Primal Persuasion The Failure Schema

This week's Primal Persuasion Secret focuses on the Failure Schema.

How exactly do you sell your product to people who think they will fail no matter what they try?

Check out the video and learn how to identify these folks in your marketplace and the exact stories to tell to make them believe again.

Transcript

This week's Primal Persuasion Secrets is the failure schema. The failure schema is the idea that I am inadequate.

As a reminder, children develop coping mechanisms or schemas to survive traumatic events.

These coping mechanisms help children survive but don't necessarily serve us as adults.

Keep in mind. We're going to be talking about psychological principles.

So we're always talking in the worst case. However, the level that each schema affects your market will be different depending on the person and will be more of a range.

Let's say a range of 1-10.

Schemas determine how we think, feel, act, and relate to others.

They trigger intense feelings such as anger, sadness, and anxiety.

And copywriting 101 one says people buy emotions than justify with logic.

That's why stories created using these schemas are so powerful.

By understanding your market's primary schemas, you can create a marketing message that resonates on a psychological level.

People in your market with the failure schema believe they're inadequate in areas of achievement, such as school work and sports.

They feel that they're failures compared to everyone else.

It's possible they were made to feel inferior as a child, either by their parents, maybe they had a disability or some lack of discipline, the lack of ability to master skills.

It's possible that they were called stupid and untalented or lazy...

They maintain this life trap by acting out in ways that ensure that they continue to fail.

Failure indicators that things will be looking for are people in your market feel less competent than other people.

Maybe they feel like they're unable to achieve, or because of the lifetrap they keep failing and cannot achieve.

They feel like most people are more successful than they are.

Maybe they feel they are less intelligent than others, have fewer skills than others.

They have a deep feeling of embarrassment and shame inside that drives them.

They tend to believe that others are more competent than they are.

They amplify other people's success and other people's talents over theirs.

And no matter how well they do, they always feel that they work below their potential.

Common markets with failure schemas. Things like self-improvement, things that elevate social status, financial products, or people who are failing in their finances.

Anywhere you find people failing at things, you're going to see this schema.

Stories that work?

Desperation stories where someone was as bad off as they were, but they improve. Common mistake stories, give them a reason why they're failing.

And contrarian ideas that challenge the common beliefs that they have.

Here are some examples of copy that would work for the failure schema.

The first one's from Claude Hopkins.

It's the housewives who buy condensed milk, and it talks about how condensed milk is wasteful.

It's sweet, unnatural, and has limited uses.

It's verifying that, oh, I'm failing as a housewife.

I'm buying this bad milk.

Here's another one from Gary Halbert. How to get rid of serious back pain almost immediately, even if everything else you've tried has failed.

So you've tried everything.

You failed at everything.

But here is the real answer.

And the Elevation Group.

This Facebook post, it's a story of someone who was a failure.

Just everything was going against them, and then he's going to rise above that.

So, in summary, people with a failure schema believe they're inadequate and failures compared to everyone else.

They maintain that life by acting in ways that ensure continued failure.

So you need to use copy that gives them a reason why they fail and offers them some hope of success.