“Urgent Warning: 3 Ways To Avoid Getting Infected By MMTS!” by Craig Garber
“My hope is though, by raising your level of awareness about MMTS, you'll be more attuned to it's symptoms and you'll also discover how to prevent yourself from becoming infected.”
Here's a scary example of what can happen if you get infected by a business-destroying condition called "MMTS."
Although not extremely common, in marketing circles, getting infected by the MMTS virus isn't that uncommon either.
In fact...
I see it FAR more often than I should.
My hope is though, by raising your level of awareness about MMTS, you'll be more attuned to it's symptoms, and you'll also discover how to prevent yourself from becoming infected.
MMTS happens usually after you've been running a successful ad for a while and your cash-flow is finally consistent... and large. The problem is, for many people, MMTS completely takes over your mind, once you finally achieve that "on auto-pilot" business system you've been after all this time.
All your years of struggle and all your memories of strife, just seem to somehow fade away, and all of a sudden you have...
More Money Than Sense! (MMTS)
Today I'm going to give you a specific example of a well-known company that recently reached the "More Money Than Sense" critical-mass standpoint, and was stupid enough to go "public" with this information.
The good news is, there are many ways to defend and protect yourself against MMTS, and I'm going to reveal 3 of them to you today. This way you can prevent yourself from ever succumbing to MMTS.
By-the-way, what kind of car do you drive?
The reason I ask, is because many people out there seem to be driving a Lexus nowadays, especially people in their mid-40's and up, in above-average income brackets.
True, no?
Now me, I don't particularly like Lexus cars -- but there again, what do I know -- I'm from the Bronx. They're a little too "smooth-riding" for me.
I prefer more of a "European" ride -- closer to the ground, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, last month the L.A. Times ran an article about how Lexus went from literally "zero" to becoming the leading luxury car seller in America in only 15 short years, because they "astutely targeted a customer base of baby boomers entering their peak earning years."
In other words...
They Identified A Marketplace
And Exploited The Hell Out Of It!
So now that Lexus has done so well... what do they do for an encore?
They Blow It All
On A Severe Case Of MMTS!
Here's the deal: Believe it or not, the article says that Lexus now plans on re-vamping their entire product line so it appeals to -- get this...
“A Younger, Less Boomer Market!”
Right?
Now call me stupid, but... who the heck's been buying Lexus cars for the last 15 years?
Yuppies and Baby Boomers!
NOT twenty-somethings club-hopping on weekends!
See, this is what happens to many people, once you start making some serious dough. You can't just sit back... relax... and enjoy things.
You've got to go and adapt some "new" strategy to screw things up royally.
Now that things are finally running smoothly, you start feeling bored... unchallenged... and basically, "the thrill is gone".
Or whatever?
The thing is, THIS is when MMTS is most likely to strike!
Anyway, the article went on to say "To keep the marquee fresh and draw younger buyers, Lexus is re-designing its entire lineup over the next four years. You'll see sportier cars, more powerful cars and trucks, and a wider range of engines."
"First up early next year is the RX400, with a base price expected to top $45,000 Dollars."
Now maybe I'm totally "out-of-it", but... if you had to sell a car that costs $45,000 dollars, who would you sell it to?
Kids just out of college?
Young families with babies? Or maybe...
People who watch "Jackass" on MTV?
Sorry, but I don't think so.
To figure this out, let's look at the 3 rules of "finding your market"... and since these rules apply regardless of what you're selling... pay attention here and listen closely, O.K.?
Here they are:
Recency: Who's buying your product now and who recently bought it?
In the case of Lexus, the answer is aging baby boomers with money.
Frequency: Who's purchased your product more than once before?
Multiple and repeat product buyers are a great choice to sell to again. After all, if someone's bought something more than once, it's a safe bet they're open to buying another one from you, right? (As long as you have the right sales pitch, of course.)
In the case of Lexus, it's existing Lexus owners.
Dollar Value: Sell something to people who've paid the same price (or more) for it in the past.
For example, if you're selling a $197 dollar a year investment newsletter, you'll want to market it to people who've already paid $197 dollars or more for investment newsletters.
Make sense?
And in Lexus' case, you want to market to consumers who've bought Lexus or other luxury cars that cost at least $45,000 Dollars and up, right?
So let's think about this for just a moment here, and take a good hard look at how Lexus is screwing themselves:
Lexus doesn't want to sell their high-priced luxury cars to aging baby boomers with money anymore. Instead, they want to sell high-priced luxury cars to single people who are out partying, and young families struggling with their bills and trying to get their careers jump-started!
Hmmm...
Do you think there are a lot of people in that bracket who can even afford $45,000 Dollars to drive a Lexus?
It doesn't seem like Lexus stopped and hit the "pause" button for even a second, to consider this though, does it?
Lexus clearly has a case of MMTS -- and they've got it bad. But...
Here Are 3 Ways You Can
Avoid MMTS, If... You Catch It In Time!
If your marketing is finally running on its own and doing well, and if you feel like you may be starting to come down with a case of MMTS and you're getting restless... then here are 3 things you can do to occupy your time instead:
Clone youreslf! Create another company that sells a cheaper version of what you're successfully selling now. This way, you can scoop up the remaining nickles and dimes you're leaving on the table.
If you think this doesn't make sense, then think again: How is it that another company can set up shop and compete against you and make money?
Why shouldn't you be that "other" company?
You've already got the systems and the product in place.
Run a larger ad! If your half page ad is making you a million dollars a year, then run a full page ad -- it should increase your revenues by at least 50% or more. (Ad size increases are NOT always proportional.)
Add a photograph to your ad! Photos have been shown to increase response to your ads. Want to know how to add a photo, or the best kind of photo to add? Check out my Tip Of The Week called “How To Use Pictures To Immediately Start Increasing The Response Rates Of Your Marketing”
As far as Lexus goes, it's going to be interesting to see what happens here. If they go ahead with this plan, they're essentially going out and re-inventing another car company.
Only this time, it seems like someone's got their head stuck up their rear-end!
Not only are they going to struggle with attracting a newer crowd, they're going to wind up alienating their core buyers today.
What's provoking these insane changes, is... Lexus has been slowly losing market share to Cadillac, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz.
But instead of using better marketing to attract more buyers and sell more cars, or creating a better product for their current buyers and charging more money, (both of which would be very effective things to do) they're basically doing something completely stupid because of an acute case of MMTS.
Better them than you, hey?
P.S. What Lexus is completely forgetting, is... the baby boomer market (the one they've already been wildly successful selling to) controls over 70% of the wealth in this country!
What they're doing is like trying to market motorized mini-scooters to senior citizens! And...
It Ain't Gonna Work!
If you want more facts about how to sell to baby boomers, make sure you check out my Tip Of The Week called “How To Sell To Howard Stern... Oprah Winfrey... And... Paul McCartney!”
Have you ever suffered from MMTS? Or do you know someone else who has? Let me know about it and I'll publish your comments in a future Tip Of The Week.
Send them to me by scooting over to the contact form on my "Here's How To Contact Craig" page, and maybe I'll publish them next time. I appreciate your feedback!
And if you haven 't already done so, go ahead and click here right now to sign up for my FREE Tip Of The Week -- it's the Number One Direct-Response Marketing And Copywriting Newsletter for independent business-owners.
“Craig Garber is America's Top Direct-Response Copywriter. You'll find hundreds of marketing tips to increase your sales, and his insanely popular FREE Direct-Response Marketing Tip Of The Week, on his website, www.KingOfCopy.com. Copyright © Craig Garber. All rights reserved.”