Welcome to day 7 of the crash course!

 

In this video...

 

...I'm going to reveal the component of your message that has the greatest impact on peoples' willingness to go through your funnel and consume your message.

 

When you get this component right...

 

...you can turn a run-of-the-mill funnel that just gets by into a funnel that breaks sales records and makes your competition obsolete!

 

This component is known in the direct marketing world as the big idea and/or hook.

 

A big idea and/or hook is similar to metaphor...

 

(in the effect it has on peoples' perception of your message)

 

...and often contains metaphor, but can be its own animal too.

 

(important note: some of the most successful big ideas and hooks in direct marketing history (such as the "end of America" big idea used in the investment market to sell newsletter subscriptions and the "one-legged golfer" hook used in the golfing market to sell an instructional program) don't use metaphor. The "end of America" big idea was a popular idea that had been circulating in that market for a while before becoming the massive success it eventually became. The "one-legged golfer" hook is based on an actual person with one leg who learned how to drive golf balls long distances despite his handicap. These are examples of a big idea and a hook that were identified (and then used) rather than created by the advertiser, marketer, and/or salesperson themselves. However, when it comes to creating a big idea and/or hook yourself, metaphor is very often put to use)

 

A big idea and/or hook is utilized at the front-end of your funnel and message and at the beginning of a message sequence...

 

(for a given section of your funnel)

 

...to have the greatest impact on peoples' willingness to go through your funnel and consume your message.

 

A big idea and/or hook achieves this effect by creating substantial interest and curiosity within peoples' minds

 

(causing them to pay greater attention to your message, to be interested in it at a deeper level, and to feel more compelled to consume it in its entirety)

 

Big ideas and hooks come in all shapes and sizes.

 

There isn't one standard for what they look like or one method for how to identify or create them.

 

Also...

 

...there isn't a required amount of them you have to use to be effective across the span of your funnel and message.

 

It varies from one person's advertising, marketing, and selling situation to the next.

 

If this sounds vague and subjective to you...

 

...it's because it largely is.

 

Many aspects of advertising, marketing, and selling are performed using skills you acquire like any other trade or profession you train in.

 

However...

 

...the mindset required to identify or create big ideas and hooks is a creative one.

 

Identifying or creating big ideas and hooks...

 

(along with becoming a master of metaphor in general like what Aristotle recommended thousands of years ago)

 

...is where art meets advertising, marketing, and selling

 

(i.e. where seemingly disparate elements come together to create something new, novel, and interesting whose appeal can transcend its role as an advertising, marketing, and selling device)

 

With that being said...

 

...there are 3 qualities that all great big ideas and hooks have in common.

 

In learning about these 3 qualities...

 

...you'll be able to identify the big ideas and hooks already being used in the marketplace and (with enough time and effort) may even be able to identify or create one or more of your own.

 

The 3 qualities that all great big ideas and hooks have in common are as follows:

 

1) They're informational and/or entertaining in nature...

 

...not "salesy" in nature

 

Informational means the revealing of key information

 

(usually little-known or secret in nature)

 

Entertaining usually means they're based on an interesting story, anecdote, and/or event that took place.

 

Being that they're informational and/or entertaining in nature...

 

...they have intellectual and emotional appeal that's meta to (i.e. beyond) your advertising, marketing, and sales message.

 

People derive value from them before they even get into the thick of your message.

 

2) They're concise

 

Big ideas and hooks are powerful in large part because of their brevity.

 

A concise phrasing of an idea can insert itself into peoples' minds quicker and more effectively than a bloated and bogged-down phrasing of the same idea.

 

Once the big idea or hook inserts itself into people's minds and gets them to start consuming your message in earnest...

 

...you can then unpack the big idea or hook further and elaborate on it some more to communicate the full depth of it.

 

3) They're original, fresh, and timely

 

(in relation to other big ideas and hooks that came before)

 

For a big idea or hook to cut through the enormous (and always increasing) advertising, marketing, and selling noise our prospects are bombarded with on a daily basis...

 

...it must be original, fresh, and timely

 

(or at least be articulated and elaborated on in such a way that sets it apart from the way other advertisers, marketers, and/or salespeople have used it before)

 

You have to compete (and win) at the idea level (and not merely the sales pitch level) like this to sell people on going through your funnel and consuming your message in the first place.

 

That's why having your antennae up for big ideas and hooks to use in your funnel and message...

 

(or a better way to articulate and elaborate on an already-existing big idea or hook)

 

...is one of the most crucial things you can do as an online network marketer

 

(along with knowing how to create your own when you can't identify ones already floating around the marketplace that apply to your advertising, marketing, and selling situation)

 

Now that you know the 3 qualities that all great big ideas and hooks have in common...

 

...I'm going to point out the big ideas and hooks I'm using throughout my funnel and message.

 

I'm going to start by reading one of my ads.

 

(demo starts at XX:XX)

 

P.S.