The Powerful Lesson You Can Learn About Nested Open Loops By Watching Phineas And Ferb

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How Phineas & Ferb Taught Me Better Marketing

Have you ever watched that show with your kids?

No?

Alright, screw it I'mma tell you about it anyway.

Yeah...I watch it without my kids, too....lol.

I love it.

Anyways, if you don't think you can learn anything from a post about marketing and selling from a stupid kids cartoon show...then skip it.

But...if you're open to possibly learning something new, from a source that's sneakily powerful then keep reading.

I know my posts are long, but I promise you...learn from them and you can use those lessons to make you more money, quicker and easier with less resistance from your audience.

Still with me?

Ok, cool.

So, The art is horrible, and the characters are stereotypical & typecast.

But, I find them hilarious.

The cheesy one liners…

Their relationship with each other versus the inside jokes with the audience…

In my opinion, it’s great.

If you’ve never seen it before the premise is this:

2 pretty sharp, maybe middle school aged step brothers, Phineas & Ferb, try to figure out what they’re gonna do to pass the time, and have some fun while school is out, during summer vacation.

Generally, they create, invent or build some elaborate, high tech, or futuristic contraption, something or other that’s so unrealistically awesome, you just don’t know what to make of it.

You’ll either be transfixed to find out what happens next or you’ll change the channel.

Then there's the older douchey sister, Candace, who, it seems, is high school aged, preoccupied with boys and is generally annoyed with being burdened with the responsibility of having to watch the brothers whenever their parents are away...and of course, they’re always away.

The parents, as you might expect, are oblivious about whatever's going on in their kids lives (Disney nailed it).

Candace hates that these kids create these “things” because she’s always afraid she’ll somehow get blamed for whatever mischief their creation might get them into.

So...she’s always trying to get them in trouble with mom who always returns by the end of the show.

However, by the time she arrives the “mess” is miraculously always, some how, all cleaned up before Candace has the chance to rat’em out.

The family also own a, “normal,” pet platypus (wtf) named Perry, who is secretly an undercover agent for some organization.

He knows martial arts and in undercover agent mode he wears a detective style brimmed hat.

Without the hat, he’s just the family pet, unrecognizable to those in his “secret” life.

With the hat his family doesn’t recognize him.

Anyways, as soon as the kids “adventure” begins and they get preoccupied with whatever stupid shit they’re doing, Perry always gets a call by his “boss” and is tasked with thwarting some attempted crime about to be committed by the evil Dr. Doofenschmirtz (I mainly watch this cartoon because of this guy).

Every once in awhile, the simultaneous stories will crossover and overlap, but it’s rare.

Anyway, without getting much longer winded about this, the lesson I got from this show, which is actually something any good series tends to do, and is the perfect formula for creating an entertainment series is to sandwich or nest open loops.

If you can do this consistently, you’ll have a raving fan audience that is highly magnetized, always waiting, always eager and always expecting something unexpected (huh?).

The premise is ALWAYS the same.

Big premise >>> What thing are the kids creating today that could get them in trouble?

2nd Big premise (this always happens Inside once the kids get underway) >>> Perry goes to fight the evil Doofenschmirtz who at any minute could destroy the world (he always creates some invention that ends with “enator,” which is pretty comical).

3rd Big Premise >>>> Candace, always hoping mom will get home in time to catch the kids in the act and get them in trouble, but ALWAYS falling short.

4th >>> How everything is always restored back to “normal,” the mess cleaned up, Perry unharmed and back safe, parents ask about their day, Candace ends frustrated she didn't get them in trouble as she'd hoped.

That sorta kinda formula I just told you is exactly the same every show.

What’s not the same is the specifics that play out within each episode.

The loop is opened because we’re trying to see how they play out and “IF” there will be some different outcome (which, of course, never happens) but, you stick around to see “how it ends” or how the loop gets closed within each premise.

It’s basically the same kinda formula for every Disney show, but the way they employ it in this one and the premises for this one are particularly attractive to me.

That’s why there are so many “flavors” of these types of shows.

Why I like this one?

I dig the whole James Bond thing with Perry, I love creative invention ideas (“imagine if you could do this” sorta thinking), and the anxiety buildup….what’s gonna happen next?

I also look forward to the stupid quips of the bad guy.

The stories follow a formulaic pattern, which makes them infinitely easier to crank out.

And their entertaining.

Anything that fights boredom, is captivating.

If you’ve captured their attention...you’re winning.

Sales letters work just like that, right?

Good ones **** with your emotions, build you up, bring you down, have obstacles, have wins, have losses, have a returning hero...but they all lead you to a buy button, right?

Hopefully, by the time they get to that buy button their tension is all built up and the only way to release it is to hit buy.

Now, sideways selling like emails and launches are WAAAAAYYYY more powerful.

Why?

Because they happen over time.

Their messages hit you over and over, constantly forcing you to revisit pain points, re-imagine problems, reconsider your situation you’ve been avoiding.

AND THEY’RE ENTERTAINING!!!!

That’s why I love them.

They wear buyers down over time.

And not like years or anything, but more time than a sales letter might.

They hit folks from different angles.

That’s why any good product launch happens over months...gives the promoters times to infiltrate their perfect prospects minds….and stay top of mind.

Big movie launches sometimes happen YEAAAAARRRRSSS in advance.

When I started doing email sequences for clients I started noticing they were getting better results from my copywriting efforts.

The longer out the campaigns...the better they’d do.

No matter what you are doing, you can harness this power in your business.

In sales it’s followup.

In copywriting it’s buildup.

In your business it’s a reason customers open your emails, keep your newsletter or look forward to your next video.

If you're following up with your customers...give them a reason why they wanna hear from you.

Not just...."I was touching base to see if you made a decision"

Or..."I was calling to see if you were still interested."

Nah...**** that.

If they did they woulda called your dumbass already.

No...you gotta give them some useful AND ENTERTAINING shit.

It is a secret powerful weapon and now you have a kickass formula to model and employ it.

I hope I’ve given you something helpful for you to use in your business.

What do you think...was this useful or do I need to stop watching stupid ass kid cartoon shows?

Regards,

Los
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