(Frank Kern) Mass Control 2.0 week#1 - Planting Seeds for Total Domination

CLIENT TRAINING WORKBOOK

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Week 2: Creating Your Character and Storyline Produced by: Frank Kern

CLIENT TRAINING WORKBOOK

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INTRODUCTION The simple fact is that people come into your herd to get content ...and they stay with you because they become attached to the character you portray. There are five basic building blocks for creating a character your herd will bond with. They are: • Your Back Story • What You Stand For (Your Beliefs And Values) • Your Magic Powers • Your Fables • Your Secret Language ..And each building block must be carefully crafted to match the desired outcome ofyour market. For example, when I'm selling to the "Make Money" crowd ...especially to the beginners, I know that my market's desired outcome is to make money by doing nothing. Therefore, my "character" is a lazy slacker who came from nothing, stands for easy money and stands against conventional "work," has a near magical ability to make money on the Internet, tells stories of stumbling over incredible money making systems, and speaks the "mysterious" language of PPC, Niches, Google Slap, Reverse Squeezes, and more. All of these character elements are TRUE ... and yours should be true as well. This first section of this Module walks you through the exact steps to creating your character by uncovering the building blocks you already have.

Section 2 familiarizes you with the concept of using stories with Mass Control and explains the evil tactic of using persuasive metaphors to embed beliefs and messages in people's minds. In it, you'll discover why a simple garden story means you can get rich :-) In Section 3, we will review the three major story lines I use: 1. Us Vs. Them 2. The Reluctant Hero 3. Hometown Boy Makes Good This section reveals a big secret about how I do this, plus it introduces you to how the reluctant hero story line works, and shows you the reluctant hero formula I use.

In'Section 4, I introduce you to the very tactical concept of "Us versus Them." This is the manual THEY don't want you to read! In this section, you'll discover the real way I use Us Vs. Them in Mass Control. (Hint: Implicit.) I will also go over several different ways I've used it in my own marketing and when I'm writing for other people. Section 5 focuses solely on the Hometown Boy Makes Good storyline, the most straight forward storyline I use and the easiest to implement.

© 2008 Mass Control Syndicate. All Rights Reserved.

WEEK 2: SECTION 1

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CREATING YOUR CHARACTER AND STORY LINE

Section 1: This section corresponds to the Mass Control Creating Your Character video The keys to the effectiveness of Mass Control are your character and your story line. Once Mass Control money magnets are used to gain interest and desire, the market starts to pay attention to you, your story, your character, etc. This is when Mass Control really starts to take effect, and your list starts to grow rapidly. You will quickly have to get used to the fact that you have become the guru-the expert leader-and you will be looked to for direction, information, and expertise. You should not be intimidated by or concerned about your new appeal; after all, we are all inherently prone to follow a leader. We are programmed from birth, through years and generations of human development, to believe in heroes, gurus, and even saviors. The fact is, your market is going to follow somebody. It might as well be you. Dan Kennedy borrowed an analogy from Norm Evans when he said, "People are walking around with their umbilical cords hanging out, looking for a place to plug them in." That's very true. People will pay attention to you because they will become addicted to your character. It's not as much about .the actual content as you would think, although in the very beginning it might be the content that drives them to 'join your list. After reading the interest and desire magnet, watching a video, or listening to a teleconference, they will want to fInd out what happens next, and they will remember and relate to characters be~ter than anything they've read.

ACTIVITY In fIve seconds, name three things you learned in college. 1. _ 2. _ 3.

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Now, in fIve seconds again, name three characters from Seinfeld. 1. _ 2. _ 3. _ You probably successfully named three characters from Seinfeld in those fIve seconds: George, Elaine, Jerry, Kramer, Newman, Soup Nazi, Mr. Peterson, etc. But isn't it a little hard to name three things you learned in college (even though you probably paid tens of thousands of dollars to go to college)? People remember characters and relate to them, and stories keep people eagerly waiting for your next installment. Stories make people want to open your email, watch your video, and keep up with you. YOUR MISSION

It is critical that you create and use a character that will instill a sense of relationship with your herd. They should feel like they know you already, like you are a long-lost friend. On countless occasions, I have been approached in seminar environments by complete strangers who say something like, "Man, I've seen your videos. I'm on your list. I feel like I've known you for years." Well, that's not an accident. I try to engineer that emotion in my list because I want them to know, like, and trust me. I create a bond with them so that, when it's time for me to sell them something, I have a much easier time of conveying its importance and value to them. And you can have that exact same effect. It's really pretty simple.

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WHAT IS A "CHARACTER"?

A good character is someone who is immediately recognizable. He stands for something, represents a belief, and has a back story (a legend) that's immediately recognizable. A good character actually has building blocks on which the whole basis of the character is built. A character also must have magic powers. Of course, I use this term somewhat jokingly, but magic power is the whole reason you're around anyway. It's because of your "magic powers" that people pay attention to you. In marketing, for example, I have the magic power of creating wildly successful niche businesses or doing giant launches. Ideally, you want to have a series of stories that you can tell to get your point across and make people bond with you. Then, of course, the character speaks the same secret language that the market speaks. Let me break these all down for you: First, let's look at some real and recognizable back story examples taken directly from the internet marketing niche. I'll give you the back story, and you can guess who we're talking about. •

Back story #1: Million Dollar Day. Who is that? Did you guess John Reese?

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Back story #2: Underground Secret Agent. Yanik Silver, right? He's had that underground seminar going on for almost four years in a row now.

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Back story #3: The Tubby Nerd from Australia. Who is that? That's Ed Dale, my co-creator of the Underachiever Method.

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Back story #4: A belief statement: I'm better than you. That, of course, is Rich Jerk, right? What a jerk!

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Back story #5: Total Slacker Who Makes Money. This one should be really easy-me! That's my back story.

BELIEFS AND VALVES

Superman: truth, justice, and the American way. Most people, unless they don't pay attention to corruc books or were born yesterday, would immediately recognize Superman's mantra. Anyway... In my dog training business, I use the pen name Dean Rankin. His primary belief and core value is positive reinforcement. I'm the positive reinforcement training guy. Likewise, if you know my personal character (Frank Kern), then you are aware that my core belief is that lazy is good and making money is easy. Myentire Underachiever career was all about being lazy but still making money by building ten or twelve moderately successful semi-slack businesses instead of one giant corporation. MAGIC POWERS

Your magic powers are simply your unique abilities. As an example, my magic power is that I have an incredible ability to conduct giant launches that yield millions of dollars in a matter of hours. The people who pay attention to me (in regards to Mass Control) want to be able to do the same thing. They want my magic power. (Now this is obvious, and I know I shouldn't even have to say it, but ... don't invent magic powers. My use of the phrase "magic power" is not in any way to imply that you should make up stuff. I just use the term "magic power" because it's cool.) To really drive this home for you, I am going to discuss my magic powers in more detail. I did the three biggest launches in Internet marketing history, back to back: the Annihilation Method, which fillally beat John Reese's Million Dollar Day; then StomperNet, which was the single biggest internet launch in history; and

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Pipeline Profits, which was the second biggest launch in internet marketing history. Another magic power is my ability to create a niche business (i.e., my dog business) that does over a million dollars a year selling cheap informational products. John Reese has two magic powers as well that are worth noting. He generated over a billion visitors over the past decade or so and made over one million dollars in one day with his Traffic Secret launch. And then there's Brad Fallon, who of course also has magic powers, as they relate to StomperNet. Brad Fallon has a wedding favors business that makes a million dollars a month using FREE traffic. As for an example outside of the Internet marketing arena, Dean Rankin's (my dog business pen name) magic power is his ability to train dogs to behave without hitting, yelling, or scolding. Dean is not a professional trainer but still gets amazing results. BORROWING MAGIC POWERS

If you don't have your own magic powers or if you don't believe you have any magic powers, you could borrow them from someone else (but obviously, don't claim them as your own) by focusing on the results that similar products have achieved. You want to acknowledge the source and let the prospect's brain make the implicit link between you and the other product. In order to provide you with a concrete example, I'd like you to follow along with my Internet screen shots.

Assume, for example, that I'm selling a product related to the pH Diet, also known as the Alkaline Diet. This is a lifestyle diet that involves consuming foods that are more alkaline than acidic. The general premise is that if you keep your body in a more alkaline state, it becomes almost physically impossible to get sick or be overweight. Now, I'm not a physician, and I don't actually practice the Alkaline Diet; therefore, I wouldn't really have any magic powers in relation to this product. But I can borrow magic powers from the pH Diet itself, from the product, and I can use testimonials from other people. I am armed with the knowledge that the pH diet was popularized by a doctor named Robert Young, who has received some noteworthy media attention from both ABC News and Medical News Today. With a bit more research, I can uncover some of the many testimonials he has received. In my attempt to establish creditability, I must first find out what the media has to say about my product. So, the first thing I would do is check out "Alkaline Diet in the news" at google.com. And right here is an article on medicalnewstoday.com.

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Acid Alkaline Die!' UK Health & Wellness Store The UK Alkalin. Ol.t & Natural Health Speclallat. I>1th p!!I.

Alkaline Diet Alkaline Diet Are yoo ready 10 make a lifestyle change and live a healthier life? If you ere. then yoo should expiOte the different ways Ihat yoo can change ... _ ringsurl.com/onlireJ173-elkallne hlmi. 14k • ~ - $'I1',ijl! _

The Acid-alkaline Diet For Optimum Health The Acid-alkaline Diet ... Forum topics posts last post • alkatine diet site suggestions ... Include the latest diet stock price atld fundamenlal investin9 data, price charts and news ... luclle-lrophy byaHve.com/diet hlml-12k - ~. $;- ,g'i-

Alkaline Diet and Anli-Aging Nalural anlianlnn and reverse anlnn throonh alkaline diet.... The nreat news Is that wllh thl&

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FOXNEWS.COM HOME)o HEAlTH

HEALTH HOME

Controlling the Symptoms of Menopause Through 0

THINGS TO KNOW AGING HEART

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PREGNANCY & PARENTING

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HEALTH VIDEO HEALTH CENTERS • AGING

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COLD & FLU • ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE • BEAUTY & SKIN • CANCER • OIl\BETES • HEALTH TECH • HEART DISEASE

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Even though menopause 15 a natural part of the life cycle, many women experience discomfort during and after menopause as their hormones establlsh a new balance. Onthe major Influences on a woman's hormonal makeup during this realignment Is her dlel

'To start. every woman needs to eat the way our anceslOrs ale. dose to the earth, consumln, ofhigh-quality, nourishing whole fresh foods: said Dr. Susan Lark., co-aulhor of the new boe Susan LarX's Hormone Revolution. "WtIere women eat doser 10 the earth, such as Asians a Paonc Islanders. and consume more prant-tlased foods, they have fewer menopause symp She said ttle gold standard is the Mediterranean diel which is rich in fruits, vegetables. fish whole grains. and fats such as olive OiL It is also low in white flour, sugar. and ttle saturated found in dairy products.

MENTAL HEALTH • NUTRITION AND FITNESS • PREGNANCY & PARENTING

Lark, a physician specializing In preven~ve medicine for women's healttl. believes lI1al ever within [he Mediterranean diet, a woman still must choose [he foods thaI support her individu hormonal profile. For a woman to understand her profile. she must examine two lmponant fc

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I can also go direcdy to the source, Dr. Robert Young, author of The Ph Miracle, to see how I can go about borrowing magic powers from him. Without taking credit or insinuating that his testimonials are my own, I could begin with an introduction like: "I'm just a regular guy who lives in California. I used to be in horrible shape, but now I feel so much better, and it's because of this pH Miracle Diet. As a matter of fact, I fIrst heard about it through a man named Robert Young, and some of his clients had these incredible results." And then I could go on to say, "One of Dr. Young's clients, a man named Bill Mitchell, suffered from diabetes for years. But once he changed his diet and followed this incredible technique, he lost 37 pounds and no-:longer has to take any prescription drugs." And another one: "Another person whose life was dramatically changed by this incredible lifestyle diet is a patient named Elaine Boylston, a patient of Dr. Young's. She lost 50 pounds in the fIrst 12 weeks on this program, and she was rid of her debilitating health conditions from that point forward." Ifyou don't have atry results, personalb, you can focus on the results that otherpeople have gotten, as long asyou give them credit. I wouldn't want to sell against Dr. Young direcdy because I d1ink that would be bad form. Again, it is critical that you give credit where credit is due. Never lie and never ever try to take credit for someone else's work. You'll notice when I was giving this example, I mentioned Dr. Young, as well as his patients and clients.

EXAMPLE In Jeff Paul's original How To Make Monry In Your Undenvearcourse, his whole pitch is centered around his assertion that he used to be a loser until he discovered Dan Kennedy's magic powers. So he doesn't even talk about his own magic powers in his original promotion-a classic example of borrowing magic powers the right way. FABLES AND PARABLES

Fables and parables should be used to repeatedly tell true stories that reinforce what you're all about and reinforce your character's identity, core values and, of course, magic powers (which match the desired end result that your market has). Let's look at the Bible for a classic example of the use of parables and fables and accept, for illustrative purposes, the premise that Jesus is amazing. Supporting the overall awesomeness of Jesus are accounts of Him turning water into wine, performing healing miracles, and being born again. Similarly, the Bible has various stories (parables) about Moses parting The Red Sea and turning a stick into a snake.

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And in defense of the belief that sin is bad, the Bible uses the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, where people sinned and got into a lot of trouble and then bad things happened to them. I am sure you can fInd many more similar stories throughout the Bible to support that belief as well. And the exact opposite of the Bible would be my own personal fables and parables. When I am selling the whole idea that selling marketing stuff is bad and that selling niches is good, I tell my FTC story; I relay that not only was it hard as hell selling marketing stuff and being hypercompetitive, but then the FTC sued me. In the end, I discovered niche marketing, and now I make more money than ever, and I don't have to really do anything. The FTC story is used to support that overall statement that selling marketing is bad and selling to niches is good. If I wanted to sell or support the statement that niche marketing is easy, I would tell my parrot story: When I was in the Guru business, a student said I was full of crap, and therefore, I couldn't possibly know what I was talking about. So I created an ebook about teaching your parrot to talk. I sold it. And it was successful-providing me with months and months of income on autopilot. I would go on to use that story to illustrate how easy it was to make that money and how I didn't have any pain in the ass customers to deal with. I decided to make lots of similar products, and now I make over a million dollars a year selling niche marketing products.

Similarly, if I wanted to support the statement that anyone can make money online no matter what they have been through, I would use my true life Info Millionaire story. I lost everything I owned in a flood back in 1994, and I tried and failed in many Internet marketing businesses (and other businesses). Then I discovered this magic secret (selling information products using direct response marketing) and became successful on the Internet. And, fInally, if I wanted to support the statement that Mass Control is good, I would simply tell the story of the four launches: the Serializer Method, the Annihilation Method, StomperNet, and Pipeline ProfIts, which, combined, generated over 23.8 million dollars in a combined period of 24 hours. That story (fable or parable) is true, and it supports that belief. SECRET LANGUAGE

So now let's look at the fInal piece of the puzzle, secret language. All tribes have their own language, and we're part of a tribe, or a subculture. When people use their identifying language, it creates a sense of insider knowledge, bonding, and belonging. Let's say you're at a marketing seminar, and you and a fellow marketer are using your secret language, talking about OTO's and SEO and PPC and reverse squeeze pages. When someone else tunes into your conversation, they likely feel completely clueless and view you as if you're part of a little secret club. With absolutely any other subculture in the world, people like to use their secret language to feel like they belong and have a sense of bonding. Our Mass Control Syndicate has a secret language that uses terms like money magnet, Howitzer Method, Unified Front, magic powers, etc. If we had discussions with other people about these concepts, they'd have no idea what we were talking about. We'd be speaking our own secret language. Likewise, the dating market, or "the seduction market," has its own secret language. For example, "AFC" is a term they use that stands for "average frustrated chump" (meaning guys who don't know all the secret ninja seduction strategies). PUA stands for "pick-up artist"; a "pivot" is a woman you use to meet other women, and she usually plays the role of the pivot knowingly. DLV stands for "demonstration of lower value"-something you do that makes you look stupid in the eyes of a social circle. These are all secret language expressions that are used within the seduction market. So you can clearly see they're all speaking thi.s ~_cret language, which ~s good. _

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CONCLUSION

So now you know all the components of building your character, and you know that building up your character is one of the most important things you can do. Once you have your character established, you're going to determine the story line that you use to convey who this character is and to get this character out there in front of everyday audiences.

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---------- - - - - - MODULE 2 CREATING YOUR CHARACTER AND STORYLINE

Section 2: This section corresponds to the Mass Control Story Lines and Persuasive Metaphors video

In this section, we will start to lay the foundation for Mass Control story lines, specifically, in terms of how you can inject character into your prospects' minds.

Why do you want a story line? Without a story that delivers your message to your audience, your character is nothing. Furthermore, stories are the oldest form of communication around. In fact, they pre-date the written word. Prior to our ability to write, we passed history down through the ages by storytelling. And we remember stories in the form of our own personal memories. Ask yourself the following questions: • What did you do today? • What is your fondest childhood memory? • What is the funniest thing you've ever seen? • What was your first date like? Invariably, the answer to these questions is always going to be a story. If you asked me, ''What did you do today?" I'd say, ''Well, I woke up, and I had filially gotten a good night's sleep. I woke up after Ava came in bed and got us up at about 6:30. I tried to sleep in a little bit, but around 7:00 I went downstairs and made some coffee, and it was pretty good. I got the girls dressed, and on the way to school, I was listening to Ben Folds, and Ava was singing along, and it was kind of funny because she doesn't know the words to the song and she can barely talk because she's not even three years old. But she was just trying to go along with the melody, and I thought that was really cute and blah, blah, blah." My whole diatribe is a story. The same thing is true with the fondest childhood memory or the funniest thing you've ever seen, and, invariably, these answers are always going to be stories because that is the form in which we remember things and that's how we communicate. Within the context of Mass Control, stories allow you to convey multiple messages through the use of metaphors. With Mass Control stories, you can send out hidden messages within stories through persuasive metaphors. What is a persuasive metaphor? It is an indirect comparison between two unrelated things that transfers the favorable result and generates desire to comply. I know that sounds very scientific, so let me break it down. A "favorable result" simply means the end result that your market wants, and "desire to comply" means their willingness to do what you want them to do (such as buy your product). So, with a persuasive metaphor, we simply talk about something seemingly harmless but that ends up making your prospect want to give you money, and the reason it works so well is because it happens under the radar. You're not overtly selling or trying to convince anyone of anything. You're simply telling a story that might seem to have nothing to do with what you're selling.

EXAMPLE Let's say we're selling something to the "make-money" crowd. We all know that the desired outcome of the make-money crowd: passive cash flow while doing nothing. But we also know that the make-money crowd has a certain number of fears and lots of objections. For example, they are afraid of getting ripped off, the system not working, or someone lying to them. They fear the effort that could be required to learn something new, such as marketing or copywriting. And, of course, they always have that big fear of looking foolish to others. Those are all very valid fears and objections, and they're universally common, not only to this market but in almost any market.

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Let's look at a very simple, somewhat mundane, story using a persuasive metaphor. I call it Welcome to My Garden. If I were telling a story to this crowd I would say: This Internet business reminds me of when I first tried to grow my own food. I had always wanted to be totally self-sufficient, and I figured that growing my own food would be the way to go. But I didn't know the first thing about gardening, and I didn't want to buy a bunch of equipment. Plus, my friends thought I was a nut. Anyway, I took the plunge and bought a gardening course. It was much easier than I thought, and it only took me about three weeks to get everything planted. Plus, all I needed was a shovel and some soil. The first sprouts popped out of the ground after a few days, and before I knew it, my garden was full of fresh veggies. What's great is now I have an endless supply of food and I don't have to really do anything to get it. All I did was work during the first three weeks, and that was actually a lot of fun. I guess the only downside is that my friends who thought I was a nut always want to come over for dinner! But I don't mind because I always have more than enough for everyone. Now, although that's a story about gardening, it can be broken down to relay this transfer to a favorable result and overcome the objections. We'll start with setting everything up. Let's look at the first paragraph: "This Internet business reminds me of when I first tried to grow my own food. I had always wanted to be totally self-sufficient, and I figured that growing my own food would be the way to go." One thing we know for sure about our audience is that they want passive monry. So when I say, "I'd always wanted to be totally self-sufficient," I am using a metaphor to compare growing my own food to becoming self-sufficient (because acquiring passive income also equals being self-sufficient). I also know that being self-sufficient equals freedom, and freedom-the passive money coming in-is really their most desired end result. I could just as easily switch everything around: "This gardening thing reminds me of when I first started to do business on the Internet. I had always wanted to be self-sufficient, and I figured that having an automatic income stream from the Internet would be the way to go." OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS

In examining this sentence, "But I didn't know the first thing about gardening, and I didn't want to buy a bunch of equipment. Plus, my friends thought I was a nut," what common objections do you identify? •

I don't know anything about computers.

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I don't know anything about marketing.

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Although I am not actually coming out and addressing those specific objections, the mind can draw the parallels. Here are some others: •

I don't want to buy a bunch of equipment (in other words, I don't want to spend too much money).

•

I didn't know the first thing about gardening (I don't know anything about computers).

•

Plus, my friends thought I was a nut. (I am afraid of looking foolish to my friends).

When you use metaphors in this way, you are basically saying, "I know how you feeL" A story can convey those same feelings of uncertainty and doubt and fear of public ridicule.

Now that we've identified those objections, let's look at how I overcome them in the story. The next section is where I say, "Anyway, I took the plunge and bought a gardening course. It was much easier than I thought, and it only took me about three weeks to get everything planted. Plus, all I needed was a shovel and some soil." Let's break it down: When I say, "Anyway, I took the plunge and bought a gardening course," what I'm really saying is, "I went forward. I did it." The phrase "It was much easier than I thought, and it only took me about three weeks to get everything planted" is relaying the fact that it actually is easy. In the statement, "Plus all I needed was a shovel and some soil," I am pointing out that I didn't risk a lot of money and I didn't have to buy a lot of stuff. All of this translates metaphorically to "I know how you feel. I felt the same way. But everything worked out just fine." This persuasive metaphor speaks to the mind on a different level. Now, how do we transfer the favorable result or implant and imply that they're going to achieve their most desired result? Let's look at the final four paragraphs of this little story here: •

First, we imply the end result with the statement "The first sprouts popped out of the ground after a few days, and before I knew it, my garden was full of fresh veggies." I'm implying that I achieved fast results. And a garden full of fresh veggies, metaphorically, is a bank account full of money.

•

Another phrase uses the metaphor of an endless supply of fresh food: ''What's great is now I have an endless supply of fresh food, and I don't really have to do anything to get it." This phrase could just as easily be used to mean money.

•

And, of course, we know that everyone wants low effort and very little work-money coming in for nothing. So I say, "All I did was work during that first three weeks, and that was actually a lot of fun," implying a metaphoric low effort.

•

Finally, I use this statement: "I guess the only downside is that my friends who thought I was a nut always want to come over for dinner." This metaphor eliminates the objection of "I don't want to look foolish in front of my friends," while presenting a secondary benefit and a secondary end result. People in this market, generally speaking, want to be the envy of their friends. And the last sentence "But I don't mind because I always have more than enough for everyone" again conveys the end result of having more than enough, an abundance.

FINAL NOTE While simple persuasive metaphors are effective and fun to use and work brilliantly as stories, make sure your entire campaign is not made up of them. You also have to use primary story lines, which are covered in the next section.

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MODULE

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CREATING YOUR CHARACTER AND STORYLINE

Section 3: This section corresponds to the Three Main Mass Control Story Lines video There are three story lines that have been used to make millions, and continue to make millions, not only for myself and my clients, but now hopefully for you as well:

• • •

The reluctant hero; The hometown boy makes good; and The famous "us-versus-them" story line.

While you may have heard me mention these three discrete story lines before in seminars, I've got a big secret that I've never disclosed before: I always combine these three story lines in my approach for the maximum effect. I never just rely on one. Although they are powerful on their own, when they are combined, they take your prospect through a range of emotions that causes them to immediately identify with you and to bond with you. Each story line taps into emotions and thought patterns that are ingrained into our minds and into our subconscious. For example, if someone is dissatisfied, the Us- Versus-Them story line immediately taps into the human mind's desire and willingness to find someone to blame for that dissatisfaction and someone else to latch onto as the savior figure who will deliver them from that dissatisfaction. At the same time, the Reluctant Hero and the Hometown Bqy make good story lines because they both tap into the fact that human beings are always drawn to rooting for an underdog; we always respond to stories of loss and redemption. Whenever we come across someone who's made an amazing discovery and then is reluctantly willing to share it, we're really, really interested in hearing what they have to say. THE RELUCTANT HERO

The Reluctant Hero allows you to sell something onlY because people are demanding it. So you're reluctantly revealing the product or the information. You've agreed to do it, but you really just prefer to live your nice, quiet life as it is because you're just a regular person and the spotlight is not your comfort zone at all. You know that you're not a superhuman person. You just stumbled into this, but the truth is you have flaws just like anyone else and you're really just sharing your expertise as a favor to the market. This approach is extremely effective because it immediately causes your market to lower their defenses.

If I were to say to you, "I'm great, and you should listen to me," you might listen to me. But more likely, you'll have this reaction (either consciously or subconsciously): "Well, who the hell are you and what makes you so great?" Anyone who says they're great is probably not great. Your reaction would probably be very different if I said to you, "I figured out some stuff, and it worked really well. I showed it to some people, and it worked great for them too. It's made us all a lot of money, and I'm happy to show you. But I just want you to know up front that I'm not really in the business of teaching this kind of stuff, so please bear with me. If any of it becomes unclear just stop me because I am not in any way a guru or anything. I am just a regular guy, you know? And please don't go and tell everyone about it because as soon as I'm done teaching this I want to go back to my normal life of seclusion and relaxation." This presentation is instantly more appealing because it's upfront and coming from a "regular" guy who is not trying to be superhuman. People respond immediately.

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As an example of how the Reluctant Hero story has worked, let's examine The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Frodo is a regular guy (or in this case, a regular hobbit), who just minds his own business until Gandalf comes in and ropes him into this crazy ring thing. And somehow he ends up becoming the hero of the whole story, although he has never had hero ambitions-he just bumbles along and happens to save the world. Of course, the Lord of the Rings is one of the most enduring stories of all time-little wonder. And then, of course, there is Hans Solo from Star Wars. He was a smuggler and a flawed smuggler at that. He was, in fact, smuggling spices and giving Luke and Obi Wan Kenobi a ride when he got roped into this whole rebel alliance thing. He really wasn't interested. All he really cared about was his spices, and suddenly he's in the midst of this whole adventure. Although he doesn't save the day entirely, his notable accomplishments qualify him as a reluctant hero.

My RELUCTANT HERO STORY I was just trying to relax one summer when Mike Long came along and tricked me into doing the biggest launch in internet marketing history. Then I was tricked into doing the Pipeline Profits launch and teaching it. And the same thing happened with the Underachiever marketing that Ed Dale and I did together. The short story is that I was doing great as a guru until the FTC sued me and I was forced to develop all new methods for making money. I told a few people about the methods, and before I knew it, I was roped into teaching them. I decided, however, that I would not teach them for long. After all, it's a lot easier for me to make money in these niches than it is for me to do this guru thing. Both of these campaigns were extremely successful using the Reluctant Hero approach. 'tUE

MAss CONTROL RELUCTANT HERO STORY LINE FORMULA

First, you stumble upon something amazing. Then you try it out for yourself and it works like crazy, so as a result, you tell a few people. Those people tell a couple other people, and word gets out. The next thing you know, everybody wants to know about it. You become completely overwhelmed with requests to share your secret, so as a favor to the world, you decide to teach it. But you always take the approach of "I'll teach it but please bear with me, I'm not a professional." I stumbled upon my Dean Rankin character's dog training method (positive reinforcement) when I was working for the invisible fencing company. I warned, "I am happy to teach this, but listen, you should know I am not a professional dog trainer at all. I'm just a regular guy from Macon, Georgia with two little kids. I just happen to love dogs just like you." When you announce that you're not a professional, you set yourself up for the us-versus-them component. When I say I'm not a professional dog trainer, I imply (without actually having to say it) that professional dog trainers suck because I've got the answer that they don't have. Let me give you some concrete examples of this formula in action using the Underachiever Course as an example (yes, again). I was managing a website called Cash Flow Circle when one of my members called me out and said I was full of shit, that I only sold marketing stuff. So after listening to a Jeff Paul seminar, I decided to try niche marketing, and it worked. Then like a big dummy I spoke at the Big Seminar, and I told people about it. Well, word got out because the seminar was recorded and there were several hundred people there. Obviously I helped get the word out by fueling the fire, but what do you know... Everyone wanted to know more. So we developed our message ... Ed and I are going to teach this Underachiever Formula, but you are going to have to bear with us, because we are not in the guru business. We're just a couple of knuckleheads who sell stuff in the niche markets. Of course, we can further build that

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up by saying, "And frankly, it's a lot easier to sell stuff in the niche markets. We don't have to deal with being the gurus. We just get money coming in automatically while we do virtually nothing. In fact, we're the anti-gurus because we're probably the only people you'll ever meet who make the majority of their money actually doing what we talk about doing instead of teaching know-how." You see how that immediately segues so perfectly into an Us- Versus-Them approach? When I worked on the Annihilation Method, the whole story line was that Neil discovered these crazy new dating tactics and they worked like crazy. Again, he told a few people, and the word got out. In fact, in the very beginning of the Annihilation Method videos, Neil talks about doing interviews with celebrities and the celebrities asking about the Annihilation Method. So, suddenly everyone wanted to know more, and he reluctantly agreed to teach it, but he made it clear that as soon as he was done he was going to resume his real career as a writer because he's not in the business of teaching seduction know-how. He's just a best selling author, right? (Incidentally, I can't emphasize enough how critical it is that you tell the truth. Now, the truth can always be made interesting by adding in emotion. But your stories have got to be true. You can't just make up stuff.) Let's look at some Reluctant Hero phraseology from the Pipeline Profits campaign. I've chosen a fewemails to dissect as a demonstration of reluctance. Let's see how these poor men were thrust into the position of being the heroes by looking at segments of Reluctant Hero emails: 1. "It's a good thing we've split this thing up into multiple parts because our server has blown up three times. And that's just with video #1." Now this phrase does not introduce reluctance but it does follow the formula. And the reason why is because it's implying that we are not professional gurus, after all our video server has blown up three times. And the reason it blew up three times is because we're not in the business of making these videos and trying to sell this stuff to the marketing crowd at all. This also implies that the reader is part of something greater than himself, and more specifically, that tons of other people are also watching these videos. So there's a little bit of social proof embedded. I think it's a lot better if you can get the message across if it's implied, leaving the reader to draw his own conclusion. 2. "This is incredible. We've had over 13,000 people join our list in the last 24 hours. We had no idea it would get this big. And we're flattered, but we're a little freaked out by it." What are we saying here? Let's paraphrase the implied meaning: Well, we're not in the guru business; we're regular guys and this has just gotten completely out of hand. The social proof anchor is that 13,000 people came aboard in the last 24 hours. And remember, implied scarcity means implied pressure. We had no idea it would get this big because we really didn't intend for it to get this big. And we're freaked out because, of course, we're just regular guys. 3. "We're doing our best to answer the 231 comments on our blog, and we look forward to making a podcast for you to answer your biggest questions in the next few days." This is another social proof example, and the comment "and we're doing our best" implies that we have other businesses. We're doing the best we can with the time we have.

4. "Sorry i'm late with your video." Notice that "i'm" appears in lowercase letters. This is how a flaw is subtly introduced. Remember Hans Solo? He's a flawed character-he's a spice smuggler. The hero always needs to have flaws because flaws make him a regular person. And of course the reluctant hero is always a flawed character; otherwise he wouldn't be reluctant at all. He doesn't want to be a hero. He wants to be OK with missing typos.

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5. "There were lots of great questions posted to the blog after we made our New Year's Day Podcast. We read every one of them, and we appreciate your feedback." This comment doesn't necessarily show that we're reluctant, but it does show that we are real people, which is all part of the formula. And it shows our genuine concern for the market. And if you're a reluctant hero, then you are genuinely concerned about the people because you're a regular person just like them. 6. "I'm a bit embarrassed to say that this video reveals one of my past failures." This comment creates curiosity with the market right there and causes the reader to wonder, "What failures?" You always want to rubberneck at the car crash more than you would take time to watch an awards ceremony, right? So this comment creates a sense of curiosity, as well as empathy for the reluctant hero. If you talk about your past failures, your reader can immediately relate to you as a regular person. 7. "See how Brock has a nice laugh at my expense." That's charismatic, and further, it shows that these two guys are a couple of fun guys. It's important that you convey all of the elements of being as normal and as human as you actually are. And doing it in this way is so much more effective than just coming right out and saying, "We're a couple of regular fun guys, and we like to laugh." This example speaks to that implicit versus explicit communication theory, where if your reader can draw his own conclusions, the force is much more powerful. Any conclusion that a person reaches on his own is one that he will be much more likely to defend and latch on to. 8. "We've been looking over the blog posts, and I just found this blog post from someone named Kevin." This simple comment and use of a reader's name shows that we care. We're participating, we're looking over the blog post, and we're interested in what people have to say. Then we acknowledge the post~r in this case, creating a relationship, not only with Kevin, but with the list. When you talk about your subscribers by name, it further deepens that relationship and creates a desire for the reader to hopefully become acknowledged publicly by the hero. After all, everyone has a desire to be acknowledged. With recognition or with the prospect of recognition, they become even more hooked into what's going on, more hooked into your story. 9. "We've gotten a ton of emails asking 'aren't you guys going to sell me something?' and the answer is 'of course we are.'" We are coming clean here by saying, essentially, that we're not going to try to hide it or be mysterious about it. And the simple two words "of course" are extremely powerful. They imply that if you thought we weren't going to sell something, you must be crazy! 10. "The truth is we were only going to try to get some big fish, one-on-one type of clients and we never knew so many people would be interested in what we have to say." Aw, that's just classic "aw shucks" kind of stuff right there. This section goes on to read ''We're really shocked to see we have 26,247 [note the actual number] people on this list already. But again, we're not complaining. Everyone has been super nice to us, and we really appreciate that. We know that the Internet marketing world is sort of a closed community of sorts, and we appreciate you making us feel so welcomed." We are implying here that we're the underdogs, we're just like anyone else, we have our own personal insecurities, and we were a little bit worried that people weren't going to be nice to us. Now think about it-if you were an obnoxious and arrogant guru, you would never say that you appreciate people being "super nice." This is something that just the good old farm boys from the Midwest would say. And you'll see that whole persona, that whole story line, repeated over and over again in movies and literature and so forth. It's repeated for a reason, because people respond to it. When we say "We know that the internet marketing world is sort of a closed community of sorts, and we appreciate you making us feel so welcomed," we are implying that the reader has already accepted us.

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might not be true, but our approach is what is important. It's an assumptive close, but it's one that is appropriate for the reluctant hero because, again, we emphasize that we are just regular guys and we're a little nervous.

11. ''Yeah, we'll try to sell you some stuff pretty soon, but we figured we'd lay all the cards on the table for you now, so you can see if this is something you're interested in." In other words we're doing you a favor. All these videos and these eight billion emails we're sending you, well that's not sales propaganda at all. It's just us coming clean, laying the cards on the table, so you can make up your own mind. That's the implicit hidden message. We reframe this entire campaign as "we're doing you a favor by sharing it all with you." And we're implying that we're putting ourselves in a position of weakness, at their mercy, which shows that we're nice people. This line specifically illustrates our vulnerability: "I figured we'd lay the cards on the table for you now, so you can see if this is something that you're interested in." Then we go on further to say "That way we hopefully won't have to write a big, fancy sales letter. We're both pretty bad at that." And who would be bad at writing a sales letter? Somebody who's not a guru, of course. Somebody who's not a salesman. Someone who's just a regular person like you because we're all bad at writing sales letters! Even the use of the language "big, fancy sales letter" almost jokingly implies that people who do write big, fancy sales letters are silly, instigating the Us-Versus-Them seed again. 12. "Okay, this email is officially rambling now. More coffee please!" I put that in there for a reasonbecause that's what you would say to your friend if you were on the phone having a conversation. It is a very conversational tone and a great way to bring a conclusion to your text, achieving trust and buy-in, and making your list members feel that you are speaking personally to them.

Please review.the Pipeline Profit Reluctant Hero emails in their entirety on the following pages.

WEEK 2: RELUCTANT HERO EMAILS

Example - Introducing Reluctance: Subject: {Bob} -- Video #2

Hi {Bob}, Just want to let you know what's up with video # 2. I'm going to release it later today or tomorrow. It's a good thing we split this thing up into multiple parts because our server has blown up 3 times ... And that's just with video # 1. So we've had a slight delay while we get more bandwidth, but everything should be ready in just a little while, tomorrow at the very latest. After that, it's smooth sailing. I'll let you know as soon as it's up. Talk Soon, Huck P.S. This is incredible, we've had over 13,000 people join our list in the last 24 hours. We had no idea it would get this big. And we're flattered, but a little freaked out by it. We're doing our best to answer the 231 comments on our blog, and we look forward to making a podcast for you to answer your biggest questions in the next few days. Anyway be on the lookout for my next email, it will simply be to announce that the second video is up. P.P.S. if you haven't seen the first video, it's on our blog. Here it is: http://www.pipelineprofitsblog.com

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Example - Introducing Flaws: Subject: {Bob} sorry i'm late with your video

~

Hi {Bob}, There were a lot of great questions posted to the blog after we made our New Year's Day podcast available. We read everyone and appreciate your feedback! Now for the important stuff: I know I promised to get you video 3 today, so I've just uploaded it to Google Video and posted a link on the blog: http://www.pipelineprofitsblog.com Some of those who posted questions asked if we're really planning on "spilling the beans" in these videos. Watch video 3 and you be the judge: http://www.pipelineprofitsblog.com : -) Since~we're

getting into the "meat" of the System, make sure you post your questions to the blog so we can cover them in our next podcast. Talk soon, Buck Rizvi P.S. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that this video reveals one of my past failures. See how Brock has a nice laugh at my expense: http://www.pipelineprofitsblog.com

WEEK 2: RELUCTANT HERO EMAILS

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Example - Coming Clean: Subject: {Bob} - video four and a BIG SURPRISEl

Hi {Bob}, First of all, video four is ready for you to see. You can watch it here. http://www.pipelineprofitsblog.com >

BREAKING (TOTALLY COOL) NEWS