There is no Persuasion without Interest. Start there.

8:34am
Saint Paul

Someone asked,

“What are some effective ways to persuade someone who has lost interest in something?”

Persuasion means you’re showing a person (or a group) reasons to move forward with an action or belief.

So if they’re not interested, you must get them interested before they can possibly be persuaded.

There are a number of ways to spark interest.

Here are ten that marketers (and Hollywood, and the Media, and others) use all the time:

• A Big Idea, something your audience hasn’t thought about before, that then connects to your idea
• Focusing on their Pains, perhaps that’s being unfit or being broke or being unprepared, that then connects to your idea
• Asking a question that opens a dialog which then connects to your idea
• Appealing to their Identity, saying “X-type People (like you) do this…” and then connecting it to your idea
• Making an idea seem common and widely accepted, like it’s a no-brainer decision
• Telling a story where they can connect with the characters and then implanting your idea in that story so your audience accepts the idea and outcome as realistic and desirable
• Frequent contact, written or spoken, that warms up your audience to your way of doing things
• Showing a successful outcome from someone who has done it already, and how that transformation can happen to your audience too
• Raising the stakes, so the outcome is better than ever before—and easier too—but failure to act is more disastrous than ever as well
• Reminding someone of just how close they are to reaching their goals and what it will mean when they do
• Taking away their option to choose, saying “this isn’t right for you” or “this is no longer available.” Scarcity makes people want things more

This list isn’t complete. There are additional ways to spark interest and desire.

But it’s a good start.

Now, effective marketing does one or more of these things.

And yet, most marketing does not.

Which is why small businesses often don’t believe marketing works–because they’re going about it wrong and spending money on ineffective marketing (often created by agencies that also don’t “get it”).

And those same small businesses don’t have money to “waste”–which isn’t really a waste, but an opportunity to learn about their market. And without appealing to their market, they’ll forever remain small.

The sun is up. It’s another wonderful day to be alive on God’s earth.

Jeffrey

PS. Personally, I’m always on the lookout for new ideas to incorporate in my marketing efforts, ideas that spark interest and persuade people to take an action that is for their benefit.

And it’s never easy, because it takes much less effort for people to do nothing—with a known outcome (status quo)—than try something new that takes effort or money, and has an unknown outcome (risk).

Even when it should be a no-brainer decision.

(Is that why you haven’t written in to put your name on my wait list, *|FNAME|*?)

Posted on Categories Opinion

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