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Top of the morning. Glad to be with you, so let’s get crackin’.

Today’s Main Thing is all about a widespread content marketing mistake (the same mistake made in sales via an old Jim Rohn story).

After we cover that, have a look at This Week’s Marketing Wrap-Up. Let’s get on with it…

Appetizer: Good first impressions get erased by doing this.

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Perfect Content Marketing — that Still Fails

Been reading this book called Simple Marketing for Smart People (lucky for me, it’s also available for purchase by dummies).

Lots of familiar concepts. But packaged in a digestible way.

The best takeaway in the book, which I’ll get to, sounds a lot like a sad sales tale I heard from Jim Rohn prolly 20 years ago. 

Mr. Rohn’s story talks about a real estate dude who misses out on a huge real estate deal.

Why? The real estate agent was FORGETTABLE.

It was his own fault. 

At his country club, he did talk about real estate with other members. His mistake was not highlighting himself enough. He was too subtle about his unique knowledge of buying and selling properties.

So, one Friday, a wealthy club “buddy” of his mentions he just sold a property for a couple of million dollars (if I recall the numbers right). 

The real estate agent was surprised his buddy didn’t hire him to broker the deal. So he asked the wealthy fella why he didn’t use his services.

“Oh, yeah. That’s right. You are a real estate agent aren't you?”

That kinda response might’ve led to a murder on the 9th hole. But again, it was the agent’s fault that he was not top-of-mind.

Over the years, he probably gave the wealthy gentleman all kinds of valuable real estate news and insights. What he failed to do was toot his own horn. So, he lost the chance at a ginormous commission.

Back to the book…

Too Much Free Content (with no payoff)

The book I mentioned talks about a similar problem in marketing content. 

Many content creators will write hundreds of articles or do 15 hours of videos per month.

No question the audience gets lots of value from the free content. 

What’s the creator get out of it, though, if the main focus every time is educating their followers?

The main focus, the #1 goal, should be getting their solutions chosen by their audience (and purchased).

It’s easy for content producers to think they’re pushing their products and services too hard. They fear not “adding value” 24/7. 

Nowadays, that fear is unfounded 90% of the time. You’re way more likely to be underselling your solutions while giving away more than your fair share of free education and enlightenment.

Writing a 2,500-word article and putting a lonely call-to-action (CTA) at the very end is out of balance.

Readers get 2,400 valuable words. You get a 100-word Hail-Mary CTA. 

I know…

Content Shouldn’t Be an Ad

Obviously, you don’t want your article to look like an ad, spouting off about how great your widget is every other paragraph. And you cannot be telling your social media followers to hit the link in your bio every 39 seconds in an IG Reel.

Promoting yourself can go too far. 

Again, in today’s Freebie Land of the Web, it’s unlikely you’ll take it that far.

Plus, you can be subtle about promoting your wares. Yes, your calls-to-action should be direct, strong, and plain as day!

But why not mention your other books or courses or collaborators in content that isn’t directly connected to those topics? Every mention does not necessarily have to have a link. 

• Ben Settle does this superbly in his newsletter

• The authors of Simple Marketing for Smart People use their courses as marketing examples in the book (not an accident)

• A financial advisor I know used the entire last chapter of his 13-chapter book as a subtle sales letter for his firm

Just mention what you have available. Your audience isn’t full of morons. They know you don’t work for the Red Cross. You’re out here to make a living. To grow a business.

Donald Miller states this plainly in Story Brand…

“Sooner or later, you have to ask for the sale. You’re in a business relationship. It’s creepy if you act like you’re a friend (paraphrased).”

Sooner’s better than later. You don’t wanna write 99 articles then f-i-n-a-l-l-y ask folks to buy from you on article #100, do you?

The Bottom Line

I love people. But I am a people so I know how people act. 

• They’ll forget about you quicker than you think

• They don’t have time to care about anything but what you’ve done for them lately

So, if you feed them enough free content to get them where they wanna be, why would they stick around to buy from you later?

Ok, onto the Wrap-Up…

Please share Inbox Hacking with a fellow marketing genius or business owner. I appreciate you reading and sharing. 

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

“Every time you take a note, ask yourself, 'How can I make this as useful as possible for my future self?' That question will lead you to annotate the words and phrases that explain why you saved a note, what you were thinking, and what exactly caught your attention.” ~Tiago Forte (author of Building a Second Brain)

P.S. We can allegedly live longer by taking care of those Chicklets (teeth)?