Why Nobody Cares About Your Offer

You make an offer. You pack a lot into it. And… it flops. It just doesn’t seem to connect and nobody gives a crap.

What happened?

Well, the reasons could be many. Wrong target market, wrong positioning, not really addressing the real needs and wants of your audience.

But, today, I want to bring to your attention a simple concept called Maslow’s hierachy of needs. Here it is, in all of its triangular glory…

It is a pyramid. The weight of the top parts of the pyramid rely on the foundation at the bottom. So, therefore, the most “core” needs are at the bottom.

The Point Is…

There are a couple of points I want to make about this:

1. All these are core needs, built into everybody. The better you can make your offerings and marketing “jive” with these core needs, the easier it will be to sell.
2. The further toward the bottom you can get, the easier it will be to sell.

If you market to the core wants, you’ll be in a higher-value business. If you can combine needs and wants, you’ve hit the jackpot.

So, you have an offer. Perhaps it is an ebook. Perhaps it is a bunch of videos and transcripts. And you’re wondering how you can equate your offer to any of these core needs.

The answer lies not on talking about WHAT the product is (i.e., how many pages, how many videos, etc.)…. but is found in talking about the benefits of the product to the life of the prospect. And, when you communicate those benefits, you want them to jive with the core values on the pyramid above.

Is this making sense? 🙂

Examples of Applying This

Think of the typical “make money online” product. What does making money really mean? Is money really a core need?

Suprisingly, no, it isn’t. However, money is a direct way to procure so many different things on this pyramid and it jives right in with the bottom level of this hierachy. After all, you need money to buy food and water. You need it to provide safety and security for your friends and family. It can help raise your reputation in the eyes of your peers, thereby raising your self-esteem and getting you respect from others. It is ALL right there on the pyramid. And that’s why “make money online” is such a huge market.

Anything designed to help you get laid…. good market because we all have a need for sex and love. So, dating and anything surrounding that, is huge.

Insurance, financial security, health… all these are big markets because they jive with the lower ends of the pyramid of needs.

OK, What About Something “Normal”?

So, what about a “normal” product you might offer from your blog? 🙂 The answer lies in the question: How can you equate the benefits of your product with the hierchy of needs?

Let’s take the example of an ebook with “do it yourself” computer stuff in it… you know, since I’m a long-time tech blogger. 🙂 What are the benefits of an ebook which shows you how to fix/upgrade your own computer?

The stuff in the “Esteem” layer of the pyramid would be huge. The self-esteem of having fixed it yourself, the confidence in knowing you can do it, the respect of your friends because YOU know how to do this geeky stuff and they don’t. This can increase their sense of belonging.

If we push it down to the “safety” level, you can equate this DIY computer stuff with their sense of security, knowing they won’t get screwed by techs out to take their money, being able to safeguard their family against the potential data theft of having to turn your computer over to a hired technician.

Are you seeing how this works? How can you position the BENEFITS of your product offering with the CORE NEEDS of your prospect?

If you can’t do it, then you might have a flop on your hands.

Your Homework

This is a pretty core marketing concept, and if you just treat this blog post like any other post and never use it, it is your loss.

So, I encourage you… put it to use.

My computer example above…. that is pretty much the EXACT marketing angle I used to sell an ebook on building your own PC over on PCMech for years. It worked like crazy. If I had sat there and talked about the chapters in the ebooks, the number of steps, the fact that is has pictures in it…. I would have made only a FRACTION of the amount of money. I had to target the MINDSET of the people who’d be interested in building a PC.

So, take your products – or any that you plan to offer – and evaluate your marketing up against this pyramid. Is your marketing delving into their hiearchy of needs? Are you hitting them on an emotional level?

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