Only if you wanna write powerful marketing copy...

How do you feel about spiders?

How about spiders, say, larger than a quarter?

And what if they sort of...sneak up on you?

(Hint: if you see one, you won't have anytime to think about your answers to these questions. You'll be reacting - and fast.)

I found myself in that situation today. Right in the comfort of my own back yard.

I'll explain...

When we moved into our new house this fall, there was a large pile of bricks in the middle of the backyard. It's about 3 feet wide, two feet high, 3 feet long...Anyway.

As you could've guessed, two little boys want nothing more than to climb the bricks, throw the bricks, and try to smash things with the bricks. So the bricks had to move.

And as I was gradually moving the pile to the side of the house today, I was surprised by not 1, not 2, but 3 massive hairy spiders who seemed to brazenly stare at me like: just whose backyard do you think this is, buddy?

On the first sighting, I jumped back a solid twelve inches from a kneeling position. Could not replicate the maneuver under normal circumstances.

Eventually, I smashed all three of them with rocks. You can save your complaints. No way I was allowing those eight-legged predators get out of the situation alive.

But the point of the story is this:

FEAR is powerful. It demands all of your attention. If you're afraid, you're present. There's no being distracted while you're completely scared s#!*less.

That actually makes it one of the most powerful emotions that you can illicit in your marketing messages. And yes, you can do this in an ethical way. Believe it or not, it has to do with empathy.

Right now, educators, parents, and school leaders are definitely scared for a variety of reasons. I'm not suggesting that you manipulate them based on the fears that they have. That would be unethical and would not pass the well-oiled BS-detectors of many in the education world.

However, you can still show that you understand the experience of these people by empathizing with their fear. When you admit you're scared, or you show someone that it's ok to be scared, it opens up a path to vulnerability. And that is how you can make a connection with someone who might need your help.

I believe that if your education product or service effectively solves a problem, and you have a high degree of certainty that your prospect has the problem and will be helped by your solution, then you have an ethical obligation to effectively sell it to them.

Just don't use spiders. That won't end well.

Thanks for reading,

Gerard Dawson