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In this post:
- Why “common knowledge” content destroys repeat visitors…
- The viral-rocketing power of counter-intuitive ideas…
- How to create content that gets readers screaming for MORE…
- And MUCH MORE!
photo by: phoenixdailyphoto
Picture this:
A hot prospect stumbles across your blog…
… pulls up a recent post…
… starts to read it…
… stops midway through…
… leaves your site
… and never returns again!
Unfortunate, costly event? YES, but…
It Happens All The Time
But what can you do about it? PLENTY! (just keep reading)
Last week, in my post: Blog Content & Website Content That Gets Visitors Screaming For More! I gave you six types of content that immunizes your website from the sad story above… Six types of content that suck your prospects in, instead of sending them away.
And readers Carl Huxley, Phil Powdrill, Sean O’Sullivan and many others wanted me to expand on content strategy #1 – Counter-Intuitive Content. So here it goes…
First, let’s define counter-intuitive content:
Counter-intuitive content expresses an idea that doesn’t seem likely to be true using intuition or gut feelings. Often, it contradicts common-wisdom, conventional thinking, or common sense.
Still unsure? Here are some examples…
- Give your best ideas away for free to get rich…
- Do less to achieve more…
- Self-help can ruin your life…
- Fail more to succeed…
- Learning more tactics will make you fail faster…
- Send less emails to make more sales.
Do you notice how each of these examples stirs up your curiosity?
They stimulate the little voice in your head to say…
“SAY WHAT?”
And that’s the reason counter-intuitive ideas are so powerful.
Because they provoke your readers to want more.
Let’s contrast that with an idea that isn’t counter-intuitive:
‘persistence, discipline and hard work lead to success’
Ho-hum. That’s common knowledge, right? So, repeating it is unnecessary and won’t create a WOW effect in your reader.
In fact, common knowledge content bores your readers into bailing on your content and your site… often permanently.
But, if common knowledge says one thing and your content proves the opposite…
Your idea is counter-intuitive. It’s original. And…
It’s More Valuable!
Alright, so how do you do it?
How do you go about creating counter-intuitive content?
Glad you asked. Here’s how…
Step 1 – Make a list of the common problems and goals of your prospects…
Step 2 – List as many conventional, common-wisdom solutions you can – next to each problem & goal…
Step 3 – Brainstorm as many ideas that contradict the solutions you came up with in step 2…
Step 4 – Highlight the ideas (from step 3) you believe are true or could be true in certain situations…
Step 5 – Circle the ideas you can back up with your own experience or the experience of others…
Step 6 - Pick the idea that you feel like riffing on.
That’s it. It’s a simple process. But make no mistake, it…
Boosts Readership…
Multiplies Traffic, And…
Increases Your InfluenceEasy-peezy, right?
Well, one more important point.
In order for your counter-intuitive content to work, you need more than just the idea.
You need to back that idea up with enough evidence, logic, and persuasion to make your readers believe it’s true. Which is why I told you to circle the ideas you can back up with experience or the experience of others (step 5). Because if you don’t back up your idea… all you have is a clever headline and an unresolved promise.
And don’t make the mistake of thinking what I just shared with you is only for your blog. In fact, it can be used in your emails, free content, presentations, and practically anywhere else communication occurs.
But, one of the best places to populate with counter-intuitive ideas is your products. Because it gets your clients raving and referring others to you in droves.
Case in point: One of our most popular (front-end) products is Big Ideas Of Entrepreneurial Success. In it I share some of the most powerful counter-intuitive ideas I’ve come across about building your business. Ideas that clearly contradict the common wisdom and conventional thinking that cause so many entrepreneurs to fail online. And that’s why it’s so successful, and clients get so much value from it.
Alright, I’m done for today. But before you go…
*******************************************************************************************
Tell me…
1 – Do you think you can pull this off?
2 – Do you have a counter-intuitive example to share?
3 – What am I missing?
Or…
Just tell me you enjoyed the post… whatever… as long as you comment (I’m needy).
*******************************************************************************************
And how about for today you…
… Hit The Stumble Button Below …
… because magical things happen for both you and me when you stumble this post.
Thanks in advance.
To higher profits and beyond,
Rich Schefren
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33 Comments to “Blogging – Why Common Knowledge Kills Success”
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Rich, Thanks for explaining your concept. I’m going to give it a try this Thursday in a presentation! -Patti
glad to hear patti – let us know how it goes – and if you know your counter-intuitive idea, share it here first to see if it can be improved
Wow Rich are we running out of fresh ideas or what?
“Incongruity” to attract and keep attention is as old as the hills (effective yes) but dare I say “Common Knowledge” for anyone that’s truly involved in the game.
nope… I’ve got more ideas than i know what to do with jt.
but…readers wanted to understand counter-intuitive ideas better so i broke it down for them. simple as that.
btw – what game would you be referring to? blogging? product creation? copywriting?
Rich, I’m going to use this idea in my presentation I’m giving today. In fact, it’s the theme of the whole thing: stop doing what the “loser masses” are doing and give yourself a strategic advantage.
Love the 6 steps. For step 5, I usually get as many results-oriented testimonials as possible or use high-authority examples people won’t question (like billionaire examples as I offer personal finance solutions). If you don’t have a killer testimonial/high-authority example to overcome a big objection/doubt, what do you suggest to address this?
Thanks for the great post, and I’ll let you know my results by week’s end.
David Newby
http://www.YourProsperityPower.com
good point – definitely can use testimonials or mega-success stories to validate points.
let us know how the presentation goes…
Rich,
Great post! I started trying to write this way about a year ago when I noticed that many of the books I’ve enjoyed the most take this counter-intuitive approach. A couple great examples of this are The 4-Hour Work-week by Tim Ferris and Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. They grab your attention and keep it because their concepts are so unconventional.
Thanks again,
Jim
great point jim…. you’re right. both are good examples of counter-intuitive approaches.
so, what did you come up with when you wrote this way?
Rich,
The approach of my Renegade Retirement Rescue site (under construction) is unconventional strategies for Boomers who have run out of time for conventional plans. It includes topics like “Take advantage of adverse changes” and “What is everyone else doing? Don’t do that.” I like “Cope with change by creating change”.
Jim
Rich,
This is an interesting approach but when I read a headline that seems “to good to be true” I’m skeptical right off the bat. Depending on the subject, I’ll probably discount the information as a scam and bypass it.
What is your take on that? Can you be too counter-intuitive, or is it based on the audience you are after?
it doesn’t have to be too good to be true… it has to be counter-intuitive. some might have that flavor… but ones like “self-help can will ruin your life” aren’t.
and with counter-intuitive ideas you should only use the ones you can back up with evidence and logic and persuasion.
hope that helps phil
Hi Rich,
Thanks for continuing this idea.
1 – Do you think you can pull this off?
Yes. And your posts are helping me see that I actually have the evidence I need to do it and also giving me the confidence I’ve needed to put it out there.
2 – Do you have a counter-intuitive example to share?
Yes. Here’s how I’m doing it.
I’m a playwright and copywriter who directs plays at a small all girls private school in Savannah.
I also teach occasional writing classes in the summer.
A few years ago I started hearing that the kids were getting super stressed out when they had to write essays.
That didn’t make much sense to me because almost all go to college.
So I started asking the kids questions about it and used surveys to collect my answers.
I added up their answers and they fell into different categories and what I started to see was that there were like 10 big problems they had when they had to write. So I did more surveys and asked the kids why they thought they had these problems. And they told me.
I asked teachers if what the kids were saying was true. The teachers said yes and told me why.
After awhile I noticed the 10 problems fell into 3 categories.
1. Lack of motivation (82% of the kids)
2. Lack of confidence (79%)
3. Lack of skills, tools and experience (66%)
From listening to the teachers, I realized that the educators were only addressing #3, and ignoring #1 and #2.
Yet without motivation and confidence, it doesn’t matter how good your skills are, right? Your writing will probably suck.
And the govt. makes teachers do #3 at all costs so everyone can be accountable which is stupid.
And helping kids get confidence and more motivated means you have to deal with more people individually and you can’t just mass teach essay writing. But most teachers don’t know how to do the motivation and confidence part because they aren’t writers.
So my counter intuitive approach was to create a simple question based, essay planning system that combined all 3 at once.
I’ve done it, tested it, fixed it, it works, it actually has raised grades in only one hour and I have put it into a little book and am ready to put it out there.
What I realized last week when you listed the 6 things to try and do, is that I’ve been constraining myself due to the fear of putting an idea like this out there, when it basically says that most educators are leaving out the two most important parts of the writing process and here’s how to do it.
3 – What am I missing?
How to get past the fear of a negative reaction when I rock the boat by pointing out the holes in the normal process that most educators follow, even though I can back up with evaluation results and testimonials that it works.
And offer a 100% money back guarantee for teacher training and big group presentations where I walk an auditorium full of kids through the 10 planning questions successfully.
I’m not afraid to get up and do it with people.
But I haven’t been brave enough to just say, ‘Hey, here are the 10 biggest problems teens tell me they have when they have to write essays, how they combine to sabotage writing scores, creative and critical thinking—and the secrets to solving them in 3 easy steps”
Which is basically the headline on my redone sales letter that I plan to start sending out in a couple of weeks.
My question for you is, “How did you get the courage to go against the normal way most people think and put your counter intuitive ideas out there. Your the master, how do you get over the hump?”
Thanks. These last few weeks have been invaluable.
Rick Goldman
P.S. I have a little content rich blog if any parents need help with their kids who resist writing. Might help copywriters too. It’s got lots of direct response stuff in it. Plan to start adding more soon.
http://www.GradeRaisingEssayWritingTips.wordpress.com
Yo Rich,
I’ve got a Google alert setup for new articles in my area of business. It pains me to get the alerts because everyone is droning the same garbage. PPC vs. SEO which one is better….blah, blah, blah
I just got off a meeting with a testing company, they were showing me some case studies doing the exact opposite of ‘best practices’. Like removing the opt-in box from the homepage of an e-commerce site, 15% increase in sales.
Trying it on another site didn’t do as well, so further proof things are so individual. I find stuff like that every day in PPC.
On an aside, I’m just getting into the Blueprint. Don’t want to get all teary eyed with you here, but I just cut out for an hour to hit some golfballs in the middle of the work day. First time I’ve done that. Plus no crushing guilt.
The Founder mindset allowed me to go out, enjoy the day, turn the phone off for an hour and….have fun. Probably does not equate to people reading this just how profound it was, but I think you get it. It’s been a year of hard as grind-it-out work, where letting off the gas felt like I was giving up ground.
Plus I’ve been working on the business in a completely new way outside, of just playing hooky, because of the Founders club & blueprint.
Just wanted to say thanks.
so happy to hear that paul. hopefully it was sunny out and you got some vitamin d too. being outside during the day always makes me happy – so i totally get what you mean.
on another note…
wait till you see the report we just uploaded yesterday. it also got sent out in the mail today. the team at SP is telling me it’s my best one yet – looking forward to hearing what you think of it.
Hey Rich,
Great post, and I like the 5 step break down.
I definitely will put this to use and think deeply about counter-intuitive concepts to address time management/productivity issues.
I did this video recently to direct people’s attention to their “environment” to get things done, not just technical tools, time management tips and stuff:
http://www.nahyaninc.com/02/t4t-where-you-at/
Wasn’t thinking about counter-intuitive, but few people got a different insight into it.
Take care
O and you mentioned in an earlier post to ask you about this:
What are some research areas/tools regarding time management and personal productivity; scientific research, new developments, best trainers/books etc.
Thanks,
Nahyan
Hi Rich, I’m Red, 16 yrs old from the Philippines. I want to purchase your Founder’s Club but I’m not sure if it’s for me cause I don’t have a business yet, I’m really really confused about where to start. I’m interested in real estate ( so much ) but don’t know how to leverage my ( book knowledge ) to use it in my internet marketing business. Please HELP!
I’d hate to break it to you kid, but if you’re from the Philippines, it’s going to be very hard to be successful. And you probably will never be rich. Most people in the Philippines are poor.
Hope this helps!
-Andy
Hi Red
Wow I wish I had the sense to ask for good advice when I was 16. You’ll do just fine. And good probability you’ll make yourself rich.
I’m prompted to respond to Andy’s comments because I believe them to be, well, wrong. I’m sure they are genuinely well intended as a “dose of reality”, and they are not an unreasonable generalisation.
But your question is about you making yourself rich, not everyone in the Philippines. And that, my friend, is up to you wherever you are.
If you’re a 16 year old smart enough to look for good advice – and you’ll get great advice right here – then you have every chance of making yourself rich.
The fact you’re in the Philippines means a lot less than it would have done even a few years ago. If you can earn your dollars online, then the cost of living where you are will make it a heck of a lot easier to save & reinvest.
Real estate – not my cup of tea, nor is it a likely place to start as a 16 year old; put it into your longer term plan. In the meantime, there arent any great shortcuts to riches except the one you’re already taking; looking for good advice from people who’ve already done it.
Because you’re only 16, don’t worry about getting rich quick; just learn, apply, get one level up, then repeat.
Good luck
Sean
HI Sean, thank you so much for your advice.
for Andy, you are such a BS person.
P.S. – Seriously, your a BS.
P.P.S. – Go home and eat burgers.
Hi Rich.
Good post, and thanks for picking up on the request to dig into this topic.
While JT’s point above isn’t wrong.. that the idea of writing something unconventional to capture attention, isn’t new.. the value of this post is how it breaks that process into steps that anyone can follow.
That helps me directly, and more importantly it helps me delegate the task.. which is something I genuinely struggle with when it comes to copywriting.
So, thanks; and keep it up.
All the best – Sean
Hi Rich,
Thanks for following up on our request for more depth on the counter-intuitive content idea. Brilliant stuff. I agree with Sean that the great thing in this post is the 5 step method you use to arrive at the content so we can adapt this to our own material. Because of your clear instructions I’m sure I’ll pull this off.
I appreciate that you’ve listened to your readers and given them more depth at their level!
Can’t thank you enough for the Founders Club. I’m ploughing my way through the webinars and the reports. There’s so much great material to apply.
Kind regards,
Carl
Rich,
I love the concept of counter-intuitive content. The best part about the concept however is the fact that very rarely is common sense very common and that’s why common educational concepts still sell (Like the continual revamped but age-old info in the self help industry). By simply rocking the boat and bobbing when every one else weaves you can hit a serious home run.
A couple of great examples of this for me:
1) Throw away the strategic binder and define your plan in one-page.
The idea that you can define your plan in one page, communicate it to your team and all be on the same page from an execution point of view seems naive. Bottom line is that many top companies have perfected the less is more attitude of capturing the strategic vision and executing it better with it captured in one-page than in the binder that sits on the shelf. Great example here http://stridestrategicoperations.com/onepage
2) To achieve more – stop setting goals!
The whole goal setting methodology taught by so many has created the mindset that in order to be seen as successful you have to set grandiose goals in areas of your life/business. Bottom line on this one is that success begets success and that momentum and guidance is the true secret weapon. Guidance from mentors, people who have done it before and your own creativity trumps ‘goal setting’. Achieve one thing you set out to and build on it.
Thanks for the post Rich!
Hi Rick
Reading your post has really lit a fire under me and made me realise that I need to re-think my approach somewhat.
Others have mentioned 4 hour work week & Rich Dad (and they’re both great), what about “The Secret”?
Not for everybody I know, but there you go.
Best Wishes
Mike
Zig while others zag is great advice that can’t be repeated often enough.
This blog post is boorrrringgg…
I think Rich is running out of good ideas…
Hey Rich, just thought I’d drop in, and say cool post. I love both four hour work Week, and Rich dad. Both books hav changed my life because they are so out of the box. I believe that one of the most zig when you should zag ways of thinking is the idea of paying yourself first because, when you only have so much cash coming in, and you have more bills than cash flow, it just sounds nuts. But let me just say that it works. Thanks for the reminder not to do things the same old way.
P.S, I also want to thank you for laying it out in a step by step format. i’ll try and use this for the benefit of my readers.
Note, one of the oldest thoughts of this ilk is the words of Christ, bless thoes that curse you. Just a thought, Teresa
Very nice post. Very interesting point of view as well. The idea is debatable and raises a lot of issues. The more that makes this post very interesting. Nice job.
another great one…i once wrote a counter intuitive post titled ..information is not power..i talked about why just knowing something is not power but acting on what you know is what brings the power…thanks for reminding…
You make a very strong point for using counter intuitive material and the more I think of it the more I like it. So I now have to sit down do the exercise and see what I come up with.
The step by step formula is much appreciated
I really appreciate the fact that sharing information on blog should be personalized. The one-on-one approach is what builds creditablity and lasting business relationships. This I feel brings the human touch to the internet. I am going to follow your advice and apply your suggested techniques. Thank You for your insight and sharing.
Thanks for the idea,
As a matter of a fact I do think
that I already did a post like that a few years ago
that might have gotten a lot more comments if I had titled it differently, back than I titled it:
‘Logic is overrated’,
See http://hpshappy.blogspot.com/2007/06/logic-is-over-rated.html
(Scrolling down a little – through the ‘Free Stuff’ and my little eBook – under the orange ‘Current Posts’ divider you can find this post.)
So it sould have had titled it something like:
‘Logic is useless’
(or something like that)
Come to think of it, I do think that my tiny little ebook
does cover a somewhat similar topic.
All the Best,
To your Happy Inspiration,
HP