In my last email I looped you into a conversation I had with my brother about advertising copy. If you missed that email, you’ll want to read it.  Why? Because I am about to ask you a question (it’s a trick question): Which benefit statement is stronger:

We all want to win.  We all want our target audience to pay attention to us… and not our competition. Especially when we release content or launch campaigns. In a world where attention is getting scarce, this is already challenging. But you can absolutely break through the clutter… if you’re smart :) In fact, I faced that challenge eight years ago.

Today’s email is going to be a quick one. And I’ll kick it off with a question…  Can you position your content as an authority piece... if you’re not an authority yourself? Yep, you can.  And you do so by using the “Halo effect.”

In today’s email I’m continuing on with my series of lessons about Gary V.  Today I am focusing on his comments about getting early onto a social platform. As you may know, he’s huge on getting a presence on new social platforms as they emerge.  Sure, it means you might waste time and resources on platforms that fizzle and die. But it also means you might get early enough on a platform that becomes a monster, such as Instagram. 

This is the third installment in a series of lessons about Gary V’s message.  In email #1 we talked about branding.  In email #2 we talked about the volume of content.  And today? Well, I’ll get to that in a sec. But first…

Gary is talking about 100 pieces of digestible content, most of which you can whip up in a hurry.  How long does it take to pose a question to your Facebook group? How long does it take to share a meme? How long does it take to upload a photo of something  you’re noting on your whiteboard? Seconds. 

You must have heard of Gary Vaynerchuk, no? Love him or hate him, the guy is a content marketing beast! In this and the following couple of emails, I’m going to explore some of Gary’s secrets... and offer my opinion on them. So if you’re a fan of his work - or even if you’re not - listen up as there’s lessons to be learned!

This is what an “authentic desire” is all about. Its root lies in your own (or a loved ones) pain and desires.  It shapes your intent.  It affects your sales and marketing.  It drives YOU forward.  Especially when times get tough!

I want to share two personal stories you might find useful. Then at the end of this email there will be a huge marketing lesson for you. So wait for it… 

In my last email, I introduced my copywriting mentor, Parris. In my opinion, Parris is the greatest copywriting teacher in history. And, one of the top 2 or 3 greatest copywriters that has ever lived.  Which is why, in this email, I am going to dissect one of his pieces - in fact, it’s a piece he was paid over $1 million. 

‘In your sales promos, use demonstration proof… and the best demonstration proof is content”.  I get that this may not sound all that ground-breaking to you in this day in age of content marketing. So let me explain what I mean, because it’s as groundbreaking today as it was 10 years ago. 

Sure you have to craft content that people want to know about. That content also has to: Trigger a light bulb Be quick and easy

Here’s one of his email subject lines: ‘Cravings.’ That’s it. Like I said, the client owns a quit smoking business. This one word was enough to grab attention and make people want to read the email.

In my last email, I told you about the client who had his biggest month in 7 months.  There’s a few reasons for that.  But please know, we’re not taking credit for this client’s result! He already had some of the pillars of Content Hacking in place to begin with. You may know that these pillars are:

Don’t think of your market in abstract terms. You’ve got to imagine an actual person that your business is looking to serve.

The point is that you need to look into every cost that goes into making a sale for your business. And you need to compare that against how much profit you make per sale and how well you convert. Eventually, you’ll come to your ideal lead cost.

So often I’m asked how much a business should pay for a lead.  And the simple truth is that there isn’t a definitive answer. The amount you should pay depends on your model, your margin, your cash situation and more.  Let me give you an example.

If you’re just pounding your list with 9 Word Emails, you’re basically pitching to them constantly. That means they’re not getting anything of value from you. And so... They’re probably going to start ignoring your emails. And sooner or later, they’re going to unsubscribe from your list. The content that you send between the 9 Word Emails sets the context.

At Fubbi, we have 14 different 9 Word Emails that we rotate through. Each email has different wording and hits on a different hot button.

The simple fact is that we’re in a warmer world. And I’m not talking about the temperature here. I’m saying that you need to warm your prospects up before calling them. It just makes everything so much easier, especially at scale.