Perry Marshall

How to fix bad habits

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Yesterday, I was ellipting on the elliptical and to make the process less maddening, I listened to a podcast, which turned out to be surprisingly valuable.

It was a health podcast. The guest was a psychotherapist, a certain Dr. Glenn Livingston, PhD.

That name was familiar to me.

Turns out it was the same Dr. Glenn Livingston, PhD, who was also a successful direct marketer a while back.

​​I checked for his name in my inbox just now. He has at different times partnered with or been named-dropped by direct marketing rhinos and mammoths like Terry Dean, Ryan Levesque, Ken McCarthy, and Perry Marshall.

But back to the podcast. Like I said, it was a health podcast, about how to quit overeating.

Turns out Dr. Glenn is an expert on the matter.

Not only has he battled overeating his whole life, but he has written a bunch of books on the topic. The best selling one, Never Binge Again, has 19,224 reviews on Amazon.

Perhaps you’re wondering whether this email will ever get to a point. The point is this:

For years, Dr. Glenn used his psychotherapeutic training to try to quit overeating.

Never worked.

After years of therapy, introspection, and digging into his family history, Dr. Glenn finally unearthed the surprising root cause of why he was overeating his whole life (mommy issues).

And it still didn’t fix a damn thing. If anything, it made his overeating worse, because he now had a legit excuse, where he didn’t have one before.

And yet, Dr. Glenn did manage to get his eating under control.

​​I’ll tell you how:

He isolated, named, and in fact shamed the part of his mind that was craving and reaching for chocolate, for chocolate was his weakness.

Dr. Glenn told himself, “That is my Inner Pig talking. The Inner Pig wants its slop. But I am not one to be ruled by farm animals.”

The effect wasn’t immediate — few things outside direct marketing promises are. But the effect was there, and after a bit of time, this inner-piggization cured Dr. Glenn Livingston, PhD, of his overeating habit, making him a healthier, happier, better person.

The bigger point, as Dr. Glenn says on the podcast, is that identity is stronger than will power.

You can use this truth if you’re trying to influence and persuade others.

Or you can use it to fix your own bad habits.

I’ve just told you the main highlight of this surprisingly valuable podcast with Dr. Glenn Livingston. But there are more good things inside that podcast. And there’s more development of that core idea, that identity is stronger than will power, in a way that might help it actually sink into your head.

If you want to influence and persuade others better… or if you want to improve your own life and control your mind better, this podcast is worth a listen. Here’s the link:

https://bejakovic.com/bad-habits

Blackjack positioning

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Al Ries and Jack Trout invented the term positioning. They then wrote a book with that title. In it, they say positioning is a hook in your prospect’s brain from which you can hang your product.

Fine. That’s once you’ve got an established position.

But how do you get that hook in your prospect’s brain? Throwing a clothes hanger at somebody’s head will only make it bounce off.

What you need instead is a spear. Something with a very small, very sharp point, which can pierce your prospect’s thick defenses (his skull) and lodge in the soft gray matter inside.

When people talk about positioning, they often talk about taking control of a part of the market. “We want to be the Apple of dog nail clippers.” Meaning, we only want a sliver of that market that’s willing to spend like crazy.

That’s one way to do positioning.

This is the flip side. Instead of thinking about cutting down your market… think about cutting down your product and its functionality.

Once upon a time, Perry Marshall was an experienced and capable online marketer. But that’s a floppy, blunt object, incapable of piercing any skull.

So Perry dropped all his copywriting knowledge… funnel building knowledge… positioning knowledge… and became “The AdWords Guy.” At least to people who had never heard of him before. His business exploded, way beyond his previous success.

Because it can be easier to sell a fragment of the thing rather than the whole. At the same price. Or even for more.

Many people rebel at this. No wonder. Our minds work additively. If you have A plus B plus C, then that’s worth at least as much as A alone, right?

Not in positioning.

Positioning math is more like blackjack. You know how the game goes. You keep getting cards, trying to get as close as possible to 21. But if you ever go over, you’re BUST. You lose.

Same thing with positioning. Keep adding ideas to your position, and you will go BUST. You will lose. And you don’t need to go over 21 ideas either.

So swallow your pride — or fight your client’s pride. The dealer will offer to deal you more cards. Wave him off. One, sharp, deadly idea. No more.

And now a confession:

I used to have a daily email newsletter on copywriting, marketing, and persuasion. No more. From now on, it’s a newsletter on positioning. For today only. Click here to subscribe.

Blackjack positioning

by

Al Ries and Jack Trout invented the term positioning. They then wrote a book with that title. In it, they say positioning is a hook in your prospect’s brain from which you can hang your product.

Fine. That’s once you’ve got an established position.

But how do you get that hook in your prospect’s brain? Throwing a clothes hanger at somebody’s head will only make it bounce off.

What you need instead is a spear. Something with a very small, very sharp point, which can pierce your prospect’s thick defenses (his skull) and lodge in the soft gray matter inside.

When people talk about positioning, they often talk about taking control of a part of the market. “We want to be the Apple of dog nail clippers.” Meaning, we only want a sliver of that market that’s willing to spend like crazy.

That’s one way to do positioning.

This is the flip side. Instead of thinking about cutting down your market… think about cutting down your product and its functionality.

Once upon a time, Perry Marshall was an experienced and successful online marketer. But that’s a floppy, blunt object, incapable of piercing any skull.

So Perry dropped all his copywriting knowledge… funnel building knowledge… positioning knowledge… and became “The AdWords Guy.” At least to people who had never heard of him before. His business exploded, way beyond his previous success.

Because it can be easier to sell a fragment of the thing rather than the whole. At the same price. Or even for more.

Many people rebel at this. No wonder. Our minds work additively. If you have A plus B plus C, then that’s at least as much as A alone, right?

Not in positioning.

Positioning math is more like blackjack. You know how the game goes. You keep getting cards, trying to get as close as possible to 21. But if you ever go over, you’re BUST. You lose.

Same thing with positioning. Keep adding ideas to your position, and you’re BUST. You lose. And you don’t need to go over 21 ideas either.

So swallow your pride — or fight your client’s pride. The dealer will offer to deal you more cards. Wave him off. One, sharp, deadly idea. No more.

And now a confession:

I used to have a daily email newsletter on copywriting, marketing, and persuasion. No more. From now on, it’s a newsletter on positioning. For today only. Click here to subscribe.

Doing free work for potential clients

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Perhaps I’m stupid. Or just naive.

I just spent an hour doing free work for a potential client. He hasn’t paid me anything. He might never pay me anything.

And yet, I watched his current VSL (troubled, to be generous). I then wrote up a nice document with the problems I saw and what I would do instead.

This made me think of one hot summer evening three years ago. I couldn’t sleep. So I snuck out of the bedroom (my girlfriend at the time was sleeping, the heat didn’t bother her). In the living room, I put on a Perry Marshall webinar.

The topic of the webinar was “discovery contracts.” The gist of it was this:

Instead of talking to potential clients to see if you are a good fit to work together… instead of spending time analyzing their situation with nothing in return… instead of coming up with valuable recommendations they can get implemented elsewhere…

… you can do a “discovery contract.”

In a nutshell, as they say, you can do all the stuff I just listed, but charge your potential client for it, up front. You say something like:

“I’ve stopped doing discovery calls with potential clients, but here’s what I can do. I’ll dive into your current copy/product/whatever, and give you my best recommendation of how to proceed, presented in a neat document. You can then go ahead and find the best person to implement those recommendations for you, or you can hire me. I charge my hourly/daily/whatever rate for this kind of discovery project. If you decide to hire me after I finish, I’ll subtract that rate out of my final fee.”

Sounds great, right?

But like I said, I’ve never done anything like this. Maybe it’s stupid. But I have no regrets (not yet).

I’ve had lots of good experiences doing some free work up front for potential clients. And I talk with new clients rarely enough these days that, even if they stiff me out of an hour of work, it’s not the end of the whirl.

But maybe you’re not in the same situation as I am. Maybe you’re constantly talking to potential new clients. Maybe some of them take advantage of you. Or maybe you’re just tired of all the wasted time.

In that case, it might be time to try a discovery contract. You’ll weed out the tire kickers. You might get paid. And the clients who do go for it will likely respect you more.

If you want more free articles like this (you tire kicker, you), you might like my daily email newsletter. Click here to subscribe.

Perry Marshall’s “symptom numero uno of everything we don’t like in our life”

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One time, when I was around 24 or 25, I was standing in a checkout lane at a Safeyway.

This was in Baltimore, where I had gone to high school, and where I had just moved back after going to college out of state.

Anyways, I was in line. The cashier rang me up. The guy bagging the stuff bagged it all up, looked at me and said,

“Excuse me, is your name John?”

I stared at him for a second.

“I’m Chris,” he tried to explain. “I think we went to high school together.”

Sure enough, we did, for one semester in 9th grade. And we were good friends for that one semester.

I didn’t recognize him. He had grown about 5 inches, put on about 50lbs, and lost about all of his hair.

“Oh hi,” I finally said. And I smiled an eyeless smile, nodded, and walked out with my groceries.

Silence.

It’s been about 15 years since this happened. And I still wince each time I remember this interaction. Literally. I winced just now.

Why was I so awkward?

Why didn’t I stay and talk to the guy?

Why did I freeze up instead of clapping him on the shoulder and saying, “Jesus, you’ve grown man. I didn’t recognize you. And where did the hair go?”

I just winced again. But here’s the point.

Marketing genius Perry Marshall once gave a talk. And about an hour into this talk, he brought up his “symptom numero uno of the human condition and everything we don’t like in our life.” Says Perry, this something is the bottom layer of everything that plagues us. And it’s all pervasive — it’s the water that we swim in.

So what is this nasty, all-present, suffocating thing that Perry is talking about?

It’s shame. Shame about things we’ve done. About things we haven’t done. About how we look. About our place in life. About our mistakes, omissions, shortcomings, defects, desires, needs, vulnerabilities, deep and dark secrets, failures. Shame.

If you believe Perry, then shame is something you have to be aware of whenever you’re communicating with anybody about anything.

And of course, when you’re trying to persuade. Such as in your copy and in your marketing efforts.

But shame is kind of like live dynamite. You need to use it wisely.

And responsibly.

If you want to see some examples of using shame, in what I think were wise and responsible ways, take a look at the following:

https://bejakovic.com/advertorials/

7 Batman rogues for evil sales bullets

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Ken McCarthy has said that the fundamental, no. 1, can’t-do-without-it skill for being an effective copywriter…

Is the ability to write a good bullet.

And Ken should know what he’s talking about.

He was a successful direct mail guy, before becoming a successful internet marketing guy, before running some very big and expensive copywriting and marketing seminars and influencing generations of millionaire marketers.

All right, so let’s say Ken’s right and bullets are important. So how then do you write a good, or rather evil, bullet?

Well, lots of different ways.

Below I’m giving you 7 different templates, which, for my own enlightenment, I paired up with top villains from Batman comic books (some of the connections are obvious, some less so):

[#1 The Riddler]
Are you younger than 34? Here’s why you are at a disadvantage when it comes to writing bullets… Plus, the 5-minute daily habit that will help you write bullets on command. Page 79.

[#2 Ra’s Al Ghul]
The one element every bullet must have (besides a benefit or a warning). Used correctly, this activates the most powerful motivation for buying, according to legendary copywriter Gary Halbert. Page 10.

[#3 Two-Face]
The popular NPR show that doubles as a school for writing killer bullets. Page 108.

[#4 Poison Ivy]
How to write twice as many bullets in one-third the time. No stress or swipe files required. Just a simple shift in preparation — inspired by a jungle plant, and recommended by marketing genius Perry Marshall. Page 70.

[#5 The Joker]
How to write a killer bullet without having access to the product. A secret technique, used by irrational, violent psychopaths, that can also help ethical copywriters. Page 25.

[#6 Scarecrow]
When putting a big benefit in a bullet can backfire. This one mistake can ruin your whole sales letter. Page 44.

[#7 Catwoman]
Why you should never start your bullet off with a number. Plus a better way to get readers hooked when your product offers a 9-item list. Page 78.

And there you go. A rogue’s gallery of 7 evil yet effective bullet formats.

What, that’s not enough?

Quite hungry you are.

Here’s a bonus one for you then:

All successful sales letters need bullets, right? Wrong. Here are the cases when bullets can actually hurt conversions. Send me an email for details.

The dangers of premature O

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Today I heard a talk by Perry Marshall about a topic dear to many marketers:

The 80/20 rule.

The basic idea is that 20% of your causes are responsible for 80% of your effects.

So 80% of the grunting at your local gym is caused by 20% of gym rats…

While just 20% of Seinfeld episodes will produce 80% of the most memorable jokes.

More seriously, if you’re doing any kind of creative or productive work, this rule says you can get more done than a romp of otters by focusing on that small part of your business where you are most valuable, and ignoring all the rest.

The underlying idea here is optimization. Of your time. Of your efforts. And of your assets. It’s an idea that’s popular with guys like Perry who have a background in engineering but have since moved into marketing.

The thing is, I also have an engineering background. And I know another optimization rule-of-thumb besides the famous 80/20 rule.

This rule comes from Donald Knuth, a legendary professor of computer science from Stanford University. Prof. Knuth had the following to say on the topic of optimization:

“We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil.”

In other words…

Optimize too early, and you might end up wasting time and resources focusing on irrelevant things…

And more importantly, you might get stuck with a sub-optimal solution.

Let me give you an example of what I mean.

In my own copywriting business, I’ve had several ongoing clients over the past several years. This 20% of my clients has represented steady, well-paid work — probably 80% of my total income.

And yet, I have not focused on getting more than my usual share of work from these same clients…

And I have not gone out looking for more of the same kind of client.

That’s because I believe these particular clients — though they have been good to me so far — are not the kinds of businesses that will get the highest value out of the copy I write.

And that’s why I spend a lot of time and effort courting different clients, who at this point might be more difficult, fickle, and demanding, but present a bigger opportunity long term.

So am I saying you should ignore the 80/20 rule altogether?

Not at all. Instead, just consider whether you really need to optimize your business at this point — or simply work a bit harder.

Anyways, if you are looking for a sales copywriter and you’re wondering whether you could get a lot of value out of the kind of copy that I write, then here’s something that might help you decide:

https://bejakovic.com/profitable-health-emails/

8 heart-piercing fence posts of your customers’ emotional ranch

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I’ve been listening to a talk Perry Marshall gave about his “Swiss Army knife.”

This is Perry’s method for writing novel and effective pay-per-click ads (or really, any kind of copy).

The first step — or blade — of Perry’s Swiss Army knife is all about your customer’s big and broad emotional ranch.

As a marketer, you need to know the ambit of this ranch. And you do so by focusing on the 8 fence posts below. This helps you map the ranch out, so you can get to work writing the ads.

Let me give you an illustration using a market I’ve been researching lately, and that’s people with IBS:

Fence post #1: Your customer

My example market is a person suffering with IBS. Getting regular attacks of stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea… Fatigued, anxious, and suffering from related problems such as lack of nutrients. Tried recommended solutions but hasn’t found a way to stop IBS.

Fence post #2: A negative force or belief

People in this market believe nobody can understand their problems. They are alone in having this issue. They can’t live a normal life. They think it’s embarrassing. They worry they will live with IBS for the rest of their lives.

Fence post #3: A thing your customer loves

These folks love the times that they don’t have IBS attacks. They love having normal bowel movements. Being able to go about their lives normally (dating, meeting friends, traveling…).

Fence post #4: A thing your customer hates

Of course, they hate IBS attacks. But many of them also hate eating. Or having to use public bathrooms. Or jokes about digestive problems or issues. Or claims that IBS is not a real disease or a big deal. Bullshit treatments or advice.

Fence post #5: A positive force or belief

They keep hoping that maybe somebody will invent a cure for IBS. Or that they will figure out what causes their own IBS.

Fence post #6: You (the advertiser)

Let’s say I’m a website providing info on various IBS treatments. And let’s say my offers include articles, newsletters, product recommendations, webinars, ebooks. The site is helpful, truthful, and supportive.

Fence post #7: Your customer’s best friend

Their actual friends. Their spouse. Their kids. Their dog. Other anonymous people online who also suffer from IBS.

Fence post #8: Your customer’s worst enemy

Their own digestive system. Trigger foods (onions, garlic…). Unsupportive doctors.

All right, we’ve just driven the emotional fence posts into the ground.

The next thing is to pick two of these fence posts and see if they jog any copy ideas in your mind. So for example, #4 and #8:

Is your doctor making jokes about IBS?
Don’t allow him to dismiss you
Free info on real IBS treatments

Or here’s another, with #2 and #7:

IBS Attack = Ruined Travel Plans
It doesn’t have to be embarrassing
How to help your friends understand

You get the idea. The more info you can pile on in each of the above categories, the easier the writing of the ads becomes.

Like I said, I’m doing a lot of research on this market and mapping these fence posts out — because I intend to make that website described in #6. But more about this later.

For now, if you want my help writing emotional and effective copy, send me an email, and we can find a time to talk.