Yesterday, a reader succeeded in provoking me with a message that started with a backhanded compliment — how my Most Valuable Email course is ‘good’ but not ‘WOOOW.’
The hackles stood up on the back of my neck as I read this.
If you’d like to be provoked also, read through my reader’s message below, and then I’ll tell you something simple but powerful about influence:
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I’m stopping by with a purpose: to finally give you my impression of MVE.
Look… The first time I read all the content, I found it “good”.
I’m not going to deny that, although I found the idea original, I hadn’t found the hook that made me say “WOOOW”.
Two weeks went by, and I found myself going around in circles to write some emails and improve my list engagement, and I decided to re-read all the MVE content.
…
I admit I have no idea what was going on in my head the first time I saw the course.
This is one of the best courses I have EVER bought.
I probably read it without much thought – the way one reads newspapers in the morning – and didn’t see how much value it had.
And I am writing this email to you after:
1. having carefully studied MVE, and
2. Having put it into practice and seen the results.
I paid $100 for this course. However, if it had cost me $500, I would have paid for it anyway (I really still can’t get over how effective and unique it is).
Even though MVE’s sales page states well everything the training comes with…
I believe the course contains MUCH more at a deeper level, and its results are better than what you state on your sales page.
Thank you for this. I understand that it is something I paid for and that is the “price”, but beyond that, I feel that selling this product is a service you are doing that is worth 10 times what I paid.
I have had good results in my newsletter, and just now it has grown more than expected and I have built an audience that I feel comfortable with – and I owe that in large part to MVE.
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Maybe you yourself feel provoked or at least disappointed now.
Maybe you feel I’ve bait-and-switched you by promising you some genuine drama, and instead I’ve sneaked in a testimonial for one of my courses.
If so, let me work to make it up to you:
The reader who sent me the above message, Jesús Silva, “got” me with his opening.
I started off reading his email thinking, “What a jackass. Why would anybody take the trouble to write me and say something I’ve worked hard to create is ‘good’ but not WOOOW.”
By the end of Jesús’s message though, I thought this is the nicest testimonial I’ve ever gotten for MVE.
I asked myself why.
After all, I’ve had many people write me with very positive and even grateful reviews of MVE.
Why did this one impact me more?
Perhaps it’s obvious.
It’s that bit of emotional roller coastering… the swing from “‘good’ but not WOOOW”… to “one of the best courses EVER” and to thanking me for selling this course.
In other words, the second half of Jesús’s message is very flattering. But on its own, it wouldn’t have the impact that it had on me when prefaced by the hackle-raising opening.
So the point I have for you today:
There’s great power in emotional contrast.
From negative to positive… from humiliated to triumphant… from arrogant to nice… from alarmist to optimistic.
Emotional contrast is simple. But it can move people who cannot be moved otherwise… and it can can create a much stronger reaction than a one-sided appeal ever could.
But back to that “good but not WOOOW” MVE course:
I’ve raised the price of MVE dramatically since Jesús bought. Rather than the $100 I charged Jesús, I now sell MVE for $297. That’s three times as expensive. It’s a shameless price hike on the level of Martin Shkreli.
But if what Jesús says is true, MVE is still a good deal and is still underpriced, even at this new higher price.
And I can tell you I wouldn’t sell MVE at this new price if I didn’t think the education inside is worth much more, if only you only read the content thoroughly and then put it to use, growing your influence, list, and even marketing skills, faster and further than you might ever think possible.
The MVE trick takes all of one hour to learn, though you might want to go through the content twice to get it on a deeper level.
If you’d like to get started with that now, so you can start profiting today rather than weeks or months later, here’s where to go: