Questions from 4 listeners today take us into the realm of the USP (Unique Selling Proposition).
We share some of our insights about getting to clarity in your offers to increase conversion and engagement. Enjoy!
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Listener Questions
Talia Pollock
- Party in my Plants. Such a fun site.
- Her audience struggles with engagement. “How do I have an online business when all the audience wants to do is consume privately?”
Paul Ricken
- PaulRicken.nl is Paul’s Site. Paul’s song and energy in his question are amazing!
- “How can I build an intimate relationship with my subscribers if they’re not signing up?”
Brian Wampler
- Wampler Pedals and Chasing Tone Podcast.
- Using google drive for team-based project management. “What system do you guys use to manage projects?”
- Resources:
- Solopreneur Project Management Skills (FS078)
- The Tools, Books, Systems and Resources That Helped Us Most (FS020)
- And the Productivity Course within our Member Area (of course) is highly recommended for all things to-do.
Sioux
- She’s a film maker making some specific films for specific markets, currently writing some website copy.
- “I don’t feel comfortable with hard-sell copy. Can you suggest some effective websites that don’t use hard-sell tactics?”
- Resources:
- I recommend looking at the sales pages of people who use VHX. You can find a ton of examples on their blog.
- Some of these examples are remarkably sparse, like this one. Others have a lot going on like this one from Indie Game the Movie.
- This American Life Live seems to hit a middle road.
- Sandwich Video is a great place to watch as well. What objections are they overcoming? What words?
- Gumroad Picks: Films. Gumroad has a bunch of examples to explore as well.
Learn how to set goals that actually stick!
The Top 10 Mistakes in Online Business
Every week we talk with entrepreneurs. We talk about what’s working and what isn’t. We talk about successes and failures. We spend time with complete newbies, seasoned veterans, and everything in between.
One topic that comes up over and over again with both groups is mistakes made in starting businesses. Newbies love to learn about mistakes so they can avoid them. Veterans love to talk about what they wish they had known when starting out.
These conversations have been fascinating, so we compiled a list of the 10 mistakes we hear most often into a nifty lil' guide. Get the 10 Most Common Mistakes in Starting an Online Business here »



After hearing Paul’s voicemail I instantly wanted to be sitting in a pub drinking beer with him…
Ha! Me too.
Man, you guys make my day.
I had a little advice for Talia too because I also have a really consumer audience that doesn’t like to comment on posts so I’ve been trying some different stuff out.
Controversial or rant like posts get way more comments and engagement. So maybe add something a little more edgy to your content and headlines. I did some videos too where I just pointed my phone at my face and talked about a topic. Way more comments.
I also created a Facebook group a while back and that’s turned into this cool community of sharing. People didn’t want to take the time to comment on a blog but my audience in on Facebook a lot anyway, so by creating something where they already spent a lot of time worked well.
Using Facebook comments on your blog might work too.
Thanks for the advice, Kyle! Instead of controversial or rant, per-say, I tend to do humorous..that seems to get people interacting more than just an informational or helpful post does.
When you say use Facebook comments on my blog, you mean allowing people to comment on blog posts using their Facebook login?
Facebook comments is a plug in. Here is an example on one of Derek Halpern’s pages: http://socialtriggers.com/exclusive/sidelinerfull/
Personally, I still prefer Disqus because of the admin options.
Random science fact. Habits and muscle memory are stored in the basal ganglia, which is the same part of the brain where curse words are stored. (No seriously, it’s a separate part of the brain from the rest of language.) So there may be something to this whole dirty visual metaphor thing you’ve got going on.
Fk’n Awesome! (Now I’ll remember this comment.)
Hey Fizzle Guys,
Party Paul here. I laughed my p(l)nats off. Really great show and answers.
Now here it is.
We now arrive at day 260…. Yeah, day.
I just finished my new website, find it here; http://www.theawesomenessrevolution.com It’s Dutch. Going local, finding the people who already trust me and build from that.
There is an E-Book ‘7 Steps to create your Awesome Life’ Simpel, powerful 7 P model. Short videos over there and more important starting a revolution. Call to action all over the place.
7 How to workshops, 1 coaching product, 1 Full Year Program, 2 days Master The Secrets program. Using the Marketing Piramid.
All programs with a short description and what you get out of it.
The blog website will stay, http://www.paulricken.nl/blog/ Next to the Dutch website.
Got a POPUP in there. I had it but still nothing happened. made it more attractive now with the PDF and starting a revolution; raising 2% positive mindset to 4% in the world.
We’ll party guys!!! Hope this will happen soon.
My GOD and keep up the awesome job you do.
Love you for it,
Paul Ricken
Ha—even your comments are crazy! Thanks Paul, break a leg, man.
Yeah Chase, Tx man.
Here’s my article on my blog devoted to you awesome guys….; http://bit.ly/1CeA9pO Enjoy it.
Love your party ‘tude, Paul! :)
You’re one to talk, Talia!
haha right, Chase! Always in party mode over here :) Thanks so much for A-ing my Q! Follow up email coming your way soon.
Yeah Talia, Tx, How’s your Party going?
Living an awesome life. Awesomzing others?
Always awesoming anyone who wants to be awesomized! :) You too?
Yeah Talia, even while visiting the baker or butcher, it all starts there. Already done a review of this year? Keep up your great work, Talia. Love all, play to the max, achieve anything.
Hey,
Great episode. Particularly enjoyed the ‘hard sell’ question at the end. This has been a big journey for me too, along with my whole relationship with money. I think one of the problems is our attachment and thoughts about the word ‘selling’ because in our minds (mine at least) it’s come to mean something dodgy, manipulative and wrong. But like you point out, selling can be something valuable and even beautiful. If I’ve created something I really think will help someone (and isn’t that what I’m here for anyway?) then why would I not want to tell people about that? In this sense, actually all I’m doing here is saying, “hey, I see you’re struggling with something and I have something that might help – would you like to hear more?”. And it’s also important I think to note that we’re never forcing anyone to buy anything. They have control over parting ways with their money. All we’re doing is showing them something that’s available. And if they don’t spend money on your thing that’s valuable, they’ll spend on something else instead. If you talk about your thing with the same energy with which you created it (ie. love), then I think that’s a pretty good place to start.
Thanks for an awesome episode.
Love,
Leah
Cheers, Leah! Glad to hear it.
Altamente blog energico, ho apprezzato il fatto che bit.
Just stumbled unto your podcast and am digging it. I have a selective memory so I will need to try the association technique. ;)
Unrelated to the content, but I just wanted to say that I’ve been a fan of Brian Wampler (one of the listeners whose Qs were addressed here) and his guitar-tone wizardry for about a decade now. If you play an electronic instrument, you owe it to everyone listening to check out his pedals. Tone does not lie.
I cannot stress this enough. Your product needs to be unique. You need to stand out from the crowd. Product selection research need to be done first before website and marketing
Chris
Owner CEL Financial Services
Tax Return Preparer
http://www.taxprepfillmore.com/fillmore-tax-preparation-service