Daniel Levis’ latest ‘Total Package’ article is titled “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Recession?”. [Article]


Daniel Levis’ latest ‘Total Package’ article:

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Recession?

Dear Web Business-Builder,

Staying abreast of what’s happening in the world right now is a double-edged sword for us marketers.

On the one hand, keeping your finger on the pulse of your market is crucial to “operation money-suck.”

On the other, it can become a dangerous diversion that seeps poverty consciousness into your noggin.

You need to choose your perspective wisely …

And that means remaining a dispassionate observer, personally immune to the perverse mental masturbation that captivates the masses, in times like these.

In the foyer of the communal office space where I hatch my evil marketing plots to rule the world, hangs a huge flat screen TV tuned to the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for you foreigners).

It’s all news, all of the time … one economic doomsday scenario after another. There is another TV in the interior of the complex tuned to the same channel. And all day long the banter rages on like a bad horror movie.

On the radio, bubble-heads babble nonstop. In my in-box, Chicken Littles’ galore accost me with their inane yak. Even the water cooler gossip is filled with idiotic blather about the economy.

Is it just me, or has the entire world gone stark raving stupid?

Things have gotten so absurd here in Canada that the opposition parties have staged a democratic coup to try and overthrow the government … accusing the Prime Minister of fiddling on Parliament Hill while the Canadian economy burns. I kid you not.

Of particular interest are those phone-in shows where people call in and voice their opinion about it. The market research is priceless …

The level of passion is palpable. Canadians are incensed that their politicians are jostling for power instead of getting down to work and fixing the economy. I bet it’s the same where you live …

What does this tell you?

It tells you that people are like children.

They actually believe its government’s responsibility to make sure they have jobs to go to, money to spend, and food to eat.

As if they somehow have a right to continue doing whatever it was they’ve been doing for a living … even though that something may no longer be relevant or even marketable.

Why else would they be sitting on their duffs listening to newscasts and talk shows all day long instead of looking for new ways to be of service?

Jay Abraham is right.

People are silently waiting to be led …

They’re looking for a savior to come charging down through the clouds on a magical chariot to tell them what to do.

This is especially true when they’re scared stupid. And that’s why smart marketers, like politicians, tend to thrive in times like these.

Those who have the flexibility to look inward for direction, instead of outward, prosper.

You see, it matters little what the government, or the market, or your employer does. It matters what YOU do. Few people seem to get this, certainly none of the people I’m listening to on these ridiculous talk shows.

The winners are too darn busy making plans … adjusting their sales messages to capitalize on the public’s newfound morbid obsession with the economy … creating new products that come to their rescue … and tweaking their personas to appeal to those who are silently waiting to be led. Just like the political chameleons on Parliament Hill.

Anyone with more than an ounce of red capitalist blood in their veins can do the same.

The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker … all of us can adapt our marketing to stay well ahead of the falling dominoes.

Only those frozen with fear, looking outside of themselves for salvation, need worry, I assure you.

If people are obsessed with thoughts about the recession, tie your marketing to the recession. Echo their dominant emotions back to them in your copy.

And it ain’t just about fear …

Fear underpins a whole range of related emotions that are likely to be swirling through your prospects’ collective psyches, right now, as a result of the recession.

Where there’s fear, anger is usually not far behind.

It’s the flight or fight response. People are angry at their political leaders for not acting quickly enough to shield them from crisis.

The government is a convenient scapegoat for them, someone to blame for their predicament. Capitalize on that.

Worry is another common sentiment right now. It is an obsession with what may happen and is therefore a fantastic tool for motivating people to consume your sales message.

Use it!

But be careful …

Worry is also immobilizing. It’s what glues people to the news and distracts them from taking practical action. You’ve got to snap them out of it once you’ve got their attention.

What else did I learn from doing my market research on the radio this week?

The recession has obviously caused Canadians to doubt many of the assumptions they’ve built their lives around … the power of their government to control and regulate the economy … the relevance and stability of their employment … the free enterprise system … ultimately their very identity and sense of self-worth.

Such doubts are intensely uncomfortable for most people. They create fertile ground for new, perhaps even radically different ideologies, to take root. Ideologies that may be perfectly in line with what you’re selling.

Of course, doubt can’t last long. It’s like a vacuum.

Just about every caller had come to tentatively accept some rationalization or another for what’s happening. Most of them about as fragile as a martini balancing on top of a hockey puck, but nonetheless, best respected, when marketing to such individuals.

The one positive emotion I heard?

HOPE!

Yes, hope springs eternal …

Hope that the government gets its act together and bails out the big three automakers.

Hope that the government starts spending immediately to put Canadians to work fixing roads and building bridges.

Hope that Santa Claus can make his merry way down the chimney this year with a big bag of goodies.

If people are clinging to these kinds of hopes do you think there might be a few you can sell “˜em?

As a curious side note, while dozens of callers lamented financial Armageddon in Canada … one lone voice of sanity pointed out that for every job lost at Chrysler, GM and Ford another was being created at Toyota, Honda and Suzuki.

The talk show host politely told him to shut up.

Until next time, Good Selling!

Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant and direct response copywriter based in Toronto, Canada and publisher of the world famous copywriting anthology, Masters of Copywriting, featuring the selling wisdom of 44 of the “Top Money” marketing minds of all time, including Clayton Makepeace, Dan Kennedy, Joe Sugarman, John Carlton, Joe Vitale, Michel Fortin, Richard Armstrong and dozens more! For a FREE excerpt visit http://www.SellingtoHumanNature.com

He is also one of the leading Web conversion experts operating online today, and originator of the 5R System (TM), a strategic process for engineering enhanced Internet profits. For a free overview of Daniel’s system, click here.

‘Seven Easy Ways to Get Other People to Do Your Work’ – ‘The Total Package’ Week in Review

Attribution Statement: This article was first published in The Total Package. To sign-up to receive your own FREE subscription to The Total Package and claim four FREE money making e-books go to www.makepeacetotalpackage.com.

*IMNewsWatch would like to thank Clayton Makepeace for granting permission to reprint this article.

Sharing is caring