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Final Part of  “Changing the Picture in Your Head”   Part 1 and Part 2

For marketing purposes, there are a couple of important things to take from this concept. The first is one is something I’ve said many times before: You are not your market.

Most of us have the tendency to believe that others think in much the same way we do. Ask anyone who’s come up with an idea they’re sure will be a hit – and seen it flop – about that misbegotten notion.

The second thing is the hierarchy of motivations that drive people to make decisions. There are three levels to it.

The first level, and the weakest that can be effective, is a want. While these can be powerful, they’re usually only effective in the absence of a competing pressure from one of the other levels.

The second is a desire. The experience a person feels/hopes will come from a decision. These experiences are what we generally refer to as benefits. These are powerful enough that they will always trump a similarly strong want.

The third, and easily the most powerful level, is what I have previously called an Ultimate Benefit. Something that strengthens and affirms the picture they have of themselves, and helps make the picture real. It represents some important part of the way they view themselves.

This is what creates the ultimate “Gotta have it” response.

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There are really only two practical ways to manage that response. The first is to craft your communications to appeal to a certain self-image. This makes prospecting more difficult, but tends to attract people who will continue to want what you offer.

A classic example of this is the marketing for Randy Cassingham’s “This is True.” http://www.thisistrue.com

Randy appeals to thinkers with a sense of humor and an active interest in the human condition. Because his site talks to those people directly, that’s largely who signs up for his newsletter.

He doesn’t outright say, “Attention: Thinkers with, etc…” His copy talks to that market without such artificial devices. He is that sort of person, so he speaks their language naturally. It would be hard for that kind of person to land at his site and not subscribe.

It would also be silly. “True” is good stuff.

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The other way is to start with an existing audience, and make the effort to understand them. That has both good and bad points to it. The bad side is that you don’t have a consistent “person” to whom you’re speaking. The good side is that it leaves you a broader range of tones for your communications.

The trick is to make sure that every communication speaks to a coherent self-image that represents a significant chunk of your audience.

That gets trickier. For example, only about 20-30% of the folks who get this newsletter are really interested in this kind of discussion. The rest tuned out early and moved on to another email, or are reading it out of habit. Other issues will appeal more to them, and that’s cool. Absolutely nothing will be a
good fit for everyone, every time.

One approach is not better or worse than the other, but they are different.

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If you sell low-cost products, you can do quite well appealing to passing wants, but you’re not going to have a great deal of loyalty from your customers. Appealing to desires, and actually delivering on their fulfilment, will make for a narrower market, but one that will keep coming back as long as you keep delivering.

If you can really get to know your clients, to speak directly to their own views of themselves – that’s the goal. When you understand them and show it, and help them become what they want to become, you are going to achieve maximum value and benefit for everyone involved.

The smart marketers already listen to the people in their markets. The trick is knowing what to listen for.

Now you know what that is: How they really see themselves.

The next time you visit a forum or log onto a social networking site or talk to someone on the phone, keep this in mind. It’s not tricky, really. Just being aware of it is enough.

Today, make an effort to really listen to one person. Just one. See if you don’t notice more of who they really are.

That’s the part of the person that you want to talk to.

They’ll think you’re a wizard. Very few people pay attention to anything that important. Even fewer make an effort to understand them. And they’ll thank you for it.

No, it doesn’t have to be a business setting. That’s just the obvious context, based on what this little rag of mine is about. Understanding how other people see themselves is helpful in dealing with anyone.

It has some interesting side effects, too. Like reducing stress in relationships, cutting down the need for judgement and control, helping others (and yourself) to grow, and generally making people much more pleasant to be around.

Get it right just once, and you’ll be hooked.

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In the Gratuitous Plug department: This sort of “seeing the world through someone else’s eyes” trick is one of the things I get into heavily in “The Idea Spot,” the main manual in the Power Creativity System. Unlike most creativity products, that system is focused on purely practical skills, rather than buzzwords and artificial pretensions.

http://talkbiz.com/r/genius.php?page=16

If you haven’t grabbed a copy yet, you’re in for a surprise.

Enjoy!

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