I hope you are having an awesome day/night/morning/whenever it is you’re reading this.

I have a very special interview for you with my very own brother, Steve Hochman, who has personally been a mentor to me both in business and in life.

Steve went from living on the hardwood floor of his ex-girlfriend’s mother’s floor, to now earning close to 7 figures a year (and without a doubt he’s hitting 7 figures this year).

And the cool thing is he constantly helps personal trainers and boot camp owners skyrocket their incomes to live the incredible life that he now does.

Anyway, click play below to get started. Steve reveals some CRAZY-GOOD marketing/copywriting tips that you can instantly apply to your own business.

Oh, and if the audio seems to skip at places, it’s because our connection cut out a couple times, but we always picked back up where we left off.

(By the way – the first 2:30 is me and Steve laughing and goofing off. So if you just want the pure content, skip ahead to 2:30)

Also – in the beginning we talked about special ed for a second. Steve really was in special ed all through school, so we’re not two jerks picking on people who were born with mental deficiencies!

Actually, that’s part of why Steve’s story is so cool because he was a kid who no one thought would succeed, yet he didn’t listen to a word of anyone, took massive success by the reins, and now lives an awesome life with his wife and two daughters out in California.

Here’s the interview. Enjoy

To learn more about Steve Hochman, and pick up some incredible marketing tips, click this link: Fitness Marketing.

Talk soon,

David

I’m about to let you in on what are probably the 2 most important sales lessons I’ve ever learned. And to demonstrate what those lessons are I’m going to tell you a (true) story about something that happened to me the other day, involving a business that completely tossed aside each of these lessons, pushing away my sale (and probably the sale of a lot of other angry customers).

I mean, it was bad. These guys could publish a book called: “1,001 sales-killing mistakes we make on a regular basis”

If you’re making these mistakes, this might be the most important thing you’ve ever read.

Now for the story…

The other day I was looking to join a gym. So I went down the street to a gym which had sent me a flier in the mail for $10/month membership. I mean, $10 a month – what can beat that, right? So off I went to see what this place was all about.

When I got there – it was perfect. Clean hardwood floors, a small crowd (I don’t like a lot of people around when I work out), and good equipment.

The only thing left was to discuss price. It turned out that to get the $10 a month deal, you have to put $300 down. That came as a bit of a shocker to me. I mean, I walked into that gym thinking I was going to spend $10, and somehow that became $300 – are they trying to lose sales?

–Which leads us to sales lesson #1:

Don’t have any “catches” – or if you do, say them up front. I read that flier over probably 5 times before going to the gym and couldn’t find one single sentence talking about $300 down. Catches lead to customers feeling like they’ve been cheated, ripped off, and scammed.

But here’s the real lesson… When you admit that there’s a catch, and you come clean, you build trust and rapport with your customers because they feel like you’re confiding in them.

The flier should’ve said…

“$10 a month gym membership”

When you put $300 down on a membership, your monthly fees are just $10. Our normal rates, and the rates of every other gym around, are around $110 down and $35 a month. So yes, you’re putting a little more down up front, but after just 6 months the membership pays for itself, and you have a $10/month membership for the rest of your life.

So if you know that 6 months from now you’re still going to be working out, staying healthy, and taking active steps toward a healthier, happier life – this is the membership for you.

Back to our story…

So after being thrown a curve ball, I wanted to check out other gyms and compare the rates. I told the guy I appreciated his time and I’d get back to him. He then said something that completely killed the sale.

“What’re you waiting for?” he said, and snickered.

“Sorry, what was that?” I asked, thinking I must’ve been hearing things.

He then let out a burst of condescending laughter (can you believe it?) and said, “What’re you waiting for? I mean, you said you were ready to go. So why are you waiting? What’s gonna change when you go home? Are you gonna magically make a decision?” or something like that. I don’t totally remember what he said because astonishment overtook me.

So I looked him in the eyes for a second, waiting for him to tell me he was just kidding. No dice. I then realized that this guy was seriously talking down to me! It’s as if he read a book on how to completely and utterly lose any chance of making a sale, and was using every tactic from that book.

–Which brings us to lesson #2:

There’s a time to come on strong and a time to lay back. He should’ve let me go – there’s a good chance I would’ve gone home, ran the numbers, and decided that in the long run it was the better deal. In fact, I definitely would have because when I checked out the other gym it was noisy, crowded, and more expensive. Instead, he pushed me to buy a membership, and came off as extremely rude (he snickered at me!).

Often, letting a customer go is a better tactic than keeping them around when they want to leave.

Yes, some customers won’t come back, but you probably wouldn’t have had their sale in the first place. But more often than not, the customers will come back, and they’ll be loyal and appreciative because you gave them the respect they deserve.

And they’ll tell all their friends about the great customer service you have, and before you know it, you’ll be getting boatloads of referrals, all because you were a breath of fresh air when it comes to sales.

Until next time,

David

p.s. What are some mistakes you’ve made in sales? And what did you learn from them? I’d love to know!

When a lot of us hear the word “meditation” we think of monks sitting cross-legged with their hands in some weird shape, saying the word “ohmmmmm….” for hours and hours.

Well, that’s their version of meditation – but it doesn’t have to be yours.

For some, meditation is cooking, playing music, taking a walk. It’s anything you do that makes you forget your stresses, and allows you to find some inner-peace, and let your imagination loose.

To becoming successful, meditation is as important as breathing.

And here’s why: you actually have a mechanism inside of your mind that accomplishes all of the goals you give it. In fact, your life right now is a collection of accomplished goals that you gave your mind to accomplish, most likely without knowing it.

For instance, for years I put myself in situations where I had no money because I believed money was bad. So I gave myself the goal of “put me in situations where I am destitute.” I did that through the images, feelings, and thoughts I had when money came up in a conversation, or when I thought about money. And you know what? I became great at accomplishing that goal.

But then I tried something different…

I became aware of my thoughts about money and success, and I tried to “re-program” them. And that is where meditation came in. For me, meditation is playing guitar, or taking a walk in nature. When I do these things, I feel relaxed, calm, and I imagine my life the way I want it to be. I imagine every single detail of it, including how the hardwood floors of my million dollar home will feel against my heels.

Often music is an extremely powerful gateway into meditation. The right song can trigger such a peaceful, meditative state. That’s why I’ve compiled some of my favorite tracks to meditate with.

Each track is one-minute long, so you can have “one-minute power meditation” sessions

Here’s how you use these tracks – press play, close your eyes, and imagine your life the way you want it to be. Feel how it would feel to be successful, to have no more money worries, to have unlimited time for the people, places, and events you love most. The more detail you imagine, the faster it will happen. I know this from experience.

Jazz:

Experiment:

Venture Out:

Old Soul:

To your success,

David

p.s. I created these tracks myself Enjoy.

David Ogilvy

This company was smaller than the #1 company, it didn’t have the same number of employees, and it had fewer locations.

And you know what? David used every one of these “weaknesses” to present this #2 company as the stronger choice for rental cars.

In his ad, he said something to the extent of:

“Yes, we’re the #2 rental car company in America. And because of it, we have to work extra hard to make sure you are happy, because unlike the #1 company, we can’t afford to have you walk away unsatisfied.

“That is why when you get into your rental car, the gas tank will always be full, the ash tray emptied, and the seats clean to boot – it will feel like stepping into a brand new car.

“Plus, our lines are shorter.”

My business partner and I use a similar technique when pitching our services to potential clients.

When they express concern at the fact that we’re new to the marketing/copywriting business, I tell them,

“You know what? You’re absolutely right. And it’s because we’re new that every single client we take on has to walk away completely happy with their product, and with more money in their pockets.

“Because unlike a big agency, or an experienced business that has a large client base, we can’t afford to let one single client walk away unhappy. We need your testimonial, and we need you to say great things about our business. For us to become successful, you have to become successful too.

“If not, we’re doomed to fail. So when we take on your project, we’re not just doing it for you – we’re doing it for ourselves, too.”

And you know what? It’s true! Being the underdog has its advantages. We know that what we produce is just as good, if not often better, than what many experienced agencies produce – but our prospect doesn’t yet know that because we’re so fresh to the industry.

Underdog!

But once they see what we’re capable of, it’s a different story.

So if you’re launching a new business – use that to your advantage! If you don’t yet have testimonials – use that to your advantage! Don’t try to hide it!

Instead, look your prospect in the eyes, and tell them,

“You’re right. We don’t have testimonials, and we’re not as well known as our competition. But you know what..”

And tell them why that’s such a blessing.

To better writing (and more money),

David