amy harrison

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“Think you can, think you can’t; either way you’ll be right”

Allegedly said by Henry Ford but who really knows? Aren’t all witty quotations attributed to Mark Twain or Oscar Wilde, and the business axioms to Henry Ford or Ray Kroc?

I like to think one day they just got the great thinkers and do-ers together, put all the sayings in a hat and divvied them out, promising to stick to the attributions. “Oscar, this one’s yours… Shakespeare, well you were smart enough to publish yours so here you go… who wants “Just Do It?” Can’t see it catching on myself but okay Mr. Knight, you can take that one…”*

But I do like that opening quotation because what you think and believe, shapes the decisions you make and the actions you take.

And if you’re trying to persuade someone after a negative belief has set in but you don’t tackle it, you’re probably going to miss the mark.

Because beliefs can be so firmly held that they stop people doing something that would actually be to their benefit.

Last night I cut Malc’s hair with scissors and a comb after watching a quick YouTube tutorial. I firmly believed I had the requisite  tools and knowledge to do an excellent job. Malc believed it would end badly. I wore him down with persuasion (I was really excited to be a hairdresser) and won the battle of wills.**

So, you have to know how to unpick these beliefs in your customers so that they don’t stop themselves from enjoying the benefits of your offer. And in my experience, there are 3 beliefs that can make people doubt your ability as a hairdresser to solve their problem.

1. They don’t believe in you. 

Rude I know, but some people have either been burned in the past, or they have preconceived ideas about your industry. Mechanics are cocky, non-profits are frivolous with donations, marketing agencies won’t take the time to understand your business.

I love the story of the plumbing firm who years ago took out an advert in the phone book with the headline:

“We’ll turn up on time, smelling nice”

That’s a business that understands preconceived beliefs.

2. They don’t believe the solution works or even exists

For all those people who have been disappointed with a kitchen device invented for that perennial problem (crying over onions perhaps?), or the parents who still haven’t discovered the benefits of Zoom, Spotify, or shopping online, there are people out there who would love what you do but just don’t believe that what you promise is possible.

To overcome this belief you need to tell a story of something ‘new’. A reason why your product is different to options they may have tried in the past. Or by showing them the limitations of whatever method they are currently using to try and solve their problem.

3. They don’t believe the solution will work for THEM

In this situation, customers look longingly at what you promise them, but convince themselves it couldn’t work for them. We are very good at telling ourselves we’re not smart, fit, strong enough to have the things we want. Where possible you want to eliminate this friction and show customers that they don’t need special attributes to do well with what you have. (This has to be true of course. If they do need a doctorate in astro-physics to get results from your kitchen device, let them know).

If you want to explore how to tackle these beliefs in more detail you can watch this 28 minute video with copy examples or listen to this 21 minute podcast with sketches.

These are the beliefs you should kill, but which ones should you keep?

The ones that tell you things are possible. You can establish that brand, get those great clients, you can make those sales. Keep trying, keep studying, keep taking action, and keep believing.

Till next time,

Amy.

* I know Phil Knight didn’t come up with this advertising slogan, but the backstory was not as pithy as the saying.

** The results were actually okay and I thought I did a pretty good job. I talked to him about football (which he doesn’t like), asked the inevitable “red or blue mate?” (a question that bugs him because everyone asks him as soon as they hear his accent), and encouraged him to moan about his ‘missus’ during this lockdown. I was an excellent barber for those 15 minutes.

This was first published to subscribers of The Weekly(ish) Note. Want to make sure you don’t miss one? Simply sign up using the form to the right…

“I wonder what the weather will be like tomorrow…”

“Your father insists on washing the dishes when I want to use the dishwasher… he’s driving me crazy in this lockdown”

“I’m really worried about whether I’m going to get everything done in time…”

amy, what’s your instinct when you hear these kind of phrases?

For me, a couple of years back it would be: look up the weather forecast, talk to dad, and offer to help meet the deadline.

But that only led to a world of frustration until one day, a very smart lady explained to me:

“When someone says “I’m thirsty,” people often hear: “can you get me a drink?” It’s surprisingly easy to jump to someone’s need even when they don’t ask for help outright. But just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.”

And an odd thing can happen when you market your business. You can find yourself marketing to people you can help, instead of people you want to help.

I was coaching a writer a few years back. Her target market was business owners who marketed themselves online by publishing content. Her copy spoke to the pain points of stress, the chaos of managing writing and promoting marketing content and keeping on top of a content schedule.

She’d been doing this for a while so I asked her about her current clients to see how her marketing was working.

“To be honest, they’re a bit of a nightmare. They’re always stressed and disorganised – I don’t think I’ve ever been paid on time.”

She knew she could alleviate the burden of having to write regular content, but that didn’t mean her services could alleviate all the burdens and stresses that were making her clients’ lives chaotic. Her focus on stress and chaos in her marketing meant she was attracting people who thought: “that sounds like me!”

So instead we worked on a message to attract wonderful clients – clients with budgets, who paid on time, who valued her work, and were delightful to interact with.

Now, I love my clients, but it took a few years before I was regularly attracting people who were the right fit.

Today, I don’t work with many people at a time, turnover is low, and I am very fond of them all. We work hard together for hours at a time, crunching copy, filming courses, planning marketing strategies. And we also party and hang out for hours at a time: Whether it’s a 3am moonlight dip off the Florida coast after an impromptu evening of axe-throwing, or firing machine guns in Vegas. (My parents still have concerns about my line of work).

But I’ve had my share of the crazy ones as well.

• The CEO and business strategist who promoted positivity, until he talked about his ex-wife… which he often did
• The social network start-up that reviewed every piece of copy through a large committee (nothing was ever published)
• The owner of a digital media agency who had months of work lined up for me… until I turned him down for a hike

Whether you’re in the service industry, or sell a product, you don’t want just any customer with money to spend. You want to attract people who are a joy to work with.

But sometimes marketing advice can mean we’re writing copy that attracts the wrong people to us.

In marketing, we know people like simple, easy-to-use solutions, but if this is the prominent theme in your marketing, do you find yourself attracting people who want a quick fix and won’t put in the work?

If, you focus too much on the pain rather than the aspirational benefits of working with you, are you attracting people who are frazzled instead of ambitious?

If you’re not attracting people or customers you would (as my dad would say) ‘like to go for a drink with’, do you need to revisit the message you’re putting out into the world?  In short:

Does your marketing speak to people you can help? Or people who you really want to help?

If not, don’t give up because I know there are some amazing customers out there just waiting for you to call out to them.

Till next time amy,

Keep believing.

Amy.

What else is going on? 

• #17 Podcast: 5 Mistakes that Make Customers Ignore Your Marketing
• #3 Lecture: Customer Beliefs you have to Tackle Before You Can Sell to Them
• And this because it’s just the most delightful thing I’ve seen from all of the lockdown posts

This was first published to subscribers of The Weekly(ish) Note. Want to make sure you don’t miss one? Simply sign up using the form to the right…

What day are we on again? fzzzday? shshmmmday? I can’t be the only one losing all concept of individual days.

I tried relying on public services for a sense of days. Bins are collected on Fridays, but recycling is collected… haphazardly, and then the cleaning rota for our common building areas switched from Thursday to Wednesday and I nearly lost my mind (but gained a day).

It’s like the time I tried to remember where my car was parked by thinking: “It’s next to the big van…” And yes, the van had gone by the time I had returned.

Otherwise I’ve been busy writing copy for a variety of services from oncology treatment to cyber security, and even non-profit marketing.  Writing for clients always  sparks ideas for explaining the copy tips and tricks I use. And it reminds me that it really doesn’t matter the size or budget of the business, copywriting is a challenge at every level.

A couple of weeks ago a company asked me to help with a sales pitch.  To respect their identity, I won’t say what the product is, but it makes it easier for customers and visitors to access their accounts within e-commerce sites.

Their pitch resonated at a personal level with prospects replying: “I’ve seen that [problem] happen… it is annoying.” When pushed to try the service, there was just no visible need: “It’s annoying… but it’s probably not a big problem to the business.”

The pitch focused on what the product could do, NOT the vision of what the customer could do once the problem was solved.

Have you ever experienced this sort of casual dismissal when telling people about your business? They nod politely, canapés in one hand, fizz in the other (remember? Remember when we could meet new people at events?)

They may even let you finish your pitch but there’s no “tell me more!” In fact, you get the feeling they’re actually looking over your shoulder for someone better (how rude! And believe me, it’s their loss. There is no-one better than you.)

If this is happening (or if you suspect your copy isn’t getting the response it should) it could be that your prospect is focusing on the transaction instead of the transformation. 

Now, there are many, many ways to reinforce the transformation of what you offer (it’s something I go into more detail in the course if you want to check that out.)

But for now I want to give you a quick tip to help which is to:

Ask an ACTION question that creates a VISION

Creating a vision in your customer’s mind is a powerfully persuasive technique. When we have a clear picture in our mind of what’s possible, we are more emotionally connected to that outcome.

Remember the last holiday (remember those) you booked. You probably spent time looking at locations, imagining yourself on a beach, or in a cabin, with your favourite drink, food, people, and views. You don’t really need to be sold on taking a holiday, you’re selling yourself with every new option you explore.

Now, other purchases aren’t as exotic. Today an engineer came to service our boiler. I didn’t spend time imagining the scenario: wondering about his uniform and whether he was going to wear those little blue shoe covers. (I fear I may have chosen a bad example.)

However, I can imagine what a life looks like with no hot water, or high repair costs. It’s not good and it’s motivation enough for me to book the service.

So let’s get back to using action questions.

Action questions encourage people to visualise how their life will change with your product in their life. It’s called an action question because you want to ask specifically about what they will DO.  

A good action question means that your customer:

• Has a strong vision about something they want (that you offer) OR
• Has a strong vision about something they DON’T want (that you can prevent)

BUT (and this is the key thing), YOU don’t provide the vision. Your customer does.

If you are a hotel that does live events or conferences, an action question would not be:

“What if you could deliver a memorable conference?” 

Let me start by saying, this isn’t terrible copy, but it’s not an action question because the answer might simply be: “that would be nice.”

Instead, an action question uses the following formula:

“If [results OR negative consequences]…     what / where / how would you…”?

Let’s take the hotel example:

“If you had a conference that increased yearly sales by 15%,  where would you invest this new revenue?

Or:

“If you could host a safe, live event next year, what 3 things would you do to make it memorable?”

If we wanted to do a negative consequence, we might say:

“If your marketing reached half the number of people as last year, how would you replace that lost revenue”

Or, in my boiler servicing example:

“If an undetected radiator leak caused £2,500 damage, how would you pay for it?”

I’m not saying these are the only questions you should ask.

I’m not saying these questions are better than any other questions out there.

What I am saying, is that if your copy encourages your reader to visualise a situation where they want you in their life it is more engaging than if they see you as something that is nice to have.

I hope this helps, and you can find some ways to sprinkle action questions in your copy.

Till next time, keep believing,

Amy.

P.S. New podcast coming out shortly where I’ll cover the ‘tease and reveal’ brain science behind making curiosity work in your copywriting.

This was first published to subscribers of The Weekly(ish) Note. Want to make sure you don’t miss one? Simply sign up using the form to the right…

We’re hanging out at a party and you turn to me (I’m not 100% certain why you weren’t facing me to start with but I’ll forgive your inattentiveness), and say you’re interested in getting better at running.

If I tell you I’m a really fast runner and start giving you tips, you might smile politely and half listen to what I have to say.

But if I tell you I ran an 8:15 mile at the weekend, there’s a good chance you pay more attention to my advice.

Such is the power of numbers in marketing. “Fast” is subjective, 8:15 is not. “Overwhelming turnout” is subjective “55,000 people” is not.

Or is it?

Marketing is awash with numbers that are designed to influence people. The successful “7-figure” consultants–which always makes me wonder–in what currency? (“He looks a million lire!” as the joke used to go).

Or coaches who have helped “more than 40,000 people around the world” – as they total up numbers to include attendees to conference and online tele summits.

Numbers are persuasive but they don’t tell the whole story. I’ve worked in online marketing for more than a decade and in my early years I saw a handful of ‘half the story marketing’ that didn’t sit right with me.

Half the story:

“How to build a successful 6-figure business and balance being a mum.” The whole story? Her partner’s 6-hour commute so she didn’t have to work. She’d never had a business, she just needed a hobby.

Half the story:

“Over 100 tickets already sold!” to a London event. The whole story? Less than 10 people paying full price to attend.

This isn’t going to turn into a marketing version of a Hollywood gossip site, it’s just that I see good people get disheartened by other people’s numbers when the reality is that the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

We also tend to over-estimate the importance other people’s numbers, and under-estimate the importance of our own.

You only have an email list of 300 people? That’s 300 people who saw something in you or your business that made them think – “I want to know more”.

You only made 5 sales? That’s 5 people who decided to spend money on you instead of wine (not an easy decision). And you never know the ripple effect of those sales. Some of my biggest career opportunities and best clients have come from one chance meeting, one lead magnet download, one newsletter.

As a business, numbers do matter. You want to make as many sales as you possibly can and you want as many eyeballs (of the right people) on your brand as you can get.

But the best way to increase those, is to focus on the numbers you can control:

• The number of pieces of helpful content you create (and promote)
• The number of new product or offer ideas you design (and promote)
• The number of other people in your network that you connect with (and promote)

I’ve found that the busier you get working on your own numbers, the less intimidating other people’s tends to be… and the better yours become.

What else do I have for you this week? 

• Lecture #2: How to Quick Pitch Your Business (perfect for homepage copy) – 34 minute session
• Podcast #16: Never Show Clients Draft Copy and Only Offer One Round of Revisions – 20 minutes

Keep believing,

Amy

P.P.S I run a 12 minute mile. I have no tips for you there.