All you have to do is pay attention...
And therein lies the problem.
Attention is NOT free. Attention is anything but free.
Attention costs time.
Attention takes focus.
Attention uses mental energy...
Attention is a precious resource.
And for many of us, it's a resource in short supply.
If you ass/u/me your prospect's attention is isn't worth anything, then you doesn't respect their time.
If you don't respect their time, then why should they invest in doing business with you?
Now, I know you care deeply about your clients, that's why I'm sharing this with you...
If you haven't thought about the cost of paying attention, you're not alone.
Most people never pay attention to this, and so their marketing ends up working against them instead of working for them.
ONE THOUGHT AT A TIME...
Multi-tasking is a myth.
At least when it comes to conscious thought.
Subconsciously you can do multiple things at one time.
I used to be able to drive a stick shift, smoke a cigarette, and eat a McDouble at the same time. Fortunately I haven’t smoked or eaten a McDouble in over a decade. I’m not only less likely to kill you driving down the road now… I’m not killing myself either. Win-win.
Seriously though. Regardless of how many things you can do at a time…
You can only pay attention to one thing at a time.
Don’t believe me?
Try talking to someone when they are busy scrolling in device world. They can't hear anything you say... they may respond, but they aren't paying attention to you or the response.
I first noticed this with our houseful of kids. We would be oblivious to everything we said. Well except for dessert, or ice cream. Somehow that always gets through.
In a houseful of kids... 'Double Chocolate' cuts through all the clutter and gains instant attention.
That headline is so good in my house, it doesn't even need a call-to-action.
Now...
If I hollar chocolate cake, but I only have a picture of a cake... I would have their attention alright. But I wouldn't want that kind of attention. The kids and their mother would have me tarred and feathered.
And then send me to the store for some chocolate cake in my new chicken outfit.
If you are going to grab someone away from what they are already doing, (and your marketing should to that) you better actually have some cake to give them.
THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF ATTENTION...
We don't usually stop to think about the opportunity cost of our attention, but it's not insignificant.
Interruption science is the "study of the effect of disruptions on job performance".
Basically, Interruption costs companies so much every year, there is a whole science dedicated to studying and preventing it.
Not that I need to tell you about the effects of being interrupted but...
I once heard for every interruption it can take as much as 15-20 minutes to regain your full focus. This is just one example of the cost of 'paying' attention.
Office workers face a number of interruptions that cause them to lose focus and affect their productivity. The accumulated cost is astronomical.
Not to mention...
What brilliant ideas never came to be because of an ill-timed interruption?
I know you've been there. You're deep in a thought you've been wrestling with for a while. You finally found the flow. The genius has arrived. You are firing on all cylinders. Then just as everything was coming together... about to crystalize in your mind...
Someone calls out your name... And... It's gone...
Well, maybe not all the way gone... there is that hint of a glimmer of it still floating around up there...
You try to hold on to it in the back of your mind as you respond...
Then POOF! Its gone for real this time
Now hopefully, when your done paying attention to the distraction, you can get back to where you were, but your not going to get back into flow immediately...
And that is precious time just to get back to where you were before the interruption, it doesn't account for how much further you could be in the thought...
Or maybe you could even be taking action by now.
But Consider This Opportunity Cost For Your Future Clients...
Most people in my audience are passionate about, and dedicated to, helping people level up in life: Physically, Emotionally, Spiritually, or Financially.
We think...
Man, what if I had discovered this thing earlier in my journey. How much further along could I have been?!? Right?
It's crazy how far you've come...
But just imagine if you had a 5 year head start...
How much further along would you be. How many more people could you have helped?
A LOT!
Your future clients are going to feel the same way.
And now consider this point of view...
When you found the thing that you help people with now... Your life, your story was different. You were on a different trajectory.
- What if you never found the thing you found?
- What if you stayed in that old storyline?
- What if you followed the trajectory you were on before this thing your doing now was even a thing in your mind. You didn't even know it existed..
- What would life be like now?
You probably don't want to spend too much time thinking about it do you? You certainly don't want to live that existence...
THAT is the life that awaits your future clients if you can't help them see the the beneficial future that awaits them when they do business with your brand.
THAT is the opportunity cost of you not capturing your future clients attention.
That means the cost of NOT paying attention can be higher than the cost of paying attention...
WHO NOT TO INTERRUPT...
I know I’m an evil marketer trying to interrupt people like that... Trying to move them to massive action they don't even know they need to take.
But who should you not interrupt?
If these workers are pilots, surgeons, nurses, first responders or other important people - please do not interrupt them until they are off work. Interrupting them could have major consequences. You know, like death and stuff.
Also, if they are NOT someone you can or want to work with... try not to interrupt them.
And if you do... quickly disqualify them from investing in something they can't ever get a payout for.
You do this by qualifying who each of your marketing pieces is for.
Anyone else is fair game.
Qualify your prospects and repel anyone else.
Don’t let someone invest in something they will never be able to cash out. Paying attention to irrelevant information is a waste of precious time and energy in a busy cluttered world.
A FEW KEY TAKEAWAYS
How To Make Sure Your Marketing Is AlwaysWorth The Price of Admission...
If you are going to interrupt your prospects, (and you better if you want to help more people and grow your business) you should make sure you remember a few things.
1. Dessert cuts right through the clutter for kids: Your headline needs to pack the same punch as double chocolate fudge cake. It needs to take their attention away from everything else.
2. Quickly Qualify: If I grab your attention and you have to spend 30 seconds to figure out I’m not really talking to you… Are you going to be happy I wasted your time? Didn’t think so. Remember, that's 30 seconds plus 15 minutes to get back on task.
3. Deliver A Real Cake: We are back to value. You snagged their attention away from something. You can argue that it is not as important as your marketing. I would agree. So long as your marketing delivers something worth more than what they were already doing.
If someone is paying attention to you they are ignoring everything else.
That is a lot to ask. That is a high cost to pay. You need to give them something so they feel like the attention they gave you is worthwhile.