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Oct
15

Fact selling vs story selling – - Carnegie Mellon research results

By | Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Entrepreneur, Leads Generation, Marketing on the web, Neighborhood Marketing, Story Selling, Wacky marketing ideas

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Carnegie Mellon did a fascinating study on the power of story telling vs hard core statistics in your marketing.

You may think you know the results, but I bet you would never guess the results and the implications for marketing.

The results surprised me too.

The first test they ran involved a sales letter promoting a non-profit.

The people involved received 2 versions of the sales letter.

One version told a heart wrenching story about a girl that lived in the 3rd world country…

…the other shared the facts on what dismal living conditions the people lived in, the numbers of them without fresh water, without food, etc.

Then they measured how much each of the test groups donated to each letter.

The letter sold 118% more with the story based letter.

So despite what you may think about people who just want the facts, real life shows a very different outcome.

But it gets even more interesting…

Then they tested an approach that used BOTH story and facts in the same letter.

‘Logic’ would say that using both story and facts in the same letter would appeal to the analytical buyers and more emotional buyers all at once.

You’d think it would improve results…

But it did the opposite.

It did sell more than the pure facts approach (25.4% increase), but it sold 39.9% less than the pure story approach.

So story definitely sells far better than the facts based approach.

It gets better…

They then tested a theory that ‘priming’ the different groups would impact sales ad well.

One group they primed by having them do mathematical calculations before being presented with the analytical approach.

The other was primed with more emotional hot buttons and their reactions to emotional hot buttons… Prepped with the emotional words before seeing the emotional words.

Those primed with analytical exercises before the analytical letter bought 12% LESS than the mixed emotions/facts letter.

Those primed with emotional exercises bought basically the same as without the priming (actually 1.7% less).

The lesson?

Sales and marketing campaigns based on emotional stories will outperform anything else.

This works in business to business. This works in business to consumer

Having a great signature story in your marketing campaigns will improve your results…

…I guarantee it.

The first Story Selling Coaching program started up this week.

You can still join, get the recordings, and be fired up to join the rest of us next Tuesday.

If one great story could improve the sales in the Carnegie Mellon study by 118%…

…imagine what it can do for you this holiday season… The busiest shopping season of the year.

You are guaranteed 2 campaigns written in the 6 week program… Each of them could add some serious sales to your business.

Http://www.storysellingtips.com

Hope you join us… Guaranteed results.

To your story selling success.

Troy

PS: As I was wrapping this article up, I realized this was all facts… with a little bit of story mixed in. Which, according to the study is not a good thing.

So I will end with a quick story. I have written extensively about Kinjo Sushi in Calgary. The fact that they are thriving in an industry that has regular business failures.

The fact that they sell out the seats in their restaurant 5-9 TIMES a day.

Yes, 100% sold out over 5 times a day.

They fill the seats – feed them – entertain them – send them on their way… quickly. The fact that the owner of this place used a great story to build his last empire of 35 franchises.

The fact that they have NEVER done advertising before… every single one of their clients come to them as a result of word of mouth.

Why? It’s cold, dead, fish… right?

Well – they have a secret weapon… Peter Kinjo. Peter gets this. He knows that peopel buy when they are entertained and they are given a great story to share with others. And they do!

They tell their friends about the wacky guy and the big knife.
The free sushi they got.
The free chocolate they got.
The incredible service.

That’s all it takes… a great story for your customers to share.

Get your signature story tuned now – there is no better time!
Http://www.storysellingtips.com

Sep
30

How can you use long copy to sell pizza?

By | advertising, Copywriting, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, Entrepreneur, Main Content, Neighborhood Marketing, Wacky marketing ideas

11 Comments

If you haven’t read my post about the Elephant Poop Hats, make sure you do (it is part 1 of the 2 part series)

Well, Richard Osiowy found a unique way.

In 1997 he moved to Calgary and went on a mission to find the perfect pizza… and was sadly disappointed in what he found.

So, he did what any entrepreneur would do… he came out with the best darned pizza creation possible.

And Coco Brooks was born.
(I love their tag line – it says a lot about what they stand for: A People Company Serving Pizza. )

Long copy pizza box

That's a lot of copy for a pizza box!


800,000 pizzas in 3 years and some very unusual concoctions like Egg ‘n Bacon Pizza, No Cheese Veggie Pizza, Louisiana Chicken Pizza, Banana Bread Pizza and Pizza Fruta.

But one thing he does that I have always found unusual was the use of long copy on his pizza boxes.

A combination of stories, quotes from famous people, advertisements for their store, and coupons to get them back… printed on every nook and cranny on their pizza boxes.

People love his pizza boxes as much as the pizza!

I know people that have photo copied the boxes. Collected them. Yet few if any pizza companies I know have copied them.

Opportunity I would say.

One story covers the entire bottom of the pizza box


Some pictures are attached here so you can see the sheer volume of copy on his boxes.

His customers love the copy – and on any given day you will see his restaurant packed and people head deep in reading the newest pizza box stories.

Quite an amazing sight.

And quite the unusual (yet effective) use of copy.

How could you use either the Coco Brooks approach on your packaging or website… or the Tilley use of elaborate details and stories of clients?

There is ALWAYS a way… when you think it through.

Both of these businesses sell products you can find anywhere… but they used the power of stories to stand out from the crowd, and to engage their clients to keep them coming back for more.

To your success,

Rowse the recruits and get them to write your copy for you

Troy White

PS: Don’t forget… the price on the Story Selling Coaching program goes up October 1st at 5pm. You won’t find a better value with a guarantee like that and 2-3 actual campaigns written during the event! Details for the Story Selling Coaching Program.

PPS: These articles were also posted on my weekly post at Clayton Makepeace’s site – Small Business Mastery

Even their menu reads like a magalog

18 pages of copy

Sep
21

Watch as I embarrass myself today

By | advertising, Copywriting, Direct Mail, Entrepreneur, Leads Generation, Marketing on the web, Neighborhood Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, Social Networking, Success, Wacky marketing ideas

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I have a funny and embarrassing picture for you.

I let my daughters give me a makeover a while back (yes – complete with hair clips and makeup, unfortunately).

The makeover was awful… but the girls had a blast.

…Despite all the pulled hair and thick makeup applied – I managed to survive without any long lasting damage.

Troy White in a Marketing Makeover
And I had a great idea while cleaning off the mess.

Why not help my clients makeover their marketing?

…The perfect place to test a few things… my new Story Selling program.

You know as well as I do that a good story is absolutely critical for your business to stand out from the crowd.

A good story:

…helps you connect one-on-one with your prospects and clients

…helps others see things from your point of view

…helps you write more compelling articles, blog posts and marketing materials

Great story tellers:

…build highly successful businesses (like J Peterman, who I have written about before. He had a massively successful business built on stories, but destroyed his success with too much expansion , too quickly).

The problem?

Most people are not natural story tellers. I’m not. Not many people i know are. But a great story teller always has a listening audience nearby.

I can tell a decent story now in my client’s marketing campaigns, but I still am not the type that is the life of the party while I tell story after story.

But i have learned how to weave in persuasive stories into my copy.

…For articles… Blog posts… Autoresponders… Direct mail…web page copy… Email campaigns… Social media campaigns… Postcards… And so on

My Story Selling Program is about to begin…and I want to work with you.

First… The ultimate story in my life.
…My daughters.

As you may know, they are identical twins and were born at a whopping 3 pounds each. Tiny tiny little girls that have grown far too fast for my liking.

Guess what’s coming up?

Their 10th birthday. And it falls on 10/10/10…

…I don’t think there is a cooler birthday out there!

Turning 10 on 10/10/10 is worthy of a party… An Alice In Wonderland party.

In honor of their magical birthday I want to extend to you a very special pre-launch special on the Story Selling clinic.

This is a 6 week, interactive webinar series.

It will be a smaller group so I can give personalized attention to your stories, your campaigns and your progress.

…You will take part in the webinars.

…You get the recordings and transcripts.

…You get all the bonuses, checklists, tools and special reports.

…And you get a minimum of 2 campaigns written during the program (you write them while we go through the program).

If you are ready to take your marketing to the next level of persuasiveness, join us.

http://www.storysellingtips.com

If you understand the amount of money you can make in a single campaign, let alone two of them like you get in this program, you know that the special $247 price I am offering this to you for is a no-brainer (one client of mine, who took a workshop from me before, was instantly able to have $1,000 days when she used tools like what you get here. Previously she never made that I a month.)

I am only offering this for the next 10 days (go figure where the 10 came from). After that it goes up to the price of $347.

Not only that, I am only able to accommodate a small group of 40 for this program.

All the details are here >>> Story Selling Club

The best part?

You actually walk out of the program, not only with a skill that will help you profit for years to come, but you also write 2 promotions while you are in the program!

Hope to see you there soon.

Troy

PS: We are going to have some fun in this program! Complete with contests for best stories, best promotions, etc. A great way to meet people and craft your perfect signature story that will make you moola for many years to come.

Join us and see all the details here http://www.storysellingtips.com

Aug
10

Kinjo Sushi and Chocolate Goodies… secrets of success in a recession

By | Copywriting, Entrepreneur, Neighborhood Marketing, Wacky marketing ideas

1 Comment

Fellow Business-Builder,

We went out for Sushi the other night at my favorite place, Kinjo Sushi & Grill. We had to wait for 15 minutes (on a Tuesday night), but it was worth it … I LOVE this place.

It’s not that I love the cramped space, the lack of booths, and the way-too-close chairs at the sushi bar.

It’s not that I love the packed house they have from 11 am right through to 9 pm at night.

What I really love is the wacky owner of this place, Peter Kinjo.

He is absolutely oozing personality as he wanders the restaurant waving and flipping his monster sushi knife around like a gunslinger.

He loves to sing to the kids.

He loves to make the kids repeat after him all these wacky sayings and get them laughing.

Any guy there with a date is forced “at knife point” to hold their companions hand and say sappy romantic things (Peter doesn’t care if the girl you are with is your girlfriend, wife, mistress or co-worker).

When you first sit down, they jump to attention and make sure you aren’t waiting more than a minute or two before you have water in front of you, your drink order taken, and a complimentary platter of sushi placed in front of you.

The first time I went there I couldn’t believe how much free sushi they kept putting in front of me.

“Try this” as a plate with 4 kinds of sushi is put in front of you.

“This is our specialty” as the Kinjo Roll samples are put down in front of you.

All of the initial sushi is free. It is a great way to try different types of sushi that you may have never tried before. It is also a powerful way to get your customers coming back … no one else that I know of gives away sushi!

Every girl there gets his bonus gift upon departing … a box of Pocky chocolate covered biscuit sticks. They get to choose between strawberry or raspberry (he gave my daughters his newest ones this time, coconut).

Based on the cases and cases of Pocky he had up against the back wall … he is going through a LOT of free samples.

I asked him once what all those free boxes of chocolates cost him … “six figures a year” is all he would share.

That is some serious free chocolate.

A couple months ago, there were eight of us with kids in tow that wanted to go out for sushi.

I recommended Kinjo.

It was a Wednesday night (during this recession) and the place was packed with a 45-minute wait.

So we went down the road to another sushi joint, decent place, just not Kinjo.

The place was completely EMPTY.

Same night of the week.

Just down the road … even on the same side of the road.

What was the difference?

Peter.

Both places make a mean plate of fresh sushi … but only one of them knows how to wow their customers.

The place we ended up at did not have fun with the kids.

Did not make us rehearse hokey love poems to our loved ones.

Did not sing to us.

And didn’t give us any free sushi or desert chocolate.

Is it any surprise that Peter Kinjo has stolen ALL of their clients away?

Not at all.

Think about what Peter did here and how well he is doing in a time when business is down for many.

He uses his personality as his secret weapon.

He knows that people love him being the wacky sushi guy.

The kids love him.

The adults love him.

The staff loves him.

Peter understands that in a competitive environment when the products are similar and the prices are identical … his personality is a deadly weapon that can destroy his competition for no extra cost.

The free sushi samples and chocolates are the final straw that guarantee his continuing success.

Not all of us have an outrageous personality like Peter though. I know I don’t. But that doesn’t mean I can’t find my own ways to use my personality in my business … and I do.

If you are ever up my way in Calgary, Alberta, Canada … let me know and I would love to go for Sushi at Kinjo with you!

Last, here is a great profitable tip for you to use in the next few days.

This one little idea can change the way you run your life and your business.

When you are out shopping, eating at restaurants, having work done on your car, etc., pay very close attention to how stores and sales people sell to you.

• Notice how nice (or nasty) they are to you.
• How do they approach you?
• Do they make your shopping experience enjoyable?
• Would you return to that store?
• Why or why not?
• What could be done better?
• What could they say to guarantee you would go back to shop there?

Simple – right?

Will you try it is more important than how simple it is.

Try it.

Every store you visit, every person you interact with in the next few days – ask those questions. Note what starts going through your mind as you window shop and talk to sales people. You will find you have great ideas on how that business could treat their clients better.

Write down the things that turned you off – and the things that turned you on.

Much like my experiences at Kinjo, you need to pay attention whenever you are out there spending your money.

What would make you buy from them again?

Now use those techniques in your own business. And in your own life.

If the technique you thought of doesn’t specifically apply to your business – how could it? How could it be modified to directly help your business improve?

Start applying the ideas you come up with.

Write them down, even if you decide not to use them – they may come in handy at a later time.

In your shopping travels you may just find the idea that makes you and your company stand out from all others.

So pay attention out there.

Thanks again.

To your success,

Troy White
Editor, Small Business Mastery, Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE (http://www.smallbusinessmastery.com)

PS: UPDATE: I just met with Peter Kinjo this morning to go over his business model and present him with some ideas for even further growth in his new, soon-to-be-opened Kinjo — 4 TIMES as large as the one I grew to love!!! I can’t share with you the numbers he showed me, but I can say this…

..Kinjos is doing better now than ever before. They are putting through well over 400 paying customers a day in a restaurant that seats 65. Their customers are frequent ‘shoppers’, they bring their friends, family and business associates, and they LOVE to spread the word about this incredible rare find.

Pay VERY close attention to businesses like Kinjos.

They hold an incredible learning opportunity for astute entrepreneurs. Take their success secrets and quickly modify them to suit YOUR business.

And if you are EVER looking for a great meal and time in Calgary, CALL ME! I am always up for a trip to my favorite restaurant. Kinjos is the ONLY place I know of in a city of 1.2 million people that does what they do.

Learn from it… and profit.

Aug
05

90% of retailers blow it (websites included)

By | advertising, Affluent buyers, Direct Mail, Entrepreneur, Leads Generation, Marketing on the web, Neighborhood Marketing, Wacky marketing ideas

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New survey resultts are in from the YouGov research group. They went out and surveyed buyers of products they found either online or were driven online from direct mail.

Some fascinating info:

* 57% of British consumers would be prepared to include their email address when placing an order through a catalogue and more than 43% would when placing an order in response to direct mail.

* In spite of this willingness, however, just 10% per cent of consumers said that a retailer had asked them for their email in a catalogue order form and just 6% had ever been asked via direct mail.

* Nearly a third (27%) of consumers, however, claim to have been motivated to make a purchase in a high street store after being alerted to a product in a marketing email.

* 69% per cent said they would share their email address with a brand if they were an existing customer.

* “The research clearly shows that customers are willing to trust their contact details with established brands or companies with whom they already have an existing relationship — this gives email marketers a fantastic opening to increase the size of their email databases by adding existing customers to their programmes at a minimal cost.”

For the full article (and a download link for the entire report – great sleeping material – the facts above are all that are needed. Go to Internet Retailing.

So – the question to you is – are you doing everything possible to collect email addresses from your buyers? Your prospects?

Evvvvvverything?

Obviously your buyers want you to ask… the rest is up to you!

Jul
28

Facebook advertising

By | advertising, Copywriting, Leads Generation, Marketing on the web, Neighborhood Marketing, Social Networking

3 Comments

We all know the numbers…

500 MILLION users.

Nothing else you need to know.

If you want to tap into a VERY powerful database, Facebook is something you should be researching.

Are your ideal clients on Facebook?

With half a BILLION users, don’t jump to conclusions until you actually do your research.

2 years ago (wayyyy before all the ‘gurus’ started hyping their wares on Facebook advertising), I saw great success with Facebook ads.

From a $15 ad investment, I was able to sell $2,500 in seminar seats.

Not a bad return!

Things are much more competitive now, but the size of Facebook is growing by the second. If the founder doesn’t mess it all up, it will be one of the MOST powerful marketing databases in the world.

I recently interview Brian Bagnall on the power of Facebook advertising and how anyone can start using it today.

Here is the mp3 recording of that call.

Enjoy – and see you on Facebook!

Troy

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