i spent 6 months studying the best marketers in the game

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Marketing is a very broad term.

Your college professor (course seller) told you it's everything from A to Z in the buying process.

The guru you follow on IG with 800k followers told you that 42 pieces of short-form content a week is the bare minimum for "marketing."

Your mom-and-pop chiropractor up the street thinks spending $20k on SEO and a cool sign on their strip mall office like it's 2007 will 3x their business.

Marketing is a subjective term.

And since all truths are half-truths, they're all technically right.

But what marketing TRULY is?

> The ability to make one's desire and urgency so magnified that they suffocate and suffer without buying your product.

The people shown above (Jeremy Haynes [@thejeremyhaynes), Nick Sweeney [@basedethos], Jeremy Pogue, Dr. Jeffrey Langmaid [best chiropractic marketer in the world], Dickie Bush [@dickiebush], Lukas Pakter, Eugene Schwartz) alllll share these characteristics.

Eugene Schwartz's best book (Breakthrough Advertising) is so powerful the book is basically banned.

It goes through periods where it's unavailable and can be traded for $1000s.

I got my copy fortunately for $150 and my accountant was confused when I tried to write it off as "The Sauce."

Dr. Jeffrey Langmaid has so many chiropractors on his email list he could sell it to PRIVATE EQUITY. I sh!t myself when he told me how many chiros are on his list.

@basedethos went from 30k IG followers to 300k basically overnight - never done before.

Lukas Pakter, maybe my favorite story, scaled Haus into a nearly 9-figure clothing brand at 25 (yes, TWENTY-FIVE).

They all come from different niches and have different offers - but here's what's consistent across the best in the game.

1. You're a bridge...

between somebody's problems and its associating circumstances and a desired outcome.

A basic concept that is overlooked and overcomplicated.

I took this right off one of Jeremy Haynes's videos because the graphs on Google Images did a great job of stroking their ego with a bunch of nonsense.

— "YouTube Video: How To Build An Offer That Converts Cold Traffic Like Crazy"

Somebody has a problem - they have circumstances that create pain or displeasure.

You sell something that "cures" the problem, helping your buyer get a desired outcome.

Imagine your girlfriend was on her way home from her nursing job and got a flat tire.

She's 30 minutes away in a bad area and you're stuck because your car is in the shop.

Her problem? She can't get home.

Circumstance? She's unsafe, scared, and now you're relationship is endangered because she feels like you're not a man.

Desired outcome? Well... for her to get home and not get ripped off, but more importantly (at least for you internally) that you feel like a man again.

It's really that simple.

BUT YOU MUST CONSIDER IT IN ALL PHASES OF YOUR FUNNEL.

In every single piece of content, ad, menu, website, landing page...

Every problem, painful circumstance, and outcome should be addressed FIRST before revealing the solution.

Sell them what they WANT, MAGNIFY their pain/desire, then give them what they NEED.

2. You can't create desire

Interesting concept, but it was one I had to learn the hard way.

And not in business...

Remember that one girl back in high school?

The one who played get away closer?

The one who you never had a good read on but you thought maybe she was the one?

She never liked you.

She was never into you.

She didn't want you, she wanted whatever she wanted out of a man.

And sure, while you can change (get leaner, stronger, make more money, etc.), she'll still desire the exact same qualities in a guy.

Sure, you can become that guy.

But she doesn't want you brother...

She wants a guy who makes money, is jacked, and can make her feel safe.

As a copywriter, marketer, content creator, etc., you will NEVER CREATE desire out of your customer...

Rather, you must find it, direct it, and magnify it.

Example?

I ran a mental performance coaching offer for high school and collegiate athletes last fall.

And while it was a great offer, there wasn't a big market for it.

All of the content and the belief-shifting in the world wouldn't have made those scarce parents invest money into a mental performance coaching program.

But they want their kids to be good at their sport, right?

It would've taken me months and years to make lil Johnny's parents finally think abundantly and try something new.

So I diverted...

3. The "riches" are in the niches...

Define rich.

If I asked 100 people to numerically define rich, I'd get 100 different answers.

Your definition of rich is not mine.

Some people would touch my bank account and laugh.

Others would touch my bank account and think they hit the lotto.

Back to my point...

There are only two ways you can get "rich" on social media (I'm talking life-changing money, not $10k/m):

Sell a low-ticket to many (such as an app, mini course, Skool subscription etc.)
Sell a high-ticket offer to cold traffic

In the first case, you BETTER have a massive audience, great reputation and authority, and a product that you can confidently charge recurring.

The second case is like hitting gold.

Let's bring up my mental performance offer again and you gave me $25k for ads.

I charged $2500 for 3 months of coaching with my team.

$25k on Meta would result in ~25,000 leads. 99% of them cold, meaning they have no idea that they want my coaching, let alone know who I am.

If I can convert 10 of those leads and break even, I now know that I can sell my offer to ANY athletic audience in the world.

So if my high-ticket offer worked for a cold audience?

It would work even better for a warm one.

Unless you're just getting started, don't get caught up in the "niches"

ESPECIALLY if you want to make it BIG.

4. An ugly truth...

You can't handpick your audience.

The algorithm is like that one kid on the playground who knows he's not suppose to catch lizards but does it anyways and throws it at the teacher's face.

You can either complain about the game or get on the field.

One of the best ways to do this is through free assets (YouTube, SOPs, guides, etc).

Not only because you build trust... everybody knows that at this point...

But you collect phone numbers and emails.

92%... one second let me magnify that

NINETY-TWO PERCENT

of Americans check their email, DAILY.

Once you have somebody's email, you have direct access to them.

Sure, you're still not handpicking leads that will get on the phone and read their 16-digit number...

But you're getting micro-commitments, building an audience, and building an insurance policy.

Real ones know...

Email is the best "social media" platform, as you can never get "banned" from email.

If Meta took down your Instagram tomorrow, there's a good chance you're not getting it back.

Same with TikTok.

Same on here.

But if ConvertKit decides you're not a good fit anymore, you take your emails and go to another service.

Build trust.

Collect emails.

5. Organic or paid ads?

Hahahaha...

The good ole debate.

Is it best to scale with organic content or paid advertising?

Isn't organic too slow? Too broad?

Is paid advertising a waste of money? Controlled gambling?

Here's what the organic coaches won't tell you...

They're running ads.

And here's what the paid ads guys won't tell you...

You gotta post organic content.

Here's what BOTH won't tell you (unless you buy their course - btw most of these courses will help you, it's just a great joke).

Both are necessary to scale as quickly as possible.

Ads AND organic content bring in leads.

Retargeting ads AND specific organic content nurture the leads.

Don't ego-trip into one or the other.

6. 80% of your marketing dollar...

is spent on your hook.

A gem from Breakthrough Advertising:

> The ONLY job of your first sentence [now we call it the 'hook'] is to get the customer to read the second sentence.

Your ideal customer is not seeking your information, nor do they care about your existence.

They want what they want.

So you gotta figure out what they want, stab at their pain and twist the knife by calling them out more and more.

7. Ego

No marketers will explicitly say this...

BUT there IS some ego involved...

Look, to play a game that requires you to try tens of thousands of creatives in your life, you gotta have a bit of hubris to you...

It's ok to have some ego, you just have to back it up and channel its energy in the right direction.

8. BONUS

The more money you have NOW...

The more long-term games you can play.

It goes for anything in life, but it is AMPLIFIED when it comes to paid advertising.

If I gave you $1000 to try ONE AD on Meta, you'd become super neurotic about the hook, audio, text on screen, everything.

But if I gave you $30k to replicate 30 of those same ads, you'd become more creative, test out different hooks and visuals, and find 2-3 winners you can fuel with more cash.

See the long-term game - not how you're "losing money" on your ads after launching them 24 hours ago.

A little longer than 3 minutes today...

But it'll suffice.

Or it won't.

Unfollow me if so.

to your inevitable success,

Jlowe

PS: I've been dealing with a neurological issue so my YouTube has slowed down.

I'll be back.