This is mainly for marketers in the “make money online” niche, although it does cross over to other niches as well.
Over and over they tell us to “tell our story” so that our audience can relate to us. After all, if we can go from being poor to being rich, then we can teach our customers to do the same, right?
“I was $500,000 in debt, sleeping on my brother-in-law’s couch and driving a 1971 Chevy Vega that was missing the steering wheel. After I had tried everything and was so desperate I was ready to hold up the local liquor store, I accidentally discovered the method I’m about to show you. 10 minutes later I had six figures in the bank and today I live in a 142 room mansion and drive three dozen brand new cars.”
Okay, yes, I exaggerated that one just a bit for effect, but you get the idea. When you read something like this, are you immediately suspicious? I know I am.
Rags to riches stories do work, but maybe not like you think they do.
I want you to take a moment right now and picture your perfect prospect. Is it someone who can barely afford your $47 product, let alone your $200 product?
Or is it perhaps someone who could easily hand over $3000 on the spot if you can gain their interest and prove to them that you’re legitimate?
Your messaging is going to determine what kind of client demographics you attract. Using a rags to riches story tends to attract people on the lower end of the financial spectrum who are perhaps desperate or simply not all that knowledgeable in the world of business and marketing.
These are the folks who will spend $17 or $47 on a product, but they will never shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars for training. It simply isn’t in their mindset to do that, even if by chance they can afford it.
Conversely, high-ticket clients are generally turned off by rags to riches stories because they view it as internet hype and do not take it seriously.
If your goal is to offer a wide range of products at different price levels, your best option is to damp down the – “I was broke and now I’m rich” – stories that are so prevalent in the online marketing niche.
When you want to attract customers on the lower end of the financial spectrum, it’s great to use things like discounts, time-sensitive offers and the sort of stories that illustrate how ‘easy’ and ‘fast’ your product works. But keep in mind you will have to continually focus on volume, finding more and more of these customers to sell to.
Would you rather have 1000 $10 customers, or 10 $1,000 customers?
If you want to attract more affluent, high-end customers, then learn to speak their language. Let your knowledge and results speak for themselves. Create content that shows you know what you’re talking about and demonstrate that your clients get results.
It’s important to show that YOU are making your money by doing the thing you are teaching. Marketers who can demonstrate their own results don’t need to use rags to riches stories or use strong arm sales tactics.
And you certainly don’t want to begin a relationship with a new prospect by making them instantly suspicious of you, either.
If you have a sales letter right now that uses the rags to riches story, test what happens when you replace that story with something more powerful. Here are a few examples:
“Here’s how we increased our conversions by 93% in 8 weeks.”
“This is how we garnered a half million dollars in free publicity, gaining 14,549 new subscribers, 1,266 new customers and earning $67,433 in new sales in 3 months.”
“This is the exact method I used to build my business from scratch, going from zero revenue to over $20,000 a month in just 14 months.”
Can you see how those differ from, “I was living in my car and now I own a mansion and only work 4 hours a week while sitting on the beach?”
Your prospects are skeptical. They don’t believe you until you can show them you know what you’re talking about.
Remember, it’s not about the lifestyle anymore, it’s about being real. Your customers already know they want to work less and earn more, which is why you don’t need to sell them on that.
You simply need to prove to them that you can indeed help them to achieve their financial goals.