It’s All About The Offer

Recently I’ve spent time thinking about what an offer actually is. That’s a tough one, especially if it’s for a seminar or other event— how do I know what offer to make now?

So how can I really convince somebody to come to my event versus going to someone else’s that might be going on at the same time. Or how do I convince them to purchase my product when there are similar products out there.

Well, there are a lot of things I could think about. Number one, I could say, mine’s better. Mine’s incredible. But the problem with that ploy is how do you prove that before a person actually attends your event or buys your product?

How do you make that argument before they actually come or purchase your product and/or service? The answer is that you really can’t, so that’s not a good strategy.

I could go with the idea that I’ve been doing this longer; have more experience. After all I’ve been marketing online full-time for 23 years now so I could definitely make that claim. But in my opinion, that’s kind of lame.

I could focus on why I’m better than someone else in some way, shape or form. But that’s just focusing on someone else’s weaknesses and trying to take that apart, and I don’t think that’s a good way to market.

I’d rather go with, here’s what I’ve got and let me get you so excited about what it is that you have to absolutely drop everything and buy my product/service as opposed to everyone else’s. To do that, I want to create an incredible offer that is absolutely ridiculous.

I made an offer for an event I held a while back in London. I’m pretty proud of that offer. What I liked most about it is that it was not just an offer; it’s was an experience.

Here’s the headline I used:

“Mark down, these dates: June 15th and 16th, in London, UK. I’m letting a few people into my £1997 seminar for only one single pound. You’ll watch me start with absolutely nothing, create a product, market that product online, and generate sales right in front of you.”

I wanted to go on stage with no idea of what product I was going to create. I had no plans. What I wanted to do is question the audience and together (with them) come up with a product and build it from scratch.

It was all about starting from nothing and building that product in real time at the event. I planned to do it in record time. I would then make a website, put that website up, online, and then drive traffic to that website to make sales.

This created the experience. I was going to put my reputation on the line and create sales right in front of their eyes. But that’s not all. Here’s the second part of it, and this was the reason they needed to come to my event instead of someone else’s.

Not only were they going to see me do all these things, but I informed them that everyone in attendance was going to get a ticket. At the end of the weekend, I was going to draw a ticket out of a hat and whoever held the winning ticket would get all the money that was generated from the sales of that weekend.

Now think about this offer for a second. I’m going to create a product from scratch. I’m going to create a website and that sounds crazy enough by itself, but I’m also going to promote it to my own list. Then I’m going to choose a winner and give them the money that the product generated at the event.

The offer continued with,

“…Let’s just say that we generate $5,000 throughout the weekend. Imagine a person coming here with nothing and walking home with $5,000 in their pocket!”

But that wasn’t all I offered them.

I told them I was going to do another drawing throughout that weekend, and it was going to be for a seven-day cruise. Now this is a legit cruise. My wife and I actually went on a yearly cruise before the pandemic, and my coaching students have the opportunity to purchase a ticket and go on the cruise with me.

For the offer during this event, I was going to pay for the winning person’s ticket. This is an all-inclusive cruise, and it was going to be a great time with me and my Marketing University members. My cost for their ticket would be somewhere around $2,000.

I also offered everyone who attended the event my PayBlue shopping cart. All of this and more was included in the offer. The “offer” is what makes the difference.

I could have said something to the effect of, “Hey, my name is Armand Morin. I’ve been doing this for 23 years. My companies have done a couple hundred million dollars in sales, and you should come to my seminar.”

Sure, that may have been enough to get a few people who know me to attend. But for the vast majority of people that don’t know me and that don’t have any previous experience with me, that would be a very, very, very tough sale.

For me to sell the vast majority of people I had to create an experience. So, like in the movie, The Godfather, I had to create an offer they couldn’t refuse. An offer that is so good they would be fools not to take advantage of it. I wanted them to feel bad about themselves if they didn’t take that offer.

If your offer sucks, then no one is going to buy from you—period. That’s the bottom line. That’s what you’ve need to think about. That’s what you’ve got to keep at the forefront of your mind anytime that you plan to sell something. What can you offer that will deliver an experience no one else will? I can’t wait to hear about it!