Why do people send you money for the products or services you sell?
That is a question worth answering before you attempt any sales funnel, online launch, video sales letter, direct mail campaign—any kind of marketing—because when you know the “why” of your audience, the “how to do it” becomes a lot easier.
Knowing your tribe—the people that are most like you, who share your values, and who can’t wait to hear what you have to offer them—doesn’t have to be large either.
They just need to be congruent with your message and you need to be consistent with how you express that message.
Some examples:
Justin Goff, an A-list copywriter and business builder, did more with 200 names on his list (I think he has over 1,000 now)—a true “online family”—than many marketers do with thousands of names. He is able to attract a hand-picked, loyal audience that he emails daily with useful content, they get what he is talking about and therefore when he makes an offer that makes sense to his subscribers, he achieves response rates and ROI (to very high ticket, high value offers) that are unheard of.
Ben Settle, an email expert, has a much larger list but not large by most standards. And he “emails them to death” (at least daily)—or should I say “emails them to life”—and he can make offers to them that can get response rates that are as high as lists five times the size of his.
Donald Trump, with a somewhat larger lists, and whether you are a supporter or not, has millions of people hanging on every word he tweets (no time for email)—and he has supporters and detractors alike who keep reading his tweets every day as news, entertainment or something in-between. And the supporters just get more fervent each time he tweets and the detractors just get more frustrated. But as we say in marketing, if you don’t have haters you’re not being controversial enough. And on the other side, he clearly has lots of loyal followers.
In fact, going back to Settle, when he has people on his list being argumentative and disagreeing with his core premises without a cohesive argument (in his opinion), Ben will unsubscribe them before they do it themselves.
I recall when Ben was selling my Titans of Direct Response offer, he had someone on his list return the product to me for a refund—and when he found out about it, he called out this subscriber to his entire online family as someone not “suitable” for his tribe: “Anyone who couldn’t find value in that product doesn’t belong on my list.” And he removed him.
I didn’t see it exactly the same way—of course I gladly sent Ben’s subscriber a refund—but Ben’s list is one that he expects to be learners…and Ben is their teacher. If you do as he suggests he also expects you to follow through. You don’t have to necessarily buy everything he sells (although he’d like you to)…but if you do, it’s all value and there is no room for returns on much of it. For this relationship to work at its highest level for Ben, his students need to be in synch with him so he can share his views freely and openly and they are always on the same page.
After all, it’s his list. You may not agree with him but he’s always consistent and congruent.
And in all three examples above, the people on those lists buy (or vote) based on congruence with the leader of the list much more than the tactics they each use.
Congruence, not sales copy, may be the most overlooked aspect in how you relate to your list—small or big—and in Chapter 9 of Overdeliver, which covers Continuity and Lifetime Value, I talk about this in terms of how it positively impacts every customer long term:
Protecting Your LTV with Congruent Marketing
Everything you do in your business needs to be congruent. …staying in business for a lifetime combines knowing your numbers with knowing who you want to be in the world and what you want your business to represent. That means building a culture into your business that reflects who you are and what you value most. If you have a strong foundation that is congruent with your purpose, it’s easy to attract the right audience and to develop offers and creative that are congruent and appropriate for them. And not surprisingly, when you focus on congruence, the number that you calculated in lifetime value per customer tends to increase exponentially. Whether you make the subsequent products yourself or buy them from someone else in some kind of partnership, whatever you put your name (brand) on has to be congruent—to you as a company and to your customers.
Creative is also an area where congruence can be at risk: what might work best to bring in new customers may be inconsistent with how you really want to sell. I have seen many thought leaders struggle when they begin marketing aggressively for the first time. Unfortunately, they start with the premise that marketing is evil—and then my job is to show them how to sell congruently yet still remain aggressive. It’s a sweet spot that we can all get to, and it’s different for everyone. But I maintain that being as aggressive as possible, while being as congruent as possible, is the formula for the highest lifetime value.
Since we’re talking about marketing, and money is always involved, things can get tricky when your desire to be congruent collides with paying the electric bill. If you have a good reputation and a solid bank of goodwill with your customers, and therefore with your prospects too, it’s easier to recover from a “congruence fail,” but you can’t count on it.
(Note: In the rest of Chapter 9, I discuss a “congruence fail” that almost cost me big time. And there is also a discussion of “The Bogey Man”—Dick Benson—and why you can spend more money on your upfront marketing than you think. If you don’t have a copy yet, pick up Overdeliver at www.OverdeliverBook.com and access the thousands of dollars’ worth of resources too.)
I recently heard about a marketing live event held in a baseball stadium —they had something like 30.000 people—and while that’s a powerful “list” who can buy lots of stuff (live and after the fact) I maintain that a targeted, well curated list will be a better asset for the long haul based on what I said above re: congruence.
Would I like 30,000 people to sell to? Sure.
Would I do it indiscriminately with no regard for who they are, without segmenting them first and creating multiple sales messages? I doubt it.
I guess if you want to give me 30,000 names and addresses of marketers, I will attempt to bring them along to my way of thinking…but I will also be happy to leave many of them to other marketers as well, especially if they are not congruent with my message.
Consider the deep dives you can take in a more intimate setting, whether email or live; and what you can accomplish when you get down to the people who want to follow you rather than the people who are just waiting to be pitched offers, not order (or order and return), never to be heard from again.
Large can be mighty…but so can small.
In the spirit of being congruent, I turn to the Godfather of Marketing, Jay Abraham, who wrote out a series of bullets re: “Why People Pay Me”—and I am stealing some of these for myself.
And while I can’t do it is well as Jay yet, it gives me something to shoot for—and maybe you can steal a couple of these too:
Why People Pay Me (Jay Abraham)
• I’m paid to understand how to reduce (or eliminate) the risk in a transaction or
proposition––so it’s easier to say yes then no…easier to pay than it is to flee.
• I’m paid to understand how human psychology like procrastination, contemplation, equivocation factors into everything—and how to turn all those into maximum advantage—much like the martial arts aikido that uses the force of the enemy against itself.
• I’m paid to understand how to stand out.
• How to —out appeal, out impress, out excite investors over and above the capital-seeking maddening crowds of other fund seekers vying for their money.
• I’m paid to understand the number of impact points, nuances and leverage elements that serve as bridges or locks (think Panama Canal) that work to advance and enhance the positive decision, commitment or outcome—or that can suffocate things.
• I’m paid to understand all the direct competition––meaning the industry- generic competitors of your business––new or existing (as well as the indirect)
• I’m paid to understand and communicate masterfully what value in tangible and intangible terms a company’s product/service or offering represents– to a wide swathe of different players––all that can position, positively or negatively impact your intended outcome.
Being paid for that is something worth striving for, don’t you think?
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. Speaking of more intimate groups…The Titans Master Class meeting in November in Scottsdale, Arizona will be one of those events that I think people will be talking about for years to come as something you shouldn’t have missed.
Here’s your chance not to miss it:
It’s November 11th, 12th and 13th—you must be interviewed for a seat–and guest speakers include Jay Abraham, A-list copywriter Carline Anglade-Cole, online media expert Farukh Shroff, launch and marketing experts Marisa Murgatroyd and Shelley Brander and thought leader/business builder Dan Kuschell. With more to come.
In addition, all Titans members will be given a free ticket to LaunchCon, Jeff Walker’s amazing event, which will be in Phoenix November 8th, 9th and 10th.
Titans Master Class is a one year membership which includes 2 live events a year, office hours with me, a content portal with all past events of the last 4 years, a private Facebook group for sharing of ideas, vendors and marketing issues…and group calls throughout the year with experts in all areas of marketing, copywriting and entrepreneurship.
If you are interested in interviewing for a seat, and you would like to be with us in November, fill out the short application form at www.titansmasterclass.com so we can set up an interview. Attendance is limited.
P.P.S. I will also be a speaker for The Do Good and Make Money Super Summit which begins on September 23rd and runs for 8 days until September 30th…and you can get a free pass by clicking here.
It is a very ambitious Summit with over 70 speakers speaking on four tracks:
#1 – Starting Your Venture
#2 – Your First $100,000
#3 – Your First Million
#4 – Scaling To Eight Figures (where I will be speaking)
I will be speaking on one of the last days, talking about “Over Delivering Value” which is crucial to “Scaling to Eight Figures”…and I hope you will grab your free pass and tune in.
There are all sorts of other offers for bonuses if you want more…but the basic pass is free.
(Any money I receive in commission I will be donating to charity:water. Click on this post and you can read about them and donate to charity:water …and receive some neat “ethical bribes” from me too.)
P.P.P.S And click here to sign up now for the The Do Good and make Money Super Summit–and I’ll see you there!