You send emails but your subscribers don’t open.
You ask your audience to read your blog posts but they don’t.
You painstakingly create videos but nobody is watching them.
It’s utterly frustrating that they don’t pay attention to you.
Unless you have one of the best content out there in the whole wide universe… the reason why people ignore or don’t pay attention to you is because you’re boring.
I’ve said this before… Terry Dean, widely regarded as the “grandfather of internet marketing” says “boring breeds constipated content, and constipated content doesn’t sell”.
There are tons of GREAT content out there easily accessible with a simple Google search… what makes yours special?
How This Post Can Benefit You
After you’ve read this post, you’re going to know the 4 ways of getting the attention of your audience, so you never feel neglected and ignored again.
Imagine the impact this would have on your business:
- More SATISFIED eyeballs for your content (emails, blog posts, videos, sales pages)
- You get to mesmerize your audience with your content
- Your audience like and trust you more as time goes by
- They’re more receptive of your offers and are more likely to buy from you
- They’re more likely to come back and buy, plus refer others to you
4 Ways To Get People To Pay Attention To You
1/ Share your own unique opinions / take / twists on the subject
In this day and age, the likelihood that you discover something totally new and revolutionary is slim to none… unless you’re a scientist who is always doing research and running new experiments.
What I’m trying to say is: the content/topic you’re going to cover has most likely been covered elsewhere on the internet.
… and more than likely more in depth and better in quality than yours.
So what make yours special?
This doesn’t mean that you can’t create content on already-covered topics.
Take a look at books, blog posts, youtube videos covering the same topics. Every day/week/month the same topics are published.
A google search on the keyword “how to cook a healthy steak” returns 104 million results:
Granted, not all results are about “how to cook a healthy steak”, but still there are tons of results about the topic.
Say you are a steak expert. Can you create a better and more engaging content piece than all the others?
Better content? Maybe not.
But more engaging content? Maybe yes.
You can create engaging content by being different from your competition, and one of the best ways to become different is to add your own unique take/opinions/twists on the subject/content you’re covering.
So instead of just covering the same 5 steps to cook a healthy steak, you add in your unique personal method/story that is different than all the others.
Maybe all other cooks marinate their meat BEFORE grilling… but you marinate AFTER grilling, which results in a more delicious and more tender meat.
(Disclaimer: I don’t know anything about cooking. I’m totally making this up. The purpose is to convey that you can add your own unique twist/flavor to stand out from your competitors).
2/ Inject your own unique vibe / style / slang
While the first point talks about adding your own unique twists that affect the “taste of the meat”, this second point is about adding your own unique vibe/style that affect the overall presentation of your brand/image.
For instance, instead of making the side dish the same-old same-old mash potatoes and fries… maybe your side dish is a mini portion of the meat itself… So kinda like a “mini-me” version of the main course.
Have you seen this video of David Beckham at a Steakhouse?
[responsive_video type=’youtube’ hide_related=’1′ hide_logo=’1′ hide_controls=’0′ hide_title=’1′ hide_fullscreen=’0′ autoplay=’0′]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2aggv1ltvw[/responsive_video]
.
I doubt the way Salt Bae (the now famous chef in the video) sprinkle the ingredients adds to the flavor of the meat.
It was more “for show”.
You and I are no David Beckham, but we can certainly be like Salt Bae and try to add our own unique vibe of how we do/present things to our audience.
He is now famous after the video, because of his unique and funny way of serving. I admit I haven’t seen anything quite like this, even though it looks easy to do…
Yes… there is no salt. But what do you think? Am I good enough? (let me know in the comments below)
When I write emails, my email signature is:
—
Email is PROFITABLY FUN!
Welly Mulia
—
I want people to associate “fun and profitable emails” with my name.
I’ve also created my own slang “Email Mahhhneeyy” instead of just writing the English words “Email Money”.
When people see “email mahhhneeyy”, I want them to instantly think “hey that’s that Welly guy”.
Terry Dean’s “slang” is “Earn More. Work Less. Enjoy Life!”
3/ Entertain your audience
Who gets paid more?
The entertainer or the teacher?
I’m not trying to disparage teachers at all. I respect teachers a lot. Without them, there won’t be us. Without them, all of us wouldn’t know anything about everything.
I’m asking the question to make a point.
The typical teacher teaches his/her students in a boring way.
Raise your hands if you can remember how boring your “normal” teacher was back in school/college?
What about those teachers who stand out? What’s different about them?
They entertain and teach you at the same time. They don’t just teach and teach and teach. They teach, and they entertain you with jokes, humor, their personal stories and experiences.
I’ve said this thousands of times in my Email Mahhhneeyy PRACcourse that using stories in your emails is one of the, if not the, most potent things you can employ when writing emails.
Using personal stories, experiences, and humor that you weave into your emails is a very effective way of engaging with your subscribers, and build that ever-important long-term relationship with them.
In short, people love to be entertained.
“But I’m not a comedian!”
To which I say: “Lucky you to be living in this day and age. To create edutainment emails/content, you don’t need to be a comedian. You can use words to entertain people”.
Sharing your personal life and happenings once in a while with your audience also helps in fostering your bond with them. It shows that you’re a real human, just like them.
Last year I shared with readers my little vacation with the family. Sometimes in my emails, I also talk about unimportant personal happenings/events in my life.
4/ Create controversies
Controversies are great catalysts for virality.
Consider these heated discussions:
Should gun laws be banned?
Do you like the current president?
What do you think about abortion?
Which is better? iPhones or Samsung phones?
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree to the answers to these questions, they’re likely to cause heated debates and emotional reactions.
There’s no right or wrong answers, just opinions on both sides.
And heated debates + emotional reactions = more attention.
Have you watched this episode of America’s Got Talent where Mel B throws water at Simon:
[responsive_video type=’youtube’ hide_related=’1′ hide_logo=’1′ hide_controls=’0′ hide_title=’1′ hide_fullscreen=’0′ autoplay=’0′]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AG8tFqhn5I[/responsive_video]
.
A celebrity judge angry at her colleague and throwing water at him? What could have happened? I want to know, and then I want to voice out my opinion!
I’m not saying this was staged, but what do we know right?
Nevertheless, this type of controversial happening/event typically results in more attention and eyeballs.
Here’s another example…
Most entrepreneurs are all for hustling. Whenever that word is mentioned, business owners get pumped up. It’s like everyone must hustle to be successful.
I wrote a post some time ago and said the exact opposite — why you shouldn’t hustle.
Word of Caution: Use this sparingly though, as you can’t always be stirring up controversial topics every other week.
Choose 1 Method & Implement
Please don’t go and try to implement all 4 ways at once. Instead, implement ONE at a time.
Choose one that you’re comfortable with.
Then implement the others gradually, one at a time.
Slow and steady wins the game.
Any thoughts or comments? Leave them in a comment below. I read each and every comment.