#michael masterson

Here are my notes:

Stage One: Infancy

Don’t worry about how perfect the product is. Worry about selling.

FOUR PERSONALITIES EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS

A seller

An improver

An organizer

A pusher

PRIORITIES FOR STAGE ONE

Get product ready to sell. Does NOT need to be perfect.

SELL it.

If it sells, make it better.

TO-DO LIST FOR STAGE ONE

Create instant impact message that describes benefit of business

Put on business cards. Handout at business functions.

Field trip to discover how business will satisfy people.

Protect great ideas. Register business name, logo and slogan.

Create paper trail. Track all meeting dates, attendees and discussions.

Consult lawyer on how to best protect your business.

ADVICE

Don’t rush to sign a lease.

Figure out how to test selling proposition.

Test sell: rent booths at flea markets, art fairs.

Advertise on craigslist, internet-based vendors.

Try wholesaling to retail shops. Discount it.

sell sell sell like hell

THE OPTIMUM SELLING STRATEGY (OSS)

Avoid debt as much as possible.

Ask Questions:

Where are you going to find your customers?

What product will you sell them first?

How much will you charge for it?

How will you convince them to buy it?

Once OSS if defined, branch out:

What other products can we sell?

How can we make other offer more enticing?

How can we make advertising copy more convincing?

What other media should we test?

COPYWRITING

4 Key Concepts

The difference between wants and needs

The difference between features and benefits

How to develop unique selling proposition (USP) for product

How to sell the USP

Features and Benefits

Features: what the object IS, HAS or DOES

Benefits: for each feature, list it’s benefit

*destruct every benefit into deeper benefits*

3 ASPECTS OF A SOLID USP

The appearance of uniqueness 

Usefulness

Conceptual Simplicity

HOW TO SELL USP

The Big Idea

An idea big enough for an advertising campaign

Big ideas need to excite YOU

Then find out if it excites your customer

The Big Promise

Create headline for ads

Big idea needs to come with a big promise

Specific Claims

Come up with possible claims that go in ads

Lots of claims that are based on BIG IDEAS

What would a person do if he quintupled his personal power?

Write ALL down

Go back. Make them as specific as you can.

Proof of Those Claims

Look for proof of claims

Collect testimonials

ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN CHEAT SHEET

[  ] Make a list of every feature of the product you can think of

[  ] Make a list of every possible benefit those features provide

[  ] Identify a rising trend in your market

[  ] Which of my product benefits as potential USPs

[  ] Find out which USPs are the strongest

[  ] Each strong USP needs a Big Idea

[  ] From the Big Ideas create strong headlines with a Big Promise

[  ] Make a list of claims including proof