Thinking Out Loud with Dean Jackson

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**Thinking Out Loud with Dean Jackson**

Dean Jackson thinks out loud about marketing, referrals, positioning, and the small ideas that quietly change how a business grows. Short, unscripted episodes. The raw thinking behind BreakthroughDNA and the 8 Profit Activators.

Latest Episodes:

How I start every ad, letter, postcard or marketing piece Oct 03, 2026

Show notes

Good morning.

A couple of days ago I talked about how to get anything started and done.

One of the tools I use is having a framework. A checklist or a formula for doing things.

Because when you're creating marketing materials, whether it's a brochure, an ad, an email campaign or a funnel... we tend to think about the whole thing.

Not the steps that make it manageable.

"Work on the sales letter" gives you nothing to latch onto. It can even be a way of avoiding it.

In November 1997 I was introduced to a book called A Millionaire's Notebook, by Steve Scott.

Steve was one of the pioneers of infomercial marketing. Billions of dollars of products sold.

And in a couple of chapters he shows exactly how he writes the scripts.

So I adapted that into the procedure I use to start every new project.

It starts with questions.

Who is my ideal customer?

Not "homeowners." That's the forest. Get down to the individual trees.

Let's say you want listings in Winter Haven real estate. It could be condos, lakefront homes, acreage, horse farms...

When you list them out, some jump out at you. Especially the highest value prospects.

That's why you hear me talk about lakefront so much.

Then... what problem or need does this solve?

It's just as valuable to think about who's NOT likely to be your customer.

Then, what's every excuse for not taking any action at all?

Call it the enemy. The reason somebody does nothing.

Then, what's every excuse for not buying from me? Maybe their best friend is a realtor.

And what are the other possible solutions? What will people do instead of me?

Steve Scott would list every possible question and objection... and answer each one.

An infomercial is really just a VSL. A delivery device.

And the one I learned the most from... what images could I build emotional word pictures from?

We have an ad for lakefront homes in Winter Haven, and the picture isn't the house.

It's the view from the dock at sunset. Two Adirondack chairs looking out over the lake.

That's what people really want.

Nobody dreams of looking up at a high-rise condo. They want to be inside it, looking out over the city.

All of this becomes an idea palette you draw from for every headline, offer and email.

It's like stepping onto a moving sidewalk.

So before you write the next ad... ask the questions first.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/122-how-i-start-every-ad-letter-postcard-or-marketing-piece/

Join me live on the next free 50-Minute Profit Finder call: 50minuteprofitfinder.com/podcast

Send this email today and let me know what happens Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

Good morning.

This might be the shortest video I do.

About the length of the drive from Honeycomb to Concord for coffee.

But I want you to do something today.

Right now is a great time to get people who are thinking about doing something... into action.

It's October. The end of the year is on everybody's mind.

So here's the email.

A nine word email, with a deadline that's already in their head.

"Were you hoping to get your deck done before the end of the year?"

"Were you hoping to get your beach condo before the end of the year?"

"Would you like to get your fence built before the holidays?"

"Would you like to get your carpets cleaned before the holidays?"

People have things they'd like to get done.

What they're missing is the prompt.

Put a deadline in front of them that they already care about, and it spurs them into action.

We did this with an HVAC company in the UK.

Right now it's the transition into winter, and over there they have boilers instead of AC units.

So the email was, "Would you like to get your boiler sorted by winter?"

That's an amazing thing.

And it's repeatable.

Every fall, every new year, every spring, every summer, before every holiday.

Just look for the transitional times in your business.

So think about how this applies to you... send it today... and let me know what happens.

Let's see if we can get you some business before the end of the day.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/121-send-this-email-today-and-let-me-know-what-happens/

Join me live on the next free 50-Minute Profit Finder call: 50minuteprofitfinder.com/podcast

How to quickly get anything started (and done) Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

Good morning.

We're back in the journals. Journal number seven, late fall of 1997.

And I noticed something on these pages.

I was building a process for getting things started... and getting them done.

I didn't know it then, but that was my ADHD. I always had the inkling I was different. Why do I struggle so much with things?

But I'm very thoughtful. I love to think things through. That's why I'm a journaler.

So I started working out a process that works for me.

Seven checkpoints.

The first is a commitment to getting started on time.

So much of the struggle is "where do I start?"

For me, setting up the environment and setting the time aside is the first step.

I just saw a video with Jerry Seinfeld. When he figured out that everything was about the writing, he committed to two hours a day.

He doesn't have to write. But he can't do anything else.

For me, that's 10am. I'm in position.

The second is deciding what I'm going to focus on in that time.

Being there and prepared means all I have left to do is decide.

The third is dispatching whatever you can.

Dan Sullivan's first question is, "Is there any way I can get this done without doing anything?"

If not, what's the least I need to do? And is there a who that can do my least?

The fourth is focusing my attention.

Eliminating distractions. Putting myself somewhere I have the best chance of working on what I decided, for the time I set aside.

That was the beginning of what became my 50-Minute Focus Finder.

The fifth is having a method.

If you're going to do something again and again, have a procedure for it.

When I write a sales letter, an email, a postcard or an ad, I've got formulas and frameworks. I break it into its components and work on them one at a time.

The sixth is speed of implementation.

With ADHD, what drives us is novelty and urgency. That's why we wait till the last minute.

But you can bring that urgency to the beginning of a project, even if it isn't real.

I set a timer and try to get something done before the buzzer.

The seventh is knowing when it's enough.

I'm a big fan of the minimum viable product.

Dan Sullivan wrote a great book called The 80% Approach. Most of the time, 80% is good enough... and the extra work for the last 20% isn't worth the squeeze.

These videos follow exactly this process.

They go up every day, so I shoot every day.

The journal prompts what I'm going to talk about.

The only thing I'm responsible for is looking at the camera and talking. The team handles everything else.

We do it in an 8 to 12 minute window. One take, no editing.

Could it be better? Could we script it, add graphics, edit it, punch cut?

Absolutely.

But it's not going to make the boat go faster.

What matters is getting it completed and getting it out into the world.

105 days in a row and counting.

So pick one thing... set the clock... and get it started today.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/120-how-to-quickly-get-anything-started-and-done/

Join me live on the next free 50-Minute Profit Finder call: 50minuteprofitfinder.com/podcast

Try this and see if you get more done today… Sep 30, 2026

Show notes

Good morning.

This is day 104 of going through my journals.

I've journaled almost every day for over 30 years. And looking back, one theme keeps coming up.

I spent a lot of time trying to maximize my days.

What's my ideal week? How can I get more done?

I didn't know it at the time, but I'm ADHD. We seek novelty and urgency.

What hasn't changed in all those years is that we still get 24 hours a day.

Life moves at the speed of reality. 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour... in real time.

So I'm always looking for ways to make things feel like going downstream.

My friend Dan Sullivan has just published a new book called Yesterday Creates Tomorrow.

And looking back over all these journals, I realized it's absolutely true.

Every drop of ink that made it onto one of these pages happened in real time. In the present.

When I read them, I'm not looking back 30 years. I'm right there.

And everything I have now, everything I've accomplished, is the result of the yesterdays I created.

It's simple, but it's profound.

Dan and I have a friend, Lior, who was on a trip with some other parents.

They were all talking about how to prepare their kids for the future.

When it was Lior's turn, he said, "We don't know how to prepare our kids for an uncertain future. So what we're focused on is making sure they have a better past."

That's one thing you can control.

You can make sure that when you wake up tomorrow, yesterday was a great yesterday.

When you really embrace that, you start to sense the urgency of it.

I've been calling it the permanent record.

The things that count are the things that get on the permanent record.

So when you wake up tomorrow and look back at today... what would make you happy that you got done?

Here's the trap.

When we have a future orientation, it feels like we have an abundance of time.

Time to think about the future. Plan for the future. Ruminate on the past.

But none of that goes on the permanent record.

The only time you have to get something on the record is right now. And if you don't, that moment is gone forever.

I told Dan it reminds me of an old game show called Supermarket Sweep.

You got a shopping basket and a couple of minutes to run around the grocery store. Whatever was in your basket when you crossed the line, you got to keep.

Every day is kind of like that.

All these shelves full of things you could put in your basket... on the permanent record.

But when you cross the line at the end of the day, you only keep what actually got in the basket.

The only way I have 104 daily videos out in the world is by having 104 yesterdays that included shooting one.

Now, if you were a contestant, you might plan your route.

Head straight to the steaks. Go for the highest-value things first.

Or you could let the clock run, wander into the snack aisle, and mosey through the store.

It's a whole different approach.

And it's changed how I approach my days.

I look at what I'd really like to put on the permanent record... and build scaffolding around making sure it happens.

These 30 years of journals are the result of creating a better past. Choosing to write every day.

And looking forward, I'll have 30 years of videos on the record too.

So try this.

Before the clock starts, decide what you want in your basket... and see if you get more done today.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/119-try-this-and-see-if-you-get-more-done-today/

Join me live on the next free 50-Minute Profit Finder call: 50minuteprofitfinder.com/podcast

How to Know for Sure If Your Ad Is a Winner Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

Good morning.

We're still in My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins. Still in the fall of 1997 in my journals.

And there's so much I've underlined... and re-underlined.

I can trace the genesis of things I do to this day right back to these pages.

Here's the one Claude bases everything on.

Our success depends on pleasing people.

And by an inexpensive test, we can learn if we please them or not.

I've built so much on that idea. Test something in a small way first.

Start with a hundred dollar test.

If it's going to show signs of life, you'll see very quickly whether you've got an appeal on the winning side or the losing side.

That's all I'm looking for in that first test. Winners and losers.

The things that kill you are the middling things. The ones you think maybe you can salvage.

There's no need to send 10,000 postcards to get an answer you could get with a thousand.

And no need to start a Facebook campaign at $1,000 a day when $100 will show you which direction it's going.

Here's another line from Claude.

The man who argues for his own advantage is usually disregarded.

You've heard me talk a lot about gift cards and free trials. Something with real value that isn't attached to somebody doing something for you first.

Half price, or buy one get one... that's you hedging your bets. Covering your costs.

They still have to take a chance on you first.

Sure, a small percentage of people might take advantage of you.

But for the most part, people are very honorable.

One of my guiding thoughts is this.

Sometimes it's less expensive to get a result for somebody than it is to convince them to give you money to get the result.

You hear a lot about tripwire offers. The idea that somebody who'll pay a dollar is a much better prospect than somebody you give something to for free.

I've never found that to be true.

Think about the lifetime value of someone who uses your product or service again and again.

They're only going to do that if they see a distinct advantage in it for themselves.

That means pleasing people.

So if you've got something that pleases people, you owe it to yourself to make sure they experience it first.

You go first.

Give somebody a free facial. They come into your studio, feel the warmth and the care, get an amazing facial...

That's a much easier person to get back than someone who never came in at all.

Same with a mosquito treatment.

Convincing people to pay even half price is less compelling than them standing in a mosquito-free yard.

And the table stakes are a dream come true experience for your clients. That's Profit Activator 5.

Now here's something I've used quite a bit.

Claude says aim to get action.

Your reader is scrolling Facebook. She's paused because your headline attracted her. But in a moment she'll be interested in her reading... and forget you.

That's why I'm such a fan of lead ads on Facebook.

We're not trying to interrupt their day. We're asking for something they can do right now, with one tap.

I love the word download. Never sign up.

Download a gift card. Download a free mosquito treatment.

Their information is already filled in. All they do is confirm.

We're not asking for the ultimate decision. We're turning an invisible prospect into a visible prospect.

And now we've got lots of runway, and an open dialogue with someone who's interested.

I do the same thing with events.

I separate the decision from the logistics.

When I invite people to a Breakthrough Blueprint workshop in Orlando, it's a short email.

Here's what we're doing. Three days in the boardroom, a small group, all eight Profit Activators applied to your business. Here's the date. Here's the cost.

"You don't need to do anything right now. Just let me know you're in and I'll save you a spot."

Replying "I'm in" takes two seconds.

No landing page. No credit card. That's all logistics, and logistics disrupt their day.

Once they've decided, the plane, the room and the payment are all easy on the back of that commitment.

Read Influence by Robert Cialdini alongside this book. That's commitment and consistency. We stay consistent with the commitments we make.

So always look for the easiest action somebody can take.

Test small. Go first. Make yes easy.

My Life in Advertising is one of the top five books you need if you're going to be an accountable advertiser.

Pick it up... and start testing.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/118-how-to-know-for-sure-if-your-ad-is-a-winner/

Join me live on the next free 50-Minute Profit Finder call: 50minuteprofitfinder.com/podcast

I posted a daily video for 100 days…here’s how much YouTube paid me (So far) Sep 28, 2026

Show notes

Good morning. It's Monday, and my Tesla is driving me to the video shoot.

And today I realized something.

I've posted 100 videos in a row. A hundred daily videos on YouTube.

You've probably seen the other videos. I posted daily for 30 days, here's what happened. Here's how much YouTube paid me.

So I'm going to give you the full behind the scenes.

Because it's one of the number one questions I get, even from people who know me.

Is it worth it?

What people are really asking is... should I do it myself?

I'll tell you unequivocally. Yes. Absolutely worth it.

And how much has YouTube paid me?

Zero dollars. So far.

When I started, I had a channel I'd put up years ago that about 60 people had found.

Now it's around 1,800 subscribers.

We went from 60 or 80 views in the first 24 hours to routinely getting 500 or 800. Some have gone over 10,000.

But here's how I look at it.

I've set this up as a daily part of my life.

It all started because I've been journaling for over 30 years.

When I turned 60 in May, I started looking back through my old journals. What was going on 10 years ago? 20? All the way back?

And it was pretty cool to see things that started as a thought in my journal... and the path of what they became.

So the daily thing became simple. Go back to journal number one and trace the last 30 years.

What was I thinking then? What's still applicable today? Whatever became of it?

Here's what I've picked up from talking to other YouTubers.

The hard part is ideation. What are you going to talk about?

Thankfully I've got 160-plus journals, kept daily for over 30 years.

A gold mine of ideas and insights.

I'm calling this my Regis Philbin era.

I read a profile of Regis once. He lived across the street from the studio where they shot Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.

He'd get dressed at home, have breakfast, walk across the street, get touched up in hair and makeup, pick up Kathie Lee from her dressing room... and at 9 o'clock exactly, they were live.

By 10 o'clock he was done.

And his whole day was about filling himself up with things to talk about in the host chat.

That's what I've set up for myself.

Breakfast. The journal's open.

And by the way, 100 videos in, we've just started journal number seven. We're not going to run out of material.

I look through and find the idea for the day.

Camera on at 9 o'clock. I talk for 8 to 12 minutes. And it's up every day at 11am.

No editing. No formatting.

I laughed when I found out the YouTube consultants have a name for this format.

The grandpa method.

Well... at 60, I'm qualified to be a grandpa. I'm not one, but I'm qualified.

And that's the idea.

I'm building a collection of daily insights from 30 years of journaling.

I don't expect people to watch every episode in order. Some do, and I'm grateful for that.

But it's set up so the right people discover it. Real experience from actually doing things in the field for over 30 years.

A curated wall of 8 to 12 minute videos, each with a headline. If you're interested in that thing, you click on it.

In the beginning people would see a video with a hundred views and think, holy cow, that seems low.

I have zero ego attached to that.

I'm doing it because I want this collection out there. It's intrinsically rewarding.

So I'm not counting on YouTube to make it worth it.

What I am doing is gathering the right audience.

A very narrow band of applied marketing wisdom, from things I've actually done.

And here's the part that matters if you're going to do something like this.

You have to have a path for how people join your world.

Every video I do ends with an invitation to join me on Friday for the 50 Minute Profit Finder. Live on Zoom at 1 o'clock.

We go through a process to find the hidden profits in your business.

And some of those people choose to join our community. The Breakthrough Blueprint... all eight Profit Activators, my life's work, together in one place.

So YouTube has paid me $0.

But every day the community grows. People who aren't in my world yet opt in at 50minuteprofitfinder.com. Some come on Friday. Some continue on.

And the monetization of that is pretty significant.

So if you've got the inkling this is something you'd like to do...

Come on in. The water's fine.

The world needs your insight and your take on things.

From one YouTuber to another... go for it.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/117-i-posted-a-daily-video-for-100-days-heres-how-much-youtube-paid-me-so-far/

Join me live on the next free 50-Minute Profit Finder call: 50minuteprofitfinder.com/podcast

The Secret to Writing So People Respond Sep 27, 2026

Show notes

Good morning. A whole different view today... I'm in my dining room.

I've got journal number seven open. September to November, 1997.

And we're still in My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins.

Claude wrote it in 1927. I first read it in 1992 or '93.

And rereading it now, I can see exactly where it all seeped in.

Here's a line that stuck with me.

Fine writing is a detriment.

Because it suggests an effort to sell. And every effort to sell creates corresponding resistance.

Salesmanship in print is exactly the same as salesmanship in person.

So one of the best things you can ever master is writing conversationally. Just like you'd talk to someone face to face.

Here's the test I give people.

Imagine you ran into someone at Starbucks.

Could you picture yourself saying what's in your ad, or your email, to them? One on one?

Read your stuff out loud. You'll hear exactly where you stumble.

Now here's the follow-on thought from Claude.

The only way to sell is to seem to offer super service.

Most advertising does the opposite.

Especially in real estate. I'm the top agent. Look at everything I've done. Look at my cool logo.

It's all trying to position you as a superstar.

Claude's saying you'd be better off as a super servant.

The very first real thing I did in my real estate business was a guide to Halton Hills real estate prices.

This was before the internet. If you wanted to know what a house in Georgetown cost, you had to drive out there or flip through the real estate magazines.

I positioned it like the teacher's edition of your algebra book. Here's what you actually get for your money.

And we kept evolving it.

Instead of convincing people to work with us, we'd offer daily tours of homes. At 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock.

See, nobody wants anyone going out of their way for them.

Think about when someone asks if you'd like a cup of tea.

What do you say? "Are you having one?"

Because if you're having one, sure. But don't boil the kettle just for me.

Daily tours feel like the kettle's already boiled. It's happening anyway. Hop on.

And 99% of the time it's a private tour with just us.

Same thing with e-bikes. Not "buy an e-bike from us." Here's an e-bike catalog with every option and every price.

A bathroom vanity catalog for someone who's renovating.

And the next step is never "choose us."

It's another valuable service. In a short, personal email.

"Hi John, we're doing e-bike demos this Saturday at the bike shop. Would you like to join us?"

That doesn't feel like marketing. It feels like one person offering something useful to another.

Or take the mortgage side.

Most lenders shout get pre-approved.

That's in their interest, not yours. And anytime your approval is in question, there's resistance.

So we offered a free home loan report instead.

We monitor hundreds of loan programs to find the best zero down, lowest rate and lowest payment options... and put them all together for you.

A pre-approval feels like the banker looking you up and down from the other side of the desk.

A home loan report feels like he's come round to your side of the desk, going through the options with you.

So here's the takeaway.

Talk to people one person at a time.

Only offer valuable service. No convincing language.

Be helpful, hospitable and conversational...

And it can't help but work out for you.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/116-the-secret-to-writing-so-people-respond/

Join me live on the next free 50-Minute Profit Finder call: 50minuteprofitfinder.com/podcast

Before You Offer a Discount, Try This Instead Sep 26, 2026

Show notes

Good morning. No cameraman today, but the show must go on.

We're still in My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins.

And one of the things Claude was absolutely known for was sampling.

Giving people the experience.

Instead of asking people to take a chance on him, he took a chance on them.

Because he knew something...

If you have a good product, and it gets the result you say it's going to get, you're going to win.

So here's how he did it.

He'd test in small towns first. By direct mail, which is very controlled. Before ever going out to mass distribution.

Every household got a letter with a certificate. A coupon they could take to the druggist and exchange for a free bottle of Liquozone.

And here's the clever part.

He'd go to the druggist first and say, every household in your town is about to get this letter. They're going to come to you for it. And we'll pay you 100% of the retail price for every one.

Now the druggist kind of has to carry it. Because if people come in and he doesn't have it, they go to the druggist down the street.

One offer. Users AND distribution.

I've used this in so many ways.

A free facial. A free mosquito treatment.

Because you know it's going to work. And you know there's a really good chance they'll want to keep getting that result.

See, sometimes it's less expensive to get somebody a result than it is to convince them to give you money for that result.

That's not a natural instinct for a business owner.

You're proud of what you do. You want to protect your price. You don't want to feel like you're giving stuff away.

So what do most people do?

They discount. Twenty percent off. Buy one, get one.

Think about what that actually says...

You go first. You buy something from me, and then I'll do something nice for you.

That's hedging your bet.

When you set aside your own selfish desires and play the long game, it's a different story.

And by long game I don't mean years. I mean the next purchase.

For a facial, that's 30 days.

With cafes, we did a Best Birthday Week Ever coffee card. Free coffee every day of your birthday week. We even stretched it to the whole birthday month.

Because getting somebody started as a long-term customer is worth way more than protecting the profit on that first sale.

And here's the other thing. Doing it this way, you keep your price intact.

It's not a percentage off. It's a real thing with real value.

We've done a $25 gift card for restaurants. A $100 gift card for microblading.

Imagine you're a customer of a residential trash service. And tucked in with your statement is a $25 gift certificate to one of the nicer restaurants in town.

That feels like real money.

A lot more than 20% off ever will.

So here's the question for you.

What's the result you could give somebody that lets them sample what you've got?

Before you offer a discount... ask how you could get them to try you just once.

Because once is usually all it takes.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/115-before-you-offer-a-discount/

Join me live on the next free 50-Minute Profit Finder call: 50minuteprofitfinder.com/podcast

How to Make It Ridiculously Easy for People to Say Yes Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

Good morning. We're still in My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins.

And I keep calling it My Life Applying My Life in Advertising, because every time I reread this book I see the seed of something I actually did.

Stuff I made money with. Sitting right there in a principle Claude wrote down over a hundred years ago.

Here's the one on my mind today.

Nobody cares about your selfish desires.

Nobody is interested in helping you do something that's an advantage to you.

To succeed we have to care more for serving than selling.

You can see the whole seed of Jay Abraham right there. The strategy of preeminence. Taking on a kind of moral responsibility that this person gets the best outcome they possibly can.

And sometimes that means you have to charge more.

Not less. More.

Because a cheaper price that doesn't actually get them the result isn't serving them at all.

So stop positioning your product against the money they have available.

Start positioning it against the outcome. The bigger win that comes from using it.

Now, here's the line from Claude that this all hangs on.

Ask a person to take a chance on you, and you're met with resistance. But offer to take a chance on him, and the way is easy.

Read that twice.

Because that's everything.

Think about Money Making Websites. Five times more expensive than a regular website.

I knew they worked. I knew if somebody did the things I outlined, they'd have success.

But asking them to take a chance on me? To hand over the money and hope? That's a fight.

So I flipped it.

I created an offer where I was one hundred percent taking a chance on them.

Claude called it a proposition which no reasonable person could refuse.

Hormozi has the same thing now. An offer so good they'd feel dumb saying no.

That's the extreme version. But it's the same truth underneath.

And here's what happened when I put my outcome on the line for their outcome.

It stopped being about convincing anybody.

It became about me selecting the right person.

Because I was so confident, I got to have requirements.

You had to be in real estate at least a year or two.

You had to live in a town of more than twenty thousand people.

You had to have time to personally work with buyers and sellers. Not shuffle them off to someone on your team.

See what that does?

An irresistible offer draws people with zero friction. And then I get to be picky.

That was rocket fuel.

So here's the shift for you.

Stop asking what price they'll accept.

Start asking what would actually need to happen for them to get the result.

Price it accordingly.

And then reverse the risk. Not reduce it. Reverse it.

Put your outcome on the line for theirs.

That one move changed everything for me.

It could do the same for you.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/114-how-to-make-it-ridiculously-easy-for-people-to-say-yes/

Join me live on the next free 50-Minute Profit Finder call: 50minuteprofitfinder.com/podcast

How to Make Your Marketing Feel Like a One-on-One Conversation Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

Good morning. Maybe the deepest lesson I ever took from Claude Hopkins is this.

People buy things as individuals.

One person is the unit of measure. That's who we're trying to attract. One.

And here's his line from My Life in Advertising.

In a wide reaching campaign, we're too apt to regard people in the mass. We must get down to the individuals. We must treat people in advertising as we treat them in person.

Think about basketball for a second.

There's man to man, and there's the zone.

And the danger with modern funnels is that they play the zone. Everybody gets shuffled through the same process. You're hoping something appeals to somebody.

But there's no such thing as a national market.

Every market is local. Every purchase is made by an individual.

So what did Claude do about it?

Catalogs.

Instead of running ads to convince people to buy, they offered a catalog. And the catalog got people who were interested in a category to raise their hand.

Then they treated each one as an individual.

He worked with a company selling sewing machines. And a woman writes in. She's got that machine and nothing else on her mind.

The general plan was to send everybody the same catalog, all inquiries alike.

Claude said no. Every inquirer should be treated like a prospect who walked into the store.

And I say that all the time.

Imagine your opt-in page is a magic portal. Somebody hits submit to download your book, and they get transported straight into your office.

They stick their head in and say, hi, I'm here about the sewing machine catalog.

Now you know exactly who that person is.

So here's what I did with it.

We had a product called Money Making Websites. Websites for realtors. Five times more expensive than what they could get anywhere else.

And I did not try to convince anybody to buy a website.

I ran ads offering a free book about growing your real estate business.

Because that told me who was interested in growing. Not who wanted a website. Who wanted to grow.

And the next day, a note. Hi Josh, welcome aboard. Here's the book. What's your mailing address? I'd like to send you our welcome kit.

Simple. But now we're in a dialogue.

I'm offering to send them something else, free.

And as people replied with an address, I'd look at my map of where our clients already were.

Josh is in Lakeland. So I'd say, oh, you're in Lakeland. Do you know Julie Matthews? I worked with her on livinginwinterhaven.com, and I'm looking for someone in Lakeland. Would you have time to work with a couple of new buyer clients a month?

And look what just happened.

I know he wants to grow, because he downloaded the book.

I know he's in Lakeland, because he told me his address.

And now I'm just asking, would you have time to work with a couple of new buyers?

I never once explained how the website works.

I'm bypassing the whole thing.

All conversationally.

And this is the genesis of the 9-word email. The spear email. Short, personal, expecting a reply.

Email treated as a dialogue. Inviting a response. Not broadcasting a stack of pre-written messages that shuffle people through a machine.

Now we're bonding one person at a time.

We did the same with the birthday postcards.

Cold email, just asking, do you do birthday parties?

And that pulls a yes, we do.

Then, I've been working with Roy's Restaurant in Sarasota on some birthday marketing, and I'm looking for someone in Tampa. Could you accommodate five or six birthday parties next month?

We never mention what we want to sell them.

We just engage, one on one, about what they're interested in.

That lesson is one of the deepest things I ever took from Claude.

Stop broadcasting.

Talk to one person.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/113-how-to-make-your-marketing-feel-like-a-one-on-one-conversation/

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