Regardless of the methods or strategies you’re using to market on the Internet, it’s a tough go out there. Wouldn’t you agree?
But let’s not talk about the problems associated with Internet marketing. Let’s focus instead on the benefits – what you expect to get out of your investments of time, money, energy and brain cells into your Internet marketing business or your Internet marketing campaigns for your brick & mortar business.
Here’s what we, the BizzBoosters, want from our investments: heaps of targeted traffic to our Web sites, scores of qualified leads and prospects (for FREE is even better), oodles of subscribers to our eBizzLetter™, loads of customers, and tons of sales in the process!
That looks like a lot to ask for. And quite frankly, it used to be. Then we “discovered” a few principles and practices of marketing (we now call them TIPPPS™) that once applied to all our marketing material and campaigns, yielded incredible (and more than hoped for) results. We now get ALL of the aforementioned benefits in abundance, and more.
Want to know what two of those TIPPPS™ are? I warn you, these are not hi-tech or mysterious “secrets”. They are in fact pretty simple, and very common sense. However, as we all know (and witness daily…), common sense is not common practice.
The first TIPPPS™ I will share with you is this (TIPPPS: Thoughts Ideas Principles & Practices for Professional Success): “People buy on emotion (with their heart), and then justify with facts (with their head).
That is a FACT of (business) life that lord Chesterfield alluded to a long time ago when he wrote, “Men, as well as women, are much more often led by their hearts than by their understandings.” And more recently, professional speaker Cathleen Fillmore said that, “Buying is more often based on chemistry than on logic – chemistry plays a much larger part in our decisions than we realize, even for seemingly small ones.” And chemistry takes place in the heart, not in the head.
You may resist this TIPPPS™. You may want to shout, “No! No! No! I’m a rational, cognitive human being! I make calm, considered, well-thought-out decisions! I do not buy on emotion!” But you do. Everybody does.
If you think about it, and if you’re honest with yourself, you have to admit that most of your decisions are often made on the basis of “This is what I WANT to do.” Then you think up all the reasons why what you WANT to do is really the logical thing to do. We ALL buy on emotion and justify with facts.
The reality that we buy on emotion is a natural fact, neither good nor bad. An emotional decision isn’t necessarily the wrong decision. There’s no shame in admitting we’re emotional creatures, and that emotion has a powerful influence on everything we do, think, and choose. Actually, it’s foolish not to admit it.
Communicating, on the Internet or elsewhere, is a “contact” sport. The truth is, if you want to reach, persuade or motivate people, you have to make emotional contact with them. You have to reach the hearts as well as the minds of your visitors, listeners, and readers.
Contrary to our academic training, people DO buy on emotion and justify with facts. And the sooner you’ve accepted this basic truism of communication, the sooner you can use it to become more effective and persuasive in your own communication – especially on the Internet.
This leads directly into the second TIPPPS™ which is: Benefits! Benefits! Benefits!
One of the 88 TIPPPS™ in my book Milk & Cookies for Success is “If they’re not buying what you’re selling maybe you don’t have a good enough S.O.B.!” Before you start thinking that I’m using foul language, here’s the follow-up to that statement: “As a marketer, you have a much better chance of success if you use a compelling Statement Of Benefits (S.O.B.) that clearly tells your potential customer what is in it for him if he buys what you have to sell.”
S.O.B… not S.O.F (Statement Of Features)!
Benefits galore, and features ignore! The problem is that most marketers don’t know the difference between the two. Let me shed some light on this. A feature is what something IS or HAS while a benefit is what something DOES. And even better if you can express that in terms of what that thing does FOR me, the buyer.
Example. This lawnmower has a 28-inch blade (feature – so what? Who cares?). It means you can mow your lawn is less time (generic benefit)… and you can use the saved time to do things you would much rather be doing… like fishing, golfing, gardening (personal benefit).
Which one of the following two approaches do you think has a better chance of enticing Bob (who’s eying a big Toro in the store) to pull out his credit card?:
“Good day sir. That baby’s got a 28 inch blade, you know?” (Bob thinking: “Who cares?”)
“Good day sir. That baby will cut your mowing time in half. Now what could you do with that extra time?” (Bob thinking: “I could go fishing, play golf, or detail my sports car…”)
The first statement talks to the head. The second goes straight to the heart.
Allow me to repeat a previous sentence because it is crucial to your marketing success that you internalize its message and apply it to ALL your marketing endeavors, online or offline: People DO buy on emotion and justify with facts, and the sooner you’ve accepted this basic truism of communication, the sooner you can use it to become more effective and persuasive in your communication.
I hope the “knowledge” you gleaned from this article will be helpful. Remember though that knowledge is power ONLY when it’s combined with ACTION! If you think the TIPPPS™ above are valuable, DO something with them, and seek out more of them.
I wish you ALL the business success you desire and deserve. Remember that the success you desire is function of your ambition, but the success you deserve is function of your ACTION!
Daniel G. St-Jean
BizzBooster, and The Sparkplug of Personal Development
Author of 7 Simple Keys To Spark Change In Your Life Now!
Co-author of 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life – volume 2
Daniel G. St-Jean is half of The BizzBoosters Inc. He and his partner Laurel Simmons have produced a powerful new Special Report entitled Discover How You Can Easily Avoid the Biggest Marketing Mistake Made by 97% of Businesspeople—Even Gurus—That’s Costing Them Thousands of Customers and Millions in Sales! Go get your complimentary copy NOW at http://www.thebizzboosters.com/bigmistake-report.
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