If Sir Isaac Newton Were An Internet Marketer ...

I've taught high school, college and church groups. Teaching is
part of my make-up, in my blood.

One principle I try to instill in my students is to find patterns
to help them acquire new skills and knowledge easier.

For example, as a physics teacher I would challenge my students
to see the similarities between the behavior of different
physical phenomenon such as heat and electricity, waves and
light.

Without getting too metaphysical, I think since life itself is
based on the physical properties of inanimate nature, then you
will expect to find many similar laws and principles in the
physical world as in the biological world.

Now what I want to show you here is the similarity between
Newton's Laws of motion and persuasion.

1. Newton's first law of motion states that an object at rest
will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An
object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in
the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This
law is often called "the law of inertia".

When this law is applied to human nature it says that people need
a huge incentive in order to change the direction they are
already going. In order for change to come about a proportional
force has to be applied.

One corollary of this law is it's easy to convince people about
what they already believe than to try to convince them otherwise.
If you can find a market force or desire that already drives
people and capture that force, then your job will be a lot
easier. People want to lose weight without any exercise or
discipline in what they eat? Good luck trying to convince them
otherwise! Good luck trying to sell them plans that really work
but require exercise and diet change.

2. Newton's second law states that acceleration is produced when
a force acts on a mass. The greater the mass, the greater the
amount of force needed to accelerate the object. Or simply Force
= Mass X Acceleration.

This law is similar to the first law because it tells us that the
greater the mass (or inertia) of an object the more force would
have to be applied to move it. So a tennis ball is easier to move
than a truck. It's difficult to force people to do what they
really don't want to do, and the more they don't want to obey
your request (just like moving a big boulder) the harder they are
to move. What you as a marketer would love people to do and what
they are willing to do can be night and day apart.

3. Newton's third law says that for every action there is an
equal and opposite re-action. So for every force there is an
equal and opposite force. If you push on a wall the wall pushes
back in the opposite direction with the same force.

The tougher you are in your selling approach (the so-called hard
selling) the more resistance you'll find from that prospect. In
fact, the more aware the prospect is that you are trying to sell
him your wares the more resistance and objections you'll get. But
if you can convince that person that your offer is already
something that he wants (he was already moving in that direction
according to the first law) then your job becomes a hundred times
easier.

In the first case you were pushing, in the second you are moving
in the same direction so no force required.

Now let us apply all these three laws to your marketing and niche
choice. If you find a niche where a ton of people (inertia,
second law) are already moving in a certain direction (first
law), then instead of resisting them (third law) you want to
provide what they are already asking for.

The bottom line is that you don't want to try and create a need
or desire or market that doesn't already exist (except you have a
nuclear bomb of marketing skills and potential) but rather
piggy-back on what already exists and ride the wave.

At least that's what I think Sir Isaac Newton would do if he were
a marketer.

-Ray Edwards