Let’s Play a Game.
by David Bocock
Okay, think of a song most people would know like: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or Happy Birthday to you, something we all have known since childhood… got it?
Now, find a partner who wouldn’t mind participating in this little experiment for the greater good… your IM success!
Okay, you are going to be a “tapper” and your partner is going to be a “listener” so guys, if you picked a gal for this experiment you may want to get a good buddy or something as women are not always the best “listeners” I AM JOKING!!!! Please no negative email!
Alright. Sit across the table from your partner and start tapping out the rhythm or beat of the song on the table while you silently sing it in your head.
The goal of the game is simple; have the listener guess the name of the song you are tapping out.
At first glance this seems like it is going to be incredibly easy to do. Try it. Sit there at your desk where you are supposed to be getting some work done, and start singing the song in your head and tap out the beat… it is almost too easy to guess, right?
Well , this little game was actually an experiment done by Elizabeth Newton at Stanford in 1990. What makes it interesting to us is that before they played the game, the tappers were asked how often the listeners would get the song right.
The tappers predicted at least a 50% success rate. Turns out it was less than 2.5%! Out of the 120 songs tapped, only 3 were “guessed” correctly!
What you hear so clearly in your own head is anything but clear to your reader… or listener.
Here is the problem. The tappers know what the song is, they have knowledge the listener does not have and it is impossible for the tapper to imagine what it is like to be the listener… this is the “curse of knowledge” I may have mentioned a time or two.
When you have been writing tons of articles you get pretty good at understanding the product you are pitching and often forget that there is a good chance the person you are talking to has absolutely no clue of even the basics that you now take for granted.
Most “gurus” do this in their money making courses… they leave out a lot of basics which frustrates their students and if they are not careful, they even write their sales copy assuming the reader has at least the simplest of basics down, right?
A lot of people have initial success when they first get into a niche they know little about and then sales dry up. They attribute this to beginners luck and can’t duplicate the results and get frustrated and begin to believe article marketing does not work.
The problem is that they actually start writing differently once they have knowledge of the product and the reader no longer understands the intended message, which to the writer is perfectly clear… we have ourselves an imbalance of information that is difficult to overcome.
It is vital that you have a system when writing your articles to make sure the message is concrete, that IT WILL be understood.
When you are sitting there across the table from your loving husband of 20 years tapping out Jingle Bells and he is looking at you with a blank stare on his face, please don’t jump up and call him a big dummy for not being able to get the song… and neither should you blame the reader for all the zeros in your Clickbank account.
Your message is not simple and targeted enough. Remember, we are not trying to win awards for our articles, we are trying to make sales and to do that we have to clearly communicate our message in a way the reader understands.
Now, there are six different templates I use to write my articles and five individual points that must be addressed in each of these articles to ensure I have connected with my reader. I will, of course, eventually share these with you but I just wanted to let you know that there are a lot of reasons your articles may not be effective and that there is something you can do about it.
Okay, before you get upset with me for not including this massive subject in my $29 course I have to say that it would be impossible to include every step of your journey to successful Internet Marketing for that price.
And where would I stop? Product creation, PPC, sales copywriting? So, just understand that we are on a journey here and in fact, I myself am constantly learning new strategies. My sessions with the consumer psychologist have been an incredible eye opener and I will share this with you all… so be patient please.
Anyway, this post is meant to be an eye opener to the possibilities that lie before you… cool?
Don’t Mess With Texas – A Key to Making Money Online
by: David Bocock
I wanted to talk to you today about selling things on the Internet and how important it is to know exactly who your audience is. Once you understand who it is your are talking to, you then need to do everything in your power to connect with them.
In order to paint a clearer picture of this concept and to connect with you, my reader, I will bring up a very famous slogan you may have heard before… “Don’t Mess with Texas” and how this slogan is a key to making money online.
Way back in the mid-80″s or so, Texas had a huge problem on their hands… roadside litter. It was costing the state $25 million a year on cleanup and those numbers were climbing by an astounding 15% per year!
So, they called in the leading expert and researcher on litter, yes, that is an actual job position, to help them figure out how to solve this major problem the state was facing…..
