Review 4

Cxl Institute

You might own a baseball card. You got it from your dad. He got it from his dad. Who got it from his dad, who got it from his dad. Who also got it from his dad…who got it from some guy. That card has a lot of sentimental value. You wouldn’t sell it unless you got a million dollars for it. But you’d only pay five dollars for it if there was no emotional attachment. People like the shit they own. It has more value than money. Why do you think hoarders exist? It’s not because they want a newspaper from twenty years ago, it’s because it’s a piece of their identity. Make people feel like their product is a piece of their identity.

I will constantly remind people of the effort they put into the program. Many people don’t workout because they have a story they tell themselves. A story that says they don’t workout or some bullshit like that. The goal is to change the story they tell about themselves. As soon as they buy, I will congratulate them on making the first step. I’ll tell them they are now somebody who works out and leads a healthy lifestyle.

People do things better when they think they can do it. Encouragement from others and positive self-talk can do wonders. I don’t want to get too deep, but parents who raise their children to feel like they can do anything have the most skilled kids. Not because other kids aren’t as talented or skilled, but because they don’t have any positivity in their life. And maybe if they said “good job” or “it’s okay” every once in awhile…okay, I’m getting too personal here.

Anyways, I need to encourage my clients! I have to find examples of motherfuckers who got into shape and lost hundreds of pounds. Something that makes them think, “okay, if that guy can do it, then I sure as hell can!”

Remembering things you come up with yourself is easy. Remembering something that was given to you is hard. Explain why and you’ll remember it more easily. I want my customers to choose everything. I want them to concoct their own meals with my guidance. The more they do that, the more effort they will put forth.

People notice things that are different or out of place! Surprise your customers! Not sure how I’m going to do this.

I’m gonna swear in my copy. That’s the only thing I can think of that would “surprise” my customers. That might turn some customers away, but it will attract other customers more strongly. And everyone knows, you gotta write like you talk.

Everyone hates change. To the ego, change equals death. We want things to stay the same. This CXL lesson mentioned organ donors. It’s fascinating. Countries who ask if you want to opt-in to the program have low organ donorship. Countries who ask if you want to opt-out of the program have a ton more donors.

I think I’m going to mention that in my copy. If people know about the tendency to avoid change, it makes them less afraid of it. And it will also double as a “do you want to be like everyone else and avoid change?” motivator.

People remember stories! They like pop culture references. Use these to makie things easy to remember. I’ll inclue some stuff about celebrities and tell stories.

Biases are pervasive as fuck. It’s virtually impossible to think objectively. This fact hit home for me when I read about a study that found over ninety percent of people think they’re above average at any given task. Obviously that’s impossible. Immediately, I thought, “Nah, I am an above average driver…oh shit, I’m doing it!” Now I just assume I’m below average at everything.

People rely on whatever they learned first. As a personal trainer, that sucks. People are fed lies about diet and exercise from a young age. It’s hard to reverse a thorough brainwashing.

I mention emotions almost every paragraph. Understand emotions and you’ll make money. Nothing drives this point home like when someone removed the part of people’s brains that processed emotions. He found out they were unable to make decisions. Yes, that includes financial decisions.

And so I’ll say it again: I NEED to know the biggest emotional motivators that my audience has for getting in shape. There’s a lot, but I’m going to have to test to find the biggest two or three.

Looks aren’t everything. But they matter a lot. Not trying to be a designer here, so I’ll just be sure nothing is god awful. I’ll take average over bad. I’ll probably hire a designer and a photographer. Personally, I like simple sites without images. But for my industry, I’m going to need some of my photos on there. Ugh. Self esteem issues are not going to like that.

As much as I want to rely on my copy, I need to consider the design. Never heard of the “F” layout, but it’s legitimate. I’ll put the important shit at the top. I don’t know if I want a menu though, so what should I put at the left? I might have to make an exception for my page. Luckily, I know how to code basic sites. I think I’ll enjoy making the layout. The design shit is a different story.

Cognitive fluency is another repetive subject that bears repeating. People want shit that is easy to understand!! I’m going to make my sentences short, my offer simple. Quick and painless. Everything will be considerate towards my audience!

Everything I’ve learned so far has to do with a lot of studying my audience. I think the whole degree is that way. That’s what I wanted. I need to know what my audience is thinking before I can think of selling them anything. Of course I need to have a good product, but a good product with bad execution isn’t worth a damn.

Now I know the biases to be aware of/take advantage of. That’s a big deal since every fucking decision people make is based on emotions. Even though they might convince themselves they’re thinking rationally. Which is another cool thing I learned from CXL :)

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