It’s time to have a conversation about marketing formulas.
These formulas promise minimal effort (“Just plug in A, B, and C…”) and maximum rewards (“…and you can make millions of dollars, just like I did!”). But really, how often does that actually happen?!
Now, this isn’t to say that there aren’t any good uses for formulas. For example, grandma’s chocolate chip cookies—you rely on the formula to predict the deliciousness!
When it comes to webinars, there are a lot of well-known formulas out there. Let’s take “The Perfect Webinar” as an example. Its founder, Russell Brunson, has taught this formula in his books and courses, and…yes, it does work!
…It’s not. Think of the formula as the guardrails on the highway. Yes, it’s probably in your best interest to stay within those guardrails, but you still have to switch lanes when necessary, speed up, slow down, check what the people around you are doing, and then adjust. The formula is meant to keep you focused on the key concept or storyline that should be told, but it’s not about literally repeating word for word what’s on the script.
People do this with all kinds of other formulas too. Course-building formulas, Facebook ad formulas, sales funnel formulas, etc. If you’re not able to see the principles and customize them to YOUR brand, your specific products, and your audience…you will put all your hopes and dreams in a formula that will leave you disillusioned at the end.
Now going back to the homemade cookie recipe, have you noticed that when two or three people use the same recipe, the cookie still manages to come out differently? Some ovens run hot, people use different quality cookie sheets, there are all kinds of secret drying techniques that make cookies crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, maybe one person uses Nestle chips and another uses Ghirardelli, hand mixed vs. using an automatic mixer, soft butter vs. melted, old baking soda or fresh, imitation extract or real.
Theoretically, two people can use the SAME formula and one person can produce a prize-winning cookie…and the other one can have a gooey mess on a cookie pan.
The magic is NOT the formula. The magic is how you INFUSE the formula with the special flavor of you, your brand, and your style.
Have you watched any of Russell’s webinars in the last 12 months? If you have, you’ll notice he doesn’t even follow his formula word for word each time. Why?
Once you’ve mastered the principles inside a formula, there’s nearly endless amounts of customization you can do to create a unique presentation that communicates everything you need to in order to sell.
This is why it’s not enough to just read a list of steps or actions and expect it will work. That’s simply the WHAT to do. But remember there’s also the WHY to do it, the HOW to do it, and then the fun part…
The unique way YOU are going to do it, that NOBODY else is doing.
Again, this is true with any formula out there today. Learning the formula is really only the first step. Then it becomes about understanding the economy around the principle, why it’s there, how it can work, and what you can do that’s uniquely you.
When you get this dialed in, THAT’S MAGIC. It’s magic because you’re using a tried-and-true formula with the natural personality and story that you have, then blending it into a presentation that’s unique, on-brand, and like no one else’s. It becomes infinitely easier to sell since you don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not.
There’s a formula for everything—what makes a car a car, a dog a dog, a tomato a tomato.
There’s also near infinite variations of all of these things, with creative engineers and breeders and gardeners testing out new ways to produce and grow; within the formula, yes, but not stuck to it.
Let’s commit to doing the same thing with our marketing!
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