The base of all solid relationships is trust – Find out how to build trust with your audience and many other Content Marketing techniques in this They Ask You Answer Review (Book by Marcus Sheridan)
The review is broken down into 3 main parts –
1. Factors to help you decide if the book is for you
2. Book Summary (Objective-Facts) and Review (Subjective-Opinion)
3. Rating of the book and conclusion
Blogpost Part 1: Factors to Help You Decide
Book Table of Contents
Opening Credits (00:27)
Foreword by Krista Kotrla (10:07)
Introduction (05:25)
Part I: A Very Different Way of Looking at Business, Marketing, and Trust (00:35)
Chapter 1: The Fall (01:59)
How I Became a “Pool Guy” (03:52)
2001 to 2008: The False Economy (01:31)
2008: The Wheels Start to Fall Off (03:29)
Chapter 2: A Massive Buying Shift and the Blur Between Sales and Marketing (06:28)
Chapter 3: This Book Won’t Work for You If… (05:58)
Chapter 4: The Discovery of They Ask, You Answer (05:21)
Chapter 5: They Ask, You Answer Defined (04:26)
Chapter 6: Brainstorming the Questions You Are Asked Every Day (03:40)
Putting It into Action (01:06)
Chapter 7: The Ostrich Marketing Strategy (02:51)
Chapter 8: The CarMax Effect (03:06)
The Beginnings of CarMax and a New Way to Sell (13:33)
Putting It into Action (03:03)
Chapter 9: The Discovery of the Big 5 (03:41)
Chapter 10: The Big 5, Topic 1: Pricing and Cost: Why We Must Talk About Money (05:02)
“Every Solution Is Different. Our Prices Vary” (01:46)
“Our Competitors Will Find Out What We Charge” (00:59)
“We’ll Scare Customers Away” (01:52)
Chapter 11: How One Article About Money Generated More Than $6 Million in Sales (12:49)
Putting It into Action (01:35)
Chapter 12: Case Study 1: High-End B2B Technology Company Generates More Than $8 Million in Additional Revenue (01:30)
About Segue Technologies (07:07)
The Snowball Begins (01:09)
Segue Technologies’ Astounding Growth (01:10)
Improving the System to Produce Content (05:57)
Chapter 13: The Big 5, Topic 2: Problems: How to Turn Weaknesses into Strengths (03:31)
Chapter 14: Addressing the Elephant in the Room (03:02)
Chapter 15: How Talking About Our Problems Generated More Than $1 Million in Revenue02:19
Putting It into Action (01:17)
Chapter 16: Case Study 2: An Equipment Financing Company Becomes a Digital David and Conquers the Industry Goliaths (01:28)
About Smarter Finance USA (03:34)
Smarter Finance USA Embraces They Ask, You Answer (01:38)
Smarter Finance USA Focuses on Educating Small Business Owners Searching for Equipment Loans Online (05:09)
Smarter Finance USA’s Educational Content Pays Off in a Big Way (04:00)
Chapter 17: The Big 5, Topic 3: Versus and Comparisons (06:05)
The Results (01:42)
Putting It into Action (00:50)
Chapter 18: The Critical Need for Unbiased Content (02:22)
Disarmament: The Quickest Way to Build Trust (05:12)
Chapter 19: The Big 5, Topics 4 and 5: Reviews and Best in Class (06:30)
Putting It into Action (01:03)
Chapter 20: Using Reviews to Establish Yourself as an Expert (05:54)
Chapter 21: The Impact of Discussing Competition (04:27)
Putting It into Action (00:33)
Chapter 22: Case Study 3: Small Retail Appliance Store Dominates Online and Makes Millions (01:18)
About Yale Appliance (03:37)
A CEO Becomes Head of Business Development (07:14)
Yale Appliance Tackles the Tougher Questions (03:33)
Yale Appliance’s Success with Inbound Marketing (03:36)
Chapter 23: The Competition (07:57)
The Bad Fits (03:41)
The Customer (01:01)
Chapter 24: How They Ask, You Answer Saved River Pools and Spas (08:07)
Part II: The Impact of They Ask, You Answer on Sales Teams (01:34)
Chapter 25: How Great Content Is a Total Game-Changer for Sales Teams (01:05)
The 7 Major Benefits of Sales Teams Embracing They Ask, You Answer (07:48)
Chapter 26: A Dramatic Discovery (05:33)
Chapter 27: Assignment Selling (01:47)
An Example of Assignment Selling in Action (04:46)
The Special Rights of the Teacher (06:27)
What Homework Can Tell Us About a Prospect (01:37)
Chapter 28: How One Remarkable Couple Changed My Perspective on the Power of Content to Sell (05:40)
Chapter 29: Content Never Sleeps (08:15)
Chapter 30: How to Use Assignment Selling to Avoid Common Pitfalls (04:08)
Chapter 31: How to Use Assignment Selling to Determine Compatibility (05:49)
Chapter 32: Case Study 4: How a Healthcare Startup Became the Thought Leaders of an Entirely New Industry (00:39)
About Health Catalyst (03:28)
Phase 1: Uniting the Marketing and Sales Silos (03:42)
Phases 2 and 3: Live Webinars and Events (03:46)
Success and Plans for the Future (02:02)
Part III: Implementation and Making It a Culture (01:52)
Chapter 33: The Power of Insourcing and Using Your Team to Create Incredible Content (04:53)
Chapter 34: Case Study 5: How Block Imaging Embraced a Culture of Insourcing (02:46)
The Silos Must Be Eliminated (00:56)
Understanding the What, the Why, and the How (03:59)
Chapter 35: Starting Off They Ask, You Answer with a Bang: Company Workshops (02:11)
Principle 1: Buyer Expectations Have Changed (00:44)
Principle 2: The Way Search Engines Work (00:58)
Principle 3: The Way Consumers Search and the Big 5 (01:37)
Principle 4: Group Brainstorming of Content Ideas (01:03)
Principle 5: The Impact Content Can Have on the Sales Process and Closing Rates (00:46)
Principle 6: The Reason Why Everyone’s Voice, Talents, and Knowledge Are Critical for Success (00:52)
Principle 7: The Editorial Guidelines Going Forward (01:11)
Principle 8: A Look into the Future (01:01)
Chapter 36: The Content Manager: Qualities to Look for, How to Hire One, and More (02:59)
Someone Must Own It (03:04)
Choosing the Right Leader of Your Content Marketing Efforts (07:30)
Trained Journalists May Be a Perfect Match for Your Content Marketing Needs (02:04)
How to Make Sure Your Potential Content Manager Is the Right Fit for Your Company and Brand (02:35)
Chapter 37: The Importance of Having the Right Tools: Measuring Return on Investment, the Power of HubSpot, and More (04:26)
1. The Continuous Ability to Measure ROI of Your Digital Marketing Efforts (04:23)
2. The Ability to Track Lead Behavior and Use this Advanced Intelligence Throughout the Sales Process (02:00)
3. The Ability to Test Your Website (02:13)
Part IV: Creating a Culture of Video…In-House (04:10)
Chapter 38: We’re All Media Companies and the Visual Sale (05:08)
Chapter 39: The Selling 7: 7 Videos That Will Immediately Impact Sales and Closing Rates (04:09)
Chapter 40: The Selling 7, Video 1: The 80 Percent Video (01:53)
Putting It into Action (02:27)
Common Questions Regarding the 80 Percent Video (12:29)
Chapter 41: The Selling 7, Video 2: Bio Videos for Email Signatures (03:01)
Common Questions Regarding Bio Videos (01:36)
Chapter 42: The Selling 7, Video 3: Product and Service Fit Videos (00:02)
Common Questions Regarding Product and Service Fit Videos (05:15)
Chapter 43: The Selling 7, Video 4: Landing Page Videos (00:04)
Common Questions Regarding Landing Page Videos (04:34)
Chapter 44: The Selling 7, Video 5: Cost and Pricing Videos (01:35)
Common Questions Regarding Cost and Pricing Videos (02:41)
Chapter 45: The Selling 7, Video 6: Customer Journey Videos (02:45)
Common Question Regarding Customer Journey Videos (00:17)
Chapter 46: The Selling 7, Video 7: “Claims We Make” Videos (00:02)
Common Questions Regarding “Claims We Make” Videos (04:45)
Chapter 47: Personalized Video for Email: A More Human Approach to Direct Digital Communication (02:55)
1. Choose a Simple Technology (00:25)
2. Show Your Team Exactly How to Use It Until They’re Proficient (00:38)
3. Teach the Power of More Effective Subject Lines (01:58)
4. Learn How to Create the Perfect Thumbnail (00:29)
5. Stick to the “Don’t Stop” Rule (00:23)
6. Leaders Must Set the Tone with Their Internal Communications (02:15)
Chapter 48: How to Hire an In-House Videographer (04:01)
Identifying Personality Traits of a Videographer (02:46)
What a Good Videographer Candidate Should Demonstrate (03:02)
Extra Interview Questions for Your Videographer Candidates (02:30)
A Simple Video Assignment as Part of the Interview Process (02:22)
Chapter 49: Team Buy-In on Video, Performance Tips, and Long-Term Success (03:13)
1. Don’t Stop (01:54)
2. But You Can Do It Again (01:01)
3. The 3-Second Smile (01:25)
The Problem with Scripts (01:38)
Getting Buy-In and “Embracing the Messy” (03:58)
Chapter 50: Case Study 6: How a Lifting and Rigging Company Became the Ultimate Example of They Ask, You Answer Success and Culture (01:07)
Mazzella’s Initial Approach to They Ask, You Answer (00:51)
Their Commitment Began to Pay Off (01:51)
Mazzella’s Success Came Down to Hiring the Right People (03:18)
Why Insourcing Outperforms Outsourcing Every Time (01:34)
There Are No Silos at Mazzella (03:30)
Educating Customers, Employees, and Entire Industries (04:30)
The Results (01:08)
Part V: How to Build the Perfect They Ask, You Answer Website (01:08)
Chapter 51: Real-Time Conversations Are Changing How They’re Asking and We’re Answering (01:12)
The Way We Communicate Has Fundamentally Changed (02:21)
What Is Conversational Marketing and Where Did It Come From? (02:41)
You Can’t Dictate the Buying Process (03:14)
How to Start Conversational Marketing for Your Business (05:05)
Your Questions Answered About Conversational Marketing (08:14)
Chapter 52: Self-Selection: The Next Phase of Search, Sales, and the Way We Buy (02:42)
Wix: A Classic Case Study on Giving Buyers What They Want in Real-Time (05:56)
How to Use Self-Selection Tools for Your Business (03:48)
Common Questions Regarding Self-Selection Tools (04:22)
Chapter 53: Website Priority 1: Proper Homepage Design and Messaging (02:47)
Homepage Layout (02:39)
Chapter 54: Website Priority 2: Obsess Over Honest Education (01:22)
Chapter 55: Website Priority 3: Premium Education (01:11)
Chapter 56: Website Priority 4: An Equal Mix of Textual and Visual Content (01:22)
Chapter 57: Website Priority 5: Self-Selection Tools (00:34)
Chapter 58: Website Priority 6: Social Proof (01:31)
Chapter 59: Website Priority 7: Site Speed (02:10)
Part VI: Your Questions Answered (01:00)
Chapter 60: “How Do I Find More Time to Make This Work Within My Organization?” (00:51)
Create Blog Posts from Emails That Answer Questions Very Well (01:03)
Start Talking to Yourself Out Loud. A Lot. (00:48)
Participate in Blogathons or Videoathons with Employees (00:41)
Hire a Content Manager Yesterday (00:23)
Remember that Insourcing Is a Very Big Deal (00:26)
Learn How Each Employee Best Communicates and Run with It (00:53)
Turn On the Camera and Hit Record (00:43)
Stop Doing the Thing That Does Not Bring the Greatest Returns (00:41)
Is It Really About Time, or Is Something Else Going on Here? (01:22)
Chapter 61: “How Long Will It Take They Ask, You Answer to Work?” (00:48)
Content Marketing the “Right” Way (01:05)
5 Stages of Content Marketing Success (07:42)
Chapter 62: “Are Content Marketing and They Ask, You Answer Just Fads?” (00:47)
What Is Content Marketing Exactly? (02:07)
Chapter 63: “How Can I Keep My Team Engaged in the Content Process?” (00:59)
10 Ways to Keep Your Employees Motivated to Participate in Content Marketing (07:52)
Chapter 64: “I’ve Been Told If We’re Not Adding Anything New to the Conversation, Then We Shouldn’t Be Talking About It – Is That Right?” (04:50)
Chapter 65: “Can I Just Hire an Agency to Do This for Me?” (03:37)
Chapter 66: “How Can We Afford to Do This?” (03:44)
Chapter 67: A Revolutionary Marketing Strategy (04:34)
End of Book Resources (00:12)
Appendix 1: Get Your Scorecard; Grade Yourself on They Ask, You Answer Right Now (01:39)
Appendix 2: More They Ask, You Answer Resources (00:31)
They Ask, You Answer Scorecard (00:17)
Real-World Results (00:21)
They Ask, You Answer Playbooks (00:19)
Recommended Digital Sales and Marketing Software and Tools (00:12)
Free Templates and Downloads (00:11)
Recommended Books and Further Reading (00:45)
Appendix 3: Accelerate Your They Ask, You Answer Success with IMPACT (00:17)
Consulting (00:11)
Workshops (00:20)
IMPACT Live (00:25)
IMPACT Elite (00:12)
Acknowledgments (01:42)
About the Author (03:09)
End Credits (00:46)
Decision Process
You might have come here wondering whether this book is worth reading, so here’s my reason for deciding to pick it up, in the hopes it will help you somewhat too.
First, I have encountered this book on Rick Kettner’s video “The 9 Best Marketing Books To Read In 2021“
And because of the other books on the list which I have already read/listened to and are leading in the field I decided to look further into other parameters, including:
-Reviews on amazon, which were 4.7 on average and a had a big quantity, showing the book’s popularity.
-Making sure there’s a demand for a summary on YouTube, and indeed there was, also few summaries were made on the book.
If you often find yourself not sure what book to read I also recommend the video “How to Choose the Right Books To Read” which has been helpful to me for a long time.
Book Attributes
Author
The Author Marcus Sheridan had his humble beginnings with his pool company – River Pools and Spas
He helped bring it from a struggling, almost bankrupt company to one of the best in the field in the world, and now gets 100s of thousands of visitors to it’s website monthly.
Notably, today he is also one of the leaders of the “Impact” Marketing and Sales agency
And gives about 70 speeches annually about the concepts in his book.
Length
Physical/Audio: 352 pages/9h 32m
Reviews
As of writing this article the book has 426 reviews on amazon.com, the average rating of which is a 4.7
Blogpost Part 2: Book Summary and Review
Introduction
They ask you answer is a book that concentrates on answering your audience’s questions with inbound/content marketing. Below are most of the main ideas of the book, described on a surface level – To help you come up with new ideas which you could later research further.
If there’s anything whatsoever, small or big that you need clarified – My mail: yan@improvementor.blog is at your disposal. The numbers in parenthesis (?) are chapter numbers.
Part I: A Very Different Way of Looking at Business, Marketing and Trust
(1)Marcus found himself helping his friends run a pool company, and just when they started to succeed, the 2008 depression came.
(2)Using the fact that the consumer of today makes 70% of the decision before ever speaking to a salesperson, Marcus resorted to researching Marketing.
(3)He slowly realized that although all businesses are different, they all have 1 thing in common: They all revolve around trust.
(4)As he researched, he saw lots of “shiny” words like content marketing, inbound marketing, blogging and tried to simplify them into a language he could understand, and so he told himself “just answer people’s questions”.
(5)Therefor he named this philosophy “they ask, you answer” which is a business philosophy that focuses on answering consumer questions.
(6)Realizing the importance of these questions he sat down at his kitchen and brainstormed a hundred questions that he heard from his customers
(7)Before explaining the nuts and bolts of how to use those questions he explains that we should not avoid problematic questions that are scary or difficult for us to answer, which is what most companies do. He calls the approach of avoiding questions “Ostrich Marketing” – because you burry your head in the sand like an ostrich
(8)Just like the used vehicle retailer CarMax did at the time, list the problems that prevent customers from trusting companies in your industry and don’t dismiss it because that’s just the way the industry is, rather, find a solution to each. That’s how revolutions are done, and customer satisfaction follows.
(9) There are 5 questions that most customers look to find the answer to in all industries, and most companies fil to provide it, but if you do, you will most definitely be rewarded, those are:
(10-12)1)Pricing and Cost
(13-16)2)Address the prospect’s obvious fears, don’t avoid them, and state the facts as they are.
(17-19)3)Give them an honest comparison of your services with others, along with an honest list of features of each service.
(19-24)4 and 5) Reviews and Best in Class – The difference with the 3rd point being that here – whole industry companies are listed – I.E. if we would take the music industry as an example – 3rd question’s answer would be – “The best rock songs” while the 4th and 5th would be “The best rock music artists”. A good practice is to also create a place for visitors to leave their own reviews in 4 and 5.
Part II: The Impact of They Ask You Answer on Your Sales Team
(25)Here’s how they ask you answer impacts sales.
1)When you write content it forces you to understand the potential customer better and better, so that you could write interesting content for them
2) If sales teams participate in content production, they learn more precise language to help them with sales, because the language of videos is precise
3) The content can be used to intentionally train new salespeople and other roles in the company
4) Creating content gives you the priviledge to require the prospects to consume it before a sales appointment
5) You can see which pages a prospect viewed, and better attend to his needs from the 1st meeting
6) Content creates trust even before the first sales meeting
7) More trust equals faster sales, so the sales teams have more free time to attend to each customer and be at home
8)(26) Just like when you date more, there’s more chance for you to break up or marry, so it is with content, after reading a lot of content prospects are either a lot more ready to buy, or already know that you’re not for them, thus saving the time of you both
(27)– described in principle 4)
9)(28) Some clients may become so educated by themselves, that all you will need to do is to come and collect the payment, even if your product is one that costs over 50.000$
10) (29) Content can be educating 24 hours a day and it can educate millions of people at a time, another benefit is that it does it for FREE. All that allows the salespeople to focus on the thing they do best – sell.
11) (30) If a prospect goes cold and doesn’t return phone calls, you may contact him and offer clarifications in the form of content, which allows you to avoid looking desperate
(31)-already mentioned in 27 and 4) using content for assignment selling but what is highlighted here is that if a prospect refuses to accept the assignment – they weren’t a good fit from the start anyway.
(32) – case study
Part III: Implementation and Making It a Culture
Marcus’s team has learned through trial and error while working with other companies that some of the key principles to make they ask you answer work are:
1) Top to bottom buy in – You need both marketing and sales, as well as other experts to work together on producing the content because the marketing department does not possess the knowledge of the other experts.
(33)2) Insourcing – Use your own experts from within the company to produce content, not only an agency.
(34)3) 8 Principles from workshops that will help they ask you answer work:
1. Help the employees to see business from a customer perspective and how they feel when they don’t find something they’re looking for
2. Realize that search engines rewards the websites that answer the surfer’s questions in the best manner
3. The realization of the importance of the big 5, how often each of the employees uses it, and therefor the realization of how important it is to answer the questions of each customer properly
4. Brainstorm questions that you hear from customers – Usually mostly relates to sales people
5. Sales people understanding the possible impact of content on making their work more efficient for motivation
6. Everyone in the company must understand that marketing does not have their knowledge, and instead it’s role is to help each one of them bring the content to the consumer therefor increasing trust
7. Employees need to be clear what are the steps for them to produce content – From who is responsible for the content to how often do they need to produce a piece.
8. Make sure you create a clear vision of the future, if you don’t resistance is on the horizon
(35)Case Study
(36)4) Having a person who will be responsible full time for the content producing efforts
(37)5) Get tools to
a) measure ROI*
b) know more about your lead’s history during the sales process
c) be able to test your website (buttons/colors/headlines)
Marcus suggests hubspot, while I use google analytics which is free. Here’s a top ranking article with a list of analytics tools
Part IV: Creating a Culture of Video ... In-House
Marcus noticed that outsourcing didn’t work, and in River Pools and Spas they succeeded because of inhouse production: So, in spite of the resistance, and them being the first, they started teaching in-house production:
Sales are moving to video, and thus mastering it is critical
Here are some principles to help kick-start video production the right way:
–(38-39)There’s no way around video. Cisco’s report predicted in 2016 that 82% of all internet traffic consumption will be video by the year 2021 in contrast to 2016’s 73%.
-The purpose of video is sales. Don’t get caught up in video which does not improve sales
-Here are 7 examples of sales increasing videos:
1) (40)80% video – Create a video for each product that answers the (optionally 7) most common questions of prospects regarding the product.
2) (41)Bio video – Place a video explaining what each team member does when not at work in their email signature.
3) (42)Product and Service fit videos – Mention who or what the product is and is not for
4) (43)Landing Page videos – Address the fears that arise before filling a form with private information.
5) (44)Cost and Pricing – Add a video that honestly compares and explains the cost of your product
6) (45)The Customer Journey – A video depicting a customer’s problem, their journey to solve it, and where they are today
7) (46)Claims we make – Videos to actually show your claims are true, because too many companies claim those claims.
–(47)Use video in e-mail to make the intentions of your e-mail clear.
–(48)Hire a videographer and teach your team how to act on camera
–(49)Tips for video performance: Start smiling 3 seconds before recording, never stop, you can do another take.
–(50) Case study
Part V: How To Build The Perfect They Ask You Answer Website
Some evergreen ways to improve your website based on the “They Ask, You Answer” philosophy:
(51)-Use real time conversations (Live chat and support) I use facebook chat plugin
(52)-Self selection tools (Allowing to tailor services specifically to you) – “what’s the best swimming pool for me”
“What is the best swimmingpool size and shape for my yard”) Click for examples
-And 7 other ways:
1.(53)Talk about the customer, not yourself, make sure you get them to the second website page, so that you know they’re interested through analytics.
2.(54) Address the 25 most frequently asked questions regarding your products or services – if you have trouble coming up with them, try brainstorming questions about “The big 5″(Chapters 9-24)
3.(55) Create eBooks etc. that allow customers to educate themselves from A to Z about the products
4. (56) Every page should have at least 1 video for the visual learners
5. (57) Create interactive tools to help customers choose the right product “for them”
6. (58) Social proof – testimonials, customer journey videos, etc.
7. (59) Site speed – Test your website speed on sites like gtmetrix and Improve it as much as possible
And in general throughout everything you do ask yourself – would I want this if I were the buyer?
Part VI: Your Questions Answered
In a practice what you preach style Marcus answers the questions that readers often have after reading the book like:
(60) What are the ways to produce content faster if we don’t have time?
-Create blog posts from questions you get on email
-Record yourself and make a transcript of it into a blog post
-Devote a concentrated unit of time for all the company to write blogposts in bulk
-have someone working full time on producing content ( or yourself 🙂 )
-Use the knowledge of your team’s experts
-Allow each team member to participate in content that best suits them – podcast/video/blog, etc…
-Just turn on the camera/screen recorder and start explaining about anything you see in your company (production process)
-Focus on advertising the articles that bring best results (80/20)
-Often lack of time is just an excuse… Could it be that you don’t consider content marketing important enough?
(61)How long will it take they ask, you answer to work?
If you follow these 3 conditions:
1. Produce 2-3 content pieces a week
2. Honestly address customer questions
3. Get participation from all employees
Then it should look something like this:
1 – 1-3 months – Hit publish and get the sales team engaged.
2 – 2-5 months – Searchers and search engines realize you exist.
3 – 3-6 months – Finally you get leads
4 – 4-18 months – Generate sales and revenue
5 – 18-36 months –The snowball is rolling down the mountain
(62)Is content marketing just a fad?
Nope, it has been around since the beginning of time, where honesty earns trust and information helps solve problems, people will always be attracted to.
(63) How can I keep my team engaged in the content process?
10 Tips:
1. Focus on the big 5 blog posts, once you have it, show the sales team how useful they can be.
2. Publicly recognize and give awards to great content marketing participants
3. Encourage the team to thank someone for the content he created if they benefited from it
4. Celebrate milestones like a video reaching a 1000 views, getting x amount of leads, etc.
5. Create team goals like 200 blog posts is rewarded with Whirlyball
6. Make they ask, you answer training a part of the hiring process
7. Explain the team how to publish content for example give them examples of what you share on social media, or tell them about the possibility to make an email signature
8. Ask for employees help and make them feel important in the process, because they are
9. Remind everyone how content affects lives
10. Ask the employees ocasionally, and pay attention to what could help them be more motivated.
(64) Is it right that if some content exists on the subject I shouldn’t create more? Nope, it is still important that you create your own
(65) Can I hire an agency to do this? You can but the results will be average
(66) How can we afford to do this? Once you start succeeding with it, that question will fall off.
(67) After his success with riverpools, marcus had an article written about him “A revolutionary marketing strategy: answer people’s questions” he had two responses:
1. Wow can’t believe how simple it is
2. You gave me permission what I long wanted to do.
So he wants to tell us, do what you want to do, don’t let anything stop you.
5 Takeaways
Integrate Video Into Email
Finally after hearing about the importance of video in email an infinite amount of times – I’ve checked out Vidyard again
Image
List Questions From The Audience Perspective
Though I’m strictly concentrated on marketing book reviews, and don’t really want to dillute my attention I have listed the questions that my audience ( you guys 🙂 ) might have, perhaps to answer them through the book reviews themselves.
Here are some examples:
What are some ideas to improve my business?
What are some ideas to improve my website?
What are some ideas to improve my YouTube channel?
How to make animated videos?
What are the best whiteboard animation software?
Reinforced the view of complete transparency
Despite already trying to be transparent in many aspects, Marcus reinforced the importance of this. For example something that stood out is when he said that we should focus on what our potential prospects think first, then the bad fits and last of all the competition, while usually businesses have it completely the other way around.
Meaning, they don’t write something because they’re afraid the competition will steal it or get too much benefit from it or that they will lose customers because they talk only to one specific segment.
For example I used to be afraid to talk about what whiteboard animation software I use so that not to create more competition, but I guess I should release myself of that. If someone really wants he will find out anyway 🙂
I have used 2 for now by the way: Doodly and VideoScribe
"And the truth shall set you free"
Address Matters of Trust In The Industry
What are the reasons that people do not buy marketing books or marketing courses?
Those usually come down to lack of trust. Address every matter that might sow doubt in the minds of prospects with a video.
I.E. Will he stop posting videos just like all the rest? Why would I start trusting someone who I am reminded of only once in two weeks at best?
Can he actually help me? It seems like he doesn’t know what he is doing himself.
How can I actually use this content? He only posts once a month…
Will it be actually useful in real life or is it just some more theoretical c***?
How do I know he is not mistaken when offering me some action, how do I know he succeeded with it himself?
Why would he help me for free?
Those are all great questions, pretty puzzling for myself to answer… But I hope you see the huge value in answering it anyway
"the majority of companies don’t never take the time to properly address the biggest fears of their buyers ... the question is, is it possible to address, and even eliminate, all of those issues you wrote down? Find a way to do this, and you’ll likely revolutionize your industry"
Use video on landing pages
Add a video that will explain exactly what will happen when a person enters his contact info or makes a purchase. !Spoiler – Until now I have mostly sent e-mails to notify you when a new summary is out, but I hope to add more useful stuff down the road, like tips, article suggestions, etc. Haven’t decided yet.
My General Experience of They Ask You Answer
While it has many good ideas it prompts me to start a completely different philosophy which I’m not ready for.
That being said, the honest and transparent approach that Marcus takes, is a great inspiration and I do believe that applying it within the reviews will be possible, or maybe even look for books that answer each of the customer’s questions and answer them through the books.
There is actually no other way, because if I don’t answer the questions of prospects, there’s no reason for my being/activity here on Improvementor… I realized that what most of you probably crave and are afraid of not getting is application, and rightfully so, many book reviewers indeed lack that part including myself, that’s why I believe I must record videos about specifically about application, and not just summaries with partial application guidance 🙂
Blogpost Part 3: Rating and Conclusion
Rating (6 Parameters)
Narration
Clarity of Speech
Fluency
Expressing Emotions
Plot
Is there a storyline? How connected is one Idea to the one before it?
Answer: N/A
There was no attempt to make a plot here, rather just scattered Ideas, which is why I do not rate this parameter
Heading Distribution
Drive For Implementation
How much does the book push you to apply it’s contents?
Visuals
Does it use images or other resources to transfer it’s message?
Answer: It has lots of resources in the end mostly, but throughout the book there are not so much.. 3/6
Direct Calls to Action
How often does the author prompt you to apply the ideas in the book?
Answer: Marcus did not give direct prompts to action too many times as it seems to me 2/6
Providing Actual Specific Details
Examples
Content
Final Rating
Conclusion
They Ask, You Answer did influence my mindset, but before I can rush to overrate it I need some more time to try out it’s principles in action.
Acquiring Options For The They Ask You Answer Review
"You see, every industry is made up of two groups: Those who listen to the consumer and act (They Ask, You Answer), and those who maintain the status quo. But time and time again, history has shown us that those who listen ... set the standard for their space."
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