How to use I-Phone: One Step Ahead: 11 Keys to a Powerful Core Concept

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Issue 20 - December 17, 2010

Hey Genc,

Think of the impressive results you'd get in your online business if you could just cut through all the clutter, and get noticed by your market.

And what if your message was so focused, so powerful, that your prospects knew right away your product is the solution to their problems?

Well if you apply what you're about to read, you'll soon see that...

This is the one REAL secret that will transform
your business from this day forward.

Big promise, right?

If you think this is just another worn out Internet marketing "secret"... think again.

Because this one is the real deal. But it's not easy.

When you use the 11 key factors you're about to discover, this concept can make your product and your business stand above the crowd. It can make you the obvious choice. The leader in your market.

So make sure you take notes, and build your action plan for putting these 11 key factors to use in your business THIS week. It'll take some work, but you can do it.

If you think you could use a momentum builder to get 2011 started with a bang... I'm handing you one on a silver platter. Use it wisely.

I also have a look into "upsell" strategy for you, in today's Reader Q&A Session below.

You'll see the most effective way to profit from upsells, and a spin that has worked very well for one of the most prominent figures in marketing, Jay Abraham.

Implement an upsell using my advice today, and you could seriously see a boost in profits by the end of next week. Once you see how well this works, you'll wonder why you haven't done it sooner.

To higher profits,

Rich

The 11 Key Characteristics of a Core Concept That Can Take Your Business to the Next Level

By Rich Schefren

A Core Concept is a laser-focused, exciting, seductive, single big idea that wraps around whatever you're packaging (product, presentation, report, campaign, etc.). It cuts through the clutter of everything else vying for your prospects' attention... And explodes in your prospects' mind to create a insatiable desire for your product or service.

When leveraged correctly, your Core Concept has the power to...

Create a new market within your niche so you become the default choice...
Position you as the leader of the new market so you can command higher prices and get more customers...
Make your current competition irrelevant because they don't address the issues surfaced in your Core Concept...
Radically increase the performance of any product launches your company undertakes...
Supercharge the sales of your marketing campaigns...
And much, MUCH more...

So how can you create a Core Concept that has such powerful influence over your prospects and their behavior?

Core Concept Characteristics

The most powerful Core Concepts have 11 key characteristics. Make sure your Core Concept has all 11 components, and you'll know when you've created the perfect one for you, your business, and the campaign, launch, or presentation you're working on.

#1: Your Core Concept Should... Present Something New

If you're going to cut through the promotional clutter out there, you have to present something new to your prospects.

It should be an idea worthy of publishing in an industry newsletter, with a headline that would stop your prospects in their tracks when scanning it.

It could be about a new technology... A new law... A new way to get a desired result... Or a breakthrough in the way business is being done in your market. Ultimately it should have new value that your prospects haven't seen or been aware of before.

#2: Your Core Concept Should... Be Unique

For your Core Concept to be as powerful as possible, it should be unique.

Now, you might think that just because your Core Concept is something new, it's therefore unique. But that's not always the case. There is a difference between new and unique.

For example, there are lots of lots of campaigns, launches, and presentations based on the concept of "New and Improved." More often than not, these are not unique; they are simply more of the same.

Also, just because something is unique doesn't necessarily make it new. Take, for instance, an investment guru who has a unique system to trade the market. While it certainly can be new to him and his existing customers... to prospects who've been pitched many gurus' unique systems before, it's nothing new whatsoever.

#3: Your Core Concept Should... Feel Original

The most powerful Core Concepts feel original, like a "secret" nobody has ever shared with your prospect.

Think about it... Everyone likes to find out about a new secret or a hidden discovery that others don't know about. It's a form of social currency, like knowing a good joke.

By knowing your Core Concept, your prospects should feel a bit superior to the average prospect. Because the general market doesn't know about this new, unique concept that is a better way of achieving their goals or meeting their needs.

Sure, I'll admit it; sometimes it's not always easy to be original. Sometimes you'll have to develop a unique twist or take a different angle than everyone else in your market is taking. But as long as your prospects haven't already seen your Core Concept presented in the same way, it'll feel original to them.

#4: Your Core Concept Should... Be Prospect Focused

Ultimately, your Core Concept isn't about your product or service. It's about your prospects. It's about reaching their goals... Meeting their needs... Improving their lives... Etc.

To really make certain your Core Concept is focused on your prospects' desires, you need to understand their core buying emotions. Pay careful attention to their beliefs, feelings, and desires.

#5: Your Core Concept Should... Be a Bold Breakthrough

Your Core Concept should suggest a major shift for your prospects in your area of focus. Ideally, when they are first exposed to it, you want it to grab them by the collar and force them to do a double take.

You know your Core Concept isn't strong enough if your prospects' response to it would be "that sounds interesting, tell me about it later..." Instead, you want your prospects' response to be "What did you say? Please tell me more... Right now!"

Remember, your Core Concept makes your competition irrelevant... But the idea itself is still competing against every other idea your prospects have been and will be exposed to. Therefore it's got to scream a bold breakthrough.

#6: Your Core Concept Should... Have a "Built-In" Benefit

Your Core Concept needs to have a benefit "built in." It doesn't really matter whether it's direct or implied - it just has to have one.

Your prospects should quickly be able to make a connection in their mind that they'll be able to get something out of your Core Concept when they find out more.

#7: Your Core Concept Should... Be Supported by Proof

Proof isn't absolutely necessary for your Core Concept to be effective... But having it certainly makes it much more powerful.

The proof you'll use can come from many different sources. It could come from the results you've been able to achieve for your clients. It could be supported by scientific evidence or research studies.

Several times when I've launched a brand new coaching program based on an entirely new approach, I've used an air-tight logical argument to prove my Core Concept.

#8: Your Core Concept Should... Be Easy to Explain

This one is vital. Your Core Concept must be easy for you to explain. It should be even easier for your prospects to grasp.

If you can't state your Core Concept in a sentence or two, you probably don't have it yet, and it needs to be further refined. This is important for two reasons.

First, in order to make it the central idea of a presentation, marketing campaign, or written material it needs to be simple enough that it isn't awkward every time you bring it up. Because if it's awkward, when it's repeated, it'll be too obvious, and it'll seem artificial.

Second, everybody these days is overloaded and overwhelmed. So in order to break through the mental fog in your prospects' minds, it's got to feel and be easy and simple. In fact, your prospects should be able to easily restate your Core Concept in their own minds when buying whatever it is you're selling. That'll only happen if it's easy for them to grasp.

#9: Your Core Concept Should... Abdicate from Previous Failures

To reap the maximum rewards from your Core Concept, it should telegraph to your prospects that it wasn't their fault for not succeeding in the past.

Now, this doesn't apply to all products or markets. But if you're selling something that your prospects have tried, used, or purchased before, and did not get the benefits they were seeking, your Core Concept should either directly or indirectly explain away their past attempts.

When done correctly this will create a new sense of hope for your prospects. Because they now, finally, understand why their past attempts have failed, and they have newfound hope that they'll get the benefits they desired.

#10: Your Core Concept Should... Be Better, Faster, Cheaper, or More Certain

Since the goal of your Core Concept is to make purchasing your product or service a foregone conclusion... it should reinforce that whatever it is that you're offering will give your prospects their desired result either better, faster, more cheaply, or with more certainty of success than any other alternative.

The more of these you can cover in your Core Concept the better.

This way, your product or service really becomes the default choice, and your prospects would need to be certifiably insane to pass up on what you're offering.

#11: Your Core Concept Should... Support Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

This last point should be incredibly obvious. But it bears reaffirming.

Your Core Concept needs to be rooted in the element that makes your product unique and delivers value to your prospects. Because if it's not related to delivering your prospects value, it's irrelevant. And if doesn't reinforce what's unique about your product or service... Well, you might get your prospects to buy... But not necessarily from you.

Creating Your Own Core Concept

I'm not going to pretend creating a Core Concept is a cakewalk, because it's not. But if you can incorporate all 11 of the above elements into your Core Concept, you'll find that the payoff can be huge.

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Today's Question and Answer with Rich

Question: When you're putting together an upsell for a niche product, where is the place to put it? Should it be after they've already checked out and bought the first product... (then you say, "oh, okay that was cool but if you like that, you're really going to love this") or should I present it as more of a choice before they check out?

Rich's Answer: Well, the ideal scenario - and this is the way we do it - is to put the upsell after they've already inputted their credit card information and submitted their order. This way, if they bail after the upsell, we've already got the purchase. And if they don't bail, then we have the opportunity for two sales.

Another thing, and this isn't really an answer your question but is an important and useful tool in general, in marketing and also with upsells, is to raise the price on the upsell and then apply everything that the person has already paid to the price of the upsell.

So at this moment in time, they can get this upsell at the cheapest possible price because you're going to apply whatever they've just spent or whatever they've just spent times two. And that becomes a very powerful tool.

And just to expand that thought, we've done a lot of work together with Jay Abraham, a partner of ours, and one of the best promotions he ever had was a series of this program called PEQ. There was PEQ1, PEQ2, PEQ3. I think PEQ1 was $5,000, PEQ2 was $7,000, and PEQ3 was $10,000 or something.

If you had bought PEQ1, then he applied the full $5,000 to the upsell. So now, PEQ2 is only $2,000 and if you bought PEQ1 and PEQ2, then PEQ3 was only $3,000 because you'd already paid seven. And that worked incredibly well.

We saw a much higher percentage of upsells happening. That wasn't in one sales process. That was actually several months in between but, nonetheless, when people feel like they have a credit that's going to eventually go away and they have this one opportunity to use it, it creates a little bit more urgency and that's why it's good as an upsell. But it's also good as a general marketing tactic.

Post Your Question For Rich Here...

It could be answered right here, in One Step Ahead!