Thanks, Seth, for part of the answer to our previous post’s question:
“Since no one wants to be sold, what do I write or talk about to sell my products?”
Today he tells what NOT to do:
“The worst thing you can do is be boring and vague.
The second worst thing you can do is be boring and verbose and obvious.
The first goal of copy is to get you to read more copy.
The second goal is to tell a story that spreads.
And then, finally, to have that story get people to take action.”
We’ll take all that to the bank.
Also add, “No TechnoBabble” p. 37-50. Else how will people can understand what you are talking about?
Let’s assume the words “copy” and “first date script” are interchangeable for our purposes. In sales and marketing, the same principles work for getting people to read more, as work to get people to want to listen to more.
So here are our goals:
The first goal of your first date script is to get someone else to want to hear more.
The second goal is to tell a story – YOUR story – that spreads.
And last, to have that story get people to take action – like give you a referral, or ask for more info.
So here’s a way to start doing that.
If sales and marketing were a game, with rules as all games have, then here is Rule #1:
To accomplish that first goal above (i.e. get someone else to want to hear more), you are not allowed to come across like a seller. You cannot sound like a seller or you broke the rule and lose immediately. No one wants to hear more.
Here’s how to learn this rule. Say out loud your opening product or business script – whatever you use when someone asks, “What do you do?”
Listen to it as you or someone else reads it out loud. Does it sound like a sales pitch? If so, work with it until it doesn’t. You might call your cell phone and say it into the VM and listen to it.
If you break Rule #1 of the sales and marketing game, you’re out. We all know that, so let’s get that rule down first.
Want feedback on your opener from the readers? We’re a collaborative bunch, so click on “Comments” below and enter some of your “openers.” I’ll post them and the readers can vote and see if they pass that first test:
Does it sound like a seller talking? YES NO
Specify whether it’s your “business” or “product” (or combo) opener, OK?
Kim Klaver | Klaver | marketing |
direct marketing|networkmarketing|sales training |motivation| self improvement
I market a product for people who can’t keep to a diet because they get the nibbles between meals. Do you know anyone who would like to know about a product like that?
I sell a product that saves people money on their gasoline purchases. It’s a liquid that you just pour into your gas tank. I saved more than $1,000 on gasoline and car maintenance last year by using it. It cleaned out my engine, increased my fuel mileage and reduced pollution coming out of my 10-year-old car’s tailpipe.
Far be it from me to be the ‘token voice of dissent’ and rain on anyone’s fun parade (and I genuinely don’t want to hurt anyone with unfair critique), BUT…
When I saw those two comments I had to check the date to see if this was an April Fool thing – I’m hard-pressed to think of two comments which could sound MORE like a pitch.
As ‘blog comment’ is hardly an ideal venue to get into this fully, let’s instead confine ourselves to salient points:
Deadly Sin #1: Don’t have an attention-grabbing headline.
Deadly Sin #2: Begin with ‘I’.
Deadly Sin #3: Follow with ‘sell’ or ‘market’.
Deadly Sin #4: Quickly add ‘product’.
Deadly Sin #5: Speak of features rather than benefits.
Deadly Sin #6: Don’t place ‘them’ in the picture.
Deadly Sin #7: Don’t provide a strong demands-response question.
At risk of being considered unduly negative in highlighting the errors rather than proposing solutions, the fix is simple: don’t do 1-7.
The best pitches are conversational… a two-way flow engagement. Far better to suggest than simply state, for a sublime alternative to all those 3-feet-long ‘ya gotta buy now’ e-pages go look at jpeterman.com and bathe in the subtle understated charm. Can you do that kind of stuff in Network Marketing? Of course not – but you can adapt and adopt some of it… and in so doing become less like a pre-programmed automaton spewing a canned line.
Until someone develops and delivers ‘How To be A Network Marketer’ good-intentioned people are going to continue to pollute the planet and fail in their enterprise with amateur antics.
I believe these comments are designed to answer the question someone asks, “So what do you do?” so they are in that sense conversational. They’re not intended to be openers, I don’t believe. There’s a story behind the first one. But that’s for another post.
Say you complain that comments on this blog are moderated, but there IS a place to comment, which is something I don’t see over at your site. Did I miss it? Plus there is no easy-to-find ‘About Me’ on your blog. ??
You have some nice stuff going there, but I see neither your email, nor a way to add any comment.
Please excuse my heavy-handedness.
Numbed by much of the witless stupidity that happens in NM (I think the principle is great, but the practice often isn’t), I’ve been ‘desperately seeking’ the worthwhile sites – which challenge the status quo and genuinely work to advance things. Finding yours, I two-footedly lept-in.
My ‘thing’ is authenticity – just be honest. Hence I baulk at contrivance (even though it’s often tough to reach folk).
Feeling more than a little guilty about blundering in with such an ungraciously ‘use an ax to remove the fly from your neighbor’s forehead’ manner, in looking for a shot at redemption I contacted the other commenters by email…
Seems I already know Shelagh from when I used to handle stuff for jmf, and Robert and I now have a good line of contact developing. Having long-since realised my total lack of diplomacy, I hope the points I make are valid. I meant well. 😉
I’ve seen (and advised) so many people desperately wanting to succeed… yet struggling because they’ve hook-line-and-sinker swallowed stuff which doesn’t best serve and is directly counterproductive to their own best efforts.
>Say you complain that comments on this blog are moderated, but there IS a place to comment, which is something I don’t see over at your site. Did I miss it?
No Kim, you didn’t. Asked-and-answered here.
>Plus there is no easy-to-find ‘About Me’ on your blog.
Again, absolutely right.
The site needs to quickly grow beyond me and introduce other/guest writers. Then will be a good point to introduce a subtle, though more prominent, ‘who writes this stuff?’ link to individual bylines/bios.
Meantime, I’ve taken your advice and slotted a ‘who’ paragraph into the intro. Thanks for the heads-up.
>You have some nice stuff going there, but I see neither your email, nor a way to add any comment.
Thanks. The appreciation is welcomed. Hopefully I covered the ‘comment’ piece earlier. And the email appears (fairly prominently I thought), in INTRO.
😉