A Fitness Marketing and Persuasion Post by Allen Hill

Mind games… we ALL play them.

We play them with each other… and we play them with ourselves.

Your fitness business’ prospects are no exception. In fact, it’s quite the contrary…

YOUR prospects are VERY good at playing mind games… especially when it comes to playing them on themselves (and dare I say it… playing them on YOU).

What do I mean by that?…

Well… I mean, they’re pretty good at doing all the wrong things (when it comes to diet, nutrition, exercise, and even health)… and then lying to themselves and pretending like it’s not REALLY that bad.

To me, they’re playing a mind game on themselves when they do this.

And I mean… they’re pretty good at finally realizing they need to DO something about their weight or their health, or their lack of energy… and getting themselves motivated for a minute (only to find that motivation they had yesterday just isn’t around anymore).

Do you think the way they’re THINKING about things in their own mind has any impact on the Temporary Motivation Syndrome they all seem to experience?

I do.

I also mean… they’re pretty good at convincing themselves that all those OBVIOUSLY BOGUS pills, powders, and gadgets from the late-night infomercials (not to mention Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and NutriSystem) could actually work for them (because they sure do seem to buy just about EVERY bullshit weight loss product/service that comes along, don’t they?).

Do you think they REALLY BELIEVE that crap is going to work?

I mean, REALLY believe it?

Or do you think they’re lying to themselves again?  I mean, after all, buying something is at least DOING something, right?

To me, they’re just playing another (pretty damn dangerous) mind game with themselves.

And (without trying to be negative about it) I mean this…

They’re pretty good at finally coming to see a fitness professional like YOU (right at the peak of their all-too-temporary minute-long motivation span)… and then STILL finding some way to play another mind game on themselves and talk themselves OUT of buying your fitness services (help that they CLEARLY need in a bad way). Right?

I mean, don’t you have people that need your help actually come to you, and STILL decided NOT to take the help you’re offering them? Don’t you run into prospects ALL THE TIME that talk themselves out of even trying?

You see… your prospects are playing mind games with themselves all the time.

And if you don’t do something… those mind games they play are going to KEEP them in the emotionally painful, physically unhealthy state they’re in right now.

If you don’t understand (and know what to DO with) the head games your prospects are playing…

…THEY are going to be STUCK forever… and YOU are going to be broke.

So in this fitness marketing post, I’m going to take you inside the psychology of creating effective (and money generating) fitness marketing pieces. Both from the standpoint of the fitness business owner, AND from the standpoint of your prospect (along with those mind games they’re REALLY playing).

Seeing things from both sides of the coin is SUPER IMPORTANT (if you actually want your fitness marketing to generate new clients and new money for you, anyway).

But I do have something I want to warn you about in advance, before we dive into this…

What I’m going to teach you will (at times) border on “kind of out there”…

At times, it might even give you the heeby-jeebies (if you’re thinking about things in terms of “manipulation” – which I do NOT recommend)… and still at other times, some of what I’m about to share with you will make so much sense you’ll want to slap yourself in the forehead for not realizing some of this sooner.

Regardless…

Everything I’m about to show you can be DIRECTLY APPLIED to your fitness website, your fitness sales letters, or ANY OTHER fitness marketing pieces you have (even things as supposedly “trivial” and “mundane” as a brochure).

And when you DO apply what I’m about to show you, you WILL see a dramatic increase in the response you get from your fitness marketing, whether that’s a website, a sales letter, a direct marketing piece, or otherwise.

Unfortunately, most fitness professionals NEVER consider ANY of the stuff I’m about to share with you.

In fact, almost ALL of the fitness pros and personal trainers I’ve worked with have INITIALLY come to me with almost zero understanding of any of what you’re about to learn.

Luckily, I can usually figure that out just from reading the questions they send me.

Here’s one such question from one of my clients, the owner of a ladies only health club…

QUESTION: from Brian Autry – Owner, Wilmington Lady Fitness

Allen, I need some help improving my fitness website’s sales letter. I’ve attached it for your review, and I also wanted to give you the framework I used to create it so hopefully, you’ll be able to see where I was coming from when I wrote it originally.

Basically I tried to analyze as much info you have sent, including your own websites, and several other marketing pieces. Actually I started reading everything. It’s amazing when you take time to read different advertisements, especially the drug companies. Here’s where I started:

1. Call to action header.

2. Address common problem.

3. Describe problem in a way to build rapport.

4. Show a logical solution.

5. Place an easy option to choose us. Call to Action again.

I took my goal, which is for someone to come in to the club for a trial pass or membership. We typically give a week free or option  #2 a month trial at a low rate.

Most of our members (all ladies) and prospects tend be ready to workout but hesitant on starting due to past failures resulting in commitment issues. Usually I get two questions right off, do you have to join for whatever amount of time (commitment) and do you offer personal training (program design or help)?

Since we have a wide variety of ladies with different specific reasons for exercising, not just weight loss, I figured I would address the apprehension to joining a “gym”. I found the most common female adversities to be commitment, comfortability and little customer service.

I believe most women experience these, or more share these feelings compared to picking something so specific as losing weight. In addition, most women just want to feel good about themselves again. They need other women to talk to, make bonds with etc… Things that us guys really don’t really need… We can male bond with a gas pump attendant.

I picked these triggers as opposed to the weight management, metabolism etc… issues. I also thought the weight loss free report would intrigue the ones that wanted to lose weight.

So, I’m really trying to be the”come bond, feel comfortable and feel secure again” place that will help you. But I didn’t want to come out so much and say these things and depress them.

I even debated an alternative header that addressed the ladies only, feel secure at our club instead of mentioning weight loss.

If you can give me some additional feedback I will go to work on it. Also, as far as video testimonials, Should it be 60-90 seconds or more? I was envisioning about 10 different individuals with some shots of classes, members working out and staff.  Are there some examples I should look at?

Thanks for your help,

Brian Autry
Owner, Wilmington Lady Fitness

ANSWER:

For the sake of completeness, I’ve just gone back through this entire question paragraph by paragraph, giving you my answers after each one.

Sorry, but this might get a little “heavy”, psychologically speaking. But in all honesty, that seems to be the part you’re missing in your sales letter.

I can tell from what’s been said (and even what HASN’T been said) in this email that he’s looking at (and thinking about) many aspects of fitness marketing THE WRONG WAY.

But no worries… that’s SUPER common (and pretty easy to correct).

Anyway, here goes…

Allen, I can give you the framework. Basically I tried to analyze as much info you have sent, including your own website, and several other marketing pieces. Actually I started reading everything. It’s amazing when you take time to read different advertisements, especially the drug companies. Here’s where I started

It IS amazing, isn’t it.  You wouldn’t believe the amount of thought and psychology that actually goes into writing effective fitness advertising and marketing pieces. 

Actually, psychology plays a MUCH bigger role than most fitness professionals realize (or want to admit… depending on how you choose to look at it).

That being the case, my goal is to kind of “peel back the curtain”, so to speak, and give you a true understanding of just HOW IMPORTANT the psychological aspects of fitness marketing really are…

…that way, you can put the stuff I’m about to show you TO USE on your fitness website (and in your sales letter) so you can get a much better response.

1. Call to action header. <= The true purpose of the headline is simply this…  Get them to read the next sentence.  You don’t really need to call them to action just yet (although we DO do that a lot of the time in the graphic-based header for the website itself – just not the copy).
   
   

2. Address common problem. <= What you really want to address is the most common PAIN that has a sense of urgency tied to making it go away.  Not just ANY common problem, but the single most PAINFUL one you can uncover. As you’re about to see, that will be VERY important to your overall success.
   
   

3. Describe problem in a way to build rapport. <= What you’re really trying to do is prove to them that you understand what they’re going thru, what it feels like to be in their situation… and most importantly of all… there’s a VERY POWERFUL psychological effect that takes place when you can describe a person’s problem to them better than they can describe it themselves… when that happens, they UNCONCSIOUSLY credit you with having the SOLUTION to that problem (i.e., YOU can make my pain STOP).
   
   

4. Show a logical solution. <= Try to stay away from “logical” at all costs.  When people are in pain, when we’re experiencing a problem that has a strong sense of urgency attached to it… we are FAR from logical.  In fact, that’s exactly when we are at our most IRRATIONAL.  What you want to focus on are the EMOTIONAL things, NOT the logical ones.  Think of it like this… you cannot logically convince someone to let some guy stick a DRILL in their mouth and squeeze the trigger.  But when your tooth hurts so bad you can’t take it anymore… sticking a drill in your mouth seems like a FANTASTIC idea. 
   
   

5. Place an easy option to choose us. Call to Action again.

I hope those notes make sense, and I hope they give you some insight as to the MINDSET you need when you’re creating your copy (or any other fitness marketing piece).

It really helps to think about your sales letter or your sales copy as if it were just a one-on-one conversation you’re having with ONE person… your ideal prospect (that one person who’s MOST LIKELY to actually BUY from you).

The real main things you’re trying to communicate to your prospect right away are…

1) You are in the RIGHT PLACE.

2) I GET you.

Keep in mind that TO YOUR PROSPECT… the most important thing in life is HER and HOW SHE FEELS.  You and your stuff are WAY outside her current scope of thinking.

Remember, she’s having a problem… and it’s emotionally painful.  So THAT is what she’s thinking about in her head (before she ever knows you guys even exist).  So THAT should be what YOU talk to her about AS SOON AS SHE SHOWS UP!

You can’t just pick ANY problem to talk about, either…

You have to pick a problem that is already in line with what SHE THINKS the problem is.

You can’t just assume the problem is with something that makes logical sense to YOU (or even HER, for that matter)… you have to find out what’s going on inside her head…

What SHE thinks the problem is… and you need to talk about THAT PROBLEM (not any OTHER problem than THAT one – because that’s where her mind is ALREADY).

If you talk about anything OTHER than what SHE thinks the problem is… that’s the equivalent of telling her that she’s WRONG and that you’re right (and THAT is a sure recipe for a FIGHT… not a sale).

I took my goal, which is for someone to come in to the club for a trial pass or membership. We typically give a week free or option  #2 a month trial at a low rate.

Okay, great…

So that means what you really need to do is think about your copy like this…

You’re trying to lay out a simple “internal equation” for your prospect.  It should be similar to this…

Taking the Free Trial = problem/pain goes away

More on the “internal equation” in a minute…

Most of our members (all ladies) and prospects tend be ready to workout but hesitant on starting due to past failures resulting in commitment issues. Usually I get two questions right off, do you have to join for whatever amount of time (commitment) and do you offer personal training (program design or help)?

Okay… Good.  Always nice to know why they DON’T buy.  Or AT LEAST why they SAY they don’t. 

It’s RARELY really the reason.  But that’s a discussion for another day. 

This info is still handy to have, though.

But also keep in mind that this also comes up because you’re telling her about a solution that she wasn’t viewing as the solution she had in mind.  Instead, you’re telling her about a solution that YOU have in mind.

And an interesting thing about the human mind is this…

It can never be wrong.

In fact, it will twist and distort reality in order to make sure it’s never wrong.

It will rationalize and generalize, and justify some pretty irrational and emotional behaviors with LOGIC in order to preserve its UN- wrongness (if that’s a word). 

So of course she’s going to come up with all kinds of reasons why it won’t work… but those reasons, in reality, are ALL because it’s not what she had in her mind already.

They’re justifications on why she shouldn’t do this (which is really just a justification on why she shouldn’t fail again).

Anyway…

She’s already coming to you with existing “internal equations” that looks something like this…

stuff I’ve already tried = doesn’t work

gym = long-term commitment

working out = doesn’t work for me

Or maybe even something a bit more complex, like….

working out = already tried it = doesn’t work = I fail = I’m still fat =  I feel even worse

Or…

Gym = pay money to work out = already tried it = doesn’t work = I PAY to fail = I’m still fat = I feel even worse

In marketing, you HAVE TO know what her existing “internal equations” are… and you have to be able to REPLACE that equation with one that you come up with for her… one that is 100 times more empowering than the equations she came to you pre-wired with.

That’s the only way you’ll be able to HELP her.

Since we have a wide variety of ladies with different specific reasons for exercising, not just weight loss, I figured I would address the apprehension to joining a “gym”.

VERY bad idea.  Don’t “figure” or speculate.  That’s always a mistake in marketing.

Especially when the thing you’re “figuring” on is a very LOGICAL thing, as opposed to a very EMOTIONAL thing.

Here’s what you really want to do instead…

When in doubt, ASK people what they’re trying to accomplish… what their outcome or end-result is… and WHY they want to achieve that.  Then use their EXACT WORDS in your marketing.

But more important of a mistake is this…

You’re violating Rule #1 of Marketing, which is…

Go Where The Money Is!

You may have a variety of ladies that all come for different reasons… and that’s fine.  But why do the BIGGEST PERCENTAGE of them come to you?

What is the largest group of women that we can talk to SPECIFICALLY, and what do THEY already come to you wanting?

The largest group is going to provide the most money.  So once you create marketing for them FIRST, then you can move on and start creating marketing messages for each OTHER group (always working in descending order so you’re always hitting the biggest chunk of money FIRST).

Also…

Women are NOT coming to you because they are apprehensive about joining a “gym”… they’re only even thinking about “gym” and exercise (and ALL that kind of stuff) because they’re cycling thru various possible SOLUTIONS to the PAIN THEY’RE EXPERIENCING from the SITUATION THEY’RE IN.

Without that situation, and without the resulting PAIN attached to that situation…

…the thought of exercise or gym (or any of that kind of stuff) NEVER EVEN CROSSES HER MIND. 

One more reason to go back to what SHE thinks the problem is… to go back to where HER mind ALREADY is.

So sure, she probably wants to lose weight (for highly emotional reasons)… and she’s probably got objections and apprehension (and other emotional conflicts like those) related to buying what you’re selling.  So that stuff certainly needs addressed in your copy, but it should NOT be the main idea.

SHE should dictate the main idea/ main problem, not you.

In fact, she’s already THINKING ABOUT that main idea… so if YOU are the one who’s NOT… then YOU are making the mistake by not knowing your prospect as intimately as you really need to.

I found the most common female adversities to be commitment, comfortability and little customer service . I believe most women experience these, or more share these feelings compared to picking something so specific as losing weight.

Specificity is what you want.  Generalities KILL.

People don’t want GENERAL… we want the thing that sounds like EXACTLY WHAT I NEED FOR THE SITUATION I’M FINDING MYSELF IN.

Furthermore, if it DOESN’T sound like EXACTLY what I need for the situation I’m finding myself in… we DON’T WANT IT.

Commitment, comfortability, and customer service are about as general as you can get.  They can LITERALLY be used to describe just about anything you could possibly want to sell, regardless of the market or industry.

No one wants the thing that sounds like it’s for EVERYONE… they want the thing that sounds like it was made just for them.

If you steer toward general (and away from specific), you’re steering away from the money. AND you’re steering your prospects AWAY FROM the help they really need.

In addition, most women just want to feel good about themselves again. They need other women to talk to, make bonds with etc… things that us guys really don’t really need… We can male bond with a gas pump attendant.

Sure, but isn’t feeling good about herself pretty much WHY she wants to lose weight?  Isn’t that WHY she needs your help to begin with?

I mean, doesn’t she have this emotionally charged problem?…

“I’m fat.  I feel like shit (both physically AND about myself)… my clothes don’t fit – and I’ve outgrown my favorites… and all the new fat people clothes are just ugly.

People are always looking at me weird (as if they’re judging me)… and now I’m starting to think that everyone is silently making fun of me in their own head (and probably verbally, once my back is turned).

And to top it all off, my husband doesn’t look at me the way he used to.  I don’t feel attractive to him anymore, and I know he doesn’t think I’m as attractive as I was when we met.  He can’t be happy with me and the way I look now, because I’m sure not (and he’s a man – looks are more important to them).

He’s probably got skinny girls flirting with him at work.  He might even end up cheating on me… or leaving me.

We might end up getting a divorce and breaking up our entire family… all because I can’t get my damn weight under control (ç HINT: Although most women aren’t going to admit this to you right away, you’d be very surprised by the number of women that have thoughts like this in the back of their minds – and simply don’t have anyone that understands their situation well enough to admit this dilemma to.)

Nothing I try ever seems to work… maybe I’m destined to be fat.  Maybe I’ll always fail.  Maybe I’m a failure.”

You see, there’s ALWAYS something similar to this going on under the surface (regardless of what market you’re in, what industry you’re in, or what you sell – my fitness professional prospect CERTAINLY has emotional situations like this pop up in his life – usually around money, business, and taking care of his family).

But very few people ever stop thinking about what THEY WANT long enough to give what the PROSPECT WANTS any attention at all. You see…

To you, it’s probably always been about the memberships, or the personal training, or the thing you want her to ultimately BUY from you.

But to HER… your stuff isn’t even on the scale, yet.  Not even in the same ball park, yet (or on the same Continent, for that matter).

When people are smack dab, right in the middle of their own problem, their own negative situation… they aren’t thinking rationally.  And they ALWAYS think they understand WHAT their problem is.  AND because they think they know what their problem is…

…they think they know what they need to SOLVE it.

They think they know the VEHICLE that will get them out of the problem and into the dream scenario that plays in the back of their mind.

But don’t your prospects ALWAYS end up choosing the WRONG VEHICLE?…

Don’t they always pick something like… a diet?  Or Slim Fast, or Jenny Craig… or joining a gym… or buying some diet pills… or what about those stupid belly slimmer belts (and all that crap that YOU and I BOTH know doesn’t work)?

But she DOESN’T really know what the problem is (or she’d have fixed it a LONG time ago).

And she doesn’t really know what she needs to fix the problem, either (or she wouldn’t waste time and money on that useless weight loss crap she buys).

What she really needs is SOMEONE LIKE YOU WHO UNDERSTANDS HER… someone like you who knows what she’s going thru… and who knows what it’s like to be in her shoes.

Because if she can find THAT PERSON… well YOU already know EXACTLY how to fix her problem.

Talking about comfort, and customer service and all those general (and super LOGICAL) things is NO WHERE NEAR as powerful as talking about the emotional situation she’s in right now, and what it FEELS LIKE to be IN that situation… and what it feels like when you finally get OUT of that situation and get to experience all those awesome feelings you’ve been secretly dreaming about having in your life.

Not even close.

Because talking about that emotional situation… well, that SCREAMS “I get you and I can help”.

I picked these triggers as opposed to the weight management, metabolism etc… issues. I also thought the weight loss free report would intrigue the ones that wanted to lose weight.

This is also a common thing… business owners try to reinvent the wheel.  They try to be “different”.  They try NOT to sound like others who offer similar stuff.

Marketers… well, we go with what works.  And we keep using what works (until it doesn’t work anymore).

We aren’t concerned with being different for the sake of being different… we’re concerned about CONNECTING with the prospect.. we’re concerned with making money by helping her get out of her negative situation… and get INTO her dream scenario.

And if you want to make the most money…  Focus on the emotional and psychological triggers that are already present inside your prospect, and don’t try to reinvent new triggers that are more logical. 

Always go with the emotional stuff (because that’s what’s most important to your prospect).

So that means don’t talk about weight management…

Talk about the situation that would lead to her to NEEDING weight management…

Talk about all the stuff she’d run into in THAT situation…

Talk about how viciously SUCKY all that stuff is… how bad it makes her feel about herself…

…and all the other bad stuff THAT leads to (you know… the stuff that just ends up making the whole damn thing even WORSE).

Then explain to her how your weight management program is specifically designed to make that crap totally go away in her life.

Or…

You can also talk about metabolism in terms of how doing these simple things will speed up HER metabolism…

…and help her get out of that pain (and into that dream scenario) FASTER, EASIER, and with LESS HASSLE.

In marketing, you’re trying to influence several things (what she’s focusing on, what she’s thinking about, how she FEELS, and how she makes a decision in her own mind)… all of which really amount to you trying to control her BEHAVIOR.

And ALL humans behavior… everything we do (and I mean EVERYTHING) we do for 1 of 2 very distinct reasons…

1) To move away from PAIN

2) To move toward PLEASURE

So everything in your marketing must be geared at moving her away from the pain she’s experiencing, and moving her instead, toward the pleasure she really wants to feel.

And both of these things are already inside her.

You can’t invent it.  You have to figure out what’s already present INSIDER HER and work with that.

So, I’m really trying to be the ”come bond, feel comfortable and feel secure again” place that will help you. But I didn’t want to come out so much and say these things and depress them.

If you don’t depress them… you’re FORCING THEM TO STAY STUCK WHERE THEY ARE!

It’s you DUTY to get them to see that how they’ve been doing things (up until they met you) has been COMPLETELY WRONG… and that’s a BIG reason why they’re in the situation they’re in right now.

Moreover, you actually need to make STAYING THE SAME as painful as possible.

You have to attach PAIN to staying the way she is now… and you have to attach PLEASURE to taking the action that’s in her own best interest (i.e., accepting your free trial).

The equation has to be laid out for her like this…

1) The way it is for you right now = shitty & painful

2) The way it has been for you for a while now = shitty & painful

3) Staying the way it is (and has been) = Pain that not only continues, but also INTENSIFIES and gets MUCH worse and much shittier

4) Taking this free trial = shitty & painful goes away AND it’s replaced by a new life (that almost EXACTLY mirrors the dream scenario you’ve been playing in your mind’s eye for years now).

It’s all about tying PAIN to the behavior you DON’T want her to do anymore… and at the same time, tying PLEASURE to the behavior of taking the action you want her to take.

If you do that, she will do what you want her to do with alarming regularity. J

I even debated an alternative header that addressed the ladies only, feel secure at our club instead of mentioning weight loss.

Don’t be afraid to talk to her about what she really wants.

Just because other people market weight loss doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.  It means that talking about losing weight WORKS… or why else have so many companies done it for so many decades?  Why else would they continue to make products focused around losing weight – and then make millions of dollars selling them?

Why else would there be so many diet programs?

Or health clubs?

Or BS exercise gadgets that can’t POSSIBLY work (ever)? J

Don’t get me wrong… I’m sure she’ll love the ladies only aspect… but not until she understands that YOU get her… that you understand where she is and what it FEELS like to be her right now.

“Ladies only” doesn’t mean anything to her until she understands that you GET her and what she’s going thru.

Think about it from her shoes for a second…

What if she was standing in front of you right now?  What do you think she’d say if you came right out and asked her this question?…

“What if I could show you how to lose 20 lbs in 12 weeks or less?…”

What do you think she’d say to that?

Do you think she’d want to hear more about HOW?

Or WHAT she’d have to DO?

I bet she would.  And that PROVES she’s INTERESTED in that particular benefit.

Sure, she’d probably be somewhat skeptical (especially if she’s already tried to do that and failed multiple times)… but she’d STILL be interested.

Skepticism and doubt can be overcome. Lack of interest can’t.

Now contrast that with what you think she’d say if you said this to her instead…

“women’s only.”

Or…

“health club”

Or…

“What if I could show you how to be comfortable and secure in a women’s only environment?…”

My guess is that she’d probably say something like…

“What?…  What do you mean?…”

Speak to the things that are ALREADY IMPORTANT to her insider her own mind.

And forget the things that are already important to you.

She’s got the problem… and the money to fix it.

And if YOU WANT her money… you need to focus on, and spend time thinking about AND talking about HER and HER PROBLEM.

Because that’s the only way she’s going to WILLINGLY GIVE her money to you.

Making that problem go away is the only thing that has more worth to her than her hard earned money.

And if you can’t talk to her and make it OBVIOUS that you GET HER… that you understand where she is and what she’s going thru… she WON’T get that immediate feeling of “this is EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for… This is EXACTLY what I need”.

If you can give me some additional feedback I will go to work on it. Also, as far as video testimonials, Should it be 60-90 seconds or more? I was envisioning about 10 different individuals with some shots of classes, members working out and staff.  Are there some examples I should look at?

Hope this feedback helps you.

And yeah, that should be fine for the video testimonials.

If you have any questions, please let me know and I’ll do all I can to help you get your copy going the right direction.

Allen

P.S. I want to give you a little “homework assignment” that will really help you out…

For this assignment, I want you to stop and think about one of your clients that fits the bill of belonging to the largest group of clients we can specifically talk to.

She needs to be a representative of your largest segment of clients, where the biggest chunk of your business’s money comes from.

Once you’ve got someone specific in mind, then do the following steps…

1) List out the top 3 to 5 SPECIFIC END-RESULTS she wants.  Don’t say general things like “lose weight”.  Instead, focus on the very specific, very tangible, EXTERNAL end-results (meaning they need to be specific, they need to be measureable so we can confirm them, and they need to also be end-results that happen OUTSIDE of her).  So they need to be end-results that you and I (and even other people) can SEE and actually measure.

Examples:

a) get back in the driver’s seat of life <= WAY too general and conceptual… this is NOT specific and external and measureable… it’s a vague conceptual IDEA.

b) get your weight under control <= too general.  Not specific.  Not external.  Not measureable.  What does it MEAN to get your weight under control?  That is not something that takes place OUTSIDE of the prospect, and it’s NOT something you and I can SEE or verify with our own eyes.

c) lose weight <= not specific.  How much weight?  Not measureable.  How much weight?

d) lose up to 20 lbs <= Specific… 20 lbs.  It IS external… 20 lbs came off of her body (which IS outside of her).  And it IS measureable…. we can put her on a scale and see if she really weighs 20 lbs less, or not.

e) Lose up to 20 lbs in 12 weeks <= very specific because now we’ve put a time frame on losing 20 lbs.  And it’s even more measureable because now we have 2 elements that can be measured… the number of pounds AND the amount of time.  And BOTH of those things are external… both are happening OUTSIDE of her.

If you can come up with a list of the top 3-5 specific end-results your ideal prospect already wants, that will go a long way in making sure you’re talking about the right stuff in your copy… the stuff that’s ALREADY important in her own mind.

2) List out the 3-5 biggest problems, challenges, or frustrations your prospect is having in her life BEFORE she ever even starts looking for someone like you.

Again, these need to be very SPECIFIC, TANGIBLE, MEASUREABLE, AND EXTERNAL.

We’re looking for what SHE THINKS the problems are, NOT what YOU think her problems are.

She WANTS the solution to what SHE perceives the problem to be… NOT the thing you want her to buy.

Once you have those two things done, please post your answers for me using the comment section below.

Then I’ll show you how to use all that stuff to dramatically improve your current copy.