You must be a bit of an email-aholic to check email on
Christmas day. (Yes, yes, I know everyone doesn’t celebrate
Christmas). Anyway, there’s no reason why you can’t have some
ho, ho, ho cheer!

It’s a special Christmas day offer for the Brain Audit
If you buy the Brain Audit Premium on the 25th, 26th or 27th
December, 2011 you’ll get the Brain Audit Version 3.2 and you’ll
also get a bonus set of Goodies on ‘How To Create Headlines: Part
1 + Part 2 (worth $158) absolutely free.

The link
http://www.psychotactics.com/dec25

Sean
P.S. This offer is valid only till 27th Dec, 2011 so make sure you
don’t miss it!

In the year 2007, I had a discussion with a client. It was about giving most of our courses away—yes, almost every Psychotactics Course—by the year 2020.

Without charge.

It sounds unusual: Why would someone just give valuable information away?

You and I know that “normal” people don’t do this kind of stuff. No one just gives away thousands of dollars worth of stuff without some sneaky up-sell, cross-sell or some kind of catch. To give away valuable information just like that, sounds weird at the very least.

But we’re not normal (our logo should give you enough hints).

My long-term goal is to create a university in New Zealand (Casa LocoLoco: The Mad House)

This university will be in place to help folks like you run their businesses. It will be a non-profit university. In the spirit of Casa LocoLoco, I am slowly going to make most Psychotactics products and workshops free by the year 2020. So as you can see this process is thoughtful; it’s methodical. And it’s designed on the fact that generosity helps us all.

And the Brain Alchemy Masterclass is just the beginning.

The only ‘catch’ if you want to call it that, is that you have to opt-in. This is for several reasons, but the main reasons are:

1) I only care about people who’ll take the trouble to opt-in.

2) Because it’s a three-day workshop, the digital file download will have to be managed, or if everyone downloads the material at once, it will crash our servers. So I have to send out notifications on different days/time of day.

Of course giving this free is not going to be an easy task, because the whole thing needs project management to see that we don’t crash our server or do crazy things.

Anyway…that’s the the gist of things.

More details will follow next week— so look out for the email (or blog post as the case may be). In next week’s email, you’ll get a direct link (after you fill in a form).

This is just the announcement of what’s to come (yes, like a trailer to a movie )

Important Note

This workshop was given away in 2009 and we are giving it away for the second time in 2011. If you’ve already heard/read it, it’s a good idea to experience it again. The questions remain the same but the answers change and you will experience the same information in a totally different light.

Warm regards,
Sean

Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy And Why They Dont

I know you’ve been strongly considering whether or not you should invest in the Brain Audit, and well, here’s the perfect moment.

And it’s perfect because you get the Brain Audit Ver 3.2.

And you not only get the e-book, but also the complete audio book in a format that will really excite you (even if you’re not a big fan of audio–You’ll see why when you get to the page itself).

When you buy the Premium Brain Audit on the 11th, 12th, 13th or 14th October 2011, you’ll also get a bonus set of Goodies on ‘How To Create Headlines: Part 1 + Part 2 (worth $158) absolutely free.

The Headline Report isn’t some hastily put together document.
Instead it gives you an instant understanding of how to put together headlines. It explains WHY headlines work, and shows you various applications which you may never have considered…

And unlike all the waffly reports you see out there, these  reports aren’t padded. They’re detailed. They’re comprehensive.

In fact, I’ll guarantee you’ll be able to write not one, but dozens of headlines just after reading this report. Knowing why one headline works and why it fails, is more important than just  telling you to copy headlines (as most reports do).

Oh, and we almost forgot the Brain Audit in all that excitement, didn’t we?

Get the Brain Audit Ver 3.2 (Audio + Text + Goodies worth $158)
*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.

The link http://www.psychotactics.com/brain-audit-offer
Judge for yourself. I think you’ll be really pleased with what you see.

Warm regards,
Sean
P.S.Make sure you don’t miss this offer. And make a decision, based on what you read.
http://www.psychotactics.com/brain-audit-offer

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.

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

Every four years at Psychotactics, we do something really interesting. We have a party. And we roll it up in a workshop. And we do it at a price so low, that it’s almost too hard to believe.

And this year, we’re headed to Vancouver and Washington DC in September.

The last time we had this party/workshop in 2006, we went on trips. We drank wine. We ate great meals. We had a blast. And everyone totally enjoyed themselves.

So judge for yourself.

You’re going to be part of a superb workshop. You’re going to learn, network and make some awesome friends. And the only reason we’re charging 15% is to cover the costs of rooms, equipment etc. There’s no catch. You’re not going to be sold anything. We’re just going to learn and have loads of fun.

However the moment we’re filled up, we’ll have to close.

So have a look at:
http://www.psychotactics.com/brain-audit-workshops-2010
And see you soon

Warm regards from New Zealand,
Sean
P.S. We almost never discount anything. And this workshop is being offered at 85% off, because it’s what we do every 4 years. So make the most of it. Because the next time we offer a crazy discount like this it will be somewhere in 2014

Nothing bugs you more than a painful client.
A client who hassles you at every step of the way.
A client who won’t pay on time.
A client who takes up so much of your energy that you get drained.

I used to have clients like that
And then at some point I stopped getting bad clients.
Every single one of our clients were helpful, kind and extremely co-operative.
Work became a joy instead of a painful exercise.

And after a lot of digging, I found out the reason for the change
Amazingly it was the testimonials. My Web site was like a mirror.
When I had the “right” testimonials and the right “tone” to the testimonials, and of course the right “structure”, I started getting amazing clients.

So what’s the right tone and right structure?
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?

If you’ve ever struggled to get consistently good clients (or detailed testimonials for that matter) then you’ll find that this knowledge is more than just common sense. It’s a bit of strategy you can’t do without.

Judge for yourself at:
http://www.psychotactics.com/testimonialsecrets

If you’ve been wondering whether or not to purchase the Brain Audit then here’s the perfect moment.

And it’s perfect because you get the Brain Audit Version 3.2 just launched in June 2009.

Two years in the making…
This book has been two years in the making, and now it’s finally out!

And you not only get the e-book, but also the complete audio book in a format that will really excite you (even if you’re not a big fan of audio–You’ll see why when you get to the page itself).

When you buy the Premium Brain Audit on the 16th, 17th, 18th or 19th March 2010, you’ll also get a bonus set of Goodies on ‘How To Create Headlines: Part 1 + Part 2 (worth $158) absolutely
fr’ee.

The Headline Report isn’t some hastily put together document.
Instead it gives you an instant understanding of how to put together headlines. It explains WHY headlines work, and shows you various applications which you may never have considered…

Get the Brain Audit Ver 3.2 (Audio + Text + Goodies worth $158)
*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.

The link http://www.psychotactics.com/brain-audit-offer
Judge for yourself. I think you’ll be really pleased with what you see.

Warm regards,
Sean
P.S.Make sure you don’t miss this offer. And make a decision, based on what you read.
http://www.psychotactics.com/brain-audit-offer

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
———————

Imagine you went out to dinner.

And the wine was just superb; the bread roll with the exact crunch molecules and texture; and the service so impeccable and knowledgeable that you can’t remember when you had service so good.

Oh and yeah, the fish you ordered for the main was a bit too salty.

What would you remember from this experience?
Most of us would react in exactly the same way. We remember the salty fish. And not surprisingly the business owner or the employees are trying to fix the “salty fish”.

Don’t fix the problem. Fix the experience.
As I sat down to eat a meal at “Two Fat Indians” in Christchurch, my meal was a bit late. And out of the blue, a set of starters was placed in front of me.

I protested, of course, as I hadn’t ordered the starters. I was assured they were complimentary. It had been twenty minutes since I ordered my meal (they were counting on their computer system, not me), and though the meal was just a few minutes away, they offered me a set of starters absolutely free.

They fixed the experience. And the problem.
Most businesses do the wrong thing. When a customer mumbles and grumbles, they try to fix the problem. They see your fish is too salty. They offer to get the chef to cook you another fish with less salt.

Or lets say your hotel room was too noisy. They give you another hotel room on the same floor, or a different floor. Or maybe your website system fails and the client doesn’t get the download you promised. Well that’s easily fixed by sending the client the download, right?

No. No. No. And no.
Yes you need to fix the problem, but first you need to fix the experience. The experience I had at Two Fat Indians stood out, not because I can remember what I ate two years ago. It stood out because they fixed the experience.

By the very same token the experience I had at “Pacifica” (on Napier’s Marine Parade) will stick in my memory like a hornet’s nest. Because Pacifica refused to fix the experience, insisting they’d listened to my feedback and done their best to fix the problem.

Correct. They had done just that. They did everything they could to fix the problem. And they completely missed out on fixing the experience.

Ironically, crappy businesses don’t need to fix the experience
When you run into a shoddy business, you get products or services that are full of holes. You rarely expect any kind of experience from crappy businesses. It’s when you’re dealing with the absolute “Rolex” of businesses like Pacifica or Two Fat Indians that your expectation increases exponentially. And what is expectation but the ‘experience?’

You can’t ever fix the problem
Let me give you an example. Last week a client wrote to us saying she hadn’t received some course materials we’d sent out. To our defence, we’d already sent out the material. We’d done our ‘job.’ And yes, we’d pop another batch of materials in the mail, and yes, that would be that, right?

Wrong.

It’s like a Humpty-Dumpty moment.
You’ve somehow dropped the ball. Whether you’re writing a book, selling a sofa, sending out course materials or serving Monk fish as a main meal, you’re going to get someone upset. And all the ‘kings horses and all the kings men’ can’t fix that Humpty Dumpty moment. You can try to fix the problem the best you can, but hey that’s part of your job.

That’s what the customer paid for. You’re not doing them a favour when you fix the problem. But you are doing them a favour when you fix the experience. And so it’s the experience you must focus on—and not the problem.

To sum up: How do you fix the experience?
Step 1: You recognise the problem; you apologise and you fix the problem.
Step 2: You then fix the experience.

So Step 1 is really easy. Or should be. You recognise the problem. You fix it. And top notch businesses usually do this. They don’t waffle, they don’t shuffle. They instantly spring to action by apologizing (often profusely) and then they seek to fix the problem.

Step 2 is where things fall apart. And the way to fix the experience is to give the customer something that’s not related to the problem at all. It should be something of an add on.

If the course materials get lost in the mail, apologise, and then give the client a free consulting session (at your cost). If your keynote presentation offended some people with an off-colour remark, then apologise and then send them a box of chocolates. If the fish is too salty, try to fix the fish at first, but if the client persists on eating it (which I did), then go ahead and fix the experience. Be warm and gracious and give the client a free coffee, or a warm, chocolate dessert.

This article may read as if it’s about how to handle feedback.
It’s not about feedback.
Most of us bust our guts out to provide an outstanding experience to our clients. But the Humpty Dumpty moment still shows up, no matter what. And our natural response is to get defensive. To justify our actions. To fix the problem. But the client wants more than just for you to fix the problem.

But you know better.
You’ve got to fix the experience. Then fix the “fish”.

Note: It’s easy to forget this lesson. If you would like a mini-poster that you can put on your wall/softboard to remind you about this learning, then go to www.psychotactics.com/blog/fish

———————–

Product Offers: Links you should visit

1) “This method works! I can testify it! The Brain Audit makes you independent from marketing consultants, upgrades, expensive marketing campaigns and so on!

“I had a look at Sean’s website after a friend told me. I had no faith in it, I was simply thinking: “Here we go again, this will be the n-th marketing method where someone will ask me $$ and then more $$$”. In fact,in the previous years I tried many marketing techniques,with a great loss of money and nearly no result.

I am selling special services and I needed targeted clients without spending a lot of money. I was just wondering: How can I do that?? I bought The Brain Audit. Then I thought -if Sean succeeded in making me buy this e-book, why shouldn’t I do the same?

I read it in a nighttime. The next day I applied some minor changes to my monthly newsletter and… guess what? I doubled the people calling me after reading the news!

And from this point, always going up! This method works! I can testify it!
But the main thing for me, is it makes you independent from marketing consultants, upgrades, expensive marketing campaigns and so on!

I can say this marketing system is far better than any other method I tried in a 10-years-work time.”

Dr. Stefan Vettori, Creative Feng Shui, Italy.
Judge for yourself http://www.psychotactics.com/brainaudit

2) 5000bc Community: How can you get reliable answers to your complex marketing problems? (And how on earth do you find answers to these questions at 3:25 in the morning?). Find out how at
http://www.psychotactics.com/5000bc

3) “How hard can it be to structure a testimonial? Why would I pay $39 to learn how to put a customer quote on my website? “

Five minutes into the course I knew I had made the right decision.
I quickly realized that we had a lot of “sugary” testimonials and not a lot of testimonials that would sell product.

After listening to the course I developed a new system for capturing testimonials and we are in the process of redesigning our website to implement these new endorsements.

Greg DeVore, Blue Mango Learning Systems, USA
http://www.psychotactics.com/testimonialsecrets

5) “I was worried that this would be yet another expense where I didn’t end up using what I had bought.”

“You guys are masters of making sure that we consume (what we’ve bought)! And so, I’ve learned a ton since I joined! I love The Cave. I honestly haven’t made the time to try out anything else or even look into anything other than the general discussion board! The other things I really like: Direct access and insight from Sean, networking with other like-minded small business owners, the positive and encouraging vibe.

If you ask me: Would I recommend 5000bc I’d say: Of course! Because I’ve learned a lot! One more thing I’d like to add. Thanks for being so dedicated to us. ”

Marina Brito
Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Judge for yourself http://www.psychotactics.com/5000bc

———————–
If you like this article
If you like this article, feel free to share it with your own list, post it on your site, on your blog, or add it to your autoresponder. Twitter it, Facebook it, translate it. As long as you leave it intact and do not alter it in anyway. All links must remain in the article. No textual amendments permitted. Only exception is Twitter.

©Psychotactics Ltd. All rights reserved.
Article By: Sean D’Souza
Wouldn’t you love to stumble upon a sec’ret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas, on copywriting, public speaking, marketing strategies, sa’les conversion, psychological tactics and branding.
Head down to http://www.psychotactics.com today and judge for yourself.

Santa Claus Inc. is well and profitable, right through recessions, depressions and just about any economic scenario. The reason why his marketing strategies work better than yours, is because he uses solid, dyed-in-the-wool psychology. He knows he doesn’t have to use new fangled techniques, when his simple marketing has stood the test of time.

If you don’t believe in Santa, you’d better change your mind, because the fat man from the north pole rocks on and you too can do the same if you stick to the basics. Find out if your product or service matches up by reading the article below.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way…
If you go to the heart of Santa’s marketing, the one word you come away with is ‘consistency’. Generation after generation have been exposed to one brand, one message, and the same powerful imagery.

Just like Mercedes own the term ‘luxury’ and Volvo owns the term ‘safety’, Santa owns the word ‘hope’. Every kid worth his Nintendo, hopes he’s got enough points on the goodness scale to justify a mountain of gifts.

Yet, most companies get tired of their own brand. They chop, change and pour thousands (if not millions) of dollars into a bottomless pit of mindless change. Take a look at McDonald’s advertising, for instance. McDonald’s own the word family outing yet their ads have been straying down the teenager path.

Does It Make Sense To Consistently Occupy One Niche?

You bet it does! Families go out with their kids to McDonalds. These kids sprout into budget-conscious teenagers that hang out at McDonalds. They have kids and grandkids and guess where they all end up. At the big yellow ‘M’, that’s where!

Santa doesn’t waver. His customers are kids. Like several marketers, he might have been sorely tempted to enter the gift market. With bad advice, he would have tried to get to teenagers, adults and everyone. Can you see the magic still working? Even the tiniest of niches is huge and niches have a way of expanding by themselves.

At the end of the day, it’s the consistency that takes the jingle all the way to the bank. Too many companies lose focus and give you seven reasons why you should buy from them. Santa sticks to one: Be a ‘good’ kid or you can keep hoping!

You Can Spot Him in the Middle of a Crowded Sky
Do you know anyone who comes to visit on a sleigh in the middle of the night? With reindeer and gifts? The reason why Santa stands out so vividly in our memories is because he’s different. The postman does the same thing, but leaves without the flourish.

It’s Really Important To Work Out How Your Marketing Message Differs
Santa’s core marketing term is not built solely on consistent branding but also on a very hard-nosed differentiation. Too much communication out there fits in with what’s safe. Customers have just one slot in their mind. You have to enter that slot at such an obtuse angle that they remember you for life.

Rose Richards runs Office Doctor. What sets her apart from all the rest of the administration crowd is the term, Small business pain relief. Can you imagine your reaction when you hear something like that?

The human mind is intensely curious and a marketing statement like that is pure bait. You want to know what pain relief she brings and how she goes about it-specially if you’re the one in pain. That’s only half the story. The construction of the message elevates her from simple number crunching to brain surgery and makes her unique.

If you want differentiation you need look no further than the guiding light of Santa’s sleigh– Rudolph, with his shiny nose. Can you even remember the names of the rest of the eight reindeer?

One very important point, however, is that the marketing message isn’t just different, but also customer-oriented. Rose takes the clutter out of administration and Rudolph provides a beacon for clearer navigation.

If you don’t have a benefit for the customer, just being different is going to get you nowhere.

Give and You Shall Receive
How many of you are out there networking like crazy? Trying desperately to fill in your steadily depleting bank reserves? You want, want, want! Take a look at Santa’s style.

He’s into giving first. If you probe deep into your mind, you’ll find the people you like best are those who have given you their time, their money or their knowledge. You trust them, and it’s very hard to say no when they ask you for a favour in return.

The deepest core of human emotions is fear. Every single product or service, without exception, is sold on the basis of a problem. The only known antidote to fear is TRUST. When trusts struts upwards, fear banishes itself to penguin land. The more you pile up the trust, the more you can do business.

Wouldn’t Santa be able to sell you just about anything? Would he be able to cross-sell and up-sell product? Santa could knock on your door next summer and you’d be more than happy to have him join your barbeque.

It’s up to you to build up the trust one Lego block at a time. Identify your clients and see what you can give them. It could be information, time or even a chocolate covered scrumptious cookie. It’s the old ‘What’s in it for me?’ theory. If you can’t find something calorie-ridden for their minds or bodies, they won’t want to see you.

Play Santa. It works.
He Knows if You’ve Been Bad or Good…

Heck Santa knows his customers. He even knows when you are sleeping, or awake.

Then, there’s you. Look at your biggest customer. What’s her name? When is her birthday? Does she like Indian curries or sushi? In curries can she handle hot or medium? What does she think about you? What doesn’t she like?

You’re guessing for sure. You can’t be dead certain because you’ve been so busy looking at dollar signs that you’ve missed the plot completely.

The reason why Santa’s marketing works is because he intimately knows your individual needs. If you want a drum kit, you get one. If you want a Barbie, you don’t up sulking with a xylophone.

Santa knows because he’s interested in giving. To give, you have to know exactly what the receiver wants or your gift is not worth the packaging it’s wrapped in.

Some people worry about invading personal privacy. Hogwash! When was the last time you got upset because a supplier turned up with a big chocolate cake (your favourite) for your birthday? or with rare stamps for your son (because he loves collecting stamps)?

Santa’s invades our privacy gently and uses it to give, not to take. That’s why we don’t mind it. The tax department on the other hand, uses our information to take and therein lies the principal difference.

Once a Customer, Always a Customer.

Santa Doesn’t Lose Customers. Period.
One of the primary reasons why he’s able to achieve this amazing feat is because he thinks of his customer’s customer. His customer is the kid, who in a few years gets a little wiser about Santa and his customer’s customer is the parent who has the amazing power to get their children to be nice not naughty, if only for a short while.

Since the concept works in their favour, they do all the advertising. Without TV, radio or the internet, Santa’s message gets a grip on millions of kids around the planet. These kids grow up and the marvel of Santa is handed down through the generations.

While It’s OK For Santa, How Would This Work In The Real World? Say, If You Sold Jeans.

Jeans West, a jean retailer, has several of the answers. I needed one pair, but Stephanie (the sales girl) sold me two–not by hassling me, but by gently reminding me I would get $20 off the second pair.

Then, with my purchase, she gave me a gift voucher of $10, for my use or to pass on. They, also signed me up for a loyalty program that offered to give me a 10% discount if I purchased over $250 worth of product in the next 6 months.

This Is Effectively What Jeans West Did to Make Me a Permanent Customer.
Step 1: The sales person asked the right questions to find out my need.
Step 2: She up-sold the product giving me good value for money.
Step 3: A gift voucher with a validity date, ensured an additional purchase. Or even better, the chance for me to pass it on to another person thus ‘creating a customer’ for Jeans West.
Step 4: Tying my fickle consumer head into a loyalty scheme. They wanted me to stay with them forever.

Santa’s steps may vary, but in essence he ties you into a solid loyalty program that is near impossible to get off. It’s ‘customer get customer’, rather than ‘advertising get customer.’ It’s cheaper and it works!

In conclusion here are the main points why Santa’s customers keeps coming back. These concepts may sound old, even trite, but have been proven time after time to work well. Test them against your company and brand to see where you can learn from the man from the North Pole.

1) Solid branding: We’re not talking lease here. Consistency is the key. This applies everywhere from networking meetings, advertising to any sort of communication that goes out. Keep hammering home the same unique message and put it up front. The weather changes all the time which is why we can’t trust it.

If you must change, it’s because your old message isn’t doing a complete job. I changed our first baseline from ‘Recession proof business principles’ to ‘Reactivating dormant business clients.’
The proposition was the same but the second line got 10 times the response.

2) Differentiation: Santa knows he can be a courier with a difference. You, too, can create your own legend. Nike used Just Do It. Coke threw in the concept, Rum and Coke, indelibly burning the word classic into our consciousness. Sameness is in your mind. No matter how many brands exist on the market, your product has a fingerprint of its own. You just have to dig deep to find out.

3) Build trust by giving first. Life is all about sowing, then reaping-but sowing comes first. If you don’t give first, you will only get limited results. The more you stop thinking of yourself and focus on what the customer needs instead, the more you are trusted. Business is all about trust. If you don’t have it, you’re yesterday’s soup.

4) Know your customer… Like you know the hair on your head. Data collection and its optimum usage will get you right into their minds and keep you permanently rooted in. Every time they see you, they should think you are Santa coming to town.

5) Reactivate dormant clients. They are all volcanoes. Sitting there with the power to erupt mightily. Figure out who they are and how you can work in tandem with them. Forget your product or service. That’s a given– It has to be good. Find out the ‘everything else’ factor and you will keep them for life.

Like Santa does…

Next Step: If you haven’t already done so, collect your FREE Santas. There are lots of this lovable man from the North Pole. Click here to get Free Fun Santas

———————–
” I was half expecting more confusing jargon and another complicated strategy involving questionable tactics.”

By the time I ordered The Brain Audit I had already read a few ‘howto’ marketing books that had made the usual promises, and I was half expecting more confusing jargon and another complicated strategy involving questionable tactics.

To my real surprise I found The Brain Audit was based on a clear, understandable, easily implementable set of steps, that made real sense. I read the book the first time in just one sitting and was left feeling as if at last, finally, the sun had come out from behind the clouds.

I recommend Sean’s Psychotactics.com and The Brain Audit to most of my friends in business – but NOT to those in the same business as me…

Neil Goodchild , Small business owner, 
Canary Islands, Spain.

Judge for yourself
Read how The Brain Audit can help you…
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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
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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.

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Molly Gordon, Master Certified Coach
Shaboom Inc, USA

Try it. You won’t regret it. Judge for yourself.
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Warm regards,

Sean
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