Because of this, I’m going to abandon my pledge to blog every day, and instead write – as I’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks – only when I feel up to it. My apologies, and I hope I’ll be able to bounce back to a daily regimen sometime soon.

I leave you with this:

http://www.gil-adschwartz.com/Scientific-Advertising.pdf

It’s a copy of Claude Hopkins’ Scientific Advertising, first published in 1923 and still one of the best books available on copywriting and direct response marketing. I highly recommend you give it a read. Or seven.

I hope to be back soon.

I should have known better, really, but I keep falling into the little “thought traps” of idealism. Here’s what happened:

I was talking with someone who’d expressed some interest in my services. These services are expensive – he was thinking about The Phoenix. But he told me that what put him off wasn’t the high price. It was the fact that

He didn’t know exactly what he was going to get.

Meaning:

He didn’t know if the end result included classified ads… and how many… if it included a direct mail campaign with a brochure or without a brochure… if it included copy revisions… and how many… and he told me, straight up:

“I want to control the process. I want to know what I’m getting.”

Patiently, I explained that this was not how I do things. I don’t guarantee to write you a certain number of classified ads. I don’t guarantee a brochure in your direct mail campaign. The reason for this is for your benefit – I don’t want to limit myself. The whole idea of The Phoenix is that you get me on your side, so that I can do whatever I think is right for your specific situation.

He brushed my explanation aside. He said: “I hired some guy to do my website for me. The guy said it would cost $3,000. It ended up costing me $9,000.”

For one complacent moment,

I was stunned.

“What did you just say?” I thought to myself narcissistically. “You dare accuse me, the magnificent Gil-Ad Schwartz, of such petty and sleazy tactics? Do you not understand that I would take on your project with such zest and dedication that you might think my life depended on your success? Do you think I’m going to take my super-expensive fee and then nickel-and-dime you for extras? How can you think that of me?”

I then came to my senses, and told my prospective client that we were probably not a good fit to work together. But the question remained: how could he think that of me? If you take a lot of pride in your work, then I’m sure you can empathize.

Because the fact remains that he did think those things of me… just like other prospective clients of mine…

And just like many prospects of yours who think those things of you.

It’s true that this was an extreme example – probably because it takes a specific kind of business owner to “get” what I can do for them. But it illustrates the point that prospects… mine, yours, anyone’s… they don’t know if you’re honest. They don’t know if you’re not just out to screw them over. They don’t know if you care about the job you do.

Assuming they know what you know is a huge mistake. For some people, it’s automatic to assume that other people have the same world-view as them. I do it all the time. And I have to constantly remind myself:

They don’t know.
They don’t know.
They don’t know.

You want them to see things your way? Only one thing to do:

You have to persuade them.

Because of this, I love Newton’s cradles – I could watch those little balls go clink-clink-clink all day long. Even better, I use Newton’s cradles as a sort of crystal ball. They tell me the future. How?

Like this:

If I walk into a brand-new, just-set-up business and see a Newton’s cradle on the owner’s desk, I can predict with confidence…

That business is going to fail.

It’s not the toy itself that’s the problem.

It’s the attitude behind it. It shows that you’re more interested in the “trappings” of appearing corporate and successful than you do about the boring work stuff. Same goes for anything designed to impress – art, water features, life-size mounts of the business name and logo…

And especially advertising.

If your advertising is clever and creative, then it’s designed to impress rather than sell. It’s basically art. This is fine if you have the money – I’m all for indulging – as long as you don’t kid yourself. It’s not an income-producing investment. It’s art. It’s an indulgence, nothing more.

Here’s my theory:

In our personal life, we might not buy a Newton’s cradle… or a rolling ball sculpture… or spend several thousand dollars to run a clever picture-joke in the paper.

When we start a new business, on the other, suddenly these things aren’t mere expenses.

They’re “budgeted for.”

And that gives our inner child a sense of legitimacy to go out and spend that money. That the crux of the “Newton’s cradle” error – a false sense of legitimacy.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling you what you should and shouldn’t spend money on. We should all be allowed to do whatever we like. It’s our money, after all. All I’m asking is that we’re honest with ourselves. Is it an expense that will help grow our business?

Or is it a mere indulgence?

Only once we’ve answered that question can we make a truly informed decision.

McDonald’s wants a new banner to promote the double cheeseburger on its dollar menu. So the company instructs the ad agency of the day to come up with something special.

The bright sparks in the copywriting department are only too happy to oblige:

In what I can only imagine to be a misguided effort to “get down with the kids,” the agency runs with the slogan…

I’d hit it.

Meaning: “I’d agree to have (meaningless and respect-absent) sex with it.”

As you might expect, the American public is not at all thrilled. McDonald’s quickly pulls the ads. Where did it all go wrong? Turns out the copywriters thought the phrase meant an expression of general endorsement – which is close, but not close enough.

I think we all have something to learn here:

If you’re going to try to emulate the slang of your market…

Get it right.

Or at least double-check yourself.

To avoid marketing blunders that are almost (but not quite) as embarrassing, look no further than my book, Madvertising: http://www.madvertising-book.com/get.htm

Like the fact that we all say “duck-billed platypus”… as if there were some other type of platypus it could be. Kind of like saying “European Germany.” What other kind is there?

Anyway:

We’re talking about the Von Restorff effect and how to use it to stand out it your prospects’ minds. One way to do this is childishly simple:

Have a real personality.

You see, most businesses speak in one of two voices:

1)      The “corporate-super-serious-super-formal” voice,

or

2)      The “cute-and-clever-look-at-us-we’re-so-cool” voice.

How about, instead, just talking like a normal person? The way you’d talk to your friends? If you do this, not only do you sound warm and approachable, but you set yourself apart from the competition at the same time.

Sound good? Thought so.

If you need some help undoing your old ways, you can find 3 specific techniques for making your writing sound more “real person-y” on page 234 of Madvertising, which you can pick up right here: http://www.madvertising-book.com/get.htm

• Jump
• Cut
• Run
• Fly
• Duck-billed platypus
• Read
• Build
• Lay

Now look away. Which entries do you remember?

If you’re like most people, there’s one you’ll definitely remember. For a couple of reasons:

• It’s a noun – and not just any noun, but an unusual animal you don’t think about every day.
• It’s longer than the other entries.
• It’s marked out in red and italics.

This is the Von Restorff effect, first observed by Hedwig Von Restorff in 1933. And it suggests that not only do we notice things that appear “out of place”, but we also remember them for longer. Even better: the extra attention grabbed by the unusual item means you remember fewer of the other list entries.

In other words:

The Von Restorff effect causes you
to remember one item better
and forget about the other items.

(Duck-billed platypus example by Dave Straker, author of Changing Minds.)

Can you think of the applications?

Look at this list:

• John the plumber
• Al the plumber
• Jones & Son, plumbers
• Mike the meticulous plumber
• Fred’s plumbing and installation
• Andersen plumbing and installation

Does one of them stand out from the others? You bet it does. If you disagree, try this experiment: set a timer for an hour. Then try to see how many of the names you can recall. I’ll bet anything you like that Mike the meticulous plumber’s going to be on your list.

For more ways to stick out like a duck-billed platypus, read my mini-tutorials at http://madvertising-book.com/resources.htm

I love Harry Potter. And one of my favorite characters is Alastor Moody, the grizzled and paranoid Auror. (In the Harry Potter world, an Auror is like a terrorist-hunting Federal Marshal.) Anyway:

It just so happens that Moody’s “catchphrase” piece of advice helps cure the biggest… most widespread… and most lethal mistake in all of advertising. I’m talking about a mistake that’s the root cause of almost all bad marketing. Here’s what it is:

Massively overestimating
how much your prospects
care about you.

This is lethal. As soon as you think they care about you more than they actually do, you stop working so hard to keep their attention. Result? They lose interest.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past few weeks, and I think that most (if not all) advertising mistakes can be traced back to this one root cause. Here’s the problem: it’s so easy to fall into the trap. We’re so accustomed to seeing things from our own point of view; it’s only natural that we commit this blunder now and again. I’ve done it myself more times than I can count – often with my most important ads. So what’s the cure?

This brings me back to Alastor Moody. When he’s teaching Harry Defense Against the Dark Arts, he tells the class the key to survival:

“Constant vigilance!”

And he repeats it over and over.

The same advice holds when you’re writing ads. You must constantly remind yourself not to overestimate how much your audience cares about you. You must keep it at the front of your mind at all times. It’s the only way to keep on the right track.

For more magical marketing advice, check out my book: http://madvertising-book.com.

1. More businesses will fail everywhere.

Yup. Sorry. But as the economy shows little sign of recovering, competition is going to get tougher and tougher. And, the way I see things, that means that more businesses are going to go under. We’re going to see a lot of casualties across the board – from big corporations to small “Mom and Pop” operations.

2. Businesses are going to put their focus where it counts.

Money. Profit. Sales. If you’re going to survive, then you need to give these things the attention they deserve. I think we’re going to see a lot of businesses drop all the fancy fluffy stuff – like “brand strategy” and “relationship marketing” – and start to focus on the simple-but-crucial questions: how can I bring in more new business?

3. Quality of product will become paramount.

I think the days of getting away with sub-standard performance are coming to an end. In the next year, businesses with low value (quality/price) ratios are going to struggle… and businesses with high value ratios are going to thrive.

That’s what I’m thinking the next year will bring to the world of business. In a Wild West kind of way, I’m looking forward to it.

Made any resolutions? Haven’t we all. How do you normally do with yours? Mine last about 10 days… and most of my friends’ don’t last much longer than that. The reason is quite simple:

Our behavior is made up of programs – “habits” – that are set to run over and over. Making a conscious decision does nothing to change these habits. And when it comes to a battle between willpower and subconscious programming, the subconscious wins every time. That’s why change is so difficult.

Unless… you tip the scales in your favor.

That’s what this blog post is all about. I’m going to show how to apply the right kind of psychological pressure to spur you towards your goals, even despite the hold of your old habits.

But first, here’s my list of resolutions for my business for 2012:

1. I will blog every day. Yes, every day. Just like I intended originally.
2. I’ll develop a more flexible range of consulting options.
3. I’ll finally finish and release the new version of The Black Flag.

Here’s why I’m so confident I’ll keep them this year:

Amway. The network marking company.

You know how Amway motivate their salespeople? They tell them, in their training manual…

“Set a goal and write it down… there is something magical about writing things down…”

And they’re right – there is something magical about writing down goals that makes you more likely to meet them. It’s called “Commitment and Consistency”, a law of persuasion psychology which goes like this:

When you take a stand on something,
you feel a huge amount of psychological pressure
to stay consistent with that stand.

While spoken or thought-of resolutions are kind of “up in the air”, written goals are concrete. They’re there, staring you in the face. You’ve written something down = you’ve taken a stand. Now the pressure begins to build for you to stay consistent with your stated position.

You can take the law of Commitment and Consistency even further. After you write down your goals, make them public. E-mail copies to your friends, post them up in your office or on Facebook… do whatever you can to tell as many people as possible. Once you do this, you’ll find the pressure to keep your goal grows exponentially. That’s because you’re now under the scrutiny of others, and the fear of “losing face” kicks in and propels you forwards.

The key to successful New Year’s Resolutions:
Public commitments.

That’s why I’ve put my own resolutions up for the world to see. They’re in print… in public… and the psychological pressure I’ve created is more than enough to counter my old, lazy habits.

Try it yourself and see. I wish you all the best in 2012.

I advise. I train. I share information. And if you end up more motivated as a side benefit, so much the better. But it’s strictly secondary. Frankly, whenever a so-called “business expert” of any flavor starts focusing on motivating and inspiring, that’s usually a clear warning sign. In my experience, if you peel back the feel-good platitudes, you find very little substance there.

That’s why I stay clear of the “you can achieve your goals” messages and try to stick to the practical advice. But sometimes – like today – the line blurs between the two. So take it in the spirit in which it’s offered: real, practical advice.

Here we go:

Imagine you’re a Looney Tunes character.

You know Looney Tunes, right? Bugs Bunny, the Tasmanian Devil, Wile E. Coyote, and the rest of them? Pretend you live in that animated world, where the special rules of physics apply.

Specifically, I’m talking about the classic segment where one of the characters runs off a cliff. He keeps running in a straight line until he realizes that something’s wrong. And then he stops, looks down, waves to the camera…

…and plummets to the bottom of the canyon.

If he’d have just kept on going, ignoring the fact that he’s running on empty air, he would have made it to other side.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

So often, we face seemingly impossible challenges. Ad campaigns that fail. Getting the first few customers when you’re just starting out. Bigger, badder competitors setting up shop next door.

When one of these obstacles rears its ugly head, my advice to you is this: take the Looney approach.

Keep running forwards, with your eyes straight ahead.

Cheesy? Sure is. But think about this:

You’re going to have to cross the canyon one way or another. If you stop halfway through and look down, it might just kill you.

For more “animated” marketing advice, check out my website: http://gil-adschwartz.com.