M03.06 Meanswhereby Marketing Part I: Can I Go To Your Place?

It’s incredibly important, and nearly everyone misses it. In Direct Response marketing (aka Social Media) it serves you to be simple. Ask for one thing, and one thing alone. Repeat your ask – many, many, many, many, many, many times. Be like a hungry 8 year old child pitching dad in the car for an ice-cream while he is driving you to the shops. I am learning my lesson. This week, I have been writing copy for the new BCLA website. My job yesterday was to re-write the page about Alexander Technique. Brett imported something from his archive, but it was an explanation that would fit best in a Biology book at school. It was accurate, but it also needed some “personality” and, well, I’ve got personality. So I re-wrote it. Currently 2279 words. At first, I tried to ask two things: "1. Please come to our studio; but if not that; 2. Please sign up for my new email seminar." Too greedy. Here’s the Direct Response marketers holy bible: only ever ask for one thing. And keep asking for it, that one thing. Having only one thing you are asking is like: niching down into all the Places that you can ask a person to go, and picking the Place you want them to go to next. The Art of Simplicity. Simplicity is complicated. I love the line from American writer Mark Twain… “I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Simplicity takes time. Simplicity requires thought, sustained thought – an extended meditation on a single idea – so you can gather insight… I realized, in my “What Is AT?” copy, I had two requests competing with each other. That is not how you write Direct Response marketing. So what Place, I asked my Self, do I want this particular person to go, and the answer is clear: To my email optin box on the same page: I want to know their first name, and their email address. That is all: Name and email. Now that is asking them to invite me to Their Place. I am asking them to open the door into their den. Opening an entrance into one of their most intimate Places – their Email In Box. Who would you let freely roam around your email inbox? Not many people I would wager – it's a private Place. So that’s the Place you first ask to go with them: let's make an intimate, electronic connection. A wire between you and me. Put the wire in place first. That is how you build networks. Networks of people. The key here is that you are now able to take a second step. This is meanswhereby marketing, aka getting people to take Alexander Technique lessons. Tomorrow: What is the Second Step?