Frank Giovinazzi

“How-to” is a promise you are making to the customer.

Yes, it is a mechanism that tells them how they are going to get the fabulous benefit, as In How to Win Friends and Influence People.

“How-to” is also a signal of secret knowledge. It can be simple as in How to unclog the kitchen sink, which I searched for over the holiday.

So now you are promising me that you know something extremely specific that is going to solve my problem.

“How-to” also says to the customer that you are an authority. You can be trusted.

It also promises a short-cut, an advantage, an ease to my stress and in the case of get-rich programs, greed.

It is also explicit. There is no beating around the bush with fanciful naming. “How-to” tells you what is going to happen.

So it is also exclusionary. That is, for people who do not have a clogged kitchen sink, your YouTube video has no appeal to them. So you are going after a specific market when you use “How-to”.

So “How-to” says a lot to the customer. It is a sturdy way to name a product or title content.

But I think what we as business owners need to keep in mind is that “How-to” is a promise. If you keep it, you are golden in the customer’s eyes. If you don’t you are a scourge.

Making a promise is sacred. The customer doesn’t think like that at the top of their mind but when you burn them it leaves a nasty residue.

So I could have titled this section, “How to delight customers and avoid being a scourge in their life.”

That headline is a joke of course.

But maybe it’s not – now that I am thinking and typing maybe I’ll make a habit of using links that lead to other, interesting articles in the Premium section..

Anyway, cliffhangers can be adapted for your business. All you have to do is tease something in the future. You may want to add how happy you are to have their business today and can’t wait to share this new information with them. Or maybe you can relate it to the seasons or the holidays, such as DON’T MISS OUR ANNUAL BEAT THE WINTER BLUES CHAKRA CLEANING.

Or, in the case of something like the old Kiplinger’s letter, something like, NEXT WEEK WE DISSECT THE NEW COVID RELIEF BILL AND HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR TAXES.

Or, SIGN YOUR CHILD UP NOW AND THEY WILL BE PERFORMING IN OUR SPRING RECITAL!

Or, THIS MONTH WE COVERED LINKEDIN AND HOPE YOU ARE GROWING YOUR NETWORK. NEXT MONTH WE DIVE INTO LEVERAGING INSTAGRAM TO BUILD YOUR FITNESS EMPIRE!

Or, WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED PART 1 OF OUR SERIES ON ESTATE PLANNING. IN PART 2, WE DISCUSS HOW THE NEW CONGRESS MIGHT ENDANGER YOUR LEGACY.

The best cliffhangers combine uncertainty and the promised payoff of revealing the future.

This is a situation where they lead you up to a big planetary situation, let’s say in December. And you read daily or log in to read the monthly update with the INSIDE INFORMATION. All the while you can’t wait to get to December because after that big alignment it’s going to be smooth sailing.

No no no.

Because once December rolls around they start previewing the absolutely devastating, or glorious, thing that’s going to happen in May of the following year.

What’s even better for business is that typically there is a mix of big BAD and big GOOD things on the horizon. Things that you absolutely have to know about and be prepared for because astrology is all about living life under the covers.

Bottom line, astrologers use cliffhangers. There is always something new coming down the cosmic pike. It will be big it will be beautiful and it will absolutely transform your life. And I can’t wait to tell you about it! All in good time, dear reader. Oh and by the way there was a problem with your credit card I don’t do the technology side of the business but please sort it out with accounts receivable because I would hate for you to miss what happens next! You’re bound to love it!

Related: How do astrologers sell monthly subscriptions? (frankgiovinazzi.com)

The astrology business is simple. It’s appeal is to people who want to know the future. The emotional triggers are in the customer not the stars.

People are afraid. They want certainty. They want guidance or advice. They want to be consoled. They want to be warned of trouble. They want to be encouraged. They want to know that their inadequacy is not their fault. They want to explain away their failures.

This is all done through the mystical art of planetary positions and movement. A fancy way to say that your life is fated and you do not possess free will. But that last sentence is an ugly statement. Astrology is warm and furry.

So the business model is to hook people predisposed to this message on free. Usually in the form of daily horoscopes available all over the internet at websites and YouTube.

But free doesn’t pay so astrologers have two usual offers:

1. A personalized reading based on your time of birth. This reading usually includes a look into the near future, along with an explanation of your previous failures where the fault was in the stars and definitely not you. But his product is of limited utility to the astrology entrepreneur because it is time intensive and a one-off.
2. Recurring income, usually in the form of monthly subscriptions. In the olden days these were mailed to you but now a couple astrologers have apps and membership software enabled websites where all you have to do is sign up and you get access to PREMIUM information the astrologer has interpreted from the stars.

So again, how do they keep their customers hooked on paying for a monthly subscription?

It all comes down to a single device. You are familiar with it from televised entertainment, where the season finale is a CLIFFHANGER.

There is a car accident let’s say and someone is dead but you don’t know who! Or one of the most famous in TV history, who shot J.R. Ewing.

Cliffhangers may be even more important in the era of binge-watching, because how do producers get people to sit through 12 hours of story at a shot? They use cliffhangers within episodes as well at the end of each segment, to ensure you click “watch next episode.”

Read more: Astrologers have a tool even more effective. I call it the COSMIC CLIFFHANGER. (frankgiovinazzi.com)

I started this magazine to make money.

I hope if anyone asks you why you started your business you give the same answer. It will light up the right room. In the wrong room it will tell you exactly what you need to know.

Now that I am under sail I am looking at and thinking about the competition – which is any and all business publications.

A couple have gotten big on the Internet, older pubs of print origin are running listicles and hoping for a Chinese buyer to come along.

But what are they publishing? Stories of how big companies have gotten, billion-dollar IPOs and the indulgent fetishes of very rich people who have already had success.

It’s business porn. Running articles announcing new products is fellatio. Talking about YouTubers and Instagrammers is pandering for clicks. Some of my favorites have been the coverage of clearly fraudulent or illegal enterprises as “covering what’s happening in business.” They loved Theranos and Uber and AirBnB and WeWork. Until the first and last of those imploded and then they were on their carcasses like scavengers.

None of it helps me sell books or magazine subscriptions. None of it teaches me anything except that I should sit and click through about billionaires and disruption.

If you understand what you’re reading it’s also about idolizing business people universally because they came up with one good idea. And when business publications aid in idolatry they are conspirators in the eventual meltdown that occurs through fraud, criminality and the eventually revealed incompetence. A meltdown that typically burns employees, investors, suppliers and customers.

So the best thing I can say to you is don’t do business porn. It doesn’t help. At the least it keeps you from what you’re supposed to be doing and worse, it puts you on a path to trying to be like other businesses whose main product is sketchy. Yes, business porn is good for cautionary tales. But they usually only come after a couple years of fawning coverage of some genius who turned out to be a lunatic.

Business is a sport you get to play. The business pubs that are out there are like fantasy football where you can only pretend to play.

So I say let’s play and to do so let’s look at a case study:

How do astrologers sell monthly subscriptions? (frankgiovinazzi.com)

Astrologers have a tool even more effective. I call it the COSMIC CLIFFHANGER. (frankgiovinazzi.com)