"Underneath The Mango Tree" by Charlie Byrne

09/13/2012

 
My hometown “Paradise by the Sea” of Delray Beach, Florida, is not only blessed with miles of gorgeous sandy beaches… lined with dozens of casual, eclectic, and gourmet restaurants… and overflowing with hip clubs and art galleries…

It’s also home to a huge number of… drum roll, please.

Mango trees.

I mean, really. It’s almost ridiculous!

The trees rise to the sky on practically every street — in front yards, vacant lots, village parks, and any number of other accessible, public spaces.

Hundreds upon hundreds of mangos hang off every tree. Branches bend down from the weight, putting the succulent fruit within the grasp of any man, woman, or child who cares to enjoy it.

And it was on one of my morning runs last week that I realized there was something terribly wrong with this picture!

All this wonderful fruit right there for the taking, but none of it had been picked! I examined no less than seven trees, and couldn’t find a single stem missing its mango.

Why? Why, for example, hadn’t I taken one myself?

The answer, of course, was simple. It’s the same reason folks don’t take the coconuts that are falling off trees all over town.

And the same reason why I never went to the top of the Empire State Building when I worked in New York City… and walked past it every day.

Because I could do it whenever I wanted!

And that’s why Delray Beach’s overloaded mango trees are an ideal illustration of two closely related marketing principles…

Urgency and Scarcity

In marketing terms, urgency means that the supply of a product is limited by time.

Ever get involved in an eBay auction when the clock was running out? How about getting up at 5:00 a.m. to be one of the first customers in line for a day-after-Thanksgiving “Black Friday” sale? If so, you know the power of urgency.

Scarcity means that the supply of a product is limited by quantity.

Both urgency and scarcity arouse the human desire to want that which we can’t have.

Right now in Delray Beach, we have an unlimited supply of mangos, and they’re going to be around for a long time. So there’s no scarcity… no urgency. As a result, you literally can't give them away.

If you’re not tickling your prospects’ emotional impulses to buy NOW, I’m willing to bet your products are suffering from a similar fate.

When you apply the principles of scarcity and urgency to bring your marketing alive, your sales can increase dramatically. I’ve seen it many times — and I’m talking about increases of 100 percent to 1,000 percent. In fact, this is probably the simplest, cheapest way to multiply your revenues instantly.

Our colleague, “Product Launch” guru Jeff Walker, knows all about it. He’s brought in, and helped others bring in, more than $53 million in the past five years in all kinds of markets. Virtually all of Jeff’s success is built around the mastery of scarcity and urgency.

According to Jeff, “Scarcity is probably the single biggest mental trigger there is. No matter how many times I’ve seen it used, it’s always breathtaking to see how it moves people to action. I’ve seen WAY too many people underestimate the power of adding a scarcity component to their marketing. If you fall into that trap, you will be leaving a huge amount of money on the table.”

So how can you pick up all that cash you’ve been leaving on the table?

There are plenty of ways, even if you are selling a product that is in infinite supply — an e-book, for example:

• Urgency: Add a bonus for a limited length of time.

• Urgency: Reduce the price for a special holiday sale.

• Scarcity: Add a bonus — but only for the first 150 buyers.

• Scarcity plus Urgency: With this “launch and retreat” approach, you sell a specific quantity of the product during a specific period of time, and then take it off the market. (“This Memorial Day weekend only, I’m offering just 100 of these information-packed e-books. Sale ends Midnight Monday or when the 100 are gone — whichever comes first.”)

Taking your product “off the market” at a specified date and time might sound scary. What if a bunch of prospects show up at your website the following week looking to buy what you just stopped selling? Wouldn’t you be kicking yourself over that lost opportunity?

Perhaps. But I can pretty much guarantee one thing. The overwhelming number of sales you’ll make during a scarcity/urgency campaign will make the number you might lose utterly insignificant. In addition, when you “re-open” your next campaign, you’ll already have a certain amount of “pent-up” customer demand providing fuel for your fire.

One Important Caveat to Keep in Mind…

You want to add scarcity and urgency to your marketing, but you want it to be genuine.

As Michael Masterson told me, “There has to be a legitimate reason for the scarcity. If you’re faking it, customers will see through it and it loses its power.”

He suggested a few ways to “make it real” for them: Explain that you had only 100 of the special reports printed up. (Why not show the actual invoice?) Or that the fire code limits the conference room to 75 people. (Why not take a photo of the actual sign in the room?) If you’re selling personal coaching services, explain that you have only so much time. If you’re selling an investment advisory service, explain that if too many people get the same recommendation, they can initiate a buying frenzy that artificially pushes up the price.

I’m just touching the surface here — but you get the idea.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to creating wealth and success through inspiration and practical, proven advice. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
 

"Could This Be The Worst Ad Ever?" by Charlie Byrne

09/11/2011

 
Over the past few years I’ve made a lot of good friends at the local running store here in Delray Beach. It’s where I buy my Brooks Beast running shoes . . . I enjoy the training runs and races they sponsor . . . and I get tons of good advice from them practically every week.

But brother, was I disappointed when I got this e-mail from them last Saturday. Here’s how it read, more or less:

“Special Sunday Event – Several running experts speaking on various topics – $15.”

Ouch!

No specifics. No proof. All summary and generalization.

It’s a weak, weak, weak recipe for disastrous copy. Suppose, instead, their e-mail had looked more like this . . .

Coming This Sunday, Power Up Your Running to the Next Level!

• Four-Time Miami Marathon Finalist John Smith explains how to cut 15 minutes off your fall marathon time . . .

• Palm Beach Orthopedics Institute director Mary Jones gives you the 4 secrets to avoiding training injuries and getting in the best shape of your life in the next 6 weeks . . .

• Nike Shoes Director of Advanced Technology Jim Jackson previews their breakthrough new X-743 running shoe (on sale 25% off Sunday only).

Specifics . . . Proof . . . Details . . . Facts, figures, names, and places . . . . Oh yes, and that little matter of Benefits!

Now that, I might pay $15 for!

[Ed. Note: For more of Charlie's thoughts and insights, follow him on Twitter at http://CharlieByrne.BlogSpot.Com.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to creating wealth and success through inspiration and practical, proven advice. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

NOTE: This article was first published in Early To Rise in 2009.
 

"How To Avoid The World's #1 Copywriting Mistake" by Charlie Byrne

04/22/2011

 
I’d say it’s the #1 mistake most untrained or beginner copywriters make…

I’m talking about focusing inward on yourself instead of outward on your prospect or customer.

I was reminded of it again just this morning as I drove by a local sub shop.

“Under New Ownership” read the huge sign covering most of the front of the store.

Well, isn’t that special.

Nothing about a “Grand Opening 25% Discount.”

Nothing about “Your meal in 3 minutes or less, guaranteed, or it’s free.”

Nothing about “Check out our new spotless open kitchen – the cleanest in town.”

At the very best, “under new ownership” might be mildly appealing to the small group of customers who were somehow disappointed with the previous owner.

But is that really the Big Idea you want to send to the world?

I’m sure the new owners are excited about their new venture. But in their excitement, they need to address what that means for the customers they’re trying to attract. Just saying “Hey, here we are!” is not exactly going to blow the world away.

When writing a headline, tagline, or even if you’re hanging a sign in front of your store, remember…

Read the copy and then imagine your prospective customer thinking “And for me, that means _____.”

If the answer isn’t a powerful benefit, then your copy is not doing its job.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to creating wealth and success through inspiration and practical, proven advice. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
 

“Use 'Stravinsky's Secret' To Supercharge Your Marketing Copy” by Charlie Byrne

01/08/2011

 
The two black men, clean-cut and well-spoken, casually stroll down an upscale California street.

Mostly-white yuppies step into and out of restaurants and clubs on this busy Saturday night. Well-dressed 30-somethings stroll about, window shopping.

Now, one white couple comes from the opposite direction, walking toward the black men. The camera zooms in, showing the white woman suddenly clutching her bag and the arm of her male companion just a little bit tighter as they approach and then pass the black men. The camera pans to the men.

"Look around!" says one of the men to the other. "You couldn’t find a whiter, safer, or better lit part of this city. But this white woman sees two black guys, who look like UCLA students, strolling down the sidewalk and her reaction is blind fear. I mean, look at us! Are we dressed like gangbangers? Do we look threatening? No. Fact, if anybody should be scared, it’s us: the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the trigger-happy LAPD."

You may recognize this scene. It is at the beginning of the 2005 Academy Award-winning film Crash.

And it was at this exact point that I recall thinking, "Oh brother, here we go. Looks like I’d better get ready for a politically correct Hollywood preachfest."

I had it all figured out. I knew where it was heading, and I was ready to tune it all out.

But that’s when something very interesting happened. Back to the black men talking…

"So, why aren’t we scared?" asks the first man.

And now, the big surprise when the other one replies…

"Because we have guns?"

And then the two men run into the street and violently carjack the white couple’s BMW SUV, throwing them to the ground and screeching away. Wow! I didn’t expect that! NOW, Crash most definitely had my attention. Not because I was glad to see the black men fall into stereotype, but because I’d been perfectly set up to anticipate just the opposite.

In films and books, it’s sometimes known as a “deus ex machina”… You may think of it simply as a plot twist… But in copywriting, it’s defying what Michael Masterson has termed the “Categorical Imperative”.

When readers start knowing where the copy is going… when they can predict the next step in your story… they tend to dismiss it – tune it out, just as I was about to do with Crash. They might still be reading, but really, you’ve lost them.

You see, the mind tends to simplify its work by slipping incoming ideas into pre-existing slots ("categories") it has already created. It does this so it can shift its attention to something else (anything else). And it will do this with promotional information as well as other experiences.

In order to circumvent this tendency of the mind, strong writing – and, in particular, good sales promotions – must avoid a straight-line, logical approach.

Instead, use "indirection." Approach the reader in a way, or from a place, he doesn’t expect. And then, keep changing things up. The overall effect is to keep the reader from anticipating where the promotion is going and keep his mind from wandering.

In his engaging new book Proust Was a Neuroscientist, Rhodes Scholar Jonah Lehrer explains how Russian composer Igor Stravinsky used what I’ll call the musical equivalent of indirection to overcome the Categorical Imperative of his listeners.

It began in 1913 with Stravinsky’s audaciously shocking ballet music, "The Rite of Spring" ("Le Sacre du Printemps"). Instead of lulling his audience to sleep with predictable chords and rhythms, Stravinsky constantly changed time signatures and added unpredictable and off-beat accents.

Traditionalists at first rejected "Rite" as a dissonant disaster, but most soon realized the genius behind it. American composer Aaron Copland has since characterized "The Rite of Spring" as the foremost orchestral achievement of the 20th century. It was further popularized through Walt Disney’s Fantasia.

With his background of having worked in the lab of Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel, Lehrer explains how the brain actually generates dopamine – the "pleasure" neurotransmitter – when presented with interesting, new information. Usually, dopamine release is triggered during enjoyable experiences, such as eating and having sex. It also gets "fooled" into being released with drugs such as cocaine, nicotine, and amphetamines. But Lehrer points out that not only enjoyable experiences but also new experiences and new stimuli trigger dopamine release. [Full disclosure: I too worked in Kandel’s Columbia University lab some years ago.]

"Stravinsky forces us to generate patterns from the music itself, and not from our preconceived notions of what the music should be like," writes Lehrer. "By abandoning the conventions of the past, he leaves us with no pattern but that which we find inside his own music."

"Stravinsky’s greatest fear was dying the slow death of predictability. He wanted every one of his notes to vibrate with surprise, to keep the audience on edge."

So, how can you use 'Stravinsky’s Secret' to make your writing as fresh and compelling as "The Rite of Spring"?

The best way to defy the brain’s Categorical Imperative is with indirection. Go back to your copy and mark any areas that are boring, obvious, or predictable. More likely than not, here’s what has happened: You’ve fallen prey to writing clichés.

Michael Masterson explains it in AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting:

"When a prospective customer reads your copy, you want to get him excited about your product or service. You want to say something fresh and tantalizing to engage him. But when you use clichés, something else happens to your prospect. A little switch inside turns him off. He says to himself, ‘I know this already… I don’t need to give it any more attention.’"

Just like I was thinking at the beginning of Crash. Just like Stravinsky’s audience was probably thinking when they heard the opening notes of "Rite".

In your writing, the solution to the Categorical Imperative is to drill down, examine what you really wanted to say, and then say it in a fresh, new way or from a new angle.

What you want to do is direct the prospect’s thought process in such a way that he’s uncertain where he’s being led.

In AWAI’s copywriting program, which catapulted my own career, Michael Masterson gives six ideas you can use for indirection:

1. Paint an image in your reader’s mind that shows him all the benefits he can enjoy.
Example: "You look out your window, past your gardener, who is busily pruning the lemon, cherry, and fig trees…" From Bill Bonner’s famous promotion for International Living. Bill is evoking certain thoughts and feelings in the reader in order to gain his attention. He doesn’t want to initially admit that he’s selling a newsletter.

2. Ask the reader a question or make a statement that challenges him on a subject related to your product or service.
Example: "This invitation isn’t for deadbeats, rip-off artists, or ‘gentlemen’ who hate to get their hands dirty." From Popular Mechanics’ promotion of the Do-It-Yourself Encyclopedia. Here, the copywriter wants to align himself with the emotions of his target audience before he lets them know he’s selling an encyclopedia.

3. Raise a threat or warning that begs for a solution (provided by your product or service).
Example: "Your wealth is in imminent danger." From a Swiss Money Strategies insert. This gets the reader’s attention by evoking a whole range of fears. He can’t quite know from the headline what it is the copywriter is selling. Something financial, but what?

4. Make a surprising or alarming prediction that leads to your big promise.
Example: "A bank run like no other will hit every major bank on earth in 1999. A worldwide panic is now inevitable…" This prediction of catastrophe forces the prospect to read on to learn what the solution might be.

5. Share a new piece of information, which will benefit the reader.
Example: "This may be the most startling health news you have ever heard…" In order to know if it is the "most startling" (a pretty bold claim), the prospect has to read on.

6. Debunk a myth with evidence that demands the reader’s attention.
Example: "Conventional wisdom: You can’t push an insurance company when it comes to collecting money. Wrong! Here are two proven ways to get your check within days." By contradicting what most people think is true, the copywriter forces the reader to listen to his "proof".

"When you use indirection," Michael explains, "your copy will be infused with life. Your words will be fresh and thought-provoking. And your reader will keep turning the pages.

"Remember, as a copywriter, you’ve always got to keep your reader from getting ahead of you. If he can anticipate what you’re going to say, he’ll assume he knows what’s coming – and you’ll lose him."

So whatever you want to call it – indirection… the plot twist… or even 'Stravinsky’s Secret' – approach your reader in a way he doesn’t expect. You’ll then start triggering that dopamine release Jonah Lehrer writes about – literally making reading your copy "a pleasure"!

Result? Your sales letter gets read throughout, response rates skyrocket, and so will your sales and royalties.

[Ed. Note: Charlie Byrne is ETR’s Editorial and Creative Director. Drop Charlie a line at charlie@ETRFeedback.com if you’re interested in getting his occasional off-the-record “insider” emails on advanced copywriting techniques, or if you have any comments on this article.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to creating wealth and success through inspiration and practical, proven advice. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

This article was first published in ETR in 2008.

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