It’s easy to say that every individual product or service needs a uniqueness of its own, but what if it doesn’t?

Warm regards,
-Sean

P.S. These goodies are being offered for a short time. So get them while the page is still live.

How do you get traffic?

It’s an impossible question to answer. There are reasons why.

Reason 1: Your situation is not mine.
Reason 2: Technology changes all the time.
Reason 3: If you’re on a wave, you ride to the shore faster.

Reason 1: Your situation is not mine

Anyone who tells you that they have a fool proof way to get traffic is just making an ass out of you. Because there are ten million ways to get traffic. And before this line is completed, there will probably be ten million and twenty ways. And no matter what I tell you, it will not apply to you. But let me try anyway.

Let me tell you that the best way to get really qualified traffic is to do presentations. So I’m saying this: Do what a friend of mine does. Get on a plane for 200 days a year and speak at events back to back, and you’ll get traffic.

Or do what Marketingprofs and MarketingSherpa did when they started. They cross-promoted their lists. Or do what Red Bull did. They sent out Red Bull cans by the dozen to the coolest groups in the university (everyone wants to do what the cool ones are doing).

You’re getting the point, aren’t you?

You are looking for some cut and dried way to get traffic. And there isn’t a way. Instead there are ten million and forty seven ways (yes, it just got updated) to get traffic.

And you have to choose the top ten ways that would possibly work for you. And out of these top ten, about one or two will drive 80-95% of your traffic. And of course, you’ll get lucky and some people will find you or hear of you. There’s always that luck element. But there is no way. And the reason why there is no way is because of technology.

Reason 2: Technology always evolves

Jay Abraham was a cutting edge marketer in the year 1995. Then the Internet waltzed through the door. Jay didn’t know much about the Internet. Someone else got to wear the crown.

Microsoft dominated the world of computers and they still do. But that edge is being taken away. Not one of us could have foreseen getting customers through Linked In or blogs or Facebook or some other media. And because technology keeps moving on, you have to waltz out of the door and into the street with it.

So if you were able to get people to sign up in droves (we got 1500 people to sign up for our teleconferences back in the year 2004), you probably get 30 people signing up today.

Things change.

Our list has grown ten fold over the year 2004, but the demands on your customer’s attention has grown as well. So let’s just take a simple example.

In the year 2009, we had about 1500 people opt in to get free goodies for the Article Writing Course. In the year 2011, it was fewer than 700. Now that doesn’t make sense.

Our list has grown. What also doesn’t make sense was that with 1500 people on the list, it would take us 4-6 weeks to fill up the course. It now takes us as little as 177 minutes. And sometimes fewer than 60 minutes.

And while strictly speaking this wasn’t a change in technology, it could be. In the year 2009 or 2008 or 2006, you would not be able to run video on your website. You would not have podcasts. And you would not have had this or that.

And that would give the customers fewer chances to get to know you

At least 10-15 of a batch of 20 signed up solely because we met them in a live workshop in Washington DC and Vancouver, Canada. That may not have happened if the price of the tickets weren’t as cheap as they are now. So changing times and technology plays a huge role in getting customers. And that’s not counting being on the wave. So what’s the wave?

Reason 3: Riding the Wave

iTunes was new, along came a podcast called Coffee Break Spanish. This was a Scottish guy, Mark Pentleton, teaching Spanish with a Scottish accent. No one had heard of Coffee Break before. But there was a podcast wave. People had new iPods and new iPhones and were travelling (yes, with discounted air fares) and so they wanted to learn Spanish. And where better to look than on iTunes?

Coffee Break Spanish rocketed to 30,000,000 subscribers.

That was a while ago. They may have doubled since then, I don’t know. But to say that iTunes was the saviour is to sell Coffee Break Spanish short. They worked their butts off to get people to sign up. They got people to cast votes on various podcast sites. They managed to get PR and get on radio shows (my memory is a bit fuzzy here) and the juggernaut started rolling.

Lynda.com was just a site.

Heck it wasn’t a site. Lynda Weinmann published tech how-to books. When they started out, video was impossible. Then the Internet changed. Video changed. And today they have a few million hits every month. All by magic, of course. Not really.

Lynda advertises on Facebook. They go to schools and universities and offer them special prices. They partner with Adobe.com and Adobe promotes a lot of the videos that in turn show how Adobe’s products are best used. They get a ton of traffic and they do a ton of things to get that traffic.

The same applies to any wave.

If you got onto the blog wave in 2005, you could have tens of thousands of visitors. If you got onto the Facebook wave, possibly the same would apply.

In the year 2002, you could be reasonably average and get a few thousand subscribers.

I know this because our stuff was average back then. I’d just switched from a career in cartooning to marketing. I didn’t know much, didn’t write quite as well and finding our subscribe button on the page was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But a few thousand subscribers signed up. But that’s the wave. If you’re there when it breaks, you ride it and you’re first to the shore. If you’re still wondering what to do and which way to get traffic, you’ve missed the wave and will keep missing them forever.

So is there one way to get traffic?

No there isn’t.
There never has been.
There are ten million ways. And next week there will most certainly be a lot more. You just have to start somewhere. So where do you start?

Make a list of seven methods you’d feel comfortable doing.

Make a further list of about three methods that would put you outside your comfort zone. Then work those methods. The methods that put you outside your comfort zone will take more effort, but it will give you an advantage. Everyone else will be trying to do what’s easy and safe. And you’ll be doing something different.

Just like we get on a plane from New Zealand and fly half way across the world to do a two-day workshop. It’s a lot outside our comfort zone. It’s a lot to cross time zones, work out a presentation, answer twenty thousand questions in a week or two. It takes a month of preparation and a month of recovery. But it’s what we do. And it’s one of the sources of traffic.

Not your source of traffic.

Our source.
Go ahead. Find your own.
Start today!

How did you generate traffic to your website recently? Share your traffic generation idea here.

The Uniqueness Mastery Live Workshop and Free Goodies
The Uniqueness Mastery Live Workshop is filling up quickly. So if you are fed up of your clients choosing your competition instead of you, this workshop is for you.

The Uniqueness Mastery Workshop is a precise system that enables you to get your product or service to stand out. And not just stand out in a garish, uncomfortable way, but in a manner where the customer knows exactly why they’re choosing you over the competition.
Have a look Uniqueness Mastery Live Workshop

Can something as basic as a testimonial make such a massive difference to your sanity and your cash flow? And is it possible that instead of just getting another testimonial, you’ll actually get an insight into how the customer buys, and their rationale for choosing you?
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.

1) Are you losing tons of potential business because you don’t know  how the brain works?
Read how The Brain Audit can help you…

2) NEW! You already know that 80% of a sales letter depends on your headline.
So what’s the remaining 20% that causes customers to buy? Find out more

3) 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.

4) 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.

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

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

If you haven’t been to sign up for the free uniqueness course yet, then you should. And here’s just one reason why. Read this case study and judge for yourself.

When you first sent through the link for these videos, I dropped everything to watch them.
(Dropping everything to watch 45 minutes of video is not something I ordinarily do.)

There’s at least a negotiation with myself before I do a time consuming thing like that. Oddly enough! Not this time. As I’m watching I’m noticing my unusual behaviour and thinking that Sean did such a great job of preselling with his build up email sequence. I can’t believe I’m sitting down like a salivating dog who has to eat this bone before doing anything else! Great lesson right there).

I then watched the three videos and took notes. So that turned out to be over an hour all up. Then about 90 minutes later I sat down and thought! You know what?

Let’s run the process and follow your steps and see what happens.

Three and half pages, 45 paragraphs and less than an hour later, I ended up with a 2 word uniqueness statement and a 32 word uniqueness description.

Sean, I was S. T. U. N. N. E. D.

Stunned that I actually got one. That it was entirely unexpected (by my conscious mind). Stunned that it felt congruent. That it felt like wheels. Stunned that it felt momentous. That it felt like motion. Stunned that some blockage had been surgically removed.

At that point I was ** too stunned ** to leave a comment. So I have sat on it since then.

Actually I am now noticing that the second word, the noun is firm and settled. And I am still thinking about the first word, the verb. I’m on my 3rd verb so far. And so far the 3rd and 1st choices are the best two so far.

Amazing how closely this process makes you look at two words.

And how the choice you make determines the direction and tone of one’s uniqueness. And all else that flows from there. Now that I am more used to the uniqueness statement and description, and the stun effect is reducing, I can actually post this comment now.

When this new product and its uniqueness launches I’ll let you know. Sean, props and gratitude for your guidance, all the way from Grey Lynn.

Taura Eruera
Auckland, New Zealand

Warm regards,
s-
P.S. Here is the link again Uniqueness Mastery

I just wanted you to know that 5000bc is now at  the point where we have to restrict entry. However from  25-27 Dec, 2011 you can join 5000bc without having to endlessly wait in the wings. But the wall will only be down for three days.

That means that after Dec 27th 2011, you will not be able to simply register and join. And will have to go on a waiting list. And only a limited number will be able to join every month.

So why the waiting list?

1) The activity in 5000bc Forum (the Cave) is incredible.
2) The content is (did we say incredible already?) incredible.
3) There are products that non-members pay for, and 5000bc members get complimentary.
4) There are action groups that are unlike any other (you actually complete long-delayed work projects).

So why is the activity incredible?

Think of it this way: Imagine you asked a question. And you needed the answer to that question. e.g. How to create Strategic Alliances. In 5000bc, you have two options. You find detailed articles that tell you how to go about things. Or if the articles don’t exist, I write them for you (Try finding that kind of service online). And the activity speaks for itself.

In Dec 2011 we had  1745 posts in the last two weeks.
In Nov 2011 we had  2355 posts in the month.
In June 2011 we had 1512 posts in one month.

What does all this activity mean?

Are we adding more members all the time? Quite the opposite. We’re restricting membership and our members are actually using up tons of resources to grow their business (when was the last time you actually used up any of the info-overload stuff you get these days?)

And they’re using it in away that allows those who are serious (yes, we don’t care about people who just want to be “inspired”) to really get things done. The activity means that customers are asking questions–and getting replies from me and the rest of the members, leading to a rich, helpful environment.

But what if too much activity is not your cup of “chai”

If on the other hand all this activity scares you then be assured that we have private mastermind groups. 5000bc attracts both introverts and extroverts.

And introverts get drained with too many people. In 5000bc we’ve created systems that will allow you to be part of a smaller group while still having access to the content (or the big group) whenever you choose.

You’ll get immense support.

You’ll get reports that non-members pay for. And you’ll get access to courses that are not available to non-members.

Plus you’ll be part of a community that you’ve always wished for. Of course all the explicit details are on the sales page. But you’ll only get entry to 5000bc for the next four weeks. After that it’s closed. And you go on the waiting list.

If you don’t want to be shut out, have a look today
http://www.5000bc.com

You won’t regret it.

Warm regards,
s-

Motto of 5000bc: Be kind, Be Helpful or Begone
P.S. Dec 27th, 2011 is the last date. But if we get too many sign-ups before that date the waiting list may begin before that date arrives. No we’re not kidding. We want to ensure the best for our clients, and this is one of the ways we can pay attention to a group that’s interested in their own future.
http://www.5000bc.com

When you land on a website, you often are like a shopper wandering into an unknown supermarket

You have no clue what you’re specifically looking for, and you stumble from aisle to aisle hoping you’ll find what you need. And in these situations, you tend to look for the signs.

The signs tell you whether you’re in the bread aisle or the baby food section. In the same way, the customer looks up at the signs (these are the tabs on your website navigation bar) and they head to what’s familiar.

And invariably one of the places they head to is the ‘About Us/Why Us’ section. So why do they do that? And just what is the purpose of the ‘About Us/Why Us’ section on your website?

The ‘About Us/Why Us’ works for three reasons:
1) It removes ambiguity‚ and hence defines what you are and what you’re not
2) It provides the prospect with a single point or uniqueness
3) It helps to pass on the message

Let’s explore further…

1) Removing ambiguity
When you’re buying something, one factor always sits on top of the list. It has to be a good fit. And the ‘About Us/Why Us’ page assists the prospect to see if you’re a good fit‚ or not.

So they head to the page and they start reading. And if you’re smart and you’ve driven home ONE idea on your page, then the prospect gets it. But what happens if you don’t nail it down? That’s when ambiguity decides to stomp through the door and create a state of utter chaos. If you don’t define ‘why us’, then the prospect has no direction. So they come to their own conclusion.

That’s rough. Really rough. Because you may be exceptionally good at doing one thing and they may totally miss out on that one thing. And they go away thinking you’re good at something else. So removing ambiguity is critical. But that’s only the first reason why you need that ‘About Us/Why Us’ page. The second reason is simply uniqueness.

2) Defining your uniqueness
People don’t get uniqueness. They really don’t. They look up the term in the dictionary, and there it is: Uniqueness means ‘ONE’. As in o-n-e. But no, we decide to crowd our message with some other benefits as well. Besides, we reason, no one is ever good at just one thing. So let’s put in several things that we’re good at.

And that’s a mistake. The prospect can’t focus as effectively on several things. They can focus on one. And if you bring out that one thing across in reasonable detail, the prospect gets it. They then walk away with a clear idea of why you’re different. But there’s more than just the prospect, there’s always someone else in the background. That takes us to Point 3: pass on the message.

3) Pass on the message
In a fantasy world, we would all make decisions without any consultation. In a real world it works a little differently. So when we read about a company, product, brand, we want to justify our decision. So we go to our spouses, lovers, friends, peers, accountants or board of directors. And we pass on the message, because we know from experience that they will either agree, or disagree.

Or that in most cases they’re going to have some sort of input. But even if they volunteer any input into the matter, they are still sounding boards. And this is why the message on the ‘About Us/Why Us’ page has to be crystal clear. If you drive home a point that’s single-minded, the prospect will be able to pass on that message without too much (if any) distortion. This makes for quicker decision making.

But let’s take an example, shall we?
At Psychotactics, we run an article writing course. Now admittedly it doesn’t have its own website, and hence no ‘Why Us’ standalone page. But let’s run these concepts across the course and see how it all works.

The Article Writing Course is called the ‘Toughest Course in the World’
Hah, take the first point of ambiguity and it knocks ambiguity right out of the stadium. Does it say ‘Tough Course?’ Nope, it says ‘toughest.’ As in, you slog like crazy for the duration of the course, if you want to be an outstanding writer. So it’s defined what it is, and what it’s not. And so if you’re going to be even slightly lazy or wimpy, this course is not for you.

Not surprisingly, the clarity of the statement, ‘Toughest Course in the World’, also defines the uniqueness. It tells you clearly that there’s something um, tough, about the course. That the people on that course will be just as um, tough and resilient. There’s no ambiguity and hence you get clarity. And because it doesn’t say ‘toughest’, ‘experienced teacher’, ‘lots of extra learning’ etc., the message stays unique. There’s no clutter. No add on stuff. Hence ONE message gets across.

And because it’s so darned clear, you can bounce it off someone else. You pass on the message with utter clarity, and zero-distortion. And they may agree with you going ahead and signing up for the course, or they may bring up objections. But whatever the situation, it allows you to come to discuss the one point, and then make a quicker decision.

But isn’t the ‘About Us’ page supposed to be about us?
No it’s not supposed to be about you. It’s supposed to seem like it’s about you, but in fact it’s all about the customer.If you are crystal clear about what makes you different, then the message gets across.

And it sticks. That prospect remembers your site and what you stand for, and then comes back to have a second look, and then to buy. In effect all they’re doing is trying to see if your product or service is a fit. That’s really all they’re interested in.

So to summarise:
1) It removes ambiguity‚ and hence defines what you are and what you’re not
2) It provides the prospect with a single point or uniqueness
3) It helps to pass on the message

Without a ‘Why Us’ page, you’re throwing a monkey wrench into the decision making. You’re trying very hard to confuse your prospect. And if that’s the goal, then you’re on the right path. But if it’s not the goal, heck you’ve got some work to do.

Quickly too!

The ‘About Us Page’–What have you learned and how are you going to implement it? Leave your comment here.

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 Find out how The Brain Audit can help you “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. NEW PRODUCT! Black Belt Presentations: How do you create presentations that enthrall, hold and move an audience to action?

$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

Last week you got a chunky 30-page excerpt of The Brain Audit. This week you can get two short five-minute audio files. These short audios will teach you two very important lessons which you can implement straight away.

What you will learn:
1) What is the difference between ‘The Solution’ and ‘Your Solution’ ?

2)  How to write a tag-line.

Deadline?
There is a deadline though. You have to get it before August 21st, 2011. Then it’s gone. So get it right away Either download it, or listen online.

Here are the links: (It may take a few minutes to play)
Solution Vs Your Solution

How to Create A Tagline

So what’s the reason behind this generosity?
Well I sure want you to see how The Brain Audit can help you in your business. That’s the one good reason

Sean
P.S. Don’t forget to download the audio before August 21st, 2011.

Let’s imagine you and I are meeting in Donostia-San Sebastián in the north of Spain for dinner.

And we’re going to have dinner in the old town. What are we going to have for dinner? I know. We’ll have some beer, los pintxos, some icecream, and a cafe cortado. And guess what? We’ll get the entire meal on one plate. The beers, six pinxtos, ice-cream and the coffee. All served to us on one plate—at the same time.

Hmmm…that would be a mess wouldn’t it?
Now logically speaking, that’s not too much food. We could easily run through six pinxtos, two or three beers, some icecream and wash it down with a cafe cortado or two. But we couldn’t, or wouldn’t want to do it all at once would we?

This is precisely what you’re asking your customer to do.
Let’s say you’re a professional and you have several services. It’s easy to think that all the services need to have reasonably equal weight on your web page. If you’re selling a product, and the product has several features, then it’s again easy to believe that you need to somehow stuff your headline with all the possible features.

And as if that’s not enough you go ballistic on the rest of the page
You try to stuff all your services/product features in the body copy in order to tell your client that it’s all important—and that it’s all important right now. And customers aren’t so kind on websites (Or restaurants) for that matter. If someone overloads your plate, you simply get confused and dislike the experience. Then you walk away.

And that’s the danger.
The danger is the overload.

Ok, so you understand the concept of overload right? But how do you go about creating a page that gives all the information needed, without overloading. And yes, without leaving anything out?

You do it exactly the way the restaurant does.
Choose one service to begin with. Let’s say you’re a lawyer, for example. And let’s say you’re really good at ‘home conveyance for expatriates’. Well talk about the home conveyance. Tell me what problem you solve for me. Tell me how your services may well be more expensive but why I must consider you. Tell me enough without jumping me across from service to service to service all at once.

And if you’re selling a product, the very same concept applies.
Tell me the biggest problem that you solve. Drive home that problem for a bit. Two paragraphs, three paragraphs. Let me enjoy what I’m reading. Let me chomp a bit into the subject matter. When I’ve had enough, I’ll be ready for the next feature. And the next. And the next. One by one.

Let’s take an example: We sell an Article Writing Course. Now what would you use article writing for? Ooh, let me count the ways. It could be to write articles for your newsletter; write content for your website; create outstanding presentations; develop superbly built video content for YouTube; write press releases that make you look like a pro…(You want me to stop any time soon?)

Every product or service has dozens of features
Every product solves dozens of problems and brings dozens of solutions. But if you go to the page on the Article Writing Course, we don’t deal with all the problems all at once. All we talk about is one problem. And we drive home that problem. Two, three, four paragraphs. Same problem. Then we move to the next and the next.

Just like our meal at the Pintxo bar
It’s easy for us to drink the beers (hic), then eat the pintxos and then wash it all down later with ice-cream and coffee. And if you do it in sequence, or, at least separately, then I’m interested. And I’ll stay for the “meal”. And enjoy the meal.

Isolate the services. Explain them.
Isolate the product features. Explain them one by one.
Isolate. Isolate. Isolate.

Do you want to drive your customers away? Or make them stay? The choice is yours.

———————–
Next Step: “The Brain Audit-It’s like the first comic book in marketing!“

As an infojunkie, I buy ALL the stuff about smallbiz marketing, and here’s what makes Sean’s book stand out: while others mostly just dump info on you, Sean’s passion is that you understand and absorb the material for easier implementation.

Earlier versions of The Brain Audit had easy to understand structures and graphs, but this new one, with the new secret ingredient – cartoons – helped me absorb the knowledge faster and with more fun.

I would’ve liked to cite specific results, but I’ve been using the Brain Audit for so long I can’t keep score any more. I used it in my sales copy for selling manuals, trainings, seminars,
memberships, or to help my customers sell maps, wine, even electricity.

I’d recommend the Brain Audit to any business owner or marketer who wants to understand the mind of his customer and be able to use this structure, this checklist to write copy more confidently.”

Gabor Wolf, Marketing consultant, Budapest, Hungary
Judge for yourself The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy And Why They Don’t

———————
New Products: Introductory Price

1) “Lazy Testimonials” Attract The Wrong Clients. 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.

2) Do you sometimes wonder if planning books are written just for the ‘organised’ people?
Learn Why Most Planning Fails: And The Critical Importance of Chaos in Planning

3) Does your websites, brochures, presentations, etc..confuse your clients? .
Put some sanity into your design with some really simple tweaks.

3) Yes, you needs visuals on your sales page, but how do you use visuals to immediately improve your sales conversion?

———————
“5000bc had been recommended by a Caver, and I took a look at it. The cost of joining was small relative to a 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 calibre 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, EquityTransitions Inc., Mississauga, Ontario.
Judge for yourself http://www.psychotactics.com/5000bc
———————

It was 2004.

We were promoting the Workshop in Los Angeles. As part of the marketing promotion, we put one little audio testimonial on the website. No, it doesn’t matter what the testimonial said.

What matters, is that over 1200 people clicked on that one link to listen to the testimonial.

Now why would they go clickety click? Hmmmm…wouldn’t you like to know why?

It wasn’t the testimonial itself

I already told you so. It couldn’t be the testimonial, because how on earth can you listen to a testimonial without first clicking on it? You can’t, and we all know that. So why the heck did all those people click?

It’s called curiosity

If all you’re ever going to do is post an audio testimonial, and all you’re going to do, is slap a photo above the testimonial, you’ve got a 50/50 chance that a client is going to click on that link. But if you put a curious caption right under the testimonial, you’ve suddenly increased the chances of click through, by a whole lot more.

Customers are curious

They want to know what’s behing the ‘green door.’ If you tantalise customers, and tease their brains just a little bit, you have a darned good chance of increasing your conversion rate, because hey, now they’re going to click through and listen to another customer give a testimonial.

Let me give you an example of a few good audio testimonial captions

Example No.1

You can’t listen to this testimonial. I know that. But you might still want to listen to it. There are several reasons.

1) The smile makes a difference. A testimonial with a smiling face gets more clicks over a non-smiler.

2) The caption is specific. It’s related to online growth, not just any growth. If you’re interested in growing ’400%’ online, then and only then, would you click on this testimonial.

3) There is a level of curiosity. Can you make the caption better? Sure you can. Can you remove words like exploded? Sure you can. You need to go with your gut.

Example No.2

You can’t listen to this testimonial. I know that. But you might still want to listen to it. There are several reasons.

1) Again, big smile

2) Again, specific audience.

3) Again, can we improve the caption? Sure we can. For example: What happened to Jackie 30 minutes into the Masterclass? Why was she ready to leave?

You’d want to know, wouldn’t you?

So let’s summarise:

1) Photo: Smiley is better than grumpy
2) Title/Profession: It matters. I’m looking in the mirror when I see a testimonial. If the testimonial isn’t about ‘me’, I’m gone.
3) Results: It always helps to have results in your captions.
4) Rewrite: There’s no such thing as the best caption. I think both these captions need a rewrite. Note: I’m not rewriting the testimonial. I’m rewriting the caption.
5) Curiosity: Create high levels of curiosity. Ideally, put in at least one question in your caption. The brain wants to know the answer.

Hey, don’t stop at audio testimonials
Written testimonials or video testimonials too need some whack. Take the lessons you’ve learned in this article, and rewrite, re-design, rewire your testimonials. Do the audit.

Yeah, yeah!

Next Step: Want to learn more about website marketing? Find the entire website marketing series in text, audio with cartoons!
Subscribe : Get Updates via RSS | Get Updates via Email (Fill in your details in the top-right hand form)

This article has been removed. My apologies.

Instead here a super interview between Lynda Weinman and I. In case you’re wondering, Lynda Weinman is one of the founding members of Lynda.com. Lynda.com started out as a video site when video was um, big trouble to download. Today they get hundreds of thousands of visitors every month, and are recommended on Adobe.com—and pretty much anywhere you care to check. You may want to check out their site, but first listen to the interview. I think you’ll like it.

On a secondary note, this interview is part of a series of really compelling interviews that you get in www.5000bc.com.  So go have a look because if you like this, there’s more where it came from

Here’s the interview All of it.

Have you ever struggled to read the text on a web page? You’re keen to read the material, but not sure why you’re struggling.  And it’s not because the language is difficult.  And it’s not because the topic is unknown. Yet there’s something that’s driving you batty.

It’s something on the page itself, but you can’t put your finger on it. And it’s causing a bit of a Reader Fatigue.

So what is Reader Fatigue?

Reader Fatigue is a scenario where something on the page is causing a bit of grief to the reader.  They desperately want to read what you’re saying but a bit of tiredness creeps in and then they give up.  And off they bouncity-bounce to the next web page—the web page that isn’t so tiring.

And what’s interesting is that you can quickly remove this factor of Reader Fatigue by considering three core issues.

But before we get started on removing Reader Fatigue…

Let’s get one thing straight. What I’m about to tell you may sound like a grammar lesson. Well, it is a grammar lesson in a way, but not quite. It’s more of a conversion lesson.

If your customer gets tired reading your articles, or your sales page, they just leave. And if they leave—heck I don’t have to tell you what happens—you’ve lost a customer. And you’ve lost a customer over a simple matter. A matter that can easily be fixed.

So let’s examine three issues that you can fix right away:

Issue 1: Constraining the thought to one idea.
Issue 2: Width of the line.
Issue 3: Avoiding chunky paragraphs.

Issue 1: Constraining the thought to one idea.

The rule is simple.  Keep your sentences down to 15-25 words at best.  This is because a sentence with fewer than 25 words usually contains one thought. And when there’s just one thought in the sentence, the reader can quickly grasp the thought and move on to the next sentence. And the next. And the next.

Long sentences tend to be long because the writer is unable to restrain their thoughts, and they just plough on relentlessly, not knowing where to stop, till finally they stagger to a halt, and you get a sentence like this one: where the reader has forgotten what you were saying in the first place.

Now of course you don’t write sentences that are sixty words long, but it’s easy to slip into sentences that are 35-40 words. After all 35-40 words are just two lines on your word processing program.

So the easy way to restrain your thoughts is to focus on your word processing program when typing. If your sentence is streaming across the width of the page, then you’ve probably written about 15 words. If your sentence is going to 25 words, that’s about a line and a half on the word processor.  It’s now time to put a full stop. And start a new sentence.

By putting full stops in your sentence it’s easy to take a lonnnnnnnnnng sentence and restrain the thought.

E.g.
Long sentences tend to be long because the writer is unable to restrain their thoughts. They just plough on relentlessly. And never seem to know when to stop. Then finally they stagger to a halt. And you get a sentence like this one: where the reader has forgotten what you were saying in the first place.

So yeah. Keep sentences short.

This takes us to the second factor of Reader Fatigue: The width of the line.

If you look at your newspaper, you’ll notice something quickly. The newspaper is divided into columns. And the width of the line doesn’t go past eight or nine words across. This width restraint is put in for a reason. It allows your eye to read, get some breathing space and then go to the next line.

The width of your web page text needn’t be as constrained, but not much wider than 15 words wide. An average web page can easily accommodate about 30 words of text on one line. And putting 30 words of text in one line is a big mistake. And it’s a mistake because the text becomes tiring. It’s hard to read.

The way around this problem is to make sure you split your web page into two or three columns (Ask your web designer if you don’t know how to do this ‘split’). The column you most want to focus on is the text column. How many words do you have in your main text column? If it’s 15 words or thereabouts, then you’re ok. If not, you need to fix it right away.

And once you’re done fixing those two issues, let’s examine the third issue: chunky paragraphs.

Magazines and newspapers work with restricted space, so they often have chunky paragraphs. But web pages don’t have restriction issue. And it’s in your best interest to take advantage of this unrestricted space by breaking up your paragraphs.

And here’s the reason
When the reader looks at your page, all they see is a waterfall of text. If you have long, dense paragraphs, the material on the page looks intimidating. An intimidating page is more likely to drive a customer away. What’s sad is that this problem can easily be fixed by making your paragraphs less dense.

And the way to make it less dense is to restrict your paragraphs to about 4-6 sentences in all. Once you’ve put in about six sentences, just put in a break and create a new paragraph. This break gives the reader some breathing space and visually it’s far less intimidating.

Ok, time for a summary:

1) Constrain the thought to one idea: keep sentences down to 25 words at best.
2) Check the width of the line on the web page. About 15 words. That’s it.
3) 4-6 lines in a paragraph is enough. Move to the next paragraph and create breathing space.

Some of these changes are easy to make going forward, and some of them may need some going back to edit your existing web content.  It’s well worth the trouble to make the time to implement these changes.

Because as I said: This ain’t about grammar. It’s about conversion. If you drive a customer batty with your web pages, you only have yourself to blame.

Next Step: Want to learn more about website marketing? Find the entire website marketing series in text, audio with cartoons!
Subscribe : Get Updates via RSS | Get Updates via Email (Fill in your details in the top-right hand form)