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Entrepreneurs often spend their energy building a “better mousetrap” and promoting it as such.
The most effective persuasion, though, starts by building bigger mice (to borrow a line from Breakthrough Advertising).
Why?
Your reader may already see the symptoms, but it’s up to you to make sure he knows what those symptoms mean.
It is important to understand the details about your product/service/solution. It’s usually more important for him to have clear understanding of the reality, severity and immediacy of the problem he’s facing — and a clear picture of what’s at stake if he ignores you or procrastinates too long.
Beneath the headline of the Jim Rutz’s “Read This or Die” promotion, you learn that “Today you have a 95 percent chance of eventually dying for which there is already a known cure somewhere on the planet.” If that statistic is anywhere near accurate, don’t you almost HAVE to read more?
There is no question what’s at stake. If you don’t heed the warning, you know exactly what’s going to happen. No alternative interpretations are possible.
Rutz then takes 52 pages to prove his point, build trust and offer a no-brainer solution.
Is your marketing message THIS clear? Do you address the problems your potential client is facing THIS plainly? Are you willing to be bold enough to tell the whole truth?
Naturally, most businesses don’t deal with life-and-death situations. But every business does solve a problem or relieve some kind of pain. You can still spell out reality, severity and immediacy of the issue, as well as the consequences of inaction in vivid detail.
We’re not in the business of scaring people. But it’s our responsibility to warn people about difficulties we can help them avoid.