TOPIC: “The Entrepreneur’s Path: Inner and Outer Success Strategies from a Zen Master”

DATE: Monday, November 9th, 2009

TIME: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern

GUEST: Zen Master Genpo Roshi

REGISTER:

http://www.infoproductguy.com/teleclass/roshi.html

On this special teleclass, Zen master Genpo Roshi offers you a direct, first hand, enlightened spiritual experience…PLUS…insights on how you can get better business results on your Entrepreneur’s Path.http://www.infoproductguy.com/teleclass/roshi.html

This call may change your life…

If you’ve ever felt conflicted between the need to be spiritual and the drive to make more money, this is your chance to discover the secret that will set you free.

Genpo Roshi has become world-famous for his Big Mind Process, a combination of Zen and Western psychology. This amazing process allows you to experience - in just 90 minutes or less - how to get spiritually aligned and empower others.

What’s even more exciting is…

On Monday, November 9th you also have the opportunity to experience for yourself what Buddhists call “Buddha Mind” - the mind of clarity, transcendental wisdom, and unconditional compassion - and, the profound personal and psychological insights that go with it.

The effect of this radical new approach can forever change how you attract money, clients and opportunities to you and your business.

If you’ve ever wanted to experience more clarity about the deeper meaning and purpose of your life…

This is your chance.

The opportunity for you in this one-of-a-kind teleclass is profound…

* You’ll have a real, tangible experience of being One with the entire universe - what Genpo Roshi calls Big Mind/Big Heart.

You’ll see how to easily and effortless integrate that high spiritual state into your everyday, ordinary life. I’m talking about the ability to come from the highest spiritual realms while, AT THE SAME TIME, maintain a thriving, profitable business.

* You’ll have a huge “ah-ha” (maybe many) about the deeper purpose of your life, who you really are, your gift to the world

- and how you can use these insights to catapult your business to a higher level than you can even image right now…

* You’ll be able to experience a permanent resolution regarding at least one - and probably several - stuck places in your life. At least one major part of your life that wasn’t working will finally work.

Bottom line: your perspective on life, money and your business will permanently change to one that allows you to have more of the happiness, inner peace, and personal success you’ve always wanted.

I know this sounds like a lot, but I know it’s true. I’ve personally experienced one of my biggest personal and spiritual breakthroughs of my life with Genpo Roshi in the summer of 2007.

Go here to register for this one-time event:

The Four Layers of What They Want

What your target market wants correlates with discovering why and how you buy what you buy. Try examining your recent purchases. By looking closely you can see the four layers to what you wanted: the tangible thing, the benefit it gives you, the benefit to the benefit and the end result - why you really bought what you bought.

It’s exactly the same when people buy from you; and it fits into four layers.

Layer One - The Tangible Offer

First, they want the tangible thing you offer. This is the literal thing they buy from you, what they get as a deliverable. This is going to be a product or a service. For example, your info product, one-on-one coaching, group coaching, teleclasses, live events, etc.

If you were to describe the tangible deliverable you offer in detail, you would uncover its features. You may have heard the saying, “Sell the benefits, not the features.” Well, now you have an easy way to tell the difference - the features describe the tangible; the benefits describe what the feature does.

Layer Two - The Benefits

There’s a reason why people are pulling out their wallets to hand you money. It’s not just for the tangible thing you offer. That’s a means to an end. Your target market wants something from you that benefits them.

Benefits can also be experiences. People go to Disneyland for the experience. People pay extra to go to a live seminar for the experience. Consider the emotional and experiential benefits to what you offer, too.

Layer Three - The Motivation

Behind every benefit is a deeper motivation, a deeper reason why. It’s going to always boil down to “what’s in it for me?” The motivation is almost always going to be a practical, real life benefit - not an abstract, ethereal idea. For example, if you’re selling meditation, you might feel the benefit is “connection to non-dual awareness”, but what’s driving your target market is going to be more concrete: less stress, focus to get things done faster, increased happiness, etc.

When you’re identifying the motivation why people buy from you, think of the Top 11 Motivators: save time, save money, make money, avoid effort, increase happiness, find success, be pain-free/better health, have fun, gain praise, feel safe and secure, feel liked or loved/be popular.

Layer Four - The Hook

Your hook is a short statement that sums up the bottom line end result why people should buy your product or service.

It’s essential you identify the “sweet spot” or final end result your market desires from you because this is the heart of your marketing message. This will define your headline, what you say on your phone message, and what you tell people you do.

© 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.

Now narrow down the topic of your overall business. We’re at the start of your relationship with your target market. You know them, now they need a way to identify and know you.

Positioning vs. Branding

Many solo-entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking their branding is the be-all and end-all. It isn’t. What IS important is your positioning.

By branding I mean the look and feel of your marketing materials: your colors, logo, font, etc. It’s the image you want to convey to your market. By positioning I mean what comes top of mind when your target market thinks of you. It’s their perception of what you do, the topic of your business, the problems you solve.

When starting a business, positioning is MUCH more important than branding.

Notice I said “when starting.” Yes, branding is important, but not until you are crystal clear on who your market is, what they want, and how you help them. Having a cool logo before you have paying clients won’t do you any good.

As a general rule of thumb, you can invest in a professional branding makeover once you know with certainty that you have a market, your message is working and the money is rolling in. Once you have positive cash flow then go crazy with a fancy logo - if you want.

I see too many entrepreneurs mixing this up. They spend hundreds and thousands of dollars splitting hairs over the color and font of their website BEFORE they have proven that people will even buy the product or service they offer.

Instead, focus your time, money and energy on figuring out what position you’ll hold in the minds of your target market.

Branding is often sold as the lifesaving jacket for entrepreneurs, but that’s a myth. It’s one of many tools and not the most important.

I saw the myth in full force a few years back at a business seminar I attended. I stood at the side of the room and watched 87 eager entrepreneurs being hypnotized by an expert on branding. The speaker was sincere and intelligent; it’s just that the audience wasn’t at the point in their businesses where they needed branding. They needed clients!

The speaker showed one commercial after another: Gap, Apple, IBM, always emphasizing the importance of branding. Everyone lapped it all in and completely missed the elephant in the room.

These were new entrepreneurs NOT multi-billion dollar companies with millions to spend on branding. Why would they even THINK about logos and branding when most of them were still figuring out who their target market was?

If this is you, stop spending thousands of dollars splitting hairs over the color of your logo! Spend your time developing a headline that converts prospects to leads and leads to clients. Spend your money becoming an expert in your industry. Spend your time POSITIONING yourself as THE expert your target market wants to hire, because these efforts will translate to money in your bank account.

I remember I spoke at an event about the power of knowing your target market, writing a winning headline, and converting leads to clients.

Seconds after I finished speaking, a woman rushed up to me with a piece of paper in her hand and an eager look in her eye, “Will you look at my logo please?”

I held back the temptation to roll my eyes “Sure!” I said.

She was a coach and trainer that taught success principles. Her logo was clean “easy to read - nice font, nice color. It worked, but right next to her company name was a huge picture of a seashell!

I immediately asked, “What’s up with the seashell!?”

She said, “Oh that’s a symbol of the Greek mythology about [blah, blah, blah] and it related to my astrological sign because [blah, blah, blah]…”

I put my hand on her shoulder and softened my voice to break the news, “Nobody but you cares. The seashell won’t make you money. Lose the seashell.”

© 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.

Your goal with the human touch research is to understand, directly from your market, what they want. Both human touch and technology based research are valuable when combined to help you create a winning business and product. But the trick is to listen to your market.

I know, I know, everyone tells us we need to learn to listen. But has anyone actually showed you how? There’s a simple technique to use when interviewing people for information about your market. Follow these three strategies and you’ll get a wealth of knowledge that will make you rich.
 
1. Listen for exact words

When you ask your target market a question, listen for the EXACT words they use. Because when you craft your marketing message and write sales copy you want to mirror back to them their exact words. This helps you build rapport and it helps them know you understand them.

This strategy will also pay off when you’re ready to come up with products to offer your market. When you listen to what your market complains about, and you listen for their exact words, you’ll have a strong clue what to title your product. All you have to do is add the words “How To” in front of their complaint.

For example, if your target market says, “My big problem is I can’t get enough clients and I hate marketing!” Your ears perk up because you just heard a great title for a potential info product: “How to Get More Clients - Even If You HATE Marketing!”

2. Listen for the emotions behind their words

People often SAY one thing but really MEAN something more. We aren’t trying to deceive - but we often don’t know what we really want or what’s really going on inside of us.

It’s YOUR job to listen to what they are saying BEHIND their words. When you identify the motivating emotions driving them, you can appeal to those core emotions in your marketing message.

3. Listen for the problems they want solved

You can have a list of questions to ask your market, but there’s also an art to listening. Use the list as a springboard, not as a crutch. Feel free to pursue an issue. Get to the bottom of what they really want.

At the same time, listen for the obvious. Marketing isn’t complicated when you listen to the obvious indicators from your target market. Resist the temptation to over analyze what they are saying. And watch out that your biases and preferences don’t get in the way. If you’re so in love with an idea and your market is telling you they’re not interested, take heed. Remember, your target market is your #1 marketing guru.

© 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.

Your goal with the human touch research is to understand, directly from your market, what they want. Both human touch and technology based research are valuable when combined to help you create a winning business and product. But the trick is to listen to your market.

I know, I know, everyone tells us we need to learn to listen. But has anyone actually showed you how? There’s a simple technique to use when interviewing people for information about your market. Follow these three strategies and you’ll get a wealth of knowledge that will make you rich.
 
1. Listen for exact words

When you ask your target market a question, listen for the EXACT words they use. Because when you craft your marketing message and write sales copy you want to mirror back to them their exact words. This helps you build rapport and it helps them know you understand them.

This strategy will also pay off when you’re ready to come up with products to offer your market. When you listen to what your market complains about, and you listen for their exact words, you’ll have a strong clue what to title your product. All you have to do is add the words “How To” in front of their complaint.

For example, if your target market says, “My big problem is I can’t get enough clients and I hate marketing!” Your ears perk up because you just heard a great title for a potential info product: “How to Get More Clients - Even If You HATE Marketing!”

2. Listen for the emotions behind their words

People often SAY one thing but really MEAN something more. We aren’t trying to deceive - but we often don’t know what we really want or what’s really going on inside of us.

It’s YOUR job to listen to what they are saying BEHIND their words. When you identify the motivating emotions driving them, you can appeal to those core emotions in your marketing message.

3. Listen for the problems they want solved

You can have a list of questions to ask your market, but there’s also an art to listening. Use the list as a springboard, not as a crutch. Feel free to pursue an issue. Get to the bottom of what they really want.

At the same time, listen for the obvious. Marketing isn’t complicated when you listen to the obvious indicators from your target market. Resist the temptation to over analyze what they are saying. And watch out that your biases and preferences don’t get in the way. If you’re so in love with an idea and your market is telling you they’re not interested, take heed. Remember, your target market is your #1 marketing guru.

© 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.

Here’s how it works.

Imagine a room twenty feet long with an entry door on one end and an exit door on the opposite side. Outside of the room, near the entrance, a member of your target market is struggling and suffering. It’s as if they are dragging a ball and chain tied to their ankle and carrying heavy bricks on their shoulders.

As they limp around, they read a sign above the entry door. It compels them enough to gather enough strength and open the door to go inside. Once they are in the room they slowly walk across the room. With every step, their burden gets less and less. Step-by-step, the ball and chain disappear - the bricks turn to dust. As they journey across your Magic Room, they get noticeably better and better.

By the time they reach for the exit door, they are happy, free and smiling. They walk out the door with a song in their heart and a skip in their step.

Now let’s see how the three phases translate into your market research.

Phase One: Before they enter your Magic Room

Before your target enters the room they are burdened and suffering. They either have a problem they can’t solve or desire something they can’t get.  They don’t know where to start and what to do. When you interview your market, you’ll know this phase by their complaints, problems and questions.

In the analogy, the sign above the door is like your hook - the message that captures their attention and compels them enough to reach for the door knob and go inside. The sign tells them in clear, concise words what they’ll get or who they’ll be once they EXIT room and walk out the other end. The sign above the door does NOT talk about the process they will go through walking through the room - more about this very important point later.

The sign above the door is like your headline, product title and/or tagline. It’s short, direct and says what your potential client will get as an end result if they buy your product or service.

The hungrier your market is (i.e. the more pain they are in) the easier it’ll be to entice them to enter your room where you’ll do your magic to help them solve their burden.

In the first phase of your research you want to identify what their problems are, what they complain about, and what bottom line solutions they want.

Phase 2: During your work with them

Once they are in your Magic Room, you can do your magic on them. You help them transform using your process.

Every step your client takes across the room is like a step in your program. With each step your client takes, the closer they get to their specific, desired end result. The clearer your step-by-step program is the faster and easier your clients get results.

The trap many entrepreneurs fall into is they market their process and not the end result. You love what happens in the Magic Room - it’s your passion, not theirs. All your market really cares about is what they get, who they’ll be when they walk OUT of your room. Your passion is just a means to an end for them.

Resist the temptation to only talk about how you do what you do because you’ll turn off potential clients. They don’t care! Instead, spend most of your time describing the person they will be when they’re done working with you - the bottom line end result.

Your market research for Phase Two focuses on how you can best deliver results for your market. You’re looking for ways to improve your process and figure out what format your market wants the solution delivered. For example, do they prefer E-Books, audio CD’s, live events, etc.?

Phase 3: After

After the work is done, your client walks out of the Magic Room transformed. They got what they came for. THIS is why they come to you for in the first place. In your marketing, the more you emphasize who they are, what they get AFTER they walk out of the Magic Room, the more sales you’ll make.

In your research for Phase Three, you want to find out the desired end result of your market. Simply, what do they want?

By using the Magic Room Analogy when doing your market research, you will be able to identify the three phases your target market goes through. Doing target market research this way will reveal their thoughts, feelings and wants for each of the three phases.

© 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.

The Flat Tire Metaphor

Imagine your target market, is driving home late at night. They were at an event that got out late and they got held up talking with people. Now it’s 12:30 at night, which would normally be fine, but its pouring rain. We’re talking buckets and buckets of water flooding down in torrents. Your target market has their windshield wipers whipping across as fast as they can, still barely able to see in front of their car. It’s tense.

All they want is to go home.

Because at home, they have two beautiful children. The kids are already asleep, but this person just wants to tiptoe into their bedroom, gently kiss them on the forehead, and tip-toe out. All they want is to make a nice, hot cup of tea and curl up with their spouse. Home has all the love, security and warmth they desire.

But right now, their knuckles are white from gripping the steering wheel as they lean forward trying to get through this dark, wet, cold night.

All of a sudden.

BOOM!

They get a flat tire!

They manage to pull over. They open the car door and immediately they’re drenched in cold, stinging rain. They open the trunk - thank goodness! There is a spare tire.

But as they drag out the big, awkward spare tire, they stub their toe and chip a nail.

It’s the back right tire that went out. There they sit, in a puddle of water with a spare tire to their side and a completely flat tire attached to their car. They hold in their hand a piece of steel that looks like a giant “L”.

Here’s the problem. They have NO idea how to change a flat tire!

They reach for their cell phone. No reception.

It’s at this very moment that YOU drive up and see this poor person struggling in the cold rain. You pull over, grab one of those big umbrellas that you keep in your car and rush up to them. “Oh my gosh! I can see you’re in a hard situation.”

They say, “Yes! All I want is to get home, but I have no idea how to change a flat tire.”

Then you smile and say, “Wow! You’re in luck! I know EXACTLY how to change a flat tire. I’ve changed so many tires in my day and I’ve helped so many other people change their flat tires in fact” and you reach into your pocket. “I have here a piece of paper that tells you step-by-step exactly how to change a flat tire.”

You are that person’s Guardian Angel at that very moment!

They say, “Thank you! I’ll pay you $500 for that piece of paper. In fact, I’ll pay you $1000 if you just change the tire for me.”

How to Apply the Flat Tire Metaphor to Your Business

There are three parts to the metaphor:

1.  What does “home” represent to your target market? What do they want?

2.  What does the “flat tire” represent to your target market? What’s the immediate problem that prevents them from getting what they want?

3.  What does the “piece of paper” represent in your business? What do you offer as a solution to help your target market get what they want?

What’s happening in the flat tire story is a metaphor to exactly what’s happening in your business right now. It represents what your target market is experiencing this very minute. Different context and situations - but the essence is the same.

© 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.

You’re out shopping. You see something you want. Something inside your gut is triggered, “I want that!” Then your mind kicks in, “But.. You wrestle back and forth as you justify to yourself why it’s a wise purchasing decision. (All the while, your gut is screaming, “Get it! Get it!”)

Buying is often like this, right?

You see something and BANG! The core of your brain - the reptilian brain - grunts, “Ugh. I want that. I have to have that!” It’s your “greed gland.”

Next your limbic system - the mammalian brain - gets hit with the emotional desire for the thing. The desire burns deep inside you (out of control if it wasn’t for the next part of the brain).

Your neo cortex butts in. It asks for reason before making any rash decisions. So off your mind races, looking for good reasons why you need your initial, impulse desire.

In your marketing message, you have to hit all three levels of the brain. You need to offer something desirable to your market, get their attention, and then give them lots of reasons and justifications why it’s a wise purchase.

There are eleven TOP reasons why we buy anything:

1.  Save time
2.  Save money
3.  Make money
4.  Avoid effort
5.  Increase happiness
6.  Find success
7.  Be pain free/better health
8.  Have fun
9.  Gain praise
10. Feel safe and secure
11. Feel liked or loved/be popular

Let’s keep looking at how you and your market make buying decisions.

The 5 Steps Buying Process

Another way of looking at the process we all go through whenever we buy anything is the following 5 steps:

1. We are aware that we have a want/desire
(”I have a problem with ____ /I want ______.”)

2. We look around for the thing that will solve our problem
(”What will fulfill/solve my want/problem?”)

3. We choose the source of the solution
(”Who/what will help me solve this problem?”)

4. We accept the price (”Is this a fair price for what I’m getting?”)

5. We decide if we need the solution now
(”Why should I buy this right now?”)

Try this enlightening exercise - it’ll help you to start to think from the perspective of your target market when they are considering buying from you.

List five purchases you’ve made over the last 30 days, why you bought them and your desired end result. Then make a chart to explore what drives you to buy. Use the descriptions below to guide your answers:

1. WHAT you bought - the tangible
Choose five purchases you’ve made recently. Pick big and small ticket items; products and services. We’re going to analyze why and how you bought what you did, so choose a mix of things.

2. WHY you bought it - the benefit
You bought the tangible thing for some purpose - what was it? For example, if you bought a house, you wanted a place to live (and an investment). If you bought airline tickets, you wanted to travel to a location. There’s always a benefit you get when you buy something you want. Keep your answers simple and direct - this isn’t hard. Don’t over think this.

3. Your MOTIVATION for buying it - the benefit of the benefit
Behind every benefit is another benefit - a deeper reason why. What was your motivation for buying this thing? Choose from the list of “Top 11 Reasons Why We Buy”: save time, save money, make money, avoid effort, increase happiness, find success, be pain-free/better health, have fun, gain praise, feel safe and secure, feel liked or loved/be popular.

For example, the motivation for buying a house could be to make money, increase happiness, gain praise, and feel safe.

The motivation for buying an airline ticket could be to save time.

4. The HOOK - The end result you bought, what you REALLY bought
Finally, list the exact end result you wanted when you bought the product or service. It’s the “sweet spot” deep inside you that ultimately made you buy. You were hooked and you bought. If you were to come up with a couple words that describes the end result you bought, what would they be?

The end result, or hook, for buying a house could be “Happy Family.” The end result for buying an airline ticket could be “The Fast, Fun and Easy Way to Get to Where I Want.”
5. Your Buying Decision

Go through your list of purchases individually and run it through the five step decision making process. Answer the following questions in your mind for each purchase:

*  Were you aware of your want/problem/desire? How did you become aware of your want/problem desire?

*  Where did you look for or find a solution for your want/problem/desire?

*  How did you choose where you got your solution? Why did you choose this over a competitor?

*  What was your process to accept the price?

*  What made you decide that you needed the solution at that time?

Examining why you buy what you buy will help you in developing your marketing message. By offering a product or service that is desirable to your market, you will capture their attention, and be prepared with reasons and justifications as to why it’s a wise purchase

© 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.

We’re so excited…but in many ways, Melanie and I are so connected it doesn’t feel like it’s going to be radically different than now. But we’ll see!

We both have had a ton of fun preparing for the wedding: the cake, the table settings, the gift bag with gift CD of our favorite music…so many details!

And I loved preparing the music for the wedding. I’m very particular with music so we’re both happy with how we’ve set the tone during different parts of the wedding with some great music.

With all the activity happening it’s a wonder I was able to do business! But I have…and it directly benefits YOU.

I wanted to share in our wedding excitement and offer you a very rare price for my powerful “Marketing Made Easy Blueprint” home study kit. Until THIS SATURDAY you save 40%. So instead of being the regular $497, you can get it for $297. You save $200.

I highly suggest you grab this while the offer is available. http://www.InfoproductGuy.com/wedding

I’ll share with you all the fun photos from the wedding afterwards. We’re having our friend Lesley Bohm photograph the wedding (she took my recent headshot and she’s amazing!)

The Bottom Line to Your Hook

Your irresistible offer is a short statement that:

Grabs your market’s attention
Tells them you have the solution they’re looking for
Compels them to take action towards you

It’s sometimes called a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or a hook. I think of it as a hook because it hooks your market and reels them towards you.

Your irresistible offer could be the title of your product, your business tagline and/or the headline of your sales copy. It’s not complicated; you’ve got about three seconds to capture your market’s attention. With that limitation, what do you need to say that gets them to spend the next thirty seconds with you?

A Market to Message Match

So here you are, and over there, in the distance, is your target market, wallet in hand. There’s a gap. You somehow need to wave a big flag over your head to get their attention so they come over. If you’re waving the wrong flag, you’ll just exhaust yourself waving and waving. But if your flag is compelling enough to them, they’ll come. Then you can strike up a conversation and build rapport. You need to align what your market wants with the product or service that you offer.

Avoid I, Me, Mine Marketing

In order to motivate people to buy from you, you have to get out of your head and into their world. The secret is to hook your market from their point of view - not yours.

The mistake is getting trapped in “I, me, mine” marketing.

Have you ever been on a first date and the other person yapped on and on about themselves the whole time? You get that fake, plastered smile on your face as you politely nod. But all the while your head is screaming, “Get me the heck out of here!”

But if your website headline says “Welcome” or your header is oversized with little but your logo and company name you’re doing the same thing to your visitors. Not cool.

There’s a sneaky variation of this mistake coaches and consultants slip into they talk about their process, not the end result. Coaches love to talk about things like: core values, awakening, abundance, inner peace, etc. But this is abstract language relevant to the insular world of other coaches.

The mistake is going on and on about the PROCESS of coaching - not what you get as an end result of the coaching, which is what the target market really cares about.

Bottom line: your process is not your irresistible offer.

Your irresistible offer is a statement of end results and bottom line benefits.

It makes sense, right? Think about it. Before YOU buy anything you first assess what you’ll get out of it. What’s in it for you?

Your target market is no different.

You may LOVE talking about the process of what you do, because that’s your passion. You love talking with colleagues about the mechanics of what you do.

But your market doesn’t care. They just want their bottom line solution, fast!

When exploring your irresistible offer, don’t tell your market what your product is. Tell them what it does the end result they will get when they use your product or service.

© 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.