🖐 Happy 40 hours to Friday!

Issue #58 is a 3.0-minute read.

1 big topic: The travel secret they don’t talk about

🛩 Thursday, when I was waiting for 18 minutes in the cramped virus they call the jet bridge, I had an insight about products.

When you fly, the main product is the plane ride.

You pay for fast travel, and you expect a comfy trip.

What you get is a Navy SEAL obstacle course.

Lurch to the right at the cabin door and slink by the smelly galley.

Crawl through ‘I wish’ first class. Avoid eye contact with those people.

Shuffle sideways for 24 yards down the inch-wide aisle of the cattle stalls in coach.

Dodge the 338 lb. trunks falling from overhead.

Then, you see it.

OMG! The window seat!

You need a PhD in Cirque du Soleil.

Leap the armrests, twist over two passengers, and land in your 6 x 4 inch stall.

Inhale jet fumes for 43 minutes on the 121-degree tarmac.

Get a nasty headache, and swear the next time you’ll drive.

The secondary product is the airport.

They used to be smoky, bland, and dangerous.

Today, they’re smoke-free, safe, and roomy with 5-star lounges, shopping, and dining.

That’s the secret problem!

Airlines woo you on the secondary product that’s free to visit and screw you on the primary product you bought.

😕 Avoid this!

When you run a business, you have to…

Give Your Clients a First Class Primary and Secondary Product

Your Primary Product

• Gives a fast solution
  

• Over delivers a positive result
  

• No pain in the a%! issues
  

Ex:

• A simple, fill-in-the-blank template that gives you brilliant copy for your home page
  

• An easy-to-follow video lesson that shows you exactly how to use QuickBooks to build A+ financial reports
  

Your Secondary Product

• A stunning waiting area; namely, your website
  

• The right colors, design and flow
  

• Sets a mood that pleases and entices
  

• Loads fast with no delays
  

• Copy makes your customers say, “Love it, gotta have it.”
  

Ex:

Check out Stripe’s HOME page and Laura Belgray’s ABOUT page:

🔑 Your Takeaway: 

Give the world your first-class primary and secondary product:

A comfy, 5-star website with hassle-free, easy-to-use solutions that fix a big, nasty problem.

PS: My seatmate on the flight spilled Diet Coke across my lap.

Thank God the gourmet lemon crepe and sinful espresso I inhaled in the airport lounge put me in a “no worries” mood.

1 fun idea: Let Paul Simon and Your Internal Clock Shape Your Day

So, it’s 3:00 am, and my phone alarm ignites with Paul Simon going to Graceland.

Neither Paul nor the phone know I’m on vacay on the West Coast.

Vacay = more sleep, so I return to Blanketville.

Then I remember what a crafty professor once told me.

“Train your body to jive with your internal clock. Let it tell you when to work and when to sleep.”

My internal clock knows I’m awesome from 6 am to 1:00 pm E.S.T. and pretty useless thereafter.

It’s always time for coffee, so I get up and find the 24-hour hotel diner.

I hate sitting in booths alone. I hit the counter.

☕️ “Coffee?” she asks.

“Please,” I say, without looking up from Wordle on my phone.

She pours.

“Thanks.”

Working on my awkward introvert issues, I ask if her shift is going okay.

“I’m done in 10 minutes,” she answers, resting the coffee pot on the burner.

“Then I go to the hospital for my second job at 5:00 am.”

“Second job?”

30 minutes and 3 cups of so-so coffee later, I know that Cindy, my server, loves talking to people. 

She dreams of starting a podcast for single parents about raising kids on too little money and too much stress.

She’s dying to tell her micromanaging bosses to “Go f-themselves,” and make money on her terms.

She wants to give her kids more quality time and take them to the Eiffel Tower.

Cindy puts up with my 17 consulting questions.

I give her space to talk about what she loves and fears about starting a solo business.

Easily one of the most interesting, helpful, and hopeful chats I’ve had at 3:15 am in a diner.

⭐️ See how easy it can be to learn about what your audience wants, feels, and fears?

All you have to do is let your internal clock shape your day.

You get a priceless chance to meet and support kind, energetic people who chase their dream.

That’s the heart of your business.

📢 This week, a subscriber couple asked me to celebrate their hometown. London! 

Here you go.

Until next Wednesday, stay curious and keep opening doors.

-Erik

P.P.S. If you dream of getting to $150K of sales, let’s do it!

When you’re set, here’s your custom, 90-minute consulting session to bring you there. Faster.