Author Archive

The Avengers In Your Biz?

May 25th, 2012 | Bret Thomson

The Avengers In Your Biz?

It’s the big rave right now…

The Blockbuster flick, “The Avengers”. Pulse-pumping adrenaline fix for the year…

Six superheroes: Captain America, Thor, Ironman, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye

Each with individual ‘gifts’ that, once united, can obliterate any enemy…

(Except Chuck Norris, of course)

So here’s my take on how to posses each of their unique skills… to decimate your competition and be the hero in your niche…

Captain America: Tactical thinker. Under extreme pressure he’ll whip out a strategic action plan with unquestionable confidence. He’ll delegate with such clarity and vision that others are compelled to follow his lead. (Lead with vision and confidence)
Thor – God of Thunder: He knows what his main strength is. His lightening Hammer. He doesn’t waste time picking up swords or guns. He knows what works and he’ll wield the hammer to annihilate his competition. (Know your strengths)
The Hulk: One word, “SMASH”. No time to procrastinate. Doesn’t second-guess. Zero hesitation. There’s only one speed, one focus, one objective: To Smash, conquer and demolish his task. (Don’t get distracted, take focused action)
Hawkeye: As Eben Pagan says, “Get Altitude”. Scale to the highest roof and look down at the whole picture. Keep an eye on what’s working, what’s not and spot the targets that’ll get the best results. (Take time to look at your whole business)
Black Widow: Stay in the fight. Be grounded, stay where the action happens and sharpen your skills with street-smart, practical experience, not just theory or observation. (If you’re going to preach being an expert, get in the trenches and earn your respect)
Iron man. Exude confidence almost to the point of arrogance. Display your skills with dynamic impressive demonstration. And have the intelligence to know your enemy. (Your clients won’t believe you’re the best until you believe in yourself and show them)

Let’s face it… we all need a bit of the avengers within us to triumph our daily battle of entrepreneurship, right?

But if you’re sick of fighting the same daily battle by yourself…

If you want to delegate your marketing to my team of marketing avengers (that’s their new name as of 6 seconds ago)… then let us fight in your place.

Here’s the page that shows the world just how amazing we are when we put our greatest skills to work: Making you moolah.

Check it (You’ll even see some videos of other mortals we have avenged from the clutches of marketing despair)

www.bretthomson.com/project-success

Our mission: To eradicate your competition and bring you complete domination.

Think big. Be different.

P.S. Tell me… If they had a 7^th Avenger, who should it be? Comment below. Over and out…

Simple Trick To Instantly Build Trust When Writing

May 21st, 2012 | Bret Thomson

Simple Trick To Instantly Build Trust And Rapport When Writing

A short & sweet tip to help you make an instant connection with your reader… with pinpoint accuracy

That’s the name of the game, right?

After all… people don’t buy if they don’t believe. And they don’t believe if they don’t trust you.

“Wait a minute Bret… I’m honest, trustworthy and a good person. Shouldn’t they know that?”

Wake up vanity Smurf…. you need to prove it.

Here’s one (of many) ways to do this.

The fastest way to create connection and rapport is to have a similar interest.

Think back when you had a social life (pre kids and business). You’d meet someone at a party. You quickly found out they had a personality like a soggy mud brick.

You’d look for an opportunity to do a toilet dash… just to escape the deathly vortex of boredom.

Amongst the dreary monotone conversation, the dude mentions what suburb he grew up in. Low and behold… it was the exact same suburb you grew up in as a kid! Blood rushes back to your head with a renewed enthusiasm as you spit out,

“Really? No way… That’s where I grew up!”

“What street did you live in?

“What year did you go to School there?

“Was Mrs Calligahn still teaching English then? Man, she was scary”

“Do you remember the old abandoned warehouse on Waterview Road? We used to play footy there for hours a day… long before it was turned into a housing development.”

Blah, blah, blah, you get the idea.

So what happened? Connection, that’s what happened. Through a similar interest…

So how can you do this in your marketing?

Nostalgia is a powerful mechanism for creating connection, rapport and trust. Especially when you’re selling to the mass baby boomers.

Look for opportunities to mention your favourite movies, books, holidays, pets, cars, childhood memories, and so on…. Take time out to think about this, seriously. It’ll pay off tenfold.

Okay, you may not hit the bulls-eye every time, but I promise you this… The more you share, the more you reveal your human side, the more trust and rapport you’ll build… and ultimately make more sales.

People buy from people they like. Reveal the real you. That’s what we want to see.

You may not get the sale on the spot, but it’ll quickly add some much-needed tokens to your trust account, get it?

Of course, that’s just one small (very small) taste of the profitable breakthroughs you’ll learn at www.thecopywritingsystem.com

That’s the place for taking your sales and conversions to all new heights… fast!

Think big. Be different.

Bret Thomson

P.S. Does anyone press these social media share buttons below or what? I might start the trend and give it a go. Care to join me?

Why I Bribe My Kids To Read

May 12th, 2012 | Bret Thomson

The Ode Of A Copywriter

Ignore the bad singing and enjoy the message of how reading changed my life… And my ongoing dilemma of getting my kids to do what I NEVER did!

Why I Bribe My Kids To Read

Yep, it’s true.

I bribe my kids (with cash) to read books.

Good? Bad? Whatever. Nothing else works.

The idea of them reading a book… heaven forbid… outside of school hours… would cause a raucous mutiny… Thinking back, I was the same…

My only appetite for reading as a kid was Alfred. P. Newman’s “MAD Magazines”… or the occasional “Choose your own adventure” books… (Might explain some things)

So with my boys… why did I revert to bribery? Cos books (eventually) changed my life, as you’ll hear when you read on…

And let’s face it folks… as any truth-telling parent would admit… We tend to fill the voids from our own life with a caring hand of direction to our kids. True or true?

I needed to inject some outside positive dialogue into their noggins… To open their eyes up to what’s possible in life… So they can see the unlimited potential in themselves, like i see in them.

Don’t get me wrong… They get smothered with my daily positive brain droppings…But you know how that goes. I never listened to my old man till i was in my thirties (thtupid me)… So they need to hear it from someone else, i.e. Books.

And besides… wearing the “Strict Dad” hat with my hard-nosed-drill-sergeant routine doesn’t always work with my kids. So I found another way (maybe not the best way, but a way)… I got creative and bribed them.

There Is Madness To My Method.

I’ll tell you why in a sec… and… believe it or not… this relates to your marketing success too. But first…

Here’s a typical scene at our house:

I’ll whip out a $10 (or $20) note and tape it to the inside back cover… with an inch or more of the note sticking out the top.

I’ll call my boys (usually 3 or 4 times) into the room to announce the challenge…

“Okay my men, first person to read this book, cover to cover, get’s to keep the cash. I have no way of checking if you’re cheating or not. I’m trusting you.”

Then I’ll say, “You’ll have to live with your own guilt if you take my money dishonestly. And besides, I’ll be quizzing you about sections of the book anyway”

I’ll rant about the book and tell ‘em why I think it’ll benefit them. Then I’ll slap the book on the table, tell them how awesome they are, and walk away.

I’m Sure Qualified Quacks Would Preach 101 Reasons Why This Is Wrong.

Whatever.

Look, it’s getting harder to fill their minds with positive stuff these days, would you agree?

Man… I thought the X-box and PlayStation were a brain drain for kids… Pfft… that’s nothing… Facebook dominates that role now. Don’t get me started on that…

Moving on. Like I said, books changed my life. But here’s something that might surprise you…

I didn’t start reading till I was in my mid twenties. True story. Prior to that, the only reading I’d do was the “Did you know” quiz under beer bottle caps.

Oh yeah… Mr Suave, thank you.

Actually, I do remember reading one article once… about how excessive alcohol is highly damaging to your brain. Blew me away. Stunned, I was.

So I made a firm decision that day.

I Was NEVER Going To Read Again.

In time, I smartened up. The first book I ever read (by my own choice) was when I was 26, called, “Awaken The Giant Within” by Anthony Robbins.

Changed my life forever… and launched me on a never-ending journey of personal excellence. I had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge… I devoured books like a piranha let loose in a fish farm.

These days, I tell my boys…

If You Can’t See Where You’re Going In Life Then You’re Not Standing On Enough Books

Charlie “Tremendous” Jones said, “The books you read and the people you meet will determine where you are in five years.”

Friend, that’s especially true with your business…

Whether you do your own copywriting and marketing… or you get me and my word-slinging A-team to do it for you… the point is this…

You’ve gotta keep yourself educated… stay sharp with your marketing… cos things can change fast, amigo…

That’s why I created http://www.thecopywritingsystem.com

So fellow biz owners, entrepreneurs and copywriters can get weekly breakthrough insights on how to annihilate their competition with edgy marketing and copywriting power.

To open their eyes up to what’s possible in their business… So they can see their unlimited potential with effective (and affordable) marketing… like I see.

Remember… He who markets the best wins!

Just one idea… one tweak… one insight… one paragraph from a book (when actioned)… can fling you into poll position. It’s true in life… and in business.

Keep your saw sharpened my friend…

Think big. Be different.

Bret Thomson

P.S. Spread the love and share or comment below. Catchya

I Thought I Was Tough? My Son Is My New Hero…

May 1st, 2012 | Bret Thomson

I Thought I Was Tough…

My Son Is My New Hero

I’ve always had the reputation in the family of being fearless.

If anyone will “have a go” it’ll be Dad.

Bungee Jumping… Phft… easy.
Sky diving… Piece of cake, baby.
Karaoke… Just try stopping me.
Rock climbing… what about it?
Big surf… I’ll race ya there.
Snakes, spiders… not even a flinch.

But night diving… as in snorkel, flippers, torch, in the open waters… at night??

Are you serious? That’s friken insane. Crazy, I tell ya. No way man… I mean, Hello? Even a 4 year old knows what lurks around the waters at night, right?

Starts with “S” and ends in “harks”… That’s right Einstein … Why nominate yourself as potential shark bait? No thanks.

So when my teenage son told me he was going on a school excursion to Tangalooma beach this week… and one of the activities was “Night Diving”… I knew he wouldn’t do it. No chance.

We’re talking about a kid who fused himself to a side railing at SeaWorld when I suggested he come on the Pirate Ship with me. Took 4 grown adults and a 3-foot jimmy bar to pry him off the railing… until I promised he didn’t have to go on it.

In fact… Just the night before he left for Tangalooma, he was even nervous about being away from home camping for a few days… let alone the thought of diving at night? Forget that.

But to help him feel comfortable about leaving for his trip… I thought I’d give him some good ol’ “DAD ADVISE”. Funny though… he didn’t even asked for it? They never do…

I said, “You’ll be right buddy… You’ll have a ball my man… Remember… On the other side of your fear lies your greatest victory”

“Yeah, yeah, Dad, I know, I know”

I figured that bit of advise slide past the goal keeper like most of my “Dad Talks”. Apparently not. Get this.

He calls me up on his first night camping and says, “DAD! DAD! I went night diving!”

“WHAT?!?! ARE YOU SERIOUS? You went night diving?… At night?”

“Yeah, It was AMAZING! It was so cool Dad. It was uuuunreeeal.”

“OH MY GOD! I’m so proud of you. Were you scared?”

“Hell yes. It was so scary. There was about 15 of us and we had to swim 200 meters back to shore with our torches. It was pitch black. The water was about 10 metres deep. About half way along I dived under and saw this GIGANTIC turtle. It was HUGE! It’s shell was bigger than me. So I grabbed onto it’s shell and it took me for a ride underwater for a few meters.”

“NO WAAAAAY?! That’s AMAZING?! My man…That’s the cooolest thing I have ever heard. EVER. You’re a LEGEND! You are my new hero. I am soooo proud of you buddy.”

“Thanks Dad”

(We stayed talking for another 20 minutes or more…)

Now you tell me… is that cool or what? Goes to show that on the other side of fear waits a tremendous victory. The same goes when I work with clients to come up with their BIG IDEA.

It’s often the scariest idea that will pull in the biggest financial rewards.

I push concepts way beyond the ‘comfortable zone’… where most marketers shudder with fear. But the financial windfall is stunning.

It worked for me when i pushed past the fear barrier and made my 7 hour sales letter video. (Nearly didn’t happen).

It worked for my clients when I suggested a creative way to offer a $10,000 Grant to their first property buyers. Turned out to be a multi-million dollar a month idea, that one.

It worked for another client when I convinced them to run a newspaper ad asking people to qualify to do business with them… Result? A cool 1/4 of a million bucks in 3 months, thank you very much.

It worked when I twisted my clients arm to turn his guarantee into a public $100,000 challenge… creating a flood of responses… no surprise to me.

And it’ll work for you too when I think about your business… when i rattle the cage of fear and uncover the scary BIG IDEA that’ll be a game-changer for YOU… and YOUR business.

Sure… you might “GULP” at my ideas… you may even skip a heart beat or two… you’ll probably think I’m crazy at first… (You’d be right)… but it’ll pay you well.

I believe YOU are just one BIG IDEA away from YOUR million dollar pay day. And it’s probably floating in my brain right now… just waiting to be awakened. Your call.

I guess you’re thinking, “Well how do i get it out of your head and make it real?

Check out this shiny orange link to see how we can make this happen.

http://www.BretThomson.com/project-success

Here’s some free “Dad Advice” for you…“On the other side of this link waits your greatest financial victory.”

Think big. Be different.

Bret Thomson

P.S. Spread the love by sharing this post… or lets chat below. Catchya…