Hope Sells More than Fear
Hello there. Tim here.
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1. Hope Sells More than Fear
There is a common misconception in marketing that leveraging fear will help you sell more of your products or services.
Of course, there are marketing tactics such as urgency, scarcity, FOMO, and social proof that can pull on the psychology of a buyer. There's nothing inherently wrong with using these tactics to make your products or services more compelling.
What I'm referring to are the fear mongering tactics that are designed to make people feel inadequate, less then, angry, anxious, and tribalized.
Today, I'm making the argument that fear is the weak man's sales tactic, and that hope made far more millionaires than fear ever will.
Fear is Compulsive
If you're selling based on fear, your only option is to sell a one time product to a one time buyer. Fear doesn't bring people back for more and fear doesn't create loyalty. Fear creates compulsion.
People don't make long term decisions when in a state of fear, rather they make short term decisions based on nullifying a perceived threat.
Because of this, a fearful customer is a fleeting customer. Here today and gone tomorrow.
Hope is about the Future
Hope gives people an ideal to strive towards. When you sell on hope, what you are doing is projecting a better version of the future or a better version of your customers future self.
Regardless of what the media is telling you, people are interested in a better world. The majority of people are perfectly willing to make investments in products or services that will create a better life for themselves, their communities, and their families.
As such, when people buy with hope, they are much more willing to be repeat customers because it's in their best interest to continue buying something that improves their lives.
Hope is Consistent
A business model generated on hope can follow the same model for decades. Why do you think the American real estate market has been the largest industry in the world for the better part of 100 years?
It's because home ownership is the American dream. People travel from all over the world to buy a home in America. They will continue to do so for generations.
A business built on good intentions, long term value, and optimism for the future requires less change, less pivoting, less adjustments and generates more consistent cash flow.
In contrast, business models based on fear will never be consistent, because there is always something new to be afraid of.
Fear can make you a quick buck. Hope can make you wealthy. Choose hope.
2. Building an Affiliate Site and Knowing When to Hire for New Roles
In this episode, Ethan and I discuss an out of the box strategy I am thinking of using to increase sales for one of my products.
It was a fun chat, because the truth is I have absolutely no idea if this is going to work or not ... but I think it's worth a shot.
Click here to listen to the full episode.
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4. I've Been Using This Sales Tactic and It's Been Working Great
One of the biggest mistakes I've made in my sales process is being too willing to negotiate on price.
Over the last year, and especially over the last month, I've been using a much different approach. Instead of being willing to come down on price, I'm adding in more bonuses and services.
What's great about this is that if I am able to sign a deal without having to add on additional services, I can surprise the client with the bonuses in the onboarding, which will further cement the deal and make my prospect feel good about his or her decision to sign the contract.
It's been very effective for me.
Click here to watch the full video.
5. Final Thought - "Small Steps Forward."
One of my goals for this year has been to change my perspective on work.
I'm the type of person who likes to grind it out. I've always had a strong tolerance for pain and my default is to put my nose to the grindstone and not come up for air until I get the job done.
There's a time and a place for hard work, but this year I am trying something different.
Instead of trying to accomplish huge milestones, I am working purposefully to break down my projects into tasks.
After the projects are broken down into tasks, I assign the tasks out to my team (or to myself) depending on who is more suited for the assignment.
It's so simple.
Every Monday, I take an hour or so to organize all the big and small tasks that need to be accomplished for the week.
Then, every morning, I open up todoist, and assign each task to the appropriate person. I take my time to write detailed instructions on what needs to be done, and often times I even record a loom video with addition guidance so there is no confusion. Then I create a due date on the tasks, hit assign, and I'm done.
I've noticed two major benefits.
First, I am able to separate myself from my work a little better, because after the assignments are handed out, there's nothing left for me to do. I will always use the time to create content or makes sales calls, but in terms of the work that needs to be done on a day to day basis, I've basically removed myself from that equation.
Second, it keeps me from getting overwhelmed. In fact, it's been very exciting for me because as the assignments are completed, I get the notifications and I can FEEL the progress being made.
I'm not writing this to tell you about a new system I created or about how to speed up your results to get rich.
I'm simply relaying to you a painful lesson I've learned.
The lesson is this: You have plenty of time. You can go slow. You can take your time and methodically cruise through the process.
Anxiety and angst will not make your work more effective. I'm learning that for myself.
I hope this lesson helps you as much as it's helped me.
Love you guys. Talk to you next week.
Tim