I felt this best illustrated the current state of my creativity.

Right now, I’m resistant.

I don’t know what I’m resistant to, but I’m resistant.

In fact, I don’t feel like doing much of anything at all.

I eyed my laptop for a good 30 minutes, trying to do ANYTHING but write on it. Heck I even started picking cat hair off the blanket of the bed I’m sitting on.

I just didn’t want to freaking write.

And to be honest, I still don’t want to write.

Yet here I am, plodding away on this rubbed-out keyboard. My mind is fairly blank. And I’m not sure what to tell you.

Except for one thing.

I’m doing something.

Yes that’s right. Here it is, my crowning achievement of the day. A good 40 or so words on this currently half-filled page– and going!

You might look at me with a raised eyebrow, but by god, I’m feeling pretty proud of myself right now.

I can picture it – walking up to the podium to receive my medal of writing glory.

“For tapping out 40-something words on a word document when she felt like watching dust mote migration patterns!”

You might wonder what the point of this little blurb is.

If you’re still reading this, you might even be questioning your life choices, considering this is how you’re spending your time.

Don’t fret, I’ll dig up a point for you.

Willpower. Drive. Being willing to take the first step – even if that step seems silly and pointless.

You see, those first few lines I wrote, as painful and gut-wrenching as they were for me, helped ease me into action.

What action you say? Well the action of writing up THIS very post.

I have created something where there was once only blank space.

This piece of writing would have never existed if I didn’t take the chance to sit down and write it.

Now before you run off to nominate me for well-deserved awards for this work of literary gold, I humbly ask you to consider what I did here.

I took the time not only to pull myself out of a ‘writer’s rut’ – but I also bared my soul to you here.

I want you to find comfort that even seasoned, professional writers still have days where they wake up and struggle with their craft.

Heck, ESPECIALLY seasoned writers!

So take the time to write out a sentence or two. I don’t care if it’s “Ate beans. Still can’t fly.”

Just go on and do it. Grumble now, and thank me later.

I DIDN’T READ RECAP: Doing something takes less energy and effort than resisting doing something. So do something!

Eh, it happens more often than you think. (Like say,  when people take a broad stroke approach with their sales copy,)

Online leads are looking for just about any reason to abandon your page, what with our ADD-influenced trigger-happy surfing styles.

So where are those 5 evil money-grubbing pixels I’m talking about?  I’ll share:

An acquaintance showed me a website he was creating.

He was selling “Quality Artificial Diamonds” on the site.

Large, glistening ‘diamond’ images in sterling silver settings – practically daring you to call them fake – at reasonable prices.  A lush, dark site that oozed ‘class’.

Well, that’s what he was going for anyway.  When I clicked onto his page, all I saw was this:

Nothing screams elegance like squished up hard-to-read copy!

So what’s wrong with this picture?

While he’s trying to create a look and feel of elegance with the large, stunning pictures of the jewelry and the smooching couple, he almost succeeds…  Then that small cramped copy on the left ambushes my field of vision takes the entire site down several notches.

I’ll guarantee you, that little square up there is costing him

1) Any copy you want your leads to read has to be easy to read.  I don’t need reading glasses yet, but talk to me after I try to read that mess.  If you’re going to go through the trouble of writing something to entice your customers, make it easy for them to absorb the message.  On a page like this, a brief 7-10 word tagline, gentle call to action, or phrase would do so much more for their sales than this crowded bunch of words that no one is going to read.

2) Sometimes it’s better to show than tell.  Ever see magazine ads for jewelry?  Models. Feelings.  Few words.  Not everything needs exposition to sell.  In this case, you can sell diamonds based on presenting them the right way visually with a few accent words to enhance the presentation.

3) The infamous pixels.  See the padding there?  If you say you can see it you’re lying.  There’s practically none!  Those meager 5 pixels are the final straw in this front page copy fiasco.  It makes his site look ‘home-brewed.’  Who wants to pay for 1k+ rings from a guy who can’t even afford to pay a designer to fix

It's fake - but she won't know! (...Right?)

Selling is not only about getting the product in front of the customer’s face

You can take a lax approach on branding if your selling point is being the cheapest or fastest.  But if you want people to buy from you and spend a bit more based on image, you have to craft that image carefully.

Here’s an analogy: While you might be able to sell hot dogs out of a cart, you’re going to have a harder time getting someone to cough up $100 a plate if you’re dishing it out to them on the street corner with plastic utensils.

"$100 each? They better be encrusted with 'Quality Artificial Diamonds' for that price."

When people are spending a lot of cash on your products, and you’re taking the time to sell them on an image,  you need to have a ‘high end’ look to accomplish that.

Remember, sales copy is just one of many tools to help you sell – not the only one.

‘I DIDN’T READ RECAP’  The visual aspects of your site and how they work with your copy can make or break your sales. Having noise on your site will drive people away, and padding issues makes your site look cheap.  Stop being lazy and read next time!

Well a few weeks ago I would have been one of the first to say: “Buddy, you’re setting yourself up for disaster!”

But Corbett Barr of ThinkTraffic.net has done just that.

A while back, I wrote up an article for Think Traffic on the 7 Biggest Conversion Killing Mistakes.

And time to time I go back to check the site out (they have some nifty articles on there!)

When I hopped over there last week, an article he wrote grabbed my attention.

Corbett and his team has been setting up a s service site called Fizzle, a video training platform for online business builders.

Alright, fair enough, you think.

But what grabbed my attention was the fact that Corbett and his team openly launched the product unfinished.

Nothing shady or tricky here, the purchasers were made aware that they were currently paying for a product in development.  And you know the results?

They sold out the first round of memberships in just a few hours.

Why? There’s several reasons.  First off, Corbett has always been very open and honest when it comes to his business.  Being upfront and candid has helped him build a loyal and responsive community base.

But also because people knew that he would continue to tweak and improve the membership – and they would be able to help lay the groundwork for the change.

This is a product development methodology known as “waterfall” – explained below by Corbett:

“Waterfall is a sequential development process where all analysis is complete before planningbegins, which in turn is completed before implementation begins, which is completed before testing, etc., etc. A project is then released only when all requirements have been implemented.

In software, the waterfall methodology has fallen out of favor over the past decade because it often leads to failed projects. For most software projects, it’s impossible to know everything you’ll ever need to know about a phase before moving to the next. Customers, for example, likely won’t know what they really want until they get to interact with an actual interface.”  - Corbett Barr

Waterfall works best with products that constantly get tweaks – for example, Software or Membership sites.

The main idea here, is get the product out there.  Don’t wrap yourself up in all the bells and whistles!  You can always add those things later as you keep improving your product.

But the only way this methodology will work is if you’re DEDICATED to your product

Don’t think you can just throw out a half finished product because you’re too lazy to finish.

You have to actually care about the development, and put it out there with the intention to continue to improve and grow it.

But if you utilize this technique correctly, you can save yourself a lot of wasted time and heartache – while giving your customer EXACTLY what they want.

Free marketing research help and a full ‘testing’ team that pays you while they get to help develop the product?  Sounds like a win/win!

Go on and check out the original article here, and pop in a comment! 

Chat soon,

Danielle

Chat soon,

Danielle

Mmmm... sushi.

Sushi is delicious.  Well that’s this lady’s opinion anyway.

But like it or not, it’s world renowned as more than a dinner dish – it’s considered by many to be an art form.

I mean just look at the stuff! Even if the thought of raw fish guts doesn’t wet your lips, you have to agree – it looks gorgeous!

Now, I’m no doctor of sushi making, but I HAVE watched a Netflix documentary or two.

No really – “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” – if you have Netflix check it out, if you don’t well then just read this post.

What does sushi have to do with marketing, copywriting, or chewing bubblegum?

I’m going to eventually stop asking then self answering this question, but to give you and myself the benefit of the doubt, I figured I’d at least explain this time.

So who is this mystery man and why do people fly around the world to try his sushi?

This documentary showcases Jiro, a simple but exceptional Sushi chef.

He might look old, but his mind and knife are sharp!

He is 85 years old, he runs a tiny restaurant with only 10 seats in it.  He only serves sushi, nothing else.  All his sushi dishes are simple.

And yet, he has earned 3 stars from the Michelin Guide and each plate starts at a minimum of $300.

What makes him so exceptional?

He is dedicated to his work.  He doesn’t care about money, fame, or anything else but perfecting his craft of sushi making.  As a result, his sushi tastes exceptionally perfect.

If you watch nothing else, watch the first 5 minutes, because he’ll give you the secret to running a successful business.

On second thought, just read this quote from Jiro explaining how to be successful

“Once you decide on your occupation, you must immerse yourself in your work.  You have to fall in love with your work.  Never complain about your job.  You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That’s the secret of success.”

You might be thinking… “That’s it?”

Well, yep, that’s it.  Give up everything except the pursuit of constantly improving yourself and focus on ONE passion – niche yourself if you will.  And in time you will become so good at it, people will recognize that about you and want to give you lots and lots of money.

But of course, you’ll be too busy with your passion to notice the money, so you know – hire someone to collect the stuff for you.

The big take-away

You see, this business – any business – is truly successful when you run it with love, passion, and integrity.

I’m not asking you to be a hippie or even like what I’m saying.

But just think about it.  Think about something you’re REALLY good at.  Chances are it’s something you enjoy doing, something you spend extra time working out.  Something you maybe even dream about, think different angles about, talk with your friends about.

Always looking to improve himself

Something you’re constantly looking for ways to improve.

So why do so many people separate their passions from their monetary pursuits?

The popular answer seems to be “I can’t make enough money doing what I love” and to that I say – where there’s a will there’s a way.  Or if your passion is something like flinging bunny rabbits off buildings, maybe you should rethink your passions.

Whatever the deal is, drop the excuses.

If you don’t invest in your life profession, then you’re missing out my friend.

More inspirational philosophies from the great Sushi Chef Jiro

Choose to do something, then be the best you can at it.

Don’t focus on making money, focus on improving your skills.

Never hate your job.

Be passionate about what you do.

Always strive to be better than the day before.

Never think you are the best: if you think you’re the best then you’ll never find ways to improve.

Listen to Danielle, she’s a pretty cool person.  Also I hear she doesn’t set fire to monkeys, so that’s a plus *

*Jiro may or may not have actually said this

“It’s not real art unless I say it is” – Every self-loathing community college art teacher in existence.

I CAN ART!

When I took my first art class in college, I already had a good few years on most students.  I was never ‘trained’, but I had spent my entire time at school drawing on the backs of notebooks and term papers that my teachers handed back to me.

So imagine my surprise when I found out (from my very tight lipped art teacher) that I had learned everything ‘wrong.’

I had never learned to use perspectives, shading, lines.  And yet, people seemed to love my work.

Yet suddenly, in the space of an hour long orientation class, I had gone from being a ‘talented artist’ to a ‘confused doodler who wasted paper.’

Well maybe ‘talented artist’ is a bit of a stretch – but I knew I was good.

And yet, when my teacher told me I was doing things wrong, I sucked it up and tried to follow her methods…

…and ended up with shaky, poorly drawn pieces.

You see, I was still at a young and naive time in my life where I assumed that if a person was in a position of power, they must know something I don’t – so for a while I listened.

And I started to feel apathy for art.  I stopped drawing all together – and my artwork suffered.

It wasn’t until later that I realized I had given this woman and her ‘techniques’ way too much credit…

What does this have to do with copywriting?  Well, quite a bit.

You see, I’ve met a lot of starting out copywriters who get into this business – and the first thing they do is look for courses, for training, for templates – for some sort of guidance for GOODNESS SAKES!

I know, I did the same thing when I started out.

I bought every book I could get my hands on, I read them, I went to forums, I rubbed elbows with ‘real copywriters’ – I tried to absorb every method I could like a vicious copy amoeba.

mmmm... primordial copy goodness

But what I found was whenever I tried to write copy by carefully following these professional formulas, I created a strange, stuttered form of sales copy.

I was so focused on hitting the points of the templates, but I wasn’t even selling.

I’d read back what I wrote and It just sounded… awful.

It felt like a manuscript for a snake oil salesman.

"Excuse me sir, I'll sample a bottle! ... Wait a second..."

Who would buy from this piece of copy?  Why would any marketer suggest these methods?  Where was the REAL copywriting template that would actually work?

Then it hit me – I was relying so heavily on the templates that I forgot to use my own head.

Using a template for ANY marketing venture is like turning on cruise control when you hit the freeway – then letting yourself fall asleep.

I suddenly realized the HUGE problem with following copywriting templates – or just about ANY template for that matter!

Let’s use story writing as an example for a moment:

In a story you have a plot, a climax, characters, conflicts.  But if you tried to write a story in such a stringent way without putting any real thought behind your characters, without using your mind, you’d likely end up with a poorly written piece of garbage.

So when you’re writing copy, are you writing to sell… or are you trying to impress other copywriters?

A huge mistake is to try to do something ‘exciting’ that will make others think you’re clever and scratch their chins in appreciation and go “Great scott!  What a fantastic copywriter they are!”

But to borrow a frequently used phrase, K.I.S.S. – Keep it simple, stupid.

Your goal isn’t to win awards, to impress the other copywriters… or to even feel smart.

Your goal is to help your client.

Help them make sales, help them get new referrals, help them get more opt ins, help them achieve whatever their goal is.

I’m not saying be mediocre.  I’m not saying don’t look for cool, catchy angles.  But instead of pigeonholing yourself, really stop and think about who you’re writing to.

How to use templates without failing.

Get an idea for how to lay out things.  Then go ahead and research your subject.  The Internet has made that insanely easy.  Check out Facebook pages where people who are into your topic gather.  Hop onto forums.  Look at how they talk.  Check out their lingo.  Then write the copy in a way that speaks to them – in THEIR language.

If you’re doing a great job, your copy shouldn’t read like you’re selling anything at all – it should read like you’re helping them solve a problem by pointing them in the right direction – straight to a product that will improve their lives!

You can use the templates to check if you’ve hit the points you should be hitting.  But if you didn’t do everything in order, don’t fret!

The most important part is to connect with and sell to your prospect.

Now go forth and prosper!

Danielle

P.S.  I wasn’t joking about my art story – check out my old gallery made mostly of dragons doodled on the back of old school papers:

"Dragon Face" - Danielle

Before you pick up your pen (or place those fingers on your keyboard) there’s one thing you should always do before you start working at your sales copy; write down the full list of benefits of whatever you’re writing about.

If you’ve developed a good working knowledge of whatever you’re writing about, you might be tempted to shrug off this step.

It’s especially tempting if you work in a specific niche for a while – it feels like you know all the benefits, so why bother putting them down?

But whether it feels necessary or not, you’d be surprised at how helpful it is to write those suckers out!

The advanced theory on why writing the benefits out is a fantastic idea:

Humans have workable short term memories  - but we can only hold so much temporary information in our minds at a time.

I recall reading that humans can only remember a certain number of numbers, phrases or words on their ‘read only’ memory at any given time  (which is why most phone numbers are 7 numbers long.)

So if you have to keep recalling what made “Johnson’s Hardware Store” so great while you were trying to write the copy, I suspect you’d keep getting slowed down by accessing your brain for benefits instead of having the list in front of you.

Free up your brain space

Here’s what you can do to make your life a bit easier:

Start by writing out all the benefits that come to mind (remember how to tell features and benefits apart?)

Next arrange the benefits in order of how important they are to your customers.

Not what’s important to the business owner, not the benefits you like the best, not what your cousin Jim likes – only focus on what’s important to the customers.

That’s who you’re trying to target, remember?

After you’ve got the benefits arranged, stick it in an easy to access place and have it on hand as you write out the copy.

Not only will this step save you a lot of time when you’re writing out your copy, but you’ll also save a lot of brain power.

Voila!

Heck, even if you’re not writing sales copy, simply writing out what’s on your mind will free up your brain space for other things.

Danielle

"Haha, I get it – cause headline are heavy and this is a weight..."

They have to attract a reader’s darting eye long enough to (hopefully) get them to read the first line.

If your headline doesn’t grab attention, well then they’ll never read the rest of your copy and you’ve lost a sale.

But you already knew that!

However – do you know why most headline formulas are only half-baked?

There’s a lot of marketers that like to claim theyv’e found the headline formula, and even I’ll crank out “how to’s” and “Formula for blah blah” articles every now and then.

But I remain a firm believer in the marketing spirit: While there are methods that are tried and true, don’t always stick with ‘what works.’

Compare coming up with a good headline to coming up with a good story.

There are story patterns and styles that work.  But if you tried to crank out the EXACT same plot and shove it down people’s throats, you’re going to get irritated readers…

…who will not give you their money.

Some headline fundamentals that work:

1) Use your reader’s curiosity to your advantage. There’s a reason “How to” and “Big Secret” headlines work so well – they’re enriching to the reader’s life.  Instead of:

“A dissertation on the financial benefits of owning  a lawnmower”

…you get…

“How to start a 5-figure business with nothing but an old lawnmower”

"That's not grass you're cuttin' - it's GOLD!" - Lawn Mowin' Jim

2) Keeping a headline short n’ sweet. The headline is supposed to grab the reader’s attention – not cram everything about what you’re selling into one line.

Don't forget K.I.S.S.: "Keep it Simple, Stupid!"

3) Make sure the headline is calling out to the right audience. You want to pull in the readers who are going to benefit your goals. If you want to sell handkerchiefs to older women, don’t make a call out in the style of the peppy, young Internet marketer:

“HEY Old Bags – One wave of these Hankies will send grandpa flying off his rocker!”

Just remember: your Headline’s main job is to get your leads to start reading  your copy!

Thinking too hard about anything else is just mental masturbation.

And the best part of headlines is they’re so easy to test!

Just switch them out, keep the same copy – and see which ones work better!

Chat soon,

Danielle

Even something as mundane as collecting a testimonial.

But why should we care about how a testimonial turns out?

To answer that I’ll ask you another question: Does the idea of making more money sound fairly appealing to you?

Well then if so, you should probably care about getting the right testimonials.

The difference between a good testimonial and a string of garbage words thrown together.

Good testimonials help your curious prospect form a purchase decision.

In order for that to happen, the perfect testimonial should:

• Come from a ‘qualified’ person (i.e. A person who commands respect, a person who is known to have a problem that has been solved by whatever is being sold)
• Show that the product was worth way more than the price (i.e. It was $47 – but I made $2,000 with the methods a few days later)
• Praise a benefit of the product (Look ma! No more dandruff!)
• Be recommended (Go buy it son!)

Here’s an example of a good testimonial for a bar of Tastyman chocolate:

Amy likes herself some chocolate, she does

Amy’s testimonial is a good one because it establishes that the chocolate was able to solve a problem for her.  Instead of rattling off just how great it tastes, she touched on something more personal – how effective this particular brand of chocolate is at burying emotional pain!

A bad testimonial for a bar of Tastyman chocolate:

Hmmm...

Although a compelling argument for purchase if for no other reason than to prove that you do not have herpes, it doesn’t touch on the actual benefits of the chocolate bar – therefore is ineffective as a selling aid.

The tricky, tricky business of getting good testimonials

Sometimes you get lucky and people will email you and tell you how much they love your product or service.  Then you can coyly ask if you can use it as a testimonial with their name, business name, and picture.

If you’re good at writing, you can always ask a person you’ve done business with if you could write up a testimonial for on their behalf and get them to approve it.  That is okay as long as the person has both agreed with the arrangement and the statement.

However, many people fall into the awkward category where they get in contact with people they’ve worked with and ask them for testimonials.

That’s not a bad thing in and of itself.  The problems start when you leave your past clients to their own devices.

Think about how you’d handle a testimonial request.  You’d likely jot something down that you thought would please the person asking for it.  ”It was fantastic, blew my mind away – you need to get this NOW!”

The problem with reviews like that is they reek of insincerity.

And testimonials ONLY work because actual people are so thrilled by the product that they’re sharing their positive experience.

There’s a huge difference between endorsements and testimonials.

A testimonial is a person sharing how a product helped them.  They can recommend the product, but generally the person has nothing to gain by sharing their experience.  The product was just THAT good.

An endorsement is generally associated with a well-known person or a person of influence.  They recommend the product – usually because they were paid or given perks.

Testimonials are usually seen as “Intrinsic” –  ”The product was just THAT good”

Endorsements are usually seen as “Extrinsic” –  ”I got paid money to say shit”

Example of why people don’t like endorsements: Spokesperson Charles Barkley calling his Weight Watchers gig a “better scam” than getting paid to watch sports.

Let me emphasize something:

So testimonials that talk about the product and sound like a paid endorsement just don’t cut it.

The simple questions you can ask to get an awesome testimonial that makes you look like a hero.

Consumer: How has this product improved your life since you’ve got it?  How has this product solved your problems since you’ve used it?

B2B: How has this service improved your business since you’ve used it?  How much have your profits increased?

Simple, right? Feel free to customize your own variations of these questions.

The idea here is ask them questions that make them say things like “Well since we worked together, profits have gone up by 20%, and my back no longer itches!”

Never make up your own testimonials or run a testimonial without getting permission first. Ever.

Besides being unethical, it just sets you up for failure.  The moment you’re exposed as a phony is the moment your business will crash and burn.

So just don’t.

And that my friends, is how to get testimonials that are better for your business than drugs.

Talk soon,

Danielle

P.S. To be fair though, just about anything would be better for your business than drugs. Even these horrible ads.

For those of you wondering, Niche: A specialized faucet within a larger market –  i.e.”Weight loss for christian women” would be considered a niche of the weight loss market.

Look, there’s a lot of fantastic arguments for specializing in a niche.  Here’s some of them:

• When you work in a niche you can charge more
• It’s easier to research the market since you’re familiar with the niche
• You can go to niche conventions and meetings and become the ‘go to person’ for the service you provide in that niche
• You can come up with deeper arguments and ideas since you understand the customers on a more intimate level

So logically,  you think I’m crazy or I’m going to say to you “Aha! Yes, that title was a trick to lure you in here and harp on about the benfits of a niche!”

No.

I’m serious, when I say you need to think twice before you chose a niche.

For all the good benefits they bring, they’re not for everyone.  And certainly I don’t recommend them to newbies – especially not newbie copywriters.

3 Reasons why choosing a Niche can be a bad idea

1) It limits your ability to play the field.

While choosing a niche means you attract specific people, it also locks out other people. So it makes it a little harder to diversify and get a feel for other businesses.  Heck, who knows, you might enjoy the painting industry more than the auto industry you’re currently specializing in. Remember, I didn’t say that you CAN’T work on other businesses if you choose a niche.  But just like having a niche will attract certain businesses to you, it will repel other businesses.

And one of the best parts of being a ‘general copywriter?’  People pay you to study their business from the inside out.  Most copywriters I’ve known use copywriting as a stepping stone to build a business or start marketing.  Now, later on, it may make sense to choose a niche – when you figure out what market you want to grow a business in.  But when you start out, sampling different markets and styles will give you a much wider range and marketing perspective.

2) It can make your work stale.

I mean, there’s only so much you can write about one thing before you start to Google information on how to tie an effective noose.

That doesn’t mean that when you specialize you can only work within that niche… but when your mind is always in a certain realm, it’s easy to get stuck in certain patterns of thinking.

Gotta keep things fresh, yo.

3) You may choose niches for the wrong reasons.

Some people choose a niche because they already know a lot about it.  That can be a good reason to choose a niche… but also a bad reason.  If you worked in finance for 20 years and hated it,  you might know a lot about the niche… but what’s the point in running a business you hate!

Others choose niches because they heard they could make a lot of money in them.  Let me tell you something buddy – money won’t buy you happiness.  But it will buy you a good length of rope.

Just sayin’.

So the answer then is to never specialize and always be a “business handyman”… right?

WRONG – look.  Although I have several awesome reasons for not choosing a niche fast, there’s also those great reasons for choosing a niche.

The key?  Even if you’re in a niche, make sure you step out of your comfort zone now and again.  If you do a lot of Internet marketing, write something about bunnies.  If you’re a medical copywriter, take some time to check out the software niche.

We grow by taking on new challenges and keeping our minds fresh.

It’ll make you learn new styles, reach new markets – and help you grow as a copywriter, designer, business owner – and person!

Annnnnnnnd off we go,

Danielle

The sales person's greatest challenge.

Door-to-door Mormons – they have it tough.

From a sales perspective, their prospects are slim.

They’re essentially door-to-door salesmen that are trying to sell you on faith.

The ‘customers’ they encounter and why the sale is not an easy one:

If you don’t believe in God, you’re irritated at the prospect of someone trying to get you to believe a big guy in the sky.

If you do believe in God, you’re angry that someone is telling you your faith is wrong.

If you’re already Mormon, you’re bugged that they’re wasting their time on you and not out there converting more people.

So unless a person woke up and thought to himself : “Gee, I wonder what I think about things like God and religion. I’m curious about exploring different faiths.” – well most of us just are not going to change.

Why study these tactics?

I can tell you for a fact that when they came to my door, there wasn’t even a tiny part of me that said “well, since they came all this way, I might as well re-evaluate all the values on which I base my life.”

But there was a tiny part of me wondering – why do they do what they do, and how successful are they at doing it?

So being the curious marketer, I invited them in, gave ‘em some food, and we sat down and chatted about God n’ Sales – and here’s what I found.

3 Sales MISTAKES the Mormons made – and how you can avoid them

Mistake 1) They’re too focused on changing ‘beliefs’ - this is something extremely personal and touchy.  When they say they want to share the word of the lord with the homeowner…I’m sure they get a lot of slammed doors.

How to win: A better tactic would be to say they simply want to understand your beliefs because they want you to educate them – right off the bat.  Imagine if these guys came to you because they wanted YOU to educate them.  Heck, there’s a lot of people who would be willing to chat about their faith and belief.  And getting a person to let you in and chat with you is the first step towards pushing the sale.

Although they do ask about you after you let them in, their initial approach is way off and results in almost never getting past the front door.

Homework? Awww hellz no!

Mistake 2) They want you to do homework. They wanted to leave a book with me and asked me to look over it and study it.

I did not want to, felt pushy.  The idea was that I would invest time and accomplish something, thus getting further to their goal.

But all I heard is “Take time out of your busy day to do what we want you to do”

How to win: If you want a person to accomplish something, you have to give them an incentive.  Having a possible revelation and shining lights beaming down on me just doesn’t cut it.

Mistake 3) They tried to close the sale too fast. You don’t talk sale until your customer seems eager… or at the very least interested.  I was neither.

How to win: In hard sales, you can push the sale, but again – usually the person has at least a bit of interest for whatever you’re selling.  Using the car lot example, if they came there to check out cars, it’s likely that they are at least interested in getting a car.  But since these fellas are going door to door, it’s a stretch to assume I’m interested if I’m just listening politely and saying “no thanks.”

3 Good Sales Tactics the Mormons Used – and how you can apply them to business

Good sales move 1) They get you to talk about yourself - People love talking about themselves.  I know I do!  This does two things.  One, it gets you to open up and two, they can take the information you share with them and use it to sneakily convert you.

"MA!! I just scored FREE stuff from the Mormons! So I'm converting, k? ... Mom?"

Good sales move 2) They give you free stuff. Sure it’s a book about Mormons, but The Law of Reciprocity goes “I do something for you, you do something for me.”  So think twice before you accept that free water at the car dealership – or the free bible.

Remember when you’re the person selling, the more information n’ help you give someone, the more they see you as someone they can count on.  And the easier it will be for them to give you money to help them.

Good sales move 3) They had great customer service – Whatever you think of them, they listened carefully to me, never interrupted me.  They were polite, and even offered to help me out around the house.

Again, Law of Reciprocity!

What to do with these lessons:

Keep ‘em in mind for your pitches.  Match people, get them to talk about themselves, offer information and draw them in.   Give them things so they feel like they owe you somethin’.

Granted, you wont always be making the sales on a face to face basis.  And goodness knows, you’ll need a better strategy than going door to door hoping someone wants what you’re pitching.

It helps to do research and narrow down your targets so you can spend your time on people you actually have a chance of closing the sale with.

Remember – Research. It actually has a purpose outside of college.

Have you chatted with mormons or seen them use other tactics?

Tell us below or just share your thoughts!

Danielle

P.S. They were good sports – even cracking up when I asked them “Is it sacrilegious to say Joseph Smith looked hot?” in the photo they showed me of him.