Does a free marketing report still attract? I mean, here we are inundated with information and more information. And kaboom, there’s yet another website that you have to subscribe to–just to get the free marketing report.

Um, if you’re looking for this report, click here.

So does the marketing report attract?
Heck, yes it does. But there are conditions. Yes, even if you have a squillion reports stacked up in your computer. Because attraction is built on appetite. As in: current appetite.

You might have a fridge full of food…
Your office drawers might be stacked with sugar-coated stuff you shouldn’t eat. Your home pantry might be stocked with enough food to last a nuclear-winter or two.

But you’re not at home. Or in your office. Or taking a stock of your pantry.

You’re on the street. And you’re hungry now.
And that’s why the free report still works as an attractor. Because when a customer comes to your site or your blog, they’re still hungry for more. If your website/blog has a report that gets the customer’s attention, they’re still going to want your stuff. They’re still going to jump over the hurdles to get it.

Big hurdles too. But how big?
How about
1) name
2) phone number
3) home phone number
4) email address
5) physical address
6) city
7) state
country.

Is that too big a hurdle? Is that too much? What do you think?
Yeah so your free report is awesome, but is that too much information? Or is it valid?

You’re at Emile’s
This isn’t just a restaurant.It’s Emile’s on 545 South, 2nd Street.

You’ve been dying to get to this restaurant forever. You’ve read all the glowing reviews. The food they say, is ‘exquiseet.’ The wine is straight out of Wine-Spectator’s award winning wine list.

You’re smacking your lips. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for.

And then it happens…

The waiter, in his black vested suit, brings you your housemade roasted “Saucisson” on a bed of red lentils with bacon. And it’s served with caramelised onions and demiglaze.

The aroma Wafts through the air and snaps your brain to attention. You smile a goofy smile in anticipation of what can only be a scrumptious meal.

Except you don’t eat the food

No you don’t.

You just sit and stare at it.

You appreciate the onions. You poke at the bacon. You admire the saucisson.

But you don’t eat any of it.

Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? I mean why on earth would you order such a delicious meal and not eat it? Even as you read this piece you’re salivating about the meal, so why would you skip eating it when it’s sitting right there in front of you? You ordered it, didn’t you? It smells delicious doesn’t it? So why the heck would someone not eat it?

The answer is not as ludicrous as it seems. You’re sure to lose your appetite when you realise how you lose truckloads of dollars simply because you don’t get the customer to consume what they’ve ordered. Read the article below and find exactly what you’ve been missing…and then fix it. Let’s skip the apéritif and go straight to the main course, shall we?

The waiter is confused

The maitre d’ is flabbergasted.
The chef has made a rare guest appearance to the table.

The hum in the restaurant has been replaced by a deathly silence.

Why won’t the customer eat?

To answer the question let’s vrrrrooooooom out of the restaurant and head down the road to the tall building which houses a software company.

This software company creates an interface where business people like you and moi can have a shopping cart, autoresponders and more whiz bang stuff that helps us run our e-ecommerce side of things without too much of a bother. You pay a subscription each month and voila…you have a smorgasbord of mouth-watering applications to run your business smoothly.

The problem that this software company has, isn’t one of getting customers. Oh no, they keep getting a stream of customers. Yet for some crazy reason, the customers seem to buy the software and almost never use it.

Dang! The customers won’t ‘eat’ what’s in their plate!

And if the customer won’t eat…

They won’t experience the power to automate their business. They will be swamped in doing the mundane, repetitive jobs that swallows up the day, the week and the year. And because they haven’t had the time to experience the wonders of the software, they simply won’t renew their subscription to the shopping cart software.

Ah don’t need no darned software…

That’s the conclusion about 45% of the customers arrive at each time their subscription comes up for renewal.

As a result, the software company has the tedious job of always finding more customers on an ongoing basis.

And the software company isn’t alone…

If you sell ebooks or real books. Workshops or consulting. Products or Services the problem always lies beyond just
getting the customer to buy.

It lies beyond the ‘yippee-yahooey-I’ve-made-a-sale.’

It lies in consumption.

You’ve got to make that customer eat your housemade roasted “Saucisson” on a bed of red lentils with bacon served with caramelised onions and demiglaze.

You can’t afford to have them nibble.
You can’t afford to have them appreciate the look of the meal. You sure as hell can’t afford to have them sit there and do nothing.

Your job is to make the customer eat!

If you’re the hotshot CEO of the software company, make sure you train your customers. Create a series of seminars both online and offline that help them learn.

Demonstrate how others are using their software. Better still show these customers a bunch of case-studies. People just like them who started up with nothing and have used the software to make their Caribbean cruises and Martinis a reality. Teach the customers some marketing skills if you have to. Have a monthly/yearly award ceremony with nice, fancy prizes for those customers who create most income with the software.

And it’s no different if you’re selling information or consulting

It doesn’t matter if you’re hawking ebooks on the Internet, or workshops up and down the country. It matters little if you’re doing some fancy-schmancy consulting gig or if you’re selling sunglasses.

The key is to go beyond the sale. To get your customer to consume time and time and time again.

Ask Emile, if you don’t believe me…

Emile knows that everyone that gets to his restaurant in downtown San Jose must eat their meal. They must drink the finest wine. They must roll their hands over their tummies and smack their lips in satisfaction.

The customer must waddle out of the restaurant if possible.

Emile knows how crucial consumption is to the future of his thirty year old restaurant.

It’s more than Grand Marnier Soufflé baybeh…

A customer that has ‘waddled’ out of Emile’s will be ten times more eager to come back again, once they’ve had a great experience.

But there’s more.

Customers don’t just consume. They also like to talk, even brag about what they’ve consumed.

They want to let their friends, family and business associates know about the fabulous experience.

Now you’ve got referrals flowing like Champagne!

Consumption breeds evangelists. Yeah, it does. When you watch a movie that’s great, you tell everyone! When you listen to a CD that blows your mind, you blow every one else’s mind too! And when you use the software, read a fabulous book or actually
implement what you learned at a workshop or in consulting, you just can’t help but tell the world.

Emile knows that not only will you spread the word, but you’ll be back for more. Sacré bleu, that’s even more money in the bank for Emile!

Stop and look at your customer’s plate

Is it full?
Is it empty?
Is it half eaten?

Get your customer to eat well, mah friend.
You’ll know when they’ve had their fill.

You’ll hear the sound of satisfaction.
It’ll be soft, yet distinct. Listen for it.

Burp!

Jeff Eisenberg in his post on Joel Stein questions whether Joel is doing the right thing? So is Joel attracting an audience? You bet his boots he is. Because polarisation can be an awesome attraction factor. Polarisation is when you completely divide two groups. You move so radically to one position, that the other group has no option but to be your volatile opposition.

If you’re a smart marketer, you’ll understand that opposition is a powerful marketing tool. A book like the ‘Da Vinci Code’ sold a few million more copies because of the screaming and ranting that followed the release.

Sheer curiosity erupts. Now everyone wants to be part of the debate. And the opposition and the fans grow. Grow from nothing to a sizeable base. It’s a tricky way to create attraction. And a dangerous way–because violent opposition can often be just that–violent.

But does it create attraction? You can bet Joel’s boots it does.

So yes, if you’ve not run nude down the street, you may not experience the instant attraction factor. But that doesn’t change the fact that just about anyone (regardless of age, colour, shape) can create attraction–and yet not smell a whiff of conversion.

So why put a barrier when cusotmers want to convert?
Match.com tries so darned hard to get you to their site with their advertising, so why do they put up a barrier at the precipice of conversion? (See screenshot of ad below)

The barrier that slows you down at the Want.com site

Conversion is so dependent on the lack of barriers, right?

Right. And wrong. Conversion is dependent on the want factor. And you can pretty much guess that prospects at the Match.com site are probably looking to meet someone(except for weirdos like me, who are just taking screenshots). No darned barrier is going to slow down these prospects.

And of course, you know the rest of the story, right?
Match.com gets your email address…and they do it well. In their own words: Send me photos of compatible matches, tips, announcements and special offers from Match.com.(recommended!)

Match.com could have made it a bit irritating to sign up…
They could have insisted you give your email address. But they sweeten the deal. They give you exactly what you want. So what do you want? Mostly ‘Photos of compatible matches‘: That’s of extreme value. The ‘tips, announcements and special offers from Match.com‘ are nice to have. But the photos–now that’s the top want priority when looking for love

Barriers aren’t as crazy as you think…
Barriers with the right want factor create far more drama; far more incentive to jump over the hoops that no barrier at all. So yes, the site swoops in on the Want Factor, but let’s not forget the conversion.

Now you’re on Match.com’s list
Now they can talk to you.
Sell you a membership.
And all the other yada, yada stuff.

They’ve attracted. They’ve converted. Full marks. (And no, I haven’t filled in the form and given my email address. Cause I’m not looking! )

Let’s assume you desperately want to knock off some weight. And you’re serious enough to get onto a structured eating system.

Let’s also assume, you were presented with two diets

Diet 1 consists of:
Chocolate.
Cake. Maybe even chocolate cake.
Pasta with Cheese. Some butter chicken.
Vegetables.
Fruit.

Diet 2 consists of:
Vegetables.
More vegetables.
Fruit.
More fruit.
The occasional cake or chocolate

Don’t tell me which one you’ve chosen

I already know.

But hang on a second. You said you needed to lose weight, right? So you know darned well, that Diet No.2 is the one to choose.

So why on earth are you eyeing Diet No.1?

Because you know what you need. But it’s not what you want. You want to eat. You want to drink. You want to enjoy yourself, not watch in envy as others around have a rollicking time, while you’re on another silly boiled veggie diet.

And that’s where Weight Watchers comes in

To quote their website: Eat all the foods you love on the Flex Plan… -Enjoy the full range of food options, while making better choices with the POINTS system. -Choose any food, as long as you control how much you eat. -Easily handle any food challenge, even when choices are limited.

Notice what they just sold you?

Not what you need. But what you want. The people that go to Weight Watchers aren’t veggie eaters.

Not by a long shot.

The customers at Weight Watchers lurrrve their food. They adore their wine. They want their ice-creams and their chocolate. And Weight Watchers gives them what they want–namely the ability to eat what they want–as long as they stick to the eating plan.

It’s the same reason why teenagers buy anti-pimple cream

It isn’t because of the rich, wonderful perfume. Teens give a damn about the perfume. What they want is to have flawless skin–so they can get a date.
So look at the anti-pimple cream ad on TV

What’s it talking about? It’s talking about the darned texture of the cream. It’s talking about the fragrance. It’s talking about the new packaging. Oh c’mon give me–and all those teenagers out there a break.

They don’t care about the whiz bang features of your cream.
They don’t care about your background or your company heritage. They don’t care about your la-dee-dah packaging.
They just want the date, get it? The date. Nothing but the date. And only the date. So sell them the date, will ya?

Businesses make this mistake every thirty five seconds

They try and sell software.
They try and sell marketing strategies.
They try and sell copywriting services.
They try and sell better websites.

But does the customer really want any of the above?

Like hell they do. If someone on the next block–or even the next planet, was able to promise your customer money, freedom and respect, your customers would all be exiting through la salida,
mucho rapidemente! Yes, without so much as sniffing your strategies, software, websites or whatever it is you’re selling.

I want you to listen carefully to what I have to say…

Because it will get you more customers–and hence more
profits than ever before.

Ask your customer what they want. Then give them what they want. Word for word.

Don’t get all misty-eyed with the product or the service you’re selling. It ain’t going to help you sell better. Or more. Or more often.

And here’s what you need to do.

Do some research

No, not some $85,000 research. Just speak to your customers. Ask them what they want most for their business.

Possibly even make a list of possible things your customers could want, and then get them to rate what’s most important on the list. Then collate the list. And put the things that your customers reeeeeeally want, at the top of the list.

Weight Watchers is teaching you a lesson…

But are you listening? Weight Watchers knows fully well what the customer needs. But they sell what the customer wants. Because eventually by tapping into the wants, Weight Watchers
is able to give the customers what they really need–namely weight reduction and overall fitness. Not to speak of improved eating habits.

But Weight Watchers knows that the motivation can only come from eating the yummy stuff–and almost never from munching boring broccoli.

The secret is always in the want.

As in: I want my MTV. I want my IPod. And all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth! And all I really want is my Porsche!

The Porsche ad that sums up the Want Factor with one question.

You can run nude down the street. You’ll attract.
You can wear an Elmo suit and go to the mall. You’ll attract.
You can wear the tiniest skimpiest bikini. You’ll attract.

Attraction is easy.

It’s conversion that’s trickier. So why put a conversion barrier?

Here’s an ad from Match.com
In this online ad, this woman skates across the floor not once, but twice. The camera zooms in to her smiling face (she’s having fun). And she looks into the camera and just says a big ‘Hi

Note: The images below are screenshots to demonstrate the elements of the online ad.

In this ad from Match.com, the woman has you at “Hi!” (Click to see bigger picture)

And the ad is so powerful so a simple reason (or a few simple reasons)
1) It stops the ad at “Hi!” That’s a real cliff-hanger. It’s not a sexy hi. Or a breathless hi. It’s a fun hi. And that’s attractive in an everyday manner.

2) The very next thing you see is the ‘Email Her’ button. The convertor; the call to action–and prominent as hell. In that b/w environment, the blue jumps out of you–once she’s stopped skating, that is.

3) And in the very same ad, they kill two objections at once. They tell you that Match.com is ‘all new’, so no matter what your experience before, this one promises more. And the second objection that ‘It’s ok to look’. If there was a lingering doubt, that objection gets killed instantly.

A simple, powerful attractor. And look how simply it’s designed to get you to do one thing. To move from attraction to conversion. But ah, what happens when you click?

You’ll be amazed, because you run straight into a barrier.

Barrier? Yup, the door’s closed. But why? Let’s examine that in the next post.

Go to a pond where you can visibly see a lot of fish. Take a stone and throw it in the water. Notice what the fish do? Yes, they race towards the stone in anticipation of a feeding frenzy?

Of course you know what happens next

The fish figure out you’re just teasing, and with disappointed guppy faces, they swim away. Um… if you continue to throw stones, they’ll keep coming back, till they work out it’s useless to humour you any more.

But what if you throw a piece of bread?

Aha, now it’s bedlam in the pond isn’t it? The fish are not just attracted to the bread, but there’s not a shred of bread (hey, that rhymes!) left in the water.

You may not have figured it out instantly, but you went through three distinct steps of attraction, conversion and consumption.

And it’s vital to separate the three, if you want your marketing results to improve.

Why separate attraction, conversion, and consumption?

Separate? Why do the three factors need to be separated? You’ll find your answer by listening to just about any ad on the radio.

Notice what they’re trying to do? They’re trying to sell you product by screaming louder than the previous radio ad. So what do they achieve? Why nothing. Because your brain shuts down and waits for the ad to die a natural 30-second death.

But what if the radio ad concentrated solely on attraction?

What if they focused on a specific target audience?
What if they offered a free-something or a discount or bonus?
What if all you had to do was call or email or write in or visit?

The company that put the radio ad on the air, would then be able to clinically measure the response of the ad.

They’d be able to accurately measure if their ad was able to get their target audience’s attention in the first place. And once they maximised the attraction factor, they could move on…

Down the road to conversion

Instead of being unable to measure general traffic from specific ad-driven traffic, they’d now have an exact figure of prospects who’ve opted in.

Now they can speak to these prospects on a completely
different level. These prospects are asking to be converted.
They are keen on being sold, if the offer is right. Now all the company’s got to do is create a compelling offer that will get the prospects to say ‘Yes, yes and yes!’

To speed up conversion, here are some tips:

1) Tell the full story (http://www.psychotactics.com/artfullstory.htm)
2) Create Urgency (http://www.psychotactics.com/arturg.htm)
3) Reduce Choice Chaos (http://www.psychtotactics.com/artconfusion.htm)

And phew, it’s consumption time…Finally!

As we’ve clearly demonstrated by filling ponds with stones, anyone can do the attraction bit without too much trouble. With a little understanding of what causes customers to buy, you may also get the customer to zip-zap that credit card and purchase your product/service.

But that doesn’t mean you can make them consume what they’ve just bought.
(Read: http://www.psychotactics.com/artconsumption.htm)

No siree…that ain’t gonna happen. They aren’t going to ‘consume’ what they’ve bought, and therefore create a big dent in your future profit.

How would a lack of consumption cause a dent?

Because the real profit-margin isn’t in the first sale. Or rather, the real profit-margin is extremely tiny in the first sale. It’s when the customer comes back time and time again to buy, that you are really getting the kind of profits you’re looking for.

Er, did I say profits? I meant pretty substantial profits!

The customer who comes back, is now more likely to buy in larger amounts than ever before. A Psychotactics customer usually goes in the sequence of:

1) The Brain Audit
2) The Membership at 5000bc
3) The Brain Audit Applications
4) Courses such as Product Creation/Copywriting, etc.
5) The Protege Program

Each of the levels are more comprehensive, and costs more than the first level. But until and unless the customer actually ‘consumes’ the Brain Audit, he/she doesn’t come back for more. Yes, they’re attracted to the Psychotactics site and subscribed and read the articles (See? Three distinct steps!)

Yes, they are attracted to the Brain Audit and convert
by buying the product. But it’s only when they consume the
product that they move up the chain to buy more comprehensive and higher priced products.

What works for products works for services

It’s not a whole lot different, despite what you think. The concept of attraction, conversion and consumption apply to both services and products.

Which kind of brings us back to the fish pond

The trio of attraction, conversion and consumption are equally important. But attraction is marginally easier.

Work really hard on conversion. Because if you don’t get to conversion, you don’t move to third base… namely consumption.

And if you can attract, but can’t create a feeding frenzy with conversion, it’s just a stone in the pond.

A stone that gets no results.