You might remember how in my previous blog post I bitched about not having a repeatable process that I could use to bring myself closer to my business goals. I was watching re-watching Dane Maxwell’s interview at Mixergy the other day (he’s hittin $450k+ revenues) and he talked about how he’s a serious student of Dan Kennedy. So now I’m making my way through Dan Kennedy’s entire library.

The latest read: “No B.S. Ruthless Management of People and Profits: The Ultimate, No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide to Really Getting Rich”

Kennedy’s words stay rooted in his thesis that marketing/sales must be the master of every business and everything must support it. It’s like Guy Kawasaki’s startup triplet “Sales fixes everything”. But this book’s particularly a manifesto on managing employees and their true role within your organization: Kennedy also argues that the employer-employee relationship is inherently adversarial. He basically says that you need to treat they’re out to rob you blind because let’s face it, under the right circumstances, they are. And how simple it is to rationalize one’s way into those right circumstances…

Kennedy’s “situational ethics” argues there are 3 things necessary for someone to steal:
1, They must have a perceived or real need.
2, They must have the ability to rationalize the acts
3, They must have the belief they can go undetected

Clearly almost everyone has the perceived need for more money, and pretty much anyone has the ability to rationalize pretty much anything (it’s what our brains are made for), so the only thing under your control is whether they can go undetected. From personal experiences employees will steal shamelessly when they believe they won’t get caught so you must count e-v-e-r-y thing that they do and make sure that the person being measured is neither doing the measuring nor has a relationship to the measuree.

You need to explicitly define employee responsibilities through the creation of a “program”, the way things are supposed to be done, and then you need to implement a rewards program to enforce rigid compliance with the program. If employees deviate from the program they are to be fired immediately. You also need clear definition -and prioritization- of their responsibilities. They should be able to be quizzed on them and know off the top of the head what their responsibilities are and how they ought be prioritized.

Compliance with company policies increases sales; so you must ruthlessly monitor; reward compliance, and fire violators immediately. You must have zero tolerance for broken windows, especially in employees. Bonuses should buy something of value; they ought be used as a TOOL, purchasing enthusiastic compliance with your program. Results rewarded by bonus must be within scope of control by people in said group. For example what if you based your web designer’s pay on increases in conversion rate? Next time I buy a redesign you bet your ass I am going to structure that into the negotiated price.

You might argue that compliance and ability to follow directions is the #1 most desirable asset from an employee and to that end he suggests this kind of process for hiring:

Have them call up a number with a prerecorded voice mail. “Do not fax your resume to (xxx) xxx-xxxxx [competitor's fax machine]. Do not email your resume to x@x.com [competitor's email address]. Do not call by phone at (XXX) xxx-xxxx [competitor's phone number]. Instead, please send your two-page letter not by postal mail, DHL or UPS, but by FedEx only, to 123 Main Street, Anytown, Anystate, Zip Code [your nonpostal mailbox service].”

I also believe that school grades are a good proxy for compliance.

A zero tolerance policy for “broken windows” is better than a misguided sense of perfectionism. Kennedy is all about finding the G-E spot for your business, the “good enough spot”. For an emergency dentist the G/E spot might include being reachable 24 hours a day; for a flower business it might be being available on the third ring from 5am to 8pm on the day before Mother’s Day. For yet another business it might be a 5 day response time to communication. Whatever it is, have a clear and definitive “Good Enough” spot for every aspect of the business & ensure rigid compliance within these boundaries. Assemble the G-E spots into a list of specifics that support the overall positioning of the business. Your marketing role is to broadcast your G-Es and turn them into a covenant with your customers. And the manager’s supervisory role is to ENFORCE THE STANDARDS. This is worth reiterating for my sake: you only overdeliver when you exceed expectations; keeping expectations at a G-E level enables overdelivery.

Look, clarity of goals enables depth and strength of energy. You can’t go where you want to unless you know where you want to go. It also empowers you to buy specific results from your employees.

Measure everything important and post it publicly <- plays to people’s pride and competitive instincts
1. Is the stat important?-
2. Is the stat trackable?
3. Will the employee understand the stat?
4. Does the stat measure what you want it to measure?
Your good employees will love it and the bad ones will hate it. PERFECT.

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And it wouldn’t be a Dan Kennedy book without traditional marketing advice. Follow-up with your leads. We’re humans we learn through repetition – keep drilling them with the same information but send it in a variety of different media to keep them amused by novelty.

Dan Kennedy’s “No B.S. Ruthless Management of People and Profits: The Ultimate, No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide to Really Getting Rich” is available for $10.17 on Amazon. Get it here http://www.amazon.com/dp/1599181657/?tag=httpwwwhiph02-20. You can basically get his entire library for less than $100.

Hopefully someone more intelligent and educated than me can help me construct a cohesive framework for these different ideas:

Can I consolidate the many voices in my head into one unique, strong identity?
If you have multiple voices you can make diverse arguments and channel others’ thoughts. But people respect strength/ unity of will and identity …. they listen to it more than reason. What is “reason” but rhetoric anyway?

Can top-down processing be a hint to determine our frame? Is “accurate” top-down-processing a gateway to a realistic robust and happy frame? Is there a way to correct top-down processing?
—> Are shortcuts in top-down processing the new Freudian slip?
Maybe I should have actually done the exercises in Robert Anton Wilson’s Prometheus Rising… anyone want to start a book club and read it with me? I’m serious here. Please email me if you want to try a radical experiment.

“Who am I? What are my values? What is my social identity (= frame)?
Is social identity always relativsitc in space — to other people, to other groups, to one’s own self?
May be.

Dreams as memes. Cognitive dissonance?
Empathy, intuition, and memes.

Great sales letters are an effective tool for creating money. Mm… fresh money, I love dat smell. I’ve seen sales letters all over the ‘net and in Parade magazine since I was 8 years old, but I never realized that there’s an easy and repeatable formula for writing ‘em. Here’s what I learned from Dan Kennedy for only $5.98. Behold, the “Ultimate Sales Letter”: a 27-step guide.

everyone deserves a swimming pool

1. get into the customer
checklist:

1. what keeps them awake at night, indigestion boiling up their esophagus, eyes open, staring at the ceiling?
2. what are they afraid of?
3. what are they angry about? who are they angry at?
4. what are their top three daily frustrations?
5. what trends are occurring and will occur in their businesses or lives?
6. what do they secretly, ardently desire most?
7. is there a built-in bias to the way they make decisions? example: engineers=exceptionally analytical
8. do they have their own language?
9. who else is selling something similar to their product, and how?
10. who else has tried selling them something similar, and how has that effort failed?

can you identify with them?
can you visualize what it’s like to live a day in their life?
what are their priorities?

colier principle: always enter the conversation already occurring in the customers mind

2. get into the offer

write out a total and complete list of product/offer features and benefits, maybe onto index cards, then organize them by order of importance
“people do not buy things for what they are, they buy them for what they do”
figure out the hidden benefit (think insurance recruiters plying golf)

3. create a damaging admission and address flaws openly

put each and every objection, concern, fear, doubt and excuse someone might use to keep from responding onto an index card
by admitting/openly discussing drawbacks to your offer, yr “credibility stock” goes way off the charts

4. get your sales letter delivered

class of delivery: FedEx?
live stamps, ink-jet addressing. handwritten best.
no business name – make it look like a _personal_ letter – has the best chance of getting opened
go through and look at some direct mail letters (emails) YOU opened recently
for email: return path etc.

5. get your sales letter looked at

“picture the person you’ve sent your sales letter to with a stack of mail in his hands, sorting through that stack, standing next to a wastebasket” <– ha, makes me think of pof lift letter — email example = forwarded email from a friend! = small personalized note in addition to main sales letter, intended to boost response fulfill any letter promises or you destroy credibility&shred response rates never be half-pregnant. if you’re gonna do external envelope copy& fancy designs, then go ALL THE WAY!. external envelope copy better from a respected & established sender outside envelope magic words: photo enclosed: do not bend health alert for residents of twin oaks your tickets enclosed: please open immediately refund enclosed happy birthday

6. get your sales letter read

you have 2 sentences to melt resistance, create interest, elevate status from annoying pest to welcome guest
say something of genuine interest and importance to the sender. SAY IT WITH A HEADLINE
headline examples
they didn’t think i could _____, but i did. [something u have thought about doing, but talked yourself out of, you want to know if the successful person shared your doubt or fear or handicap]
who else wants _______? [has strong implication that a lot of other people know something the reader doesn't]
how ____ made me ____. [people love stories and are interested in people. *dramatic differences*]
are you ____? [challenging/provoking/arousing curiosity]
how i _____ [first person story]
how to _____ [insert benefit here]
secrets of ____
thousands now ____ even though they _____
warning: ____
give me ___ and i’ll _____
_____ ways to _____

for immediate purchase: testimonial from happy customer; photograph; prove product is easy-to-use

flag the reader: let them know the mailing is SPECIFICALLY for them

7. price
sell bulk! (a call every day. shipping the books costs $20 alone. etc)
discuss price paid to develop the offer — dress it up with value
make the parts worth more than the whole

sales models to mollify price concerns:

problem-agitation-solution model >> also integrate an us vs. them ego dynamic; “i’m helping you”
forecasting
winners and losers

8. motivate action

I. intimidation
limited availability
most will buy
you will only buy if [you fit into this high status frame]
you can only buy if [qualifying them / making them jump through hoops]
only some can qualify

II. demonstrate ROI – sell money at a discount
you can exaggerate ROI promise and bring down to earth, guaranteeing benefit even if claims are exaggerated

III. ego appeals
- fax machine, golf clubs, etc.
- they want to be part of the elite group on the cuttingedge

IV. strong guarantee
-basic money back guarantee
-refund and keep the premium
-redundancy – “receive a full 100 percent refund of every penny you paid”
-free trial offer
-make the guarantee the primary focus of the offer. e.g. the sales letter that started “income tax savings guaranteed-or your money back! if, in the first three issues of my newsletter, you haven’t found ways to decrease your taxes…”
**or… i will pay you $x if you do not get XYZ benefits from the offer (or donate 2x to charity!)

V. be a storyteller
people love personal stories

9. write the first draft

10. rewrite for strategy
“who’s going to read all that copy?” < the people most likely to respond
WRITE FOR THE BUYER, NOT THE NONBUYER. **REAL** prospects are hungry for information

frustrate the english teachers – use bad grammar. short. bursty
double readership path: use bolding, emotional language to achieve periphery route of persuasion & get them to sit down and be reasoned though using the central route of persuasion
internal repetition. like “tell em what you’re gonna tell em, tell em, tell em what you’ve told em” except even more repetition
convey the sales message:
1. in a straightforward statement
2. in an example
3. in a story, sometimes called a “slice of life”
4. in testimonials
5. in a quote from a customer, expert, or other spokesperson
6. in a numbered summary

move your reader along with a yes sequence/yes ladder
tease the reader at the end of each page–use teaser copy like “the author’s 7 secrets for beating the stock market, revealed on the next page!” <<— teaser blurbs are essentially another headline

11. rewrite for style
improve readability: short, punchy sentences. shorter nonsentences. short paragraphs: 3-4 sentences max.
use the first paragraph as an extended headline.

be entertaining: “no such thing as too much interesting copy!”
(don’t be FUNNY unless it’s REALLY, REALLY funny. you can just use interesting language/prose descriptions, stories…
appeal to the senses
use big impact words and phrases
“serious as cancer
stronger ‘n onions!
savage wind
so overcome with frustration, he leans against the closed door of his office and silently screams
crawl across broken glass on your naked knees to…
so powerful it should be illegal
subhead example: “why you should put on a ski mask, lower yourself from the ceiling on a wire like tom cruise in mission impossible, to steal bill’s blueprint”
^– build up a swipe file of similar phrases

make your letter reflect my personal style

12.answer questions and objections

as attractive as this product/service/offer is, our marketing experts tell us that only about X percent of the people receiving it will respond. although that’s okay with us from a business standpoint, it still bothers me personally. you see, i know how much the owners/users of our product/service/offer benefit from it. i read their letters; i talk to them on the phone; i see them personally when they visit us; and hundreds/thousands/millions each year tell me that “(strong, brief customer quote).” because of this, i just hate the thought of someone not getting our product/service/offer due to some error or omission in our explanation.
that’s why i held a special brainstorming session with a group of our people just to try and figure out why you might say “no” to our free trial offer. after several hours, our group could think of only three possible reasons:.
here they are:

(another good thing to do is include a FAQ with the sales letter)

the answers to most objections/questions should include most, and in most instances, all of these items:
1. a direct answer
2. a verifying testimonial comment, case history, or story
3. a restatement of or reference to the guarantee/free trial offer

13. spark immediate action

1. limited availability
2. premiums

engineer these 4 factors for guaranteed success
*liking/trust in the company
*liking in the product
*belief in the limited availability story
*premium = exciting & desirable
3. deadlines
4. multiple premiums
5. discount for fast response, penalties for slow response
6. ease of responding

14. the creative PS
use the ps to stimulate readership: properly summarize the offer
should serve as a high-impact “second headline”

15. check the checklists

1. did you answer all 10 smart questions about your prospect?
2. how many of the ten were you able to use?
3. which of the ten did you decide to emphasize?
4. are you writing to your reader about what is most important to him/her (not you)?
5. did you build a list of every separate Feature of your product/offer?
6. did you translate the Features to Benefits?
7. did you identify a Hidden Benefit to use?
8. did you identify the disadvantages of your offer and flaws in your product?
9. did you develop “damaging admission copy” about those flaws?
10. did you make a list of reasons not to respond?
11. did you raise and respond to the reasons not to respond?
12. did you give careful thought to getting your letter delivered and/or through gatekeepers to its intended recipient?
13. did you look at, compare, and consider different envelope faces?
14. did you picture your piece in a stack mail held by your recipient, sorting it over the wastebasket? and take care to survive the sort and command attention and pique interest immediately upon being opened?
15. did you craft the best possible headline for your letter?
16. did you craft the best possible subheadlines to place throughout your letter?
17. did you make careful choices about your presentation of price?
18. were you able to sell money at a discount?
19. were you able to incorporate intimidation into your call to action copy?
20. were you able to appeal to the ego of your buyer?
21. did you develop and present a strong guarantee?
22. overall, did you tell an interesting story?
23. did you use an interesting story about yourself?
24. did you write to the right length? not longer than need be due to poor or sloppy editing, but not shorter than necessary to deliver the best possible presentation?
25. did you use double readership path?
26. did you use internal repetition?
27. did you keep the reader moving, with yes-momentum and end-of-page carryovers?
28. did you bust up paragraphs, keep one idea per paragraph, and make the letter easily readable?
29. were you interesting and entertaining? is the letter enjoyable to read?
30. did you use five-senses word pictures?
31. did you choose words carefully, consider options of one word versus another, and create high-impact phrases?
32. did you make your copy personal and conversational?
33. did you go back through your copy and think of the possible questions or objections it might leave unanswered… then find ways to ask them, raise them, and answer them? (leave no unanswered questions!)
34. did you choose and use devices to create urgency and spark immediate action?
35. did you write at least one PS at the end of the letter for a strategic purpose?

16. use graphical enhancement

bolding, borders, captions, cartoons/comics/caricatures/color, columns, drop caps, fonts, highlighting, indenting, italics, justifications (flush left/ragged right), line spacing,
lists, personalization, photographs and illustrations, screen tints, short words & paragraphs, sidebars, simulated hand-drawn doodles, simulated hand-written margin notes, subheadings,
underscoring, whitespace

17. rewrite for passion and *excitement*, edit for clarity

18. compare your draft to examples

19. pretest

read the letter aloud
read the letter to prototypical customers
make sure there are no unanswered questions
if people start asking how they can obtain the service or offer, then you know you’ve got a winner
have a young child read the letter aloud to you

20. bring your letter to life

21. change graphic enhancements

22. edit again

23. snail-mail a copy to yourself
this is huge.

24. cool off and give it a few days

25. get a second opinion, ideally from a knowledgeable direct mail sales expert

26. test

if you’re mailing to 100k people, you can easily split test batches of 10k

27. send it

Uses of the sales letter:

1. to create qualified leads
2. to support telemarketing
3. to create store traffic
4. to introduce new products/services to past clients (Hint: this is precisely the format to use for your email marketing campaigns; think MailChimp/constant contact/etc.)
5. to sell directly via mail order
6. to provide post-order reassurance

buy the book here. it’s good and it’s CHEAP. i’m gonna work my way through the rest of kennedy’s library.