Few weeks back, I caught a portion of a MrBeast interview.
MrBeast, for the unacquainted, is mayhap the most popular individual YouTuber of all time. He gives away a literal fvckton of moolah to make videos on YouTube, he’s branching out into the fast food bidness, and he has a whole lot of other accomplishments that I didn’t bother to google, but if’n you feel inclined, I ain’t gonna stop you.
Anywho…
In said interview, MrBeast stumbled upon a timeless copywriting lesson.
Checky:
Like I said, MrBeast pays for his views. Literally. He’s gifted out—and I’m not kidding here—around a billion dollars. Yes, with a big ol’ fat B. Many of his videos put people into random competitions for big cash prizes.
Well, there came a certain point in MrBeast’s YouTube growth that he had a counterintuitive realization:
If he gave away too much money, people thought it was fake.
In fact, he’s a rabid tester (lesson in there) and he and his team realized that if he gave away more than $100,000 in a video and put that number in the YouTube title, then the YouTube populace would flood his comment section calling him a scammer.
If he stayed at $100,000 (or lower) he didn’t receive the scammer comments. Or at least, not nearly as much.
Now here’s the rub:
MrBeast has never faked anything. I think he’s even given $1M on a video.
But that doesn't matter.
Why?
$100,000 sounds way more believable than $1M.
And therein lies our lesson:
This is the same reason why over-the-top hype-y copy backfires. It’s why clickbait backfires (even if, like in MrBeast’s case, it’s *not* clickbait). And, on the flip side, it’s why “making the skeleton dance” as Ben Settle teaches works like gangbusters.
You need to be believable to gain trust. And you need trust to gain a sale.
Ponder this, ye hear, next time you wanna go over-the-top with your copy.
Now, onto business:
If you’re not making at least 30% of your revenue from email, I can help.
Mayhap a lot more. Mayhap not.
But we’ll never know until you hit reply, we jump on a call to see if we’re a good fit, and, if we are, work together.
John
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