One of the most valuable marketing trainings I have ever gone through is Dan Kennedy’s Opportunity Concepts Marketing. Without getting into too much detail, this advanced training focuses on helping marketers uncover the “real” opportunity (and hence reason people buy from you) in your business.
According to Kennedy, this opportunity “is the development of some very, very big thing, big enough, bold enough, compelling enough to wake the dead.” This opportunity appeals to desire. Not “need to do” or “should do.” Opportunity Concepts Marketing is all about developing the reasons why somebody should buy what you offer.
It took me quite a while to grasp this concept, at the level Dan taught it, however once I did, I do my best to apply it to all the marketing I do, which is why I figured out a way to apply for use in a short, helpful book (shook™). Something I call an “opportunity shook” (a few examples above).
An opportunity shook is appropriate when the main goal of the shook is to build the case for a very specific offer and then blatantly promote that offer in the shook. This is dramatically different than the more traditional “how to” shook, where the goal is to show the reader how to do something. I have developed a unique “formula” that starts on the first page and goes all the way through to the last page of the shook. And while all of the opportunity shooks I have worked on, to date, have been focused on a service/membership program-type offer, I see no reason why a product-focused opportunity could not be well-served with this type of shook.
I am currently working on my fourth opportunity shook, which I am creating specifically to give away at Kris Murray’s, Child Care Growth Summit in Las Vegas where I am speaking and exhibiting in October. I am creating this shook specifically for this event and given its in Vegas, the shook is aptly titled, WIN BIG!: 17 Ways to Hit the Jackpot by Publishing a Child Care Book!
There is a lot of strategy behind what I am doing here, and I thought you would find it instructive to “look over my shoulder” as I am working on it to see if you can do something similar in your business.
The Big Idea—Given I will be both speaking and exhibiting at the Summit, on the topic of publishing and leveraging a short, helpful book, I thought it was appropriate to give away a shook which is designed and written exclusively for this event, as my lead magnet at my speaking session and at our booth. The strategy of creating an event-specific shook is powerful and makes the host and attendees feel special.
The Opportunity—Kris is part of my Main Street Publisher program which means we are joint-venture partners who have created a shook and shook-centric marketing assets to be personalized and licensed by her local child care center owner-members. We have crafted the ideal type of book that parents, and caregivers would find helpful as they search for childcare for their family. Rather than taking weeks or months to create, our program allows Kris’ members to leverage our work and create their own version in one or two hours and immediately begin to tap into the power of being a Main Street Author.
The Shook—This shook is different than my other shooks in three ways:
- It is a “pocket shook” because it’s even smaller (4.125" x 6.75") than our normal shooks (5.06" x 7.81") and only has 80 pages (minimum page count to have text on the spine).
- Everything from the cover to the inside content is specific to the event and my targeted attendee at the event and is designed to be used only at this event (though there are still ways to leverage afterwards).
- The content is focused on presenting the opportunity of being a Main Street Author and why that is so helpful to the child care owners’ prospects and transformational for their business.
The final, paperback version will definitely be eye-catching and interesting for my targeted attendee. My goal is to make it small enough and short enough that they will read while at the event, so that it can work on my behalf when I am not in front of them. It also reinforces the power of being an author.
The Content—There are several things I am doing in this shook that I think are powerful and instructive, including:
- My main call-to-action is to visit our booth to see examples of other child care center owners’ shooks and get all their questions answered. I also am including a note that if they are reading this after the Summit has ended, they can go to a special website with all the details.
- I am including a Foreword from Kris Murray. Given this is Kris’ event and all the attendees know, like and trust her, it is important to get her endorsement of me personally and our program.
- In my Introduction (like I will do at the event live), the first thing I do is express my gratitude for Kris, her team and the opportunity to be at the Summit and sharing what I know.
- In my Introduction I specifically ask and answer the question in their mind, “As a child care center owner, do I really need a book?” I then address this right at the start and give them specific reasons to continue reading. I also let them know that there are event-only bonuses for those who join the program while at the Summit.
- I am including testimonials and photos (showing off their shooks) of several child care center owners who are already part of the program. Social proof from peers is important!
- I share 17, single-page ways to “hit the jackpot by publishing the child care shook.” These short, pithy tips are written to be read quickly to keep the momentum moving forward.
- Immediately following the 17 ways is a section called, The Opportunity in Front of You which includes a detailed and focused “pitch” describing the program. I include a specific “next step” which tells them exactly what to do next in order to join the program.
- The last thing I created (which as of today I am not sure if it will help or hinder) is a final chapter that deals with the elephant in the room for some attendees. The program we are offering includes a shook that was ghostwritten by a team of professionals and we allow it to be personalized to each Main Street Author. The notion of using ghostwritten content is a stumbling block for some folks and I crafted, what I think, is a really effective to look at this through a different lens. Time will tell and I will report back in the November issue of this letter on how things turned out.
Final Thoughts—In my shook, Main Street Author (available on Amazon), I showcase a 28 different types of shooks, including the opportunity shook where I said, “This type of shook is perfect if you can position your product or service as a “new” opportunity that doesn’t sound like anything the reader has heard of before.”
If you want to discuss the opportunity of an opportunity shook with me J, schedule a Shook Strategy Session.
