Value Proposition

Post-It Note Value Exercise for Solving Business Problems

Write 'What is value?' on a Post-it note, stick it on your computer monitor, and contemplate it daily for a month. Focus on understanding value for your clients, customers, partners, and family to solve business problems.

Starting Different vs Differentiating After the Fact

Differentiation means trying to be different from competitors after entering a market. Starting different means identifying unmet customer needs and addressing them from the beginning, so you don't need to differentiate.

Stop Competing on Price — Reframe Around Life Goals

Stop competing on price by reframing the conversation around your customer's bigger life goals and long-term outcomes. Focus on what they really want to achieve rather than the surface-level service they're requesting.

Selling vs. Buying — Pressure Versus Pleasure and Control

Selling creates pressure and forces decisions, while buying is about pleasure and choice. Customers hate to be sold but love to buy because selling involves pressure tactics while buying gives them control and status.

Biggest Fear and Dream Scenario — Two Questions for Every Customer

Ask customers two critical questions: 'What's your biggest fear or frustration?' and 'What's your dream scenario or outcome?' - these reveal both their irrational emotional drivers and their specific desired results

Market the Fear Eliminated, Not Just the Benefits Gained

Focus your marketing on the fear your product eliminates, the problems it solves, and the pain it makes go away rather than just positive benefits, since pain avoidance is twice as motivating as pleasure seeking.

Stop Me Marketing — Put the Spotlight on the Customer

The biggest mistake is trying to sell yourself instead of focusing on your customer's needs. Avoid 'me marketing' and instead put the spotlight on the specific results and benefits your customers want to achieve.

Give Customers What They Need to Convince Themselves

Give customers what they need so they can convince themselves to buy. Allow them to feel the success of finding a solution, solving a problem, or fulfilling a passion, rather than trying to push or convince them.

Experiential Authority Beats Credentials

Modern authority comes from personal experience solving the same problem your customer faces, not from credentials or fame - sharing your transformation story is more powerful than having letters after your name

Value Is Primarily Emotional, Not Logical

Value is primarily an emotional experience, not logical. Customers pay for feelings like relief, hope, joy, superiority, and validation. Behind every logical purchase decision is an emotion driving the choice.

Buying Feels Like Shopping — That's Why Customers Love It

Customers love to buy because buying is associated with shopping, which is our favorite activity. It's about consuming and getting things, which we unconsciously associate with having means, power, and status.

Remote Computer Support — Human Help Without Hold Times

Virtual technical support works because people want human help with computer problems but don't have time for 27-hour hold times, and the best services can take control of your computer to fix issues remotely

Why Generic Self-Introductions Fail to Attract Prospects

Most people answer 'what do you do' with generic statements about themselves like 'I'm a writer' or 'I'm a relationship coach' - this approach fails because it's all about them instead of the prospect's needs

Emotional Power Words Only Emerge After Multiple Customer Conversations

Patterns of emotional power words only emerge after talking to several people - you can't see a pattern from just one conversation, but these patterns become the foundation for products that sell themselves

Naming Products Around the Benefit They Deliver

Names should promise results, benefits, and solutions. Use everything you've learned about marketing to create names that clearly communicate what benefit the customer will get from your product or service.

Survey Customers to Find Unmet Gaps in Any Industry

Survey customers directly using tools like Survey Monkey and analyze their responses with free text analyzers to identify unmet needs. Every industry has gaps where customers want something they can't find.

Post-It Note Practice — Ask 'What Is Value?' Every Single Day

Ask yourself 'What is value?' every day. Put this question on a Post-It note on your computer screen and look at it daily for months. This simple practice leads to discovering money-making opportunities.

Power Words and Power Phrases in Customer Interviews

Pay attention to 'power words' and 'power phrases' - highly emotional, distinctive words that emerge as patterns when interviewing multiple customers, which have massive value in products and marketing

Processing Your Story vs Sharing a Processed Lesson

Processing your story versus sharing your story are two completely different activities—processing puts a burden on the listener and costs them energy, while sharing gives value to a processed lesson

How to Break Into Someone's World When You Have No Connections

Call their company regularly, make friends with employees and gatekeepers, provide value by sending gifts or useful information, and look for ways to solve their problems using your existing skills.

Successful Exchange Means Both Parties Get the Better Deal

Successful business requires exchanging value where both parties get the better deal - you sell something for more than it costs to produce, while customers buy something worth more than they pay

Utility Value Is the Emotional Satisfaction Expected From a Solution

Utility value is the emotional satisfaction someone expects from getting, using, or having a problem solved. It's not just functional benefit but the emotional payoff they anticipate receiving.

Profitable Ideas Solve Urgent High-Value Problems

Profitable business ideas solve urgent customer problems where people face real obstacles. They create high value, address pain and urgency, and can be scaled with other people doing the work.

Sell to Individuals — Every Customer Wants to Feel Unique

Selling to individuals is the foundation of business success because each customer sees themselves as unique and wants to be communicated with as someone special, not as part of a mass market.

Marketing as Communication That Gets Customers

Marketing is defined as communication that gets customers - communicating in a way that gets people to pay attention, be interested, and give you money in exchange for your product or service

Professional Marketing States the Problem and the Desired Result

Professional marketing is not about being pushy - it's about communicating exactly what the other person wants by stating their problem and the result they desire in a powerful communication

Show the Mechanism Behind the Magic Trick

You must take people behind the scenes of the magic trick and show them how the mechanism works, like showing how the magician's assistant's legs go down and those are fake feet sticking out

Introduce the Product as the Hero Delivering the Solution

When introducing your product, don't just say 'I've got this amazing product.' Introduce the product as the hero that's going to bring the solution and create the result your prospect wants.

Marketing Answers Already Exist in What Customers Say

Most answers to marketing problems already exist in what customers are actually saying, but we don't listen because we're tuned to what they really need instead of what they think they want

Multiple Failures Build More Credibility Than One Setback

The most compelling stories involve multiple failures because it shows you're serious, determined, disciplined, and willing to keep trying—which builds more credibility than single failures

Five-Part Elevator Pitch Formula

The 5-part elevator pitch formula: 1) 'I help' + specific prospect description, 2) 'who' + specific problem, 3) specific result/benefit, 4) convenience factor, 5) engagement hook question

Online Anonymity Opens People Up to Real Honesty

People sitting behind computer screens with screen names speak openly and talk about what's really going on and what they really think because of the transparency of online communication

Key Functions of Value Creation — Products, Marketing, Leadership

The key functions of value creation in business are creating innovative products, marketing and sales, and taking responsibility for delivering results through management and leadership

Pain Avoidance Beats Pleasure Seeking — The Evolutionary Root

Customers are twice as motivated to avoid pain as they are to gain pleasure because of evolutionary survival mechanisms. In ancestral environments, failing to avoid threats meant death.

Defining Niche by Customer Need Not Demographics

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

Relate, Educate, Translate — The Persuasive Marketing Framework

The 'Relate, Educate, Translate' framework: Relate to prospects as one human to another, educate them on what they need to know, then translate your value into their desired currency

Customers Want the Outcome Not the Service They Describe

Customers often ask for the service or product but actually want the result or outcome that service provides. You need to dig deeper to understand their true desires and motivations.

Customer Research Questions That Uncover Real Needs

The 'money question' is 'What's your biggest fear or frustration?' Also ask: What outcome do you want? What works already? What can we improve? How would it look if it was perfect?

Looking Good by Being Willing to Look Bad

You look better when you're willing to look bad and share your failures, because most people won't get on social media and admit they tried something and failed or were embarrassed

Elevator Pitch Seconds to Make an Impression

An elevator pitch must be compelling enough that someone would want to do business with you by the time you reach your floor - you only have a few seconds to make this impression

Marketing Should Start Upstream in Product Design

Marketing should start upstream and influence product design itself — products designed with customer needs in mind are much easier to market than products designed as good ideas

Pain Plus Urgency Plus Desired Result — the High-Value Product Formula

The ultimate formula for creating high-value products is to identify pain plus urgency, then determine the specific result the prospect believes will deliver them from that pain

When a True Transformation Vision Makes Price Almost Irrelevant

When clients have a true transformation vision, there's almost nothing more valuable than achieving it - they would trade nearly everything except perhaps saving a family member

Reading the Customer's Internal Valuing Process

Understanding the customer's internal valuing process - their emotions, mental pictures, and feedback loops - is key to finding the highest value thing you can create for them

Products That Sell Themselves Are Built on Customer Fear and Gaps

Products that sell themselves are designed by deeply understanding customer fears, frustrations and gaps in available solutions rather than creating what you think people want

Narrow Your Niche to Carve Out an Unmet Need

Narrowing your niche is better than widening your niche - start with a big niche where there are lots of customers, then carve off a small chunk where people have unmet needs

Build Business Around Customer Problems Not Money

For maximum business success, start your business to solve customers' needs and problems better and better over time, rather than just to make money or create a good product.

Ask What Problems Customers Have That No One Is Solving

Shift focus from what makes you different to what problems your customers have that aren't being solved. Ask what's important to them rather than analyzing your competitors.

Fastest Path to Money Relieve Pain Quickly

The most important question for creating money quickly is: 'What do I know how to do that relieves problems and pain quickly or gives people what they're passionate about?'

Money Emerges When You Create Massive Value and Build Systems for It

Money emerges when you create massive value for other people by taking away urgent pain or delivering massive pleasure, then set up systems so they give you money in return

Project Into Customer Emotional State Including Their Daily Struggles

Consider the entire customer experience by projecting yourself into their emotional state, including that most people are overweight, bored, apathetic, and have few friends

The Transformation Vision That Replaces the Sales Pitch

Create a Transformation Vision (TV) in the client's mind - if they can see what's possible, the sales pitch becomes simply asking if they want to bring that into 3D reality

Translating Your Expertise Into Value Customers Can Recognize

The profitability of information products is a function of your ability to translate and communicate value to customers who don't inherently know how to value information.

Money Emerges When You Create Massive Value Then Capture It

Money emerges when you create massive value for others by taking away urgent pain or delivering massive pleasure, then set up systems for them to give you money in return

Empathy Is the Most Profitable Business Skill

Empathy is the most profitable business skill because it provides insights into customer emotions, buying behavior, and the exact words and images that motivate prospects

Information Products Sell from Twenty Dollars to Twenty-Four Thousand

Information products can be profitably sold across an enormous price range, from $20 books to $24,000 coaching programs, with value determining price rather than format

Two Unconscious Questions Every Prospect Asks at a Headline

Four of the six most successful headlines in history start with 'How' because it immediately puts prospects' minds into action-step mode, expecting to learn techniques

Write Five to Ten Pages of Bullets for Every Product

Write several pages of bullets for every product - at least 5 pages, 10 pages if you're serious. List every benefit and turn each into at least one compelling bullet.

Under-Promise and Over-Deliver — People Penalize Unmet Promises

Under-promise and over-deliver consistently - people heavily penalize you for the one thing you promised but didn't deliver, even if you delivered nine other things

Sell What They Want, Deliver What They Need

Sell customers what they want (the result they're craving) and deliver what they need by slipping essential information into the solution for their desired outcome

Be the Only Place Your Customer Needs to Go

Be the only place your customer needs to go - stop thinking small, stop thinking competition, and start thinking of being the best friend you can to your customers

Daily Customer Conversations as a Business Practice

Talk to at least one customer or prospective customer every day. Alternatively, dedicate one full day per week broken into 15-minute customer conversation chunks.

Name It Impossible to Forget Not Just Easy to Remember

Create names that are impossible to forget, not just nice or easy to remember - focus on the sound primarily since the mind remembers names by sound, not by sight

Getting Someone to Give You Money Is the Hardest Skill

Getting someone to give you money is one of the hardest skills to acquire - even borrowing $100 from someone requires significant relationship building and trust

Scientific Tests Show Pain-Focused Messaging Is Twice as Powerful

Scientific tests show customers will pay twice as much to avoid pain as they will to gain pleasure, making pain-focused messaging twice as powerful in marketing.

Package Secret Techniques Into Mass-Deliverable Products

Package your secret techniques and insider knowledge into downloadable products that can be mass-delivered rather than keeping them exclusive to paying customers

Humans Are Bad at Translating Value Across Realms

Humans are bad at putting value on things and translating value from one realm to another - they need someone to connect the dots and explain how the value works

Salespeople Sell Features — Customers Buy Benefits

Salespeople sell features, customers buy benefits. The feature is the thing itself, the advantage is what it does, and the benefit is the result you get from it.

How to Communicate When Misunderstanding Is the Rule

The first essential step in the money-making process is to create value, requiring a minimum of two-step thinking rather than direct cause-and-effect approaches

Professional Marketing Teaches You to Understand Value Creation

Learning marketing and sales professionally (not manipulatively) can be one of the most fulfilling things in life because it helps you understand value creation

The Appeal-O-Meter — Why Customers Want Magic Solutions

John Carlton's 'Appeal-O-Meter' shows that the less work and time required, the higher the appeal and perceived value, with customers wanting 'magic' solutions

Conceptual Thinkers Must Go Specific When Selling

Teachers and conceptual thinkers default to abstract communication when they should go more specific and concrete, especially when selling information products

Lead With Your Best Free Content — Paid Will Seem Even Better

Lead with your best content for free because customers are naturally suspicious and assume everything behind a paywall is worse than what you show them upfront

Two Questions Prospects Unconsciously Ask Before Buying

Prospects unconsciously ask two critical questions: 'How can I know this is worth a lot more than I'm paying?' and 'Can you prove the result you're promising?'

Emotional Suspension of Disbelief Shifts Prospects to Active Engagement

When a person feels understood, they experience 'emotional suspension of disbelief' - moving from passive listening to active engagement saying 'tell me more'

Solve Urgent Pain or Deliver Massive Pleasure to Create Value

The most important types of value are solving urgent pain or delivering massive pleasure based on what people really want, not what you think they should want

Getting Someone to Buy Is Harder Than Borrowing Money

The hardest skill in business is getting someone to take out their wallet and give you money - it requires deeper trust than even borrowing $100 from a friend

Find What Customers Need That Is Not Being Fulfilled and Build That

Focus on the customer's needs rather than convincing them to buy what you're selling - find what they need that isn't being fulfilled and create that instead.

Open a Broadband Portal Where Customers Feel Deeply Understood

The goal is to open up a broadband communication portal where customers feel they're in the presence of someone like them who gets their problem and solution.

Customers Buy Solutions Outcomes and Relief Not Products

Customers don't buy what you're selling - they buy the solution to their problem, the outcome they want, relief from pain, and the result they're looking for

Fascinating Follow-Up Shows Prospects New Ways to See Problems

Create fascinating content by showing prospects new ways to look at problems with insights that promise quick results - if it's not fascinating, throw it out

Time-Poor Consumers Need Ideas Connected to Wants — Not Random Data

Modern consumers are time poor and need ideas connected to their wants and desires in an easily understandable way - random information wastes mental space

Speed of Implementation — The Distance Between Learning and Action

Once you find the benefit currency, repeat it endlessly - customers never get tired of hearing about what they want most, just like hearing their own name

Most Personal Frustrations Reveal the Most Universal Needs

Observe customers in their natural environment to spot small but universal frustrations. The most personal insights often reveal the most universal needs.

Why Experts Must Learn to Sell Before Delegating Marketing

Experts who want to delegate marketing have it backwards - they need to learn how to sell and present their products so people will want to buy them first

Identify the Prospect's Coin of the Realm Before Pricing

Identify your prospect's unique currency or 'coin of their realm' - the thing they're trying to accomplish that functions like money in their value system

Bridge the Value Gap With an Explicit Currency Exchange

Bridge the value gap by explicitly stating the currency exchange: 'If you could pay me $1000 but increase your energy by 50%, would that be a good deal?'

Pain Avoidance Motivation Is Twice as Powerful

Humans are twice as motivated to avoid pain as they are to gain pleasure, making problem-solving messaging twice as powerful as benefit-focused marketing

Sales as Ethical Dilemma Requiring Transparency

Every sales and marketing situation is an ethical dilemma with inherent conflicts of interest that must be acknowledged and resolved through transparency

Virtual Businesses — Flexibility to Shape Work Around Life

Identify your customer's 'currency' - what they want most or want to avoid most - then translate everything you offer into more or less of that currency

Design Is Where Company Meets Customer

Design is the interface where your company, products, and marketing meet the customer - it's the critical touchpoint that determines customer experience

Customer Value Is Emotional Not Logical

Customer value is primarily an emotional experience, not a logical one - customers pay for feelings like relief, hope, joy, superiority, and validation

Find Unmet Needs Instead of Trying to Differentiate

Instead of trying to differentiate, focus on starting different by identifying unmet customer needs in your market and being the first to address them.

Condense Decades of Experience Into Minutes That Teach

The goal is to condense years or decades of experience into several minutes while making the listener feel like they're learning something at each step

Transformational Vision vs Small Improvement: 10x the Value

The difference between small improvements and transformational visions can be 10x in value - like losing 5 pounds versus total lifestyle transformation

Detail Each Benefit Individually in Copy

When writing marketing copy, don't summarize and generalize benefits. Explain each benefit individually, one at a time, in as much detail as possible.

Teach Customers How You Developed Your Solution

Education is extraordinarily powerful in marketing - teach customers how you figured out or developed your solution to make massive progress in sales

Better-Than-Money-Back Guarantees Increase Sales

Take away risk with guarantees—even better-than-money-back guarantees where they keep the product increase sales despite some people taking advantage

Stop Selling Yourself — Sell the Result

The biggest mistake when selling information is trying to sell yourself instead of focusing on the specific results and benefits your customer needs

Customers Want Outcomes, Not Products

Customers don't want products - they want specific outcomes and results, with value being the abstract driving force behind all purchasing decisions

Project Into Your Customer's Moment of First Need

Project yourself into your customer's situation when they first realize they have a need and identify what emotional experience they want to achieve

High-Perceived-Value Free Offers at Low Delivery Cost

Create free offerings that have high perceived value ($20-$100+) but can be delivered at very low cost in mass to maximize impact and trust-building

Emphasize the Breakthrough in Your Origin Story

The breakthrough and result portion of your story is what you really want to emphasize—the specific outcome you got when the insight started working

Massive Shortage of Great Technologists in Growing Business Sectors

Professional sales involves understanding customer needs and matching them to products - it's about taking prospects from consideration to purchase

Map Every Fear and Frustration You Can Solve for Others

Make a list of all fears, frustrations, worries and anxieties you can solve for others, focusing on problems with high emotional value and urgency.

Free Content Quality Directly Predicts Paid Content in Buyers' Minds

Customers assume that free content quality directly predicts paid content quality, making first impressions critical for long-term business success

Solve Customer Problems — They Buy Solutions Not Your Expertise

Focus on solving customer problems rather than selling your expertise - people don't want to buy you, they want to buy solutions to their problems

Matching Expertise to Customer Highest Value for Self-Selling Products

When you match your expertise to the customer's highest value point, you create a product that sells itself without requiring extensive marketing

Build Products by Interviewing Customers Not Extracting Your Knowledge

Build products by interviewing customers and creating custom-tailored solutions, not by getting your knowledge out because you think you're smart

Match Communication to Prospect Sophistication Level

Match your communication to prospect sophistication level: unaware of solutions, comparing value, or highly educated making fine-point decisions

Customers Want Observable Tangible Physical Results

Customers want specific, tangible, physical results that can be observed and verified by others, not abstract improvements like 'feeling better'

The Money Question — Biggest Fear or Frustration

The money question to ask customers is 'What's your biggest fear or frustration?' - if you could only ask one question forever, this would be it

Forums and Search Engines as Prospect Discovery Channels

Value in information products comes from understanding customer needs, not from what you know - this transforms $20 products into $2000 products

How Entrepreneurs Learn What Customers Desire and Fear

Entrepreneurs create value by learning what customers desire, need, want, and fear, then helping meet those needs through products and services.

Real Selling Is About Helping People — Not Coercion

Professional selling has gotten a bad reputation due to misconceptions about coercion and manipulation, but real selling is about helping people

Finding the Overlap Zone Between Customer, Business, and Self

Leaders must balance conflicting needs between customers, business, and themselves, finding the overlap zones where everyone's needs can be met

Entrepreneurs Learn What Customers Desire, Need, and Fear

Entrepreneurs create value by understanding what customers desire, need, want, and fear, then meeting those needs through products and services

What One Strength Drivers Will Figure Out the Rest

Prioritize new concepts and ideas your customers haven't heard before over familiar material to be perceived as more valuable and authoritative

Words Bridge Product and Customer Desire

Words are the bridge between your product and your customer, and between the customer's problem or desire and their conception of the solution

Your Product Is an Obstacle Customers Cross to Reach Their Result

Your product is actually an obstacle to customer success - a barrier they must cross over to get their desired result, not the solution itself

Being Friendly Is Not the Same as Professional Selling

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking good selling is just being friendly and answering questions, which is not professional selling

Exceptional Product as the Foundation of All Marketing

The best marketing is actually a fantastic product that sells itself, and when you layer good marketing on top of that, it becomes unstoppable

Your Product as Obstacle Between Customer and Outcome

Your product is an obstacle between your customer and what they want - they have to go over, around, or under it to get their desired outcome

The First Skill — Create Value for Others

The first skill to master is creating value for others, developing this ability regardless of whether you immediately receive value in return

Build Training Ecosystems With Multiple Price Points for Lifetime Value

Create comprehensive training ecosystems with multiple price points to serve different commitment levels and maximize customer lifetime value

Clean Focus and Clean Cuts Prevent Mental Task Bleed

Customers only tune into WIIFM (What's In It For Me) - they don't care about your brilliant ideas and will tune out any pretense or arrogance

Show Others' Results to Build Credibility Beyond Your Own Story

After creating your system, show it to other people and share their results to build additional credibility beyond your personal breakthrough

Usability as Design Priority, Not Afterthought

Usability means how easy and intuitive something is to use, and most design everywhere is treated as an afterthought rather than a priority

Entrepreneurs Create Everything Worth Using

Entrepreneurs create everything from medicines to everyday items like toilets and microphones - they deserve recognition for creating value

Build All Marketing Around Your Free Offer

Start marketing strategy development with your free offer as the foundation, then build all messaging around that central value proposition

Sell What People Already Want to Buy

Find products that people already want to buy, not stuff you want to sell - focus on solving their problems rather than your preferences

Names Impossible to Forget vs. Easy to Remember

Create names that are impossible to forget, not just easy to remember - these are two different things that require different approaches

Desperate Prospects Self-Identify the Right Solution

Products sell themselves when you target people in emotional situations who recognize your solution as exactly what they think they need

Should You Mention Competitors in Your Marketing

Innovation means creating something new, different, and better from the customer's perspective - not just new for the sake of being new

Anchor Information Products to the Real, Tangible, and Measurable

When selling information products, you must anchor everything to the real world and make it tangible, specific, external and measurable

Professional Selling Means Digging Into the Customer's Real Needs

Professional selling is about digging into the customer's mind to find their real needs, then connecting those needs with your solution

Value Peaks When Fear Frustration and Urgency Peak

Value increases predictably as emotional need increases - when fear, frustration, desire or urgency peak, solutions have maximum value

Write What Is Value on a Post-It and Contemplate It Daily

The most important question for business success is 'What is value?' - write it on a post-it note and contemplate it daily for a month

Design Marketing to Amplify Emotional Message and Speak to Fears and Fantasies

Design your marketing to amplify the emotional message and communicate clearly to prospects by understanding their fears and fantasies

Innovation Means Perceived Better, Not Just Perceived New

Innovation means creating something relatively new that customers perceive as better and more useful, not just creating something new

Lipstick on a Pig: Marketing Mediocre Products

Most people try to 'put lipstick on a pig' by using marketing to sell mediocre products instead of creating high-value products first

Translate Emotional Pain Into Monetary Value — Alternate Currency

Create "alternate currency" by translating customer's emotional pain into monetary value that can be communicated in real-world terms

What Makes a Virtual Business Different from Traditional Business

Avoid cute names and funny names because spending money is serious business and most people don't want to laugh when they're doing it

Every Missed Contact Equals Missing Sales and Income

Value is completely subjective—two books with identical production costs can command vastly different prices based on perceived worth

Build Products Around Customer Needs Not Convincing Pitches

Create products by finding customer needs first, then building solutions, rather than convincing customers to buy what you're selling

Moving the Free Line — Give Away More Than You Should

Move the free line by giving away more than you think you should, because people will assume your paid content is even more valuable

Free Services Without Buy-In Get Ignored

When you give away valuable services for free, customers often don't show up or pay attention because they haven't invested anything

Show Customers the Exact Steps to Raise Perceived Value

Increase perceived value by showing customers the simple action steps they'll take and exactly how they'll get their desired result

Marketing to What Prospects Are Already Seeking

Successful marketing focuses on what prospects are already seeking and alert to, not what you think is important about your product

How Long Daily Employee Updates Should Actually Take

You only need to find 5-10 high-value customer needs with the highest emotion, pain, and desire value to become a recognized expert

Let Customers Experience Finding the Solution Themselves

Allow customers to experience the pleasure and success of finding a solution, solving a problem, or fulfilling a passion themselves

Better-Than-Risk-Free Guarantees Including Cash Back

Better-than-risk-free guarantees include offering full refund plus $100 cash for wasted time, which Eben has used at live seminars

Modern Reality Rewards Results Not Credentials

Modern reality isn't about credentials or qualifications - it's about being able to get results and show others how to do the same

Uncovering Pain Points Through Fear and Frustration Questions

Discover urgent pain points by asking people about their biggest fears, frustrations, worries, and what keeps them awake at night

How Much Career Change the Future Will Demand

Niches are needs—start with an unmet need and build around it, not with what you feel like teaching or what customers should know

Coaching vs Therapy — Performance-Focused and Future-Oriented

Value creation starts with understanding what value means specifically to your ideal client, not what you think they should want

Sell Fast Easy Results — Only What Actually Delivers

When selling, feature fast, easy, low cost, low risk results that genuinely work, but only promise what you can actually deliver

Kitchen Sink Approach Attacks Customer Problems From Every Angle

Use the kitchen sink approach: attack each customer problem from every angle - conceptual, theoretical, practical, and emotional

Value Creation Starts With Small Things People Care About

Value creation starts at the microscopic level by becoming deeply interested in the small things people value, not grand visions

Questions Customers Would Pay Anything to Answer

Every person has questions they would pay anything to have answered - identifying these creates priceless business opportunities

Post-It Note Value Exercise — Contemplate Value Daily for a Month

Put 'What is value?' on a Post-it note on your computer monitor and contemplate it daily for a month to solve business problems

Experts Assume Value Is Obvious — Marketers Know It Must Be Taught

Experts assume people should recognize value automatically, while marketers know customers must be educated to understand value

Wrap Familiar Material Inside New Frameworks

Mix what customers want to know with what they need to know by wrapping necessary information inside compelling, new frameworks

Three Brain Types That Don't Communicate Well With Each Other

Genius level marketing is obvious and intuitive, connecting immediately with customer problems through powerful demonstrations

Names That Promise Results — Treat Naming as a Marketing Act

Use names that promise results, benefits, and solutions - treat naming as marketing that promises a benefit if at all possible

Reference Live Training Prices to Justify Digital Pricing

Reference your live training prices to justify lower digital product pricing - 'If this was live training, I'd charge $2,000+'

Value Is a Process Called Valuing, Not a Fixed Thing

Value is not a thing but a process called 'valuing' - it increases as problems become more urgent and desires become stronger

Rhythmic Name Patterns Create Musical Memorability That Sticks

Names with rhythm patterns create musical memorability that makes them impossible to forget rather than just easy to remember

Professional Sales — Understanding Needs and Moving Prospects to Purchase

Raising prices can actually increase sales volume, not just revenue, because higher prices signal greater value to customers

Perfect Imperfection — Attraction Beyond Media Standards

Perfect imperfection means embracing what makes someone uniquely attractive to you, not what media says should be attractive

Selling Results Instead of Products — The Pricing Leap

Selling results instead of products dramatically increases pricing potential from $20-50 to hundreds or thousands of dollars

Emotionally Charged Trigger Words That Outperform Neutral Language

For weight loss marketing, 'belly fat' or 'fat ass' trigger much stronger emotional responses than the neutral word 'weight'

Design One Specific Magic Bullet Technique

Design one specific magic bullet technique that delivers tangible results and sounds like the customer's idealized solution

How to Mirror Customer Language in Your Marketing

Get prospective customers on live calls and video conferences to drill down into their specific challenges and frustrations

List Every Fear and Frustration You Can Solve

Make a comprehensive list of fears and frustrations you can solve for others as the foundation of business idea generation

Learn Customer Fears and Aspirations Not Feature Wishlists

Learn customers' biggest fears, frustrations, wants and aspirations rather than asking what features they want in products

Discover Opportunities by Asking What Keeps People Awake

Find valuable opportunities by asking people about their fears, frustrations, worries, and what keeps them awake at night

Framing High-Priced Programs as Cost Per Hour

Frame high-priced programs in hourly terms to demonstrate value - $1,997 for 100 hours of training equals $19.97 per hour

Relate-Educate-Translate — The Business Friendship Model

The relate-educate-translate model: first relate to a person one-on-one, which makes them open up and suspend disbelief

Successful Businesses Solve Very Specific Niche Problems

Successful businesses focus on helping people with very specific, niche problems rather than trying to solve everything

Narrow Focus — One Person, One Problem

Focus on one specific type of person and their one primary problem rather than trying to help everyone with everything

Balancing Customer Business and Personal Needs

Successful entrepreneurs must balance three distinct sets of needs: customer needs, business needs, and personal needs

Speak to Specifics — Eleven Pounds Not 'A Lot of Weight

Speak to specifics, not generalities - say 'lose 11 pounds of belly fat in 11 days' instead of 'lose a lot of weight'

Design Products as Packaged Solutions to Customer Pain

Design products as packaged solutions providing results or relief from customer pain, not products for product's sake

Ethical Obligation to Persuade for the Best Solution

If you're offering the best solution for someone, it's your obligation to learn persuasion and get them to choose it

Ask 'What Is Value to My Customer?' Every Single Day

Ask yourself daily 'What is value?' and 'What is value to my customer?' - write it on a post-it note in front of you

Educate Prospects on Their Own Situation First

Educate prospects on their situation by explaining the causes, psychology, and how they got into their current state

Only Pitch Features That Match Expressed Needs

Build a direct bridge between customer needs and your product by only discussing features that meet expressed needs

Name for Results Not Process or Theory

Focus on results in your naming, not process or theory - customers only think about how to get the result they want

Why Experts Fail — Demanding Customers Adopt Their Perspective

Experts fail because they demand customers adopt their perspective instead of entering the customer's reality first

Writing Guarantees from the Insecure Buyer's Perspective

Structure guarantees from the client's perspective who is spending $2,000 and feeling insecure about the investment

Value Is a Process Called Valuing — Not a Static Thing

Value is not a thing but a process called 'valuing' that humans go through predictably when problems become urgent

Pitch What AI Enables, Not That It Uses AI

Companies should focus on what AI enables and the problems it solves rather than simply adding 'AI' to their pitch

Educate Prospects to Highlight Your Unique Advantages

Create educational content that highlights your unique advantages by teaching prospects how to make good decisions

Money Can Only Be Earned by Creating Real Value

Money cannot be made directly - it's only given in exchange for value created for people or groups with real needs

Subtle Messaging Shifts Transform Coaching Value Communication

Small nuances and subtle shifts in messaging can completely transform how you communicate your value as a coach

Mobile Repair Services Win by Bringing Solutions to the Customer

Mobile repair services create massive value by bringing solutions to customers instead of requiring shop visits

Marketers Think in Needs and Niches — Not What They Already Know

Marketers think in needs and niches - starting with customer needs rather than what's in their existing product

Most Successful Info Marketers Are Marketers First Experts Second

If you're trying to talk people into wanting what you're selling or convince people to buy, you've already lost

Packaging Your Offer as a Proven System

Transform your offering from a product or service into a proven system or method that delivers specific results

Customer Needs Drive Product Design, Not Expertise

Base your product entirely on your customer's needs, not your expertise or knowledge you think deserves payment

Customers Want Solutions From Someone Who Thinks Like Them

Customers want solutions that sound like they were created by someone who thinks like them and talks like them

Break Down Time Savings Into Daily Monthly and Yearly Values

Break down time savings into daily, monthly, and yearly dollar values to make the math concrete and compelling

Refer Customers Elsewhere When You're Not the Best Fit

If you don't have the best solution for a customer, you don't close the deal and send them to someone who does

Escape Price Competition by Reframing Around Life Goals

Escape price-based competition by repositioning around the customer's bigger life goals and long-term outcomes

Mental Rapport Requires Understanding Self-Image

Mental rapport requires understanding their self-image, model of the world, and how they want you to see them

Curation Eye Becomes More Valuable as AI Scales Creation

The critical eye for curation and aesthetic fundamentals becomes more important as AI democratizes creation

The Name Is the First Impression — and the Value Signal

The name is the headline, opening line, and introduction - people judge value based on what they hear first

Tell Customers Exactly What to Do With Step-by-Step Instructions

Tell your customer exactly what they need to do in order to buy now with specific step-by-step instructions

Drill Into Primal Fears and Desires to Find Real Gold

Drilling deeper into fears and desires reveals the primal motivators that turn products into something big

Using Product Bundles to Justify Higher Price Points

Creating product bundles with bonus materials can justify higher price points and increase perceived value

Give Customers What They Need to Convince Themselves

Instead of trying to sell and convince people, give customers what they need to convince themselves to buy

Surveys Surface Hidden Customer Motivations Beyond Your Category

Survey responses reveal hidden customer motivations that aren't directly related to your product category

Matching Talent to High-Demand Market Needs

You must connect your natural talents to highly paid needs in the world where there's demand and growth

Design Memorable Experiences During Emotional Windows

Create stories worth telling by designing memorable experiences during emotional windows of opportunity

Value Is a Human Process, Not an Objective Measure

Value is the result of a process of valuing that happens inside human beings, not an objective measure

Simplify Your Offer to Match What the Hungry Crowd Wants

Simplify your offering to match what the hungry crowd wants, not what you want to express artistically

Ask 'What Is Value?' Daily to Discover Money-Making Opportunities

Asking 'What is value?' daily leads to more money-making opportunities than almost any other question

Morning Activities Set the Mental Context for the Day

The most powerful marketing directly addresses the customer's specific problem with undeniable proof

Humans Feel Real Solutions vs. Abstract Conceptual Talk

The 'mistakes of intuition' formula is powerful because it contradicts what people expect to be true

Customers Want the Result Not the Service They Ask For

Focus on what customers actually want (the result) rather than what they say they want (the service)

Business Value Is Created Solving Pain With Urgency

Most value in business is created by solving problems and pain, especially when urgency is involved

Urgent Problems With High Emotional Value Win

Focus on solving urgent problems with high emotional value rather than prevention-based solutions

Getting People to Open Their Wallets Is the Hard Part

Getting someone to open their wallet and give you money is the hardest thing to learn in business

Virtual Technical Support Fixes Total Productivity Blockers

Virtual technical support addresses computer problems that completely stop customer productivity

Move the Free Line — Technology Makes Radical Generosity Possible

Move the free line - give away more value than ever before because technology makes it possible

Style and Taste Become the Primary Skill in an AI Era

Style and taste development becomes the primary skill as AI handles technical visual execution

Use an Emotion Value Scale When Naming Concepts and Products

Use an emotion value scale from 1-100 when evaluating potential names for concepts or products

Entrepreneurs Who Master Sales Presentations Build Lasting Businesses

Successful entrepreneurs view making sales presentations as the foundation of business success

The Most Value Is Created When Urgent Problems Get Solved

The most value is created when problems or pain are solved, especially with urgency involved

What a Business Actually Is by Definition

A business is an entity that offers products and services meeting others' needs successfully

Add Informational Bonuses to Dramatically Increase Perceived Value

Add informational products as bonuses to dramatically increase perceived value at low cost

Customers Buy Benefits, Results, and Relief — Not Products

Customers buy benefits, results, solutions, or relief - not your actual product

Hack-Based Content Exploits the Desire for Shortcuts

Hack-based content appeals to people's desire for shortcuts and quick solutions

Names That Are Impossible to Ignore or Forget

Create names that are impossible to ignore or forget, not cute or catchy names

Give Prospects Everything Required to Make a Confident Decision

Give your prospective customer everything they need to know to make a decision

Raising Prices Can Increase Both Revenue and Sales Volume

Raising prices can actually increase sales volume, not just revenue per unit

Insightful Quotes Explained Create Attention-Grabbing Content

Amplify how-to content with 'quick easy low hassle' words to increase appeal

Seven Elements Every Marketing Piece Must Have

Every effective marketing piece needs seven key elements: a powerful headline that communicates benefits immediately, your conversion story showing your journey and breakthrough, presenting your product as a solution rather than something to sell, marketing bullets that summarize benefits, strategic price framing, risk reversal through guarantees, and clear calls to action that walk prospects through exactly what to do.

Running an Objective Simulator to Understand Customer Psychology

First, put aside your own thinking and biases so you can run an objective simulator in your brain. Then actually imagine what it's like to be your customer - close your eyes, lean back, and ask yourself what they're thinking and experiencing. Don't judge whether their thoughts are right or wrong, just imagine being in their shoes.

Self-Contained Concepts: The Six-Part Module Formula

Create self-contained concepts that are modular and can stand alone. Each piece should solve a specific problem, mention why your solution is uniquely appealing, describe specific results, explain the problem in detail with relatable examples, reveal the insider trick, and provide specific action steps with feedback loops.

Emotional Suspension of Disbelief: The Breakthrough of Being Understood

When customers feel truly understood, they experience what's called 'emotional suspension of disbelief.' Instead of passively listening with arms crossed, they become actively engaged and say 'tell me more' with genuine interest. This creates an immediate breakthrough in connection and opens them up to your message.

SPIN Selling: Four Questions That Create Connection

SPIN stands for Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-payoff. You ask questions about their current situation, what problems they're experiencing, what implications those problems cause, and what would happen if they could solve them. Then read back everything they told you to create powerful connection.

Opt-In Rates as Proof-of-Concept for Market Interest

Focus primarily on helping people solve problems and move away from pain. People are about twice as motivated by fear and moving away from problems than by desire and moving toward goals. Two out of three times, you should be helping people solve a problem rather than just fulfill a desire.

Narrow Down to Dominate a Market Category

Start broad then narrow down systematically. Ask what people get the most value from your service, identify the specific demographic, and determine what makes your approach unique. Create categories specific enough that you can be first rather than trying to compete in crowded markets.

Match Expertise to Client Challenge for Maximum Value

Find the highest value thing you can create for your customer by understanding their internal valuing process. When you match your expertise to their specific challenge in a way that creates maximum value, you create a product that customers want to buy as soon as they hear about it.

Describe the Problem Better Than the Customer Can

Build trust by describing your customer's problem better than they can describe it themselves. Share the emotional details and turmoil that people experience but rarely express openly. When you demonstrate this deep understanding, customers automatically assume you know the solution.

SPIN Selling Four Question Types Explained

SPIN selling uses four types of questions: Situation (current circumstances), Problem (challenges they face), Implication (consequences of those problems), and Need-payoff (benefits of solving them). This systematic approach helps develop customer needs and lets them sell themselves.

Marketing Is Scalable Sales — Most Successful Marketers Started Face-to-Face

Innovation is something that's new, different from what came before, and better from the customer's perspective - meaning customers would rather pay for this new thing. It's not just creating something new for the sake of being new or different because you think it should be.

Show the Spoon — Abstract Claims Fail Without Concrete Examples

Almost none of what you communicate actually gets through because you're using abstract concepts while customers need concrete, specific examples. You must 'show them the spoon' - demonstrate your value through real-world, tangible examples rather than theoretical benefits.

Words Are the Most Powerful Marketing Tools You Have

Words are the bridge between your product and your customer, and between the customer's problem or desire and their conception of the solution. The words you choose will ultimately be the most powerful tools you have when trying to reach people with your marketing message.

Profitable Businesses Solve Urgent Recurring Problems

Profitable businesses solve urgent problems or fulfill strong desires where people experience pain and can't move forward until the problem is solved. They focus on recurring needs, create scalable solutions, and charge based on value created rather than time spent.

Expert Thinking vs Customer Thinking: A Critical Distinction

You're thinking like an expert instead of like a customer. Experts focus on what people really need, but customers buy based on what they think they want. You need to tune into their perceived needs first to build trust, then guide them to what they actually need.

Give Customers What They Want — Slip In What They Need

Sell customers the specific result they're craving (what they want) and then slip in all the information they actually need while delivering that result. This builds trust and relationships by satisfying their immediate desire while providing comprehensive value.

Your Product Is an Obstacle Between Customer and Outcome

Customers don't buy products - they buy benefits, results, and relief from problems. Your product is actually an obstacle they must overcome to get what they really want. Focus on showing them the outcome they'll achieve, not the features of what you're selling.

The Difference Between Processing and Sharing a Story

Processing a story means you're telling it for your own emotional release and attention, without considering the listener's experience. Sharing a story means you've already processed the experience and crafted it specifically to deliver value to your audience.

Translating Customer Pain into Monetary Terms

Alternate currency is translating your customer's emotional pain or desires into monetary terms they can understand. You identify what they would pay to solve their problem, then frame your solution in terms of the money they're losing by not taking action.

Think of Your Product as an Obstacle Customers Must Overcome

Focus on customer needs rather than your expertise. Think of your product as an obstacle customers must overcome to get their desired result, not as the solution itself. This perspective helps you create outcome-focused products instead of knowledge dumps.

Build Product Entirely Around Customer Fears and Frustrations

Base your product entirely on customer needs rather than your expertise. Ask customers about their fears, frustrations, wants, and secret dreams, then align everything - headlines, content, training, and product names - with those specific needs.

Business Friendship Model Relates Human to Human First

It's a meta-framework where you first relate to prospects as one human to another, which makes them open up and suspend disbelief. When people feel understood and related to, they become more receptive to your message and more easily persuaded.

Expert Marketers Start With Customer Problems Not Their Own Knowledge

They think in needs and niches first, starting with customer problems rather than their own expertise. They interview customers to understand their exact words for describing problems, then create products that address those specific needs.

Position Your Solution as Uniquely New — Humans Value What's Current

Position your solution as uniquely appealing and new. Humans automatically value new information and current techniques, often discounting older content even when it's still valuable. Make sure your approach feels different and current.

Products That Instantly Signal the Easiest Path to Results

Create something that makes customers immediately say 'that will be the easiest way to get what I want.' Study Apple products and Steve Jobs' launches to see how intuitive design and clear benefit demonstration creates instant desire.

Experts Expect Recognition — Marketers Lead With WIIFM

Experts start with what they know and expect people to recognize its value automatically. Marketers start with customer needs, educate prospects about value, and understand that customers only care about 'What's In It For Me' (WIIFM).

Survey Audience Frustrations Before Building What You Want to Teach

Use informal surveys and audience feedback during programs. Ask specific questions about their businesses and frustrations. Start with unmet needs and build around them, not what you feel like teaching or what customers should know.

Project Into the Customer's Position — Ask What They Need

Mentally project yourself into the customer's position and ask what they want to know, rather than guessing or assuming you know better. Avoid the mistake of jumping to solve problems without first understanding their actual needs.

Translating Features Into Benefits Customers Actually Want

Customers buy when they can clearly see how your product solves their specific problem. You need to translate features into benefits they find valuable, so they say 'this thing will solve my problem and give me the results I want.'

Genuine Enthusiasm — The Most Overlooked Sales Element

Genuine enthusiasm is the most important and overlooked element. If you're not genuinely excited about what you're selling, it's nearly impossible to get customers excited about paying you. Enthusiasm is contagious and infectious.

Features, Advantages, Benefits: The Three-Layer Distinction

Features are the thing itself, advantages are what it does, and benefits are the results you get. For example, air conditioning is the feature, cooling the air is the advantage, and staying comfortable on hot days is the benefit.

Understanding Needs Raises Success Rate

Understanding your customers' needs through direct interaction and questioning, rather than trying to convince them to want your product. The more time you spend discovering their real needs, the higher your chances of success.

Two Questions to Uncover Customer Problems and Desires

Ask two key questions: 'What's your biggest problem or frustration?' and 'What's your biggest desire or want?' Talk to both industry experts and customers to understand what they want to overcome and what outcomes they desire.

Simulating Customer Emotional State for Pricing Clarity

Ask yourself 'What is the currency of your customers?' Use negative capability to shut down your own processing and simulate their emotional state. Then translate their pain or desire into monetary terms they can understand.

Conservative Estimates Build Trust While Proving ROI

No, use conservative estimates instead. Back off from your biggest promises to build credibility. Show value even in worst-case scenarios. This makes you more trustworthy while still demonstrating clear return on investment.

Connect Information to Emotional Needs to Transform Product Value

Focus on understanding your customers' specific needs rather than just sharing what you know. Value comes from connecting your information to their driving emotional needs, which transforms $20 products into $2000 products.

Show Something Concrete to Eliminate Customer Confusion

Instead of debating abstract qualities or benefits, demonstrate something concrete and real that customers can immediately experience and understand. This eliminates confusion and creates instant agreement about your value.

Three Power Questions for Understanding Customer Value

Use these three powerful questions: 1) What's your biggest fear or frustration when it comes to [topic]? 2) What do you worry about happening when you try to [solve problem]? 3) What would it look like if it was perfect?

How Bonus Bundles Justify Higher Price Points

Bundle your main product with bonus materials and present it as a package. Eben sold his dating book with three bonus ebooks, which justified a higher price point and increased the perceived value of the entire package.

No Junk Food as a Higher-Order Life Decision

WIIFM stands for 'What's In It For Me' - the only channel that customers and prospects are tuned to. People don't care about your brilliant ideas or expertise; they only want to know how it benefits them specifically.

How Urgency, Pain, and Emotion Drive the Valuing Process

Value isn't a thing - it's a process called 'valuing.' Value increases as problems become more urgent, needs grow bigger, and emotional desires or fears intensify. Different personality types value things differently.

Start Niche Discovery With What People Already Seek You For

Start by asking what people already seek you out for. Look at what problems they're already coming to you to solve, what you're known for being good at. Discover needs rather than choosing your preferred audience.

How to Refine Your Niche Over Time

It doesn't mean there are literally no competitors, but that from the customer's perspective, they feel they have limited good choices. If customers perceive tons of options, they're less likely to buy from you.

8–12 Core Techniques Form Your Central Methodology

Offer $97 one-hour consultation sessions where you help solve their specific problem while learning about their needs. Use a satisfaction guarantee and position it as structured coaching rather than research.

Study the Customer's Internal Valuing Process

Study your customer's internal valuing process - how they think about their challenges, what emotions arise, and what feedback loops get created. Ask how they're valuing their current situation and the solution, then drill down to find the highest value thing you can offer them.

Focus on High-Value Creation and Outsource Everything Else

Focus on creating high-value products and services that solve problems and pain, plus the marketing and selling of those offerings. Outsource accounting, administrative work, and other busy work.

How to Focus on Customer Needs Instead of Selling Products

Rather than trying to convince customers to buy what you're selling, find a group with unmet needs, discover what they want that isn't being fulfilled, create that solution, and then offer it.

Urgent Problems and Marketing Generate the Most Value

The most value is created when problems or pain are solved, especially with urgency involved. Additionally, marketing and selling of products creates high value because it generates customers.

Why Cute Names Fail and Power Names Win

Cute or catchy names don't work because people are serious about what they want. Instead, create names that grab attention, promise benefits, trigger powerful feelings, and stick in the mind.

Five Stages Prospects Move Through Before Making a Decision

You can repeat the core benefit your customer wants as much as you want - they never get tired of hearing about what they desire most. It's like hearing your own name - it never gets old.

Write Specific Benefit Statements That Promise Concrete Results

Write specific benefit statements promising concrete results they'll learn when they opt in. Focus on particular outcomes rather than vague promises, like 'the best substitute for sugar that actually tastes sweeter than sugar' rather than general health benefits.

Treat Each Prospect as a Unique Individual

Treat each person as a unique individual who wants to be communicated with as someone special, understanding their specific needs and emotions to help them make buying decisions.

Result-Focused Names Outperform Process-Focused Names Every Time

Names should focus on results, not process or theory. Customers only think about how to get the result they want, so promise a powerful result in your name or subtitle.

Tell Customers Exactly How to Buy — Never Assume They Know

Tell customers exactly what to do with specific step-by-step instructions. Don't assume they know how to buy - spell out every action they need to take.

Find Pain Then Build and Market a Solution

figuring out where someone has pain an urgency or a problem and then coming up with a solution in the form of a product or a service and uh and then marketing and promoting that solution so that you get customers and then giving those customers a lot of value that's what ultimately makes money

High Emotional Need Turns Pain Into a Blank Check

if you find a bunch of bugs in your bedroom you know that's a big pain and urgency you have a high emotional need there okay so when you have the person come over and they say I can get rid of these bugs they you can you can just take out your checkbook right and write a blank check

Every Sizable Market Has Unmet Needs Waiting to Be Found

In any sizable marketplace, I have an irrational belief that there is a large group of people that have a problem, a frustration, pain, a desire, a need, a passion that is not being addressed by all of the companies, products, and options that they are aware of.

Without High-Value Products and Marketing You Capture Only 1-5%

if you're not creating high value products and services and you're not doing the marketing and selling of those products and services you're going to create Maybe 1% or 5% or maybe 10% if you're lucky of the money that you could possibly create

Every Word Matters When Crafting Your Elevator Pitch

when we're creating an elevator pitch, a short statement that communicates everything the prospect needs to know to become interested and to make a decision, hey, I should check this out. This is the time to wordsmith every single word

What Homebuyers Really Want Beyond the Interest Rate

they're not really looking for a low rate that's not really what they want they want something else they're trying to buy a home they're trying to set up their life they're trying to start a family

Frame Price Against Value to Justify What You Charge

What you want to do is you want to set up the value proposition and really frame the price so it's positioned as being much, much more valuable than the price that you're charging for the product.

Inexperienced Marketers Sell Pleasure Instead of Pain Relief

most inexperienced marketers will try to sell benefits that are positive try to sell the pleasure try to sell the the good rather than selling what their product or service will help you avoid

Selling Products Designed Around Customer Needs

It's a lot easier to sell something that was designed with customer needs in mind than it is to sell something that was designed just because it was a good idea or with your needs in mind.

Know Customer Fears First and It Sells Itself

if you instead start out and you get really deep into your customers needs and what their fears and frustrations are... then it sells itself all you have to do is tell them what it is

Thinking Like Your Customer Before You Sell Anything

until you get inside of the mind of your customer until you understand where they're coming from in their own words and you actually get to the point where you can think like them

Niches Are Needs — The Specific Problem, Not the Group

Niches are needs. Your niche isn't the group of people you'd like to sell stuff to or that you hope buy your things. Your niche is the specific need that that group of people has.

Value First Then Let Customers Decide to Pay

I'm going to provide you with way more value than you would expect and after you get all that value then you be the judge you decide whether or not it makes sense to pay for it

Pain and Urgency as the Core of Persuasion

Focus here on pain and urgency. And there's a lot of focus on I've got this obstacle that I've run into, and if I don't solve this thing, I can't go on with my life.

Your Obligation to Communicate the Best Solution

If it's really the best solution for them, then it's actually your obligation to do everything that you can to communicate that to them and get them to choose it.

Put Yourself in the Customer's Shoes

try to think like a customer try to imagine what it's like to be in their shoes try to put yourself back in that place imagine the emotions that they're feeling

Information Is the Only Thing That Has Value Anymore

the only thing that has value anymore is information because information turns raw material and raw resources into products and services and experiences

The Benefit Never Wears Out — Customers Could Hear It Forever

Figure out what your customer wants, and then think of it as a currency. And then translate the value of what you're selling into that currency.

Describe Their Problem Better Than They Can

If you can describe a person's problem better than they can, then they automatically and unconsciously credit you with knowing the answer.

Your Product Is the Obstacle, Not the Miracle Cure

your product isn't the miracle cure that you think it is. The product is almost like an obstacle that the customer has to overcome.

Customer Problems as the Foundation of Business

If you want a high chance of success, start your business to solve your customers' needs and problems better and better and better.

Describing the Problem Better Than They Can

If you can describe another person's problem better than they can, they will automatically assume that you know the solution

Modern Gurus Sell Results Not Information

Modern gurus succeed by offering results and solutions. It's critical that you offer your customer what they want to buy.

Compassion Is One of the Most Profitable Business Skills

In business, the psychological emotional process that we call compassion might be one of the most profitable skills.

Selling Something vs Helping Someone Buy

It's like the difference between selling something and helping someone buy. It's subtle, but very, very important.

Urgent Problem-Solving Is Where Maximum Value Gets Created

The most value is created in business when a problem or pain is solved, especially if there's urgency involved.

Pain Is Twice as Powerful a Motivator as Pleasure

The problem or fear or pain aspect of what you sell is likely twice as important as the pleasure aspect

Buyers Sell Themselves When Describing the Payoff

When they're talking about the payoff, if they get their needs met, they actually are selling you now.

Buyers Want Outcomes and Benefits Not Your Knowledge

people don't want to buy you and your knowledge they want to buy a solution or an outcome or a benefit

Customers Buy the Solution to Their Problem Not Your Product

They're not going to buy what you're selling. They're going to buy the solution to their problem.

Sell Benefits, Results, and Relief — Not the Product Itself

You're not selling a product. You're selling a benefit, a result, a solution or relief.

Bring Yourself Back From Distraction Without Judgment

Marketers think in needs and niches. So marketers start with the need of the customer.

The Ultimate Value Creation Formula: Pain Plus Urgency

The ultimate formula for creating value is look for pain plus urgency.

Value Isn't a Thing — It's a Process Called Valuing

value isn't a thing it's a process and it's a process called valuing

What's Your Biggest Fear or Frustration — The Money Question

What's your biggest fear or frustration? That's the money question.

Customers Are Real Humans with Real Needs

customers are people too they're real humans who have real needs

Quality Too Early Loses the Audience

If I talk to quality number 101, I lose 60% of the audience.

Don't Just Create a Product, Create a Category

Don't just create a product or service, create a category.

Value Is a Subjective, Mostly Emotional Experience

value is a subjective experience that's mainly emotional

Something Magic Happens When a Person Feels Understood

Something magic happens when a person feels understood.

Salespeople Sell Features — Customers Buy Benefits

Salespeople sell features. Customers buy benefits.

Customers Hate to Be Sold but Love to Buy

customers hate to be sold but they love to buy