Mementum

She’s on your site about to buy your schwag.

Her finger quivers. She’s ready. Almost.

It’s time for the showdown.

In the 1 chaotic moment before she buys, this glorious prospect will go through exactly 1 extremely complex and amazing feat of brain power. She’s going to take you for a ride.

You and your product will be compared to every single related and possibly-related entity out there, including:

• Direct competitors – Obvious.
• Other bloggers in the same niche as you – Even if they have no product. This is more of a personality comparison, so hopefully you’re likable.
• Other items of the same media form – Ex: If you’re selling an information product you must answer “CD’s at Wal Mart cost $15, why is yours 97 bones?”
• Other stuff to buy with that money – Should I buy this luxury yacht or that 3rd vacation home?
• And likely a whole lot more – You need to know what these are.

You want to so overwhelm her with value that each bullet point is your victory. You want to grab her by the face, make her buy, and then have her thank you for it.

Not easy.

Here are a few partial solutions.

Option 1: Clever (Anti-Vessel)

This is specifically for those of you selling information products via CD, mp3, PDF, etc. Selling a CD for $97 is hard when most CD’s at Wal Mart cost $15.

Answer: she’s not buying a CD. She’s buying knowledge, a solution, peace of mind.

The CD is a vessel.

Use clever copy to remove the focus from the medium. If your copywriter is still employed, he probably already knows how to do this, but he’d be happier if you provided him more leverage like…

Option 2: Complex (Pro-Vessel)

Beautify your vessel.

What if you mix the media? Support your audio CD’s with a physical/PDF guide book and include videos via a customer portal. Now that’s value!

Producing a more complex vessel 1) makes it more likely to be glazed over and 2) keeps the focus on the underlying solution being provided. This also makes for a more compelling product that is easier to present as extreme value. You can’t compare a product’s price to a typical Wal Mart CD if it isn’t “just” a CD.

Option 3: Carve

Your third option is carving out your niche and differentiating yourself, much like 37signals did within the project management software niche.

Miss Prospect can’t compare your competitors if they don’t exist. Plus, Your copywriter will hate you less if you ask him to tackle option 1 when it is supported by option 3.

This is the longer term play, but potentially the most valuable. You don’t need to hire an expert copywriter if you’re the default option in the market. The customers will probably grab their own necks themselves… and still thank you for it.