress only on the most important features.

Doesn’t make sense does it?

But look at you when you go to a buffet. Logically, ten thousand calories of over-eating shouldn’t make you happy. But your greed is a happy-chappie, and pulls you along to this smorgasbord of food. So you pay your pile of pesos, and in you go.

About five minutes later, you don’t know where to start.

Should you attack the lamb chops?
Should you savour the pasta?
Should you even bother with the salad?
Should you? Should you?
Should you?

Now imagine if there was a sign that said: Chef’s recommendations.

Hmmm, what a helpful sign that would be, huh?

It’s no different if you have a product or service

If you’re in consulting, the client wants the lamb chops on top of the pasta, with turkey and asparagus toppings of your service. Well, sell the darn thing to her. But once she’s in the system, only concentrate on two or three of the most important parts of your service.

The parts that helps the client see an instant growth in income, or customers or whatever.

It’s the same if you’re selling a product

Every product is bundled up with gizmos from here to the North Pole, but eventually what the client really wants to know, are the two or three most important things about your product.

Or in other words: The chef’s recommendations.

How does this work in real life?

Let’s see some examples shall we?

1) Car Mechanic: You offer the works. You do the works when you’re servicing the car, but only point out the main two-three things when the client comes up to pick the car.

2) Web Designer: You offer a web site that can do it all. Yet on completion, you show the client the most important features to get the web site up and running.

3) Subscription or Membership: You offer all the bloo-blah before sign up. Then show the new member only what’s important to move around the ‘club’.

So does that mean you get rid of all the fancy features and benefits?

No you don’t. If I’ve been promised the earth, I pretty much want the darned thing. You’re still delivering all you promised, plus the cherry on top. But to aid consumption of your product or service, you need to reduce the intimidation way down, by stressing only what’s important.

The biggest problem a business faces isn’t one of attraction

It’s one of consumption. Because as humans, we like small bites.
You and I are greedy you-know-whats when we’re in the purchase mode.

In fact, in most cases, we don’t even know what we’re buying. We’re just happy that it’s all bundled as part of our purchase. The scary part comes a little later, when we have to actually consume the darned thing.

That’s when you step in. And reduce the choice.

Yes, I bought because you were offering me more. But now that I’ve bought, make sure you show me less.

That way I can make my call on my Nokia without wondering about how to call the moon.

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