A Great Marketing Trick (Everyone Can Use Right Now)

Here is a (marketing) trick you can use, though, you must be careful with this.

When I say it’s a trick, it’s a trick of psychology more than anything else.

I saw this used the other day, and I’ve (also) used it before. “I can’t tell you that you will __________.”

You can even do, “By law, I can’t promise you that you will __________.”

You can also say things like…

“I can’t tell you that you’ll publish an ebook, and make a million dollars next year.”

“I can’t tell you you’re going to put up five or six mini sites in the next three months, and be able to buy a brand new dream home.”

“By law, I can’t promise you that you’ll make enough to buy a Porsche 911, red Cabrera, in the next 6 months. I can’t promise you that.”

“No reasonable person could promise that to you, because I don’t know if you’re going to work hard, and if you’re going to do everything that I tell you to do. Of course, your results are going to vary.”

“I can’t tell you you’re going to make a million dollars this year and buy your dream home, and go on a cruise at the end of the year to celebrate.”

As soon as I say any of these things, what are the pictures that are created in your mind?

• A million dollars
• Dream home
• Cruise vacation, etc.

This is a way to get people thinking about big benefits / payoffs without making crazy claims or exaggerating.

“I can’t promise you that you’re going to get a brand new red Porsche, as a result of creating mini sites in your own business. No reasonable person would, because I don’t know if you’re going to work, if you’re going to take action. I don’t know your skill level and your motivation, stuff like that.”

You’re maybe thinking, “Nobody does that.” Nobody phrases stuff like that…

Yes, they do.

Here’s a great example from a Video Professor ad on TV.

SIDE NOTE: I’ve made no bones about the fact that I think the guy that does Video Professor is cool in one way, and I don’t agree with one thing that they’re doing. Overall, the owner is one of my direct response heroes, as far as how much direct response advertising he’s doing.

He said, and this is paraphrasing, “Hi. I’m John Scherer, the guy that teaches you all the computer-learning CDs. Now I can’t promise you that I’ll make you the next Internet millionaire selling an attic full of baseball cards. But I can promise that we’ll teach you how to use eBay, and probably put a few dollars in your pocket selling unused stuff out of your garage.”

Do you see what he did there?

“I can’t promise you I’ll make you the next Internet millionaire selling an attic full of baseball cards, but I can promise that we’ll teach you how to use eBay, and probably put a few dollars in your pocket.”

FACT: A reasonable person could probably make a few dollars, if they slapped enough crap from their garage up onto eBay (without any help from Video Professor). But it sounds great when he says it the way he does.

But here’s a thought I had to make this sales message even more powerful…

There’s a statistic that I saw in the newspaper the other day that I thought was interesting. I didn’t save the article, though I should have, but I didn’t make the connection until I was getting ready for this.

The statistic basically said that the average US household has over $2,000 in “stuff,” just lying around that they could sell. They could literally sell and raise about $2,000 from stuff that is lying around their house.

Can you imagine if he had combined those statements in the ad with that statistic, how powerful that would have been? It was a government statistic, “__________ says that, on average, there’s at least $2000 worth of stuff just lying around in everybody’s house. Clear out your stuff, and then maybe you could start a part time business clearing out everybody else’s stuff.”

What they don’t say is, “You’re going to make $2000,” or that “you could make $2000 off of every single person that you know.” Yes, that’s implied, but I wouldn’t have a problem doing that. (Though I’m not an attorney.)

What I’m saying is that this is a neat little (marketing) trick you can use to get people thinking in terms of HUGE benefits while also looking at your product or service offering.

FORMULA: “I can’t tell you that you’re going to do this, this, this, and this, because I don’t know you. I don’t know your motivation level, your skill level, so I can’t promise you that.”

“I can’t promise you you’re going to become a millionaire and buy a brand new house, because I don’t know you. I don’t know your skill level.”

That’s a neat little trick that you can use in your advertising, sales letters, videos and more. Use it carefully and sparingly because it can easily get abused and blow up in your face.

But if there’s something your target audience REALLY wants, this is a way to connect what you’re selling with that desire without making outrageous claims that push people’s “BS Detector” buttons.

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