my hot take on creating value, goodwill & reciprocity

Happy Friday and 4th of July 🤘

One my favorite techniques for coming up with hooks, angles and messaging that resonates is by spotlighting a controversial opinion.

You see, when you come out against mainstream wisdom…

And can make a strong logical argument for why you’re right…

It’s almost impossible for people to resist.

Case in point:

I’ve added thousands of buyers to my list from an ad that comes out against “delivering value.”

Despite all the angry comments I get on it…

That angle has been a goldmine for me.

Now, here’s the catch…

I still believe in the principles of creating goodwill and reciprocity.

Two things content junkies love to go on about.

I just don’t believe you can do either one effectively with free content.

Because when the person on the receiving end hasn’t paid anything for it…

One end of the value equation is blank.

It’s not anchored to anything.

So how can they possibly make a judgement on what it’s worth?

It’s kinda like dividing by zero.

Only once you’ve paid something can you truly decide whether what you got in exchange for it was worth it or not.

Does that make sense?

I hope so.

Because when you charge money for something, whether it’s a book, course, gadget, service, or anything else…

Then massively OVERDELIVER on it…

This does create goodwill with customers…

And triggers the kind of reciprocity that leads them to buy other stuff from you.

(My book is proof of this.)

It’s just the “give it away for free” part that most coaches, experts & course creators get wrong.

That’s the missing ingredient that gets the whole flywheel spinning.

Anyhow, hopefully this resonates with you.

Have a great weekend :)

Jim Hamilton