1: Don’t do what the gurus say.

You know the guys.

Because typically they are guys…

Ferrari driving, jet-setting supposed millionaires that all tell you how to build a massive list and make a mint… Smiling in the Facebook adverts with a cityscape backdrop behind them. Or showing off their success on the tropical beach with golden sand stretching out behind them…

Often reminiscing about when they had nothing … But now look at them! And of course, if they can do it, so can you…

But …

The really successful ones had a HUGE advantage … that you don’t.

And that is … they started a long time ago. When it was far easier.

• Opt-ins were cheap.
• Joining an email list was a novelty for prospects; whose inboxes weren’t overflowing with a deluge of so-called ‘helpful’ emails screaming “buy my offer!!”.
• There was far less competition and people didn’t so readily see sales pages for what they were…

Meaning the gurus have built an audience of avid followers giving them social proof to leverage. Plus they have the money to invest in massive advertising campaigns and a network of partners to cross-promote products with.

But because you’re starting from pretty much scratch, you’ve got two hurdles you need to instantly overcome.

First, the people outside your network won’t trust you … simply because they don’t know you…

When they see your adverts and opt-ins they will have all sorts of ideas go through their heads. Such as: “Stranger danger! No such thing as a free lunch. What’s the scam here? What do they want from me? Another annoying advert from a wannabe selling regurgitated rubbish”

Even worse… before you even get to that stage you’ve got an even BIGGER problem you need to crack.

That is, secondly, people are drowning in information and stimuli overload…

Regardless of the time of the day or whatever they’re doing, something or someone wants a piece of them.

Sponsored posts and banner ads scream for their attention online, billboards as they drive by, adverts in the in-flight magazines and business journals. At work, phone calls interrupt them, text messages beep, emails ping, work colleagues ask questions. And it doesn’t stop at home. The partner wants to talk, their kids crave for attention, the adverts on the TV or radio chirp away in the background…

The list is endless…

So the only way for our brains to cope is to focus on exactly what is relevant at that exact moment.

We have to filter everything else out … Else it would be overwhelming.

So how does this relate to what you’ve tried in the past?

Simply, because your prospects are busy. Meaning you’ve got to grab them in such a way that breaks their attention and interrupts whatever they are doing…

Which …

… is where many of the gurus and so-called experts so badly let you down…

You hear them exclaim that grabbing attention is all about the headline. Then they give you a handful of formulas to work with. And just tell you to just fill in the blanks.

Such as “How to X by Y without any suffering the pain of Z.”

So you end up with something like “How to win more high value consulting clients using the internet without the pain of having to do anything techy”.

Or “The top X mistakes that lead to Y unless you Z”.

But you’ve probably seen a million adverts like this….

Or rather, I should say, you saw it the first few times. Maybe even clicked on it in the past. But since then, your brain has filtered it out a million times. Often so well you don’t even consciously register it anymore.

Meaning that if you tried to use these kinds of messages a few years ago to build your lists, it probably would’ve worked.

But now… it most likely won’t. Not to the level you need… Because your prospects are experts at filtering out what they’ve seen before.

And far more sceptical too!

Meaning they won’t click on the ad. Or if they do, and they see a lead page saying something similar to what other people have said before, they will simply click away. Back to Facebook so they can watch another cute kitten video. And donating another quid or two of yours to Mark Zuckerberg’s coffers.

Leaving you frustrated and with less money left in the pot.

You see, it’s not the headline that is important…

Or the fact that you need to highlight emotional benefits and the pain that they will encounter if they don’t listen to you…

It’s about being different.

And sharing something they’ve not heard before. Something highly relevant to their situation. And something they can’t compare to anything else.

So let me ask you a question…

Is what you’ve read so far, good information that you’ve not heard before?

Yes?

Then, great!

However, before we get onto the second of the six reasons why you’ve struggled in the past, I need to draw your attention to something critical …