Want More Sales For Your New Opportunity? Become Your Prospects' Only Hope!

Problem – Agitate – Solve. The copywriting formula forms the basis for some of the most successful sales letters, videos, and webinars of all time.

So what makes this formula work so well? Is it the fact that they have a problem they know they need to solve? Is it the fact that your solution is so amazing? NO! The reason this formula works is the middle step: agitate!

If the problem was bad enough, they'd have solved it already. If your solution was so great, they'd have bought already. What makes the formula work is when you make their pain level so severe through agitation, they make their scream for a solution (namely, YOUR new opportunity). The critical step is agitation, but there's still a problem.

The "Achilles heel" at this step is they still have hope. And if they still have hope, many won't buy.

At the agitation stage, we need to make it hurt so badly that they, "Become even more suicidal!" We do that not only by rubbing their noses in the pain, but also by removing all other alternatives or avenus of escape from the pain. When other marketers would offer a lifeline after agitating the problem, we dunk their head under water and HOLD IT THERE by eliminating the main alternatives to solving the problem. We smash anything and everything they think might save them if they get up off their butts and take action. For almost every business, those alternatives fall into three main categories.

(By the way, I like to transition to this part of the sales message with connector copy like, "Now, let's talk about some options you and others might consider at this point. Or, "Here's what a lot of people in this situation try, and why it doesn't work.")

Many people bury their heads in the sand and do nothing. Tell them WHY this is a really bad idea and leads to dire consequences FAST!

Script: "Here's why doing nothing is absolutely the worst thing you can do."

Example: Here's why choosing to put off cleaning your gutters another season could cost you $100,000 over the next several years.

The next thing people think to do is just take the cheapest option they can find. I call this the "Fiverr" solution because of the site Fiverr.com where you can hire people to do just about anything on the cheap (with VERY mixed results). Unfortunately, you get what you pay for, and we want people to see that the cheap alternative = failure.

Script: "Here's why trying to save a few bucks is worse than doing nothing."

Example: "Here's why using a cheap gutter cover system might actually be worse than doing nothing.

Example: "Here's why going down to your local GNC in the strip mall to buy an over-the-counter testosterone supplement with a 2-for-1 coupon could destroy your health.

Example: Here's why trying to manage your portfolio with advice from a $27 special report you found through a Facebook ad is worse than taking advice from Bernie Madoff!

The final main category of hope comes down to "I'll figure it out for myself." Truth is, if they were going to fix it themselves, they would have done so already. But we need to show them that even if they did get up off the couch, brush the Cheeto dust off their underwear and actually do something, it's a really bad idea compared to our new opportunity.

Script: "Here's why trying to do this on your own is a bad idea."

Example: Here are 5 ways digging out the ladder from the garage and mucking out the gutters yourself could end in a complete disaster (including lifelong paralysis).

Example: Here's why going to the gym and working out like a maniac might raise your testosterone a smidge, but could also lead to dire long-term consequences for your health (and your marriage).

Example: Here's why thinking you can learn to invest your retirement savings by watching a few Youtube videos is worse than throwing darts at a stock chart!

The point of Problem – Agitate – Solve is to smash people in the mouth with their problem, make the pain of the problem so severe and immediate, and then swoop in and save the day. By eliminating their alternatives at just the right time in the sales process, you destroy the lifeline of hope they consciously or subconsciously think they can grab. When all hope for any other solution is gone, you leave them with no alternative but to take your new opportunity right then and there.