While it’s true that the customer may want to save money and they’re interested in getting their hands on “secret" recipes, chances are their desires are even deeper than that.



Very often if you can appeal to someone’s ego, they’ll open their wallet to buy your product.

Sometimes you have to paint a picture that enables them to imagine their friends and family being impressed, complimenting them, etc. This is most important for the online business where your customer has no direct contact with you.

Let me give you an example. Last year I was browsing the keyword tool Wordtracker when I ran across some interesting results for arbour and pergolas (these are things you put in a garden). Now from a functional standpoint people often use arbours as “ladders" for plants to grow on. But I’m willing to bet very few people buy these items from a purely functional standpoint.

Think about it. To begin with, the garden itself is something the gardener is proud of. So when he or she goes out to buy something like an arbour for the entrance, that arbour needs to be beautiful and worthy of compliments from admiring friends, family, and even the UPS guy.

So let’s suppose you were selling an arbour. Perhaps you build very solid, long-lasting arbores with a 20 year guarantee. That’s a big selling point, but that’s not the main selling point and that’s not even the point that will get the customer to take out her credit card. Instead you need to appeal to her ego.

Specifically, in your web pages you need to use your words to gently guide her into imagining the arbour is already in her garden. She needs to be able to daydream about her neighbour looking over the fence admiring the arbour and maybe being a little jealous. When this potential customer can imagine the jealous looks and admiring glances of others, you’ve made the sale.

Let’s have a look at one final example: vehicles. The auto manufacturers truly understand the desires of their market, which is why even one car company puts out so many different types of cars. These carmakers know that while everyone NEEDS a car to get from Point A to Point B, that’s not the only reason they WANT a car (we’re generalizing here). In other words, the vehicle’s main selling point isn’t that it’s a mode of transportation.

So what’s the main selling point of a car? It depends on whom you’re selling it to. For example:

If you’re selling it to an elderly couple, it’s very likely that they’re interested in comfort and safety. You’ll make the sale if you can tap into their desire to have a comfortable trip to see their kids who live in the next state over.

If you’re selling it to an 18 to 24 year old, they’re likely to want something fast, flashy, and yet affordable for their college budgets. If you can enable the young person to daydream about being “cool" while cruising around on a Friday night, you’ll make the sale.

If you’re selling to a young man, the vehicle might be an accessory for him that enhances his sex appeal and helps him attract beautiful women. You tap into that desire and yes, he’ll buy your car.

A rancher needs and wants something that is rugged enough to drive into the fields, and powerful enough to pull a horse trailer. You tap into his desire to make his work easier, and you’ll win him over.

An environmentally conscious couple wants something economical and preferably a hybrid or even an electric car. If you can appeal to this couple’s ego by letting them know they’re doing their part to save the planet (yet preferably they aren’t sacrificing quality or style), they’ll buy your car.

Those are just a few examples that are easy to visualise but the online market is just the same, it is the words you write in the comfort of your home, but this will give you a good idea about how to appeal to different markets. The obvious selling point is usually not the main selling point. In order to find the main selling point, you need to examine your market’s deepest desires and motivations.

If you are a part of the target market or know someone who is, think about what makes you buy these niche products. If you cannot do this, then find a few people from the niche, talk to them, and find out what makes them tick with regards to their spending habits in this niche. And remember that the desire that they express to you may in reality be rooted to a deeper desire (e.g., they SAY they want whiter teeth, but what the actually want is a nice smile to attract potential mates).