EDvertise Training – Part 1
EDvertise Training – Part 2
EDvertise Training – Part 3
When we want to accomplish anything, we set our sights on a specific result that we are trying to achieve, an objective we’re trying to reach with the result or goal being to create the maximum yield or return on the smallest investment that we can possibly make. That desired return on investment (ROI) may be in the stock market or other financial investments or in Real Estate where we buy a house for the least amount of money that the seller will accept and turn around and sell it for the most amount of money a buyer will pay. Whether it’s studying for the least amount of time to get the best possible grade, or buying the best car we can with the least amount of cash, in business, we want the biggest yield, revenue, return, and income on the smallest investment. To create big returns on small investments, we need certain skills. We may already possess those skills, or we may not. Sometimes we can learn the skills, if we have the talent, the right teacher, and the time. But usually because of the level of mastery needed to achieve a maximum ROI, we have to hire or retain someone who already is a master at those skills. Those who have already mastered the skills know a secret—something that they have figured out through their years of experience and execution which enables them to master those skills. They’ve discovered a secret that allows them to consistently get maximum returns on small investments in one or more areas of life. Typically, these people have spent years learning that secret—whether or not they are aware of what the secret is. They may just do it naturally—and they may not even know why (unconscious competence). My purpose in writing this book is to teach you that secret, first and foremost, and then give you the templates to enable you to execute and create as close to the result as a master would without actually: 1) taking the time to master it or 2) hiring the person to do it for you. In my book, The Five Most Critical Questions You Must Ask Before You Write Any Advertising, the secret is about how to create advertising that makes enormous amounts of money, that generates the most leads, that creates the biggest conversion ratio, that creates the biggest average sale, that creates the most repeat business and the most referral business… for the least expense. At the same time, within a very short period of time, EDvertising, brands the organization with the same brand equity that would take another company 30 years or more and millions of dollars to achieve and insulates the company and brand against the onslaught of competition. This is about teaching you the secret to powerful and effective advertising. You can receive a free copy of this book by clicking on the GET THIS FREE button on the right of this page. If you come out to the show in Los Angeles, I will personally give you a hardback copy of the book. Question 1: What do prospects do when they first start looking for or thinking about buying what you sell? This question goes back to the concept called the Genesis Point. I want you to think through the answer to the question: What do prospects first do when they start looking for or thinking about buying what you sell? You can chart prospect activity on a timeline with the actual purchase on the extreme right-hand side, and the Genesis Point—the point in time when the thought of the product first enters the prospect’s mind—at the extreme left hand side of the line. See if you can describe that scenario, and then describe everything that happens up into the point when you get their money. It’s critical to do this to see what actually happens, what people want, what the mess-ups are, and what things need to be fixed. Now ask yourself: “What do our prospects first do when they start thinking about what I sell?” So, what do prospects do first when they start looking for or thinking about buying what you sell? This question digs into the Genesis Point of the sales process. What happens first? What’s going on when people first start thinking about purchasing products and services? It helps us understand all the feelings, possible scenarios, circumstances, conditions, ideas, activities, and frustrations. Are they unhappy? Are they miffed? What is the actual emotion? What activities are going on? We want to see this as a movie so we can view it in our mind. Then we can visualize the genesis of the sale. When we start looking at that genesis, we see the beginning of the entire buying process. And when you ask “What do our prospects do first when they start looking for or thinking about what we sell?” you start seeing the genesis of their activity and what’s spawning that activity. It’s important to see it from the Genesis Point, the beginning, because then you understand what information they have access to. It helps you understand what offers you might make and what media you might buy. Question 2: Where do prospects first start looking for information or companies to do business with? There are two things happening here. When people are looking to switch, looking to buy, the first thing they do is go with the most credible brand that they recognize instantaneously. Why? Because in their mind, they have already determined that it’s credible. So, the first thing that comes to mind is the brand because it’s the only thing that has credibility in the mind of the prospect. Do you see what’s happening? The mind suggests the brand instantaneously, like it’s an open-and-shut case. In the customer’s mind, if there is a credible brand associated with the need, the mind will instantly say: “Oh. It’s ABC Accounting.” And then what happens? The cognitive mind has a problem. It doesn’t have any facts to work with because the emotional brain (amygdala) is going to win. What happens if there’s a credible brand already identified with the company? The prospect dials it up first. So, where do prospects first go to start looking for information or companies to do business with—and what do they do naturally? When they first show interest in buying something or first realize that there’s a problem, where do they go first to find a solution? Those are things that you need to know because often you will advertise based on the concept of where people go when they are ready to buy and are looking for a product or service. The problem is that by that time, it is already too late because when they are in that mode, they go to the Yellow Pages. At what point would you rather have a prospect: when they’re ready to look for somebody to buy from or when they’re at the Genesis Point when they’re just thinking about it? Wouldn’t you rather start with them at the beginning and go through the entire decision-making process, grow up with them, and be feeding them information before they start making a decision on a provider or supplier? You can put this purchasing cycle on a timeline—the time that it takes to go from the Genesis Point to the Purchase Point. The sales cycle is the cycle that says “I’m looking for a company to do business with.” And that is because the decision to buy something has already been made. They’re just looking for someone to provide product to them. The marketing cycle is the longest cycle, so if you’re asking questions in the media that help you define advertising at the sales cycle point, 2/3 to 3/4 or more of that buying process has already passed you by. Is it easier to raise a child from birth, the beginning, or to adopt a child when he’s 14 and then try to get him to think and behave your way? Not that it can’t be done, but obviously it’s easier to raise the child from the beginning. Why? Because you can instill your own beliefs, ideas, traditions, and discipline. By the time a child turns 14, he’s cemented a lot of things like his work ethic, how he processes ideas, how he deals with people—and changing a person that age or older is extremely difficult, if not impossible. So, the point is to get to them before all of that. Questions 1 and 2 allow us to understand exactly what’s happening in the beginning. Question 3: What’s the next natural or logical step after the prospect reads, hears, or sees an ad? That’s what you have to ask yourself. Note that the question is “What’s the next logical step?“—not what you want them to do but what they will do naturally. Most marketing people think, “Let’s try to force them down a particular path.” Today, you’re not going to force anybody to do anything. So, let’s stay within the concept of The Brand Compass and allow them to do what they naturally want to do. We can give them information that guides them, but as a general rule, we’ll allow them to do what comes naturally and logically. After prospects read, hear, or see the ad, what is the next logical step they take? Do they want to: 1) Get more information because they feel skeptical, or at risk, or for whatever reason are not ready to buy now? 2) Talk to a salesperson because they have questions before they will buy? 3) Walk into a store because they want to look, compare or physically see or try the product before they buy? 4) Try to make a purchase because they have all the information they need or that’s available? Or, 5) Buy right now? They have all the information that they need (or that is available), and they’re ready to buy but perhaps just haven’t gotten around to it yet What will people do? They’ll automatically call the company with credibility first. If the brand has credibility to them, they are oriented to the “brand compass” and they will go to the company the brand compass points to. Question 4: What do prospects need to see or hear in order to feel that they can make the best decision or that this company is credible and can do what they want? What substantiation or support do they need? What do they need to see or hear? They’re going to visit websites and check things out. Do they want accreditation? Testimonials? Case studies with results and numbers? Sure. What other evidence do they need to see? What about press releases? What about a book authored by you? What about articles written and published by or about you and your business? Build the credibility of the brand so prospects see all of this evidence. Have at least three or four case studies. (Eventually, you might have a database of case studies organized by industry or company size.) Now, how many times have you searched Google™ for something and pulled it up and found only one or two pages available? You don’t really want to go through 30 pages, but you want to know that they’re there—that you have choices or options. That’s what your prospects want when it comes to evidence and substantiation behind the credibility. They don’t want just one or two articles. They want loads of articles. Archives of articles. They want lots of press releases and case studies. More is better, because more says “I’ve been doing this forever.” Breadth and depth is what they want. They also want to get educated about it but not necessarily in a seminar where they have to talk about personal business. They want the interaction, but they don’t want to divulge information about their business in front of strangers. Also, they know that at a seminar they’re going to get pitched to and sold. But they would respond to and possibly join in on a conference call to learn about the topic or issue, right? So, what do your prospects need to see or hear in order to feel that they can make the best decision? Answering this question will tell you exactly what they need in order to be sold and thus be confident that they have made the best decision. When you ask prospects or customers this question, they’ll actually tell you the very things that they need. What do people need to see or hear in order to feel that they can make the best decision? Make a list: references, testimonials, examples, models, samples, information, and proof of claims, etc. For example, when people attend our training, they get proof that their ads will come out looking right. They can see that the Fortune500 Facelift™ works and that their stuff will look the way we say it will look because our designers have created mock-ups of their stuff and they can see it live, right there in front of them. What other evidence do we need to provide? What things do they need to see or hear in order to feel they can make the best decision and go this route? Perhaps a testimonial, example, demonstration, or model is what they need. Can you ever have too many testimonials or examples? No. But you may have too little ability or not enough time to easily sort through the examples. You don’t want to throw tons of information at people, but when they open up the review section, if they only see three reviews on a particular product (such as golf clubs) or service (such as a tennis coach), what’s their feeling? Not enough stuff. What happens if they have to scroll through several pages of information? They think, “This is a lot of stuff.” And so they start sorting. For example, suppose that I’m online looking for tennis racquets and checking out the customer reviews on the Yonex RDS 001. If there are 40 reviews, I don’t want to read every one of those, so I sort by levels of players. I’m looking for guys who are 4.5-6.0 players because I’m a 5.5 player. So I go through that process and see that out of 40 reviews, there are 12 guys who are at a 5.0 or better. Those are the reviews I want to read. I might check out some of the others only to see if the ratings are consistent across the board. You just can’t have too many testimonials or case studies. If you lack examples and testimonials, it’s because you’re not winning enough business or you’re not keeping your clients happy. If you need more examples, win more clients and serve them better. Question 5: What format or medium is the prospect used to? In what format does the support need to come? In what format is the information that they are currently working with? For example, doctors read white papers and receive a lot of information without pictures. Why? Because they’re more “left brain” and they would throw away any marketing collateral. CFOs are accustomed to looking at reports, cost analyses, and things like that, so if you send them some information about getting a cost analysis, that’s not going to work. They’re not going to respond to that. They’ll throw away that marketing piece because they deal with reports and costs analyses every day—but they won’t throw away marketing or advertising pieces promoting a free ROI report. If you set your marketing piece in that same format, the chances of your prospects picking it up and reading it are high. For example, if I send a marketing piece to a business owner that said: “Think you’re paying too much in taxes? Bla. Bla. Bla. Here’s some tax advice.” I’ll send that postcard or letter, thinking I’ve nailed the prospect. Right? Question five also helps me decipher the best format and media. When this business owner is trying to determine whether he paid too much in taxes, what is he looking at? Is he looking at his own taxes, at what he was charged? What is he looking at that makes him think he’s paying too much in taxes? Think back to the Genesis Point. Is he looking at the statement that the accountant prepared? He’s probably looking at the balance sheet. So, why couldn’t you create a semi-generic adjusted format for him—with deductions that he can potentially average out? Why couldn’t you categorize those and send him a sample of a typical one and then one that was done right so he could compare them and see the bottom line? Send him a before and after picture of his financials. Now, suppose that I mail that picture of his financials in a tax-looking document envelope, and I explain: “Here’s what’s happening with taxes. Most small business owners are paying too much because they’re not working with CPA firms that understand all the tax laws. It is just the nature of working with small businesses and small CPA firms. So, we’ve prepared a sample report of what most businesses are paying—then you’ll see what they should be paying. We’ve included a blank form that will allow you to very quickly assess your business. If you have any questions, you can visit our website.” If I sent that ad to a prospect, what are the chances that he would open it? Would you open that mail? Or would you prefer to respond to a 6 X 4 postcard? Remember the concept from promise to possession? Promise-oriented marketing is when I am promising you that if you respond, this or something else beneficial will happen to you. Possession-oriented marketing gives you the solution and eliminates the guesswork so you get as close to possession as you can, as quickly as possible. This is what we do in Get BrandED training: we go from promise to possession. In the trainings, we start by looking at the brand right in the beginning. On the last day, we build ads. Is there any guesswork as to whether or not this stuff will work? No. They are looking at it—possession. It’s right there. There’s no guesswork. They don’t have to wonder any more. Let me help you understand why Question 5 works strategically. Which side of the brain rules—the cognitive thinking part or the amygdala? The answer is that the amygdala does so if this ad comes in the form of analysis, that is cognitive. What does the prospect want? He visually wants to see an adjusted document—his own document. Why would you give him a postcard? If you know that he wants to see it, why wouldn’t you just send him the balance sheet with the adjusted figures so he can see it and touch it? Why wouldn’t the media you use to market to him be as close to what he actually wants as possible? What would the brain instantaneously think, if the piece has credibility? When the prospect sees it, he says: “Oh, man. That’s exactly what I want.” And if the amygdala says “that’s exactly what I want,” the decision is made. Who wins? We do—our CPA firm does. The strategy has just been done for all the CPAs in the world and we can do this all day long forever, for every type of company. So, what format or medium is your prospect used to? What medium or format is the prospect used to working with that works best for him? This question lets you know exactly what a prospect expects to deal with naturally because then your message doesn’t come across looking like advertising. Now we’ve gone through all of The 5 Questions. Have we deciphered what the ad should be? Yes. Have we deciphered what the next step or the offer should be? Yes. Have we deciphered what the medium should be and the format that it should be in? Yes. So now we know from an advertising standpoint, from a professional standpoint, what that ad campaign should look like for this CPA (professional business). By answering The 5 Questions, you will know exactly what type of ad to run, when to run it, where to run it, what to say, what offer to make, what evidence you need to back it up, and what format to put it in. Basically, answering The 5 Questions tells you exactly how to sell your customers. There you have it! A basic overview of the foundation of what my CEO’s have come to call EDvertising. It is simple… easy and powerful. For examples of EDvertising download the FREE Ebook to the right on this page. Plus if your download “GROW… Seed Stock Edition” from the front page of this website (Also FREE of charge) you will also have a library of mock ad templates that are based on my 14 EDvertising strategies. This was you will never get rooked by a rookie agency again.Hello, this is Edward Earle. I want to personally welcome you to another Get Branded Training Program. Let me give you a short overview of one of my books, “The 5 Critical Questions You Must Ask Before You Write Any Ad.” The content within it’s pages is the preliminary foundation of what my CEO’s around the world have come to call my method of creating advertising…EDvertising.
Advertising is no different: we want the most leads and the most customers, the highest closing ratio, the highest dollar amount per sale, the most repeat business, and the most referral business… all from the smallest investment possible.
Let’s take a look at the five fundamental questions to create powerful EDvertising.
