The Trouble with Nets

A summer or so ago, I thought it would be great fun for the fam to head off on a 4 hour eco-kayaking tour.  We glopped on our 100+ SPF sunblock, headed out from our cottage, down the oyster shell paved road, and over to the outfitter for a day of exploring nature just off Florida’s Forgotten Coast.

After an hour plus paddle with my husband and the two surly teenagers in my party, we joined up with a family with two boys under ten on a sandbar in the middle of what I am pretty sure was Nowhere.  

It was here where the eco met the kayak tour.   

We were all assigned a bucket, a net, and a simple mission:

Cast a weighted net into the water and collect samples of sea creatures that were inhabiting a rather deep and wide tidal pool.  

Our guide illustrated the method for tossing the net that would yield the best results.  

Basically, you had throw the net with just the right hook so you could generate just enough centrifugal force to cause the weights to quickly close and catch whatever you were targeting in the water.  

“Simple enough,” I thought.

The young boys eagerly gathered up their nets and buckets and immediately started practicing their tossing technique.  

My teenaged girls also gathered up their nets and buckets and went off on their own…most likely to do something on the Snapchat or to take some sparrow-lipped selfies.

The four adults looked at each other and then got on with it.  

I kept tossing my net, only to watch it float briefly (and ineffectively) on the water’s glimmering surface just before sinking.

I tossed it again.  And again.  And again.

Same result.  I was not sticking the landing at all.  Couldn’t get a hook going to make my net snap shut.

Eventually, I noticed that everyone else was flinging their net out and hauling in their quarry while my bucket still stood empty.   

Casting my wide, flat net was getting me nowhere.

I see a lot of business owners making the same mistake with their sales messages.  

Over and over, they toss out wide, flat nets of copy that drift briefly… only to sink without hauling anything in.

Business owners who then watch their competitors fill their buckets with leads and new opportunities while their bucket stays empty.

Your wide net, no matter how many times you throw it, won’t catch anything.

The good news is, all it takes is a little modification and a good hook to get your net throwing, copywriting technique just right so you can start hauling ‘em in.

First, you have to know your audience, what matters to them, and how they talk about that when their guard is down.  If you haven’t done extensive research into what makes your ideal customer tick?  You’re always going to struggle to create marketing messages that make them sit up, take notice, and feel like you are speaking directly to their soul.  

A great way to do a little market research is with a tip I learned from Rachel Mazza.  Basically, imagine your customer’s most fundamental pain point and pop it into the Google as a long tail keyword search query.  

You’ll be amazed at all the places your client is pouring their heart out on the internet (and how they are basically writing your copy for you).  

Also, if they are taking the time to type those words into a search engine?  Chances are they are looking for something to do or to buy to make that pain go away.  

That’s where you come in, dear business owner.

Second, avoid words that sound great and mean nothing.  Or can mean everything.  Either way?  These phrases aren’t going to cast your net effectively.  Donald Miller of StoryBrand calls these “invisible” words.

I call them nothing burgers.  And no one will gladly pay you Wednesday for a nothing burger today.  

If what you are saying about your product or service could also be said about any other product or service you’ll want to edit out the eye-glazing marketer safe-words and get a little more authentic with your people.  Invisible words create an invisible impression with your prospects.  People don’t buy from businesses that wrap themselves up in a cloak of invisibility.

It might feel safer to describe what you do in non-committal terms but when you won’t commit fully and clearly to what you do and how you do it, neither will your audience.

And that brings us to the last part of effective net casting…the all-important hook. 

It’s what takes your net and turns it into an effective tool.

The hook is story.  It’s a shared language that our human brains are hard-wired to connect to and story is how we work through new information, abstract concepts, and offers. And, as it relates to marketing, story helps us to make the decision to buy now, buy later, or bye-bye.  

Everything that happens to you or around you is an opportunity to give your audience something relatable that potentially makes your product or service exquisitely irresistible to them.  Or makes someone hit reply and tell you how you made their day or made them feel heard for the first time.  With good hooks, you’ll either be making sales or building relationships.  

Either outcome is excellent for the bottom line of your business.  

So go on, you.  Get out there.  Look for moments in your everyday life that can create the stories that are the hook for connecting you with your perfect people.

Now you have some great tips to help you cast your net upon the waters with the perfect hook so it spins out decisively, effectively, and starts filling your bucket with the right opportunities.