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So what’s so important about having a signature program?
There are many advantages for a business, not the least of
which is that it is a sure-fire differentiation strategy.  As a
communications expert, I’m interested also in the fact that
it streamlines what the heck you talk about when describing
your business! When I attend networking meetings (which I
still do occasionally), and certainly in my daily work with
coaches, I consistently notice that they discuss several
things they’ve got cooking. The brain can’t process all this
information. It wants to know you’re doing one thing. So,
in Session 6, one of the things I tell M&M is that they will
now be speaking only about “Feast or Famine,” their portal
event. On their website, ideally, they would have a squeeze
page, inviting people only to this event—rather than explaining
in detail all the things they offer. This always produces a big
sigh of relief for my clients, who are always aware that typically
their communication isn’t effective because they talk about
too much.

In this session, we also discuss possible copy for their promo-
tional postcard and I emphasize the need for their couples to
“self-identify”—to say, “That’s us!”—and to do it either in
the headline or in the first paragraph, and certainly through-
out the rest of the copy. So, I play around with a few possible
headlines for them that satisfy this requirement, then we pull
the first line of the copy straight out of their heads and gut:
It (marriage, as referred to in the headline) hasn’t worked out
the way you envisioned it, has it? So we’ve slammed them
with two “self-identifying” questions in the headline and
first sentence.

Then we list several unwanted things in their lives that
they never envisioned—things directly related to their
financial stress, and we further “call them out” by discussing
their particularly unique situation: that they make a good
income but continually coming up short. This rules out
other couples who don’t have that issue.

Then we slip on M&M’s “older and wiser couple” persona
with the next paragraph that begins, “We know.” And
continues on with the brief story of their financial struggles
twenty years ago and the constant fights they used to have,
inserting some of the accusations they hurled at each other,
which we know their market most certainly does as well. This
is another self-identifying tactic. And we conclude that
paragraph by saying, “we’ve weathered those storms and
are here to show you how to, too.”

Below that, in the center, is the title of their program and below
that, centered, is the thesis argument of their “brand
concept” (Remember that? It’s a teaching point around
which their portal program revolves.) Theirs is that financial
struggle is directly related to a secret communication cycle
they can’t see. Below the thesis, we put the statement, “You
must attend this special seminar to break free of that cycle
once and for all.” (That’s what I wrote about yesterday:
activating the compulsory need in humans to know). Then
we describe what they’ll learn in the 90-minute program and
conclude with logistical information such as where, when
and how to register.

Of course, I don’t write this on the fly; I spend time in off-call
hours constructing the final language, but we flesh out the
basics in this session.

I’m happy to provide some key pointers for your promotional
copy! I kept this post purposely vague for copyright purposes,
but there’s enough direction here for you to apply the general
concepts to your own marketing pieces.

TOMORROW IS THE DAY!! You can own this entire 8-session
consultation! To see the first of two videos introducing the CD,
click here now!