JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER? SHOULD YOU and DO YOU??
Posted 22nd April 2011 at 04:08 PM by Gill
I watched a well known talent show on TV the other night with my three children.
As usual they kept the best of what appeared to be a "bad bunch" until the end - an attempt I assume by the producers to keep the kids (and their parents) viewing all the way through the pretty below average performances, prior to this final performance :rolleyes:.
At the last performance a guy walks on stage with a guitar wearing an old hooded top and bottoms - not matching.
The judges made comments under their breath regarding his looks and appearance and clearly didn't hold out much hope for what his performance would be like!
However as soon as he started to play the first chords on his guitar the live audience - and the audience at home - were hooked! He was fantastic and had a really strong voice for the track he chose.
He got a standing ovation and it was obvious the audience LOVED him, the judges loved him and he is probably going to do fairly well in the competition.
Lesson here? He was pre-judged and in my view this worked extremely well in his favour as when he performed, the views of those watching went from "oh no what is this guy going to be like?" to one of "He was AMAZING!!!!".
Had he walked out on stage looking in peak fitness condition, wearing the latest fashion and acting as if he was experienced and confident I wonder whether the reaction would have been so strong after his performance? The cynic in me says it would probably have been different.
For those familiar with Susan Boyle and her meteoric rise to fame and fortune - it was a "Su-Bo" moment on the show!!!
When we are designing our IM ebooks and products, we are advised to get a strong cover to capture the readers attention and captivate them in a way which makes them buy your product. I wonder however whether this situation in the talent show could translate to your next product release?
I have seen a couple of poor attempts to reel me in by copying this style of 'underwhelming then overdelivering' - however done properly this style CAN definitely can work in IM, however you MUST hone in on the key focus areas of your offering in a way that intrigues as opposed to title and copy designed to 95% reveal all.
A fancy e-cover with the usual sales copy (along lines of telling potential customers "I'm so great and rich and IN JUST 24 HOURS (or even 15 mins) you can be just like me too! Oh don't you think I am great??) - Now this just might attract the usual suspects if you are lucky, however taking a leaf out of the book of our "underdog" on the talent show may just give you a whole new stream of customers enthusiastic enough to give you repeat business AS WELL AS RECOMMEND YOU...!
REMEMBER : NO-ONE LIKES A "KNOW IT ALL" AND EVERYONE ABSOLUTELY LOVES SUPPORTING THE UNDERDOG!
There is a hungry new audience online that wants you to be their "Su-Bo" moment and will be happy to spend their well earned cash on you if you can appeal to them in this way.
Just some food for thought....
Thanks for reading.
As usual they kept the best of what appeared to be a "bad bunch" until the end - an attempt I assume by the producers to keep the kids (and their parents) viewing all the way through the pretty below average performances, prior to this final performance :rolleyes:.
At the last performance a guy walks on stage with a guitar wearing an old hooded top and bottoms - not matching.
The judges made comments under their breath regarding his looks and appearance and clearly didn't hold out much hope for what his performance would be like!
However as soon as he started to play the first chords on his guitar the live audience - and the audience at home - were hooked! He was fantastic and had a really strong voice for the track he chose.
He got a standing ovation and it was obvious the audience LOVED him, the judges loved him and he is probably going to do fairly well in the competition.
Lesson here? He was pre-judged and in my view this worked extremely well in his favour as when he performed, the views of those watching went from "oh no what is this guy going to be like?" to one of "He was AMAZING!!!!".
Had he walked out on stage looking in peak fitness condition, wearing the latest fashion and acting as if he was experienced and confident I wonder whether the reaction would have been so strong after his performance? The cynic in me says it would probably have been different.
For those familiar with Susan Boyle and her meteoric rise to fame and fortune - it was a "Su-Bo" moment on the show!!!
When we are designing our IM ebooks and products, we are advised to get a strong cover to capture the readers attention and captivate them in a way which makes them buy your product. I wonder however whether this situation in the talent show could translate to your next product release?
I have seen a couple of poor attempts to reel me in by copying this style of 'underwhelming then overdelivering' - however done properly this style CAN definitely can work in IM, however you MUST hone in on the key focus areas of your offering in a way that intrigues as opposed to title and copy designed to 95% reveal all.
A fancy e-cover with the usual sales copy (along lines of telling potential customers "I'm so great and rich and IN JUST 24 HOURS (or even 15 mins) you can be just like me too! Oh don't you think I am great??) - Now this just might attract the usual suspects if you are lucky, however taking a leaf out of the book of our "underdog" on the talent show may just give you a whole new stream of customers enthusiastic enough to give you repeat business AS WELL AS RECOMMEND YOU...!
REMEMBER : NO-ONE LIKES A "KNOW IT ALL" AND EVERYONE ABSOLUTELY LOVES SUPPORTING THE UNDERDOG!
There is a hungry new audience online that wants you to be their "Su-Bo" moment and will be happy to spend their well earned cash on you if you can appeal to them in this way.
Just some food for thought....
Thanks for reading.
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