how to sell online
Market Your Product

My Biggest Lesson on How to Sell Online

The BIGGEST lesson I learned on how to sell online…

…is not to sell.

More in a minute.

Because I fell into the trap.

The trap of doing everything everyone else is doing.

I tried frameworks and templates on how to sell.  Just like they told me.

I even paid for professional speaker training.  Learned how to “transition” from teaching to selling.

So technically…I know how to sell online.

But when it came to delivering…different story.

In fact, after learning one particular pitch strategy – I did a live presentation the very same week.

To this day, it’s the most embarrassing talk I ever gave.  And I give a lot of ‘em. 

It was the first and ONLY time people actually got up and left during the pitch.

It was so bad, the organizer, who knows me really well, came over and said “I don’t know what you did, but don’t ever do it again.”

That was the last time I followed anyone’s exact script on how to sell online

Now.

This is all my fault.

I’m not blaming anyone in particular.  It’s not the frameworks or templates.  

FYI.  I LOVE frameworks and templates.  I use them with every coaching client.

But Jordan Belfort I ‘aint.

Haven’t even seen the Wolf of Wall Street movie.

If I’m gonna sell you a pen, I’ll wait until you NEED a pen.

Which is my point.

People hate being sold.

But they love to buy.

People want to feel like they are a part of the decision process.

They don’t want to feel like they were steamrolled into a purchase.

Do you?

So what's the best advice?

I'm asked HOW to sell online without doing the same thing as everyone else all the time.

I dropped a clue above.

Did you catch it?

Here’s a hint:  I’ll wait until you NEED a pen.

Let me explain how to sell online with an example:

Let’s say someone sells insurance.

I’m sure you agree that most insurance agents use fear as the motivator.

“You need to buy insurance.  What if you leave the house today and get hit by a bus?  Does your wife know what to do? Does she know where you keep all your stuff?  What about the kids? How will they be taken care of?”

But you’re in decent health.  

You’re still fairly young.

“Insurance is for old and sick people” you believe.

(hint – knowing what your market believes is a CRITICAL element on how to sell them what they NEED – but that’s for another time)

Onward.

So, instead of chalking you up as a dead lead (pun intended) the insurance dude puts you in a nurturing sequence.  

But it doesn’t sell you insurance. 

The emails are not filled with

“Buy this now.”

“It’s going away.” 

“You’ve got 3 hours left”

“Last chance”

No.

Instead,  they educate you  

It’s low key. Every now and then, you get the odd nudge – “hey Joey, whenever you’re ready for insurance, lemme know.”

You still with me?

Good.

Even though you get the odd offer, you’re still not READY to buy it.

Until one day your best friend has a heart-attack.

Done.  Over. 50 years young.  (true story btw)

All of a sudden, insurance doesn’t sound like a bad idea.  Neither does that fitbit. 

Are you gettin’ this?

So what do you do?

You go look for that insurance ‘newsletter’ you’ve received every month.  

You make an appointment with the insurance dudette…and everyone’s happy.

She makes the sale.

YOU feel great because YOU made the decision. Not her or her fancy salesmanship.

And you feel even greater because you are now protecting your family.

Anyhoo…

Long post to make the point that you don’t always need to “sell the pen” the way everyone else does.

Especially shoving the pen in their face until they buy it.

It’s so much easier when someone walks in and asks “do you sell pens?”

Understanding what your customer wants is the key to everything.

Lemme know if this makes sense or you need any more help with it.

 

Here's a related article: How to sell online(Opens in a new browser tab)

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product launch ideas
Launch A Product

Product Launch Ideas: What if people don’t click my email links?

Looking for product launch ideas?

Let’s say you’re doing a typical Product Launch with 3 PLC (pre launch content videos).

You want your email list subscribers to watch them, right?

But what if, for whatever reason, your list rarely clicks on links?

Now what?

How do you get people to watch the PLC videos?

Well, here's one of the product launch ideas I use with my strategic marketing lab members.

We deliver the content in a different format.

In this case, because people on your list are not clicking links…

One way is to deliver the content right inside the email.

That’s good…but it brings up another challenge.

If you have a lot of pre launch marketing ideas in your content, your email might be a bit lengthy.

Especially if you’ve transcribed your videos.

So..

 

Here’s how to use the pre launch marketing ideas I'm talking about

Instead of writing an email of 5000 words, put the PLC content on your website.

Use 3 landing pages.

Each page will have the transcription from one of your PLC videos.

You are doing the same thing as if you were adding the videos to a landing page.

Next, take the first 3 – 500 words and put THAT in an email to people.

COPY TIP: when you are deciding where to stop the  email content, choose a “cliffhanger” point.

At the end of your email, you put a simple “finish reading” (or whatever) link.

The link goes to your landing page that hosts the entire content.

 

related: the foolproof method to writing copy that sells(Opens in a new browser tab)

 

Now when people read the email, they’ll want to continue reading the rest of the content.

That is…IF they are truly interested.

AWESOME product launch process, don't you think?

Because now, you’ll get clicks (which is good for your reputation with your ISP)

PLUS, you know whomever clicked is interested in whatever you are talking about.

PRO TIP: Tag those people who clicked to go read the rest of the content 🙂 so you can use this later in your email marketing and automation

 

Do you need help with your online business?  Click here to learn how I can help you

 

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writing copy
Write Copy That Sells

The first thing to do when writing copy for sales pages

If you're writing copy for sales pages…

…here's the first thing to do.

It's where I begin with all my Strategic Marketing Lab students…

…and suggest you do the same:

Customer Awareness Level

First of all, you want to know your prospects' level of awareness when you are writing sales page copy.

You want to know their awareness. As it relates to what you are selling.

Here are the 5 levels of awareness:

  1. Most aware
  2. Product aware
  3. Solution aware
  4. Problem aware
  5. Unaware

 

Writing Copy Using the 5 Levels of Awareness

Most noteworthy this framework is the starting point for anything I teach on writing copy. 

Because it eliminates any guesswork about the headline and the “lead in” you should use on your sales page.

Here’s an example.

If I have a splitting headache, I’m looking to get relief.

Am I looking for pain medicine, or am I looking for a specific brand like Tylenol?

If I’m looking for Tylenol, it means I’m product aware.

As a result, I know of the company.  I know what the product will do for me.

In this case, your sales page copy  might say “here’s where you can buy Tylenol.”

(of course, don’t use that copy…it’s a top of head example)

The sales page copy does nothing more than give me the price and how to order.

Taking this one step further, I could also be in the “most aware” stage. Which means I could be looking for the best deal on Tylenol.

Also, prospects in the most aware stage are often looking for the right offer for the right price

Which means the sales page copy is all about the offer:

“Get 50% off Tylenol”

Side note:  if we’re sticking to this headache analogy, if someone has a splitting headache and needs relief fast, I would argue they don’t care about the price…because they want relief – FAST.

But if they are searching to stock up on headache medicine for the next time, that’s when they are not in an urgent phase.

Know what I mean?

 

Every Time You Are Copywriting Sales Pages  – “Meet” Your Customer Where They Are

As long as you know where your prospect lands on the level of awareness checklist, it will dictate how you begin writing copy for your sales page. And, it helps you define what the offer looks like.

Finally, I remember Gary Halbert’s answer after he asked a group of people about selling hamburgers.  He gave them the option to choose ONE thing they would want if they could have anything.

Some answers were “best location” & “tastiest beef”.

Gary said “give me a hungry crowd.”

So, your quest for writing copy that converts is to understand where your customers sit on the level of awareness ladder.

Are they:

 

  1. Most aware (is hungry)
  2. Product aware (knows you make a good hamburger)
  3. Solution aware (believes a hamburger is the best option)
  4. Problem aware (knows they’ll be hungry in a couple hours)
  5. Unaware (doesn’t even know what a hamburger is)

Hope that helps.

If you need more clarity; feel free to ask away!

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lessons learned from being an entrepreneur
Entrepreneurial Mindset

10 Entrepreneur Life Lessons Learned from Being an Entrepreneur

Here are The Top 10 Lessons Learned From Being an Entrepreneur

 

1. 80% of everything will fail.

2. Be okay with failing.

Because it’s not a matter of “IF” we fail. It’s a matter of how hard and how fast the failures come. So; we either fail forward, or fail and quit. The choice we make comes down to our core purpose for the business.

3. Have a clear purpose for the business.

If the purpose is ONLY money driven, it is not enough to get through the adversities. Refer to #1

4. Have the 4 “C”s in place at all time – Confidence, Clarity, Commitment and Coaching.

The last one gets you further, faster and eliminates overwhelm and distractions. Everyone wants faster results – but In order to have coaching, we need the other 3 “C”s in place.

5. ALL the money is made on the back end.

If we expect million dollar launches and webinars because we focus on outliers, we are sure to be disappointed. Which leads to..

6. Have a back end in place before pouring money into the front end.

This doesn’t mean have an entire system in place. That will only trigger analysis paralysis. It means that we acknowledge rule #1 & #5 and…

7. TEST.

Everything is a test. It doesn’t matter what Joey, Tom, Tony, Mary or Bob does. If we expect the same result from doing what everyone else is doing, we are sure to be disappointed.

That doesn’t mean don’t listen to anyone. It doesn’t mean never model other people to speed up the process. It means let your “expectations” down a bit. Hope for the best, and expect the rest.

8. TIME is the only constant.

Nothing else. We either waste it or learn from it.

We can’t SLOW DOWN, SPEED UP or REWIND time.

If we are unwilling to invest the time to learn, build, make mistakes and grow slowly, the only rewards we get are disappointment, stress, frustration and exhaustion.

Which means we’ll want to give up sooner.

It takes what it takes.

9. As Russell Brunson says: we ARE only “1 funnel away”

..or sale, project, customer. Reread rules 1-8 so this rule sets in.

10- Hard truth# – there are only 2 types of people; profit-driven or purpose-driven.

There’s no judgement here.

But here’s what I’ve learned.

Profit-driven (money being the only driver) people quit sooner, faster and often feel confused, jealous, angry and unlucky because they are after immediate results.  This is a big

Simply, profit-driven people ignore rules 1-9.

Here’s the counter-intuitive logic;

Even though Profit-driven people want and need money as fast as possible, Purpose-driven people NEED EVEN MORE MONEY.

Because purpose-driven people have a BIGGER reason to make money.

They have families, communities and causes they care about to support. They thrive on helping people first – even when it doesn’t make money at the start.

Because their true help turns into money.

And they know the more money they make, the bigger, positive impact they can make in the world.

In other words, purpose-driven people have a HUGE reason beyond their bank account to follow these first 9 rules.

 
There ya go.
 

10 lessons an entrepreneur must learn.

 
Great Speed Forward in everything you do.
 
Here's a cool article that gives us Business Advice from George Costanza
 
BTW, if anything I just mentioned resonates and you are someone who wants to grow a business without the stress, anxiety, disappointment or overwhelm – let's set up a time to talk to see if there's a fit for us to work together.  Click here to set up a call with me: Blueprint Session Invite
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best lead magnets
Write Copy That Sells

Are the best lead magnets positive or negative focused?

Michelle asks this about the best lead magnets:

“I appreciate we all have very different avatars. But wondered what the actual experience has been with lead magnets in terms of being negative or positive?

Humans are twice as motivated to avoid loss over gain, so wondering if “3 ways to avoid xyz mistakes is stronger than 3 ways to achieve xyz.

I will be testing this but would love to hear your experiences”

the simple answer is this:

It's 10x more difficult to sell prevention

Which is why insurance people have a hard time.

The reason is,  if we're trying to create the best lead magnets and sell a situation that may or may not happen in the future,  we need to change the worldview of our customers.   (related: How to Persuade People and Influence Them To Buy)

It's hard.

I'm not saying it can't be done…

…but imagine selling headache medicine to someone who doesn't have a headache ‘yet'.

“Buy these now in case of headache”

They’re thinking; “yea…if I have some time, maybe I'll swing by the store and grab a bottle.”

Know what I mean?

There's no urgency.

Above all, there's no ‘bleeding neck'

That's why the best lead magnets are when we ‘step into the world' of our prospect and highlight the crisis.

It allows you to write better copy that gets noticed

Because your customers are actively looking for a solution to stop the pain – whatever that pain is.

Finally;

You don’t need to choose one over the other. You can combine a negative and positive message to create your best lead magnets:

“How to avoid X and get/feel Y”

Cool, right?

We love working on best lead magnets and more, every 2 weeks live on our Strategic Profit Lab coaching calls.

Strategic Profit Lab is right for you if you don’t want to spend more money on programs, products or courses, searching all alone to find the right answers.

Instead, you get the right formulas and methods that adapt to and fit your business perfectly. Because I help you find the right pieces and then put them together.

Here’s where you can join the tribe: Strategic Profit Lab

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