April 15, 2003
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In This Issue
-- Men are Pigs
-- Ah feel yer pain
-- The Power of Negative Thinking
-- Answer to Last Week's Brain Teaser
-- From the Mailbag
-- This Week in Pictures
-- Ooopsie!
-- A Nose for Business
-- Tragedy in Eastern Canada
-- This Week's Brain Teaser

This week's newsletter deals with pain and motivation.

I'm not advocating making your customer suffer any more than is necessary to get the sale. OK, a little extra suffering probably can't hurt.

It helps to consider human nature when getting people to take action.

Men are Pigs
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[This guy is one of the great all time Man Pigs.]

In 1920, a slightly clumsy newlywed named Josephine Dickson repeatedly burned and cut her fingers doing housework. Upon returning home from a hard day at the office, her husband Earle noticed his wife's wounds.

Earle was concerned about Josephine's injuries and considered possible solutions.

• He could have hired a maid. That would ease his dear wife's burden, but would have cut into Earle's beer budget.
  
  or
  
  
• He could have helped out around the house. Yeah, just kidding about that one.

Ah feel yer pain
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Uh, excuse me Mr. Clinton, that's not my pain you're feeling.

The Power of Negative Thinking
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We'll do more to avoid pain than just about anything else.

It doesn't matter if you're selling Yellow Pages ads, time shares, or engagement rings.

To make the sale, help your client feel more pain.

Emphasize the negative implications that may happen as a result of your prospect NOT investing in your solution.

The more you develop his pain (of losing his customers, being unable to control a situation, or projecting a "loser" image), the more likely your solution will be appealing to him.

Caution:
This only works when your solution is truly in the best interest of your customer. You've got to do your homework to develop a recommendation that will best benefit him over the long run.

This is not a replacement for doing all of the necessary steps involved in making a sale. It only helps motivate the buyer to make a decision.

The Bottom Line
Pain is a greater motivator than just about anything else.

To get anyone to change behavior, they need plenty of motivation.

Answer to Last Week's Brain Teaser
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Here is last week's puzzler...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Buford is ridin' in style.

Buford's rich Uncle Wilbur died recently.

Before he departed for the great trailer park in the sky, Uncle Wilbur shared a secret with Buford.

He had been stashing money for years and had accumulated $50,000!

He told Buford that he wanted to be the richest man in heaven. He made Buford promise to bury him with all of his money.

Buford kept his word to Uncle Wilbur and all $50,000 accompanied the old coot to his final resting place. (Buford may be a half-wit, but he's no crook.)

After the funeral, Buford was seen cruising in a stretch limo (er, pickup). Mabel accused him of lying about burying the money, but he swore that he had buried it all as promised.

If Buford isn't lying, how could he afford to be living so high on the hog?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Our winner is Marc C. Bingham of Phone Directories Co. in beautiful downtown Orem, Utah!

Click Here for the Answer

From the Mailbag
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I received several letters after last week's newsletter about running a profitable Internet business. I made the comment that Switchboard.com provides technology services to us saving us time and money.

There are many approaches to this business, and it's good to see what's right for you.


The first letter came from Don Jones at YPsolutions.com. I've known Don and his team for several years. They have a private-labeled solution that puts the YP data in both a "look and feel" format and a "search engine" format letting the user decide which to see. They also offer several other types of services for publishers to help them maximize revenue from their Internet offering. The YPsolutions team was very helpful to us when we were transitioning from the old WorldPages.com after acquiring the company.

The second note came from Herman Turkstra in Canada, where his publishing company developed a solution that works in conjunction with a print publishing model. You can check out their offerings at ziyp.com and www.701.com.

Lastly, Dane Madsen and his team at YellowPages.com offer directory solutions for publishers. They've helped us out plenty of times when we needed special services.

Drop me a line and I'll mention your company as well. What the heck.

This Week in Pictures
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With the proper motivation, you can really soar!

Ooopsie!
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Even seasoned pros sometimes slip.

A Nose for Business
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Sometimes opportunity is staring you right in the face.

or maybe that's just a carrot.

Tragedy in Eastern Canada
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Some folks just naturally dig a little deeper.

This Week's Brain Teaser
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Buford loves baseball.

He recently returned from visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

During his visit, he discovered that there are two men who are memorialized within those majestic walls who never had anything to do with the American Pastime.

They were neither players, owners, writers, coaches, managers, nor groundskeepers. They had nothing to do with the game whatsoever.

Check Out the Answer Here.


Well kids, that's all the time we have this week.


Special thanks and a tip of the cap to Marty Cohen for sending me the brain teaser.

Find past newsletters at www.DickLarkin.com