As I write this, I’m feeling woozy. The ground is swaying under my feet. My stomach is a little sensitive.
I wouldn’t be surprised that when I lay down for the night and I turn out the lights, I will have to run to the bathroom to throw up.
In case you’re wondering, I haven’t been drinking. But I did spend the whole day on a boat.
It was a beautiful sunny day. Fresh air. Clear skies. The contrast of green olive trees and white cliffs and deep blue sea below.
It was a great experience. I didn’t feel anything but excited during the whole day.
But once the day was over, and I stepped off the boat, tired and happy to be back on dry land, that’s when the whole earth started to move beneath my feet.
Now let me switch to a different topic for a second:
Here’s something valuable that A-list direct response marketer Michael Fishman once said in an interview with Jay Abraham:
“The interesting thing is that your selling copy in the prospecting process can actually impact the longevity of a customer with the company. So what I mean by that is if you make very, very big promises for a self-help product, a health or investment product — if you make very, very big promises for that about quick results and overnight success, etc. — the kinds of people that will find that believable and ultimately will buy turn out to be folks that are not very committed in the long very long run to your company because they’re opportunistic about their purchase.”
Michael is saying that hype can hurt your long-term sales because you end up selecting the wrong customers.
The only thing I would add is that hype can also create wrong customers for your business, out of otherwise good people.
Because your prospect goes for a bright and colorful selling experience, designed by somebody like you or me. He spends a long time with you, enjoying the contrast of cool blue promises and big white warnings and a sparkling offer underneath it all.
So your prospect has a great time while you entertain and sell him. He doesn’t feel anything but excited the whole time. But at the end of it, he steps off the boat — by taking you up on your offer — and that’s when the feelings of wooziness and stomach upset hit him.
A part of this reaction is inevitable. But a part of it is within your control. And I’d like to suggest it’s worth controlling yourself.
Because as Michael said in the same interview, direct response is built on repeat business. You rarely make money the first time.
So if you want a profitable business… rather than just a bunch of sick-at-the-gut customers who aren’t worth anything to you… then you might purposefully make your sailing — I mean selling experience — less long, less colorful, and less enjoyable than you know how to do.
For example, I know several ways to hype people up so they will sign up for my email newsletter. But I won’t use them. Instead, if you like marketing and copywriting ideas that can help you build a profitable business… long-term… then here’s where you can join my newsletter, which gives you one new idea each day.