Eben Pagan interviews Jorge Cruise, who shares his systematic approach to creating bestselling health books by surveying his audience to identify specific pain points. Jorge reveals how he discovered that 80% of people want to lose belly fat specifically, leading to his successful "Belly Fat Cure" book that helps people lose 13 pounds per week.
Eben Interviews Jorge Cruise
Jorge Cruise reveals how he uses Survey Monkey to survey his entire email list before creating any product, asking specific questions about exactly what people want rather than trying to create demand. This approach led him to discover that 80% of people wanting to lose weight specifically target belly fat, resulting in his bestselling book concept.
Drawing from lessons learned from Tony Robbins, Jorge explains that books have only seven days to become bestsellers and must be timed to psychological waves when people naturally think about specific topics. For health products, January 1st is optimal, while other topics have different timing windows throughout the year.
Jorge shares insights from working behind the scenes with producers from major shows like Good Morning America and Oprah. He teaches that books should be written for TV producers who are gatekeepers to media coverage, since they have rooms full of submissions and only seconds to decide what gets attention.
Jorge reveals spending six months with 30 people to perfect his three-word title 'Belly Fat Cure' and another month on the subtitle. He emphasizes that book covers work like billboards with only 4 seconds to grab attention, and Amazon subtitles have just 9-12 words to make the sale.
“I did a survey of my list of all the people that are in my list, and we have quite a few, and asked them really, you know, a few questions. Because I think you've got to listen to what people want.”
— Jorge Cruise▶ 19:30
Survey your existing email list using tools like Survey Monkey to ask specific questions about their exact problems, rather than making assumptions about what they need.
“I've probably spent no less than six months probably working with 30 people to come up with three words.”
— Jorge Cruise▶ 27:00
Spend at least six months working with about 30 people to perfect your title, as it's the most critical element that determines whether your book gets attention.
“I only launch my books during, I mean, this is something I learned from Tony years ago, that there are these, in our world, there are psychological waves and times that we all think about certain things.”
— Jorge Cruise▶ 25:18
Launch during specific psychological timing windows when people naturally think about your topic - like January 1st for health and wealth topics.
“I always tell people, think like a TV producer, you know, and I always say, who are you writing your book for? I ask this in front of people a lot of times when I speak about this, and they always say, well, I'm writing for the mother. I'm writing for a businessman. I say, well, no, not really. You should be writing for the television producer.”
— Jorge Cruise▶ 26:27
Write for television producers, not your end customers, because producers are the gatekeepers who decide what gets media attention.
“the subtitle is what's on Amazon.com. It's the one sentence that comes after your title that has to sell them. I mean, you have maybe nine words, maybe 12 if you're really long to lock the sale in.”
— Jorge Cruise▶ 27:30
You have only 9-12 words in your subtitle after your 2-3 word title to convince someone to buy your book on Amazon.
Jorge Cruise's systematic approach to identifying market demand and creating bestselling books
Survey your list
Use Survey Monkey to ask your email list specific questions about their exact problems rather than general wants
Get specific about problems
Ask people to rank where specifically they want results (like belly fat vs thighs vs arms) to find the 80% majority need
Develop your title
Spend 6 months with 30 people perfecting your 2-3 word title as it's the most critical element
Perfect your subtitle
Create a 9-12 word subtitle that will appear on Amazon and must sell them in one sentence
Design for TV producers
Think like a television producer when creating your cover since they are the gatekeepers to media coverage
Time your launch
Launch during psychological timing windows when people naturally think about your topic
Survey your existing list before creating any product to understand exactly what people want instead of trying to create demand for something they're not interested in
Jorge Cruise used Survey Monkey to survey his entire email list before creating the Belly Fat Cure, asking specific questions about where they wanted to lose weight
Ask people to be specific about their problems rather than accepting general answers - 80% of people who want to lose weight specifically want to lose belly fat when asked where exactly
When Jorge asked his list specifically where they wanted to lose weight (belly, thighs, arms, etc.), 80% ranked belly fat as their top concern, leading to his bestselling book concept
You have only seven days to make a book a bestseller - if it doesn't launch within the first week, it's not worth pursuing
Jorge Cruise learned from Tony Robbins that there are psychological waves and specific times when people think about certain topics, like January 1st for health, and only launches books during these optimal windows
Write your book for television producers, not for your end customer, because producers are the gatekeepers who decide what gets media coverage
Jorge has been behind the scenes with producers from Tyra Banks Show, Good Morning America, Today Show, and Oprah, and sees rooms full of boxes where they spend only seconds looking at covers before deciding
Spend at least six months working with 30 people to perfect your book title, as it's the most important element for success
Jorge spent six months with 30 people to create the three words 'Belly Fat Cure' and another month debating the subtitle, knowing the cover must work like a billboard with 4 seconds to get attention
Your subtitle on Amazon is critical because you have only 9-12 words after your title to lock in the sale
Jorge explains that after the 2-3 word title, the subtitle is what appears on Amazon.com and is the one sentence that has to sell them with very limited word count
Master both your content expertise and copywriting skills, because having the best system means nothing if you can't communicate in a way that causes people to listen
Jorge cites examples of Martha Stewart (home decor), Dr. Oz (heart health), and Suze Orman who all became masters at selling their content by learning marketing and communication skills beyond just their expertise
Time your product launches to psychological waves when people naturally think about your topic - like January 1st for health and wealth
Jorge learned from Tony Robbins that there are specific times in human thinking cycles (January 1st for health/wealth, Valentine's for love, Mother's Day for mom-related products) when media shows want content
Survey your existing list before creating any product to understand exactly what people want instead of trying to create demand for something they're not interested in
▶ 19:30Ask people to be specific about their problems rather than accepting general answers - 80% of people who want to lose weight specifically want to lose belly fat when asked where exactly
▶ 20:01You have only seven days to make a book a bestseller - if it doesn't launch within the first week, it's not worth pursuing
▶ 24:47Write your book for television producers, not for your end customer, because producers are the gatekeepers who decide what gets media coverage
▶ 26:27Spend at least six months working with 30 people to perfect your book title, as it's the most important element for success
▶ 27:00Your subtitle on Amazon is critical because you have only 9-12 words after your title to lock in the sale
▶ 27:30Master both your content expertise and copywriting skills, because having the best system means nothing if you can't communicate in a way that causes people to listen
▶ 22:38Time your product launches to psychological waves when people naturally think about your topic - like January 1st for health and wealth
▶ 25:18Claim: “Try to create demand for what you want to sell”
Reframe: Survey your audience to discover what they already want, then create that product
Claim: “Write your book for your target customer”
Reframe: Write your book for television producers who are the gatekeepers to media coverage
“I think you've got to listen to what people want. I mean, that's an important trick. I mean, why reinvent the wheel and force them to think and buy something that they're not really interested in?”
“You have seven days. So if you have seven days and you got to sell a lot of books or sell a lot of products within seven days you got to know what you doing.”
“if you just are very good at heart health or home decor, but you don't know how to communicate in a way that causes people to listen, even though you may have the best heart health program or the best system to organize your house”
Business Friendship Model
The counterintuitive friendship-building strategy that can transform your customer relationships and boost conversion rates.
Targeting The Right Niche
Discover the counterintuitive niche targeting strategy that turned Eben Pagan's $40 ebook into multiple million-dollar business launches.
The Right Product
Learn why your product is actually an obstacle to your customer getting what they want, and how to turn that insight into products that practically sell themselves.
Coaching Strategies
Business Frameworks
All marketing must persuade to measurable action - if you don't persuade, there will be no action, and if you can't measure it, you're throwing away most of your money
Eben emphasizes this as the foundational principle that 'really all that matters' in marketing, making it the opening lesson of his Business Friendship Model framework
The Business Friendship Model follows four steps: attention (getting them to pay attention), connection (finding commonality), commitment (making an emotional commitment), and action (acting on that commitment)
Eben developed this framework over many years and uses it in all his marketing, stating if he can't use this approach, he 'seriously reconsiders' the product or service he's offering
Niches aren't chosen or what you want them to be - they're discovered by identifying unmet customer needs and understanding what customers are actually going through
Eben discovered his information business niche when half the audience at his $10,000 Altitude training (people from 26 countries) raised their hands as having information-related businesses, despite the training being marketed for any business type
Think of your niche as the specific need your customer has, not as your product or customer demographic - focus on their fears, frustrations, wants, and aspirations in their exact words
When creating weight loss training, Eben doesn't just identify 'customers need to lose weight' but specifically learns how much weight they want to lose, where they want to lose it, why they want to lose it, using their exact language
