Vincent NG
Become a Master Pick Up Artist in Marketing
Welcome to our Valentine’s Day edition of MCNG’s marketing blog…we’re going to talk about sex, picking up women, and marketing. Hold on to your chairs for a little bit of everything.
If you’ve never heard of Neil Strauss, then there’s a really big chances that you’ve probably walked by one of his books. The most infamous book, and the one that gets stolen from bookstores most often is his book, The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.
The book details the best selling author’s journey into the world of seduction, sex, women, and…oddly enough marketing. Most people wouldn’t see it that way, but in my past life I worked as a dating coach, and I’ve seen the amazing ways that professional pick up artist make money, some in the millions.
The world of PUA (Pick Up Artists) is a fascinating one, not only because of the funny and tantalizing stories that go on that would make 50 Shades of Grey blush, but because there was a lot that this industry did right in becoming a secret powerhouse in the dating industry. Here’s what I learned from the industry that is applicable to today’s marketing.
1) Be Really Good At What You Do and Provide Free Education
The world of PUA started on forums where guys with aliases would talk and give each other advice on what worked and what didn’t work when it came to picking up women. They were all supporting each other (there were some trolls), and those that gave great advice, and were able to break down picking up women to a science soon became kings of content and formed their own tribes.
They were providing great and unique content to an individual level. These experts provided case studies, and like science, other people were soon able to replicate similar results.
Many weren’t an overnight success, and some put in months of continuous hard work to be great at what they do. To be a true leader in your community takes commitment, time and detailed advice that you’re just willing to give up will go a long way. These guys got that content was king before it became a cliche.
2) Create Seminars and Workshops
What became revolutionary in the pick up world was pick up artists started holding workshops and seminars about their pick up techniques and strategies. Men were exchanging hundreds of dollars, now in the present day, thousands, to be able to talk to women with confidence and, pardon the expression, get laid.
Men were flying from all over North America from one coast to another to learn how to pick up women live. They were getting real time feedback and soon the industry started to blossom and soon from different pick up schools sprouted from San Francisco, to New York, and yes even in my hometown Vancouver.
When you have built a community around you, this is a great time to offer workshops and seminars. If you’re good at what you do, then you can charge at the very start, if not, then you’ll need to offer free workshops and seminars to your targeted audience.
Seminars are an incredibly amazing way to build your business.
3) Start Using Video Testimonials and Live Film
Long before YouTube became the revolutionary rage it is now, PUA’s were using video to offer feedback to students and to use video of other students as case studies. But they were also using video to show what kind of results that “geeks” and unattractive men were getting. Seeing was believing. What made the videos especially interesting was that most of the content was genuine.
They were also showing clips of what they were teaching at their seminars and giving teasers. Offering enough information to hook people in and creating an emotional tension needed to move the potential customer forward to a buying mindset.
4) Create E-books and Landing Pages
In order to grow their list of leads, and potential market to sell future products, professional pick up artists and dating coaches created short e-books that provided content to lure people to sign up for e-mails through landing pages. This practice is still happening today with Hubspot and many marketing companies. By writing e-books on the major problems that men were having with talking to women they were able to amass lists of thousands.
The e-books would often focus on the toughest problems, such as how to talk approach strangers with opening lines, or how to ask for a number, and several books were created for each stage of a problem that men were likely to run into to capture a large funnel of prospects.
5) Create Podcasts and Audio Material
Professional pick up artists that were successful were notorious marketers when it came to creating marketing material. They created podcasts and CD series that were similar to the way Tony Robbins did for his professional programs.
Many of the PUA’s knew that many customers weren’t going to spend the thousands of dollars on workshops, but would buy the products because they were much cheaper. Workshops would go for the thousands while programs would be in the low hundreds.
They were aiming for products that appealed to a wide economic range and did so quite successfully.
6)They Learned to Copywrite
What’s interesting about Internet marketing is that people really get annoyed about long copy. You know those websites you visit that are selling products that seem to go on and on forever. The logic behind that is because they can’t see you face to face, and so they need to sell the product to you with as much information as possible.
The goal of the long copywrite is to answer as many questions about the book or audio content being sold so that the customer feel that they are getting their value. The more expensive the product or service, the longer the copywrite should be is the general rule. This should also be interjected with, BUY NOW, buttons intermittently so that you capture their sales at the moments the person is ready to buy.
Long copywrite is the same as direct mail. Good conversion rates should be about 3% of new visitors. The more expensive your product is, and the less relationship building you do with your customers, the longer the copywrite should be.
However with the proliferation of content creation, more and more marketers are relying on relationship building to sell products.
7) Build Relationships
PUA’s that got along together often helped each other, not only in picking up women, but also in business. They would offer guest posts and newsletters, and create affiliate programs that would cross sell each others’ programs. Why just build your own audience when you can build two of them?
A big lesson is also to be careful who you build relationships with. What has become notorious in the PUA industry is how much bad blood is spilled due to egos and uncompromising views. Which is why many of left the industry over the years, including myself.
For me, a good marketing campaign is more exciting than picking up a beautiful woman. Just don’t tell my girlfriend that.
For more information on how to create an amazing online marketing campaign, contact us at MCNG Marketing. We’ll also be starting a series of podcasts called, Revolutionary Marketing. Keep your ears open for some interesting stories in the advertising and marketing business.
