How to sell a $2,000 handbag

How would you sell a $2,000 luxury laptop bag?

I just joined a really expensive copywriting mastermind. One of the things we do in that mastermind is "mock copy critiques". 

Basically, every month, the people who run the mastermind give us a fake brief to write an email promoting a fake product for a fake company. Last month, we wrote an email for a fake handbag brand selling a luxury handbag for $2,000.

Everyone in the program approached it like another direct response-y product. They told you about all the benefits of this handbag, and how supply was running out, and how there's a money back guarantee, so you should buy it right now.

The coach had the same feedback for all of them: that's not how you sell luxury products.

I heard him say it over and over again. If you want to sell a jacket that you make for $5 in a factory in Vietnam for $1,000 on Fifth Avenue, you can't look like a spammy marketer. That's gonna make your jacket seem cheap.

And you can't be too logical in your copy. It's completely illogical to buy a $5 jacket for $1,000 because of the name on the label. So you can't be direct. You need to create an aura and a mystique.

I was reading legendary marketer Dan Kennedy's book No B.S. Marketing To The Affluent last month... and he basically said the same thing.

Luxury copy breaks all the rules of copy. When you're a beginner copywriter, you learn to write at a 5th grade level. But luxury copy is wordy and pretentious.

When you're a beginner copywriter, you learn to be direct. But luxury copy is indirect.

That got me thinking. Is following the "normal" rules of copy even good anymore? 

Because when I'm scrolling through my inbox or my Facebook feed, when I see copy that looks a little bit too direct response-y, I just tune it out.

I assume that everyone who writes "normal" copy is trying to scam me. Today there's so much of it out there (especially because AI is writing most of it.) It all sounds the same.

If you want my money, you have to sound different.

That's why the email you're reading now doesn't look like a typical marketing email. If I wrote the same stuff as everyone else, you'd probably get bored of my emails and stop reading them.

If you have a smart audience then the same thing goes. The more you use obvious direct response tactics, the more you hurt your brand, and the more trust you lose.

That doesn't mean you can't use direct response tactics. You won't make any sales if you don't use ANY direct response tactics. 

But you have to HIDE the direct response tactics you do use. Otherwise you sound like a scammer.

-Theo

Radio

When I was younger, I'd sit in the front seat of my mom's car and listen to the radio.

My mom's car had 6 presets where I could "save" a radio station. And there were 6 radio stations that played more or less the same Top 40 songs.

So when I sat in the car, I just skipped from one of them to the other, because they all played the same stuff. If one went to commercial, or played a song I didn't like, I'd hop over to another.

I did this everywhere we went, except when we went to Phoenix to visit my mom's parents. They had a special radio station there that would play a little of everything. You'd hear Katy Perry one minute and Bon Jovi the next.

Lots of people in Phoenix absolutely loved this radio station. Some folks I met went out of their way to tell me about it. 

So when I was in Phoenix I didn't station hop. I just listened to that one radio station. (Even the ads.)

That radio station was better, just because it was unique.

The same goes for coaching businesses.

For example, right now I'm working with a network marketing coach.

Network marketing coaches are usually pretty high on hype. My client is more down to earth. He focuses less on motivation and more on business advice.

I've talked to a few of his students — and they ALL mentioned liking my client for this exact reason.

I don't know if EVERY network marketer wants someone more down to earth. Some people probably like the hype. But a certain percentage of people want someone more calm and direct.

Just by being himself, my client stood out to that segment of the audience, and gained a HUGE advantage.

Whereas imagine if he just copied his biggest competitor. Why would anybody pick him?

If you're a carbon copy of somebody else, people will ignore you and pay attention to the person you're copying. But when you're different, you can get at least a segment of the market.

You don’t need to be “better” than your competitors — you just need to be different. Just by being different you will be better for at least one group of people.

What makes you different?

DeTikTok-ing your brain

I got a new client. She's a huge influencer in the personal finance space. I'm talking millions of followers.

She told me she doesn't have the attention span for long-form content anymore. She has trouble reading a blog post from start to finish.

She's over-TikTok'ed her brain.

I wonder how many people today have the same problem. My attention span isn't as bad as hers, but it definitely isn't as good as it used to be. (I know because I can't sit through a whole baseball game without getting bored anymore.)

Do you have the same problem?

Better focus can save you 2-3 hours a day, at least. My focus is pretty bad this week and I'm way less productive than normal. But when I'm fully locked in, I can get a lot more done than the average person.

Here are 3 things I do that I think help me focus better:

1. I meditate for 20 minutes a day.

2. I have a very strict relationship with screens. I spend an hour a day before bed (at least) where I don't look at my phone or computer. I also delete pretty much every single distracting app from my phone and keep it on grayscale.

3. I try really hard to get 8 hours' sleep every night, going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. When I don't get 8 hours sleep, focusing gets way harder.

How can you improve your focus?