As I told you in a previous article, if you choose the right audience, you will be surprised at the different results you will get in 2021 from the same marketing plan.
Those of you who are content marketers might be wondering, “Once you find the right audience, how do you figure out what kind of content to create for them?”
I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve realized that I already unintentionally answered that question. I did it when I created a video about attention back on May 8, 2019.
It was when I revealed the secret the HGTV knows…
The Attention-Getting Secrets Marketers Can Learn from HGTV
Did you know that HGTV is the 6th most popular cable network?
That means they understand how to not only CAPTURE attention but also how to KEEP attention and build ATTENTION LOYALTY.
As content marketers or direct response marketers, wouldn’t it be cool to learn just a little of what they know about attention?
Well, in the video below, I reveal one of the secrets that HGTV knows about attention. Remember, this also applies to creating content for your target market.
Watch the video to discover this secret and see if you can see both lessons…
My Next Article is Almost Ready
I’m very close to finishing my next story on how a popular brand achieved new levels of success after they found out about a new market. It will be ready tomorrow.
Free Access to Powerful Resources and Exclusive Content
Before you go, have you become a DRCM member yet? You should.
It’s free. You’ll get access to powerful resources and exclusive content. Learn more by clicking the link below…
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These are all important things that you should test. But there’s one thing that some people never try.
And the sad thing about this is that this overlooked thing is such a simple way to increase your leads.
In this short, new video, I share an unbelievable (but 100% true) story that reveals this simple way to generate leads.
And I also share some simple ways you can be implementing it right away.
This is a Simple Way to Increase Your Leads (VIDEO)
My Apologies and What’s Coming on Monday
Some of you who have been following along with this series might have noticed that this article today is not the one I told you I’d be posting.
Last night, as I was trying to get the article I planned finished, I realized I was going to need more time to perfect it.
That’s when I decided to share this new video with you instead. I know it would be a helpful concept for you and I knew it would give me the weekend to finish the article I originally planned for today.
Stay Tuned
I think when you see the article on Monday, you’ll agree that it was worth the wait. To give you a little tease of what it will be about, here’s the title of Monday’s article…
The Unusual Lead Magnet Canva Used to Build a Company Worth $60 Billion
Subscribe below to automatically be notified when it and future articles go live!
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In my first article of the series, I laid an important foundation that I will continue to build on. In that article I said…
Based on some things I’ve been reading from the experts I follow, there are some interesting trends and predictions that are said to be coming our way in 2021.
These trends and predictions will be opportunities for people that know how to leverage them.
But I believe that the sweet spot in 2021 is the place where opportunity and the fundamentals meet.
You see, the people and companies that succeed the most are the ones that keep their eye out for opportunities and then take advantage of them by harnessing the fundamentals.
What fundamentals? The marketing fundamentals that have existed for at least 100 years and that will probably exist for at least another 100 years.
I then went to share ways you could capture, keep, and earn future attention.
If you missed the articles and want to read them, you can go this this page that I’ve created for the series.
The Second Marketing Fundamental You Need to Succeed in 2021
After you have captured your prospects attention, the next thing you’re going to focus on is the second marketing fundamental: attraction.
In other words, after you capture your prospect’s attention, you’re then going to have to attract them.
It’s the whole purpose behind attention.
Without attraction, all the work you put into capturing their attention will have been wasted.
In 2021, you’re going to need to realize the unbreakable connection between prospects and the future of your business.
Let me explain what I mean in my new video below.
Without a Prospect, You Don’t Have a Future
In my latest video, I’m going to reveal the unbreakable connection between prospects and the future of your business.
And I’ll do that by showing the surprising origin of the word “prospect.”
Not only that, but you’ll also discover:
Why this unbreakable connection exists
The easy and the hard way to get prospects
And more
The Most Effective Way to Attract Your Prospects
To effectively convert prospects into a future for you business, you must take the next critical step.
You must get your prospect to exchange their contact information with you.
In other words, you must create and offer a lead magnet. I’m sad to say this but many content marketers overlook this step. And that is a fatal mistake.
You see, you don’t just want to attract them. You want to attract them in a way that enables you to continue contacting them so you can build a relationship with them.
Why? Because the majority of the people who will purchase from you will not buy from you today.
I talk more about this in my upcoming articles in this week’s series. In the meantime, I want you to know where we’re headed…
Beyond the Basics in 2021
In order for you to see success in 2021, you’re going to have go beyond the basic understanding of lead magnets and lead generation.
You’re going to have to understand them on a whole new level. That’s why you don’t want to miss tomorrow’s article.
I promise you that it will help you see lead magnets in a way you never have before.
In fact, you’re going to discover that lead magnets are the foundation of the most successful companies in existence today.
You’re not going to want to miss the example I share tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s article will be called…
The Way to See Lead Magnets That Will Change Your Business Forever
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Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to write another article like I had hoped to do. So, instead, I’ve decided to share another video of mine with you about attention.
In this video, you’ll discover another way to capture attention (one of the three things you need to do with attention).
I’ll not only show you how to capture attention. I’ll show you how to capture your prospect’s attention, even if you don’t know a lot about them.
If you missed my previous articles (and one video), you can see them at the links below:
(Don’t worry. If you click on them, they won’t take you away from this page. They will open up a new window.)
We Pay Attention to What We Crave
Without knowing you personally, there are not a lot of things that I can predict will grab your attention every time – except for one thing: the thing you crave.
Because I know that if it’s something you crave, then you’re going to have your reticular activating system on “high alert” and on the lookout for that thing.
That means that if you want your marketing to capture your prospect’s attention, then all you have to do is figure out what they crave.
Now I CAN’T tell you what your prospect specifically craves, but I CAN tell you what they crave at a universal level.
And it has everything to do with what I call “content we crave.”
Watch my video below to learn about the “31 Types of Content We Crave” and how you can use them in your marketing to grab attention…
After you watch my video, you can download or print out my two “content we crave” infographics. You can then use them as your cheat sheets whenever you want to create copy or content that has a higher chance of capturing your prospect’s attention.
In case this is your first time here, you need to know something. This week, I started a series that I’m calling The 12 Marketing Fundamentals You Need to Succeed in 2021.
You can see the first two articles at the links below:
(Don’t worry. If you click on them, they won’t take you away from this page. They will open up a new window.)
Anyway, today, you’re in luck. I have a treat for you.
I want to share a video with you today that will teach you something you’ve probably never heard anyone teach about the first marketing fundamental (aka Attention).
I call it… The Secret of the Reticular Activating System and How to Capture Attention.
(NOTE: This is a repost of a previous article and video I did back on May 11, 2019. I’m posting it here, again, because it’s a message that is just as important today as it was then.)
The Brain’s Reticular Activating System: Your Friend or Foe
You might not realize this but your brain is equipped with something that’s called the Reticular Activating System.
It’s the part of your brain that determines what you notice or pay attention to.
And that’s why content marketers and direct response marketers should learn the secrets of tapping into it.
If you figure out how to harness its power, it will be your friend and your copy and content will be welcomed in.
If you don’t figure out how to harness its power, it will be your foe and your copy and content will be turned away every time.
Watch my video to discover how you can use the reticular activating system to capture your prospects’ attention…
A Confession About This Video
I need to confess something. I started a YouTube channel 21 months ago intending to create content regularly for it. This video is one of a series of videos that I created during that time.
I created them but I didn’t really get a chance to promote them very much.
A major move from CA to ID stalled out that plan. Don’t get me wrong. That move has been such a great choice! But it did stall out my plan to create videos.
Well, I think in 2021 that it’s time for me to get back to that plan.
In this new year, I plan to get back to posting videos.
I’ll also be putting on some webinars (free and paid).
I also will be creating exclusive video content for the member’s area.
It’s going to be content that you’ll find interesting, entertaining, and, most of all, helpful for you personally, your company, and/or your career.
If you want to know when more videos go live, then you should do two things:
Are you creating amazing content, but you’re still having trouble getting any attention with it?
If you are, then keep reading.
Because I’m about to reveal a powerful way to not only make your content stand out, but also make it more valuable.
I’ll explain more of what I mean in just a minute, but first, you need to hear this story. (This story will tie into the lesson we can learn from “Hot Ones”.)
It might seem like a strange story to start with. The reality is that within this story is the solution to your problem…
Not Your Average Albertsons
There is an Albertsons near us that is not your average Albertsons.
It’s more like Albertsons on steroids. It’s the Disneyland of Albertsons.
This is what makes it so special:
They have wide aisles.
There is a bar within the store called Talon Tap and Spirits.
They have a full-Service Asian Bistro
There’s a fresh sushi station
They have a Starbucks
There’s an olive bar
And an oyster bar
There’s also a pizza area
And more
My mom was visiting from out of town and was amazed at the store, the variety of products that they had, and the way things were displayed.
I didn’t realize it yet but I was about to come across something that would remind me of a very important marketing lesson. A marketing lesson that I am going to share with you today.
You see, we went down a spice aisle and I came across a row of salts that caught my eye.
It was salt from a company I had never heard of before calledJacobsen Salt Co.
As you can see in the picture above, what made these salts stand out to me was the unique flavors:
Habenero Salt
Basil Salt
Black Pepper Salt
And Garlic Salt (Ok,this one isn’t that unique!)
It was at that moment that an important marketing — and content marketing — lesson came to my mind.
How You Make an Average, Common Product or Piece of Content Stand Out in a Crowded Market
I realized that the Jacobsen Salt Co. had applied an important marketing lesson that we all should learn from. Let me explain…
You see, they took an average, common product (salt) and they transformed it into something that’s above-average and unique.
How? By adding something new and different to it.
They added habanero, basil, etc. And by adding to it, it became above-average and unique.
You can do the same thing not only with any product or service, but you can also do that to any piece of content that you create.
Don’t believe me? Ok, I’ll prove it to you.
Hot Ones: How to Spice Up Your Typical Interview Show
A show that’s based on an interview format is nothing new. In fact, according to Wikipedia, there are 93 talk shows.
So, if you were to create a new talk show, you’d have a really hard time standing out and building an audience.
But what if you decided to use the lesson from Jacobsen Salt Co. and add something to your talk show?
That’s exactly what Christopher Schonberger did when he created the web series Hot Ones produced by First We Feast and Complex Media.
The basic premise of the show is to have host Sean Evans interview celebrities while they eat from a platter spicy chicken wings that increasingly gets hotter and hotter.
That simple and unique concept has enabled Chris and this show to stand out in a crowded market!
If you haven’t seen an episode, check out this one with Paul Rudd. (Warning: Sometimes the guests cuss in response to the hotter and hotter wings they eat.)
How a Marketing Guru Applies This Concept to Make His Content More Valuable
In case you don’t know who Dan Kennedy is, he’s the marketing guru who many of the top online marketers trace their success back to.
Well, many years ago Dan Kennedy came up with something that he calls “Magnetic Marketing”, and it’s still a powerful way to market any product or service.
Dan is a perfect example of adding something new/different to your marketing and/or product.
How? You see, he took his same basic product and applied it to dentists and chiropractors.
The same core product (i.e. content) was the same. But he created new and additional content that showed how to apply his concepts uniquely to dental practices and chiropractor practices.
The result? He was able to sell these courses at a higher price than just the generic product. Why? Because he added something new/different to his coursethat applied to a specific group of people.
That means that when you add to your content you not only make it stand out, but you also make it more valuable in the eyes of your ideal prospects.
How to Apply This to Your Content Marketing
Here are three questions you can ask that will help you to take what I’ve talked about today and easily apply it to the content you create:
Is there something new and different you can add to your content that will make it stand out? (Jacobsen Salt Co added unique flavors. Hot Ones added spicy wings.)
Is there a different target market that you can create content for which is less crowded than the current one that you’re in? (Dan did this by tweaking his course so that it would help dentists and chiropractors.)
Is there a different format that you can create your content in which will make it stand out? (Pat Flynn, from the Smart Passive Podcast, discovered that when he created content in the form of a podcast instead of just blog posts, that people began waiting in anticipation for it.)
How You Can Learn “Magnetic Marketing”
By the way, if you’ve never heard of “Magnetic Marketing”, you’re in luck. Dan finally came out with a book that teaches you everything you need to know about it.
Stay Tuned Tomorrow for a Unique Way I Will Present Content to You
I want to reveal one other way that you can create unique content that will stand out in the market.
I’m going to do that by presenting a unique way to take the content in this post and create another post that will be valuable to you in a completely different way.
In fact, it will help you improve your content creation skills.
Stay tuned and see what I mean.
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Believe it or not, there are some powerful content marketing lessons that we can learn from Christmas songs.
In this video, you’ll not only discover important content marketing lessons you can learn from Christmas songs, but you’ll also learn valuable content creation lessons.
In this video, you’ll discover:
Two important content marketing lessons that we can learn from Christmas songs.
Two takeaways that you can apply to your own content marketing.
And three methods you can use to produce your content based on the way popular artists create and record Christmas songs
The Surprising Content Marketing Lessons You Can Learn from Christmas Song (VIDEO)
Does it sound to you like I say, “Christmas sogs” at the beginning of the video? It does to me! I’m not sure what happened, but let’s pretend it didn’t happen! 🙂
Dale Carnegie is not only the author of the famous book “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” but he’s been called by some “The Father of the Self Help Industry”.
This video is from A & E Biography and reveals how he went from being an out of work actor and unsuccessful car salesman into a best-selling author.
And how, by the age of 50 years old, became one of the most successful people in the U.S.
If you pay really close attention, and read between the lines, you’ll learn some powerful marketing lessons.
Plus, you will be inspired and learn some of his great philosophies.
Many rules/secrets that apply to direct response marketing also apply to content marketing.
In the short video below, you will understand exactly what I mean.
Why? Because as you will see in this video from Joe Polish’s Genius Network, legendary marketer, Joe Sugarman’s, copywriting tips apply to both content marketing and direct response marketing.
Learn to Write Copy That Sells with Joe Sugarman (VIDEO)
VIDEO DESCRIPTION: Joe Polish interviews the copywriting legend Joe Sugarman. Learn how his system can dramatically change your business.
Video Description: David Ogilvy, in a 1981 film “The View From Touffou,” concisely shares some of his views on developing ideas that produce great advertising campaigns. The film, which was produced for internal use within his agency, provides some timeless suggestions for producing big ideas that drive brand success.
The Right and Wrong Time to Try to Capture Your Prospect’s Attention
Whether you realize it or not, there are good times and bad times to try to capture your prospect’s attention.
That means that if you try to spend all of your time trying to capture their attention when it’s the WRONG time, it will be a waste of your time and money.
But it also means that if you try to capture their attention when it’s the RIGHT time, then it will be much easier and you will see more ROI.
Watch my latest video to learn more about the good times and bad times to try to capture attention and what you can do about this….
When it comes to content marketing and attention-getting, Disney is at the “grand master” level.
If you understood only HALF of what they know about getting attention, then you would see a massive increase in your content marketing and your marketing in general.
Well, last weekend I went with my family to see the new “Aladdin” movie with Will Smith.
When it over, I was really happy.
Not only because I loved the new movie, but because I realized a connection between:
What they did with this new movie
What Backlinko’s, Brian Dean, revealed about how to increase traffic to your website
Watch the video below and you’ll learn Disney and Brian’s attention-getting secret…
Have you ever thought about the role that fear plays in keeping our prospects from buying?
Once you realize how often fear plays a part in stalling the sales process, you’ll begin to have a new understanding of why gaining and keeping your prospect’s attention is so important.
In my latest video, I share one of my favorite quotes about courage, a quote I once heard Dan Sullivan, from Strategic Coach, share on the 10X podcast.
I reveal what it is at the beginning of my video because until we realize our own problem with fear, we’ll never understand our prospect’s problem with fear.
To Gain and Keep Your Prospect’s Attention, Focus on Relieving Their Fear Instead of Manipulating It (VIDEO)
Most of us tend to focus on what we want to receive/get more than what we are giving. It’s human nature.
That’s why, when it comes to marketing, many companies and marketers focus mainly on what they can receive from a prospect or customer.
That’s what most people, companies, and marketers do. So, if you want you, your company, or your marketing to stand out, you ought to consider a different game plan.
Focus on what everyone else is ignoring: giving.
When you do, you, your marketing, or your company will stand out in the most amazing way. As the late, great Zig Ziglar once said…
“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
– Zig Ziglar
In my latest video, I will reveal how this all ties into keeping attention and how it can make your marketing more appealing and powerful…
The Companies and Marketers Who Give Shall Receive (VIDEO)
Once you really understand this truth, you will realize that as content marketers or direct response marketers you must focus on people who aren’t ready to buy today but will buy “tomorrow.”
(I’ll go more in-depth on this in another post on this site later today when I share DRCM Principle #2.)
Once you realize this, you will realize how important it is to not just capture attention, but more importantly to keep it.
I explain more about this in my latest video below…
The Reason Why the MAJORITY of Your Sales Will Come from Your Ability to KEEP Attention (VIDEO)
Without knowing you personally there are not a lot of things that I can predict will grab your attention every time except for one thing: the thing you crave.
Because I know that if it’s something you crave, then you’re going to have your reticular activating system on “high alert” and on the lookout for that thing.
That means that if you want your marketing to capture your prospect’s attention, then all you have to do is figure out what they crave.
Now I CAN’T tell you what your prospect specifically craves, but I CAN tell you what they crave a universal level.
And it has everything to do with what I call “content we crave.”
Watch my latest video to learn about the “31 Types of Content We Crave” and how you can use them in your marketing to grab attention…
How Marketers Can Capture Attention Using My 31 Types of Content We Crave (VIDEO)
After you watch my video, you can download or print out my two “content we crave” infographics so you can use them as your cheat sheet whenever you want to create copy or content that has a higher chance of capturing your prospect’s attention.
The Attention-Getting Secret That Made a Shopkeeper the First Millionaire of the Gold Rush
I was watching one of my favorite TV shows recently and I was reminded about a story I had forgotten about from the days of the California Gold Rush.
And because of my current focus on the need for marketers to capture attention (See: Without Attention, There Is No Marketing), all I could notice was the amazing attention-getting secret that one wise shopkeeper understood which made him very wealthy.
If you’d like to discover what that secret is so you can use it in your own marketing, then watch my latest video below…
The Attention Getting Lesson Marketers Can Learn from the 1st Millionaire of Gold Rush (VIDEO)
John Lee Dumas (aka JLD) is an American podcaster. He’s the founder and host of Entrepreneurs on Fire, a business podcast where he interviews successful entrepreneurs.
How popular is it his podcast? As of 2018, his podcasts have received 70 million downloadswith 1 million monthly listens.
John obviously understands what it takes to capture attention.
In my latest video, I reveal one of the attention-getting strategies he decided to use early on which is one of the secrets of his success.
But in order to really understand how important and powerful his strategy for getting attention is, I have to tell you the craziest story.
It all happened when I was 10-years-old and fishing with my dad…
Have you ever stopped to think about what gets you to stop scrolling and pay attention?
I was thinking about this as I was scrolling LinkedIn today. And as I thought about this I came up with what I believe are the three primary ways to get attention.
I believe that they will work whether you’re trying to get attention with email marketing, social media marketing, or whatever!
Check out my video below to learn what these three primary ways to get attention are…
The Voice Producers Know How to Capture and Keep People’s Attention
The Voice is a singing competition television series broadcast on NBC. It premiered during the spring television cycle on April 26, 2011.
Besides understanding the music industry and how to find the next top artists, the producers of The Voicehave perfected the art of capturing and keeping an audience’s attention.
Want to proof of how good they are at attention-getting? You do? Here you go… 🙂
“NBC’s The Voice “Top 24” episode (1.2 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic, 7.20 million viewers) topped Monday among the Big 4 broadcasters in both metrics. “
“Even after all these years, ‘American Idol’ is still TV’s most-watched reality show. Per TV By The Numbers, ABC’s ‘Idol’ topped all others for the final week of April with 2.0 million viewers in the all-important 18-49 demographic. In fact, it was the #2 program of the week in that age group behind only ‘The Big Bang Theory’ with 2.3 million. As for its closest reality TV competition in the demo, ‘Survivor’ came in with 1.9 million while “The Voice” (Monday) scored 1.5 million and ‘The Voice’ (Tuesday) earned 1.2 million.”
Do you see now why I say they’re so good at capturing and keeping attention? Wouldn’t it be cool to learn some lessons on how to capture and keep your prospect’s attention?
Well, in my video today I want to reveal a technique that the producers use that enables them to capture and keep our attention.
And the cool thing about this technique is that it’s something that you can use in your content and copy.
Watch the short video below to learn the technique that The Voice producers use so that you can begin using it today…
Attention-Getting Lessons from ‘The Voice’ TV Show (VIDEO)
IMPORTANT: There are none (zero, nada, zilch) spoilers of any kind in this post or in the video below. So if you haven’t seen Avengers: Endgame yet, you have nothing to worry about.
Previous Videos in This Series on Attention
If you haven’t seen my other two videos in this series, then you can check them out here:
The Avengers: Endgame is the end of a wave of attention that started with the first Iron man movie.
Now, with those things out of the way, let’s get to today’s post…
Have You Been Paying Attention to the Attention-Getting Lessons We Can Learn from Marvel?
As I talked about in my first video, the first lesson we must learn and the first thing we must do as direct response marketers or content marketers is to learn to how to gain people’s attention.
And whether you realize it or not, there are some lessons that we can learn from this final movie in this epic drama.
Powerful lessons that can help you to become much better at gaining people’s attention.
In this lesson, you will learn how Marvel has rewarded its audience with “Return on Attention,” which has resulted in their audience rewarded Marvel with greater and greater attention.
Learn these lessons in my latest video below…
The Spoiler-Free, Attention-Getting Lessons We Can Learn from Avengers: Endgame (VIDEO)
In my last video, I told you that we need to make sure that anyone who pays attention to our marketing (i.e. pays us with their attention) is rewarded with “Return On Attention” (ROA).
If you really want to know the secret to getting your prospect’s attention, it starts with paying attention to certain things about them.
You must pay attention so you can uncover the things that will grab their attention.
If you start by paying attention to the right things, then you will have a much easier time getting your prospect’s attention.
Watch my video below to discover what things you be paying attention to…
What We Must Pay Attention to in Order Get a Prospect’s Attention (VIDEO)
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Are You Making It Worth It For People to Pay Attention?
I was on a trip out of town yesterday and I wanted to share with you some quick thoughts about getting prospect’s to pay attention.
So I recorded a short video for you while I was stuck in traffic.
In order for any of our marketing efforts to work, we must first get people to pay attention.
It’s one of the most basic things that direct response marketers or content marketers need to do.
But I don’t think that most of us really think about what we’re asking people to do when we ask them to “pay attention.”
Because if we did, I think we’d realize the secret to not only getting them to pay attention once but also to pay attention to us AGAIN in the future.
In my video below, I reveal a way to think about getting people to pay attention that will help you to devise strategies that will make people want to keep paying attention to you/your marketing in the future.
And the when you figure out how to do this, you will move people from being just a prospect to becoming something much more valuable (to them and you.)
Watch my short video below and you’ll discover what I mean…
Make Sure Your Prospect Receives “Return on Attention” If You Want Them to KEEP Paying Attention (VIDEO)
Your LAST DAY to Get a Free Copy of My Book!
For a limited time, those who join in the month of April will get a FREE COPY of my book 51 Content Marketing Hacks.
(It’s a book FILLED with stories. You will not only discovered powerful examples of content marketing from throughout history, you’ll also see how I use stories to draw people in.)
In the video below, you’ll get to listen in to an interview that I did with David Garfinkel, the man who some call “The World’s Greatest Copywriting Coach.”
In this video you’ll discover:
What David means when he says, “Direct marketers go where branders fear to tread.”
Two important examples of this idea
(One example of is of an extremely successful company that became successful because it went where branders fear to tread.)
The key question direct marketers ask that branders tend to avoid
Watch the video now….
Direct Marketers Go Where Branders Fear To Tread (VIDEO)
CLARIFICATION: Brand marketers, please don’t misunderstand this video.
It isn’t meant to be an attack on brand marketers. And it’s not saying that you don’t need to have a name or brand that stands out in the marketplace.
Having a known brand in the marketplace is important. (When I say “brand,” I’m not talking about a logo. I am talking about a distinct identity/persona.)
Brand marketing can be useful if you’re selling consumable or commodity items that people already plan to buy. Then brand marketing can help your product to stand out from the crowd.
The reason that David and other direct marketers don’t favor brand marketing as the main marketing strategy is:
It is too expensive for most businesses and companies, if you want to really stand out in the marketplace or in people’s minds. (Most companies don’t have as much money as Coca-Cola.)
If you’re selling something that people don’t already plan to buy, then you will need to start with some type of education-based marketing instead of focusing on branding.
It isn’t sustainable for most businesses and companies as a primary marketing strategy. (Most companies need to make a sale now, before their brand becomes known.)
*As David shared in the video, direct marketers tend to focus on getting the sale (and especially the second, third, fourth, etc. sale).
They do that by marketing directly to a focused target group in a measurable way.
And they do it in a way in which branding becomes a by-product of what happens as they are gaining customers.
They don’t use branding as a way to get customers.
Don’t Forget to Subscribe to Our New Channel!
NOTE: This video is part of our a brand new channel, so subscribe and stay tuned for more interviews, ideas, lessons, and strategies that can help you to be an effective “direct response content marketer:”
Gene is one of the legends who all direct marketers look up to, so any information related to him is information you should listen to!
Plus, you should listen to it because David reveals the problem with just writing copy “right off the top of your head.”
David also reveals a different method that will help you produce the best copywriting you’re able to. Click the link/title above and listen to it now! (Then don’t forget to subscribe so you can hear all of the future episodes that come out.)
Finally, if you don’t just want to learn from David, but you also want to be mentored by him or see if he can work for your company, then go to GarfinkelCoaching.com.
4 Days Left to Get a Free Copy of My Book
For a limited time, those who join in the month of April will get a FREE COPY of my book 51 Content Marketing Hacks.
Have You Read “The Direct Response Content Marketing Manifesto” Yet?
If you would like to know more about this site and the new form of marketing that I’ve come up with, then check out my “Direct Response Content Marketing Manifesto.”
Click the image below to read it now. (If it resonates with you, then become a free member today.)
P.S. I’ll have other interviews with David, and other articles from other direct response and content marketing experts, in the future on this site. So stay tuned. P.P.S If you’d like to write a guest post, then contact me and let’s talk!
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen any of the videos from the “Try Guys,” who were formerly a part of Buzzfeed, but I find the ones where they try food at all different price levels very interesting.
Why? Because, even though the Try Guys didn’t intend this, it reveals that the same product can be priced at extremely different prices.
What’s the difference? It all has to do with:
The context in which you offer the product
The way you prepare the product
The ingredients or elements you use
How you present the product
Watch the video through the pricing lens and see what lessons you can learn about pricing from it…
$3 Sushi Vs. $250 Sushi
Some Additional Thoughts on Pricing
The point of showing this video isn’t to suggest that you should only or always price your products or services at the highest level you can.
The point is to remind you of some important things about price that you might not realize or have forgotten:
The price you have chosen for your product or service is much more elastic than you’ve assumed. That means your prices aren’t out of your control.
The price you have chosen for your product or service is impacting the kinds of customers that you are attracting. That means that your pricing is a part of your marketing!
If you’re marketing campaign isn’t making enough money to be profitable, you can probably raise your prices slightly without any negative consequences. In fact, you might be surprised and see positive results!
What Lessons Did You Learn About Pricing?
What prices did you learn about pricing from this video? I’d love to hear them. Comment below or contact me and let me know!
5 Days Left to Get a Free Copy of My Book
For a limited time, those who join in the month of April will get a FREE COPY of my book 51 Content Marketing Hacks.
Elmer Wheeler (1904-1968) was one of the pioneers of persuasion, best known for his advice “Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle.”
It was 7 words are what make Elmer Wheeler very famous.
What did he mean by this saying? By saying this, Elmer Wheeler was expressing the importance of focusing on the emotional benefits of what you’re offering someone over the logical benefits.
I discovered a rare movie from 1952 in which Elmer shares some of his most powerful ideas.
P.S. Make sure to check out the rest of this post below the embedded video. If you do, you’ll discover his “5 Wheelerpoints” and you’ll learn how you can get a free copy of his book.
Elmer Wheeler Movie: “Selling the Sizzle” (VIDEO)
Screenshot from Movie Embedded Below
In this rare, powerful video from Periscope Film, Elmer Wheeler answers a question that he asks at the beginning of the movie, “What makes people buy?” (03:20)
Then he goes on to show you how to “sell the sizzle” to get yourself that job, that sale, etc.
WARNING: The movie definitely has some cheesy, NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT, 1950’s scenes, sound effects, and humor, but don’t let that keep you from watching it.
The powerful things that Elmer Wheeler shares in this video aren’t just important for salespeople. It will also be a huge help to both content marketers and direct response marketers.
(He also shows you how to use his principles in your own life.)
One thing you’ll appreciate in this move is that Elmer actually gives you examples of some successful (and unsuccessful) “signatures sizzles.”
He also takes the last part of the film (in an after scene part of the movie) and shows how to apply what he teaches in a real-world situation.
You can watch the video below…
The Five Wheelerpoints from the Book Sizzlemanship: New Tested Selling Sentences
In the movie above, Elmer shares his five “Wheelerpoints” that he was famous for.
And to make sure that you don’t miss them, I decided to share them with you below in the way that he presents them in his book Sizzlemanship: New Tested Selling Sentences.
(*You can download a FREE copy of this book in our Member’s Resource Area.)
1. DON’T SELL THE STEAK SELL THE SIZZLE!
“Its the sizzle that sells the steak and not the cow.
“Steers can’t take orders for their shank bones, but, when the waiter carries a sizzling steak across the restaurant, you hear, see, and smell that sizzle and buy!
“Find the sizzle in what you sell and you find success.”
2. “DON’T WRITE TELEGRAPH.”
“Learn how to speak telegraphically how to boil your words down.
“The more you concentrate sunbeams the deeper they burn. The finest steak in the world loses its sizzle if the waiter takes too long in delivering it.
“So learn the new art of verbal shorthand.”
3. “SAY IT WITH FLOWERS.”
“‘Happy returns of the day’ means much more when you say it with flowers.
“It’s as much what you do as what you say. So? fortify your words with gestures. Back up your sizzles with action. Synchronize them with showmanship.
“Say and do all in one motion.”
4. DON’T ASK IF ASK WHICH!
“Always give the other person a choice between something and something never between something and nothing.
“Be a good lawyer and ask leading questions. Ask ‘Why?’ or ‘Where?’ or ‘When?’ or ‘How?’ or ‘What?’ Not ‘if’ but ‘which!’
“Give others a choice between two things you want. You can’t lose on this principle.”
5. WATCH YOUR BARK!
“The little dog has only one word, and only one tail to wag; but the way he barks and the way he wags his tail convey his meaning.
“So watch your bark. The best sizzle in the world flops with a thud if your voice is flat.
“Your voice, remember, is the carrier of your message. How you say it is as important as what you say.”
Download Our Member’s Resource Area: Sizzlemanship: New Tested Selling Sentences
You can grab your copy for free in our Member’s Resource Arena.
The “Father of Advertising” Reveals His First Love and Secret Weapon
Screenshot of David Ogilvy Revealing Why Direct Response is Better Than General Advertising
The late David Ogilvy is considered by many to be “The Father of Advertising.”
He is admired and studied for incredible insights into, and understanding of, effective advertising. In fact, Time magazine went as far as calling him “the most sought after wizard in the business.”
Well, you might be surprised to hear this, but David Ogilvy believed in the power and effectiveness of direct response marketing.
In the video you are about to see, Ogilvy reveals that direct marketing was the secret weapon he used to grow his agency, Ogilvy & Mather!
In fact, he calls direct response his “first love” and says that he tried for forty years to get the advertising community to understand the importance of direct response.
In this video, David Ogilvy shares some insights that expose the exact reason why whenever I teach marketing to marketers and business professionals, I always teach them that direct response marketing is the foundation of all effective marketing.
My Similar Goal(s)
And in the same way that Ogilvy tried to convince the advertising world of the importance of direct response, my goal is to help the content marketing industry the importance of direct response.
But that’s not all. I also want the direct response industry to see the importance of content marketing.
David Ogilvy: We Sell or Else (VIDEO)
Description of the video: “Renowned Advertising guru David Ogilvy gives a brief speech on the importance of direct marketing.”
Two Quotes from This Video
In the above video, Ogilvy gave this amazing prediction to direct marketers…
“I predict that the practitioners of general advertising are going to start learning from your experience. They’re going to start picking your brains. I see no reason why the direct response divisions of agencies should be separate from the main agencies. Some of you may remember when television people in agencies were kept separate wasn’t that idiotic? I expect to see the direct response people become an integral part of all agencies. You have more to teach them than they have to teach you. You have it in your power to rescue the advertising business from its manifold lunacies.”
– David Ogilvy
Later he reveals just how important that he believes direct response is when he says…
“Nobody should be allowed to create general advertising until he has served his apprenticeship in direct response.”
– David Ogilvy
If you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to watch the video right now. And if you already just watched it, then watch it again. It’s that important.
If You Would Like To Discover More of David Ogilvy’s Insights
If you’d like to learn more of his insights into direct response and advertising, and you don’t already have his book, then you should grab a copy of it.
Here are some of the things that he talks about in his book:
• How to get a job in advertising • How to choose an agency for your product • The secrets behind advertising that works • How to write successful copy—and get people to read it • Eighteen miracles of research • What advertising can do for charities
NOTE: This site uses affiliate links to Amazon. If you click on a link and are taken to their website, we might make a small commission. But we only link to or recommend products or services that we like and think are actually good and helpful! The commission is not worth it to recommend books or products we don’t believe in.
