If you didn’t get/or read this post three days ago, here’s an important reminder.

When you buy the Premium Brain Audit on the 12th, 13th, 14th or 15th July 2011, you’ll also get a bonus set of Goodies on ‘How To Create Headlines: Part 1 + Part 2 (worth $158) absolutely free.

*If you’ve wondered why customers back away at the last minute, both online and offline, you’ll find the specific answers on the page below.

*If you have a website or intend to sell something off your website, you’ll avoid all of these mistakes, that if not fixed, will drive away customers.

Judge for yourself. Read it and make up your mind.
The Brain Audit Offer

Go for it now or you’ll forget. Today is the last day. The Brain Audit Ver 3.2 has gotten rave reviews. And if you simply look at the page, you’ll know why.

Warm regards,
Sean

P.S. So make sure you don’t miss it! And make a decision, based on what you read.
The Brain Audit Offer

So you want to focus, right? Well, here’s my take on focus. Make it your take too!
Post this on your wall. Put it on your cubicle. Put it on your computer screen. And enjoy!

If you’d like to get some geeky t-shirts that really make you stand out, take a look at this store. I think you’ll like the t-shirts (and mugs). If you would like to have a cartoon that you’d want me to add, I’d be happy to do so as well.

You can either click on the picture above, or click on this link. One thing’s for sure: You’ll stand out in an audience—and especially at some ‘internet-based’ conference.

I got a note today from a client who said that she wanted to buy our product, but that certain things on the website made her unsure.

So to put this in perspective, she was looking at our website at 5000bc (which is a membership site). And she said:
1) I found a spelling error on your front page.
2) The screen shot of the forum is from 2007. That doesn’t tell me how active the forum is right now.

Now normally you’d look at your stats in Google Analytics and see a bounce rate. Customer enters. Customer leaves. And you’d think, ooh, my keywords are not working or my CPV (cost per visitor) or RPV (revenue per visitor) sucks. And all that yada, yada will circulate in your brain for no reason.

But you can’t see the reason why the customer is shying away from the purchase, can you?
She didn’t have a problem with the product.
She had the money to buy the product.
She was on the tipping point and something stopped her.

It was the tiny little glitches that Google Analytics can never catch.
And these little glitches are called ‘objections.’ Yes you’ll roll your eyes, because it’s more than likely that you know all about ‘objections’.
But there’s a massive difference between knowing and doing (For example, someone who’s fussy about grammar may notice that in the previous lines I put the period before the quotation mark. And then shortly after I put it after the quotation mark).

These are objections. And objections are distractions.
And distractions do their job: They distract.

There are things on your site that your clients see that distract them from buying.
And there are things on your site that clients ‘don’t see’ that distract them from buying.

And while you can depend on any analytics software for several issues, all the software is doing is giving you is data. It’s not telling you what’s going on in the head of the client. It’s not telling you why the client won’t buy.

Ugh comes to mind, doesn’t it?
Ugh: As in, yes you and I are probably measuring correctly what’s happening from an analytics point of view, but ignoring the issues. And the issues are the distractions and objections.

So what’s a business to do?
There a few things you can do, actually.

1) Get instant feedback using the ‘Bug’.
2) Get recurring feedback using a prospective client.
3) Get ongoing feedback using a client who’s just signed up.

1) Get instant feedback using the ‘Bug’
On our website at www.psychotactics.com you’ll find a graphic of a ‘bug’ on every page. And a link with a little note. The note gives an incentive to the person sending us the ‘bug’. That incentive is a $50 voucher (for the best ‘bug’ of the month). Now be aware. Not every ‘bug’ gets the $50 credit voucher. Just the best ‘bug’ (and yes, our decision is final). But without exception, everyone gets some sort of goodies from us, just for having sent in a ‘bug.’

I then put the ‘bug’ in my list of improvements. I then fix the glitch. And then I report back to the person that I’ve fixed the glitch. You think it’s tedious work? I don’t think so. A customer who finds a glitch and reports it, wants you to fix it. But when you go beyond that level and actually reward them and then fix it, and report back, you’re encouraging them to send in more bugs. And you’re also forging a bond. Now  most folks would rather not do so much work. Those folks also lose customers, and spend thousands on fancy consultants, because they won’t do what’s necessary.

2) Get recurring feedback using prospective clients
This task is simple. Get prospective clients to take a look at your sales pages. These prospective clients needn’t be new clients. They can be existing clients. So for instance, when I wrote the sales page for the ‘Brain Audit Version 3.2 Special offer’, I didn’t need to go out and get new clients. I just got clients who hadn’t bought that product before. Even as I was doing the ‘Brain Audit Special’ for this week (and this is for new clients), I got feedback. Some clients pointed out grammar errors. Some pointed out confusing elements. Some pointed out other issues. We fixed them, and I’m writing this as the orders literally come pouring through in my inbox. I can categorically tell you that if those issues hadn’t been sorted out before I made the special offer, there would be a stream of complaints coming through, and far fewer sales.

So yes, you don’t always need brand new customers to look at your sales page. When a new product is being launched, your existing clients haven’t seen the offer, and it’s easy to let them have a look and give their feedback. But of course, it also helps to have just prospects looking at the page. With the ‘bug’ system, you’ll get feedback through the year, but it also helps to have prospects take a look every six months or so.

You don’t need an army of prospective clients. Just 3-4 of them will be fine. And doing this task just twice a year will show you all the glitches that cause your customer not to buy.

And this takes us to the third segment…

3) Get ongoing feedback using a client who’s just signed up.
When a client just buys a product or service, they’re in a unique position to give you feedback because they’re no longer just prospective. They’ve actually gone through the process and paid for the product/service. They can tell you where they were stuck, where they slowed down. And where they almost backed away.

It’s easy enough to do this feedback with new clients. All you have to do is send them an autoresponder a day or two after their purchase. Or give them a call. I engage some of them on Facebook, or Twitter. Or Skype. Or whatever.

So yeah, no one’s telling you not to use Google Analytics or any other tracking device.
Just don’t expect the software to tell you what’s causing the customer to be distracted or to slow down. That glitch has to be fixed in real time, with real customers and real devices like the ‘bug.’  It’s only then that your sales will really start to kaboom!

Footnote: The client who pointed out the glitches went on to become a customer. And now we’re talking on Skype about her sign up process and how to make things even better. So yeah the tweaks never end And yes, if you want to see that page which got fixed (or if you want to take advantage of the Brain Audit Special then you’ll need to go here).

By the time you read this post, I’ll be well into the heart of Spain. These are some books on Picasso (as you can tell).

Imagine you went to a friend’s house today.

You’re in your friend’s kitchen.
And you see a chair.

And you sit down on that chair.

How do you know it’s safe to sit on that chair?
But even more interestingly, how do you know it’s a chair in the first instance?

Your brain worked out the pattern, didn’t it?
It figured out, that if the chair looked like a chair, then it must be a chair.

The chair you picked may be orange, and you’ve never sat in an orange chair before, but hey the brain still sees it as a chair.

And even if the chair didn’t have four legs. Even if it had just one central beam, your brain still sees the chair as a chair.

This is the simplicity of patterning
You see the chair. You sit on it.
A five-month old baby sees it.
And slams into it. Bumps into it. Stares at it.

Isn’t sure what to do with it.

The patterns are clear in your brain. The patterns ain’t that clear in the brain of that baby.

Which brings us to why some people seem so talented
They just see patterns we don’t see (not yet, anyway!)

But here’s the really frustrating part.
If you ask a ‘talented’ person what they’re seeing, they can’t explain what’s really happening.

So if you asked the famous artist Picasso, what patterns he saw before he drew a masterpiece, he may not have been able to give you an answer. And yet, he was seeing patterns.

But patterns at such high speed that most talented people can’t tell you what they’re seeing.
These um, talented people simply draw, or sing, or dance.
They can’t describe to you the pattern (in most cases).

So how do we know it’s a pattern after all?
Because of the repetition.

Picasso’s first drawing may not look exactly like the next, but try as he may, the next drawing will have an overlap of the first.
A dancer may do a completely different dance routine, but hey, there’s the style coming through. And what is style, but a pattern?

Artists, dancers, heck even criminals follow a pattern.
But because we can’t see the pattern at normal speed, we think it’s talent.

Yes, you have a talent for spotting a chair.
Yes, you have a talent for sitting down on a chair.
But can you explain that talent to me?

No you can’t.

Because it’s happening too fast in your brain.
And that’s exactly what’s happening in the brains of so-called talented people.
But let’s do the impossible in the posts to follow, shall we?
Let’s slow down patterns so that you can see them.

Aha…now that would be something eh?
Then the so-called talent wouldn’t be so magical after all.
But how do we slow things down? That’s the question.
And yes, there’s an answer.

Amazing as it may sound, there’s a simple, logical answer.
But hey, that answer will come in another post.
For now, look around and see your magnificent brain. And how it seems to recognise patterns all the time.
You are indeed talented at recognising patterns.
But we’ll go one step further. We’ll do stuff that seems impossible.
Like draw cartoons. Or write jokes. Or do things that seem um, quite out of your current league.

It’s time to sleep in heavenly peace.

We’ll be back in Feb, after a good sleep. Expect to see some dramatic changes in Feb

Hi, this is Renuka. And if you’re reading this post you’re more than likely to have received an email from me. (I’ve posted the email below, if you haven’t already read it).

But if you have, then here’s what I’d like you to do:
1) Wish Sean for his upcoming 40th birthday by posting a comment.
2) Let him know how he’s helped you/inspired you (or anything else you wish to say).
3) Remember to post your name, city and country as well as part of the comments.

Note: Your comment won’t be visible right away, and no, Sean won’t get to see the comments too, until his birthday. All comments will go directly to my email address. Sean already knows I’m doing this, and the ‘surprise’ is him getting to read your comments on Nov. 2.  So be sure to post right away

- Renuka

The original email was as follows:

Sean’s turning 40 on November 2.
And I’d like to surprise him–with your help, of course.

So here’s what I did. I set up a blog post at
http://www.psychotactics.com/blog/sean-dsouza-surprise/

And here’s what I’d like you to do:
1) If you’d like to write something to Sean and wish him, it would be great.
2) He particularly likes to know about things that have worked for you, so if
you have a great story as a result of reading an article, or using a product,
please post your story.

Now admittedly it’s impossible to keep the blog post a surprise from Sean,
because he’s always answering posts etc. But since it’s my idea, he’s promised
he won’t read any of the comments till his birthday on Nov 2.

I’ve even changed the comments approval password on the blog to my
email address, so that he can’t sneak in and check the comments.

So if you’d like to say something to Sean go to:

http://www.psychotactics.com/blog/sean-dsouza-surprise

(And do remember to put in your name and your city/country on the post,
so Sean knows who’s posted when he does get down to reading the posts.
If you know Sean well, he’ll read every single post).

Thanks again.
Renuka

So yes, I asked for suggestions to the blog.  Now admittedly, it’s very, very hard to  make a choice but I had to choose in the end. And here are the winners. (Note: I haven’t been able to implement all the suggestions yet, but I have done some of them–and the rest are on my to-do list). And though I promised only three winners, here’s to breaking of rules…Four winners!

Winners: In no particular order
1) Nola Welling
2) Lisa Solomon
3) Chris Lang
4) Diane Cesa

Thanks for all your suggestions. And keep them coming. You never know: I may suddenly award a prize anyway. As for the winners, please contact me within the next three months to get an original cartoon of your choice. You’ll have to email me your contact details, so I can ship out the original artwork worth $1500 each (and rising).