Positioning

The most tastless and offensive Christmas song ever?

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“I’m not singing that line. I’ll sing anything, but I’m not singing that line.”

“You have to. That’s the line I saved for you. That’s the one that’s going to make them hurt the most.”

Here’s a potentially offputting and offensive Christmas eve story:

Some 37 years ago, on November 25 1984, dozens of British and Irish pop stars gathered at 10 Basing Street in London.

The event was Band Aid:

An attempt to record a hit song in just one day and get it to the top of the charts before Christmas. All proceeds were to help relieve the crisis in Ethiopia, where drought had put 7 million people at risk of a slow and miserable death.

Against all odds, Band Aid turned out to be a success.

The song, “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” became the fastest- and biggest-selling single in UK history. It raised some some $25 million outright. It also spawned later efforts like Live Aid and USA for Africa, which raised hundreds of millions of dollars more.

In spite of all this, “Do They Know It’s Christmas” has had many critics over the years.

People hate the song for different reasons, but one strain can be summed up by the disgust at the line that fell to Bono of U2 to sing.

Bono initially refused to sing the line.

But Bob Geldof, the organizer of Band Aid and a personal friend of Bono’s, was too persuasive and won out in the end.

And so at the end of the first verse of “Do They Know It’s Christmas”… after contrasting the world of British plenty to the world of dread and fear in Ethopia, Bono belts out:

“Well tonight thank God it’s them instead of you”

Was this necessary? Would the song have worked as well without it?

We won’t ever know. But going by how much controversy, attention, and outrage this one line has caused over the years… it’s possible it tipped the scales of guilt and shame needed to stir action.

So that’s the rather harsh and out-of-season message I have for you tonight.

You might feel reluctant to offend, to say something that people might find provocative, shocking, or tasteless. You might put it off and say, “It’s not the right moment now. I’ll do it after the holidays… in the New Year… once corona passes… when the Cleveland Indians win the World Series.”

Sooner or later though, this attitude means you will miss an opportunity to make a real difference.

So Merry Christmas. And let me sum up my message with a few words by the original Grinch of direct marketing, Dan Kennedy:

“There is never any need to be or behave like a prick in order to be successful, but you must be okay with some, possibly many, people thinking of you as an insufferable prick.”

And on that note, I’d like to advertise my email newsletter. It’s been praised by many people in the direct response industry… and it’s been ignored by others. If you’d like to check it out, you can sign up here.

Wanted: Specialist digital marketers (risque niche)

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Amberly Rothfield ended up homeless at age 18. So she found a job working a phone sex line.

Phone sex paid $15 an hour, three times the minimum wage in Texas at the time.

Still, it didn’t take much math to realize her employers were alienating 95% of her breathy labor into profits for themselves.

But Rothfield is entrepreneurial. She found an online platform that catered to phone sex freelancers.

She set up a profile, and by working on her SEO and thumbnails and specializing as a female dominatrix (“calling guys losers, cuckolding, and blackmail fantasies”), she became the top account on the site.

She was now making between $600 and $900 a day.

But all that was still nothing compared to what was to come.

Because in 2016, OnlyFans launched. It spread like wildfire. Within just a few years, an estimated 10.2 billion women created accounts on the site.

But Rothfield had something better in mind.

She was already a digital sex success. And she realized she could use her experience to help other women get better exposure for their breasts. So she became an OnlyFans marketing consultant.

Result?

Today, Rothfield is booked solid for months in advance, giving advice on topics like positioning, pricing, and sales funnels.

Unsexy? Yes. But she makes about a half million dollars a year.

Take a moment. Let the astronomical significance of that settle in.

Because how many digital marketing consultants are out there? More than the stars in the sky.

And how many of those myriad consultants are booked months in advance and make a half million dollars a year? About as few as the stars you can see above New York City on a typical night.

So what’s the conclusion?

Well, I guess there are many lessons you could draw from the story of Amberly Rothstein.

One possible lesson is the value of specialization.

And if you’ve been itching to find a shortcut to success and specialization seems appealing, then you’ll be glad to know that as I’ve been writing this email, another 100 million OnlyFans accounts have been created, and they all could use some marketing and copywriting help.

Maybe you’re wondering if I’ll also be jumping on this OnlyFans opportunity and creating competition for you.

The answer is no. Not because I have any particular problem with the niche. Or because I am particularly committed to some other niche.

Rather, it’s because the few times I tried consciously specializing during my copywriting career, it all came to naught. And personally, I feel I’ve learned my lesson. If you’re curious about that, then baby, ooooh, we can talk all about that tomorrow… yeah… at just $4.95/minute.

Just kidding. It will be free. But really tomorrow. Sign up here if you don’t want to miss my sexy call.

Perfect neighbor positioning

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My mom sighed. “His stupid dog died.”

There was a pause on the line. Then I broke out laughing.

I’m not sure what did it. I love dogs. I don’t want any of them to suffer or die.

Maybe it was the contrast between my mom’s choice of words and the emotion in her voice.

Or maybe it was that she thought the dead dog was worth mentioning at all. Because this dog and its owner are not anybody my mom or I know. Or have ever known. Or will ever know.

Instead, the dog owner is the host of some health podcast. My mom listens to this podcast with devotion. Whenever I call her, she gives me summaries of the most recent episodes — even though I’m not curious. And now the host’s bulldog died, and he devoted entire episode to that. My mom had to share this with me also.

You probably know the marketing idea of KLT — know, like, and trust. It works.

Because our brains can’t distinguish messages going to thousands of people, ourselves included… from one-on-one communication we used to have not so long ago, talking to our neighbors over the fence or with our friends over a coffee.

So KLT says you can position yourself as the perfect neighbor. Chipper, encouraging, and helpful. Sharing some gossip… telling a funny personal story… enthusing about a good deal you just got on six pounds of chicken breast at the grocery store across town.

Do this, and people will listen to you.

And if every so often, you also show up in tears because your dog died… people will even bond with you. They’ll feel you’ve crossed the threshold. You won’t be just a good neighbor to them. You’ll become a friend.

Maybe you think this sounds mercenary.

I don’t dispute it. And I don’t have a problem with it.

Still, don’t expect to get more emails from me featuring my podcast-loving, health-obsessed, dog-skeptical mom.

Because while perfect neighbor positioning definitely works… it’s not the only archetype you can fulfill in your prospects’ lives.

Think a little about the people who influence you every day. And you’ll soon see it’s true.

Or if that’s more thinking than you feel like right now, then sign up to my email newsletter. I regularly write about positioning there. And not only that.

I also sometimes practice what I preach. So if you ever find yourself thinking, “This Bejakovic guy is not very likable… so why I do I keep listening to him?”… well, there might be some positioning secret to it, which you’ll be able to grasp and use.

Prancing Pony wizard characteristic

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In the opening six hours of the Lord of the Rings, the wizard Gandalf finally realizes what those hobbits have in their house.

It’s the One Ring… the focus of all evil in the world. And right now, nine grim and bloody ghost riders are galloping to collect it.

So Gandalf rushes to Frodo the hobbit’s house. He tells Frodo to get himself and the ring out of there now.

Frodo is bewildered. “But where shall I go?”

“Go to the village of Bree,” Gandalf tells him. “I will meet you… at the Inn of the Prancing Pony.”

I recently wrote about Dan Kennedy’s main practical idea for wealth attraction. “Be the wizard, and beware other wizards.”

I’m a literal type so I started watching the LOTR to see what exactly it means to be a wizard in the popular mind. The above scene caught my eye.

Because Gandalf doesn’t say, “Where shall you go? Gee, I don’t know, Frodo… what do you think is best?”

Gandalf also doesn’t say, “Head to Bree. There must be some inns there. Book a room in one of them. I think they use the same money as here. I will try to find you sooner or later.”

Gandalf doesn’t even say, “Go to the Inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree. Because it’s not too far from here… and it’s on the way to where the ring needs to go anyhow… plus they make this really wonderful mutton sandwich, I think you will love it.”

Nope. Instead Gandalf gives clear, certain, and yet cryptic guidance.

Clear. Because if people are paying the wizard big bucks, they want to be told exactly what to do.

Certain. Because there’s nothing worse than doubt. Doubt is not a burden many people are willing to carry — and that’s why they seek out the wizard.

And cryptic. Why the Inn of the Prancing Pony… and not next door, at the Inn of the Gamboling Goat? We’ll never know. Gandalf gives us no fumbling explanation. Which allows us to think there must be a good reason… even if we are not privy to it. He’s the wizard, after all.

Of course, LOTR is a movie.

Plus I don’t think Dan Kennedy is as literal-minded as I am. I don’t think he was really talking about putting on a grey pointed hat… or trying to impress clients by growing out your beard and eyebrows.

Still, there is something in the unconscious mind that responds to wizard cues like in the scene above. And often, these cues pop up most clearly in pop culture like LOTR.

So if you work with clients, here’s where to go:

Give your clients clear guidance. Take away their doubts before they even have them. Resist your urge to explain yourself. And when you finish… I will meet you… at the Inn of the Wealthy Wombat.

Burning down the temple

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On July 21, 356 BC, a Greek man by the name of Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.

The temple, which was one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, burned to the ground.

Herostratus was captured. Under torture, he admitted that he had set fire to the temple in an attempt to immortalize his name. The torturing continued. Herostratus died. And he didn’t just lose his life.

His name. The thing he had cared more for than his own body. It was at risk of oblivion.

Because the rulers of Ephesus passed a “Damnatio memoriae” law. They wanted to erase all memory of Herostratus’s name, and discourage others from following his example. The punishment for breaking the law was death.

But it didn’t work. You can’t keep a good arsonist down.

And so today, 25 centuries later, we still know of Herostratus and what he did. Had he never burned down the temple, he might have lived a more pleasant and natural life. But who would ever know him, or that he had lived?

Yesterday I promised to tell you about a few great ideas I’ve learned from Ben Settle. Well here’s one:

Go inside the temple. Walk up to the altar. And start a fire.

You know, I’m not really being literal when I say that. I’m just telling you to identify the sacred precepts in your industry… turn them upside on their head… and burn them down. A few examples from Ben’s emails:

* Why the customer is always wrong

* If someone asks you about your refund guarantee, don’t waste time answering. Simply delete them from your list

* Insanity is NOT doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

Back in the days before I was fully sucked into Ben’s world, it was these kinds of statements that drew me in. Shock, controversy, dissonance.

If you burn down the temple, then like Ben Settle or Herostratus, you will be hated by many people. And you may come into conflict with established authorities. But your name will be known.

Do I hear you crying out?

“Waaah! But I don’t want to be no-no-notorius!”

Sigh. All right. So let me spell it out, in case you’re not ready to burn anything down yet.

The point, as Rich Schefren likes to say, is that different is better than better.

People have a hard time figuring out who’s really good… and who’s just ok good… and who’s not very good at all. But they have an easy time recognizing who’s different.

​​And that’s all you need to get attention. You don’t have to burn the temple down. You just have to be different. You have to be the Australia to somebody’s Bolivia — which might not make sense to you, unless you read my post yesterday.

But wait. If you thought you were off the hook, and that you wouldn’t have to court controversy and infamy… there’s more.

Because there are other reasons to burn the temple down, which go beyond simply getting attention.

Burning down the temple can be at the core of your business.

It can allow you to have long-term success that nobody else is having… regardless of how much cheap attention you or they are getting.

Do you see what I mean yet? You probably do. But I have a few more of these great ideas I got from Ben Settle in mind. And if you like, I might share this particular one in a future email. If you’d like to read then when it comes out, sing up for my newsletter here.

A-ha moment that makes millionaires out of creative workers

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HER: Started at age 28 with a net worth of $88k. Worked first as a writer. Then as a photographer. Each year, managed to save a bit more. Now, 10 years in, makes a steady six-figure income, still doing consumer photography. Net worth is $1M+.

HIM: Started at age 34 as a freelance artist. Net worth of -$39k. (Yes, $39k in debt. Lots of fancy trips and partying, and not a lot of income.) Switched to a salaried position while continuing to freelance. Now, five years in, has a net worth of $673k.

A few days ago, I read the financial independence journey of a husband and wife team. Their stats are above.

How did a photographer make a million in 10 years? And how did an artist go from -$39k to +$673k in 5 years?

Well, it was some of the usual. Work and budgeting and avoiding foolish financial bloodlettings.

How depressing. Was there anything else? Anything more inspiring? Yes. From the wife:

“I was exercising the same skill set, but applying it to an industry where they valued it and paid much more for it. This was the a-ha moment that really helped propel my professional life forward, (and later helped my husband as well).”

I’m telling you about this a-ha for two reasons:

First, because I think this idea is genuinely powerful.

I once heard marketer Greg Rollett say how he sold Internet marketing advice to broke musicians… $27 at a time. Then Greg took the same information, repackaged it so he was selling it to lawyers. He made $2700 now, for the same product. And my guess is he actually sold more units at $2700 than at $27.

So whether you’re a copywriter or a marketer, evaluate whether there aren’t people who would pay you 5x, 10x, or 100x for the exact same work you’re doing now.

That’s reason one.

Reason two is that the above story, about the husband and wife team, was part of presentation I gave last night.

The background is that, over past year, I wrote daily emails to two large lists. With each email, I promoted various affiliate offers and in-house products of the ecommerce company I’ve been working with.

Our best month in terms of email profit (not revenue) was over $70k. Typical days were between $1k and $2k. It all came from sending an email a day to each of these two lists.

And because this was secondary work, and there was a bunch of other copy to write as well, I had to make these emails as easy and quick as possible. Which is why I came up with a very streamlined process to stamp out these emails each day.

And when marketer Igor Kheifets asked me to speak to members of his mastermind, it was this process that I went through in detail. That was the presentation I gave last night.

So here’s the deal:

I’ll share the recording of this presentation with you, if you like, and if you take me up on my free GrooveFunnels offer.

In case you haven’t been reading my emails over past two days:

I’m trying to get you to sign up for free account to GrooveFunnels.

And if you don’t know GrooveFunnels, it’s a marketing funnel software like ClickFunnels. Except if ClickFunnels is an iPhone, then GrooveFunnels is a tin can with a length of string coming out the bottom.

So why am I pushing you to try it out? And why am I even willing to bribe you into signing up?

Well, I’m counting on some reckless person out there going one step further, either today or in the future.

Because GrooveFunnels is free for three sites if you sign up right now. But a premium lifetime license, for an unlimited number of sites, is not free.

In fact, the premium license is expensive. I know, because I bought one myself last week.

You might say I’m reckless or even foolish. After all, Groove is still a half-baked product, full of glitches and bugs.

It’s a gamble I am willing to take. My reasoning is that GrooveFunnels, while only functional now, will get good soon. And a premium lifetime license to Groove, at the price I got it at, is still a fraction of what just a year of ClickFunnels would cost me. But it’s not clear how much longer this will last.

Anyways, you don’t have to make the decision about a premium license now. Or ever.

Because you can sign up to GrooveFunnels for free, without a credit card. So look at it this way:

In the worst case, you do nothing with your free GrooveFunnels account.

In the best case, you get at least a 3-website license for a service that will one day rival ClickFunnels. This is potentially worth hundreds of dollars a month to you, when Groove starts charging a monthly fee.

And maybe you can use your free Groove sites to test offering your products or services to entirely new niches… ones that might pay you 10x or 100x what you’re getting paid now.

Or maybe you can use the simple email system in my presentation to promote some affiliate stuff in a new niche. (Groove will soon have an email service also, and you will get it if you sign up for the free account today.)

So that’s my pitch. Nothing to lose, and maybe something good to gain.

If you’re in, sign up for the free Groove account at the link below. Then forward me your confirmation email, and I’ll send you the email marketing presentation. Here’s the link:

https://bejakovic.com/groove

Name your own price: how about free?

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In 1998, Priceline went from nothing to being worth $23 billion. They did it thanks to radio ads starring William Shatner and ending with the famous appeal:

“Priceline. Name your own price.”

In 2010, Fiverr launched. Their basic appeal was fixed freelance services, all for just $5. No need to haggle, negotiate over scope, or pay a lot. Fiverr went public in 2019, and is worth a little over $7 billion today.

Eventually, both Priceline and Fiverr backed off from their original appeals. You can’t name your own price on Priceline any more. And most services on Fiverr will cost you much more than a fiver today.

But those initial appeals were powerful. They made those companies worth billions of dollars.

Why?

What was so good about those two original appeals?

Direct marketer Fred Catona, who ran those Priceline ads in the 1990s, said that Priceline’s appeal was an “empowering statement.”

People felt in control, Catona argued, because they could name their own price. And so they took action and jumped on the Priceline website.

There might be something to that.

But Fiverr’s appeal was just the opposite. No control. Not only could you not name your own price… but you couldn’t even name the service you wanted. Five dollars. Fixed services off a menu. Take it or leave it.

And like I said, both appeals worked great.

So here’s my feeling:

Both Priceline and Fiverr appealed to simple greed.

“Name my own price? Hell yeah! I’ll take a ticket to Maui for $10, please!”

“$5 for an email sequence? Hell yeah! I’ll become an Internet marketing millionaire without doing any work!”

So my takeaway for you is to come up with new packaging for “cheap.” It might make you a billion dollars. Or 7. Or 23. And you don’t have to keep making the same “cheap” appeal forever.

Speaking of which:

There’s a new marketing funnel company in town, aiming to rival the $2B-valued ClickFunnels. The upstart is called GrooveFunnels.

GrooveFunnels does everything ClickFunnels does… and more. But while ClickFunnels costs hundreds of dollars a month to use… GrooveFunnels is free. For up to three websites… and for now, until they grab their share of the market.

Can you say cheap?

Of course, with cheap comes a whole host of headaches. I’ll tell you about a few of them tomorrow. And I’ll also tell you why it still makes sense to try out GrooveFunnels… and to even pay to get lifetime access for it, for more than three websites. Hell, I’ll even give you an incentive to do it.

But that’s tomorrow. For now, if you want to find out more about (FREE!) GrooveFunnels, here’s the link:

https://bejakovic.com/groove

Start a profitable repositioning business… with your own home as headquarters

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If you sell a product people don’t want — whether physical or information — then I’ve got an idea for you.

​It will allow you to get into a completely new business, without any startup costs, and without any of the hassles you’re currently facing. Plus demand is almost guaranteed.

All right, you ready?

Then let me tell you I’ve been reading a lot of old ads that would still work today. I referenced one of them a few days ago — a real estate opportunity ad from the 1920s in Popular Mechanics.

But I kept flipping through old issues of Popular Mechanics. And I found a bunch of other ads that kept running over and over. Here are a few from a 1956 issue:

1. “New Rubber Stamp Business Pays Beginners Up To $9.20 an hr. Start at home in spare time with this little table top machine”

2. “Start a profitable manufacturing business in spare time with your own home as headquarters”

3. “Make up to $18 per hour! With this NEW PLASTIC SANDWICH MACHINE!”

Mmm… plastic sandwich…

But do you see what’s going on here?

How much demand was there in 1956 for lamination machines or plastics manufacturing equipment?

Probably not that much. Certainly not in a typical household.

But a business opportunity? A chance to be your own boss… work when you want and how you want… make more money than you’re making now…

So here’s my idea:

If you sell dog clippers today and nobody’s buying, then bundle your clippers with a video. Tell people how to set up their own dog grooming business in their back yard in their spare time.

Charge 10x what the clippers cost… and find yourself in a marketplace of one, instead of a commodity market.

Or, if you sell an information product nobody wants, reposition it as a business opportunity.

I did this last year by accident. I was promoting a Clickbank course on reconditioning car batteries. In a moment of inspiration, I wrote the main appeal:

“How to resurrect dead batteries and save (or make) money”

This sold strong at the start — to a group that normally NEVER buys information products. And it keeps selling today.

But maybe you don’t buy any of this.

Maybe you’re glad you didn’t pay for this advice… and in fact you’re sure you never would pay for it.

In that case, I’d like to announce I’m launching a new training and certification program.

It will allow you to make tens of thousands of dollars a month… all from home… in your spare time… by helping struggling business owners reposition their offers.

I’ve prepared a step by step instruction manual that not only tells you how to reposition offers, but also tells you how to get business coming in at a profitable clip right from the start.

I’m giving away a free copy of this book to any serious-minded man or woman. Reading it will not cost you anything. Simply follow the instructions here.

Prophet positioning

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“Let me explain something to you right now,” the goofy looking guy said to the camera. “Here’s a $10 bill.”

And he started to tear the bill up into small pieces in front of the interviewer’s face.

“This is garbage. This is going to zero. Euros are going to zero. The yen’s going to zero. All going to zero… against bitcoin!”

The Bitcoin prophet got louder and his voice started to crack.

“If you don’t understand this, you’re going to be impoverished! You’re going to be out on the street! You’re gonna be begging! You’re gonna be out of business!”

That’s from a little clip I saw today. It went viral so even somebody like me, who doesn’t follow crypto news, got to see it.

The question is why.

It might be because the Bitcoin prophet looked like a kook. He was dressed like Elton John. Even the interviewer was giggling at him. Maybe people who shared the video just wanted to make fun.

But I’ve got my own theory.

Which is that making strong predictions, saying X is dead, Y is the future, is a great way to grab attention and carve out a position for yourself in the mass mind.

Now the clip I saw had a tongue-in-cheek element to it. It seemed even the Bitcoin prophet was about to crack a smile as his performance built up.

But if you don’t hedge your bets like that…

If instead you have the conviction (or connivance) to paint the future black and white… and you do it in a way where people can believe you really mean it…

Then that’s the road to being seen as an authority. A leader. A prophet.

And that’s something all of us crave.

Because few things are scarier and more motivating than the uncertainty and lack of control that come from looking at the frosted glass window that is the future.

Which is why it doesn’t matter if your predictions are right or wrong. People will follow you, or at least some will. Even if you’re wrong. And even if the rest of the world thinks you look like a goof or a kook.

But perhaps pretending to be a prophet doesn’t suit you. Maye you think that’s garbage.

What’s not garbage is your need for positioning in the market. If you don’t understand this, you’re gonna be out of business, begging, out on the streets.

I write about positioning on occasion. I have many ideas about it. If you want to read about them as I write about them, sign up to my email newsletter.

Dan Kennedy and a Lamborghini inside this post I’ve just written

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Dan Kennedy stood up in front of a packed room of marketers and said,

“Let me tell you how cheap Fred Catona is.”

Dan was supposed to be giving a dutiful introduction for billion-dollar direct marketer Fred Catona. But somewhere it all went wrong.

“He gives me this ridiculous introduction to read for him,” Dan said while holding multiple sheets of paper, “and he only puts a 20 in it.” And from among the papers, Dan pulled out a $20 bill to prove his point.

Turns out this was a joke. Dan and Fred were close friends.

But it is instructive, right? Because it’s such a pattern interrupt from the way introductions are usually done:

“We’re very pleased to have Mr. XY with us tonight. Mr XY went to such-and-such elite university…”

“… he is a close friend and confidant of celebrity Z and power-broker H…”

“… he has worked with billion-dollar clients such as A and B and C.”

And then humble Mr. XY, with his killer resume revealed, comes out on stage, blushing and yet pleased. He takes the mic and says, “Wow, thank you for that wonderful introduction…”

My point is this:

Association is the most powerful mechanisms of the human mind, that I know of at least.

You put two things together. Just once, and not even for very long. And the human brain starts to make connections between them. Properties of one seep into the other. Causal links form. A halo appears.

So that’s why, if you went to Harvard… if you hung out with Tony Robbins once… if you ever had a Lamborghini in your garage, whether owned or rented… well, you should highlight those things to people you just met, or who just found you online.

Or even better, have somebody else highlight it, so you don’t have to do it. It will make you seem both powerful and humble. Well, unless you get somebody like Dan Kennedy to read out your list of accomplishments.

And what if you have no accomplishments?

Then find cool, impressive, or elite people… institutions… or ideas to associate yourself with. It can be the flimsiest of associations, and it will still help your standing.

That’s my simple tip for you for today.

A more complex tip, for another day, is to be careful.

​​Because association is not the only mechanism in the human brain. And if people start to associate you as that guy who always shows off his Lamborghini, well, that can lead to new challenges of its own. But more about that another time.

If you want to read that other time:

You might like to know that several Agora copywriters, famous Internet marketing gurus, and 8-figure entrepreneurs read my daily email newsletter. You can sign up for it here.