Right Offer = Easier Marketing (I Love Marketing LIVE) with Joe Polish and Dean Jackson

Marketing That Works: Value First, Then Offers

• Joe’s core distinction: Marketing is selling in advance—getting prospects “pre-interested, pre-motivated, pre-qualified, and predisposed.”
• “A compelling offer is 10x more powerful than a convincing argument.”
• Credibility isn’t always enough—believability often wins in the real world, so ethical persuasion matters.

Ethical Persuasion + Influence (Without Taking Advantage)

• Joe shares a framework: long-term wealth comes from the transformation business, not transaction tactics.
• The “ethical use of persuasion” becomes a differentiator as scams, hype, and propaganda dominate attention.
• Influence, negotiation, and behavior science can amplify outcomes when the intention is to help, not manipulate.

Start With “Dream Come True” Outcomes

• Dean’s starting point: don’t begin with copy, ads, or headlines—begin with the outcome your ideal client wants most.
• A powerful guiding question: “What would you do if you only got paid if your client gets a result?”
• The strongest offers are built on proof, repeatability, and confidence in delivery.

Brand Defined: Buying Reflex Affecting Now Decisions

• Dean reframes “brand” with a practical acronym: BRAND = Buying Reflex Affecting Now Decisions
• A brand isn’t “awareness”—it’s the reflex someone has at decision time (“I’ll have a Bud”).
• For most businesses, the goal isn’t global reach—it’s owning the reflex in the specific minds that matter.

The Breakthrough DNA Framework: Before / During / After

• During Unit: delivery, service, fulfillment, transaction, and experience.
• After Unit: nurture lifetime relationships + orchestrate referrals (often ignored because teams are stuck in “during”).
• Before Unit: the growth engine—identify, educate, motivate, and make offers that create a predictable “prospect vending machine.”

Visible vs. Invisible Prospects (How to Start Momentum)

• If you can list your prospects (e.g., chiropractors), you have visible prospects—but outreach feels awkward if they haven’t “leaned in.”
• Key leap: not knowing you → knowing you is the biggest jump (often underestimated).
• Start with what they already care about—then move them “adjacent” toward what you sell (the “receiving dock” approach).

“Horse For Sale” Marketing: Don’t Overcomplicate Clarity

• Sometimes the best marketing is brutally simple if the outcome is desirable and clear.
• People overcomplicate when they “try to sound like marketers” instead of stating the offer plainly.
• “There’s no bad way to convey good news” — when the offer is truly great, simplicity wins.

Meet Them Where They Are: The Outdoor Wedding Case Study

• Party rental is not “sexy,” but outdoor weddings are.
• Instead of advertising “party rentals,” they created: “100 Great Places to Have an Outdoor Wedding in Toronto”
• The guide becomes the lead generator, builds the right list, and can even turn marketing into a profit center via featured partners.

Testing Offers Like Clinical Trials (Without Guessing Forever)

• Dean’s testing approach is staged:
  • Start with a $100 test (e.g., $25/day for 4 days) to quickly find winners vs. losers.
  • Promote only winners to the next stage (e.g., test for 100 leads, then focus on conversion).
• Goal: don’t “test 50 things forever”—think hard up front, then validate fast.

When Your Outcome Feels “Squishy” (Soft Skills, Empathy, Communication)

• If the outcome is intangible, attach it to what the buyer actually measures or cares about:
  • retention, trust, conflict reduction, speed of execution, leadership effectiveness, customer experience, team performance
• Use two feedback loops:
  • Ask buyers: why they bought + what changed.
  • Ask non-buyers: why they didn’t + what would have made it a “yes” (without it becoming a sales pitch).

Selling Prevention vs. Selling Cure

• It’s usually easier to sell relief than prevention (alarm systems, health, relationships).
• Strategy: use the words people are already searching for (the “cure” language), then guide them to the preventative path.
• Referral gamification: limited “invitation cards” or “get out of jail” passes can scale trust through happy clients.

Direct Mail Is Not Dead (The Least Crowded Inbox)

• Mailboxes are emptier than inboxes—direct mail can stand out more than ever.
• Best practices:
  • Make it feel personal (A-pile vs. B-pile sorting).
  • Consider using mail especially on the back end for VIPs and existing customers.
  • Combine offline with online tracking (e.g., packages that trigger video + engagement analytics).