Semper Fi (always faithful)

I was watching a rerun of “Full Metal Jacket” on cable this weekend, and one of the things I that struck me, which I’d never considered before, is why the military is so effective.

It’s because they do everything with a sense of urgency.

Soldiers don’t just slowly wake up in the morning and rub the crust out of their eyes as they’re getting adjusted to the daylight — they JUMP out of bed like someone’s shoved a fire cracker up their rear ends.

They don’t casually do their fitness routines and weapons training, they train quite deliberately, as if their lives literally depend on it (which in fact, is true).

In other words, they have a good reason to take massive action in the here and now.

This reason is, it’s what’s expected of them by their superiors, and the consequences and humiliation of not moving fast are also applied swiftly and seriously.

But you see, things have to be run this way, or else there’d be no progress. As Duke Ellington once said, “Without a deadline baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.”

And this is something most people forget about when it comes to their marketing. Most ads lack a compelling reason your prospects should take action NOW, not later.

And this kills you. Because getting someone to take action is very difficult, in spite of what you might like to believe. And without creating this same military-like sense of urgency in your marketing, you’re facing an uphill battle. It’s you against your prospect’s inertia.

You simply must have a compelling offer that makes your prospects salivate in some way, and you’ve got to create a sense of urgency (using consequences, the same way the military does), to overcome your buyers inherent lethargy and skepticism.

“Been in business 25 years” doesn’t do this, and neither does “Call 555-1212 today.”

If the military said “I urge you to get up early tomorrow so you can accomplish a lot,” rest assured everyone would sleep in.

So wake your prospects up and give them a reason to get moving and they will. Let them sleep in, and they’ll do this, as well.

Semper fi, baby… Semper fi.

Now go sell something, Craig

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