Unscripted: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship pdfdrive com

HUMANIZE YOUR CORPORATION
A big part of attaching a narrative to your company (or product) is that it
humanizes it. Humanization is another double-pronged strategy that helps
reinforce your brand AND sweeten buyers to top-of-mind. The fact is 
people
want to do business with relatable people they like, not mammoth corporations
hidden behind a bureaucratic wall.
The easy way to humanize your business is to put a face to it.
My first book’s author page has multiple photos of me from grade school to
forty-plus! I’ve done this because studies have shown that the “About Us” page
(or in my case, the author page) is one of the most visited pages on ALL websites.
Make that page mean something other than just a bunch of bullshit buzz
phrases like, “We synergistically enable visionary collaboration and idea-sharing
among multiple native environments.” Instead of sounding like an automaton
stuck on a douche loop, say something meaningful. Funny. Show your
personality. And yes, post some photos.
If you have a team, post photos of them looking like humans: at their desk,
playing with their dog, anything not resembling a statue in a stiff suit.
Another humanization strategy is to engage your audience on social media.
I don’t hang out on Twitter very often, but when I do, I take time to respond
to fans tweeting about my book. If they took five-seconds to contact me, I can
give five back. Likewise, whenever someone emails, I try to respond despite the
volume which has made it impossible. When readers hear back, they’re shocked
that I responded and not a hired VA from the Philippines. Such simple gestures
can move the brand meter and further enforce discipleship.
And finally, if you have employees, encourage them to flower their
personality as opposed to gagging it. For example, Southwest Airline flight
attendants are very creative in their precautionary preflight presentation. Instead
of hearing the same rabble the umpteenth time, travelers have heard it sung,
rapped, and humorized. Instead of a corporate hammer banning such witticisms,
they allow it, ultimately humanizing a large corporation. Rare indeed.
APPEAL TO SELF-INTEREST, MEANING, AND PURPOSE
The ultimate consumer doctrine of selfishness is 
what’s in it for me?
The
quicker and cleaner your customer learns what’s in it for them, the quicker the
sale. Forget features, doodads, and sparkly accoutrements—
sell benefits.
If you

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skewed multiple value attributes in the value array, translate those attributes into
direct benefits. Tell your potential buyer 
exactly
what you can do for them. Your
campaign focus should always drill down into one core benefit. Don’t let your
customer draw their own conclusions.
It is surprising (and sad) that many entrepreneurs fail to do this. For
example, my friend who owns a moving-crate company isn’t effectively
appealing to self-interest nor communicating benefits—he leaves the customer to
do the work. His home page’s garish headline says, “Studio Package.” This is a
service level within his business. Yeah, that’s his headline, a zero-appeal, zero-
benefit nonstarter.
A more effective headline centers on self-interest and benefit. Something like:
Crush Your Moving Frustrations! Simplify And Speed Your Move With Our Eco-
Friendly Rentable Moving Crates!
Is there any confusion why a customer should buy?
You have seconds to appeal to self-interest, and it all happens with your
headline. Make it large, bold, short, but long enough to convey the core benefit.
For example, here’s the headline I’ve used for years for 
Fastlane
: “Is There A
Millionaire Entrepreneur In You?” The headline clearly establishes fast that my
book is about money and entrepreneurship. No guesswork is required other than
seeding the customer with the question, which must be pondered.
Another strategy is to appeal to your customer’s meaning and purpose, or
lack thereof. Much of industrialized humanity lacks a purpose other than paying
bills and then dying. When a business model imbues social inclusion, it has an
advantage over one that does not. Why? Because studies prove that social
inclusion in humans is linked to meaning.
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When we feel a part of a group or a
subculture, it gives meaning to our lives. This is why professional sports teams
and their athletes are worshiped: pro sports teams and their ravenous fans
leverage a meaning appeal—it’s why grown men feel perfectly comfortable
wearing another man’s name stamped on their jersey’s backside.
Lives that lack meaning are given it. The same concept applies to political