Show, don't tell

[Andy Black]

Show, don't tell
(Originally posted here.)

Years ago I was on a Local Enterprise Course in County Kildare with other business owners.

I got talking to two brothers who ran a Private Investigators firm.

They were interested in learning more about AdWords and we arranged to meet in a local hotel for coffee.

I arrived early so flipped open my laptop and logged into one of my own AdWords accounts.

I bid on keyword "private investigators kildare" and created an ad linking to their site.

They turned up and we started chatting.

I asked them to put themselves in the shoes of someone in Kildare who wanted to find a private investigator.

"What would you do if you wanted to find a private investigator in Kildare?"

"What would you search for if you wanted to find a private investigator in Kildare?"

I asked them to do the search on their laptop.

They were delighted to see an ad for their site on the top of Google.

One of the brothers sat back and looked at me smiling. "That was clever" he said, slowly nodding.

They were one of my first clients.

​

Show, don't tell​

 

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[Scot]

Show, don't tell.
(Originally posted here.)

Years ago I was on a Local Enterprise Course in County Kildare with other business owners.

I got talking to two brothers who ran a Private Investigators firm.

They were interested in learning more about AdWords and we arranged to meet in a local hotel for coffee.

I arrived early so flipped open my laptop and logged into one of my own AdWords accounts.

I bid on keyword "private investigators kildare" and created an ad linking to their site.

They turned up and we started chatting.

I asked them to put themselves in the shoes of someone in Kildare who wanted to find a private investigator.

"What would you do?"

"What would you search for?"

I asked them to do the search on their laptop.

​

Show, don't tell.​

Brilliant!

 

[The-J]

SEO? Never heard of it

 

[Andy Black]

"Show, don't tell." is great sales advice.



Here's a couple of other things from the story above:


1) "Give to receive."

I provided value first.

I didn't ask their permission to create the ad.

I didn't ask for payment before I created the ad.

They signed up on the spot as a client.

One of the brothers even sat back and looked at me with a smile on his face while he slowly nodded.

"That was clever" he said.



Is it really though?

"Give to receive."

Where have we heard that before?

Do you think it will it make you stand out?

Can you give first, without expectation of receiving anything back?





2) "Tell me what you've done, and I'll tell you who you are."

This is one of my all-time favourite lines!


It's not "Tell me what you want."

It's not "Tell me your dreams."

It's not "Tell me what you're going to do."


No, it's "Tell me what you've DONE, and I'll tell you who you are."

You can't escape that question.

What have you DONE?

What will you say next week when you're asked that?

I closed the sale because we talked about what I'd DONE.

 

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[ApparentHorizon]

I bid on keyword "private investigators kildare" and created an ad linking to their site.

I asked them to do the search on their laptop.

I've never hear of anyone doing this since one of my late mentors.

He said, "NEVER make a bet you can't win, and NEVER ask a question you don't know or can't find the answer to."

 

[tflfguy]

Sweet technique, Andy... I'm going to try this out - thanks for sharing!

 

[Andy Black]

In case you didn't notice...

When I closed this sale I didn't need a business card, a logo, a website, or a portfolio of past clients.

To even get the meeting with the two brothers I just announced to the group on the course that I "did those wee ads on Google".

I didn't need to be an expert, I didn't need a certificate, and I didn't need to go on a course beforehand.

Just saying.

 

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[TheDillon__]

I didn't need to go on a course beforehand.

Just saying.

Cheers.

 

[Wolfman]

In case you didn't notice...

When I closed this sale I didn't need a business card, a logo, a website, or a portfolio of past clients.

To even get the meeting with the two brothers I just announced to the group on the course that I "did those wee ads on Google".

I didn't need to be an expert, I didn't need a certificate, and I didn't need to go on a course beforehand.

Just saying.

Hi Andy, I just started following your threads and I want to say thanks for posting them. Was the bidding on the keyword hard/expensive? Greg

 

[Andy Black]

Hi Andy, I just started following your threads and I want to say thanks for posting them. Was the bidding on the keyword hard/expensive? Greg

Thanks for your kind words. Hope it all helps.

Bidding was simple... I knew what they were going to type in.

Was it expensive for what I was doing? I probably only showed for their search anyway, and they didn’t even click on the ad - they didn’t need to, they sat back when they saw the ad.


(BTW... Ads only cost too much when you don’t earn enough from them.)

 

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[Wolfman]

Thanks for your kind words. Hope it all helps.

Bidding was simple... I knew what they were going to type in.

Was it expensive for what I was doing? I probably only showed for their search anyway, and they didn’t even click on the ad - they didn’t need to, they sat back when they saw the ad.


(BTW... Ads only cost too much when you don’t earn enough from them.)

That is a great point. (Which should be obvious even to a newbie like me.) Thanks, Greg

 

[Andy Black]

“Show, don’t tell” works especially well if you’re an expert.

You don’t tell people you’re an expert, you just show it.

 

[PabloBlanco]

... I didn't need a certificate, and I didn't need to go on a course beforehand.
Just saying.

Excellent input and a great demonstration of it being put into play -thanks @Andy Black . On reading the posts of many excellent contributors and incredibly informative threads here, I'm almost ready to launch my next business.

 

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[Bhanu]

Wow ...thanks for this golden words ...'show dont tell '.
Need to add them to my business model for sure .
Thanks !!!