P.R.I.S.M Reaches 1000 Members and Brian Campbell is Snowed Under

In my previous post I talked about risk reversal and how you can increase sales by taking all the risk away from your customer.

As many of you know, Brian Campbell is re- launching his Social Media Marketing System and has built in a solid risk reversal into his program so anyone considering joining really has nothing to lose and everything to gain

Ironclad, TRIPLE-CONFIDENCE 100% "Better-Than-Risk-Free" Money Back Guarantee!

I'll even allow you a full month to try my “Social Media Marketing System” training to determine if it's right for you. If you don't see how you can immediately begin building wealth easily by using these amazing techniques, I'll issue you a complete refund of your current month's membership fee, no questions asked. Just call my office and we'll cancel your membership. I'm convinced that you'll be completely thrilled with all the priceless training and won't ever need to ask for a refund!

Building Huge Buzz

He has spent the last week building huge buzz and growing a new group called P.R.I.S.M just for this purpose. When I last looked it had over 1000 members and 389 wall post, all in less than a week. He has used a variety of marketing tactics before he finally sent all the prospective P.R.I.S.M. members to his sales letter. I had read an earlier version but I must admit Brian has improved it beyond recognition. Even if you don't choose to join SMMS at least take a copy of this sales letter as a reference and study exactly how he structured it.

Taking Action Pays Off

Two things for me stand out Brian obviously gave some lucky people who had earned it scholarships into SMMS but what he also did was implement a very clever reverse scarcity time and money squeeze to get people to take action quickly. All those who have been following him on Twitter got a 2 hour head start to sign up for the paid program at a massive discount. As more people signed up and the limited places inside S.M.M.S. were taken the discount would rapidly decrease until the $13,000 was all given away. At this point the price will increase. I was impressed because who wants to take the chance of having to pay more at a later date because of hesitation. Brian hasn't released any details as yet but I know he was struggling with the pricing structure. He was worried he was giving it away too cheaply. This might just be a clever marketing strategy but it is also very difficult to ascertain the true value of membership to this program, especially the premium gold and silver memberships.

A Sell Out In 72 Hours

When he first opened the program it sold out in only 72 hours, how much longer he can keep the doors open this time is anybody's guess, from his twitter messaging it sounded like he was snowed under with applications and is busy processing them all right now. Already the first new members have entered the full membership area of the SMMS forum and are starting to interact with the other members.

If you are hesitating then you might miss the boat like the guy from one of my previous posts. You still may have time so go and read the sales letter right now.

Going Viral Part 4 - He Who Shall Not Be Named

Relaunch

I Have a friend who shall remain nameless, he is in the process of re-launching his own membership site. He is following the advice given by Dan to the letter. He is also using twitter to communicate a lot of the important details about his launch and to generate Buzz. Many of you will know who I am talking about. Many of you will have had the sense to follow him on twitter

Buzz and Excitement

He has already launched a great product and generated a lot of initial buzz and the benefits of his product were so good that lots of his clients and customers started to promote it . He is now moving into the second stage. As far as I can see it has started to go viral because it has reached the critical mass and enough people are talking about it. Generating a lot of extra buzz and excitement which draws in people who have only just heard about what is happening, like Iron filings drawn towards a magnet. The members who are on board first will be the ones who truly benefit when the results of this product and its services are released to the wider internet and a more global audience.

The benefits are obvious, anyone who has read about what is being offered and has seen the inherent value and opportunity can only make one logical choice.

Don't Miss the Boat

It reminds me of another story about four brothers who had decided to sail on a ship to America , They had gotten up early and rushed down to the port. The first Brother had bought his ticket months ago, he knew exactly what he wanted to do and where he was headed in life. He had a cousin who had told him about the amazing opportunities that were available in America and he wanted to go and make his fortune there . When he arrived at the dock he ran quickly up the gangplank and immediately bumped into the captain who was welcoming the first passengers on board . He struck up a conversation and the captain liked him so much that he invited him to upgrade into first class and to have dinner with him and his fellow officers every evening.

The second brother also knew without a doubt that he wanted to sail to the new world, and had also bought a ticket beforehand. But as he was a bit more cautious than the first brother he had packed loads of heavy bags full of all the things that he thought he might need on the journey. Little did he know that most of the cabins came very well equipped and excellent food was provided on board. His heavy bags slowed him down but he made it on board without any trouble. Second class was crowded but comfortable and he was happy because he knew that he would get to his destination.

The ships engines started powering up and the third Brother was dawdling on the dockside watching everything that was going on. He was so distracted by all the hustle and bustle that he almost forgot to board the ship. They were just pulling up the gang plank when he ran and jumped across the gap and only just made it. He had to go in third class and didn't have a cabin because he had bought his ticket at the last minute, 3rd class was very crowded and he had to stand up for most of the journey, he was hoping that a space would become available in second class but there were lots of other passengers on the waiting list ahead of him.

The fourth Brother was watching everything that was going on. He wanted to go but he was afraid. He was afraid that everything might be too expensive when he got to America and that his money would run out. He hadn't even bought a ticket because he wasn't sure he could afford it. As he watched all his brothers board the ship he convinced himself that he didn't really want to go anyway and as it set sail he turned his back on the ship and walked slowly back to his house happy that he had made such a wise choice and still had the money that he would have spent on his ticket. To celebrate he went into a local pub and spent almost all of it in one evening of drunkenness.

This is the fourth post in a four part series, in order to fully appreciate it you should read the other posts as this sets the context and gives a lot of valuable background information.

Part 1 - Understanding The Difference Between Viral Marketing and MLM

Part 2 - A Personal Story

Part 3 - Making It Big On The Internet

Creating A Viral Monster

Two days ago a new group was formed on Facebook. It's name is P.R.I.S.M., some of you might already have joined. I have been tracking the incredible growth of this Viral Monster.

Rapid Growth

Within 24 hours the group had over 200 members and over 100 posts on its wall. Such a rapid growth and so many impressions rippling through facebooks news feeds created a buzz that sucked people into the new group and motivated them to write blogposts, upload videos and share their experiences. At the time of writing this has grown to 422 members and 208 wall posts.

A brand new community has been formed out of nothing

Giveaway

The originator and creator of this group is Brian Campbell, who many of you know from the training videos he's been releasing. This is the place where the playing field is levelled as Brian announced that he will start giving away a further £15,000 on top of the $10,000 he gave to John Chow. So anyone no matter what their financial circumstance could get access to the same training if they showed they had the motivation and the qualities that are needed to become a member of P.R.I.S.M.

Social Proof

Social Proof is a powerful motivator because for most people because word of mouth recommendation is one of the best forms of advertising. Check out any sales letter on the Internet and you will see testimonials play a major part. If you are new to my blog you may not know that I went into great detail explaining the Power of Testimonials. You can also see all of the SMMS testimonials in one place on my Squidoo Lens. To find out more about using other peoples opinions to establish your reputation check out this insightful post by Stuart Tan. He explores in great detail why recomending people is so important.

Coming Soon

Over the coming days I will give you a behind the scenes look at how Brian made this rapid growth possible and to the conclusion he is ultimately driving towards. If you have read my blog post about scarcity tactics then you will know that there are only limited places available for the Social Media Marketing System. Brian already made a claim that he will make $100,000 from this launch and anyone who has taken advantage of his free training and put it into practice will already be waiting eagerly in anticipation.

A Secret Society or a Conspiracy Theory....?

Mastering Manipulative Magic - part 2.

Yesterday Brian Campbell wrote a shocking letter to of all those people who believe they can succeed in using social media but are not yet part of the secret alliance that has established itself on Facebook and other similar sites.

Dramatic Sales Letter

If you are reading this post and you don't know what I am talking about then I guess you should check out this link first, this is where Brian pulled out all the stops and went in everyone's face with a very dramatic sales letter

A Secret Society

Before I analyse what Brian is up to I would like to start with a story, one that dates back almost 1000 years it tells how a small group of people transformed the world forever. They were very secret and highly organised and no one really knew how they managed to get so successful so quickly and how they suddenly had the power to bring down kingdoms and left a legacy that still has people wondering even today. They are of course the Knights Templar. A secret brotherhood who exploded onto the scene in Europe and dominated the political and economic situation for nearly 200 years. They communicated through secret codes and symbols that only those who were initiated understood, they set up the foundations and structure for what later became the modern financial system known today as banking.

Threatening The Existing Structures of Power

How did they grow such a huge network starting from nothing? How did they become so powerful so quickly? Why is it that the Kings and Barons of the time were powerless to stop what they were doing and had no choice but to join forces? Why did they threaten the power of the Roman Catholic church so much and make the King of France conspire to have them arrested and killed? Why was it that they then continued to operate hidden and underground to this day and left a trail and legacy across several continents and their secrets still remain a mystery?

The Puppet or the Puppet Master

One thing about secret organisations is that they know something others don't, and they use that knowledge to their advantage. Stockbrokers call it insider trading. They act on information that is shared only in their network and this gives them a competitive edge over everyone else. Some people call these groups cartels or even mafia. They know how the system works and they play it like a puppet , pulling hidden strings and all you ever see are the effects you never know who the real puppet masters are.

Conspiracy Theory

Brian just released his modern day conspiracy theory, trying to motivate people into taking a certain action. Right now it is just to join his group and post on its wall. Do you know what the viral effects of 100 people posting on one wall does on facebook and how far that can spread? P.R.I.S.M. members are probably the only people who truly understand how to harness the power of viral marketing with social media, and are also the ones who know how to use it most effectively. "Prism is defined as a transparent glass that disperses light into a spectrum. Like prism, the knowledge we get from P.R.I.S.M. will be dispersed to help the many others succeed in Social Media. "(Ed. Tamondong Jr.)

Brians Communication

Lets take a look at the copy Brian uses in his letter and maybe we can learn what he is trying to communicate . He is using a very clever technique that amplifies the fear and pain of being the odd one out, the outsider, the one who struggles in vain, swimming against the tide.

They are many, you are only one.

They know the secrets, you hope to get lucky.

They control the social network, you react to it.

They are the lense through which opportunities pass.

They work effortlessly, while you constantly struggle.

You are powerless against them.

They exist, although you resist the truth.

They can't be matched, you're powerless to compete with them for any resources they want to control online.

Their secrets are so amazingly powerful, they aren't leaked out and taught anywhere else.

They exist and I can PROVE it!

As another clear but more subtle example of this technique take a look at another email and see if you can spot the similarities this is one that Martin Allsop used on exactly the same day to his group members.

Coincidence or Collusion

Why are two of the major players on facebook coming out with Identical tactics on the same day?

Brian clearly stated that Martin was one of the people who helped him the most when he was first getting started on facebook. Here is what Martin wrote, I'll let you judge for yourself.

Remember when you were in school and there was always something you didn’t get told or some secrets you didn’t get to find out?

In those early years there was always someone who knew more who you could learn from and yet they didn’t think you should know what other people know.

Didn’t that make you feel curious?

The Same Message Repeated

Now Martins approach is a bit more subtle and softer that Brian's and is not as direct and in your face but it effectively says the same thing, i.e there are people who know things you don't and they are making you feel inferior, weak and left out. Of course each of them are offering a way out of the dilemma, being such kind hearted gents they wouldn't want you to suffer or be left out in the cold. Here they show that the doors are open, you can see the warm fire blazing in the hearth and the others who are already inside are enjoying the banquet. You are hesitant, not sure if you want to join them or if you want to keep on your lonely cold journey alone. Going inside might take you on a whole new direction . Are you ready for the challenge? Are you ready for the success that is promised by crossing the threshold?

Ooops, I just caught myself doing the same thing, sorry about that I was supposed to be explaining how and why this technique works not testing it out on my unsuspecting readers. Back to the analysis….

Amplifying the Pain

Amplifying your pain is a marketing tactic that is hugely effective and is taught as standard to most sales people. First identify the prospects biggest problems and challenges. Now turn up the volume , increase the pain, amplify it by giving a lot of negative examples and place the prospect in the position of the person who is suffering. By doing this you tend to induce an unpleasant emotional response you are hitting them in their weakest spot, you are playing on all their fears and insecurities. Next the salesperson shows that there is a way out of this problem and offers you the solution. Now if you have a good salesperson they will recommend the solution that is in your best interests and not just their own. Because they know their reputation is at stake and they want customers coming back, satisfied customers give great referrals to their friends. Just check out a few of the testimonials if you don't believe me

Another Modern Day Example

I will give you a more modern day version that I experienced last year when I bought my girlfriend a new computer. The sales guy was great, he had manoeuvred us into buying the best laptop they had by some careful persuasion and we were just about to pay when he started trying to sell us insurance on top. Telling us about all the bad things that could happen like spilling a cup of coffee on the keyboard or dropping it etc,etc. I won't tell you the outcome but I was impressed with his persistence even when there was a long queue of people behind us.

An Old Strategy

This is not a new technique it has been practiced for centuries by all the influencer and persuaders throughout history. One of the earliest examples of this type of salesmanship was done by Guatama the Buddha when he stated his 4 noble truths. He Identified the nature of suffering , he showed the origin and cause of the suffering , he showed the cessation of suffering , and he showed the path to the cessation of suffering. I don't want to go into further details because you can follow the links if you want to know more, what I wanted to point out is that this technique is not good or bad in itself, it is just a very effective technique to get people motivated to take action. This is what Buddha wanted. He said you had to work for you own enlightenment, you didn't just get it wallowing in self pity and suffering. Equally Brian is making a call only to those individuals who feel they have what it takes and are willing to take the necessary steps.

Don't Sit on the Fence

He has promised me that he is not going to be subtle any more so if you are on one of his mailing lists, expect to be bombarded these next few days with all the powerful sales techniques he has in his arsenal. If you are sitting on the fence be prepared to get knocked off.

Take Away Tactics - part 2

This is part two of a two part article, to read part 1 click here

A two stage Take Away

Another way to use the take away close that I saw recently was on a website by Mike Filsaime, he was offering his latest product and was giving a one time offer, and as an incentive he had thrown in loads of bonuses and gave you the option to buy right now. He was using time scarcity tactics but when you chose not to buy he made a second attempt at closing the sale, by taking you to a second landing page and offering you the same product but without so many bonuses and giving it to you at a lower price. This was a two stage take away and I was impressed with the slickness of it all. I bet it increased his conversion rates by at least 20%.

here is a testimonial he put in his sales letter that has a take away built into it.

"I would encourage anyone, at any cost, to work with these guys. It's not how much the event costs, it's how much you stand to loose by not being there!" —Adam Ginsberg

Give Value and Develop Relationships

Take aways really work best when you have already given value to a customer, and have established a good relationship. The marketers who adopt the tactic of moving the free line like Eben Pagan, Frank Kern, Stompernet and Brian Campbell establish their reputation and credibility first by giving away so much great content you already trust them and want to buy from then so when they pull the take away on you, you don't react in the same way you would if a stranger did it to you. You know you are being manipulated but you allow them to do it because you know it will be for your own benefit.

Tiered Membership

If I analyse what Brian has done you can see that most tiered membership programs have some form of takeaway built in. His Gold program has pretty much everything you would need to start your own business and has an ongoing training to make sure you succeed, as you move down to the Silver you lose the personal coaching and webinars so it is up to each individual to organize themselves and to carry out all the steps needed. They still have access to the video trainings and conference calls and the community. At the Bronze level, the conference calls and the community are available and this is where people can put into practice Brian's techniques and see the results for themselves, It requires less commitment and there are unlimited number of spaces at this level of membership.

Become an Affiliate and earn while you learn

I foresee that once all the places are taken the Bronze membership will become a training ground for the next up and coming stars, a place that prospective Gold and Silver members will have to wait until a space becomes available. As a Bronze members you can still earn while you learn, you can become affiliate partners for the smms and the gold and silver members. You will definitley become a valued part of the team. You will find that as you see more people succeed the desire to access the premium memberships will increase

Benefits and features

Most people determine what the are going to purchase based on the price, their needs and the benefits available. If you buy a top of the range car you will get lots of features that you might desire but often don't actually need. Car manufacturers realise this and make a range of cars at different prices and with different features. This is exactly what Brian has done with the Social Media Marketing System, he knows that not everyone is at the same stage in their business development or wants to make the same level of commitment, so a range of options and features offers the most value to the maximum number of people

The Best Training Yet

Brian will be releasing his 3.5 hour video very soon, This is one of his best ever trainings and you really have to watch it all the way through. Many people complained the first time around that they didn't have enough time and when they came back to finish viewing he had taken it down from his website. So do whatever you have to do to find the time, you don't want to miss any of this. Remember that your future business success is at stake here.

For a limited time only

Brian hasn't told me how long he will make it available, but I suspect he will set a deadline and stick to it. Get a pad and paper, take lots of notes and play it all the way through. You won't be disappointed. And by the end you will have enough information to start your own business regardless of whether you choose to join the Social Media Marketing System or not.

Closing A Sale Using Take Away Tactics - part 1

Today I would like to talk about a classic sales technique called the Take Away Close and explore how it is being used online and how it is evolving into new forms and how you can learn to implement this powerful technique into your own marketing. It blends with the scarcity tactics that I explored in a recent post which are a variation of the take away close.

Its an Idea

The take away close gets its name because you are giving someone something and then taking it away from them. The fact that you never actually physically gave them anything is irrelevant, what you gave was the idea that they were going to receive something of value and then snatched it away from them. Or restricted or place conditions on it. You then offer a way for them to get back what you have taken away, i.e buy your product, subscibe to your list or take a specific action

Rooted in Childhood Psychology

Imagine you have a small child and you show them a bag of sweets and then you take away the bag of sweets and hide it in a cupboard in full view so the child knows exactly where they are. The child will do anything to get the sweets and will beg and cry for you to let them have them. Now most of you will be thinking how cruel and mean a person must be to torture and manipulate a kid in this way but its actually what happened to most of us at some time or other in our life and was a way our parents and teachers could get us to do exactly what they wanted us to do.

No pocket money until you tidy your room, No desert until you have eaten all your dinner. No going out to play with your friends until all your homework is finished

A Sense of Loss

When you have something you desire taken away from you, you feel a deep sense of loss and you want to get it back at whatever cost. No matter if it was never yours in the first place, and aslo if it is only an Idea or a threat

Subliminal?

I love the scene on the Simpson's where Homer is watching a commercial on TV and shouts "LIMITED??" and grabs the phone and starts frantically dialing to order his subliminal weight loss tapes.

Show what you are missing out on

Last week I was talking to a friend I had met online, Dan Black he is an internet marketer and gives free marketing training, in one of his emails he was explaining a way that his company use this technique very effectively. He has an online membership community consisting of free and paid members and each month all the members get to see how much they have made in commissions from advertising. Each member has the option to upgrade, to add tools like video and audio to their account and these tools increase the expose and also increase the commissions. So what my friend does each month when he sends out the monthly accounts he tells people how much they would have made if they had upgraded to the premium services. This is such a powerful technique that uses the take away in a more subtle way. He doesn't even have to hard sell the premium services, the members themselves request the upgrade, because they can't bear to see that they lost money that was never theirs in the first place

The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side

This is like the classic saying the grass is greener on the other side. where you have cows pushing their heads through the fence because they perceive that the grass is better because they are blocked free access to it.

Sneaky email take aways

Another great example of this was done by my good friends over at Stompernet when they were in the run up to reopening the doors to their fantastic paid membership program. They sent out an email to all the people on their free list, all the potential new members, people who had signed up to watch all their great free videos. In the email they talked about everything that Stompernet was going to be doing in the next year, all the programs they were running and the conferences and trainings that members had access to. 10 minutes after they sent this email, they sent another telling you to ignore the first email because that one was only for members and apologised for making a mistake. No mistake, this was carefully calculated to plant the seeds in peoples minds and show them what they would be missing out on if they didn't join.

Brian uses this technique on his members

Brian Campbell has been up to similar tricks, sending the same type of letters to all his bronze members and then saying that the letter was sent in mistake. No mistake, he just wanted to hit home how much Bronze members were missing out on by not being in the Silver or Gold memberships. The way he has structured his program is also very cunning, having members working side by side who are not in the same grade and the members from the lower grades can see the success that the premium members are achieving because they have access to the more detailed trainings that Brian releases each week.

Upgrading

I have seen people join on the Bronze or Silver membership and within a week have decided to upgrade their membership because they wanted access to the more advanced level training.

Manipulation

Many people may complain that this is manipulative and I will have to admit it is, but manipulation is not bad in itself it is rather the intent of the salesman that has to be judged. Is a parent bad because they manipulate their child to brush their teeth every evening, No, they want the child to have healthy teeth so they want them to get into good habits.

In the same way Brian and the members of the Social Media Marketing System want each other to succeed, they want everyone who joins to have access to the best training available. I want every serious Bronze member to aspire to upgrade to Silver or Gold, because I know that they will become much more effective, That is why the premium members need to set such a good example to make it so attractive that it becomes a no brainer.

Top Affiliates

I expect that I will become one of Brians top affiliate for this relaunch, When me and a few of the other top affiliates announce how much money we have made, I want everyone to understand that all we did was follow what Brian has taught. We all took action and implemented his teachings, success breeds more success, and I have no doubt that this will just be the beginning.

Sign up Now

Most people who are reading this have probably signed up already, but just in case you haven't here is the link again.

Social Media Marketing System

Read part 2

This is a two part article, if you would like to read part 2 click here