Imagine you’ve stepped into a cinema.
And the lights go dark.
So dark that it’s hard focusing on your hand in front of you.

And then you see it.

So what do you see?

Yup, it’s the ‘Exit Signs’. They glow in the dark.

Isn’t that ironic? You’ve barely entered, and what you’re seeing are ‘Exit Signs.’

And that’s precisely what you need, the moment you enter into an agreement with someone.

Someone like a strategic alliance

Or someone who’s going to be doing a joint venture with you.
Or someone who you’re about to hire. No matter if that person is a friend, or a relative, or even your mama.

What you need is an ‘Exit Clause.’ That’s nicely wrapped up in an agreement of sorts.

And yet, people hate agreements

When you bring up the word ‘agreement’, they start to disagree. ‘I trust you,’ they’ll say. ‘Why do we need all this paperwork?’, they’ll say. And you’ll start to buckle down.

You’ll shrug. Probably thinking they’re right.

And they’re wrong.

I know this because I’ve been there before

We were doing a workshop with some partners. We shook hands on our agreement. We were sensible adults. We had a plan, right? But that’s not the way it works.

Murphy’s Law kicks in, and when ol’ Murphy comes-a-kickin, there’s a lot of ‘you said this’, and ‘I said that.’

And guess what? We shook hands, didn’t we?

Well, that handshake wasn’t worth much when the crap hit the fan. Which is why you want to have an exit clause in place.

So what does the exit clause do?

The Exit clause forces you to work out:

1) What needs to be done.
2) The date/time by which it needs to be done.
3) The responsibility of both parties involved (and who’s doing what).
4) What happens if you miss a deadline.
5) How do you get out of the agreement/contract?
6) Penalties, if any.

Factor 1: What needs to be done

You may want to skimp a bit on the details of exactly what needs to be done, but believe me, it’s not a good idea at all.

It’s only when you sit down to write an agreement, that you are able to map your way into the nitty-gritty of what needs to be done. A project will often be looked at from a ‘bird’s eye-view’, but at ‘ground level,’ there are squillions of things that need to be done.

Mapping out what needs to be done, gives you that intricate detail. And in turn gives you the chance to create a reasonable time-frame.

Factor 2: The date/time by which it needs to be done

The deadline of each deliverable is important, because otherwise the entire project goes haywire. And this is when all the grumbling begins. Of course, this grumble soon takes the escalator to a ‘rumble.’ And before you know it, there’s anger on both sides.

Deadlines that fall by the wayside are an early-warning system. If both parties, don’t stick to a deadline, then it’s better to pull back and analyse why things aren’t moving the way they should.

Factor 3: The responsibilities

Once you’ve got what needs to be done, assigning responsibility is critical. Often, assigning the responsibility to individuals may not be possible, and rarely practical. It’s better to have one point of contact than many.

This single point of contact is more important than you think.

If you’re chasing after even two-three people in the other organisation, then you’re getting yourself a full-time job. One point of contact avoids the nuisance-factor completely.

Factor 4: What happens if you miss a deadline

Some people may say: What’s the problem with missing a deadline here or there?

I disagree.

The deadlines snowball. And believe me, I’ve been in that avalanche. And there’s no turning back. You have to decide in advance, how many missed deadlines are acceptable.

A missed deadline can be a missed opportunity. And more importantly, it can put all your plans out of whack. Missing deadlines on a continuous basis are like planes circling over the airport. You wait too long, and bad things start to happen.

Deadlines are really your early-warning system. You want to specify how many missed deadlines are acceptable, before you start to reach for the exit clause.

Factor 5: How do you get out of the agreement?

So things have gone wrong. Do you know how to get out of the joint venture? Is there a 15-day notice? A 30-day notice? A 48-hour notice? How fast can you get out, and what are the reasons to bail? (e.g. three missed deadlines and you give a 48-hour notice).

Factor 6: Penalties

Ah, the lawyer-zone. It depends on whether you want to implement penalties or not. It depends completely on your organisation, and how much you stand to lose.

However, if you’ve got a small joint venture going on, it’s best to simply go your separate ways. But hey, this ‘going your separate ways’ needs to be put in the agreement.

The last thing you want is for the other party to sue. The last thing you want to do is take your eyes off your business.

You got into this joint venture to increase profits and customers. Not to get stuck in some fist-fight.

Putting together this simple document may take you an hour or two

But it will save you dozens of hours of arguing, and also a potential legal wrangle.

So if you’re getting into an alliance make sure you have the paperwork. And that way you know exactly where to find the Exit.

Even when the lights go dark.

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Imagine someone borrowed your content.
Imagine they then took that content in the exact shape and form, and just changed some links and sent it out to their list.
Would that “borrowers” list realise that the content was “borrowed?”

In most cases the answer is NO.

And you can try it out for yourself. Just take the newsletter that you get from one company and cut and paste it in the another company’s newsletter, and you’d be shocked to find you can’t tell who sent what?

So what causes some newsletters to stand out while others seem to just merge with the background?
Is it just content? Is it just style? Or is it something else? The truth is there are dozens of reasons why anything works. But if you wanted to start out, you’d be wise to start out with the three big reasons why some newsletters are hot, while others are plainly not.

But why bother with spicing up the newsletter in the first place?
Remember that the newsletter is critical. Most people think the Web site is critical. And yes, Web sites are important, but it’s very rare that Web sites themselves are responsible for sales.

Examine your journey through many Web sites and you’ll find that even if you do go to the Web site first, it’s always the newsletter that pulls you back to examine a product or service.

People almost NEVER buy from a Web site first. A newsletter almost ALWAYS spurs them on, unless they’re browsing for some product/service and have to buy right away. Most customers are not buyers. Which is why your newsletter becomes critical. And yet most newsletters can be fixed in three easy steps.

So what are these three easy steps you have to take?
Start off with creating a template for your newsletter.
1) What voice are you going to have?
2) What structure are you going to have?
3) What possible design will you have?

Let’s start with the voice…
What voice are you going to have? Are you the person that rants? Are you the soothing voice? Are you something else? I’m a person that rants. I’m fussy about stuff and I do things my way.

People say, “Google is important”. I’ve ranted in a room where Google executives were sitting, and told them that “Google matters, but doesn’t matter”. I rant. I rave. I do things in my own way. That’s why I have a voice.

And you should have a voice, because hey, you have a personality!
What’s your voice? Ask yourself: what kind of person are you? Most people think they have to put on a voice. And you don’t have to. You already are a character. You don’t have to do anything but be yourself. But the question does arise: What if you’re a grumpy character?

It’s all very fine to be a happy person, or a pedantic person—or whatever. But what if you have a personality that’s kinda um, different: like grumpy? Well that’s just you. And it will work very well for you to project your grumpiness in advance.

Like let’s say you were New Zealand’s rugby coach, Graham Henry.
Now if you look at Graham, he looks tough. But he also looks grumpy. If you were Graham, and you were about to start writing a newsletter, you’d be crazy to not use that grumpiness or toughness to your advantage. The point is that in life people accept you for what you are.

And keeping that brand image (yes it’s a brand image) consistent really helps. So first you need to ask yourself: What am I? And no, you don’t have to be the wispy fairy. You can be whoever you really are, but have a voice.

2) You need structure of elements
Having a structure in place saves you time, but it also creates a specific format that readers get used to. If for instance, you look at John Forde’s newsletter (jackforde.com) you’ll find that going back in time, Jack follows a format. It includes a quote, some affiliate links and Jack’s easy flowing articles on copywriting. And that consistency helps both Jack and his readers.

When you look at the Psychotactics newsletter you see a lot of structure too
But there’s sales structure and editorial structure to consider. At first we’d only send out a newsletter—no sales pitch.

Then we started sending out a sales letter with sales content at the top and not at the bottom. Then we sandwiched it with some sales content on the top and some at the bottom. And the article sat right in between. That’s structure. We tested what works for us. What works for us, may not work for you.

You need to keep at it, and see what works.
Our definition of “what works” is what saves us time and it gets us a steady flow customers. We have a slightly different format for our members than for Psychotactics subscribers. And we have a different format if it’s a sales letter only (no editorial content at all). And it’s not just us at Psychotactics that keeps a range of newsletters.

You’ll find that Apple or Amazon or any smart marketer, has the very same format.
In some cases, the format is sales only. Then again, it may work for Apple. It may not work for you. You have a very good opportunity to do what’s outlined in Point 1: create a voice. Create it and then drive it home.

3) And finally the design
Design is simply how you present your newsletter. It can be all fancy, or not fancy at all. Our newsletter doesn’t have frills. It’s text only. If you want to read the HTML version it’s on the blog. Why is this the case? Well for one, it works for us. Our text-only newsletter generates enough for us to live happily ever after.

Should you be doing an HTML newsletter? It depends on your goals of course, and what works for you. It takes a little work to set up a good HTML format, but once it’s done it’s done. If on the other hand you don’t fancy HTML then just find a text template that works (e.g. this newsletter template) and start using it consistently.

Is this advice almost too basic?
It may appear basic, and yet it’s critical that you pay close attention to all of these three factors. Even if you do have two in place, you may find you don’t really have a distinct voice. Or you may have a distinct voice, but no consistency of layout. All of these little things matter if you want to create a newsletter that’s read, paid attention to, and brings clients back to you time and time again.

Use the three steps.
Make them work for you.
And make it very hard for others to “borrow” your newsletter.

——————-
“One day, after having endured the umpteenth SEO SECRETS AND MARKETING SUCCESS TRICKS REVEALED Expert’s pitch (and every one of them containing little more than canned advice about titles, keywords, h1-h2-h3, meta tags and content), I threw up my hands and stopped reading. Everything. I decided to give myself a week off to decompress and clear my head of the hype and noise and folderol.”

Lucky me. I didn’t take the week off. I decided to finish reading the day’s email instead – and found another gem from Sean. Thank goodness.

Recognize that, with Sean’s approach, you’re not being beaten about the head and shoulders with terror tactics, outlandish promises and three-ring circus ballyhoo. Once you realize Sean is entirely “f’real,” don’t take the week off to avoid the hucksters. Just open the pages of Brain Audit and breathe deeply of the rarified air of straight talk, straight thinking and calm logic.

MK (Casey) van Bronkhorst, 
Owner – Perfectly Shaped World , CA, USA

Next Step: Are you losing tons of potential business because you don’t know how the brain works?
Read how The Brain Audit can help you…
———————
5000bc—Get on the 5000bc Waiting List:
5000bc now has a Waiting List. The waiting list joining time is approx. 30-60 days. So if you are serious about getting your business to the next level, get on the waiting list now.

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

What was I going to learn by joining a forum? Were my questions really going to be answered? Would my life be better because of this forum? Was Sean really active in the forum?

I’ll tell you this much: I can’t imagine NOT being part of the 5000bc family!

As a matter of fact, being inside The Cave is like being inside the brains of the universe.

My understanding of how people think and communicate has forever changed how I think and communicate; from conversations, interviews with others to solving problems and writing posts from my blog. Plus, there’s access to amazing interviews from innovative and thought-provoking people and mini-series on practical topics.

Would I recommend joining 5000bc? In a heartbeat.

Thomas R. Clifford | Filmmaker | Fast Company Expert Blogger
CT, USA
Judge for yourself http://www.5000bc.com
———————
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 need visuals on your sales page, but how do you use visuals to immediately improve your sales conversion?
———————

Imagine you were reading a mystery novel. You’ve just finished five pages. The story line is becoming really interesting.

And then you turn the page

And find the sixth page has been torn out. Now that’s really irritating, eh?

But let’s suppose you decide to continue reading anyway

And you move to page seven, and pick up the thread of the story. And you’re reading page eight, page nine, page ten.

And page eleven is torn out. At this point, you’re more than frustrated.

And this is the feeling that many readers have when they read your article.

It’s because you’re not planning your disconnectors.

So what are disconnectors?

Disconnectors can be simply described as a sudden stop.
So let’s say you’re telling a story.
Or telling a joke.
Or singing a song.
A sudden stop in the middle of your story/joke/song would be a disconnector.

But a disconnector isn’t a bad thing, provided you understand the difference between a planned and an unplanned disconnector.

1) Planned Disconnectors.
2) Un-planned disconnectors.

Planned Disconnectors are what you see on any TV serial. You’re watching this villain chasing the hero. The tension builds up. And it reaches a crescendo.

And the scene changes to something else. Like a scene at the beach. What you’ve just experienced is a disconnection. One moment you’re watching a crazy chase. Next moment the waves are lapping on the sand.

And this experience is a planned disconnector.

But how do we know it’s a planned disconnector?

Because the villain and the hero will show up again in the same serial. Which means the thread of the serial is to disconnect, then connect, then disconnect.

And this planned disconnector allows us to pick up the thread of the serial.

But what of unplanned disconnectors?

Unplanned disconnectors are simply a factor of too many thoughts. Imagine that same villain chasing the hero. And you don’t see the scene again.

The scene doesn’t re-connect at all. So you’re left with half a story.

And that’s frustrating

Because the reason you were reading the story, was because you were interested.

If the story suddenly ‘disappears’, you’ve created a disconnect. The reader may tolerate the disconnect, as long as you bring up the connection later in the article.

So let’s see an example:

Peter worked for few years as a volunteer in a little village in Peru. He really enjoyed his work and felt he was doing something useful. Eventually he moved back to his own country, and got a job.

35 years later, his professional life came to an end, as he had reached the mandatory 62 years retirement age. His volunteer Peruvian years came back nagging him more and more.

What happened to the people he had lived with 35 years earlier? What became of the village? In the case of Peter, his time was filled with questions about the people and the village in Peru.

It was difficult for him to focus on other activities. He eventually went to Peru.

Martha felt that retirement age came to early. She still had things she wanted to do professionally. She resented seeing her years of professional experience as a bank manager almost being cancelled by the fact she reached retirement age.

She felt drained of all her energy. She felt tired right in the morning when she woke up.

See what happened in the story above?

You got into the story of Peter and Peru. But the story suddenly disconnected. And went on to Martha.

Now as you read further, you’d expect the writer to bring back the connection. To complete the Peter in Peru story, as it were.

But most article-writers never bring back the connection

They’re so eager to move to the next idea, that they fail to complete the first.

They’re onto the next idea. The next paragraph. The next piece of information.

And the reader is now totally confused. But reads on any way.

But isn’t that the point of the article?: To get the reader to read on anyway?

Yes, it is. As we’ve found, disconnectors provide an intense lift in drama. Or a drop in drama. But if the reader continues to find disconnects, and there’s no connection, the reader feels cheated.

They feel like they’ve read to page five. And then page six is gone.

And then continued to page ten. And page eleven is gone.

This unplanned disconnect leaves an incomplete, icky feeling.

And it’s not what you set out to do

So either complete your story in the greatest detail (No, you don’t have to create disconnectors at all).

But if you disconnect—disconnect deliberately! Or not at all.

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If your customer had $1000 to spend, would you rather they spent it on you?
Or would you rather they spent it on your competition? OK, so it’s a silly question, but let’s go beyond the fact that you’ll be $1000 richer. And yes, take your eye off the vacation and the goodies you’ll be able to buy with that $1000. Instead let’s look at care, protection and guidance.

And in order to understand care, protection and guidance, let’s change the terms a bit.
If your customer wanted some service or product, who is more likely to “care, protect and guide” that customer? Your competition? Or you? If the answer is “your competition” and you’re hopeless at caring, protecting and guiding your customer—then yeah— send the customer to the competition.

But on the other hand if you’re the diligent one; if you’re the one who isn’t just after the dollars; if you’re the one that really wants to see that customer grow and succeed, then there’s no question, is there? It’s your job to get that customer into your fold.

You can’t be wishy-washy about marketing.
You can’t, because the customer is not just someone off the street. This customer is like your child. You are sworn to care, protect and guide that “child”. If you don’t do it, there’s a good chance that the “child” will find someone who’s just as warm and caring as you. But it’s more likely that the customer will find some “perv”. “Perv” as in pervert. Someone who will take advantage of that customer.

You think this is crazy talk?
Well open your eyes. All around you there are folks who are selling get-rich quick schemes. Get rich quick. Get customers quick. Get to the top of the search engines quickly. And that’s utter crap. There is no get-quick-anything.

There never has been. But the customer doesn’t know that. And if they know that, they’re like a child. They see the “lolly” and they get entranced. That lollipop looks so yummy that they forget what they were there for. They forget that they didn’t get into the business to get-whatever-quick.

Because most of us don’t get into the business to get-whatever-quick
We’re very clear why we get into business. We do so to get more control over our lives. We know that if we work for someone else, we’re always at their beck and call. And we know that when you’re at someone’s beck and call, it’s easy to be stuck indoors while sunny days whizz by.

And so we start in business, but soon get stuck indoors.
That’s when the pervs with the “lollies” show up. They know you’re struggling. They know that you’ll do anything to get some more buckeroos in the bank. They know that you’ll do anything legal to get noticed by the search engines.

It’s into this scenario that you step into
This customer has been promised the world by the perv. You know that the promise is fake. You know that the get-quick-whatever is just a waste of time, energy and money. But what do you do? You let the perv win. You don’t market the way you should. You don’t present your products and services the way you should.  Because presentation matters, you see.

The perv doesn’t have to bother with presentation
When you’re selling get-quick-rich-whatever, that “is” the presentation. Your products/services are not presenting anything as spectacular. So you have to be smarter. You have to present the information in a manner and sequence that appeals to your customer’s brain.

Sequence matters because the brain follows a sequence
Whenever we’re buying something, we always follow a solid sequence. As you would expect, this sequence is blindingly fast. So fast that we don’t always recognise what’s happening.  But the brain does its job all the same. The brain still looks at the product/service and goes through a series of extremely analytical steps.

Of course when we’re marketing, we completely ignore those steps.
And in doing so, we fail to get the customer’s attention. When we fail, we drive that customer right towards the competition.

The competition does some hard selling. And they get “your customer”.  So should you have to hard sell to get the customer? Nope. There is no hard sell.

I’ll say it again: There is NO hard sell
Hard sell is not needed. Not wanted. Not required. What’s needed is the right information in the right sequence, and with the right call to action. The sequence matters (did I say that before?). The presentation matters. The hard sell doesn’t. Present your information in the right sequence and the customer will come to you. And you can care, protect and guide them in the way you care and protect a child.

Because if you don’t, there’s a lot at stake.
You not only fail to care, protect and guide, but you also lose the customer. You lose the $1000 the customer was going to pay you. You don’t take your vacation and don’t buy your goodies. Heck even the mortgage and bills are looming like rattlesnakes in front of you. You go from happy-go-lucky to desperate.

And then the perv comes along. He flashes the “lollies” at you.

You know what happens next.

———————–

” 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 ‘how to’ 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.

Next Step: Are you losing tons of potential business because you don’t know how the brain works?
Read how The Brain Audit can help you…
———————
5000bc—Get on the 5000bc Waiting List:
5000bc now has a Waiting List. The waiting list joining time is approx. 30-60 days. So if you are serious about getting your business to the next level, get on the waiting list now.

“I avoided joining 5000bc for a long time due to the cost, but I am glad I did.”

Sean and Renuka are extremely helpful and are in constant contact. I have posted a goal to increase my website traffic on the action forum, and it is keeping me very focused and motivated, as I know others are keeping an eye on me. What really impresses me is the quality of help I get from other members. I am making improvements to my site all the time thanks to their help.

I know there is loads more great information available in the Cave, such as Vanishing Reports, but I am so focused on my goal that I am
waiting until I have that done before I dip into other areas.

I get bombarded with advice from all kinds of sources on the internet, but Sean and other Cave members are the people I most take heed of.

My long term goal is to give my customers the same service that Sean gives me!

Ann Halloran, Galway, Ireland
Judge for yourself http://www.5000bc.com
———————
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 need visuals on your sales page, but how do you use visuals to immediately improve your sales conversion?
———————

Once upon a time there was a little tree. He sat in the soil and danced in the wind. And he looked around and saw the other trees.

“Man, they sure look taller than me,” said the little tree. “Probably it’s the soil,” he mumbled.

So he lifted up his roots and moved over to the part of the garden which he thought had better soil. A few weeks later the little tree looked up again.

Probably, it’s the sunshine

“Damn,” he cursed under his breath,”the other trees are growing taller than me. Probably it’s the sunshine. Let me move into where I get more sunshine.”

And so the little tree moved from point to point, always picking up his roots. Always moving. Always searching for the right soil, water, fertiliser, sunshine and other more favourable conditions.

And he stayed stunted

The trees that stayed in one place built strong roots. Their barks grew solid. Their branches soared. And the little tree stayed little.

Are you a little tree?

A tree that keeps uprooting itself doesn’t get a chance to grow. It stays confused and scattered. Stay where you are. Learn what you need to. And grow strong roots. That’s what will make you a big tree.

Move upward. Not sidewards.

Next Step: Read More Psychological Tactics? Subscribe : Get UpDates via RSS | Get UpDates via Email (Fill in your details in the top-right hand form)

Blackberries aren’t black to start with. Or sweet for that matter.

In fact, blackberries start out quite green. And quite sour. Then they turn reddish. And then black.

And that’s when the birds start to eat the blackberries.

Which brings us to the most interesting part of consumption.

And how a blackberry can teach you just how to keep customers coming back.

You see the blackberry bush keeps the birds coming back.

And it does so, by staggering the ripening of the blackberries on the bush.

So first, a few bunches ripen.

Then after a few days, a few more ripen.

And so it goes on. The ripening (and consequent attraction), unfolds in a cycle of sorts.

This is to ensure that the birds keep coming back time and time again, instead of stripping the entire bush all at one go.

That’s not the case with buffets…or your business for that matter.

Your business tends to be like a buffet. So it doesn’t really matter if you’re selling products, or services, or are a trainer. You’re going to want to run a buffet.

You’re going to want to dump all your information; all your skills; all your blah-blah Powerpoint slides on your customer at one go.

And like a buffet the customer is going to eat hungrily. Then go from hunger to greed.

From greed to indigestion.

Forty five burps later, your customer is now sick of your ‘buffet’.

This wasn’t the plan, was it?

You wanted the customer to keep coming back.

But instead of creating a situation where you staggered the consumption, you actually created over-consumption.

When in fact, staggered consumption could have been sooooooooo much better!

So how do you create staggered consumption?

Staggering involves giving out products, services and training in steps.

Of course, esto es un problema grande, eh?

It’s all very fine for a blackberry bush to do staggered ripening, but how do you create staggered consumption?

If you’re selling a book, you can’t very well give out a few pages at a time, can you? If you’re doing a training program, you can’t give out just a few bits and pieces can you?

No you can’t. Because it would be unethical.

But the blackberry isn’t doing anything unethical. It’s treating each bunch of berries as a package. And asking you to do the same.

So when we get customers to buy a book, for example, the Brain Audit, we then make sure they get the ‘rest of the package’ later.

We do this by staggering consumption.

Which means that the customer gets the book with all the pages, but then we send out additional packages; additional goodies.

So when you buy a Brain Audit book, it gets followed up with some goodies.

These goodies are in audio or notes. These goodies point out something you may have missed in the book.

They point out something to advertising and marketing out there, and show you how to identify concepts of the Brain Audit in radio ads, for instance.

These packages ‘ripen’ as the days, and weeks pass.

iTunes does this by sending me a free download ever so often (and then I buy some iTunes anyway). istockphoto.com gives me a free image ever so often (and then I buy some pictures from them anyway).

You see, I’ve already bought into the product. I’ve already signed up for the service. I’ve already done the training.

But smart marketers know two things…

1) They know that customers take time to work things out.
That customers need time to wrap their head around a new product, or new service, or new information given at a workshop.

They know that staggering consumption is the way to go. That customers can be encouraged to use their product or service long after the product/service has been purchased.

2) They also know that consumption leads to increased consumption.
That if I keep going back to iTunes, I’ll find something I like. That if I keep going back to istockphoto, I’ll find a photo I like.

That when we help you put the Brain Audit to use with more examples, you’ll create new business that will encourage you to buy more products.

Smart marketers aren’t dopes. They know you have to give to receive. And to keep giving. And giving whole-heartedly–without strings attached.

And blackberries don’t attach strings either…

Their sweet berries are eaten by birds, who then…um…poop out the berry seeds in where it can find soil to grow anew.

The birds keep pooping. And they keep coming back to eat some more.
Poop.
Eat.
Poop.
Eat.

That’s staggered consumption.

And it’s what you can do to ensure that customers keep coming back time after time, after time.

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It is Psychotactics 8th birthday this August! Aug 17 is the date to be precise. That is today!

While I’m singing Happy Birthday to Psychotactics, can you join inthe chorus, please? So yes, we’re feeling in a cake and champagne mood. And so that you can join in the celebration, here’s something for you…Special Goodies Offer worth $158.

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. which was 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 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 17th, 18th, 19th or 20th Aug 2010, you’ll also get a bonus set of Goodies on  ‘How To Create Headlines: Part 1 + Part 2 worth $158.

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.

This headline report was only available to members of 5000bc till this point. So no one has this report. 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/the-brain-audit-32
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/the-brain-audit-32

There are 380,000 pieces of art in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Of these, well over 35,000 pieces of art are for display at any given point in the gallery complex.

Yet, most of the tourists rush past 34,999 pieces of art to see a singular piece of art.

A painting that has a dimension of just 30 x 21 inches. A painting that’s often known as the La Gioconda.

Yes, the other name for La Gioconda, is the Mona Lisa

Has it ever occurred to you why every visitor seems to be in a mad rush to find the Mona Lisa? It’s not the world’s biggest painting.

It’s not the most breathtaking. In fact even three hundred and fifty years after it was first created, it was hardly considered an important, let alone the world’s most famous painting in the world.

So how did it become the world’s most famous artwork of all?

How did it go from a price of 4000 écus* to being valued as priceless?

And what does La Gioconda have to do with your product or service?

The answer lies in isolation

And isolation means that you put a spotlight on one product or service. That product or service gets the spotlight. You make sure that the customer knows that this product/service is the most critical of all. That without this product or service, the customer is probably missing out on something incredibly important.

But surely there can’t be one product or service that’s more important than all the others, you may object. And that’s true.

In fact, the Mona Lisa isn’t more important than all the 379,999 objects of art at the Louvre. It’s been made to be the most important.

And therefore the average tourist will pay the full fare to simply walk into the Louvre, see the Mona Lisa and go home.

So how do you go about isolating the most important product or service?

And more importantly how do you decide which ones to put to the side and which one in particular to highlight?

The answer is: Pick any product or service. And then create an aura around that product or service.

Let me give you an example with the Brain Audit.

Now at Psychotactics we have dozens of products and services (more products than services). But we picked the Brain Audit to be the show piece.

This means that at least 99% of all our current clients will have read the Brain Audit, and applied it in their business.

You can’t buy any course without the Brain Audit.

You can’t attend any workshop without the Brain Audit. You can’t get any consulting without having read the Brain Audit.

In fact, if you do buy any of our products or services, without the Brain Audit, then you’re kindly and firmly asked to read the concepts outlined in the Brain Audit.

And it’s not like clients haven’t tried to bypass this step. On at least two occasions, clients have paid thousands of dollars (one paid $8000 and the other $2500) and the money was refunded, because they didn’t own the Brain Audit.

By isolating the Brain Audit, we’ve made it the most important part of our business. Which means it forms the core document for all our clients. When they have to audit their own work, they go back to the Brain Audit.

But what if you don’t have a product?

What if you conducted workshops instead? Or what if you were in services?

Or what if you sold physical products?

Let’s take a quick example of each of the above.

1) Workshops: You can highlight one workshop as being the most crucial or critical of all. And within the workshop too, you can isolate certain components as being the most important, by simply giving additional weight to that portion of the learning.

In workshops or courses, we’ll often give the attendees all the information, and then spend most of our time working on just one portion of the entire content.

2) If you’re in services, and let’s say you help build houses for instance. You can easily highlight the most important part of the planning process, even though there are ten thousand things that need to be done in any building effort.

When a contractor did our bathroom for instance, he was quite clear about the dates he needed all the materials. This got us focused and we made sure we had everything ready and on time, so he could start work without delay.

3) You may run a restaurant and sell loads of delicious dishes. Yet it’s possible to highlight a specific dish. The Indian Restaurant ‘Two Fat Indians’ in Christchurch literally rates the dish most-ordered at the restaurant, thus bestowing a Mona-Lisa status on the dish itself.

And there are a few reasons why this isolation is important.

1) It allows customers to focus.
2) It reduces the frustration of choice for customers.
3) It allows the customer to consume a smaller portion, yet have a richer experience.

But don’t believe me.

Look at what the Louvre does with the Mona Lisa. It allows the customers to blithely walk past amazing works of art, focused solely on getting to the Mona Lisa. Instead of getting frustrated with what to see first, the customers now have a must-do list.

And it’s this direction that makes the customers really happy, because they have the choice, but they know what’s really important. And finally, even if the customer were to simply see the Mona Lisa and leave, they’d feel fulfilled.

On the other hand, if they didn’t have a point of focus, they would always feel like they missed out on something really important.

Of course it’s not hard to see how this concept applies to a professor or trainer, as it does to a restaurant or a consultant or service provider.

So here’s an action plan:

1) List everything you ‘sell’ (whether it’s a product/training or service).
2) Highlight three of the most important (in your opinion).
3) Trim it down to just one (product/element of training/element of service).

And then watch as your customers swarm to your isolated product/service; Your own La Gioconda.

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It bugs you no end.
But the con artist will do better.

No matter what you try, the con man has a weapon you don’t.  It’s called greed.

And of course the con artists don’t call it greed. They call it “quick”. As in: Make $200,000 a year or more (quickly). Or get to the top of Google Rankings (quickly). Or get out of jail (quickly). And our greed kicks in. We can’t help it. We never will be able to help it. It’s just human nature to want something bright and shiny (and eventually useless).

And of course it bugs you no end.
You can see that people— and not just people but your customers and friends—are wasting their money on con artists. And it frustrates you.

It should frustrate you. Because if you do nothing, you simply drive these very same people to more con artists.

So how do you beat the con artist?
You offer the opposite of greed. You offer difficulty. Now that seems weird, doesn’t it? Why would anyone buy into a factor of difficulty? But you see, that’s what’s needed.

You cannot (yes, cannot) succeed with the shortcuts that con artists promise you. It’s impossible for you to do “just a little” and succeed. Even the con artists have to work over 8 hours a day just to con you. So we know for a fact that it’s totally and completely impossible to succeed without hard work.

And hard work is difficult
So trying to convince your customers not to go to the con artists is actually counterproductive. The moment you tell them not to do something, that ‘something’ becomes far more desirable.

But do your part: Tell them that you’re offering a factor of difficulty. Promise your customers difficulty, because you see difficulty is just as powerful as greed. A person will jump hoops and climb mountains to achieve things—if you set the barrier high enough.

As humans we’re very keen to see ourselves in a better light. And so, given enough difficulty we will push ourselves and come out shining on the other side.

Difficulty works
We know it works, because we’ve seen it work at Psychotactics. We sell our courses at the highest prices and we promise difficulty. And guess what? We push people to achieve their goals with a high degree of difficulty. You’d think that would drive people away, right?

But it doesn’t. In fact, we’ve sold more products by promising difficulty than we’ve done by sitting on the fence.

You see you can’t promise “quick” because there is no “quick and easy”
But by not promising difficulty you’re sitting on the fence. You’re not setting standards for yourself or your customer. And so the customer finds it easier to go to the con artist, because at least that way there’s some promise (rather than yours, which is no promise at all).

The question does arise: So how do you create difficulty?
1) In your sales letter and promotional method.
2) In your sign up method (you create barriers such as “forms”. For our courses you have to buy and read The Brain Audit. If you don’t, you’re not accepted).
3) In the post-sales process: Where people have to do an interview to qualify.
4) In the methodology or consumption of your products/ services (a specific goal to reach within a specific time period).
5) In your price. Yes, you can’t be the same price as everyone else. You have to go up.

So you’ll want a case study, right?
Well there’s the Article Writing Course (one of our clients calls it the Article “Writhing” Course). It’s billed as the most difficult and the most expensive in the world. You think I’m joking, right? Why would anyone sign up for a difficult and expensive course?

And yet the day we changed from just a “course” to the “most difficult course” our sales went up by 300% (Maybe more. I stopped counting). We had to literally shut the doors in a hurry to keep more people from signing up. And the home study version did so well that we were able to get groups of people to work within 5000bc and implement the course.

And what about the methodology?
Yes it’s the best course in the world—no two ways about it. Yes it’s the most difficult. And yes, at least 85% of the members turn out to be top-notch writers (In every field, there’s a dropout factor).

So what’s top notch? They not only write about their own business, but they can write about your business or anyone’s business. Give them any topic, on any subject matter in any field and they can do it.

They get so good that if put one of their articles in front of you, you wouldn’t be able to tell whether I wrote the article or they did.

So yeah, difficulty works.

And it not only works, but it gets great testimonials
And in every case, the testimonial does the same job: It promises difficulty. Not ease. And of course this attracts more customers. Amazing and entirely true. (See http://www.psychotactics.com/lab/articlewriting-homestudy/#comment-154)

The fact is that you can’t win against con artists
You will never win that game. Greed rules. But difficulty rules just as strongly.
Because after a while, greed loses its power. Those who run after the “quick” method soon lose time, money and patience. And they either have to buckle down to difficulty or keep losing time, money and patience.

In the end it will still bug you no end that con artists do better than you.
But now there’s something you can do about it as well.
Promise difficulty. It works. Not as well as con-artistry. But then you don’t have any intentions to be a con anytime soon, do you?

——————–
Next Step: Are you losing tons of potential business because you don’t know how the brain works?
Read how The Brain Audit can help you…
———————
5000bc—Get on the 5000bc Waiting List:
5000bc now has a Waiting List. The waiting list joining time is approx. 30-60 days. So if you are serious about getting your business to the next level, get on the waiting list now.

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

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

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

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

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

Joe Thoron, Eastsound, WA, USA
Judge for yourself http://www.5000bc.com
———————
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 need visuals on your sales page, but how do you use visuals to immediately improve your sales conversion?
———————

Imagine you went for a date with a person you hadn’t met before. And your date wore a paper bag on his/her head. He/She refused to show you his/her face.

That date refused to tell you anything about his/her past.

Or let you into any information at all. And yet you had to give them information. Like your first name, last name, blah, blah, blah.

How do you feel?

Well that’s exactly how the customers feel. They feel irritated, frustrated and to choose a mild word: trapped. They know they want the information, but they can’t seem to get the any information from you without filling in that stupid form.

Squeeze pages are stupid

They are contrary to human nature. They force you into a corner. They force you to part with information based on some random headline and bullet points.

So why do we have so many squeeze pages on the Internet?

Why do people catch colds and coughs? Yes, one person has it, and then it spreads. One person put in a squeeze page, then everyone else decided to follow suit. And don’t get me wrong.

Squeeze pages work. They work wonderfully.

Well, so does Bruno, who’s six foot nine inches and weighs 400 pounds.Just because it works doesn’t mean you have to follow suit.

Because there are other things that work.

Like non-threatening, non-Bruno, no-squeeze pages.

Pages that get you to sign up not through intimidation and fear. But pages that get you to sign up because you want to do so.

Because persuasion is stupid. Persuasion implies that you acted against your nature. And why get customers to act against their nature when they will gladly give you information?

A good opt-in page should entice.

It should give you lots of details.
It should answer your every question or objection.
It should not make you feel icky, like being on a blind date.

At Psychotactics, we’ve collected names, addresses, home numbers, postal addresses, mobile numbers, city, country on our opt-in pages.

All without twisting anyone’s arms. We’ve done it to entice customers to subscribe to the newsletter. Or to opt-in to a workshop. Or to buy a product or service.

Our customers give us bucket loads of information, because they trust us. They believe in us.

They know they’re not on a yucky blind date.

I’d rather have that kind of customer, wouldn’t you? Sure beats being squeezed!

Next Step: Read More Psychological Tactics? Subscribe : Get UpDates via RSS | Get UpDates via Email (Fill in your details in the top-right hand form)

I was sitting with the manager of a boutique hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. And she showed me the hotel’s Web site. “We need to change that Web site”, she said, “but I’m afraid that we’ll lose our place on Google. Who knows, maybe we’ll go down in the ranking”.

And my answer was: “Why do you care about Google?”

It’s my question to you as well: Why do you care about Google?

You care about Google (and all other search engines) because someone told you to care, right? But why does it matter? And how does it matter? In the case of the hotel it didn’t matter at all. I’ll tell you why of course. Think of what you do when you’re visiting a place.

You go to Google (as a customer) and you type “Hotels Buenos Aires” or “Hotels San Francisco”. And guess what comes up? Yes a list of hotels do come up. And yes, those are those are those big shot hotels that most of us could never compete with.  But wait there’s something else.

It’s something called Trip Advisor…

And like the average tourist, I completely and totally ignore those big shot hotels and head straight to the links on Trip Advisor. And of course, I look at the ratings. I do want my hotel to be comfortable, convenient, reasonable etc. And guess what? Those 35 million folks on Trip Advisor help me make up my mind.

Google didn’t help at all. Trip Advisor did.

And no matter what I (as the hotel owner) do to shake Trip Advisor off its perch, I can’t do a thing. It’s right there at the top. And then those snooty hotels are above it. Now all I can do, is get to the top of Trip Advisor. Ah, now there’s an idea. If my hotel is really good, then all I really have to do to get to the top of Trip Advisor is get a whole bunch of testimonials (800 are better than 20). I have to get a whole bunch of high-rated testimonials.

And I have to get the folks who stayed at the hotel to write their experience on Trip Advisor. And of course Trip Advisor is no dummy, but if your hotel is legit then guess what? You’ll rise to the top of Trip Advisor.

So the customer goes to Trip Advisor (and then takes a small detour to your hotel’s Web site)

The customer checks out the photos on Trip Advisor and often makes a trip to your Web site. They want to see more details, it seems. But where does your Google strategy come into all of this? It doesn’t. And you shouldn’t care. Because as long as you’re at the top of Trip Advisor (and other travel Web sites such as Venere.com etc) you’ll get a steady stream of traffic to your hotel.

In this case, the hotel was doing pretty well too

They had an occupancy rate of about 80%. But that means they were empty 20% of the time. It was a really small hotel (just seven rooms) but even that 20% was costing them over $60,000 in revenues a year.

They were so fussed over the whole Google thing that they were effectively walking away from $60,000 a year. And the biggest reason they were making this mistake is that they weren’t visualising the journey of their customer.

So what’s the journey of your customer?

It’s more than possible that you get a lot of customers from Google and other search engines. But it’s also possible that you pay too much homage to the search engine gods than you should. For example at Psychotactics.com (that’s our site), we get a truckload of folks from Google.

But that’s just traffic. And there’s a difference between traffic and customers. And our best paying customers don’t mostly come from Google. We have our own “Trip Advisor”: We call them strategic alliances.

They may send us more customers than Google, or even fewer customers than Google. And yet the majority of those customers buy our products, come to our courses and stay with us for many years (some have been around since 2002).

This game of tracking the customer’s route should be your top priority

Let’s say you’re a consultant. Now you can play with search engines all year long—or you can write a book. Look around you and you’ll see several dozen new names in the world of publishing. These folks were unknown a year or two ago.

Now with their books on Amazon (and other book stores) they get lucrative contracts, speaking engagements and a whole bunch of customers coming their way—from Amazon—not from the search engines.

Of course the skeptics may have their daggers out

Every author doesn’t become famous. Every Web site can’t always find alliances easily. Every hotel can’t climb to the top 3 (or even the top 10) in their city. And yet, it’s being done.

The tiny boutique hotel is sitting at #9 in city full of hundreds of hotels. Print on demand publishing (and traditional publishing) has made the average Joe Snow into a superhero. There are hundreds and thousands, even millions of businesses that directly benefit from Google’s aura.

And there are just as many who don’t.

The best strategy you can have is to:
1) Track where your best customers are coming from.
2) If you’re unsure, try and work out how your customers find your competition.

3) Books, Alliances, Reports etc. They all work very, very well. You just haven’t been paying attention.

Most of all step into the shoes of your customer for a change.
Think like they do. Act like they do. And find out where they’re coming from. You may well be surprised. They may be coming from Google after all.

———————-

FREE!

(Have a look before August 8, 2010)

1) How to get a FREE 30-Page Excerpt of The Brain Audit (Without Even Needing To Fill A Form)
If you’ve always wondered what The Brain Audit was all about. Or if you’ve ever wondered if this version (Version 3.2) is worth it, then here’s a way to stop wondering.

You’ll enjoy the cartoons. You’ll enjoy the way The Brain Audit holds your attention. And you’ll learn a lot–even in just 30 pages.
Get it before the deadline Brain Audit Download

2) How to get 2 free two short five-minute audio Brain Audit files.
These short audios will teach you two very important lessons which you can implement straight away.
Get it before the deadline
Brain Audit Audio 1
Brain Audit Audio 2

———–
5000bc—Get on the 5000bc Waiting List:
5000bc now has a Waiting List. The waiting list joining time is approx. 30-60 days. So if you are serious about getting your business to the next level, get on the waiting list now.

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

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

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

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

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

Joe Thoron, Eastsound, WA, USA
Judge for yourself http://www.5000bc.com
———————
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?
———————

To get a customer to opt-in may seem an easy process. But that’s only if the customer is already right in front of you. So if the customer is at your office, or on your website, then opt-in is relatively easier.

But what if the customer is listening to your ad on the radio? What if the customer is reading your message in email? What if the customer is browsing an RSS feed on her iPhone?

This is when we tend to goof up the opt-in process.

And the only reason we goof it up, is because we don’t separate the steps involved in attraction and conversion. This means that you must treat attraction as one step. And conversion as the second step. And avoid mixing the two steps.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you’re going to do a course with a training organisation. Now you don’t ever set out to do a course. The process starts out with a simple email that’s designed to do just one thing: Attract.

Step One: Attraction

Let’s assume you are already on the organisation’s list. An email is sent out, telling you that a three-part information series is available. That email gets you to go to a specific page; a specific site. The job of the email is simple. It’s only designed to attract. If it does the job well, you’ll get to stage 2, namely conversion.

Step Two: Conversion

The email directs you to a page, where you read information about the three-part information series. And then you take a decision.

You decide to sign up. You can’t see the information unless you sign up. And so you’ve got to make the ‘transaction.’ You’ve got to give your information and in turn I’ve got to give you the information I promised. And as soon as you sign up, you’ve gone through the second stage of conversion.

So what just happened in the two steps?

The first step focused solely on attraction. It didn’t say ‘sign up’ or ‘register’. It simply attracted you to the page. That’s it. The second step did the work of conversion. It reiterated what you read in the email, and then got you in the right frame of mind to sign up for the course.

But where do most marketers make the mistake?

You guessed it. In the email, they tell me to sign up for a course. Or to register. Or to do something that’s clearly ‘conversion-based’. And as a customer, I want to read what I’m signing up for, before I sign up.

The job of the email, radio ad, or whatever you send me is just an attraction device. The ONLY job is to get you to the next step. It’s not meant to make you do any thing else. It’s just the chauffeur; the transport; the vehicle.

And yes, I know I’m overdoing this emphasis, but it’s where you’ll make the mistake. You roll the attraction and the conversion together, and that’s why the message fails.

Keep the attraction separate from the conversion.
Keep the attraction separate from the conversion.
Keep the attraction separate from the conversion.

Which brings us to real life examples:

1) If you’re advertising on radio, the ad should not get me to buy. It should get me to call.
2) If you’re sending an email, the email should not get me to do any transaction. It should simply get me to the conversion page.
3) If you’re advertising in the local newspaper, you need to make sure you get the customer to come into the store.

Avoid trying to stuff attraction and conversion into one package and you’ll be fine. Keep it simple so that the customer moves from one stage to the other, and you’ll start to see your conversion (and eventually, consumption) rocket.

And that’s what you want, right? To ensure that opt-in works you need to have three core elements at the point of conversion. Without those three core elements, the offer can quickly fall apart.

So what are these elements? And is it possible to use these elements both online and offline? Let’s find out, shall we?

Three Core Elements

1) You must offer something of great value. No rubbish allowed.
2) That value must be tangible. That offering must have a price (even if offered free).
3) The rules of transaction must be clear.

Online Example Free Courses

Great Value: No rubbish. Take any series that we do on Psychotactics. A product with audio/text/transcript and formatting can take anywhere between 10-20 working hours. And that’s not even counting the additional time and resources to get it to you, the customer. It’s not flippant information, but information that can be sold. In other words, it’s valuable information.

Clearly-defined price: This three-part series needs to have a tangible price. Tangible means it can be expressed in a currency such as dollars. The course can be valued at $150 or $450, but it must have a price. And it’s not enough to simply value the course. You need to actually let the customers know that value up front.

The rules of transaction are clear: The course is being held to demonstrate the value of a workshop, or some online course that’s about to be held. This information needs to be upfront. The customer needs to know that they will get the information, but they will also get some component of sales.

They then need to know what is going to happen as a result of filling in the form. Will they be taken to the goodies? Will they be taken to a sales page? The rules of transaction need to be clear and upfront.

And these three steps can be rolled out offline as well.

My friend Julia used to own a bed store, and here’s how she got opt-in.

Offline Example: Bed Store

Great Value: No rubbish. When customers walked into the bed store, they were shown the various options. And given solid information. However, at one point, when the customer asked for a quote, something unusual occurred. They were not only given a quote, but they were also given a set of pillows worth a retail price of $50. These pillows were the real-thing, and even came in their own box.

Clearly-defined price: As we already know those pillows were worth $50 at retail value, and the sticker on the box prominently displayed this price. The customer was also told that the price of the pillows was $50, and that they were receiving this pillow set because they asked for a quote.

The rules of transaction are clear: The prospect gets the set of pillows because he/she visits the store. They get this when they ask for the quote. There is no requirement to buy the product/or buy any product for that matter. They simply have to ask for the quote, and get the gift.

It’s not enough to simply get a customer to your store or web page. Once they’re there, you need to get them to opt in. And you must indeed follow these three core elements of great value, clearly defined price, and rules of transaction.

When you do, you’ll see the conversion go up, up and away.

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