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The first step at building a brand is to have a Unique Selling Proposition or a USP.
My USP was powerful: “No-risk advertising: If we send you nothing, you pay nothing.” Advertisers joined by the truckload because they were tired of expensive advertising options which offered this risk proposition: “Pay us $5,000 upfront, then hope and pray.” I exposed a pain-point, fixed it, and then advertised
use powerful action verbs that create desire and urgency. “Lose weight” should be changed to “Obliterate fat” or “Shred pounds.”
“Grow your business” should be dropped in favor of “Explode revenues” or “Shatter sales records.” Your USP’s uniqueness creates a consumer divergence when it comes to their buying decision. If you pick a Mac over a PC, you are choosing safety, speed,
The best USPs are short, clear, and powerful. Long phrases get skipped over.
five ways to get your message above the noise: 1) Polarize 2) Arouse emotions 3) Be risqué 4) Encourage interaction and 5) Be unconventional
GoDaddy aired its first Super Bowl ad by using sex as weapon to get above the noise. The now-infamous GoDaddy Girl ads followed in subsequent years. I never thought the ads were that good, yet they got above the noise and got people’s attention. The result? Increased sales and GoDaddy’s market share surged to 32% after 2006. Social media marketers use the risqué technique on Facebook and YouTube with glaring obviousness. Ever notice YouTube videos with sexual thumbnails always have ten times the views?
commercial for an automobile manufacturer that filmed a story with a high-speed chase, except the story never concludes and we are left with “Find out what happens next . . . visit [website].” By teasing audiences with incomplete messages or stories, potential customers are left with an open loop that needs closing. They visit the website seeking closure.
They sell features, not realizing that people rent convenience and events, not limousines.
we buy things to solve needs. We participate in transactions to fill voids. You don’t buy a drill; you buy a hole. You don’t buy a dress; you buy an image. You don’t buy a Toyota; you buy reliability. You don’t buy a vacation; you buy an experience.
I was running a brand while my competitors were running businesses.
The Tekel Syndrome is a compulsion to scatter your focus across different projects and opportunities. It’s also a symptom of money
chasing versus need filling. When you invest your time into five different businesses, you become a polygamist-opportunist.
The results were not good, and I had four options: 1) Continue cheating on my existing business, 2) Hire someone to manage the existing business, 3) Hire someone to manage the new business, 4) Discontinue the new business.
I discontinued the new company, because I reasoned that hiring additional employees would inject management time into my life.
I don’t know any highly successful polygamist-opportunists unless they were monogamous first.
Money buys systems, like human resource systems, and money systems that buy time. Fastlane success comes from monogamy; not split attentions among wives and mistresses. It’s marriage. Yes, good old-fashioned monogamy. Focus on one Fastlane business and kick ass at it.
Your choices are made in a moment, but their consequences will transcend a lifetime. ~ MJ DeMarco
The best passive-income money-tree seedlings are money systems, rental systems, computer systems, content systems, distribution systems, and human resource systems. The key to automation in any business lies in these seedlings.
