{"id":11753,"date":"2021-03-24T11:57:35","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T11:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/?p=11753"},"modified":"2022-11-07T16:32:35","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T16:32:35","slug":"atlas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/atlas\/","title":{"rendered":"Chump to Champ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally written for the ReferralCandy blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re all in the business of selling stuff, one way or another. And it always makes sense for us to try to get better at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how do we go about getting better at selling? We can figure it out ourselves, through trial and error. Or we can learn from the people who\u2019ve been successful at it. The latter feels far less tedious, so let\u2019s do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter Charles Atlas, the most popular muscleman of the 1930s.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Charles Atlas trained himself to develop from a \u201cscrawny weakling\u201d to one of the most popular musclemen in the 1930s. He (with others) set up a mail-order business to sell a fitness routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result was one of the most popular and successful ad campaigns of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a look:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
It’s worth taking your time to really study this ad closely to understand why it works.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1: Tell a story.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Getting people to buy something is an ardous affair. You want them to break their pattern to do something they haven\u2019t done before. Interrupting people to get them to buy stuff is especially <\/em>hard, and rarely successful. It\u2019s also typically unpleasant for them, and it\u2019s kinda rude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather thant demand<\/em> people\u2019s attention, earn<\/em> it with a compelling story that fits their beliefs and desires. We all wired to like good stories. Give your customers the opportunity to buy into a story that they believe in, and they\u2019ll be much more receptive to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2: The magic word is YOU.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You<\/em> can put your entire music library in your pocket. You<\/em> can be the snazziest dresser among your friends. You<\/em> can be a strong, confident person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You<\/em> don\u2019t care about us, You<\/em> care about what we can do for You<\/em>. If we consistently do great stuff for You<\/em>, then maybe You<\/em> might become our fans, and You<\/em> might stand in line for our future products, subscribe to our newsletters. That\u2019s only because of the emotional connection You<\/em> have with our brand. It\u2019s a promise You<\/em> trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, I went a bit overboard there, but you get the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3: The other magic word is FREE.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Giving away free stuff triggers a lot of good feelings in people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gifting is a fantastic persuasion tactic and communicates confidence rather than neediness. Of course, the most effective way to communicate confidence is to actually be <\/em>confident. This requires you to really understand your stuff.<\/em> Charles Atlas was confident that he could make you fitter, and so his sales was compelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get really good at what you do, then give some of it away for free. You\u2019ll build a thankful audience. This is a bit of a psychological hack, and it\u2019s powerful stuff. Please be responsible with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4: Show proof.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Atlas\u2019s body is right there in all his ads. He\u2019s strong and happy, and he impresses all the ladies. He\u2019s walked the talk, and he\u2019s offering you a chance to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thing about proof is\u2026 it has to be real. You can\u2019t sell a fitness program if you aren\u2019t fit. You can\u2019t sell your clothes as \u201cstylish\u201d if they aren\u2019t stylish. The story you tell has to be genuine. It has to withstand scrutiny and some degree of skepticism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5: Have a clear and simple call-to-action.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

All Atlas needed you to do was to mail in your name and address. He didn\u2019t confuse his readers by asking them to sign up for this, to buy that, to look at this. No, no, no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Read the story<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Learn about the benefits<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Mail in your address<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Having come this far, don\u2019t sabotage yourself by overwhelming your customers with choices and options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Give them one simple action to perform, and leave it at that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    _____<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Further reading for the curious:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1: SmithsonianMag.com \u2013 Charles Atlas: Muscle Man.<\/a> A compelling biopic of the man and the phenomena.<\/em>
    2:     Cartoonician \u2013 The Ad that made an Icon out of Mac. <\/a>An interesting, in-depth analysis of the sociocultural context and implications of the ad campaign.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Image Credit: Charles Atlas LTD<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Originally written for the ReferralCandy blog. We\u2019re all in the business of selling stuff, one way or another. And it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-case-studies"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s5wrnV-atlas","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11753"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11924,"href":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11753\/revisions\/11924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visakanv.com\/marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}