All Trussed Up While "Engine G" Barrels Down The Tracks

Mel,   I've said before that if what you sell can be boxed up or reduced to 1's and 0's, look out—   Google and Amazon have you in their crosshairs.   Just look at what's happening in the mortgage industry.   A copywriter I know recently took a client in the mortgage niche.   And he can barely believe the carnage they've witnessed over the last 6-7 years.   It started with the '08 real estate meltdown and credit freeze. Thousands of mortgage brokers suddenly found they couldn't write loans and decided to pursue their true calling of driving a truck.   Then came the inevitable regulatory snap-back as the feds piled the red tape higher and deeper... (These days a broker might spend a full week every month just on compliance paperwork and reports.)   Next 80/20 kicked in and cleaned house with a vengeance.   Really more like 90/10...   Of the thousands of mortgage brokers in the U.S., a handful of big companies emerged to gobble up the lion's share of leads—bullies like LowerMyBills, LendingTree and Quicken Loans.   They've sucked all the oxygen out of the room, driving advertising prices into the stratosphere until "FHA Frank" can't hope to compete.   But Frank ain't seen nothin' yet.   Because now Google's noticed that there's money to be made in the mortgage biz, and they're jumping into the lead gen swimming pool...   What do you think will happen to click costs when they get THEIR funnels dialed in?   Your average mortgage broker is reeling from all of this. He has no idea what hit him—only that the hill seems to get steeper every year.   Think your business is safe because you're "local"?   I wouldn't bet on it.   Now with Amazon Home Services, consumers can buy a toilet AND an installation package all at once. (So sorry, Mr. Local Plumber, blow your nose in this cut-rate installation contract...)   You can't split-test your way out of this jam. The boys at the Big G know all your ninja moves, and they have endless traffic to test with.   Your ONLY defense against this ugly "Commoditization of Everything" is a rock-solid USP. Or better yet, a DSP.    The right USP/DSP doesn't just help you survive the battle for customers—it eliminates your competition without firing a shot.   Here's the problem though:   There's a DANGEROUS misunderstanding about what a USP/DSP is and what it isn't...   This mistake is *very* common.   And if you fall victim, you're gonna charge into battle... and watch the bullets punch through that "kevlar body armor" like it's your birthday suit.   This issue is so crucial to your survival that I decided to tackle it in the December issue of the Mastermind Club newsletter.   Should hit the street sometime next week (for members).   If you haven't joined yet, you can click here for immediate access.    Carpe Diem,   Perry Marshall     ***NOTE: This email address isn't monitored! If you need help, please email: support@perrymarshall.com     Free Video We manage our emails with Infusion. This Guide and Video explain my secret marketing sauce. If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below:  Update subscriber options   Perry S. Marshall & Assoc 159 N. Marion Street #295 Oak Park, Illinois 60301 United States (312) 386-7459   Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

Are You Tired of Chasing Clients?

Hi Mel,   Jack Welch, the former Chairman of GE recently said:   “If there is more change happening outside your business, than inside your business, the end is near.”   The world has changed so dramatically in recent times, that virtually everything professional consultants have relied on to acquire high-quality clients, has completely lost its effectiveness.   Most professional consultants are still operating under the old sales “rules” for growing their businesses -- which completely contradict how your clients want to be sold in this day and age.   What used to be “normal” for consultants, like: - Relying on referrals - Chasing after potential clients - Shmoozing at networking opportunities - Trying to be “everywhere” online   ….are now the exact opposite of what Professional Consultants should be doing to grow their businesses to a high-six figure or even 7-figure consulting business.   Ari Galper, The World’s #1 Authority on Trust-Based Selling, has spent over a decade not only building and sustaining his Trusted Authority position as the leader of his industry, but he has carefully crafted a unique trust-based authority formula for professional consultants to do the same in their respective industries.   When you become a Trusted Authority in your market, the chasing game doesn’t exist.   Potential clients come to you, feel privileged to have a conversation with you, and share with you exactly what’s on their mind (the truth), so you don’t have to play any games with them during the buying process.   It’s really quite simple: If you’re still chasing, you’re not a Trusted Authority.   Ari is coming to the US (he’s been living in Sydney for the last 10 years) for a nation-wide tour and is holding his Trusted Authority Summit® February 15, 17, and 19th (in Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta).   Ari’s is one of the sharpest guys I know and I recommend it highly to any consultant looking to make 2016 their best year ever.   And, if you’re one of the first 35 consultants to apply and be accepted, Ari will let you attend this game-changing training for free ($2,500 fee waived).   Begin your Trusted Authority journey by clicking here…   To your success,   Perry Marshall     ***NOTE: This email address isn't monitored! If you need help, please email: support@perrymarshall.com     Free Video We manage our emails with Infusion. This Guide and Video explain my secret marketing sauce. If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below:  Update subscriber options   Perry S. Marshall & Assoc 159 N. Marion Street #295 Oak Park, Illinois 60301 United States (312) 386-7459   Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

When Customers "Get Naked"

Mel,    "You are not your customer."   I remember how difficult it was to wrap my brain around that simple truth as a new marketer.   You have to twist your chair around and think, "OK, I'm not me, I'm them. I'm not the guy with the killer solution, I'm the guy with a stupid unsolvable problem. I'm not at my computer, I'm at theirs. Now I pull up Google and type... What?"   The marketer who can crawl inside his customer's head... Think what she's thinking... Feel what he's feeling...   That marketer wins.   With enough practice, you develop an instinctive feel for this.   Longtime friend and colleague John Paul Mendocha is one of the best. I've watched him hold a room spellbound as he put biz owners in the hotseat and "channeled" their customers.   John can flip a switch, and suddenly he's a single mom and nurse pulling double shifts at the hospital and wondering whether the voicemail on her iPhone is a call from the police telling her to come pick up her son at the station AGAIN...   The ONLY way to hone this instinct is to immerse yourself in your customer's world.   Do what they do.   Read what they read.   And TALK to them.   That's a tough one for a lot of marketers in Planet Perry.   We like to sit in our caves and run our fly-by-wire campaigns where everything fits into neat columns and rows in a spreadsheet.   But hear me on this:   An hour spent talking to your ideal customer over a cup of coffee can save you months of painstaking split testing.   And you know what's even better?   Finding someone who represents your ideal customer—AND thinks like a marketer.   Marketing pros know how to dig deep and find the excruciating pain points and emotional hot buttons that make people take action.   And when they turn that lens inward and examine their own thoughts and feelings as YOUR customer...   Well, look out, cuz the sparks are gonna fly.   That's why I go to such lengths to get marketers and entrepreneurs together... at seminars... with high-end groups like Roundtable and my 4-Man Intensives... and with the Mastermind Club forum.   Case in point:   Recently Jeff, a new Mastermind Club member in the hearing aid business, asked his fellow forum members to help hone his USP.   The forum thread lit up as world-class marketers picked apart his USP and exposed the weak spots he couldn't see.   Then a member named Stew stepped forward and "got naked."   He revealed his own struggle with severe hearing loss for more than 20 years.   And he explained how most hearing aid stores are just that—a store.   They lure you in the door with an enticing offer. Then a clerk (with perfect hearing) runs a couple of quick and dirty tests and slams a box of hearing aids down on the counter.   ZERO empathy.   Good luck, pal, you're on your own.   Stew feels like a lost soul adrift at sea. If only someone would throw him a life preserver, he'd follow them to the ends of the earth.   That kind of insight is PRICELESS.   Yet the generous marketers and biz owners on the Mastermind Club forum share wisdom like this almost every day.   This forum is one of Planet Perry's best kept secrets.   And it's just one of the benefits you'll get when you join Mastermind Club today.   Carpe Diem,   Perry Marshall   P.S. When you join Mastermind Club and make your first post on the forum, you'll also get $100 in "Perry Pesos"—good for any product in the store.     ***NOTE: This email address isn't monitored! If you need help, please email: support@perrymarshall.com     Free Video We manage our emails with Infusion. This Guide and Video explain my secret marketing sauce. If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below:  Update subscriber options   Perry S. Marshall & Assoc 159 N. Marion Street #295 Oak Park, Illinois 60301 United States (312) 386-7459   Having trouble viewing this email? Click here