I've used variations of this strategy to sell courses, software, services, books, and other items. And it's worked every time so far.
You've most likely heard of the $2 billion Wall Street Journal sales letter. It's the one that compares two guys who are nearly identical. They're both better than average students, both personable, both full of ambitious future goals, and they both graduated from the same class.
They meet for their class reunion 25 years later. They both work for the same company, but one is the president and the other is the manager of a small department.
What was the difference? Reading the Wall Street Journal in this case.
The concept is simple: take two people who are similar, give one of them your product, and report on the difference it makes. The one who does not have your product is still having the problem, or is unhappy, or is overweight, or is poor, or is unsuccessful. However, the person who used your product is now free of problems, happy, thin, wealthy, or successful, depending on what your product can do for them.
Here's an example of how to use a variant of this formula. Rather than telling the reader the outcome and then explaining what made the difference, we are taking them on the journey of two people from beginning to end.
"Both Bob and Joe started similar small businesses. Bob recognized that he could save money by doing his own SEO, whereas Joe hired a professional to handle his SEO.
Because Bob didn't know much about SEO, he enrolled in some SEO courses to learn what he needed to know, and then he spent 20 hours a month applying what he learned in class to his business.
Joe didn't want to take classes, and he didn't want to devote 20 hours per month to SEO. He'd rather spend his time working on other aspects of his company or even taking time off.
Bob had spent a couple of thousand dollars and 300 hours on classes and SEO for his website by the end of the first year. Joe also spent roughly the same amount of money hiring an SEO professional, but he never did any SEO.
Bob's efforts were not rewarded in the first year. The SEO rules were perplexing and constantly changing, and he simply didn't have the time to keep up. When he was honest with himself, he realized he didn't care about SEO and dreaded working on it, but he did his best. Despite his efforts, Bob's business grew only slowly.
Joe, on the other hand, saw his company more than double in the first year.
Bob gave up on SEO after the second year because he couldn't seem to make it work. So, like Joe, Bob spent no money on classes and no time on SEO.
Joe, on the other hand, continued to invest in his professional SEO service, and his revenue for the year more than doubled.
Bob closed his business after three years due to a lack of customers and returned to his old job.
What became of Joe? He retired on the beach after selling his business for a healthy seven figure.
You've most likely heard of the $2 billion Wall Street Journal sales letter. It's the one that compares two guys who are nearly identical. They're both better than average students, both personable, both full of ambitious future goals, and they both graduated from the same class.
They meet for their class reunion 25 years later. They both work for the same company, but one is the president and the other is the manager of a small department.
What was the difference? Reading the Wall Street Journal in this case.
The concept is simple: take two people who are similar, give one of them your product, and report on the difference it makes. The one who does not have your product is still having the problem, or is unhappy, or is overweight, or is poor, or is unsuccessful. However, the person who used your product is now free of problems, happy, thin, wealthy, or successful, depending on what your product can do for them.
Here's an example of how to use a variant of this formula. Rather than telling the reader the outcome and then explaining what made the difference, we are taking them on the journey of two people from beginning to end.
"Both Bob and Joe started similar small businesses. Bob recognized that he could save money by doing his own SEO, whereas Joe hired a professional to handle his SEO.
Because Bob didn't know much about SEO, he enrolled in some SEO courses to learn what he needed to know, and then he spent 20 hours a month applying what he learned in class to his business.
Joe didn't want to take classes, and he didn't want to devote 20 hours per month to SEO. He'd rather spend his time working on other aspects of his company or even taking time off.
Bob had spent a couple of thousand dollars and 300 hours on classes and SEO for his website by the end of the first year. Joe also spent roughly the same amount of money hiring an SEO professional, but he never did any SEO.
Bob's efforts were not rewarded in the first year. The SEO rules were perplexing and constantly changing, and he simply didn't have the time to keep up. When he was honest with himself, he realized he didn't care about SEO and dreaded working on it, but he did his best. Despite his efforts, Bob's business grew only slowly.
Joe, on the other hand, saw his company more than double in the first year.
Bob gave up on SEO after the second year because he couldn't seem to make it work. So, like Joe, Bob spent no money on classes and no time on SEO.
Joe, on the other hand, continued to invest in his professional SEO service, and his revenue for the year more than doubled.
Bob closed his business after three years due to a lack of customers and returned to his old job.
What became of Joe? He retired on the beach after selling his business for a healthy seven figure.
