The Desert of Arizona
Sunny 57 Degrees
It took me a while to figure this out, but I’m glad I did… finally!
When I got started learning about direct response marketing, I spent quite a few years working hard without actually getting anywhere. I misunderstood something that I finally understand today.
Pick up a book about direct response marketing and the basic gist is: marketer DOES something, marketer gets a measurable result (or not!).
There’s an almost limitless amount of proof that you can be miraculously successful with this single strategy.
According to me, however, this is a bass ackwards way to sell yourself as an advisor in this day and age.
Cynicism is high. Skepticism is high. Trust is low. And no one cares that you’re after a “response.”
So if you show up, dear Reader, with an “offer” and a reason to act now in flashing neon… well, you’ve positioned yourself squarely in the SALESPERSON column. Congratulations, you’ve just become “one of them!”
Direct response marketing works. But in the Incomparable Expert game, the key thing to remember is that the “response” might not come for a year!
Like I said, this most likely qualifies me as a direct marketing outcast. But so be it. This strategy works. But you need the patience to execute it properly.
Once the shine around the great podcast fad/boom we’re in now starts to fade, people will stop. They’ll realize it’s work. They’ll realize it’s slow. They’ll realize it’s a business model where you get paid LAST!
That’s how it works in the platform game. You get paid LAST… AFTER you’ve helped a ton of people.
It’s like the tortoise. He starts slowly, he races slowly. And when all the rabbits who want results NOW tire themselves out and lay down to rest, well, the tortoise motors on by.
Why go to all this trouble? Can’t you just become an attraction and marketing “wizard” and get all the results NOW?
Well, I’d vote no. But surely someone is prepared to sell you that dream.
Would YOU want to be on the receiving end of the treatment dished out by someone looking for results NOW?
Of course not.
So if you aren’t having people contacting you asking you, “What should I buy? I trust you…” then there’s enormous potential for growth.
You earn trust by demonstrating you are worthy of trust.
This takes action. This takes time. Right there with those two ingredients, you’ve set yourself apart from MOST of your competition. They’ll never stick with it.
I guess the best word to describe the way I recommend you sell yourself as an Incomparable Expert is to use INDIRECT MARKETING.
You invest the actions in a system that generates results. It’s proven that this is what the platform method does (i.e. Oprah?). You control the inputs, the outputs happen when they happen. There’s a connection between the two, but good luck figuring out what it is!
You don’t have to figure it out to enjoy the result.
You’ll wait far longer for that result, but it will be far superior.
If you have to “ask” them to buy, there’s a better way.