Category: Persuasive Professional

A call to action isn’t just a button; it’s an invitation to a journey. Make it irresistible.

Hint at the adventure you will take together. The amazing sights they will see. The incredible powers they will gain by exploring the deep dark jungles of the human mind.

That works great!

You know what doesn’t work?

Join my newsletter. Sign up today. Get my emails. Receive a summary. Read my article.

BORING.

Ready to level up your email / website / product / offering / trade show conversions?

Send me a message and we can work on infusing some persuasive magic into your offers!

(See, that’s how you do it!)

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan

Trade secret: Emotion drives action. Logic justifies it. Use both in your work.

Even if you are the most logical person on the planet, you are still going to make the choice that feels right and then paper over that emotion with a mountain of “reasonable” justifications for why it’s the right choice.

I see businesses & freelancers lose the job so often because they focus on all the details that make logical sense, but run screaming from anything that might even hint at emotion.

Let’s put it this way.

If logic really were the prime motivator, then why aren’t movies just 2 hours of CCTV footage of what happened at the gas station? That’s rational. It has no interpretive element. It doesn’t tell us how we should feel. There’s no emotional component. Just puuuuuure facts.

But movies aren’t that way, are they?

They’re almost entirely focused on emotion.

So are video games, and they’re even bigger than movies!

So stop trying to sell to Vulcans, and remember that humans are primates with the thinnest veneer of civilization keeping us on track.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan

“The person asking the questions is in control.”

You’ll see this quote all the time in the sales world, but I still haven’t heard a solid explanation for why.

The Sales Guru Of The Week just repeats it because the Sales Guru Of Last Week that he stole it from heard it somewhere else too, and they’re all just ripping off yet another Sales Guru Of Last Year.

Until now.

I have an answer that comes from the world of Mentalism, and unless you’re a world class Mentalist I guarantee that you’ve never seen anything that comes close to touching it.

I lay it out point by point in my upcoming book “The Mind Reader’s Guide To Better Selling” along with a lot of other powerful insights that help my team of sales people at the marketing agency continually exceed their numbers.

If you’re curious about what that insight is, you can get access to it right now by becoming a founding reader. The book is still in progress, but as a founding reader you get access to the living document as it continues to take shape.

I’ve already written the full explanation to the “questions as control” thing, and there’s a lot more to come.

Also, you’ll have the chance to ask me questions about sales and get real time answers whether it’s already in the book or not. Plus, you’ll get your name in the book, too!

So, if you’re anywhere near the world of sales and you want early access to the step-by-step system that I use to train sales people at the country’s #1 digital marketing agency, then you should join up now.

Can’t wait to see you in there!

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “Do you feel in control” Pritchard

Every post is a pitch. Know what you’re selling: ideas, products, or dreams.

When it comes to “content marketing” everything you’re sharing is one more snowflake that (should) add up to an avalanche of business.

Unfortunately most people who struggle with posting are coming at it from the wrong angle.

They’re sharing too much personal information without a purpose.

Sure, I talk about my family, my travels, my friends, etc but it’s always in service of helping you understand the fundamental lesson or principle I’m trying to communicate.

That lesson (hopefully) is something you can take & apply in your own life.

Like making the information that you share useful to your soon-to-be clients!

You’re selling a way of seeing the world (like this note is doing), you’re promoting a product / service, or you’re selling the possibility that things could be different (which is another way of saying it’s a different way of seeing the world…).

When you look at your own business & personal social media strategies, where do these ideas fit in?

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “Sell the idea; not the thing” Pritchard

Read any book about sales, and you’ll see a lot of ink devoted to answering objections.

But they’re missing the mark.

Every question is the result of a concern that your prospect has about your product / service.

They may not know how to voice it exactly, so they do what they know how to do; ask you a question about it.

In 99% of cases you’re missing the mark if you answer the question they ask. You should, instead, work to understand what the fundamental concern is, and then address that instead of giving a point-of-fact answer.

Don’t answer the question directly & ignore the concern. You’ll lose the sale every time.

Here’s an example.

At the digital marketing agency where I work as the sales trainer, a common question that comes up is:

“How do you guys use AI?”

Simple question, right?

Nope!

They might be asking because they want us to use AI to generate 50 articles for cheap. They might want us to use AI to “do more posts” like they’ve been told by their 3rd cousin once removed (who knows nothing about marketing). Maybe they don’t want us to use AI because they believe it will penalize their rankings due to not being helpful or useful.

If our sales team says “We’ve been using AI for a long time; it just doesn’t look like it. Any time you let Google figure out what keywords to focus on, or optimize your campaigns, you’ve been using machine learning & “AI” to tweak your strategies.”

That doesn’t actually do anything to address the central concern / belief that the prospect has about AI.

This is why taking a question at face value is fatal to your business, and why being a mind reader (working to understand their beliefs & motivations about their business) will get you everything you’ve ever wanted.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “see beyond the question” Pritchard

If you’re a solopreneur, freelancer, creative, business owner, or sales person for any of the above then you might have a case of “Discountitis.”

Most businesses have it, and they don’t understand just how bad the situation is.

Discountitis tells your clients that you don’t know your business.

If you did, then why are you letting them get your service in a way that creates a vacuum.

Nature & the marketplace abhor a vacuum.

So does your business.

It’s desperate for you to charge real prices AND STICK BY THEM.

Think of it like E=MC²

In a certain amount of Mass, there’s a certain amount of energy. Mass, in business, are results. Energy, in business, is budget & strategy.

If your client expects certain deliverables, then it requires a certain amount of energy.

If you allow them to pay you less while still expecting the same deliverables, then you’re violating the fundamental laws of success.

Sales people who close deals with discounts are killing your business.

Your marketing that talks about “cheapest,” “best deal,” or other “people without money love me” messaging attract those exact clients.

And they drive away clients who are happy to pay what it takes for results (like me).

If you lead with a discount, I know I can’t trust you with my business because you don’t even take your own business seriously.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan

PS: If this hit a nerve and you feel like unsubscribing, that’s your the truth begging you to reconsider your existing approach to business. I’m here when you decide to tackle this head-on.

In the magic world, there’s a common refrain that the highest aim is sharing their child-like sense of wonder.

But, you know what?

I have a daughter who is almost 2 years old. She’s amazed that peanut butter sticks to her hand. She loses her damn mind at the sight of a particularly large bubble.

What I’m saying is that a child’s sense of wonder is about as low of a bar as you could ever hope for.

Instead, I’m more interested in working with a no-nonsense CEO who has been there and done that. Someone who is intensely skeptical (bordering on cynical). And then hearing them say something along the lines of:

“I don’t believe it. I’ve never seen anyone get that much business out of a single trade show booth in my whole career!”

THAT is impressive; when you can knock the socks off a grizzled doubter.

How do you do that in your work?

I’m curious to know.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “Knock your socks off” Pritchardd

Branding isn’t just about logos. It’s about making your mark in minds.

Creating unforgettable experiences.

Establishing life-long associations so that your customer will ALWAYS think of YOU when they hear a particular phrase or see a particular image or remember a particular place.

99% of the corporate world is stuck in a 1960’s Mad Men era of choosing a color, a font, a logo, and calling it “branding.”

The 1% that understands that humans are deeply experiential and that we tend to remember things that created powerful emotional reactions (like amazement)?

Those few win it all leaving the rest to wonder how they did it.

Would you like to level up your branding / marketing / sales / negotiation effectiveness? Then we should talk about what you’re working on and how I might be able to help.

Hit reply, send me a note describing what’s going on, and I’ll read every single message that comes through.

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “mind power galore” Pritchard

I was curious, so I asked Google: What is the best way to get the most out of my next trade show booth / exhibit?

And this was the AI-generated list that I got.

It has VR experiences, games, good booth design, and a lot of other elements.

But the absolute number one BEST strategy for getting the most business out of your next trade show is missing: an in-booth presenter / “edutainer.”

A presenter can proactively get attention, build a crowd gathered around your booth, then hold them captivated with a 10 minute presentation that seamlessly weaves entertainment with your marketing messaging.

It’s part education. It’s part entertainment. Thus “edutainment.”

It is remarkably effective and the most successful companies know how powerful it can be.

Unfortunately, too many people have never considered it, and the chances aren’t good that they ever will if it keeps getting left out of every “Best Trade Show Strategy” article & listicle on the net.

Hopefully you appreciate it by now!

What other big ideas are missing from your world?

Best thoughts,
~Jonathan “hold ’em captive” Pritchard