Hello again my friend,
One of the most popular forms of marketing these days is content marketing.
Prior to the social media era, the primary form of online content marketing were blogs. Today we have more social media sites than I can count, plus things like podcasts and vlogs.
Content marketing is cheap, easy to produce and for a time was a highly effective form of organic outreach.
The combination of cheap and easy lead to an explosion in number of online “experts” who sought to convince you they were the person who could solve your biggest pain or problem.
In yesterdays letter I talked about these scammy guru marketers and explained why that kind of marketing was the wrong way to promote yourself.
I told you that while these “experts” had a surface level understanding of influence they lacked a true understanding of marketing and behavioral science.
Today I want to prove it to you.
Here’s what most people don’t
understand about value
Value is such a subjective term. In the Copywriting Clinic I hold each year I give attendees a list of 100 reasons why people buy and that’s not even a complete list.
What’s funny is that most of the reasons people buy have nothing to do with the intrinsic value of what you do.
Intrinsic value is simply the utility of what you offer.
- The intrinsic value of a house is that it offers protection from the elements.
- The intrinsic value of a car is that it reduces your travel time.
- The intrinsic value of a secretary is that he/she reduces the distractions allowing you to get more focused work done.
But there’s another kind of value. I.S.U. value.
I.S.U. stand for “Intangible, Subjective & Unique” and it can be far more valuable than intrinsic value.
For example, a secretary might also serve as a status symbol when prospective clients come into your office.
When a client walks in they are greeted, offered a coffee or water and asked to sit down. The secretary then calls you, announcing the clients arrival and a short time later leads the client to your conference room.
All of these things raise your perceived value in the mind of your client.
Some people confuse intrinsic value as being “real value” while I.S.U. value as “fake value”. But they are foolish to make this mistake.
Value is completely subjective and contextual. The mind is a funny thing. Context plays a huge role in the pleasure and satisfaction we get from everything.
It’s why wine taste better when poured from a heavier bottle. Or why your car seems to handle better after you’ve had it detailed.
These aren’t tricks we play on our mind, it’s a trick our mind plays on itself.
Both intrinsic and I.S.U. value are important to your customers and clients. But it’s the I.S.U. value that has the most price elasticity.
This is where the internet gurus get it wrong
All the scammy self-promotion you see online comes from people who understand (at a surface level) that more money is made from the intangible than the tangible.
But just because I.S.U. is more valuable than the intrinsic doesn’t mean you can ignore the the intrinsic.
That’s where the 21st century guru misses the mark. They make a big promise in their marketing but fail to deliver when someone finally buys.
It’s the equivalent of opening a luxury restaurant in Beverly Hills, charging a fortune and then serving stale wine and well seasoned dog shit.
You can do a lot to spruce up a turd but eventually someone’s going to take a bite and once they realize they’re eating shit, nothing else will matter.
I find most people are far better at doing their thing (dental work, accounting, coding) than they are promoting what they do.
If you’ve created a superior product, provide superior service and are still being outsold and marginalized by those in your industry with inferior products or services, then I’d like to invite you to a special event I’m holding next week.
It’s called “Mastering the Art of Shameless Self-Promotion” and you can get your ticket here: https://www.stapletonagency.com/promote-shamelessly
There’s nothing I like more than seeing great people with superior products being recognized and rewarded for what they do.
But to do that you have to learn how to promote yourself.
I hope you’ll join me.
Talk soon,
Jason
P.S. I have a very special announcement coming tomorrow regarding the event. It’s an unadvertised bonus I’m making available to all attendees so make sure you read tomorrow’s letter as soon as it’s released. 🙂
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