Prey on these 2 fears to get attention from the wealthy

My always entertaining video commentary on today's newsletter is HERE

OK-so we’ve all heard about the twin levers of fear and greed. Perhaps it’s a bit simplistic, but the reality is that most successful marketing messages focus on one of them.

According to those who research such stuff, Fear gets people’s attention, while Greed (or the happy outcome) motivates them to buy. It’s a bit more nuanced than that, but for the purposes of today’s discussion, we’ll focus on Fear.

I’m going to suggest a couple of ways to leverage Fear to your advantage. Today, we’ll do a simple exercise and tomorrow I’ll share the 2 Big Buckets of Fear.?

As with any type of marketing, you want to use Fear judiciously. What the optimal amount is will depend on your market, and your personal style.

I’ve done promotions such as Will Your Business Have The Courage To Survive The Recession of 2023? Which did pretty well) and Jackie Lives in a Single Wide Mobile Home-He Didn’t Have To ?(Which killed it.)

As I say, you have to experiment.

But back to the question of what Fear topic to focus on?

This is an exercise I did with a lot of my consulting clients back in the day when I did consulting. They found to be really helpful, and hopefully you will too.

Here we go…

Think of a client (real or fictitious). Give him a name. I like “Chester” but you choose what you like.

Think about the problem you solve. There are probably multiple problems Chester has that you work on-just pick one of them.

Write it down.

Seriously…write it down. This exercise will only work if you actually complete it-not just read me telling you about it.

OK-wrote it down? Cool.

Next…I want you to think about a CONSEQUENCE that might occur if the problem isn’t addressed.

So for instance…I’m a marketing advisor specializing in helping businesses attract more affluent clients.

The problem I solve is…Chester doesn’t have clients who can afford what he offers.

So what’s a consequence if he don’t solve this problem?

Well, in my case it would be that Chester wastes a lot of time talking with prospective clients who can’t actually pay for his services.

Get the idea?

Write down a consequence if your Chester doesn’t solve their particular problem.

Again…WRITE IT DOWN…

OK…Next step…

What is the next CONSEQUENCE if Chester doesn’t do what you just wrote down?

This is where it gets interesting. You can go in all sorts of different directions-all of which make great sales copy.

For instance…

What is a consequence of Chester wasting a lot of time talking with prospective clients who can’t afford what he has to offer?

It could be...

1) Chester get highly frustrated and think about quitting

2) Chester doesn’t spend enough time with the family (since they’re spending way too much time talking with poor people) and his wife/girlfriend is getting really pissed off

3) He doesn’t make any sales and the bills start piling up

4) Chester’s Boss begins to think that Chester is a major loser (especially compared to Fred who is killing it)

5) Chester reduces his price and goes back to selling to poor people

You get the idea.

All of those are what I refer to as Fear Data Points. Those are what we sprinkle into your sales presentations or marketing copy.

Want even more fun?

Take it to the next level.

What are the consequences of what you just wrote down?

Let’s see what doom unfolds in my little scenario.

1) Chester quits trying to sell to people who can actually afford what he offers and after months of unemployment finally finds a job as a toll road attendant. Chester is sadly killed in a freak accident when a drunk motorist runs into the toll booth.

2) Chester’s wife decides that enough is enough and has an affair with Bill, which eventually leads to her divorcing Chester and taking the kids out of state where they grow up hearing nothing but terrible things about poor Chester.

3) Since the bills pile up with no end in site, Chester ultimately has no choice but to file for bankruptcy.

4) Poor Chester gets canned.

5) Although Chester has reduced his price, so have his competitors, so now he’s engaged in selling a highly discounted service in a mad rush to the?bottom.

You get the idea.

Obviously what I’ve done here is exaggerated (but by a lot less than one might think).

By doing this exercise, sure you’ll come up with a lot of stuff that you probably would never use…But you’ll also identify those Fear Data Point that are enormously powerful for getting attention.

And breaking through the clutter of noise that surrounds the affluent prospect is mission #1.

Next time I’ll share the 2 Big Buckets of Fear-so be on the lookout for that tomorrow.

See you then

Mark

PS: This is an example of the type of exercises I facilitate in my Whales Not Minnows Video Newsletter. You should check it out for FREE by going HERE