Author: Ryan Dolotallas

I don’t usually turn to psychopathic killers for marketing inspiration.

But sometimes inspiration comes from where you least expect it.

So let’s get right to some lessons from…

…ummm…

…Charles Manson.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of grizzly murders committed by members of Manson’s “family.”

Over the last few weeks, television networks flooded the airwaves with news stories and documentaries about Manson.

I watched some. This is what I learned…

Manson recruited family members by targeting lonely, vulnerable young people.

He wooed them by saying, “I know you. I get you. I feel what you feel.”

One of the women who participated in the murders was interviewed later in prison. She said she fell for Manson after he told her, “We’re ugly.”

If you’re taking notes, the lesson here is not, “Attract prospects by criticizing their appearance.”

The lesson here is about empathy.

Manson said to her, “You’re ugly…just like I am. I know what you’re going through. I share your emotions. I feel your pain. I share your desires.”

As she tells it, she melted into his arms.

Manson demonstrated and then positioned himself as a trusted guide. He said, in effect, I can lead you to fulfill your desires and protect you from pain.

So far, that’s a pretty good template for marketers: Understand your prospects, demonstrate empathy, promise to be a guide to fulfill and protect…

…And then deliver a plan that keeps that promise.

For Manson, the plan was to commit grizzly murders that would exact revenge on “pigs” and spark a bloody race war.

Bad plan. Turns out that stabbing and shooting innocents was not the ticket for those lonely, vulnerable young people.

Manson got the “prospect attraction” part right. But he got the promise fulfillment part wrong. Way wrong!

Thankfully, we’re not psychopaths! We’re ethical marketers.

Like Manson, we should try to understand our prospects. We should demonstrate empathy.

Unlike Manson, we should present a plan that serves the customer, that truly fulfills and protects. This means delivering products and services that improve a customer’s lot.

That’s the way to build a business and to stay out of prison. 

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me  at  tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

A desperate marketer posted a sad-sack story last week on a public forum.

He was trying to reach prospects in a niche market…

…and he was getting ZERO response.

Facebook Ads? No-go.

LinkedIn messages? Zip?

Search advertising? Nada.

So he asked the internet for help…

…and the internet responded with a bunch of INSANITY.

First, I’ll summarize the advice, then I’ll tell you why it’s insane.

Various experts-du-jour offered tons of tactical tips to Desperate Marketer: 

Build a funnel.

Try this trick on Facebook (“It worked for me!”)

Latch on to this cool, can’t-miss LinkedIn tactic.

Here’s why all of that advice is insane…

Desperate Marketer was failing not because of terrible tactics but because of feeble stories.

I’ve been doing this for 25+ years. And 99% of the time when marketing stalls, it’s  because the story lacks the power to inspire prospects.

But no one asked Desperate Marketer about the story he was telling. No one questioned the message he was dishing out.

If the story is out of tune, if it’s feeble, if it’s not powerful…

…all those can’t-miss, “worked-for-me” tactics will fall flatter than a pancake, every time.

Albert Einstein reportedly said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

The tactics-first crowd means well.

But when your marketing stalls because your story lacks power…

…and then you switch the tactic but don’t power up your story…

…you’re doing the same thing over and expecting a different result.

Insane!

If you’re looking for a more sane marketing approach, if you want to discover simple ways to power up your stories so prospects tune in, stay tuned, and act…

Sign up for a  free, 30-minute story assessment. 

I’ll 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 Ruwitch

One of the great business stories of all time is also one of the shortest.

Just nine words.

Here it is:

You can pay me now…

…or pay me later.

If you watched television in the 70s, you couldn’t miss those ads for Fram oil filters.

The broken car. The expensive repair. The mechanic saying all of this could have been avoided…

…if only you invested a few bucks in the right oil filter.

Great business stories look to the future.

They imagine how things will turn out for the customer.

If you buy our product or service, here are the GOOD things that will happen

…OR…

If you DON’T buy our product or service, here are the BAD things that will happen.

The key: Know what your prospects WANT to happen and what the FEAR might happen.

Car owners fear the huge breakdown that will cost a ton.

Fram knew car owners don’t want to pay the mechanic later.

And they told a story over and over and over again that helped them sell millions of oil filters.

Imagine your prospects’ futures and you’ll tell more powerful stories that inspire them to tune in, stay tuned, and act.

Want some help with that?

Then sign up for a  free, 30-minute story assessment. 

I’ll 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 Ruwitch

I was planning to send a different message this morning…

…until I read an email from one of my favorite marketing experts Dave Dee (check out his stuff here). 

He offered a tip that is so good I had to postpone the other email so I could share the idea with you now.

Here’s the tip: 

“Whenever you talk about a feature, always follow up with saying, ‘…which means to you…’”

Example: 

Our tires have expanding rain grooves…

…which means to you…

…water is pulled from the pavement and you get better traction in rainy weather. 

That magic phrase — “Which means to you…” — has moved the message from feature (rain grooves) to benefit (better traction).

That, alone, will make your marketing better. 

But you can take it a giant step further. 

You want to move from feature to benefit and further, still, to transformation.

You do that by repeating “…which means to you…” and then repeating it over and over until you have a compelling transformation story.

Example: 

…which means to you that water is pulled from the pavement and you get better traction…

…which means to you…

…no hydroplaning and no accidents…

…which means to you…

…all of the passengers in the car will arrive safely…

…which means to you…

(and now I’m imagining how this makes my prospects feel. I’m imagining their experience. I’m imagining their story.)

…your drive through a rainstorm won’t be stress-fest. No longer will you grip the wheel so tightly your hands ache. 

Or I imagine this story…

…you won’t lay awake at night worrying about your teen driver every time he’s out with the car on a dark, stormy night.

A marketing story doesn’t have to be a novella or a screenplay. It just needs to evoke an image, a brief happening, that reflects your prospects’ experiences.

Feature: Rain grooves

Benefit: Better traction.

Higher-level Benefit: No hydroplaning. No accidents. 

Transformations: Peace of mind. Less stress and worry. Happy, safe family. 

The deeper you dive with “which means to you…” the closer you get to a powerful story that attracts leads, keeps them tuned in, and inspires them to act. 

If your marketing starts with, “Our tires have expanding rain grooves that pull the water from the pavement,” prospects yawn and tune out. 

If you lead with, “Our tires have better traction,” you may pique their interest, but that claim isn’t unique and it doesn’t trigger an emotional response. 

But if you start with the story, you draw them in: “Remember the last time you drove through a pounding rain with loved ones in the car? Were you confident that your tires were up to the task? Or were you clutching the wheel so tightly that your hands ached?” 

Now you’ve got their attention. Now they’re ready to hear about expanding rain grooves. 

Powerful stories are like a super magnet that connects to prospects’ emotions and creates irresistible attraction. If they can relate to the story, they can more clearly see how the features will help them. 

That’s why marketing masters start with story.

And that’s why I’m offering to help you power-up your stories. To get started…
….sign up for a  free, 30-minute story assessment. 

I’ll 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 Ruwitch

I read something cool this morning.

It comes from a book called Breakthrough Advertising, by Eugene Schwartz.

He was one of the great direct response copywriters of the twentieth century.

Breakthrough Advertising is a Bible for those who want to write copy that works.

At the beginning of Chapter Seven, Schwartz writes…

“…Advertising is the literature of desire. It is society’s encyclopedia of dreams…our twentieth-century Wish Book.”

Amen.

When you see an effective ad, you see a story about prospects’ desires…

…and, perhaps, their fears.

So if you want to market effectively…

….you have to understand your prospects’ desires — their dreams.

And then you have to craft powerful stories that deserve entry in that Encyclopedia of Dreams.
 
Breakthrough Advertising is expensive ($125) and long 225+ pages of small print. 

If you want to discover how to create your own entries for that Encyclopedia of Dreams — without spending $125 and all those hours reading small print…

….sign up for a  free, 30-minute story assessment. That will get you started. 

I’ll 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 Ruwitch

I got some great advice from a marketing expert last week after he read one of my emails.

If you’ve read my emails lately, you’ve noticed that I offer a free Story Assessment. I’ll review your website, social media or any other channel where you tell your story. Then I’ll reveal ways to power up your story so leads tune in, stay tuned, and act.

That’s a great offer. Everyone who has taken me up on it has gotten huge value.  

Anyhow, the marketing expert read my email about Spiderman and replied to me with this:

“Well written email, Tom. I think you should remove the line between the body of the email and the call to action, though.”

In other words, don’t bury the call-to-action (CTA).

That’s great advice. The call-to-action (offer for the free Story Assessment) was buried under a divider line, below the main content of the email. 

And here’s the thing: I already understood why that’s a bad idea, at least rationally.

I replied to the expert (I share this with you as advice you can apply to your business):

“I have to get past treating the CTA as an afterthought. I have to stop burying it in the p.s. or under a line as if it’s secondary, footer content. I write the story to make the sale. I make the sale to deliver on the promise in the story.”

What do I mean?

I send these emails to you as a free service. But I’m not running a charity. I do this — and all my marketing — to grow my business. I write these stories to make the sale.

And if I make the sale, those who buy will benefit greatly. The stories I tell promise a transformation. When I make the sale, I deliver on the promise. 

I know that rationally, but as I told the expert:

“I still fall into the trap of treating the CTA as something separate from the content. It’s a subconscious apology for ‘littering’ the valuable content with a sales pitch. But the ‘apology’ isn’t necessary. The free story assessment (and the paid services that follow) are gifts intended to help those who partake.”

I know that’s true because I’ve seen how my clients benefit from what I sell. I seen how much even a free, 30-minute session can help someone. I know those who partake benefit and achieve meaningful transformations.

When I work with clients on their business stories, we explore how they will transform the lives of those who buy from them. If you believe your buyers benefit from your products and services, don’t bury the sales pitch. Because selling is a gift intended to help those who partake. 

So…if you want to partake in the benefits I offer — if you want more leads to tune in, stay tuned, and act…

….sign up for a  free, 30-minute story assessment.

I’ll 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 Ruwitch

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