I rolled back into Seattle on Saturday night after a whirlwind (and drama-packed) trip to Stamford, Connecticut to speak at Ryan Lee’s “Continuity Summit” event . . .
This was my first “official” speaking engagement in the IM space (I’ve been a guest and on panels a bunch) and I gotta admit I was a little nervous about it.
Got lots of feedback saying I was the best presenter on Thurs (and one of the best of the weekend) . . .
Here’s some of the exhausting (and awesome) lessons I learned along the way . . .
I don’t know about you, but 2009 was BRUTAL and strange
and transformative and wonderful here in Haddad town . . .
I had my heart broken . . .
Got lasers blasted in my eyes by the target of a murder plot (seriously) . . .
Dropped 16 pounds in 5 days due to some freaky bug . . .
Lost my mind on a beach in Mexico . . .
Let go of a lifetime of secret self-loathing . . .
Made a gaggle of new friends . . .
Got arrested and humiliated in the desert (now THAT’S a story I’ll tell you someday) . . .
Got that “ADHD” thing figured out . . . (So THIS is what it’s like to concentrate)
Had some massive professional success (and a few crushing failures) . . .
And generally went through a personal “crucible”that left me battered and giddy
and flopping around like a fish out of water wondering what the heck is going to happen next.
But now 2009 is over, the slate has been wiped clean
and it’s time to get serious, clear the decks and hit 2010 HARD . . .
Yoda knew more about marketing than he was letting on.
You remember Yoda back in Empire Strikes back?
(You know the GOOD Star Wars movie back before big George Lucas decided to make Darth Vader all emo).
In “Empire,” Yoda rides Luke around Dogabah like a whiny pony and teaches him the ways of the force . . .
Near the end of his training, Yoda tells Luke to use the force to raise his sunken Starfighter out of the swamp so he can fly off and get his hand cut off by his Dad.
Luke looks at the multi-ton X-Wing, glances at Yoda with a “you’re nuts” look on his face and (already anticipating defeat) says “OK, I’ll try.”
Which prompts Yoda to utter one of the greatest bits of pop philosophy of the last 50 years (and one of the most quoted lines in movie history.) He says . . .
Do or do not. There is no try.”
Which is great for a couple of reasons.
1. It’s one of the coolest bits of “Pop Philosophy” of the last 50 years (and makes you wonder what happened to Lucas when he started writing the downright-horrible sequels).
2. Hidden in that sage statement is some REALLY good advice for marketers and persuaders of all stripes . . . and some cool little copywriting advice that can subtly shift even “tough” prospects from tire-kicker to eager buyer in just a few little sentences.
While I was down in Sayulita, Mexico, I put together a short video talking about the power of ENVY for my friend and client Kevin Potts. It’s a pretty good video (and shows off the heart-stopping beauty of the place) so I figured I’d share it with you too.
Welcome back to the Hard Working Words Newsletter.
Usually I try to get this little missive out as close to the 15th
of each month as possible . . . but this month a little bit of
travel (I was down in San Diego hanging with Bob Serling, Jason
Moffat and others) and a whole lot of pain (the back pain fairy
spent this whole week chewing on my spine like an over-ripe melon)
conspired to make me late, late, late.
But I’m going to make up for it . . . .=-)
But first a little “Admin” . . .
=================================
Haddad Joins Twitter . . . World Trembles
=================================
Alright, I hid under my luddite bus as long as possible. About two
weeks ago I poked my head into the “Twitterverse” . . . and really
liked what I saw. Now I’m a twittering maniac.
If you’re into that newfangled “Web 2.0″ stuff you can follow me at haddadink.com, you’re going to notice
two things in rapid succession . . .
1. My shiny, glowing head, artfully arched eyebrow and Mona Lisa
smile . . .
2. A testimonial from direct marketing superstar Jeff Paul saying
that my copy “Sucks In Cash Like A Nuclear Powered Vacuum Cleaner.”
Now, why would I put a testimonial from Jeff way up at the top of
my site, even before the headline?
Well, if you think about it for a minute, it’s pretty obvious. If
*I* open up my sales letter (or website or ad) bragging about how
great I am, I just sound like a egotistical git.
But if a client says it for me (especially a well known client)
then all those big promises are suddenly a heck of a lot more
believable.
In fact, the testimonials I’ve got up near the top of my page (from
guys like Jeff Paul, David Garfinkel, Harlan Kilstein, Jason
Moffatt and Michael Cage) do more to establish my credibility as a
marketer and copywriter, and to convince prospects to get in touch
with me than all the other copy on my site combined.
Not to be hypey, but good testimonials are marketing ROCKET FUEL .
. . they cut right through the “BS meter” of your prospect, and let
you obliterate objections with lightning speed.
Or at least they should.
But unfortunately, most of the testimonials you see out there in
the marketing wild . . . err . . . kind of suck.
They’re over-long, rambling and usually have no point at all . . .
plus they’re often banished to some never-read “testimonials page”
to die.
But in today’s article I’m going to give you a step-by-step process
you can use to get great, high-impact testimonials from your
customers every time.
================
Where’s the Sizzle?
================
Legendary copywriter John Carlton has three basic rules for a good
testimonial:
1. Short
2. Specific
3. Sizzling
Here are two examples of short testimonials that John’s received
that follow his three rules:
” Who says crime doesn’t pay? John let me steal one of his
headlines for a seminar pitch… netting me a cool $251,771 in
just 3 days.”
“I study Carlton’s copy like a 14 year-old boy reads Playboy.
Completely dazzled, entranced and full of desire.”
Can you see how these testimonials POP off the page? In very few
words, they convey that John’s copy makes money (and a LOT of
money) and that the man knows a thing or two about stirring up
emotions. If you look at John’s marketingrebel.com site,
you’ll see that the whole damn page is covered in these kind of
testimonials . . .many of them from the big “gurus” of the online
marketing world.
(Actually, at a recent conference, John called this page his “wall
of testimonials.”)
And every one of those testimonials in another slat in the bridge
that makes you want to walk up to John and hand him your wallet.
Like I said, powerful stuff . . .
=====================================================
“OK, Chris, But How Do *I* Get Testimonials Like That?
=====================================================
Ahh, good question.
You see, when most people go testimonial hunting, they do it the
absolute *wrong* way . . .
They send out an email to a client or a customer and say “Hi, would
you give me a testimonial?”
And then they wait.
And then they wait some more.
And then, maybe after a little bit more waiting (and a few more
emails sent) they finally get a response . . . only to find that
the testimonial they received is long, boring and vague.
==============================================
So How Do You Turn A “Lame” Testimonial Into A Winner?
==============================================
Another good question.
The best way to get “awesome” testimonials is to . . .
1. Use powerful questions to lead your customers to give you what
you want.
2. Edit like crazy.
Now, in the age of Amazon testimonials and “Web 2.0″ it might sound
a little weird to say that you should “lead” your customers.
And I’m in no way suggesting that you should put words in their
mouth.
But the fact of the matter is that writing something (even
something as simple as a testimonial) scares the heck out of most
people.
So how do you conquer their fear, get past the vagueness and get
the “Power Testimonials” you need?
With “Testimonial Generator Questions.”
Here are just a few of the questions I send out to people when I’m
collecting testimonials for my products or the products of my
clients:
1. What problem were you facing that (our product) solved?
2. How much has (our product) increased your profits or income?
3. How much time or money has (our product) saved you?
4. Has (our product) made your life easier? How?
5. What did you like about (our product?) What do you like about
the experience of working with (our company?)
6. Were you pleasantly surprised by any part of your experience
with (our product?)
7. What did you find remarkable about (our product?)
8. What is the most important thing people should know about (our
product?)
9. Would you recommend(our product) to your friends, families or
co-workers? Why?
10. What part of your experience with (our product) makes you want
to do business with us again?
11. Other thoughts or comments?
Send out specific questions like these and you’ll be *shocked* how
many more of your customers are willing to give you powerful,
sales-producing testimonials.
Of course once you get the form back, your job is just half done.
That’s when we get to step two . . . editing!
Now, again, I’m not saying that you should alter or change what
your customer is saying in any way.
In fact, you want to keep the rhythm, the cadence and the style of
what your customers say as much as possible. After all, if every
testimonial on your site sounds the same, your customers will smell
a scam.
But you also want to help your customers to be their most succinct
and specific selves.
That means going through their responses to your questions, picking
out the most powerful bits and forming them into a new, probably
shorter and more powerful testimonial.
And then you put your new and improved testimonial under your
customer’s nose to make sure it passes muster.
The result?
Short, specific and sizzling testimonials that do wonders for your
credibility . . . and for your sales.
Chris “Mr. Moneyfingers” Haddad here with the June, 2008 edition of *your* Hard Working Words Newsletter.
I’m just back in HWW central after a long (and lovely) week out on the East Coast where I gorged on expensive Manhattan cuisine, got baked and burned while crossing the Brooklyn bridge and had the supreme (and supremely fun . . . I recommend it) honor of being the officiant at my good friend Mason Rabinowitz’s wedding to the absolutely *awesome* Cari Strand.
All of which has *nothing* to do with today’s brief (but powerful) topic. A little thing I like to call “Fuzzy Scarcity.”
=============
Fuzzy Scarcity
=============
If you’ve been studying marketing for any length of time you already know that *scarcity* is one of the most whoppingly powerful tools you can use to get your prospects to actually reach into their pockets and buy your stuff.
In fact, it’s so powerful that Robert Cialdini lists it as the 5th and final “Weapon of Influence” in his awesome book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” ( If you haven’t already, you really should read it) . . .
And pretty much every copywriting book or course out there *demands* that you include a level of scarcity in your sales letter or ad in order to tickle the back of your prospect’s brain, kill the “I’ll think about it” impulse, spur immediate action and justify a higher price.
Now, most of the time including a sales-popping level of scarcity in your promotion is pretty easy . . .
If you’re selling a widget, you’ve generally only got so many on hand . . .
If you’re selling a seminar, there really are only so many seats you can fit in a room . . .
And if you’re selling a service, there really *is* a limit on how many clients you can handle at any given time.
But what do you do if (as in the case when you’re selling a digital product like an ebook, an audio recording or a downloadable video) what you’ve got is essentially *unlimited?*
Well, that’s when you bring in what I like to call . . . Fuzzy Scarcity.
===========================
What The Heck Is “Fuzzy Scarcity?”
===========================
Fuzzy scarcity is where you create doubt and turbulence in your prospect’s mind by saying that while this fantastic deal at this fantastic price and with these mind-breaking bonuses *is* available right now . . . it *might* not be tomorrow.
You *might* decide to raise the price (maybe even *double* it) . . .
You *might* decide that that super-awesome “deal maker” bonus is just too damned cool . . .
Or you even *might* decide to take the whole shebang off the market forever after you make a certain number of sales just because that’s what you want to do . . .
The key here, of course, is to keep the terms of your scarcity “Fuzzy” and vaguely defined . . . and to make sure that you never, ever (ever) lie. (There’s a special, and rather well populated, corner of hell reserved for marketers who lie about this sort of stuff.)
===============
Need an example?
===============
Here’s some “riffing” copy that I came up with while I was at John Carlton’s “17 Points Of Copywriting Success” workshop a couple of months back. (Tangentially, that conference is where the whole “fuzzy scarcity” concept stopped being “fuzzy” and solidified nicely in my mind.)
This is for an ebook I’m working on called “The Ultimate Best Man Speech” and this copy will appear pretty far down the sales letter . . .
“Hey, listen . . . if you’ve read this far down this letter it shows me that you’re serious about learning how to do this right. . . and about giving a really kick ass best man speech at your buddy’s wedding.
And, if this is right for you, I want to make sure you get your hands on this info and put it into action.
But here’s the deal.
My friends who have gone through the “Ultimate Best Man Speech Guide” think I’m kind of a moron. They think I’ve gotten way too excited . . .
With the audio recordings, the “plug and play” wedding speech examples, the instant email access to me and all the other awesome bonuses, they think I’ve gone overboard.
And I’m pretty sure that I’m going to either cut this package WAYYYY down, or I’m going to basically double the price.
Not sure.
But I’m thinking about it.
So if you want to get the “Sweetheart deal” you should grab it now.”
Get it?
Now, of course, for Fuzzy Scarcity to work, you first have to convince your prospect that they actually *want* what you’ve got to sell . . . but once you do even just a *hint* that you might take it away from them (or that they might get an “unfair” deal that nobody else is going to get) will have them buying like crazy.
P.S. Obviously there’s a whole lot more to say on this topic ranging from how to use bonuses to create scarcity to the fact that for a certain segment of the market scarcity is actually a feature (why the heck do you think people buy diamonds?) but that’s all way beyond the scope of this brief article.
——
And that’s that.
Before I go, just a quick tip of the hat to the late, great George Carlin. I doubt he had much love for Copywriters or marketers, but damn that man knew language.
Remember, you can always leave a comment on the blog version of this article on the HWW Blog: http://www.haddadink.com/blog
If there’s one thing I loved about the old 1990s Star Trek Series (the one with the Klingon and the bald guy and the robot who just wanted to be loved) it was the *three* comfy chairs that they had on the bridge.
I mean, in the “old school” Shatner series, there was just one chair. And Kirk sat there like a well coiffed King and lorded it over the rest of the crew.
But in “Next Gen” there were three chairs all crunched in next to each other.
One for the Captain.
On for the First Mate.
And one (and this is where this article starts to make sense) for the EMPATH.
Deanna Troi, the ship’s counselor, was a buxom half-alien brunette decked out in a rather daring jumpsuit.
And Picard kept her right there on his left side during tense negotiations, big battles and even dinner parties because she UNDERSTOOD people.
She knew what they were feeling.
She knew what they were going through. (Heck, she even had crazy alien powers that almost *made* her understand people.)
Now, if you know anything about these crazy creatures we call humans you know that what we all *really* want is to be understood.
In fact, one of the best ways to *calm* somebody down if they’re mad is to simply say “I understand your point of view. I went through something similar once and if I was going through what you’re going through, I’d feel the same way.” (I had a customer service guy do this one on me not so long ago and it worked like magic.)
And great salesmen know that if you can show that you UNDERSTAND the problems and the feelings that a prospect is going through, then you can radically increase your chances of making a sale. (Especially if what you’ve got to offer really is the answer to their dreams.)
But How Do You Use Empathy In Your Marketing?
After all, when you’re talking about a website or a video or a radio ad or a sales letter or whatever else, you’re not really there. It’s not like you can play off your prospect, pick up off their verbal and non verbal cues and figure out what they’re feeling.
One great way to establish empathy in your marketing is to tell a story about how you went through the same thing.
For instance, if you were selling a back pain remedy you would tell the story about how horrible and frustrating it was when you were wracked by back pain yourself.
You’d say something like:
I remember the last time my back really went out.
I was shuffling back to my apartment when I felt it. That sick little click in my lower back. Suddenly all the strength went out of my right leg and I felt that nauseous horror flow through my body. That dull, awful throb.
And, honestly, I just about broke down crying right there on the street thinking about what I knew was coming next. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars at the chiropractor. Endless hours stuck lying on my floor and staring at the ceiling. And that deep, deep feeling of frustration, anger and even shame at what I must have done wrong to deserve this.”
(I could go on. As you might be able to tell I’ve had my fair share of experience with back pain. Mostly better now though =-))
In fact telling “I’m just like you” stories is one of the core strategies for selling just about anything.
And no matter what you’ve got to sell, whether it’s financial advice, massages or crazy little widgets, you can probably think back to a time that you went through the same problem that your prospects are.
But What If You Can’t?
What if you’ve never experienced “that sick click?” (or whatever other problem is plaguing your customers that you’re going to solve.)
That’s when you use what I like to call “maybe bullets.”
They’re not the only way to throw empathy into your marketing, but they are one way and, in my experience, they work really well.
What’s a “maybe bullet?”
A “Maybe” bullet is a short statement that “paces” the feelings and emotions that your customer are going through and shows them that you UNDERSTAND them.
For instance, for a sales letter I wrote aimed at parents of children with ADD/ADHD I put the following “Maybe Bullets” way up early on the page:
Maybe your child has just recently been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and you’re smartly scouring the internet looking for sound, proven advice on how to manage or cure this problem and give your child all the advantages he or she deserves in life . . .
Maybe you’re an ADD/ADHD “veteran” who’s tried drug after overpriced drug and cure after ineffective cure, has seen the mounting body of evidence against pharmaceutical ADD/ADHD drugs and is worried sick about what this “bad medicine” is doing to your child.
Maybe you yourself are a teenaged or adult sufferer of ADD or ADHD searching for a way to find the concentration and focus you need . . . and are ready to finally say goodbye to the side effects, cost and danger of prescription drugs.
And then the letter goes on.
Now, these bullets aren’t expected to carry the full empathy load themselves. (And if you look at the website for this product at Treat ADHD Naturally you’ll see a lot more empathy building.)
But they are a great way of calling out nice an early that you UNDERSTAND where your customers are coming from, that you’re not just some soulless, heartless corporation and that maybe, just maybe, you’re in this for more than just the money.
Used properly, Maybe bullets (and empathetic copy in general) are the next best thing to actually listening to someone’s problems.
In today’s *big* first post of 2008 I’m going to reveal a super-simple method you can use to “dumb down” your copy for massively increased sales . . . Plus I will literally put my foot in my own mouth as I praise a feature of my *least favorite* software program.
(Tangentially, I hope you had a Happy Holiday and a Rocking New Year. I went on a whirlwind tour of the East Coast followed 3 days up at Whistler Mountain in Canada followed by about 4 days of excruciating pain back here in Seattle as my back decided that I’d had just about enough fun and that it was time for me to suffer. But enough of that . . . back to the point.)
Ok, quick quiz, what are the three big traits that your copy needs to have if it’s going to close a sale?
Think about it.
No, really, I mean it.
Done yet?
Ok, I’ll tell you:
Copy that closes sales and makes money absolutely *has to be* . . .
1. *Exciting*
2. *Persuasive*
And
3. *Simple.*
*Exciting* means that your copy needs to be compelling and even fun to read. Your reader should actually be *enjoying* herself as she slides down the slippery slope towards a sale . . .
*Persuasive* means that your copy needs to stack up emotional and logical arguments that make it just about impossible for your prospect *not* to buy what you’re selling . . .
And *simple* means that your copy is written in a way that you’re average semi-literate 7th grader could easily understand.
A lot of newbie copywriters and business owners who are writing their own stuff fall into what I call “the trap of the high fallutin’”
They pack their sales letters and ads full of jargon, 10 dollar words and weird, circular sentence structures all in a desperate effort to look smart . . .
And they completely fail to connect with their audience and *make money.*
My friend and mentor David Garfinkel turned me on to a great quote by Ernest Hemingway (who’s one of the *simplest* writers out there.)
Hemingway said: “I use the oldest words in the English language. People think I’m an ignorant bastard who doesn’t know the $10 words. I know the $10 words. There are older and better words which, if you arrange them in the proper combination, you make it stick.”
What Hemingway is saying here is that if you use shorter, punchier and more powerful words (and shorter words are almost always more powerful) you’ll make a much bigger *impact* on the mind of your prospect . . . and will have a much higher chance of making the sale.
Need another example? Think about George Carlin’s “7 Words You Can’t Say On Television” (This is a family blog, so I won’t type them out here.) or just think about swears in general. There’s a reason the “best” swears are all 4 letters long . . . and that’s because *short,* *simple* words have impact that *long,* *complicated* words utterly lack.
“But Chris,” I can hear you saying “My audience is full of Harvard MBA’s, brainiac tech heads and folks who wasted their youth getting a Masters in English Literature. Doesn’t that mean that I have to write in a ’smarter’ style?”
And the answer is “not even a little.”
No matter how specialized or (over)-educated your audience is, you’re still selling to *people* . . . and *people* respond to simple, conversational, persuasive prose.
Now, that doesn’t mean you have to write to the lowest common denominator . . . if you’re writing to a specialized group with their own common jargon that they use in their everyday speech, go ahead and throw it in . . . but make sure your copy is written in a simple, friendly way that actually engages your audience.
*OK, Here’s A Little Tip On How To Do This Simply*
Now, I *hate* Microsoft Word.
I think it’s a frustrating piece of bloatware that makes writing a heck of a lot harder than it has to be.
But there is *one* feature of MS Word that keeps me coming back to the program again and again no matter how hard I try to get away, and that’s the “readability index.”
This is a cool little tool that will help you get your copy tighter and more powerful . . . and that most folks just don’t know about.
To use it, open up word, and go to “Tools” at the top of your toolbar.
Then click “Spelling and Grammar.”
In the spell check box that pops up click “options.”
And then select the box under “Grammar” that says “check readability statistics.
After Word finishes checking your spelling and grammar, it’ll show you a handy-dandy little box explaining how “readable” your copy is.
And way at the bottom you’ll get a stat called the “Fleshsch-Kincaid Grade Level.”
What you want is for your grade level to be right around 6th or 7th grade . . . which means your average 12 year old could read your copy without being terribly confused.
(As a side note, the grade level on *THIS VERY BLOG POST* is a 7.8 . . . slightly higher than I’d like, but still pretty darned readable.)
So there you go. Now you know how to use my *least* favorite piece of software to make your copy simpler and more powerful . . . and to close more sales.
