Month: May 2020

I recently heard this story about the great copywriter Gary Halbert…

Near the end of his career he was quizzing a protege and said, “The best way to get a prospect’s attention is to appeal to their sense of ___________.”

The protege replied, “Their sense of self-interest?”

Halbert said, “No…their sense of curiosity.”

That’s great advice.

Decades earlier, the advertising pioneer Claude Hopkins said something similar: “‘No other activating factor compares with curiosity.”

Marketing experts often tell us to discover prospects’ aspirations and fears and speak to those. That’s the self-interest thing. And it IS important.

But before you can show prospects how you’ll fulfill their aspirations and protect them from feared outcomes, you have to get their attention…

…and appealing to their sense of curiosity is a great way to do that.

Look at this email’s subject line: “Top marketers say this is more important than anything else…”

That got your attention. That headline is designed to spark curiosity, to inspire the reader to think, “I wonder what that ‘more important’ thing is.”

In 1921, a copywriter named Max Sackheim wrote this headline for an advertisement promoting the Sherwin Cody School of English and its products:

“Do You Make These Mistakes in English”

Ads with that headline ran for more than 40 years. Why? Because decade after decade, that headline inspired curious people to think, “I wonder what mistakes he’s talking about?” So they kept reading. And the ad kept selling. It wouldn’t have run for 40 years unless it worked.

Try it with you marketing. Spark curiosity with your next subject line. Sprinkle some curiosity into headlines and subheadings on your website. Introduce a sales letter with a curiosity-sparking headline.

Thanks for reading. 

Tom Ruwitch

p.s. I’m offering free, 30-minute web conferences to review your business story. I will meet with you via Zoom and review how you’re telling your business story — on your website, social media, and other channels. Then, I’ll recommend how to make it work better during these strange days.  

I have a limited number of slots open on my calendar for these sessions. Please visit my calendar to book a time that works for you.

Thanks!

Tom

A few years back, I met with a prospect about a massive project. The meeting went well.

I remember thinking as the meeting moved along, “I’m CRUSHING it.”

Before I left, they committed to hire me.

I returned to the office, shared the news with my team, and slapped high fives all around.

“Way to go, Tom,” one of my colleagues said. “Another one bites the dust!”

Yep, I crushed it. Another one bites the dust.

I was one of those sales people who “killed it.” I slayed ‘em.

Three months later, the client and I mutually agreed to terminate the contract. It wasn’t a good fit.

I might have seen it coming if I had dug deeper when selling, if I had listened more carefully to what the prospect really needed. If I had focused on their needs, instead of my hunger to sell.

Why do we describe sales as a conquest?

Why do we use language that portrays the prospect as prey?

Why do we describe sales as an act of violence and salespeople as killers?

Words matter. They frame our perspective and approach.

As the years passed, my view of sales evolved.

To be a successful sales person…

You have to be a helper, not a hunter.

You have to be a listener, not a teller.

You have to exercise empathy, not leverage.

You have to be a partner, not a pursuer.

You have to collaborate, not convince.

You have to be a kindred spirit, not a killer.

You have to lift them up, not take them down.

If you approach sales and marketing this way…

You’ll sell more, not less.

And your relationships with clients will be long-lasting, powerful and mutually beneficial.

There’s a way to make this happen.

It starts with understanding your prospects and crafting stories that reflects their aspirations and fears.

I can help you do that.

Here’s where to begin…

Sign up for a Story Assessment. 

I’m offering free, 30-minute web conferences to review your business story. I will meet with you via Zoom and review how you’re telling your business story — on your website, social media, and other channels. Then, I’ll recommend how to make it work better during these strange days.  

I have a limited number of slots open on my calendar for these sessions. Please visit my calendar to book a time that works for you.

Thanks!

Tom
314-529-1431
tom@StoryUpMarketing.com
www.StoryUp Marketing 

A business owner recently asked me to launch an email campaign for her new company.

She told me she wanted to “spread the word” about the business.

Spread the word. That’s a popular idea.

Let’s send some emails to spread the word.

Let’s post on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter to spread the word.

Let’s buy some advertising to spread the word.

So many hours and so many dollars spent spreading the word.

But what happens when the word isn’t compelling?

What happens when the messages you spread…

…lead prospects to tune out, instead of tune in?

…extinguish interest, instead of sparking it?

…bore prospects, instead of inspiring them to act?

When you spread boring words that extinguish interest and lead prospects to tune out, you waste valuable time and money.

That’s why you have to focus first on your story — the ideas and words that connect your business to your prospects’ dreams and fears.

That’s why you focus on powering up your stories before you start spreading them.

Here’s where to begin…

Sign up for a Story Assessment. 

I’m offering free, 30-minute web conferences to review your business story. I will meet with you via Zoom and review how you’re telling your business story — on your website, social media, and other channels. Then, I’ll recommend how to make it work better during these strange days.  

I have a limited number of slots open on my calendar for these sessions. Please visit my calendar to book a time that works for you.

Thanks!

Tom
314-529-1431
tom@StoryUpMarketing.com
www.StoryUp Marketing 

I love the scene in the Spiderman movie (the first one with Tobey Maguire) when Uncle Ben tells Peter, “With great power comes great responsibility.” 

That’s true for super heroes. 

That’s also true for marketers. 

I’m working on a revised and expanded version of a free resource I created a few years back called “7 Ways to Make Your Marketing Messages More Persuasive.” I’ll share that with you soon. 

A client who read the previous version once told me, “I understand the power of these persuasion tips. But I don’t want to manipulate people.” 

That’s a common concern. 

Here’s my answer: The (big) difference between manipulation and persuasion is intent. 

That’s just another way of saying with great power comes great responsibility. 

If you are an ethical business person…

…if your intent is to provide products and services that help your prospects…

…if you’re willing to turn away a prospect who won’t benefit from your products and services…

…then you should persuade them to act…

…because acting is in their best interest. 

I’ll repeat that last point: Persuade them to act in their best interest. 

If you are unethical…

…if you’re looking for the sale at all costs…

…if you don’t care whether your products and services will help the “sucker” who buys them…

…then the act of convincing and cajoling is manipulation. 

Summary: Don’t manipulate someone to act against their interests. 

When I share with you those tips, you’ll have great power to persuade prospects to act. 

With that power will come great responsibility…

…the responsibility to persuade those who will benefit from what you sell. 

There’s an old saying, “He can sell ice to an Eskimo.”

For some, that’s a compliment. I don’t see it that way.

I see it as a salesman who intends to use his power of manipulation to trick someone, to convince someone to buy unneeded ice. That’s unethical and irresponsible. 

The best way to know whether prospects truly will benefit from your products and services is to dive deeper to discover their aspirations and fears. 

If you want to dive deeper so you can understand your prospects, power up your stories, sell more, AND serve clients better? Sign up for a Story Assessment.

I’m offering free, 30-minute web conferences to review your business story. I will meet with you via Zoom and review how you’re telling your business story — on your website, social media, and other channels. Then, I’ll recommend how to make it work better during these strange days.  

I have a limited number of slots open on my calendar for these sessions. Please visit my calendar to book a time that works for you.

Thanks!

Tom
314-529-1431
tom@StoryUpMarketing.com
www.StoryUp Marketing 

Earlier this week, I helped an executive coach power up her business story.

We were talking about her prospects’ and clients’ wishes and fears. We dove deep because the more you understand your prospects and clients, the more you connect with them, and the more you sell.

Part way through the process, she paused, thought for a moment and said, “You know… The work we’re doing now will help me land clients. AND it will also help me coach them better, too.”

We talked about that. When we dive deep, we understand what prospects and clients want and what they need. It’s only natural that we can serve them better.

That’s especially true for coaches.

But it’s also true for other lines of business.

Want to dive a little deeper so you can understand your prospects, power up your stories, sell more, AND serve clients better? Sign up for a Story Assessment.

I’m offering free, 30-minute web conferences to review your business story. I will meet with you via Zoom and review how you’re telling your business story — on your website, social media, and other channels. Then, I’ll recommend how to make it work better during these strange days.  

I have a limited number of slots open on my calendar for these sessions. Please visit my calendar to book a time that works for you.

Thanks!

Tom
314-529-1431
tom@StoryUpMarketing.com
www.StoryUp Marketing 

I was watching the morning news earlier and saw a pharmaceutical ad that tells a pretty good story.

It starts with a scuba diver swimming around a blob of giant black needles (a sea urchin) resting on the ocean floor.

Scary!

The narrator says, “Needles. Essential for the sea urchin. But maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options…

…like an ‘Unjection’.”

That’s good.

The ad is for Xeljanz, which claims to be the “only pill” for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

“One pill a day may give you symptom relief,” the narrator says.

I like this story because it’s not about the product.

It’s about you, the patient suffering from RA. It’s about the person who HATES injections.

The ad touts a feature: Treatment in pill form.

But it doesn’t stop there.

It focuses on the benefit for you: No more injections.

That’s a pretty good story.

Why isn’t it a great story? Because it doesn’t go far enough.

Great stories don’t stop with the benefit.

They focus on how that benefit transforms your life.

This ad hinted at that: Images of the diver moving easily underwater, hanging out with her family on the beach, folding towels with ease.

We infer that the medicine makes all of that possible.

But the ad isn’t really about the transformation that comes with pain relief.

The ad is about needles. So it should focus on the transformation that comes with the “unjection.”

I would power up this story by imagining a conversation with the patient and asking, “If you could switch from injections to pills, what would that do for you?”

That’s the magic question to get the story — your prospect’s story — from benefit to transformation.

I’m not in the pharmaceutical business, and I haven’t surveyed people with RA. But I can guess at some of the answers.

The transformation resulting from “unjections” might be about the FREEDOM you have because you no longer take time-consuming trips to medical offices for doctor-administered shots.

It might be about STRESS RELIEF because you no longer suffer that fear and anxiety that comes every time you’re about to stick a needle in your arm.

And so forth.

How does the benefit (no injections) make you feel? What does that benefit really do for you?

That’s the story.

The ad could have presented those transformations with just a sentence or two of narration and a second or two of video imagery.

When we tell our business stories, touting the benefits is just the first step.

Discovering the transformation is what makes a good story powerful, great and most persuasive.            

Want to power up your stories so prospects WILL tune in, stay tuned, and act? Sign up for a Story Assessment.

I’m offering free, 30-minute web conferences to review your business story. I will meet with you via Zoom and review how you’re telling your business story — on your website, social media, and other channels. Then, I’ll recommend how to make it work better during these strange days.  

I have a limited number of slots open on my calendar for these sessions. Please visit my calendar to book a time that works for you.

Thanks!

Tom
314-529-1431
tom@StoryUpMarketing.com
www.StoryUp Marketing 

When I was younger, I played lots of golf.  

I gave it up. I stunk.

Most of my golfing pals stunk, too. But they kept at it. 

Their “solution?” Buy better equipment. The newest and best clubs. Fancy balls. Expensive gloves with clever names like “Ever Grip.”

And they still stunk…

…because the FOUNDATION of their game — their swing — was no good.

Same goes in marketing. You spin your wheels. You invest in better technology. The newest and best funnel system. Fancy automations. Expensive SEO campaigns to drive traffic to your site.

And still you struggle…

…because your story is like my golf swing.

I know one guy who spent thousands on search optimization to climb Google rankings and drive traffic to his site…

…and he saw ZERO uptick in sales.

Actually, I know lots of people with similar stink-bombs.

The bomb is always the same:

Traffic comes and traffic flees…

…because the site does not tell a compelling story.

It does not tell a story that gets prospects to tune in, stay tuned and act.

Before you invest time, energy and hard-earned dough on fancy marketing tactics and whiz-bang tech, you should power up your story.
           

Want to power up your story so prospects WILL tune in, stay tuned, and act? Sign up for a Story Assessment.

I’m offering free, 30-minute web conferences to review your business story. I will meet with you via Zoom and review how you’re telling your business story — on your website, social media, and other channels. Then, I’ll recommend how to make it work better during these strange days.  

I have a limited number of slots open on my calendar for these sessions. Please visit my calendar to book a time that works for you.

Thanks!

Tom
314-529-1431
tom@StoryUpMarketing.com
www.StoryUp Marketing