Let’s face it, there are no shortage of new products and services released every single day – but the sobering facts are most die a quick, quiet death. (Maybe there’s a whimper here and there.)
However, only a handful really breakthrough your markets ‘ho-hum’ attitude. There’s just too much noise in the marketplace (in just about every marketplace) that you need some way of sticking out.
If you don’t have a big idea you simply fade into the background like every other ‘me-too’ product or service. Actually it’s not always even about having a proprietary product/service. This is really more about positioning and the immediate reaction a prospect has to your deal the moment they hear it.
Let me cover three real-world examples and then you’ll have a little better notion of how to create the same kind of hooks and angles for yourself. I’ll start with a couple products from the consumer world and see if you can pick up on it…
- Uncrustables are a pretty silly idea but they sell like crazy. Create a pre-made PB&J sandwich, remove the crust and seal it together so the bread is a little pouch. Then put in your freezer and stick in your kids lunch bag to thaw for lunch. (Side note: We buy these a lot! My wife, Missy, absolutely loves uncrustables herself. I’m the one who loves 5-star meals at fancy restaurants with great wine, while she could go for a grilled cheese sandwich any day of the week.)
- 100 Calorie Packs are from Nabisco and now have grown to a bunch of different varieties. Anything from Ritz crackers to Oreo cookies – but they only have exactly 100 calories per pouch. That’s the big idea – you don’t have to count calories because we’ve done it for you. You know that with each snack pack you can’t eat 18 portions because we’ve put less than 100 calories in there for you.
- 24 is the hit TV show that I haven’t seen copied yet. It’s got a unique format of every episode occurring in an hour of real time. And the entire season occurs over exactly 24 hours. Missy and I are totally into it. If you watch this show – you know what I mean when I say we can’t believe some of the twists and ridiculous turns the writers put in there – but we go along for the ride.
Okay I’m sure many of you picked up on some of these BIG ideas here but I want to make sure nothing is glossed over because this is critical and means the difference between a “base hit” or a “home run” product.
How to Formulate the BIG Idea
Here are 3 important things I think about and keep in mind when coming up with a BIG idea or hook for something I’m doing:
#1: Give Them the FISH!
First, try a concept I call giving them the fish. Of course you know the saying that if you give a man a fish he'll eat for a day but if you teach a man to fish he'll be fed for a lifetime.
It’s B.S. Most people just want the fish. And if you can give them the fish, perfectly cooked and seasoned, presented attractively with a delicious side dish, so much the better.
What's your fish? How can you make it easier for your clients or customers to do whatever they need to do? Give them what they want on a silver platter.
Personally, my initial success with giving people the “fish” was my first product online - Instant Sales Letters®. T
The whole hook behind Instant sales letters is in the headline on the site:
"In Only 2 ½ Minutes You Can Quickly and Easily Create A Sales Letter Guaranteed To Sell Your Product Or Service...Without Writing! Looking To Increase Your Business? Just Fill In A Few Blanks And PRESTO... You’ve Just Created A Powerful, Money-Making Sales Letter!”
That hook has been responsible for me generating $1M+ with a little $40 - $50 product.
#2: Make Your Promise Specific
Specifics are so important but usually completely overlooked because it’s much easier to make a generic promise. However, a specific promise or a specific target market makes your marketing that much more powerful. Remember the 8-Minute Abs program. The name says it all. That’s all you need to hear to know exactly what you get and how long it’ll take. It’s specific and very powerful – enough that on the strength of this concept millions of copies were sold.
How can you quantify what you offer to your customers? Can you make it a specific, uncommon number to make the offer even more attractive?
#3: Go the Opposite Direction
I love this. Now I don’t suggest being different just for the sake of being different – however – there is a lot to be said for ‘zigging’ when others ‘zag’.
My biggest example of this is the recent Underground® concept I developed. At my seminar you won't find any of the same speakers who are at all the other conferences; instead, you'll hear from people who are successful but keep quiet about it (and nobody who makes their money from ‘how to get rich on the Internet’ info).
Can you go small when everyone else is going big, or provide a high-end product when everyone else in your niche is going for the bargain market? Think about the conventional dogma in your industry and how you could turn those on their heads for big profits.
If you start thinking about these points for creating the BIG idea or a hook – you’ll begin to notice ideas everywhere. Plus, the more you can incorporate a BIG idea or hook into your product – the easier it’ll be to sell it. The times when I’ve struggled is because I didn’t have enough of a big idea behind it.