This post continues where we left off yesterday when I was brilliantly seduced into saying “yes” to a manicure when I had no conscious intention of getting one.
As my manicurist Jeanette was getting ready to give me a manicure, I remembered! I had to get out my car keys, my money, or anything else I might need that required the use of my hands. As you may or may not know, after you get a manicure, you can’t do anything with your hands for at least two hours. Or, in my case, two days. I swear, one of the reasons I never get manicures is because I ruin them within hours.
But then, Jeanette did something brilliant. She solved my problem. As I made a move for my purse, she told me about this new kind of nail polish, called Shellac. It dries instantly. No need to sit around with one’s arms paralyzed. No need to be afraid of bumping your fingernails into the hidden objects within one’s purse. This stuff dries hard, instantly, AND… it lasted twice as long as regular nail polish.
“How much is that?” I asked.
“30 dollars,” Jeannette told me.
I started weighing the difference in my mind. $18 for something I could ruin within a couple of hours, or $12 more for something that sounded like the perfect answer to my manicure problems.
Then, Jeanette did something even more brilliant. She said, “Tell you what. I’ll give you the Shellac manicure for the same price as the regular manicure.”
Done deal, Sweetie! No brainer!
So… let’s look at this, because what went down here is a perfect example of what your ethical bribe needs to do.
SOLVES A PROBLEM: When Jeanette offered me the new, cool, instant drying Shellac manicure, she was offering me something that solved my problem. I had told her how I ruin manicures because I am so hard on my hands, and she heard me and offered me something that could solve that problem for me… AND make her more money.
Now, you could say she was just trying to upsell me, but here’s the deal. She was doing it in service to my needs. She was offering me something that solved my problem. She wasn’t trying to sell me something I hadn’t asked for or something completely unrelated to what I had just told her. She didn’t start giving me a manicure and then try to sell me vitamins or a weight loss product.
Her offer was in direct response to what she heard me asking for: a way not to ruin my manicure two seconds after getting it.
HIGH VALUE FOR A LOW PRICE: When Jeanette offered me the higher priced but better Shellac manicure, she sensed my hesitation and addressed it immediately by giving me a great deal: a $30 service for $18. She offered me high value at reduced cost, a special price… just for me! How could I say no to that? No way!
Can you see why reducing the price was such a smart thing for her to do? Sure, she may not make as much money on that one manicure, but by being generous, she won me over! She turned me into a regular client. Not only will I be back to see her, I’m also telling other people to do business with her.
Your potential fan needs to feel like they are getting the best deal ever by downloading your ethical bribe for free. This means your offer has to be brimming with “that thing” they’ve been searching for, that thing they need and want, that solves their problem or elevates their consciousness or makes them swoon with delight.
In other words, your free offer needs to impress the hell out of them. Blow their minds! Make them so happy that they found you!
DELIVER ON YOUR VALUE PROMISE: What made this entire experience satisfying for me and lucrative for Jeanette was that, in the end, she delivered the goods! She gave me a great $30 manicure for $18 and, as promised, it dried immediately. It’s been almost 2 weeks now and it still looks great. That has never happened to me before, in my life.
NO BRAINER NEXT STEP: Once I said yes to a manicure for $18, it was easy to get me to say yes to the Shellac manicure for $30… even if she hadn’t give me that deep discount. Why? Because the Shellac manicure was the logical next step for me. It offered me something “extra” that the regular manicure couldn’t: durability, convenience AND the solution to my “hard on manicure” problem.
Plus, it set me up to keep coming back every two weeks.
Your ethical bribe should invite people to take the next logical step. It should offer the next step in satisfaction or solving a problem. For instance, if your free offer was a special report on how to get a date with that man or woman you’ve had your eye on, you should have a link in that report to your $27 eBook that tells your reader what to SAY on that first date. Okay, that’s kind of a cheesy example, but you get the idea.
Invite people to take the next step in doing business with you. Intice them to engage with you at a deeper level.
What can you give your potential clients that will immediately solve their problem and give them immediate, reliable results? How can you make their life easier, better, more fun? And when they download it and start to read, hear or watch it, will they be blown away by the fact they got such incredible value for free?
Again, your free offer needs to impress the hell out of them. Blow their minds! Make them so happy that they found you!
Don’t Freak Out! We Can Make This Easy & Fun!
You may be thinking, “Damn! What the heck can I offer that covers all these points? What do I have that can make such an impact?” Well, those are the perfect questions to be asking! And know this: you DO have something. You have a lot. The trick is to think of who you are serving. What do they need, want, dream of? What would make a difference in their lives, their work, their day… right now!
If you want some help coming up with a great ethical bribe, leave me a comment here! I am working on my own irresistible ethical bribe right now (because the one I have now is, well, BORING! and not all that irresistible) so we can work on ours together!