The Power of "Implied Endorsement"

I learned early on in my Advertising Career that.....if I was going to get businesses to join in my AD-Ventures (Most had to do with needing 6 or more advertisers) I had to show a Mock-Up that ALREADY had participants.

My very first AD-Venture was printing Placemats for Restaurants. I had space for 12 Ads around the edges. I got a restaurant owner to agree to use MY Placemats. When I went out to sell spaces to local biz.....after getting "NOs" from 3 biz......I thought, "There's something wrong here!"

Then it hit me, "Nobody wants to be First!"

So.....I took 3 biz cards off a wall display in a grocery store and stuck them in 3 spaces on my Mockup. This made it appear that I had 3 local biz owners participating.

After that, sales jumped. When I had filled 9 spaces I then went to the 3 biz I had placed on my mockup and NOW I had NINE participants with 3 empty spaces.

I did NOT tell anyone that the 3 initial Ads were NOT paid for. Other biz "inferred" they had paid and joined in.

SO....with every AD Project I've done since.....I place 2 or 3 Ads on the mockup. NO one asks if these initial Ads were actually paid for. It's assumed they are.

So.....by showing participants ALREADY participating .......this makes for an "Implied Endorsement"!

However.....with my "Video Lead-Gen" projects, I put up a Video.....get it Ranking for a KeyWord.....then, when calls begin coming in.....I phone biz in that niche and simply ask if they'd like some "Leads".

No "wondering" whether I can produce Leads.....I've already got Leads coming in.

Don Alm

Thanks Don!

This is really great nuts 'n bolts advice. It took me a lot longer to figure this out than it did you. Really, a LOT longer

Best,
s

[ShawnF]

Thanks Don,

I'm currently selling co-op postcards and you are so true about business owners not wanting to be first. I am taking your idea and using it on my route tomorrow morning.

Shawn F

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Don Alm

I learned early on in my Advertising Career that.....if I was going to get businesses to join in my AD-Ventures (Most had to do with needing 6 or more advertisers) I had to show a Mock-Up that ALREADY had participants.

My very first AD-Venture was printing Placemats for Restaurants. I had space for 12 Ads around the edges. I got a restaurant owner to agree to use MY Placemats. When I went out to sell spaces to local biz.....after getting "NOs" from 3 biz......I thought, "There's something wrong here!"

Then it hit me, "Nobody wants to be First!"

So.....I took 3 biz cards off a wall display in a grocery store and stuck them in 3 spaces on my Mockup. This made it appear that I had 3 local biz owners participating.

After that, sales jumped. When I had filled 9 spaces I then went to the 3 biz I had placed on my mockup and NOW I had NINE participants with 3 empty spaces.

I did NOT tell anyone that the 3 initial Ads were NOT paid for. Other biz "inferred" they had paid and joined in.

SO....with every AD Project I've done since.....I place 2 or 3 Ads on the mockup. NO one asks if these initial Ads were actually paid for. It's assumed they are.

So.....by showing participants ALREADY participating .......this makes for an "Implied Endorsement"!

However.....with my "Video Lead-Gen" projects, I put up a Video.....get it Ranking for a KeyWord.....then, when calls begin coming in.....I phone biz in that niche and simply ask if they'd like some "Leads".

No "wondering" whether I can produce Leads.....I've already got Leads coming in.

Hi Don,

You're absolutely right... Nobody wants to be first!

It's like the start of a high school dance. Nobody wanted to be first. But once a couple are out there on the dance floor, then everyone else joins in!

Or it's like a new restaurant. If people peer in and see that a new restaurant is empty, nobody wants to go in and try it.

I remember reading a story of a guy who opened a restaurant. When it opened, he got all his friends to come and eat, to make it look busy. When other people looked in and saw it was full, they said to themselves, "we gotta try that place!"

If you're starting a service type of business, say creating websites for example, you can always do the first few for free (maybe for some of your friends who have businesses, and don't yet have websites). Then, when you talk to a prospective customer, you point out the websites you've done already. (You don't have to tell them you did them for free!) Nobody wants to be first, so if they see you've already done it before, you're more likely to get the work!

The great thing is, you only have to do this once - right at the beginning. Once you get a bit more established, you don't have to worry about this any more.

Best wishes,

Dien

P.S. I'm still at the tail end of this illness (bronchitis), so sorry I haven't posted much. I'm not quite well yet... But definitely on the path to getting better.

[Glenn]

Thanks Don,

Your Restaurant Ad Idea is a Great application of the New York times
Best Seller Psychology where millions of people order books JUST BECAUSE others bought them first -

So the masses think "Wow these books must be good."

The Same Invisible Influence strategy
Which Robert Cialdini (INFLUENCE) Calls "Social Proof" helps to reassure
prospects so they PAY YOU.

JUST SUPPOSE You are Reading An Email or Listening
to an Mp3 or watching a video and the Author
Name
Drops
A
Bunch of Famous people?

Seth Godin is using an Endorsed Referral idea
Jay Abraham too
Taylor Swift
Tony Robbins
Donald Trump
J.K. Rowling
50 Cent
Steve Jobs

Pretty soon - some part of your brain Starts Talking to you
and saying, "Wow - if all of these Famous - successful people
are making munny this way - why am I not using that idea too?

In another Post I mention that
Taylor Swift uses Your Exact Strategy of

"IMPLIED ENDORSEMENT" simply by name dropping INTERNATIONALLY
Famous - "Tim McGraws" name over and over in her song lyrics.

Tim McGraw Probably NEVER heard of Taylor Swift
until she put him into one of her tunes.

Did it work?

Yep.

Her First Ever HIT SONG at age 15 or so.

At age 15 I was still learning to Tie My Shoes and
Chew Gum at the same time.

Thanks,
Glenn

When I started trying to sell Mobile Sites to restaurants.....I was doing what most thought was THE WAY to sell these....show prospects what their site looks like on a mobile and show what it SHOULD look like.

I got maybe 1 order out of ten demos.

So.....I went back to my "implied testimonial" presentation.....showing prospects Mobile Sites that their COMPETITORS were using THEN showing what THEIR sites look like.

Orders went to 4 outa 5.

Then.....going back and showing them how I could bring them MORE Diners by getting Hotel Guests to Scan the QR Code on the front desk when checking in. The QR Code brings up my "Mobi Dine Index" ........
http://www.mobisiteindex.com/princeton

And......when I show the owner of an Italian Restaurant some of the other restaurants participating (whether they're really participating for real or it's just a mockup)......they JUMP IN!

Don Alm