On November 20th, 2021 at exactly 8:43 a.m., money began raining from the sky in Carlsbad, California.
The rear door of an armored truck had come unhinged while en route to the bank. One of the bags of cash fell out and burst open on the I-5 freeway.
Within seconds the wind and cars caused the money to swirl through the air like confetti on New Year’s Eve.
Drivers slammed on their breaks in the middle of the freeway.
People leapt from their cars and began collecting the $20 bills as fast as they could.
Cell phone footage would later show the hysteria of people on the freeway that day.
One woman just kept screaming, “This is the most insane thing I’ve ever seen!”
Folks had lost their dam minds.
The More Intense The Emotion,
The Less Rational We Become
If anyone on the freeway that day had stopped to think for even a second they’d realize just how stupid they were being.
First, stopping a car on the freeway is dangerous. Not just for you but for the other drivers.
The average value of a used car in California is $34,617. Would you risk damaging your car for a few hundred dollars cash?
Not if you’re thinking rationally.
And what if you kill someone? Are you willing to live the rest of your life knowing you caused the death of another person for a fist full of 20’s?
Not if you stop to consider the risks.
In the end, the greedy commuters got what was coming to them.
There is no free lunch. And picking up cash that fell out of an armored car is theft.
By 9:15 police were on the scene and began arresting those pocketing the loot.
They would later make a public announcement informing everyone that they had plenty of cell phone footage from the event. Including faces and license plate numbers.
They demanded the thieves return the stolen cash or face jail time.
I don’t know if they ever followed through on the threat. But I can tell you the reward did not justify the risk.
Pack Your Marketing Full of Emotion
We are all irrational creatures. It doesn’t matter how analytical you think you are, we all make emotional decisions and then justify them rationally.
Take a look a this:
This is the Plutchik Color wheel. It was invented by psychologist Robert Plutchik to explain the 8 types of emotions and their purpose.
The closer to the center you get the more intense the emotion becomes.
Take awareness for example, the emotion furthest from the center would be ‘interest’. But as our awareness becomes more acute we move to ‘anticipation’ or even ‘vigilance’.
The closer we get to experiencing emotion at the center of the wheel the less capable we are of making rational decisions.
Think of the last time you experienced pure terror or rage.
How capable were you of taking a step back and carefully considering your decisions in that moment?
Here’s the part you may not like.
The better job your marketing does of pushing your prospect to the center of that emotional wheel the more you sell.
How To Intensify Emotion in Your Prospects
We all have feelings of joy, fear, sadness and anger.
For your marketing to be effective you have to speak to those emotions and find ways to intensify them.
Here’s how:
- Start by identifying the problem. Let the prospect know that you understand their pain by pointing it out.
- Turn the knife. Now that we have them in a state of discomfort we want to intensify the pain by pointing out all the ways it’s negatively affecting their life.
Show them how it’s not just affecting one area but all the areas of their life. Their health, wealth and relationships. Really stir up the pain in their minds. Make it real and present. - Let them know it’s not their fault. Empathize with them. Tell them they should not have to live with the pain or problem and point out the real culprit. (society, government, bad information, poor upbringing)
- Share your solution. This is where you talk about your product or service. Share exactly how it solves the prospect’s problem.
- Put them in a future state of thinking. Get your prospect excited about how their life will change after buying your product.
Have them imagine a world where their pain is gone and their desires are met. Then tell them how to purchase.
If you follow this process with all your marketing you’ll not only build loyal followers. You’ll also generate more sales.
Here’s my one disclaimer.
This is only ethical if your product actually does what you claim it does.
If it doesn’t then you’re nothing but a fear and greed peddling grifter.
But if your solution works then I believe you have a moral obligation to do everything you can to convince your prospect to do business with you.
Because knowingly allowing someone to live in a state of pain or discomfort because you failed to do everything in your power to promote your remedy is an injustice that cannot be tolerated.
Talk soon,
Jason
If you enjoyed this newsletter there are 2 ways I can help you:
1. If you’re looking to start or grow your solo business I’d recommend my Bootstrapit Program. It walks you step-by-step through the process of identify your unfair advantage, create your product and getting your first sale.
2. If you have a successful business but you’re feeling burned out and frustrated then it’s time to start building the systems into your business that will free you from the day-to-day grind: check out my The Business Growth Accelerator
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