Change Doesn't Have To S*ck...
Be a better you! Sure does sound good...until you find you can't do it.
In today's edition of Burke's Bits:
Change Is Hard
Copy Tip
Social Selling Tip
From the Research Files
Pun of the Day
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Change For The Better - Is Still Hard, Isn't It?
Maybe this is you...
Set a goal to be a better you...lose weight, get fit, stop eating donuts, drink less coffee...
after 45 days you haven't reached the goal. Now you think you failed.
If so, you're not alone.
So many people set a goal, they’re all gung-ho for a while, then after about 45 days it’s just too much work. So they stop.
Now they think they're a failure.
Why do people fail? Why do you fail?
Why do you insist on using the word “fail?”
I ask because there is no such thing as failure when it comes to improving your life.
Here's something I'd like you to think about:
Failure is defined as “a lack of success” and “loss of ability to function normally.”
These are phrases more commonly associated with projects, historical figures, and body part function.
You're not a body part function.
Honestly, after I learned all of this myself, I now find it difficult to discuss "failure" in terms of human achievement.
When a person fails at something, it's the task they failed to accomplish or master. The task.
I offer this for your consideration: it's healthier to look at each “failure” as a setback rather than a conclusive defeat.
Listen...to win a war a nation must win most of the individual battles.
To win a pool match means that one person won more individual racks than the other.
To win in tennis means that one person won more sets than the their opponent.
The same can be said of someone like you and me. We who want to achieve a specific goal do it with many little achievements.
Since failure involves the inability to complete an event - you didn't fail. You simply didn't achieve that one step.
What happens when you’re stuck on a large staircase of stairs in a building? Do you go flying over the railings or jumping to a lower landing? No, you have to keep going. You press on, take your time, and walk each individual step until you finally finish climbing the staircase.
The same works with goal setting.
Rather than view each setback as a failure, view it as a temporary stop.
Incompletion - a stopping point - is a setback. It's not a failure of the entire mission. Honestly, if you see that it is, then you'll write off the entire goal list as a waste of time just because one particular step wasn’t completed the first time.
How about this: the next time you become discouraged because of a minor setback...remember the analogy of being stuck on a staircase. What you do next is simple: Take one step at a time.
That's all I have right now. I just wanted to give you some perspective just in case you were stuck and feeling like a failure.
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Copy Tip
Understanding your prospect’s motivation and the connection to your business/service is critical for you to write copy that converts.
Dr. Joe Vitale says there are 26 reasons why people buy anything.
1. To make money.
2. To save money.
3. To save time.
4. To avoid effort.
5. To get more comfort.
6. To achieve greater cleanliness.
7. To attain better health.
8. To escape physical pain.
9. To gain praise.
10. To be popular.
11. To attract the opposite sex.
12. To conserve possessions.
13. To increase enjoyment.
14. To gratify curiosity.
15. To protect family.
16. To be in style.
17. To have or hold beautiful possessions.
18. To satisfy appetite.
19. To emulate others.
20. To avoid trouble.
21. To avoid criticism.
22. To be individual.
23. To protect reputation.
24. To take advantage of opportunities.
25. To have safety.
26. To make work easier.
Think to yourself and answer this question:
Why should your prospect buy your product or service?
Your job with copy is to show them why. Appeal to one or more of these motivations. Use vivid imagery to influence their mood.
Lead them gently from one point of interest to another with word pictures so clear, so simple, that they can see/visualize the things you’re offering them.
As is often said about conversions:
Meet them where they are and then gently guide them to where you want them to be.
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Social Selling Tip
Warning! Beware the new training that says to drop a sales message into someone's DM immediately after connecting with them.
Yes, it's happening again. There are a few new "experts" telling people to connect with someone who loosely matches their customer avatar, then immediately drop a sales message into the private message area that talks about their Group or their product.
These people are copy/pasting the same message to every new connection ... I know because I see the same message from different people!
This is nothing new.
Matter of fact...in response to this nonsense back in 2009 I created a workshop titled "Stop Selling! Start Building Relationships! Social Selling for the Modern Professional". It's based on how I landed clients for my online marketing agency. It's how I land clients today for my copywriting services. I gave this workshop in person, presented it via webinars to various professional groups, associations, and sales teams for a couple of large national companies.
I don't offer the workshop anymore, but I'm beginning to think I should! This new batch of people trying to sell immediately after connecting with me on LinkedIn and Facebook sure do need it.
Anyway, if you're doing this...stop. Just stop. It's doing great harm to your reputation because you're alienating people.
If you're getting these messages...be kind. Simply disconnect from that person. You taking the high road will, in the end, only help you and your reputation.
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From the Research Files
aka random bits of info you may or may not be able to use in your life
Bubble Wrap was invented in 1957, but not to be used as a packaging material. Get this - it was to be used as wallpaper! I know, ridiculous, right? Needless to say, it didn’t sell well. Then it was marketed to be used as greenhouse insulation. Not such a great idea, either.
Then in 1959 its creators got the idea that it could be used to protect the IBM 1401 during shipments. That one idea worked out and the rest is history and a lot of fun for many, many people.
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Pun of the Day
No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.
With Gratitude
Charlene Burke
Let's Connect
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
~ Albert Einstein