We Told You Not To Come Here…

What brought you here?

We’ll come back to this. But first, why your current marketing is being ignored…

It’s due to a psychological function called ‘selective attention.’

Throughout our day, we focus on specific stimuli while ignoring others. It’s automatic, and it prevents us from being overwhelmed by information.

A misunderstanding of this function has created a big misbelief in the entire world…

Human attention spans ARE NOT getting shorter.

You may have seen the stat showing our attention spans have decreased from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.

It was passed around major publications, including Time Magazine, New York Post and The National Post. But they didn’t do proper research…

A BBC journalist searched for the original source of the stat and found… the study doesn’t exist.

Here’s your ‘X post’ for today 👇

Attention isn’t getting shorter. Competition for attention is getting bigger.

Which is why you need to break the pattern!

The best way to have masses of people select your ad, email, post or article for their attention is to directly challenge a common belief.

Ever notice the ‘deer in the headlights’ look you get from someone when you say something they disagree with?

Here are a few examples of belief challenging (you’ll know at least one):

• The Keto Diet (lifestyle) — lose weight by eating lots of meat and fat
• Atomic Habits (book) — instead of setting goals, build tiny habits
• The Obstacle Is The Way (book) — obstacles present the biggest opportunities
• Niching Down (belief) — instead of trying to serve everyone, focus on a small niche you can dominate
• Range: Why Generalists Triumph In A Specialized World (book) — instead of restricting your market, give yourself more opportunities

Notice how the last 2 contradict each other?

One person’s fact is another’s fiction.

Which makes you question the very definition of ‘truth’ (more on this in just a second)…

Most marketers go with trends in their marketing. They write hooks based on what they think people want to see.

But the greats do the opposite…

Stop writing hooks.

Great hooks don’t come from your mind, they come from your audience.

Instead of trying to think of something clever, look at what your audience is talking about.

Instead, find your hooks…

Make a list of the most common problems and questions you have in your niche.

If you’re stuck, try these:

1. Browse the questions in the comment section from other experts/influencers
2. Brainstorm problems and challenges you had when you first started
3. Browse Reddit and Quora for common questions

Cause arguments.

Pick a topic and ask yourself the following (or their opposites)…

• What is something people believe to be true, but is actually false?
• What is something people think is good, but is actually bad?
• What is something everyone ignores, but is actually important?
• What is something everyone thinks is impossible, but actually IS possible?
• What do people think are unconnected, but are actually connected?

‘Create’ the truth.

Think about your own experiences and their results. They’re ‘truths,’ right?

Whether your truths go for or against commonly-held beliefs, they can work in your messaging.

Ask yourself:

• What are things you do that few others in your industry do?
• What beliefs do you have that are responsible for your results (that others may not have)?

The ‘direct challenge’ is a powerful way to get mass eyes on your marketing. But use it wisely.

Make sure you have the experiences and/or facts to back it up. Otherwise you’re just doing ‘sensationalism’ marketing. And nobody likes that, right?

Try some “direct challenge” hooks for your next offer or promotion, and see how your audience reacts.

That’s all for today. We hope you found this useful!

Oh, and about why you’ve stayed to read our Deep Dive right until the very end… even though we told you not to…

It’s because we told you not to 🙃

Humans are (you choose):

1. Simple
2. Complex
3. Weird