Jim Edwards and Stew Smith discuss creating a series of podcasts focused on the STARTER KIT for online business. This week is about your offer and the types of things that potential customers need to see in order to buy. Check it out. Jim describes the OFFER in simplified detail that will help you understand HOW TO SELL.
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Podcast 85 – The Offer – What Every Offer Needs
Jim Edwards: Hey everybody, Jim Edwards here along with Stew Smith.
And welcome back to the Sales Copywriting and Content Marketing Hacks Podcast.
This is Episode 85, where we’re going to talk about your offer!
And interestingly enough, when it comes to your offer, there are a couple of different ideas that people have of what is an offer.
Some people say, “Okay, what is the offer?”
Meaning, “What’s the offer stack?”
What are all the things that they’re going to get?
Other people, when you say an offer, they’re thinking in terms of what is the thing?
What is what is the payoff that I’m going to get?
What is the big idea really is the offer some people think of your offers your USP.
It’s not, but some people think of it as that – unique selling proposition…
But before we get started, so I’m what’s up Stew, how are you?
I haven’t talked to you in a week.
Stew Smith: I’m good. Excellent.
Jim Edwards: Been enjoying the humidity?
Stew Smith: Yeah, sweating profusely.
Jim Edwards: That’s right and with absolutely no evaporation whatsoever.
So now I have all the water that was in me is now on me, making me feel like I’m wearing a wet suit, literally!
So, let’s talk about offer and what kind of an offer should you make.
And so, we’re actually going to address those two things we’ll talk about first your offer, as in the big idea that you are selling…
And then we’ll talk about your offer, as in the individual parts, and what you should do or what you should try to include depending on what you’re selling or how you’re selling it.
So, the first thing when you talk about your offer, as far as the big idea is that the big idea really needs to encapsulate a couple of things.
It’s the, “What am I going to get?”
And why is this a cool solution compared to other stuff that I might buy with my money or other methods that I might use?
To get that result?
And so, using the example of Stew, and Stew’s business or what Stew sells, Stew’s first book was the name of the complete was the complete Navy SEAL Guide, or the What’s the title of it?
Stew Smith: Yep, complete guide Navy SEAL fitness…
Jim Edwards: So, Navy SEAL fitness…
Yeah…
And it was written by a Navy SEAL! So, therefore, if you want to become a Navy SEAL, you probably ought to read the book on how to get in shape to be a Navy SEAL.
And the only person that’s qualified to write that book is someone who was or is a Navy SEAL.
So, you see how it all comes together with the stuff we’ve talked about before when we talked about your knowledge or experience in the marketplace…
It really would not make sense to buy a book about how to get in shape to try and go through BUDS from somebody who does jazzercise videos.
It’s just not going to mean might they might sell a couple, but it’s just not going to going to jive.
But the big idea here is the big result is I want to get this result.
Here’s somebody, who based on their knowledge and experience, is someone who’s going to be able to help me with it.
And what makes it unique too is that it’s somebody who has been there and done that what you want to do.
So, it’s got several layers to it.
But then when you look at like when Stew does other offers for, like the FBI Academy thing, or the Army Ranger thing you might think yourself well, then your analysis falls flat.
Because he wasn’t in the FBI or he wasn’t an Army Ranger.
Did you go to Ranger School?
Stew Smith: Nope, didn’t happen.
Jim Edwards: But like the Airborne one you do…
You went to Airborne school…
Did you chuck did you do a bunch of jumps while you were in the Navy SEALs? Stew Smith: Yeah, like 50 or 60. Yeah.
Jim Edwards: Oh, wow, that’s a lot! Okay, cool.
So obviously you’re qualified to teach people how to do the airborne school workout thing.
But, but ultimately anybody who wants to go the FBI Academy or police academy, what makes it unique is, “Hey, I want to go be a police officer, I want to be in-firefighter, I want to go the FBI Academy.
And here’s a Navy SEAL, who’s going to teach me how to get into shape…
Obviously, a Navy SEAL is going to know how to get into shape for these other things, which aren’t going to be as hard as being a Navy SEAL, at least in people’s minds.
Stew Smith: And plus, I train those guys. So…
Jim Edwards: Plus, you train those guys…
So, the offer has got to make sense…
It’s got to be unique…
And it’s got to make sense this coming from you…
This is where we kind of bring together the last few episodes that we’ve been doing…
It’s it really that offer is the confluence of your knowledge, your experience in the market, where the people look at that…
They go, it makes total sense to buy this from somebody.
Jessie says she’s supposed to be in jazzercise class right now.
That’s fine, Jesse, you.
That’s…
Stew Smith: Nothing wrong with jazzercise.
Jim Edwards: Jazzercise being taught by Stew Smith might not be a good class…
I can tell you that right now…
I do have rhythm?
Stew Smith: No.
Jim Edwards: No rhythm, and I doubt he looks good in a leotard.
Stew Smith: Yeah… I’m sure I don’t.
Jim Edwards: So, are those silky shorts that I’ve seen those guys doing the jazzercise stuff.
So, the point, though, is that your offer from the big idea thing just did just has to make sense.
And so, for example, like Jessie sells, or she does Facebook training for chiropractors, well, it makes sense that she does that because she helps run her husband’s chiropractic business.
So, she’s the one that’s responsible for bringing people through the front door…
So, it makes perfect sense for her to be doing that, as opposed to someone who knows how to do Facebook ads, who just happens to say, “Oh, chiropractors are a good market. Let me target chiropractors.”
It just means it could make sense if you went and found some chiropractors and did it for them and said, “Hey, look, I know how to do this..
I want to do this for you…
I want to build up my case studies.”
And then once you have those case studies, then it makes sense, hey, I did this for local ones…
Now I can help anybody do that anywhere…
So, the offer just has to make sense, and we’re all relatively intelligent…
You know when an offer doesn’t make sense to be coming from you, or the positioning of it, or it doesn’t make sense with somebody else.
It would not make sense honestly, even though I’ve had people tell me,
“Jim, you should do some kind of a workout thing.”
Like why would I do that?
That’s what Stew does…
That’s not me…
I’m just the formerly fat guy that now does what Stew tells me and stuff…
Stew Smith: They make a poster child…
Jim Edwards: It doesn’t know what not to do before, but the seriously that means…
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should…
When it comes to an offer, there’s a lot of offers that I could make that I could that I could do, but it doesn’t mean that I should…
Should I could I teach people how to make software?
Yes.
Should I.
Not really.
It just it’s not my thing…
The one that I didn’t see through, like Stew says, when we talked on the Jim Institute show live on Facebook, talking about getting inspiration, you sometimes you don’t know where inspiration is going to come from…
I never thought that I would have a book about copywriting.
Even five years ago, I never would have thought that I would have had a book about copywriting.
But when I looked back at all the sales letters that I wrote and all the people, I trained on how to sell the things that I was teaching them how to make with multimedia products and video courses and eBooks and things and mini-sites and all that stuff.
It actually made perfect sense for me to do that because I figured out a way to teach people how to do it super-fast and to get really good results.
So sometimes the perfect offer is so obvious in front of your face, you need other people to help you understand or see what your offer might be.
If that makes sense.
Any thoughts Stew?
Stew Smith: Yeah, absolutely.
I will say this when you first told me it is more about sales copy and the offer combined in there that what I am selling?
It should not be what it is.
It’s what it does.
Jim Edwards: Right!
Stew Smith: Right.
That is what I have.
I have completely changed the way I write offers now to make sure that whatever I’m selling is just not a book about calisthenics and cardio.
Jim Edwards: Right?
Stew Smith: It is a book that allows you to reach your goals without, right, wow!
Jim Edwards: Sorry, that’s my that’s my politically incorrect ringtone…
That should not have come through…
It’s not on, do not disturb!?
But there you go, proceed!!
Stew Smith: That happens…
Like, it’s not what it is…
It’s what it does write my book about calisthenics, and cardio is, I would not write “Hey, it’s push-ups and sit-ups and pull-ups and running.”
Right?
It’s a program that allows you to reach your goals whenever you cannot make it to a gym…
And you have no equipment whatsoever.
Yeah?
Jim Edwards: Right.
Stew Smith: Because you’re scared so…
Jim Edwards: that’s a result!
Stew Smith: you’re scared of getting sick…
That’s about it.
Jim Edwards: Yeah! That’s what it does.
That’s what it.
That’s the result! This is a proven system to get and stay in great shape…
If you can’t, or don’t want to go to a gym and don’t have any equipment other than yourself and a pair of sneakers,
Stew Smith: Right!
Jim Edwards: That’s a hell of a result!
Stew Smith: When we think about offers, you really need to remember that one line that’s I do that for everything I write now.
It’s what it does.
Jim Edwards: So, what it does not what it is.
Stew Smith: Yes!
Jim Edwards: And the thing is with that thing, even when the gyms do start opening up again, you can say, “hey, look, look how much time you’ll save.”
Let’s say you drive okay, drive to the gym takes 20 minutes…
Let’s say it takes 20 or 30 minutes to get to the gym…
Then it takes another 10 minutes to find a place to park, get in, find a locker, get changed to get your stuff together, lock your stuff up, go see that the machine you want to use is in use by somebody else.
So, you loiter around.
Hope they’ll get the hell off…
They they’re sitting on the machine Looking at their phone and finally asked, “Hey, can I get in some reps and I’m almost done!”
God, I kind of want a bitch slap somebody when they do that…
And then you want to, and then you’re, you’re sitting there so it ends up being 90 minutes to two hours to get in 35 to 40 minutes worth of working out at the time that you would have spent driving there and back you could get a really good workout in and get a shower and get on with your day.
Plus, not to mention saving hundreds in gym fees and all the gas you burned.
So, doing this is great for the environment, great for your health, and great for your time.
Gives you more time to spend with your family!
Stew Smith: That’s what it does!
Jim Edwards: Right!
Stew Smith: Love it!
Jim Edwards: And that’s important!
Stew Smith: Yeah, that’s a great offer.
Jim Edwards: So, you’re exactly that’s yours, so what it does not what it is…
So as far as we’ve talked about the offer, the big idea of the offer.
So now mechanically what should an offer entail and there’s a bunch of different ways to look at this.
There’s a bunch of ways to make it more complicated than it needs to be.
Yeah, there’s a bunch of ways to make this just feel like you want to rip your eyeballs out with a blunt spoon, or you can just think about it simply
What you’re selling is the result.
So, there’s always the one single biggest payoff, or I call it the elephant in the room, the thing that they need to do, that’s the core of your offer, right there…
So, if it’s learning how to do calisthenic workouts, then the book the main part of the book is here, all the stuff you can here’s all the stuff we can do…
And then remember, I asked you, or maybe it was on the live show, I said, “Hey, now what about people with different skill levels?”
And you said, “Oh, yeah, I that’s fine.”
I got divided up into three parts…
I got beginner, intermediate and advanced or, fat, medium, and small, it’s whatever you can do.
And so that’s the first objection that people are going to have is…
What’s the biggest objection somebody’s going to have to my product or to my offer?
And in this case, it’s usually it revolves around skill, time, or money…
Those are the three biggest ones…
All right, so skill.
I’m not in good shape.
Okay, well, no problem.
I’ve got beginner stuff.
I got intermediate, I got advanced.
So, I’ve got the book divided up this way.
No problem.
So, in your product, how could you address a skill issue?
Okay, the next, skill, time, money, resources are the four big ones, and money and resources are pretty closely related.
Sometimes not.
So, skill, time, money, resources…
So, time, how long is this going to take?
How long is it going to take for me to get results?
That’s there’s time really as to issues when we’re talking about here…
It’s how long is it going to take me to get results?
And how long is it going to take me to implement what you are giving me?
So, that’s why a 12-hour course you might manage got 12 hours of videos in it, you’re thinking like, that’s a good thing.
And the person you’re trying to sell to is like, 12 hours of videos.
Holy crap.
Can you teach me a little quicker than that?
So yeah, so it’s like, those are the two issues you got to address…
I can show you how to get results in an afternoon…
Well, does that mean it’s an afternoon to go through the course, or it’s an afternoon to implement what you’re telling me to do?
It’s a fine line…
But again, that’s something that you have to address the time on both of those issues…
Alright, so time are we skill time?
What was the second one?
What was the third one?
Stew Smith: Money resource…
Jim Edwards: Skill, time, money.
Okay…
How much is this going to cost?
What you need to do is make sure that you’re showing them how as Part of your offer…
It’s like one of the things that I learned and that really pushed my sales over the top with my early for sale by owner book and also with my mortgage product “10 Little Secrets of Mortgage Financing” was I learned a lesson from a guy named Marlin Sanders who said…
“Take your competitors USP and include it as a free bonus with your offer.”
So, what he meant was whatever they’re selling, see if you can give somebody that will give them the same take something, find something, create something that will get people that same result, so they don’t have to go buy from your competitor.
So, one of the things that was holding me up was people were spending money on mortgage amortization software.
And so, what I did was say, “Hey look, when you buy my tender little secrets mortgage financing, I will give you a mortgage amortization prepayment calculator that I’ll just give it to you.”
So that’ll save you 40 bucks.
So, the money you save just pays for the course you’re going to buy from me.
And sales immediately went up, and I found a parent piece of shareware.
It was it was a shareware mortgage amortization thing I could, I just found it could give it away.
It was just as good as the stuff people were charging for.
So again, when it comes to money, you got to show people how this is going to save them money or you need as part of your offer, what can you include to save them money?
So, another example I created a course on how to create multimedia info products.
And I one of the things that I was showing people how to do at the time was to record mp3s.
And so, we also wanted to have people add music and mix tracks and do all these things was pretty, pretty sophisticated even now doing multi-track mixing for mp3s and stuff.
You can do it with Camtasia…
But Camtasia cost 300 bucks.
And there were other products that weren’t that good.
Long story short, I was selling a course for $500.
I went and found a piece of software that was really cool.
And instead of saying, “Hey, I’ll demo this, and you can go buy it.”
I contacted the developer of the software, and I said, “How much just out of curiosity, how much would you charge me for 100 licenses for your software?”
And I think it was 79 bucks…
And he said $10 apiece…
I said, “Okay, let’s see. I can spend $10, and then I can make $500.”
Hmm, let me do that.
So that was part of my thing was I started removing all these expenses that people thought they’d have to absorb as a result of getting my course.
You don’t have to go buy this because I went and licensed your copy of it, you don’t have to do this because I’m going to show you how to do this, I’m going to all these things that all of a sudden I removed all these money expenses that people were worried about, either by minimizing them or eliminating them.
“When you get my course you won’t have to do this, this, this and this.”
So, and the funny thing with that was I only sent people the, code when they asked for it, and half the people never asked for the code.
So, it ended up only costing me $5 a person on average instead of 10.
That was nothing.
So then, so time, or skill, time, money, resources.
So, the other thing that people are worried about is there’s going to be some sort of a resource, some sort of a thing they think they need to have…
So, let’s use the example of somebody sends somebody selling a product on how to create, write an eBook or something…
If people say, “Okay, I don’t have money to spend on Facebook ads, I don’t know how to run Facebook ads, or I don’t know how to do something.”
I don’t have friends with big lists.
I don’t have a bunch of affiliates.
Whatever that objection is around some sort of resources or I don’t have a big advertising budget, or I don’t have a big network, or I don’t have, a $10,000 home studio like you do…
So obviously, I can’t do this.
So, you eliminate that by adding stuff to your offer like okay, I’m going to show you how to go find people to sell your book for you…
I’m going to show you how to use social media to sell your books without spending a dime on Facebook ads.
I’m going to show you how you can use your smartphone to create a $10,000 studio right inside your house to be able to even create courses used your smartphone and nothing else.
Stew Smith: Nice.
There’s, there’s all kinds of a when you look at the offer, as not just this is what I’m going to sell you…
But this is what you need, and this is what you’re concerned about…
Then all of a sudden, I’m going to put the right things in there that are eliminating objections and getting you more and more excited about all the things you’re going to get.
Now, you might say, “Well, Jim, I just want to sell a $29 eBook.”
I’m not going to add all these things.
Well, then you’re stupid! because you want to sell people and you want to get people to actually get excited about buying from you.
I’ll give you an example of “7-day eBook” my seven-day eBook…
You get the book, but you also get these bonuses…
All right, free report how to take every major credit card on the planet because people are like, how am I going to process payments?
you also get my killer eBooks title wizard, because one of the things how do I come up with a cool title for a book?
Gotcha covered. I got my eBooks description wizard…
Why?
Because this will help you come up with an amazing description for your book…
Also, I have a report 10 ways to have your eBooks done by next Friday.
It’s not even a report.
It’s actually an incredible two-part webinar series that will sell for at least 97 bucks, but you can get it.
So, if you’re worried about hey, I don’t want to write my book over the next seven days.
Great.
I’ll tell you 10 different ways that you can create one.
So, I’ve added all that stuff to something that I’m selling for $29.
But if you look at, I’m eliminating the objections of I don’t know how to take money.
I don’t know how to sell it.
I don’t know how what a good title would be.
I don’t know how to write the code.
To sell it, and I, I’m not even sure I can create the damn thing.
So that’s where I think people really mess up with their, with their offers is that they’re selling what they want to sell.
They’re not selling what people want to buy.
And what people want to buy is the result.
But they may know the result that they want.
But then they have all these objections as soon as they say, “Hey, I want to do this, but then I’m like, but I don’t have this.
But I don’t know this…
But I don’t have access to these things…
But I don’t know how to do something.”
There’s all these things…
And so, in the course of your offer, you can eliminate those objections and create an offer that people be like, “Well, I’d be stupid not to get this.”
That’s ultimately where you are.
Stew Smith: Yeah. And ultimately, I guess what you want to have happen is somebody buy your product and say, I saved so much money by buying this product.
Jim Edwards: Right. Right.
Stew Smith: I hear it all the time.
When my wife goes shopping?
Yeah…
Jim Edwards: Yeah! Oh, yeah…
Yeah, that your Wife does that too because my wife does…
You would not believe how much I saved! I got all these coupons and she goes at Bed Bath and Beyond especially they let you use multiple coupons…
Jim Edwards: You betcha honey.
Stew Smith: So, yeah that… That’s the ultimate goal…
you’re getting a lot you’re giving a lot of value with someone purchasing and taking away any doubts of purchase…
Yeah, yeah…
They have a shoppers high at the end of your purchase…
That is good sales copy.
Jim Edwards: Yeah. So that’s, that’s a good…
That’s the difference between a bad offer a good offer and an amazing holy crap offer…
Is that your offer not only sells the result, but it also eliminates objections…
And usually those objections I mean, yes, I’m oversimplifying…
I’m not actually I’m not over simplifying…
I’m simplifying.
A whole lot of BS that you have to wade through with a lot of people to reach the ultimate same conclusion.
Overcome their objection when it comes to skill, time, money and resources…
And you’re pretty far down the field and can bull your way over the finish line, touchdown, whatever goal line.
He shoots, he scores Steve Smith.
Yaaaay!
Stew Smith: Well, that was good…
That was a good definition of explaining the offer.
Because, you have a product.
That’s great.
Jim Edwards: So, what?
Stew Smith: Yeah.
Jim Edwards: Yeah, but people are worried about these things before they pull the trigger.
So, I mean, there’s other stuff you can you can look at, but really, man, I mean, just looking at hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of offers and having made countless offers myself.
It’s the big idea.
And then it’s eliminating their biggest objection when it comes to skill, time, money.
And resources.
When you do that, it’s like and then and then throw in.
The other thing that you need to have for an offer that really is amazing.
And I’ll throw this out there, I give credit where credit is due.
My buddy Armand Morin called it the “holy crap” factor.
Your offer has to have something that makes people look at it and go Holy crap!
Whether it’s a feature, whether it’s a component whether it’s something that it does, in software like the holy crap factor with a lot of my scripts is…
“Hey, you fill this out not only it’ll do the script but you click two buttons and it gives you a completely done PowerPoint.”
Holy crap! That’s amazing or it pops out in a fully pops out an article already formatted and done in Word…
What?!?! You’re kidding me!! No, it does for real or, you click the little blue text and it’ll start rewriting itself…
In front of your eyes…
Holy crap! that’s the probably the fifth thing that’s the magic the secret sauce the thing that makes people go Oh Damn! it does all that and it does that I got to have that holy crap I got to have that.
So that’s the last little that’s the cherry on top that that’s the thing that makes people talk about your offer they’re telling their friends and selling their friends on it to makes a difference.
So, that’s what I got.
Anything else?
Did you think we covered that?
Stew Smith: I think you covered it excellently.
Jim Edwards: Excellent! All righty…
Well, appreciate everybody being with us.
If you are not a member of the Sales Copywriting and Content Marketing Hacks Podcast group on Facebook, you should be because they were all here live today.
Were with us making comments and part of the group asking us questions and all kinds of good stuff…
So, make sure you do that.
If you want to get a copy of Stew’s book, calisthenics and cardio workouts, head on over to Stew Smith Fitness, StewSmithFitness.com. Also, if you would like to get a copy of copywriting secrets, we still have some copies available…
You head on over to copywritingsecrets.com, you can get a free copy of the book, a free physical copy of the book.
All I ask that you just pay a small shipping and handling to prove you’re serious about taking action…
Because I mean, if I pay for the book, and I pay for the shipping, people would take advantage of me and that’s not really nice.
You wouldn’t do that.
I know you wouldn’t do that.
But some people would.
That’s why I have to ask for the shipping and handling.
But anyway, pick up a copy of that.
I’m Jim Edwards, Everybody have a great day…
We’ll talk to you soon.
Bye, everybody!
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