Increase Sales – Kevin Rogers
SUMMARY
However, most entrepreneurs encounter difficulties getting their message across. Sometimes, their messages even create confusion.
Kevin Rogers, one of the most in demand sales consultants and copywriters gives tips on how to be clear with your message and get people to respond back to you all so you can increase sales, make more money, and do it with increased ease.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Our definition of success is based on what we’ve seen in our culture, media, and people we’ve looked up into.
Giving your message
- The first thing to do is to get clear.
- Write the long version then get it down to the short version.
- USP – Unique Selling Proposition
Go teach what you know works.
- What’s work for you, what’s made the difference, what helped other people that you’ve been up to and to share this with.
It’s not about how much response you get, but the kind of response.
It takes passion and inspiration to reach escape velocity as a business owner, product creator. So get clarity on what that was.
Clarity in a succinct messaging lets you win more attention from the people
Using a framework called the Rebel Yell
By the questions you ask other people, you can let them know that you’re an expert without ever laying out your credentials
I think the invisible way to judge the effectiveness of an email is personal replies.
Have a message that will create a resonance with the people
A great way to create content and increase sales is put yourself in a position to answer the questions your audience has
Don’t think of creating content just as some marketing tool.
Give your best stuff away because you’ll have this name currency.
To be an expert means that you know 10% more than the person asking the questions
TRANSCRIPTION: INCREASE SALES – KEVIN ROGERS
Luis Congdon
Hey there, Thriving Launchers.
Today, we’re going to teach you how to create that 60-second sales hook so people are motivated, compelled, and desire what you have in 60 seconds or less.
Today’s guest is Kevin Rogers. He’s a famed and respected copywriter who has worked with some of the greats like Jay Abraham, John Carlton, and many others.
Today, he joins us to talk about copywriting secrets to create your 60 seconds sales hook to help you increase sales, and motivate and compel other people.
Kamala Chambers
Let’s just dive in. I would love to hear what is the first thing that people need to do with getting their messaging across and how that can increase sales?
Have A Linear Message Around What You Have To Offer To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
The first thing to do to increase sales is to get clear. It seems like a simple thing to say but it’s something we all skip right past.
When we have an idea, first instinct we have is to share that idea. Then, it quickly becomes everyone else’s idea because they’re weighing in on it, giving us input, and adding to it in some ways that’s beautiful. I think it takes a village to create something special but it’s very easy to lose the essence of it along the way and the real foundation of what it is.
So when we go to describe it to other people or invite other people to come experience it, suddenly, we’re starting to talk about one thing but then interjecting another thing and then we’re quoting someone who is kind of a testimonial. There’s just not like a real linear message there.
Increase Sales By Achieving Total Clarity And Succinct Messaging Around Your Offer
Kevin Rogers
And so I think the very first thing somebody can do that’s going serve them forever when trying to increase sales is to just go away, sit down with a notebook, pen and paper, get away from all the distractions and say;
“What is this thing? Who am I? Why should people want this from me instead of anyone else?”
Just write that out. Write the long version, then get it down to the short version. Then down to what we call the USP, the Unique Selling Proposition. Once you’ve done that and achieved total clarity and succinct messaging around your offer, everything begins to open up and you can easily increase sales.
Increase Sales By Avoiding Confusion
Kevin Rogers
After that, you can stack on all the cool persuasion tactics and other stuff you hear about when it comes to copywriting and on how to increase sales. But without clarity you’re just creating more confusion.
Luis Congdon
It’s interesting because you’re making me think of a tip I got recently that has helped me increase sales.
For you Kevin and for some of our listeners that are new, I’ve been online for under a year and I’m doing amazing. I’m having a blast but I’m learning. I’m growing and hopefully I’ll say that for the rest of my life with everything I’m doing.
Set Yourself Up As An Authority To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
He said to me, “Luis, don’t focus on your funnels and all these fancy testimonials and stuff. Start giving us content so you can set yourself up as an authority.” That helped me.
As soon as I took his advice, I started getting a lot of messages from people saying “Wow! That was incredible content. I’d love to hire you to go deeper with that.”
He just said, “What are you delivering, Luis?” and set some authority posts and blog posts around that and don’t worry about the rest of the stuff right now because you can get lost easily in that process.
Put Out Your Offer When It’s Nearly Done To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
Just to add another tip or another piece to what you’re saying is, the author Tolstoy, said he didn’t show any of his novels to people until he felt like he was nearly done and he was ready for other people to comment. He wanted to feel solid in a sense of like “I’m pretty darn close to being done.”
Otherwise, he felt like he would write something he’d start sharing an idea and people would say, “Well, why don’t you change the character to this or that?” The next thing he knows he’s sitting down and it’s no longer his character.
I mean as a good writer will say is a character develop themselves. They come to life. And your writing and with your process should have that same feeling but if you have too many voices, then you’ve got too many cooks in the kitchen and you have no idea what you’re making anymore.
Teach Others What’s Worked For You To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
That’s beautiful man. It’s dead on with what I’ve been teaching, preaching, and pondering lately about how to increase sales online. You said the keyword there, Luis, which is teach.
Increase Sales By Having Quality Content
Kevin Rogers
When you do that instead of thinking about what you assume people want to hear to get excited and you just simply teach them, that’s exactly the reaction you start to get. It’s people coming to you. Really, that’s how you should judge your content. What kind of response is it? Not how much response.
It’s great to be Marie Forleo and get a 150 every episode but it’s not just the number of comments she gets. Look at the things people are saying to her.
Ramit and Derek, who I’ve looked to as true teachers, they never compromised an opportunity to teach a lesson in a way that’s going to stick and be inspiring.
Here’s the thing. You just said it.
If you don’t have something to teach, what do you have? What is this all about?
Increase Sales By Having Clarity About What You’re Teaching
Kevin Rogers
If you don’t have clarity about what you’re teaching as the foundation to build everything else off of, it’s like building a house on a quicksand. You could probably work fast and get it up but it’s going to sink by sun down and you’ll have nothing.
And so, I love what you said. I couldn’t agree more.
Kamala Chambers
Now, what are these big pieces on how to increase sales online I see a lot of people getting stuck with their online businesses?
They sit down and say, “I want to get my message out there to people.” They’re often too broad and too vague. Or they spend a lot of time trying to figure out their marketing and looking at every single piece like “Okay, I want to reach people who are 30 to 35 for women and single moms and looking for love.”
Be Specific And Clear Who Your Market Is To Increase Sales
Kamala Chambers
I think it leads people away from their real message of who they are and what they have to offer.
So I’d love to hear from you, what is the importance of clarifying your message?
Kevin Rogers
It’s great. You brought up a great point. we think about customer avatars. You hear that all the time.
The bad version is this demographic; What are the numbers? Whom I going after here? You always hear that. That’s how they say. “I’m going after women 35-50” I go, “Why? Are you going after them to hurt them?”
Luis Congdon
I am an assassin.
“Who Are You Serving?” Instead Of “Who Are You Going After” To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
Yeah. It sounds like violent proposition. Right? How about “Who are you attracting?” in a more woo woo sense? or “Who are you serving?”
Luis Congdon
Kevin, I’m glad that earlier, you didn’t ask me who my target is. Who is your target?
Kevin Rogers
Yeah, target! Right.
Luis Congdon
I got a bullseye locked in on women.
Kevin Rogers
Yeah! Target them and then I’m going to set out some trip wires so I can blow them up. Yeah.
Luis Congdon
Oh, man! That just sounds bad.
Use Welcome Mats Instead Of Tripwires To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
It’s all terrible, right? My friend, Ryan Lee and I renamed trip wires to welcome mats.
Luis Congdon
I like that.
Kevin Rogers
It’s so much better way to think about it, right?
Kamala Chambers
Why clarify your message? Does that increase sales? We all know it’s important but I just want to hear it from you.
Kevin Rogers
Yeah.
Luis Congdon
And you were clarifying for people to why we can easily get lost.
Kevin Rogers
Clarify why clarity is important.
Luis Congdon
Yeah. And get lost in this whole sales thing and creating an avatar and the sense of confusion we can create within ourselves. For me this whole avatar thing has helped some, it’s been like a guidance system to help me increase sales.
Kevin Rogers
Right. That’s what it is.
Know Why You Care To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
Why do we care first? Get yourself to buy in.
Again, if we’re talking to small business owners and info product creators then, then all that’s born out of passion or some interest because that’s a choice.
We think it’s great to work for ourselves but any small business owner will tell you like they’ll go have a drink with their friend who’s got a good job and they’re sitting they’re probably going “Man, you got it made.” You got to walk out of that joint. It’s 6pm and not think about it until the next morning at 8, you know?
Luis Congdon
Right. They say something and you’re like “Hold on, a client just messaged me. I got to respond real quick.”
Kevin Rogers
Yeah! “I have to go panic for a second. I’ll be right back.”
Be Passion About What You’re Doing To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
There’s a bigger reason behind why we’re doing this rather than just money or it seems like better than having a job. It takes passion and inspiration to reach escape velocity as a business owner or product creator. So get clarity on what that was.
And again, along the way we get caught up on all the shiny objects and all the things we’re supposed to be doing but if you just write down; What is this? Who am I and why should anybody listen to me? That’s just standard.
How To Get Attention And Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
If you’re at a conference of your peers and somebody hands you the microphone and says “Luis, who are you and why should anybody listen to you?” Just that question alone, you gotta be ready to answer that question in a personal dynamic way
If they say “Okay, so what is it you sell?” or “What is it you offer” or “What have you created here?” We’re talking a sentence or two sentences max. You got to be able to lay that out and have people go “Uh! Cool!” That’s all that takes to get somebody to buy and increase your sales online or offline.
First, we’re buying attention and then, we’re buying more attention.
Win More Attention To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
Everybody is distracted. We’ve literally seen that attention spans are shorter than goldfish now. So you have to buy attention in tiny increments and just stack that up and build on that. Once you’ve done that, you can win what I call ‘fandom’ and have people look forward to hearing from you, getting your emails, reading them because you’ve consistently delivered on your big promise of providing value.
But it starts with clarity in a succinct messaging that people allow you to win more of their attention.
Luis Congdon
It’s relevant because this is something I see, especially new business owners and honestly long-term business owners also seem to fall into this trap too.
The Number Of Years You’re In Business Is Not A Guarantee To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
People ask, “Why should I listen to you?” “Well, I’ve been in business for 35 years.” A lot of people respond that way. At least for me, what tends to happen is, “Okay, you’ve been in business for 35 years. So what? That guy is successful and he’s been doing it for 10 months.” That’s just me and my own kind of analytical mind. But I was just curious with your opinion on that.
When someone asks you, “What do you do?” What kind of response should we be giving them? “Well, I’ve been doing this for 10 years. I’ve worked with world-renowned authors.” Is that a cool answer? How do you answer that in a cool way?
Don’t Get Lost In Your Credentials To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
Yeah. I think what you don’t want to do is just start listing credential, right? If it sounds like a resume or forced mission statement, then you’re going to lose people.
I have a few different formulas for this actually; a short one and a long one, and knowing this formula helps people increase sales online and offline.
Kamala Chambers
One thing that hurts people is they get lost in their credentials and then, it creates a sense of confusion. It’s because if you say something like, “I’m a health coach,” then the person has to take that information in their heads and try to figure out, “What the hell is health coach?!”
There are health coaches all over the world. There are thousands out there but still, it creates that sense of “What is it that that person is doing?” or “What is it I’m going to get out of it?”
Tell People The Benefits Of Working With You To Increase Sales
Kamala Chambers
You can get so much further by telling people what the benefit is of working with you. If we can talk and lead with benefits, it increases interest and will definitely increase sales.
Kevin Rogers
Yeah.
Luis Congdon
I’ve been watching this kind of cheesy FBI show but last night, I just about messaged you. I wanted to message John Carlton because in his work and watching your work, this thing came up for me last night.
A Great Story Can Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
These guys were doing undercover work and they’re going to buy a piece of stolen jewelry that was possibly fake. The guy was like, “How do you price out something like that?” And the con artist says, “You do it by how great the story is. The more memorable and great the story is, the more expensive the jewelry becomes because it’s in the story.”
Kevin Rogers
Yeah.
They pulled out a necklace and it has this huge dented side on the back of it. The guy was like, “Wait. This isn’t a perfect thing,” and he goes “That’s what makes it beautiful and expensive.” And then he tells this elaborate story about how it was owned by this pharaoh and he threw it against something while he was arguing with his wife. And he was like “So now you’re buying a story.” I was like “Oh my gosh! I want to message Kevin right now.”
That’s great. It reminds me of something. There’s a cool project you may have heard of called Significant Objects. If you go significantobjects.com, you’ll see how to guys are using this method to test out value and cost by using stories.
Writing An Amazing Story And The Significance Of Your Offer Can Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
The writer will go out and find at like a flea market something like a 30-50 cent thing but it looks interesting. So they’ll write a story about what it is.
Let’s just say, here’s the toothbrush holder. I’m on the site now and it’s just a decorative toothbrush holder. What they do is they write a story about this toothbrush holder and the history of it. It’s all fiction but these are beautiful stories.
Then, they post it up on ebay and they measure how much more money it gets than they paid for it simply by stories. They paid 50 cents for it not even knowing the story. Obviously, there’s probably a story behind it from the person they bought it from but they’re dumb with it. They’re not thinking about the real story.
Attach Meaning On Your Offer To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
Then, they write this amazing story, the history of it, and significance of it. And then it will fetch 300, 500, thousands times more than they paid just because for the same reason you said Luis, people are now attaching meaning to it. Using a story will definitely increase sales.
It’s the same with art and with everything. Like what do they say, you know, “How much is art worth?” It’s whatever the last piece sold for.
Luis Congdon
Well, that’s Van Gogh. Gertrude Stein picked up some artworks. She bought tons of Van Gogh’s artwork and then she wrote some amazing reviews of his art and it’s value like skyrocketed in price. But it wasn’t until Gertrude Stein, who’s a fantastic writer and marketer herself and an amazing networker was able to add value through her writing and make it memorable that it Van Gogh’s artwork increased in sales.
Make Your Offer Memorable To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
This all relates to how we increase sales and how we talk about ourselves because I wasn’t just going off completely on a tangent.
Because when people say “I’ve been in business for 35 years, I’ve written tons of best-selling novels” I go “Oh my God, you sound like the guy on the last commercial,” and my brain just tunes out and I don’t remember who you are.
Kevin Rogers
Yeah, right.
Rebel Yell Framework To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
Here’s a little framework you could use. I call this the Rebel Yell. The reason I call it that is because I believe that every entrepreneur is a rebel. You’re rebelling against societal norms and safety and all the things that people who aren’t entrepreneurs are attracted to. A lot of great companies are born with a rebellious spirit.
This is a little framework you could use. It’s such a more interesting way to talk about who you are and what you do because it includes a little bit of story and it’s rooted in your passion.
Keywords To Help You Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
It goes like this.”My name is ____. I love ____ but was fed up with ___ so I created ____ that ____.” The keywords are “I love” and then “but I was fed up with.” That’s just the foundation of any story. There’s passion and then there are roadblocks and frustration.
So what did you do about it?
Here’s one and see if you can imagine who this might be.
How Steve Jobs Was Able To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
My name is Steve. I love computers but was fed up with the snail’s pace of commercial technology. So I created the user-friendly computer that processes information faster than anything else out there today.
Luis Congdon
Right.
Luis Congdon
Yeah. That’s great.
Kevin Rogers
Suddenly, we’re going “Okay. Wow!” It’s a lot different than going “Yeah, I created a computer.”
How Virgin Airlines Started To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
Here’s another one. “My name is Richard. I love to travel but was fed up with lousy expensive and unreliable airline travel. So I created an airline with competitive fares that arrives on time and treats every passenger with first-class service.” It’s the Virgin Airlines, right?
Here’s another one.
Sharing The Roadblocks And Frustrations You Had Can Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
“My name is Mike. I love a clean shave but was fed up the with paying through the nose razors. So I created a simple subscription service that delivers quality razors right to your door for $1 a month.”
This clarity in message is great, right? These companies have found a clear way to share their mission, message, and a way to increase sales with a strong clear message.
Luis Congdon
They totally took off too.
Kevin Rogers
Yeah! Having a funny video helped.
To me, that’s how to answer what you do in a succinct way. Obviously, you use it in the context it is.
Saying The Keywords In A Big Event Can Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
If somebody hands you that hot mic in a big opportunity say it a conference or something and you use this, “Hi! My name is Luis. I love this but I was aggravated by this and so I created this.” That’s all to say, it’s pretty awesome.
But if you’re in contact with people and you’re already past that ‘what’s your name’ thing and the ‘where you’re from’ thing, people say “What do you do?” and you could say, “You know what? I’m passionate about this but I was frustrated with this part of it. So I created this thing that does this.”
It doesn’t sound forced or like you suddenly went into some canned answer, but people are suddenly going “Wow!” I mean, there’s no way they’re not going to lean in and go “Wow! Tell me more about that.”
Luis Congdon
I’d love to hear yours, Kevin. What is your Rebel Yell when you plug-in the blanks for you?
Kamala Chambers
The rebel yell, right? With the yell.
Kevin Rogers
My rebel yell, yeah.
How Kevin Rogers Helped Him Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
I’d say, “Hi! My name is Kevin. I love copywriting but I was fed up with serving only one client at a time. So I created a community that allows me to help a lot of business owners at the same time so everyone can grow together.” By using this clear message I’ve helped myself increase sales.
Kamala Chambers
I’m sold.
Kevin Rogers
It’s a good question because with a product like mine which is Copy Chief, which is a copywriting community where business owners can get advice and critiques from copywriters, there are probably three different facets I could focus on.
Having Different Versions For Each Market Can Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
I could focus on how I helped freelancers grow their business. I could also focus on the training aspect of the community. So I could write three different versions of this, same formula.
It doesn’t have to be one size fits all but the formula works just about for any context.
Kamala Chambers
I think the real key point here and I call this the Magic Sentence is that when you tell someone about who you are, what you do, if their eyes don’t light up and they don’t get excited right there on the spot, then you probably not saying it right.
Make People Excited With Your Message So You Can Increase Sales
Kamala Chambers
If we can connect people with our message, then we have that magical thing for the audience that makes them want to buy and it will increase sales like crazy.
People should be able to paint a picture on their heads saying, “Oh my God. I need that,” or “I know someone who needs that.”
Kevin Rogers
That’s a great point.
I have another rule when I’m “Networking” like when you are at a conference or somewhere among peers. My rule is I want people to ask me what I do with a very specific tone of voice and it can only happen if you start by showing interest in them. You are having some context.
Ask Right Questions To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
What I found is,
Kevin Rogers
I consider this a success when somebody says this to me after I’ve asked them three or four questions. They go “So, what do you do?” And they say it in that way like “I think you could help me. What do you do?” It’s like they already have this idea of what they hope you might do and then, whether it’s a match or not.
Show Interest To What Others Do To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
When somebody asked you the question with that tone of voice, it’s because you’ve already invested genuine interest in what they’re doing and shown just by the questions you ask that you have some insight to what their trying to achieve. There’s a good chance they’ll never forget you after they ask you in that tone.
Luis Congdon
And they’re almost shocked they haven’t asked you yet. Like “Wait. I don’t know what you do.” This is something I remember from the book, How to Win Friends. In that book, Dale encourages us to get to know people, to be interested in them and this will help us in influencing others and in helping us to increase sales.
Kevin Rogers
Yeah. Right! Exactly!
Get To Know People To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
Like here’s my wallet.
Kevin Rogers
Yeah! It’s like “I think I should know this!” Like “Who are you? What do you do?”
Luis Congdon
I don’t know if you’re planning a question but I had it segmented. Slightly another little segment because I’ve been following your work and I’m also a big follower of Ben Settle.
Reading and studying Ben’s work helped me increase sales. I highly recommend everyone check out Ben’s stuff. He may not be your cup of tea, but he’s great to study.
There Can Be Right And Wrong Way To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
It’s been interesting because I think Ben Settle’s emails are in a lot of ways very similar every day. You can boil anything down to a few sentences, right? And Ben is like email and sell every single day.
I’ve just read Ben’s and then your email came into my inbox. I opened it and it was like “Only send out emails if you have something great to say. Don’t send out emails constantly and make sure that it’s valuable to people.” And I was like “Oh, Ben’s doing a launch. I just got 4 emails from him today.”
For Ben, emailing daily and sometimes multiple times a day is essential to for people who want to increase sales via emails.
Others Can Increase Sales By Emailing Daily
Luis Congdon
There’s a right and wrong way I guess but within that there’s a lot of grey and I was just curious about you and your stance on emails or sending people messaging and that piece because that day struck me. I was like “I want to ask him about this and his thoughts on it.”
Kevin Rogers
Partly, it’s a personality thing too. I think Ben is obviously brilliant at what he does but also consider what Ben’s selling. He’s selling how to write better emails.
First of all, Ben is just genuinely telling you what works for him. One of the things I admire about what Ben does is that he’s good at tearing apart any opposing beliefs or views.
Luis Congdon
He makes you hate him or love him.
Write In A Way That Interests People To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
Yeah! I love that. He’s so polarizing. It’s not interesting for him to go “Hey! If you feel like it, try this mailing everyday thing. It will probably work for you. It’s worked well for me.” That’s boring, right? He’s like “Rule number one: Mail every day.”
And then so by doing that, people do it and they try it and interestingly, people find it sexy to write every day because it’s not easy but it’s clear of what you’re supposed to do. So there’s nothing else to figure out.
Staying Faithful To The Process To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
“I need to write an email every day and send it to my list and stay faithful to that process and I’ll see bigger results.” It’s pretty simple instructions if you can get past the hard part of writing a new email everyday but part of Ben’s promise is, once you get into the flow and once you shut up and listen to what I’m telling you, you’ll be able to knockout an email in 10 minutes.
Ben gets testimonials to that fact. He’s just a master teacher marketer that way because he’s sure about his method. For him and his students, emailing every day is the way to increase sales. Period.
Know The Purpose Of Your Email To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
For me, if I sit down with my team, we have to come up with an email every day just the way my mind works in a way… I would want to know what the purpose of the email is every day. I would kind of want to theme it out. Maybe I’m overthinking it.
For me, that creates more work because now I have to have somebody who will gather all our testimonials because Thursday is going to be proof day. We’re going to write a story on a particular testimonial and make it interesting and dynamic. On Friday, I’m going to do a new car video and we’ll mail to that. I tried that. I tried doing that 5 days with a team of people helping me and we still couldn’t do it.
Always Be Teaching To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
For me, it just doesn’t work because we do two a week. Tuesday, we mail. We create a lesson, again teaching. Always be teaching of something that’s an interesting thread in copy chief. To help people increase sales, I teach them to add value and to teach, even in the free stuff.
A topic was introduced that was dissected. It was discussed in some major takeaways happened within this thread which is pretty routine for copy chiefs. Distill the core of that lesson down and then invite people to Copy Chief.
Well, there are three days in a week; podcast is Monday, Wednesday we have a new article. A brand new article go up on copy chief, and I treat Thursday and Friday like if I’ve got something to promote or if I just wake up inspired, then I might mail.
But my favourite mails to write are the ones with no immediate call to action. It’s almost more like a rant.
Having Personal Replies Can Help Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
We talked earlier about judging your content based on the kind of reply it gets. I think the invisible way to judge the effectiveness of an email is personal replies. People are hitting the reply button in writing back to you in the fate that it will reach you because they’re compelled to do so that they can’t resist.
I’ve personally found that if I am getting personal replies from my emails then that day or the next, or very soon I will see an increase in sales.
Luis Congdon
That’s definitely true.
Doing Series Of Emails Can Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
When we’ve had Andre Chaperon who is very more aligned with what you’re talking about, he’s very strategical and he doesn’t email very often. When he does, it’s a series of emails. They have a very specific thing going on.
A lot of times there’s no call to action even when you land on one of his landing pages. There’s just a lot of effort put into sharing a story and using a lot of different methods to make you go, “Wow! What is this?” By the end of the story, you’re going, “So uhm, what do you do?” So you’re coming back to that thing like “What is this thing? I want to know. Where do I opt-in?” It’s kind of the same thing we’re talking about.
Focus On The Clarity Of Your Messaging To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
I want to bring this back for the listener because this all relates to having a clear message. We’ve gone through a variety of different people and the way they like to use emailing or use marketing but it all comes down to being clear on the messaging.
A great example came from your email that I referenced earlier where you talked about cards against humanity. And that they only email about a handful of times a year and they sent out an email saying, “Only lucky hundred thousand people will get this $12 package from us.” They sold $100,000 or 100,000 units of $12 packages. What was it? Was it like a couple of hours?
Kevin Rogers
Yeah, yeah. Very quick.
Luis Congdon
That’s pretty awesome. Right? They definitely found an awesome way to increase sales. This is Cards Against Humanity which is extremely clear with their messaging.
Playing Cards Against Humanity Can Teach You How To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
We have that game at our house. When we have certain people, we know that they don’t want to play that. That’s not their game and we just don’t break it out. We have other people that are like, “Yeah!”
Kamala Chambers
The perverts and weirdos we hang out with.
Luis Congdon
It’s a very different messaging and this is a very intelligent and this all comes down to we can get super complex about “Should I email every single day? Should I market on Facebook or use Google?”
First, let’s get clear on your message and what it is you’re passionate about and why you’re passionate? This is the first step to increase sales.
And as you do your message here, it’s contrast against the opposite.
Lessons From Past Experiences Can Help Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
I want to talk about how do you apply this to an opt-in offer, can this help us increase sales online too?
We’re talking about email marketing. We’ve talked about the magic sentence or the rebel yell when you first start talking to someone and have that conversation.
How do we get people over opting in? I’d love to hear your insights on what you think are essential pieces to create that opt-in offer?
Kevin Rogers
Right. That’s a great question.
It comes down to what we’re saying. All this about creating content and what kind of content, I call this “The Dialogue”.
Always Be On A Dialogue With Your Audience To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
If we’re on a dialogue with our audience, with the people who our messaging resonates with, then it gets pretty easy to create stuff they’re going to want.
Again, if we go back to ABT – Always Be Teaching, a great way to create content is put yourself in a position to answer people’s questions or offer insight.
Be In A Position To Answer People’s Questions To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
So Luis, you’re dealing with helping people have lasting relationships because you’ve suffered or seen the effects of divorce. There are lots of environments where you could be useful. I’m sure this has happened to you both when you’re answering questions and serving a community or an individual. Certainly, no shortage of opportunities for that these days. That sometimes it turns to like “Wow! I have a lot to say about this more than I realize.”
So then you know “Wow! I’ve got a great article on my hands here because I’m sure lots of people would want to know this.” Then you turn that into an article. After you do a few of those, you see which of these articles is resonating most and getting comments and people referring back to. Then, you’ll have an idea of something you can create and how to use it to increase sales.
Look At What Articles People Resonate The Most And Turn It Into A Lead Magnet To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
So, then you ask yourself “How can I turn this into a lead magnet? Can I take this and turn it into a bigger lesson and give people some actionable steps to do after they get to the end of this?”
Lead magnets should be short. It could be one video. It could be two, five or ten pages. My entire book was only 50 pages. People like short and actionable stuff.
Increase Sales By Having A Compelling Name
Kevin Rogers
I love how you just did this because to open this up a little bit further for you listening is you can take something and create a Facebook Post. I did this yesterday.
I posted something yesterday for podcasting and within the first few hours I got 15 or 20 comments which inside that group is great. There were many people who said, ‘This is fantastic.’
Luis Congdon
I love how you just did this because to open this up a little bit further for you listening is you can take something and create a Facebook Post. I did this yesterday.
I posted something yesterday for podcasting and within the first few hours I got 15 or 20 comments which inside that group is great. There were many people who said, ‘This is fantastic.’
Using Facebook Posts To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
You can take something, create a post, put it in a Facebook group or on your Facebook wall or page and then, test it there. So you’re not even spending money or you don’t have to consciously drive traffic or if you don’t have much of an email list, you can save it and just wait and use Facebook and social media to gauge.
After that, go, “Okay. How can I expand this? This has obviously got hundred comments,” or whatever it might be that’s abnormal for you and then you turn that into a lead magnet.
I never thought of that Kevin but I think that’s just phenomenal. And it can be used by experts and newbies to online and marketing and it will work the same for both of them.
This method of using my website, social media and the podcast to test product ideas and test out copy has helped me increase sales and lessen the work I do.
Kevin Rogers
That’s exactly right.
Share Your Knowledge To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
If you have knowledge to share and you share it, I think the rest takes care of itself.
You might have to schedule it a little bit. I work with a lot of freelancers and the big problem is that they sell off all their time to clients, to the highest bidder. The reason they don’t create more content is that they don’t see words getting “How’s this helping me?”
And so my goal is to help them understand that when you’re creating awesome lead magnets and writing amazing articles and stuffs that get people talking, suddenly you’re an authority. You’re a real expert and regarded.
Especially in podcasting, I’m sure you’ve seen the effects. It’s like instant celebrity status, and I’m sure you’ve seen how podcasting can increase sales.
How Podcasting Can Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
I hold a very high regards to somebody’s ear space. When I look at my podcast’s stats, they’re not staggering compared to say “I love marketing” or something but 30,000 times people have given me their undivided attention while I had a conversation. That’s amazing to me. It’s a little harder to track podcast traffic but it’s such an amazing engagement.
My point is,
Give Incredible Value Through Your Content To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
Don’t think of creating content just as some marketing tool. Think about what it’s going to do for your evolution as a teacher and how you’re going to begin to feel your own stock rise in the market because people are going to respond to you as someone to be regarded and someone who gives incredible value.
And then if that same person has sat and listened to you on a podcast or two and has the opportunity to speak with you privately one-on-one, that’s pretty awesome.
You’ll notice that people are almost a little nervous or they’ll admit to being nervous. They’ll say “I’m sorry. It’s just weird for me. I’ve heard your voice a hundred times driving in my car and it’s weird to be talking to you.” And you’re going “Yeah. It’s just me, it’s all good.”
Luis Congdon
I listened to you months ago, when I was trying to increase sales online. I found your show the one that you have with John Carlton. I listened to that. I didn’t know you work at that time, I just listened to it for couple of weeks straight, every time I was at the gym and I listened to several episodes and I was just like “This guy sound like guys I want to just sit down and ask questions to.”
Increase Sales By Giving Away Content
Luis Congdon
Like talking to you feels like I’m listening to your show. It just feels natural. To piggyback off the other thing you said about giving away content is I know that was a hang up for me.
Somebody messaged me inside my Facebook group. Kamala and I have a podcasting group with nearly 600 people and one person wrote me and said “Luis, you need to give more content because you’re the leader of this group and you’re offering services and people are hiring you but I want to see you be more successful and I want to see you have higher rates.”
“But right now, someone like me who’s in a fairly high bracket, I’m not interested in paying you right now. I know you’re a quality guy, you just haven’t shown it to me other than the fact that we’ve personally talked but I want to help you. So start posting things where you teach people.”
I was like “Ugh! I kind of struggled with that” especially because I’ve been reading Ben. And Ben is like “Don’t give content away. Tease them. Tell them stories.” And so, it’s like struggling with conflicting information.
One guy says do this to increase sales, the other guys says that won’t help you increase sales…don’t do that.
Have Fun Teaching To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
That’s a gem when someone is writing you and saying I’m saving money so I can hire you and they’ve tracked you down through the different ways that you’re teaching.
Increase Sales By Knowing Your Value
Luis Congdon
I said “You know what? I’m going to listen to this guy. I’m going to have fun.” I’ve been doing this for about 2 months now, writing content and I go “Man! I have so much. There’s no way these guys could ever capture everything,” and if they watch one, two or three things, they’re going to go “I’m going to hire someone.”
Just yesterday, this woman messaged me. She was like “I found you through your podcast then I went to your group and now I’m saving money so I can hire you.” Because my fees are too high for her right now.
Kamala Chambers
That’s interesting because I didn’t know that story. It’s like people in the group are just crazy over you. Luis gives away a lot of content and there are a lot of people on your jock.
Luis Congdon
I have enough content now that I’m not afraid of giving it away.
For me, when i first started I was scared of “Wait. What if I give it away and then I have nothing to sell?”
Kevin Rogers
Yeah. It’s interesting. We forget that’s people’s instinct. “If I give this away, why would anyone pay for it?” It’s exactly the opposite. It’s a very counterintuitive thing.
Give Away Your Best Stuff To The Right People To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
John Carlton who you mentioned, who’s my greatest mentor and amazing friend, said to me once,
Luis Congdon
That’s amazing.
Kevin Rogers
It’s true!
People will write you all the time and go “Hey! That thing you said,” and you’ll forget even saying it or writing about it. They’ll go “I tried it and plus I added this and it did this,” and you’re like “Wow! That’s brilliant!” Suddenly, it’s new content for you now. It’s just this amazing cyclical energy of giving.
Be Transparent To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
We’re in a rare place here with marketing and with podcasting. It’s all about transparency and just like being cool.
I understand what Ben’s saying about don’t give anything away. Your stuff needs to have high value. You need to have some mystique about you. I think that’s true to degree but I believe in giving your best stuff away and letting people just celebrate you gave them something awesome because they will and you’ll have this name currency.
Know Things That Provide Longevity And Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
In this kind of street cred that, it’s a lot less tangible than numbers on a spreadsheet but I think those are the things that provide longevity and allow you to write your own ticket and increase sales for the long run. And you can measure it by exactly what you just shared Luis, this woman saving up to hire you. You’re giving her purpose, a new inspiration.
If it was just about money, you’d say to her “Well, just check all your credit cards. You could probably borrow money. I mean, let’s get this going.” That’s not at all what it’s about.
She’s going to get so much value just focusing on how she’ll use your coaching once she can afford it that it’s almost already paid for itself.
Luis Congdon
That’s right. That’s one of the things she said too. She said, “I already feel like I’ve already bought your coaching but I just want that hour with you because of what you give away in the group.”
How Sharing Content Can Help You Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
The sharing thing has helped me increase sales.
Just to bring this back to some big names that I really admire and appreciate what they’re up to, Derek Halpern, who you just recently had on your show and since you’re listening, check out Kevin’s show Copy Chief. It’s a fantastic show that has amazing guests like Derek Halpern.
Derek has grown a huge email list, a huge following and raised his prices. He scaled his business fast. He’s very naturally gifted of a lot of things but I’ve seen him evolved. If you go and follow his website, you could literally spend. I did this myself.
I spent several days in a row reading everything. I just consumed all his pages and then when a program came out, I bought it. He’s added some things but essentially if you want to, you can study the whole site and get everything for free.
Organize Your Content To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
Him and Marie Forleo are both very open about that. They both say “We’re going to give everything here you could ever need to build a business. So why would you want to buy our program? Well, because we’ve compiled it together and is easy access place for you. We’ve added some bonuses that aren’t there but yeah, you could get it for free but do you want to spend 5 days straight going through all the comments, all the different posts because nothing is going to be very consistent.”
“But when you buy the program, it’s going to be very methodically laid out for you.” And those two people have built some of the fastest growing brands in the blogosphere I’ve seen. They’re two people I heavily studied and watched in my work to increase sales and become better at doing this online thing.
Kamala Chambers
The Truth About Marketing, that’s the name of the show. It can be found at Copy Chief.
Luis Congdon
So Kamala, I know you wanted to wrap this up. Kevin and I got fired up.
Kevin Rogers
Yeah. Sorry.
Luis Congdon
It’s awesome!
It’s awesome to have a guest like you that just brings so much quality. If you’ve been listening, it’s just been a real gift and honor to have you on the show today, Kevin.
I’ve appreciated all your tips for us and the Thriving Launch community on how to increase sales.
Kevin Rogers
That’s kind. Thank you. I think we all helped each other by just engaging so I appreciate it.
Kamala Chambers
Is there anything else you want to make sure our listeners walk away with today or anything else you want to share?
The Mindset To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
I guess the big one would be, if they’re inspired by all this talk about sharing and they’re wondering “What do I have to share?” I’ll give a mindset thing and then maybe something more tactical.
Just keep in mind that what it means to be an expert is that you know 10% more than the person asking the questions. It’s as much about if somebody resonates with you as a person as it is the information you’re sharing.
Luis, it’s like the example of this woman. She knows you’re the person who can help her and she’s hanging on every word now. Maybe she could get the same or similar information even from what you share in the group or from John Lee Dumas or whoever else it is who helps people with their podcast. But she’s chosen you and you can’t put a price on that.
Know That There’s Something That You’re The Only One Can Teach To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
So if you’re listening and going, “What do I have? It’s all been taught by people much smarter and more accomplished than me.” Forget that. It hasn’t been taught by you and it hasn’t been told and filtered through your unique DNA.
There are people out there who need to know what you have learned and experienced and they’re only going to get it when you tell that to them.
Luis Congdon
That’s a great piece.
A little story about that is in high school I did wrestling. My first wrestling coach, great wrestling coach but for some reason my whole first year of wrestling with this guy, I was doing a certain move the wrong way. If you’re a wrestler. it’s shooting and this where you shoot in and you pick someone up. And I was actually shooting from my back leg which you should be doing from your front.
So I was taking my back leg and putting it in front of my front leg and then shooting. I was adding a lot of extra movements to my stuff.
Know Whom You Resonate With To Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
The next year I got a coach and within the first month of coaching he said “Slow that move down.” and I showed him what I was doing and he said “No, no. You need to do it this way.”
Honestly, both coaches taught me the exact same thing. It was just something about my coach Lucas, in the way that he connected with me and the way that he slowed down with me. But it was about resonance in a lot of ways because I can’t say that either coach was better at that particular move.
Any coach worth their salt knows that move. It’s just for some reason one coach spotted it and fixed it and I became a very great wrestler. If I could have that coach again, I’d go back easily.
Teaching Others Your Own Way Can Help You Increase Sales
Luis Congdon
But anyway, this is back to that point that Kevin was making. You’re teaching, regardless if someone else has or is doing it. It’s important you do it, and you’re teaching it and helping others will increase your sales.
Kevin Rogers
Yeah. That’s the thing.
That’s why I think you should have several coaches through your life. I looked at my adult life and I can connect the dots through mentors of my entire adult life because I’ve been just blessed with having generous mentors
From the first time I stepped on a comedy stage up to John Carlton now and other mentors who I’ve sought. Whether I have to hire them or whether they come into your life. Whatever it takes, it’s always about resonance for me.
I don’t choose a mentor because they have a system I believe in. It has to be the way they teach it.
My criteria is this, if I’m going to invest a lot of money into somebody’s program, if I am inspired to be their best case study ever, then I know it’s a fit. If I’m kind of like “This is probably valuable and it will help me,” but I might be like “I have to question my passion about this.” So it’s very much about resonance.
60 Second Sales Hook To Increase Sales
Kevin Rogers
The other thing I would say is if you’re struggling with clarity to circle back to the beginning of the call, use the Rebel Yell and use the 60 seconds Sales Hook. That’s where I took a joke formula and turned it into what I call a sales hook formula.
What’s cool about it is not only it gives you a framework for how to share your story but it pushes you to get clear because you have to do it in 60 seconds or less.
If you’re struggling to figure out “What is my story?” and sort of “What’s the punchline of this?” then you’ve got some work to do. Once you do that work and get clear, things will open up for you.
Kamala Chambers
It’s just been fantastic to have you here. We’ve been here with Kevin Rogers. You’ve crossed so many barriers and bridges about clarifying your passion, mission, and message. You’ve walked us through some critical steps to helping us increase sales, test products, and even increase our sales online too.
Kevin Rogers
Thanks for having me, guys. Great show. Thank you.
