In Joe Polish and Eban Pagan’s new interview, the two marketers discuss the difference between an “Expert” and a “Marketer”.
With Eban’s recent launch of the “GURUBluprint” program, you can catch him doing interviews pretty regularly over the past few weeks, and with some really interesting internet marketing gurus too. You can read my previous posts, How to Sell Successful eBooks Online and to see what subjects Eben has been covering.
Let me do a quick recap of Eban’s new product launch. Eban is reaching out to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to branch out onto the online market. He teaches the importance of discovering niche markets, and goes on further to provide a complete blueprint of how to go about starting an online business.
This interview was particularly interesting because it defines an “expert”, and a “marketer”.
If you don’t understand what a marketer is you’re bound to struggle to becoming one yourself. So, this is a really important interview to hear. Here’s a small recap by me if you don’t want to listen to the whole thing –
While experts attempt to sell knowledge, marketers actually think first about what it is people need and what their pains are. A marketer thinks in terms of what does the customer want? What information does a prospect need to solve an immediate problem?
Marketers find niches by identifying a need out there in the world, and giving it to those who seek to solve this need (or problem).
Marketers project themselves inside the customer; what are the needs that are not being met for me? While experts only expect people to buy their knowledge.
Marketers don’t expect people to do anything. They instead attempt to get inside the head of the consumer to find out what the consumer needs. Experts, on the other hand, feel entitled to get money in advance before sharing their knowledge.
Just as Eben has spent the past weeks giving away free stuff, it is exactly the approach he says marketers should follow. It may seem counterintuitive, but by learning the prospects’ mind – thoughts, feelings, the words they use to express their problems, and investing time in connecting with the perceived needs of the prospect, only then can someone see VALUE in a product.
Eben illustrates a good example: Dog training.
Say the issue that an owner faces with his dog is that the dog is barking aggressively.
The dog owner’s biggest fear becomes that the dog is going to hurt a small child, that the dog will have to be put down, and that the owner will go to jail.
The expert doesn’t dig into psychology of the dog owner. Instead he will want to teach him how to have a good dog.
The marketer, however, is going to teach the owner how to stop his dog from barking aggression so that it won’t attack a child, won’t be put to death, and the owner won’t have to go to jail in *60mins or the information is free*.
How much would it be worth for a dog owner to make an aggressive dog gentle? If the dog owner loves his dog, it’s priceless.
There’s the difference between what the expert thinks is valuable, and what the prospect thinks is valuable.
Only when you bring value to the prospect can you bring money to yourself as a marketer.
Eben recommends that you give away your knowledge for free – start a blog, do 5min videos etc., and really listen to your prospects’ words – listen to how they are framing their problems, and what gives them anxiety.
Only when you have understood your prospects psychology can you give him valuable information. Marketers aren’t afraid to lose a prospect as experts are. Marketers are in the business of providing value to people.
Listening to Joe Polish and Eban Pagan’s interview today has made me decide to share with you every day for the next few weeks a chapter a day from Claude C. Hopkins’ “Scientific Advertising” – the classic marketer’s book. It was mentioned in this interview, and I recommend you listen to it yourself if you’re delving deeper into the world of marketing.
Looking forward to reviewing “Scientific Advertising” with you over the next couple of days.
Cheers!
Anna @ Toronto
