‘How to Dramatically Improve Your Info-Product by Anchoring’- Sean D’Souza’s Article

Do you know the story about the six blind men from Hindustan?

Well, the story runs like this:

There were these six blind (and very wise) dudes. And they all wanted to ‘see’ an elephant, through ‘observation.’

The first blind man slammed into the side of the elephant, and believed an elephant to be like a wall. The second blind man felt the tusk, and decided an elephant was really like a spear.

The third kinda bumbled into the squirming trunk, and was totally convinced that an elephant was like a snake. The fourth decided an elephant was a tree, after feeling his leg. The fifth got the ear, and called it fan-like.

And the sixth, grappling with the tail, decided the elephant was indeed like a rope.

Now do you see the anchor yet?

Yes indeed you do.

No matter which blind man we were talking about, we always came to rest on one object.

Si, el elefante.

The elephant was the anchor to the story

No matter how the story twisted and turned, it always came to rest on one object: the elephant.

And so if I were to bring up this story about six years from now, you’d still remember the fact that the guys were blind.

You may remember a bit about what parts of the elephant they touched.

But there’s one thing you’ll always remember

That there was this elephant. And that the blind men were right, and yet horribly wrong.

You see the details matter, but not as much as the anchor.

So when you sit down to create an info-product it’s critical to first create the anchor.

The anchor being the one thing that you can keeping coming back to, no matter if you’re writing an article.

Or a book.
Or doing a video.
Or an audio podcast.

And there’s a pretty darned good reason why you need anchors

It’s called memory. Anchors aid memory, and help your customer’s overloaded brain latch on to a concept. And then make links to that concept.

So how do you go about creating an anchor?

Step 1: You take an object/analogy/metaphor.

Step 2: You bring that object/analogy/metaphor to life.

Step 3: All the concepts then revolve around that concept.

So let’s take an example (actually two):

Example 1: A Live Course: When we were creating our copywriting course, here’s what we did:

Step 1: We created the concept that you don’t need to learn to write copy. All you need are ‘ingredients’.

Step 2: We linked the ingredient concept to 2-Minute Noodles. The reason why anyone can make noodles is the ready-to-use ingredients. And copywriting is really a matter of having ready-to-use ingredients.

Step 3: As we went through the course, each piece of the course was linked back to the ‘ingredient’ factor. We kept assembling the ingredients, and then neatly placed them together on the sales-page, to create a powerful sales message.

See, the anchor?

Well, let’s take another example:

Example 2: A Book: How we created the anchor for the ‘Brain Audit.’

Step 1: We took the analogy of the ‘conveyor belt’ at the airport.

Step 2: We brought that concept to life by asking you this question. If you put seven red bags on a flight, and got just six red bags off the conveyor belt-when would you leave the airport? The answer is obvious. You’d leave when you have all seven bags.

And that’s exactly what goes on in the mind of the customer. If you don’t take all the bags off their brain, they hesitate to buy your product/service.

Step 3: All of the seven bags in ‘The Brain Audit’ then link back (both with words and graphics) to the ‘conveyor belt.’ (Yes, I avoided the word ‘carousel’ on purpose).

Now after reading these words, it seems obvious that you need an anchor, right?

Yet look at your article. Your audio. Your book. Your whatchamacallit audio or course. It doesn’t have an anchor at all, does it?

Well, well, well, it’s time to create that anchor first

Get out a sheet of paper (yes, paper).

Put your concept in the centre as an anchor.

Then link the concepts to that anchor point, over and over, and over again.And your customer will remember the point.

Just like you remember the six men from Hindustan; And the elephant.

Who can forget that elephant, eh?

Sean D’Souza

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*IMNewswatch would like to thank Sean D’Souza and Psychotactics for granting permission to reprint this latest article.