“What does your audience need? Build that and you shall be rich” is the advice you see everywhere. It’s not wrong — it’s a much better approach than building a solution looking for a problem (hiya, blockchain, I’m looking at you!).
But here’s the thing: essentially, people only need breathing, food, water, shelter, and sleep.
Image via Simply Psychology
That’s it — that’s all we humans need to live. Everything above the first layer of Maslow’s pyramid is a perceived need.
Odds are you’re not selling anything in the basic needs layer. And that’s a good thing because:
The elasticity of demand is near zero as you move up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
The law of demand elasticity says that demand decreases when the economic conditions are unfavorable or when the price increases. There are, however, goods and services that defy this law.
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Veblen goods, for instance, luxury items for which the price increases as demand increases, are a perfect example here.
People are willing to pay a lot more for things that change the way others perceive them.
Self-expression and self-actualization needs are where profit margins soar.
We don’t need to stink up a $5k Louis Vuitton bag to hold our gym clothes. A $10 10-year-old backpack would do the job just fine. Unless our gym buddies have high-end gym bags, in which case, Louie becomes a need. A self-actualization need, as all status symbols are.
Let me give you a more down-to-earth example, oatmeal:
→ If we buy the cheap store brand, we’re fulfilling a basic need, hunger.
→ If we buy the high-end, organic, homegrown, massaged by virgin monks brand, we’re fulfilling a self-actualization need: we need to be seen as people who are preoccupied with living healthily.
Interestingly enough, as we ascend this pyramid, we perceive no distinction between basic needs and self-actualization needs. To us, they’re just as immediate.
[Until, of course, our basic needs get threatened. If we’re in immediate physical danger, odds are we’ll leave your Louis Vuitton bag behind to save ourselves.]
I’m telling you all this because framing what you sell as a basic need is a missed opportunity.
If you’re not selling the cheapest food known to man, you should acknowledge the status-changing power of what you offer.
Distill your offer down to the most pressing non-basic need
In B2B, you’re selling two things:
- Time
- Money
In fact, you could just say that in B2B we only sell money because the time we save thanks to a productivity app or a SaaS solution is often used to make more money.
In B2C, you can sell:
- Love/companionship
- Health
- Wealth
- Entertainment
- Status (this one is, in fact, a corollary to all of the above, because they can all alter your status.)
Be careful not to become a commodity!
Want to maximize your revenue? The internet is brimming at the seams with advice on how to make more $$ while working less → this is the ultimate dream, right? The ultimate pipe dream, in most cases.
Ultimately, it’s all about positioning. If what you sell is a commodity, revenue maximization becomes harder.
I’ve seen WAY too many people who scream that their audience needs their product just as badly as oxygen. That’s both untrue and harmful to your brand.
Because if you appeal to self-actualization needs, you’re perfectly positioned to charge more.
The biggest challenge in this type of positioning is acknowledging that what you sell is NOT for everyone. If it is, it’s a commodity and it should be cheap.
I’m not talking about extreme niching down but about smart framing.
How to frame your offers — with examples
- You’re not selling copywriting, you’re selling attention and attention is money.
- You’re not selling Hermes bags, you’re selling a status symbol.
- You’re not selling fitness coaching, you’re selling health (and a status symbol).
- You’re not selling trading tips, you’re selling your knowledge on how to make money faster, so you’re selling time and wealth.
- You’re not selling advertising space in your newsletter/podcast/social media, you’re selling fame and, ultimately, money.
- You’re not selling branding, you’re selling positioning, which leads to attention and, again, money.
If you look closely, most of these deductions have an extra step between the actual product and the core need they satisfy.
Use this blueprint to structure your messaging on landing pages, social media posts, emails, and more. Connect the dots for your readers and help them see why the entire journey makes sense.
For extra clarity, let’s unpack my offers:
5+1 emails you can send right now
At its core, it’s a copywriting product: 6 emails you can use to sell your newly launched offer. However:
→ It saves you time because you don’t need to write them yourself
→ They’re written by someone with decades of experience in copywriting, so you know they work. Work for what, you ask?
→ To make you money and save you time, which you can use to make more $$. Or, ya know, chill on your favorite beach.
The Guided Strategy Template
At its core, it’s a Word document that guides you on building your own strategy, with prompts, additional resources, tips and tricks. There are hundreds of similar templates online, some of them free.
So why would you pay for this one?
→ It’s geared toward a specific audience (micro businesses and solopreneurs)
→ You have a strategist with 20+ years of experience essentially teaching you how to fill it in at every step of the way.
→ You use it to learn how to get more attention from your audience, so you can make more money in less time.
The 1:1 strategy session
At its core, it’s a video call with me. Meh. By now, we know I’m not selling you MY time, but a way to save YOURS. Just like the template above:
→ It puts you on the right growth path. You don’t have to guess which tactics work out of the millions you read about online.
→ It teaches you how to build an audience and relevant products.
→ It makes you money.
Client feedback supports these claims too:
Limitations
The world’s best framing won’t save a bad product → this is why I added a testimonial example above. If your clients’ feedback doesn’t reflect your claim, something’s off.
You don’t need to position yourself as a premium provider. Exclusivity isn’t always about luxury. Worse yet, it’s very easy to promise a premium experience and fall short of delivering it.
Be careful of over-promising. For example, none of my products promise to take you to 7 figures overnight and completely change your status.
They are stepping stones, one of the many pieces of the puzzle you need to get to fulfill your self-actualization needs and achieve the status you want.
To avoid over-promising and, at the same time, position your offers correctly, tell people who they are NOT for. Every single one of my landing pages has a “do not buy this IF” section.
It’s not your usual “don’t buy this if you like being poor” gaslighting crap, either. It’s solid, real advice that helps my readers figure out if they need a product or not.
Before I sign off, let me know how you’d reframe your offers with all this in mind. Hit reply, tell me, and let’s build amazing offers together!
Adriana’s Picks
- BFFs are becoming co-owners. Nearly 15% of Americans have co-purchased a home with a person other than their romantic partner, and another 48% would consider it.
- The more time you spend in a shopping mall, the more likely you are to make emotional purchases and completely ignore the cognitive part of your brain. After 23 minutes, you’re no longer in control.
- Meta is launching its first AR glasses this fall.
That’s it from me today!
See you next week in your inbox.
Here to make you think,
Adriana
Need me in your corner? There are three ways I can help you:
- Boost your chances of success by 400%: document your strategy with The Guided Strategy Template.
- Get my product launch email templates that sell: 5+1 emails you can send to your list in 45 seconds.
- Book a 1:1 strategy session with me. Let’s unlock your growth in 60 mins!
