Rick Samara, Publisher "Affiliate Website Review"
A few weeks ago, I read this free e-book that just kind of popped into one of my e-mail accounts. I didn’t recognize the author. I’m not sure why I didn’t immediately caste this particular message to the spam folder, but I didn’t. Now, I’m glad I didn’t. I think I actually learned something!
The title of this e-book is not relevant. Even the title turned me off. I’ve never been a big fan of sales pages that go on and on forever; as this did. But, for some reason it just captured my attention. As I read on, there was one particular section that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
To paraphrase, this is what it said “no matter what people buy, they’re almost always motivated to improve one of the following three things: time, money and effort. .. When people are buying a product or service, they almost always believe that they are gaining something that will give them a leg up on either finances, gaining more time to do what they want to do, or just having to work less at whatever they do for a job.” Wow, does that smack of laziness or what?
How ridiculous is that? If I buy a new hot car, I suppose I can get somewhere faster with less effort… so I’m completely ignorant of traffic considerations and insurance costs!?. And, don’t I also weigh my decision against the cost of gas. I may be ugly, but I am not stupid. And, I’m a little tired of people considering me stupid. You would have been proud of me, two weeks ago when I assisted my son in buying his first car!!!
If I buy a steak from the local butcher, its not going to save me time, money or effort. If I buy enough of them, I’ll probably have a heart attack and die! Give me a break!
That is certainly not an preferred option!
I think this passage is making some huge assumptions, that unfortunately can be supported when it appeals to a person’s “weaker side.” They seem to focus more on a person’s “GET” personality. What’s in it for me? Isn’t that what these TV Infomercials appeal to? Don’t they appeal to an person’s desire for more money, time to spend that money, and having to work less for it. You know what I’m driving at! It’s the same with all the Internet marketing deals that we see that tell us we can make $5,000 a month in 3-months, with little effort (saves time) in fact, work less.
I would like to just throw one more factor into this equation just to see how it fits. Call it dignity. Call it pride. I believe that there are people out there that just want to excel in whatever they have set out to do. If it’s Internet marketing, they will persevere until they succeed. They will fight to achieve that goal. If they are new to Internet marketing, they might also be inclined to give up money, time and effort to achieve their goal. It’s the person who chooses to make this investment in themselves and their business that have a much greater chance at success.
I think these are the type of referrals I want to bring into my business. I don’t want to bring people into my business that are not serious, or fail to understand that this is a real business.
I reviewed another e-Book a couple of days later. It had a different sales spin. This was actually a series of 5-6 videos. And, this one was referred by someone I at least know. So, I spent about an hour watching the videos. The sales process was certainly different. It was a lot more focused than the other one. It didn’t focus on a person’s weaknesses, it focused on a person’s needs. It focused on identifying a problem someone might be having, and offering a solution.
I thought that was awesome. And, it also clearly defined with examples how to do this. It was based on identifying a problem that someone might have, then offering solution. For example:
PROBLEM:
Are You Tired of No One Using or Seeing Your New Pool Table? Show Your Family, Friends, and Neighbors How Much Fun it Can Be!
SOLUTIONS:
It’s All in My Free Report. Act Now, and I’ll Throw In My Best Ideas on How to Earn an Honest Extra Income with the Best Internet Business on the Internet.
Sign-Up Here While This Offer Still Gets a Laugh!
Capture e.Mail Form… leads to you Auto-Responder.
All kidding aside, this is a PROBLEM-SOLUTION approach that if targeted properly could significantly help someone get over their problem; which certainly brings credibility to you and perhaps even immediate gratification… yeah, money! Results! The good stuff we are all looking for!
I think we all need to decide what side of that fence we fall off!
This should also show the explicit need for someone to have their own website (otherwise, where do they put a capture form) and their own auto-responder (to capture their contact information, send that free report, and later develop a relationship with them). Otherwise, they should probably be in another business. Forget about making money on the Internet. And, they certainly don’t have to pay attention to these ideas. Do we target our ads towards someone’s weaknesses? Or, do we target our ads toward someone’s needs? Just some thoughts I’d wanted to share!