A few days ago, I sent out an email about a girl who secretly reminded me of a bear — in all the best ways. After I sent that email out, I posted it to my site as a blog post… and then I got the following message:
“A bear huh wtf!”
It turns out that every few months, this girl checks on me via my blog. And thanks to famous female intuition, she picked just the right day, with just the bear story right at the top.
As soon as I saw her message, I spun around and looked at my front door. A thin, half-inch board of plywood.
A cold sweat ran down my back. I imagined her showing up at my door at any moment… and with one mighty swipe, tearing it off its hinges and— well, I should be careful what I say. She might be reading.
So let me switch gear:
Yesterday, I wrote about my more real recent brush with death — a car that fell out of the sky in front of me.
When I wrote that email, I hadn’t yet thought of any clear marketing takeaway for you.
Well, I’ve since thought of an obvious and powerful takeaway. And since it goes just as well with the topic of today’s email, I’ll share this idea with you now.
This marketing idea was a revelation to me when I first heard it. That’s why I even included it as Commandment IV in my 10 Commandments of A-List Copywriters.
The commandment is simply to give an occasion to your promotion. Give the reader an excuse to buy by answering the question, “Why am I hearing about this now?”
Of course, crap, transparently false occasions won’t do much and can even hurt you. (“Oh no! We’ve overstocked our warehouse again! Tee hee, so naughty we are! Oh well, time for a sale…”)
But if you can make your occasion feel real — cars falling out of the sky, a furious girl on a rampage — then you might have yourself a sales multiplier.
That’s one reason why I think Daniel Throssell’s Black Friday campaign this year did so well.
His feud with Matt Bockenstette gave it an occasion and made it feel real. People are starved for things that feel real, and so this feud made people pay attention and maybe gave them an excuse to buy.
And that’s the key point. Maybe, an excuse to buy.
Because I’ve seen so many successful and competent marketers lately… gnashing their online teeth and shaking their online jowls. “That Throssell character! And his shameless controversy seeking! Rrrr… rrreprehensible!”
I don’t know what this reaction is about.
It could be some honor among thieves thing. “Of course we want to agitate the shit out of our prospects — it’s ultimately good for them. But come on, not when we’re the prospects!”
Or perhaps it’s just shortsightedness. Thinking that Daniel somehow cheated his way to a big win.
I don’t doubt the occasion of the feud helped. But it would have multiplied a big fat zero had Daniel not had by far the best offer… and a relationship with his audience that’s tighter than anything I’ve personally ever seen.
And if you’re wondering what my stake is in all this:
Daniel’s been generous to me and we are on good terms. But perhaps you can believe me when I say I’m not shilling for him.
In part, because he doesn’t need me to.
In part, because I have my own offers to promote.
Well, that’s not really true. All I have is one single, tiny offer.
Because while my Influential Emails training is wrapped up for now… while Copy Riddles is in the hangar, getting spit-shined for its January 2022 flight… and while I work on new offers that I will launch over the coming months…
All I really have on offer is my tiny Kindle book, 10 Commandments of A-List Copywriters.
Among other things, this book will give show you A-list occasions, done right.
And speaking of which, if you haven’t bought this book yet, I’d appreciate if you’d do it now. I could really use the money — I’m looking to invest in a steel door for extra protection. Here’s how you can contribute $5: