Big Idea Book

HOW TO FIND YOUR
BIG MARKETING IDEA
Standout & Grab Attention

With Your Marketing Message
In A Crowded Marketplace
By Todd Brown
Copyright © Todd Brown
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced

or used in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the copyright owner and publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2018
ISBN 978-0-578-20040-8
www.MarketingFunnelAutomation.com
How To Find Your Big Marketing Idea
Preface
In early 2006 I was given a twenty-five page

document that has since been worth several million dollars
to me personally. And has been worth tens of millions to my
clients and students.
What this document revealed I had never seen

before in any of the marketing courses, books, or trainings I
had invested in. And, believe me, I invested in a lot!
Thanks to what I found inside this document — and

a handful of additional meetings about it — my income
catapulted, my reputation soared and swept across the
marketing industry, and… more importantly… the profits
generated by the new marketing campaigns I set-up went
through the roof. The entire game had changed for me.
Prior to 2006, or what I like to refer to as B.D. —

Before Document — my story was fairly consistent with
most decently successful online entrepreneurs.
I had marketed and sold a variety of products. Put

up landing pages and sales pages. Had a few email
autoresponder sequences set up. And was generating
between ten to twelve thousand dollars a month. Sometimes
more. Sometimes less.
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And, of course, I was consistently buying something

new every month — a new marketing course or training or
something — searching for the one “magic bullet” to help
me produce more profitable marketing.
But, I could never seem to breakthrough to what I

considered the “big money”.
What I was hunting for at the time was the secret to

cracking the $100,000.00 a month sales mark. The sought-
after one million dollar a year business.
But no matter what I bought… no matter what I

learned… and no matter what I tried… I could never seem to
make it happen.
Until I was given that document!
It was the first time I was introduced to Mark Ford.

You may know Mark under his pen name, Michael
Masterson.
Mark has written over a dozen books on

entrepreneurship, personal productivity, and wealth
building. Three of which were New York Times and Wall
Street Journal bestsellers. He’s been the mastermind
behind the development of dozens of multimillion-dollar
businesses, including Agora Inc., a direct response
publishing company whose annual revenues now surpass
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the billion dollar mark. He’s trained some of the highest

paid advertising copywriters in the world. And, on the rare
occasion when he takes on a private mentoring or
consulting client, he commands a hefty up-front fee in the
tens of thousands and a performance royalty of one million
dollars.
So, whenever I was lucky enough to get around

Mark… and he spoke about marketing or business… I
listened. Intently.
We were introduced by my good buddy, and then

business partner at Strategic Profits, Rich Schefren.
At the time, our Strategic Profits offices — in

Downtown Delray Beach, Florida — were right around the
corner from the popular cigar bar and lounge Cigar
Connoisseur.
For whatever reason, Cigar Connoisseur was a

hotspot for local, established copywriters, marketers,
entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists. I have no idea why.
But, it seemed like dozens of meetings,

brainstorming sessions, and even multi-million-dollar joint
venture deals were brokered and took place there on a
weekly basis.
And, at least once a week it’s where you’d find
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Mark… sitting at the bar… smoking a Padron 1926 Serie…

sipping on some Patron Silver tequila on the rocks…
pecking away on his laptop. Usually, working on either a
new book or an essay for one of his newsletters.
On this particular night, Rich and I were sitting a

couple of stools over from Mark with a couple of empty
seats separating us. Rich and I were discussing what we saw
as the commonalities in the most profitable advertising
promotions and marketing campaigns, that we didn’t see in
the average, typical campaigns.
That’s when Mark — having obviously overheard our

conversation — stopped typing, picked up his head, and
looked over at us and said:
“Most if not all of the stuff you guys are talking

about is only marginally responsible for the really big
winners. It’s the stuff entrepreneurs and marketers are
taught to focus on. But, it’s not what makes an advertising
promotion a grand-slam home run. Do you guys want to
know what is chiefly responsible for making the big
winners the big winners?”
“Yeah, definitely. Please!”, Rich and I both

responded in unison.
And… so… Mark began to explain to us…
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The Real Secret Behind The Biggest, Most

Profitable Marketing Campaigns Ever Created!
He said it was the true secret behind how many of

the biggest direct response companies and entrepreneurs
are able to produce millions of dollars from their marketing
promotions.
And… that… it was the one single thing which has

created more millionaires and multi-millionaires in direct-
response-driven businesses than any other single strategy
or tactic.
And… that… if we really, truly wanted to make the

“big money”… we needed to learn it, master it, and
implement it with every marketing campaign we rolled out.
He even recommended we download (from a private

website) a little twenty-five page report written by one of his
— now wealthy — proteges, if we wanted to learn more.
Which, of course, I downloaded immediately when I got
home that night.
And it was downloading and devouring that little

report… and, of course, having that first discussion with
Mark… that was the genesis of my six-year journey into
learning and mastering how to harness…
The Incredible Sales Generating Power Of
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“The Big Marketing Idea”
Over the course of the next six years, I went on a

life-changing exploration… investing well over 1500 hours…
researching and studying the “Big Marketing Idea”.
I went through and analyzed everything I could get

my hands on about it. Even going as far as to scrutinize and
dissect over 92 individual million-dollar-plus marketing
campaigns and sales promotions. (I won’t even tell you
what I had to go through to get those, let alone go over
every detail of them with a fine tooth comb.)
I questioned every top advertising copywriter I could

get access to… including, Mike Palmer, the guy who wrote
the End Of America — the most successful marketing
promotion ever to come out of the financial newsletter
publishing industry.
And, as I routinely saw Mark over those next six

years at Cigar Connoisseur, I picked his brain relentlessly
about the “Big Marketing Idea”.
I fired dozens of questions at him like: how is a “Big

Marketing Idea” discovered, how do you know when you
have a “Big Marketing Idea”, how do you turn ordinary
marketing ideas into “Big Marketing Ideas”, how do you
communicate the “Big Marketing Idea” throughout a
marketing campaign, how do you know when you’ve chosen
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the correct “Big Marketing Idea”, and on and on.
And… frankly… it was…
The Most Profitable And Eye-Opening

Journey Of My Life!
Now, look: Before going any further, I need to make

sure you understand something. This is critical. So, please
pay close attention.
When I say “Big Marketing Idea”… I’m NOT talking

about the typical marketing “hook”, “promise”, “premise”,
“theme, or “benefit-driven headline”. Nor am I talking
about the “idea” behind your product, your Unique Selling
Proposition, your positioning statement, or your string of
marketing claims.
No. Those are all valuable. Sure. And those are all
taught by most marketing experts. Absolutely. As they
should be.
But… as you’re about to discover… those are not

responsible for why some marketing campaigns produce
millions a year while most others don’t even come close.
Those, in fact, are the exact things Mark dismissed when he
said, “It’s the stuff marketers are taught to focus on. But,
it’s not what makes an advertising promotion a grand-
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slam home run”.
And, it was only until I was knee-deep into my six-

year journey of mastering the use of the “Big Marketing
Idea” that I came to the startling realization - even though
the “Big Marketing Idea” was almost never taught or talked
about publicly by marketing experts… it was acknowledged
by almost all of the best marketers on the planet as…
The Real Secret Weapon Behind Their

Marketing Success & Wealth!
They almost all said, it wasn’t their copy… their

headlines… products… or offers.
No. It was the “Big Marketing Idea” they credited.
For example: Take legendary copywriter, Gary

Halbert.
Most students of marketing think Gary’s monster

success as a copywriter came from his sales chops and
writing skills. That’s what I thought. But that’s not what
Gary said.
In fact, listen to what his son, Bond Halbert, shared

(when being interviewed) about the most valuable
marketing lesson Gary ever taught him:
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HOST: “You mentioned right before we jumped on

the phone how one of the things your dad, he's known for
copywriting and whatnot, but what he always thought
was the most important thing, the thing that he felt biggest
about and you agreed as well is The Big Marketing Idea.”
BOND: “People would come to my dad and try and

learn copywriting and he would give them a word-
smithing lesson and tell them how to begin their copy and
how to close, and stuff like that. Pretty quickly when they
felt like, "Okay, I am getting some of that," he would start
to teach them what was important. What was important
was not that, it was The Big Marketing Idea.”
And, even Gary himself, when writing (on one rare

occasion) about how powerful the “Big Marketing Idea” is…
and why it needs to be the foundation of every marketing
campaign… said…
“It’s so damn valuable!”
And Gary is just the beginning.
Clayton Makepeace, the highest-paid active

copywriter today, says his biggest winners in terms of his
copywriting and his promotions were all based on “Big
Marketing Ideas”.
“It’s from your marketing’s Big Marketing Ideas
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that accelerated growth in your business happens”.
How much growth? Well…
Look at what Mark Ford wrote in one of his

newsletters about the money produced thanks to the “Big
Marketing Idea”:
“I have learned many valuable lessons from my 15-

year partnership with Agora’s legendary CEO, marketing
genius Bill Bonner. None is more important than The Big
Marketing Idea. Bill is widely recognized as the man who
brought The Big Marketing Idea into consumer direct
marketing and sold more than a billion dollars’ worth of
publications by doing so.”
And how about, John Forde (no relation to Mark),

Bill Bonner’s most famous copywriting protege - here’s
what he said:
“For all the great tips and tricks that can make an
ad look slick, you'll fail if you don't have a "Big Marketing
Idea”. I can tell you personally, every winning ad I've ever
written has had a Big Marketing Idea at the core.”
Even legendary ad man and copywriting giant,

David Ogilvy, championed the necessity of having a “Big
Marketing Idea”:
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"You will never win fame and fortune unless you

invent Big Marketing Ideas. It takes a Big Marketing Idea
to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy
your product. Unless your advertising contains a Big
Marketing Idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.”
And I could go on and on listing out a string of

world-class entrepreneurs, marketers, and copywriters who
all attribute their monster success to their understanding of
— and ability to find and develop — “Big Marketing Ideas”
for their marketing promotions.
Many credit their first “Big Marketing Idea”

campaign for the point in their careers when their income
and reputation shot into the stratosphere. A true
transformational event. Which is why…
One “Big Marketing Idea” For One Marketing

Campaign Can Change Your Business (and Life)
Forever!
Just one “Big Marketing Idea” for one marketing

campaign can bring in more sales for your business than
most entrepreneurs will make in their entire lifetime.
Seriously.
For example:
With one marketing campaign built on one Big
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Marketing Idea… my good friend and former business

partner, Rich Schefren, created one twenty-nine page
report… and generated over three million dollars in sales in
7 days! With another seven million dollars in sales coming-
in over the next year.

Marketing Idea… Porter Stansberry launched S&A
Investment Research… which today is the largest
investment advisory in the world… generating over a
hundred million dollars a year.

Marketing Idea… marketing wizard, Frank Kern, helped his
client, Neil Strauss, sell a product in the dating market…
and generated over $1.4 million dollars in just four hours!
And, with one marketing campaign built on one Big

Marketing Idea… Mark Ford, at the age of just 33, launched
his first financial newsletter subscription, The Oxford Club,
which generated over 30,000 customers, was later sold to
Agora, and allowed Mark to retire… financially-free… before
turning 40!
All… from… just… one Big Marketing Idea.
See: A Big Marketing Idea is a way of crafting a

marketing message which your prospects see as new,
unique, and different. As something fresh and timely. As
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something exciting and beneficial. As something they want

to engage with because it promises to open their eyes to
something they haven't been exposed to before.
And because of that, when your marketing is built

with a Big Marketing Idea, it stands-out, gets attention, and
compels prospects to consume your message. Ultimately,
leading to greater sales.
And that’s why I've become absolutely convinced it’s

more crucial for you to focus your attention on learning how
to develop Big Marketing Ideas for your marketing
promotions, than on any other single advertising strategy or
tactic — regardless of what business you’re in, what you sell,
and what marketing campaigns you may currently have in
place.
That’s why I decided to publish this book.
Because, when you learn and use the formula I

discovered for developing Big Marketing Ideas… you’ll
possess the knowledge and ability to crank-out marketing
campaigns that bring more leads, more new customers, and
more sales than you can imagine.
And when that happens… everything changes for

you.
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Introduction
It’s a foundational marketing lesson which changed

my whole perspective. And it should for you as well.
I was chatting with Mark Ford. And asked about the

secret behind Agora’s growth.
“How has Agora been able to grow so big and so

fast?”
I fully expected Mark to say something about

Agora’s list size or the amount they invest into advertising
or the quality of their copywriters. But that’s not at all what
Mark said.
“We recognized early on, when it comes to

marketing, we’re really in the idea business. We're
in the business of developing interesting,
arresting, and captivating ideas.”
It took a bit for me to fully digest what Mark was

saying. But, once I did, it made complete sense.
Everything we do as marketers is built on top of

some idea.
Whether we're publishing a blog post, creating a
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video for YouTube, doing a Facebook Live, or creating a

landing page, a sales page, or a full-blown marketing
campaign… behind each of those is an idea.
That idea can be new and novel. Or it can be old and

run-of-the-mill.
The idea behind what you’re saying could be a plain

vanilla, average idea which rolls off the back of your
prospects as something they've seen or heard before. Or, it
could be a Big Marketing Idea that strikes your prospects as
new, unique, and different. As something they find
startling, arresting, and compelling. Something they have to
stop and hear more about.
Now, please understand: In this context, I’m not

talking about the idea behind your product or service. I’m
not talking about you coming-up with the latest and
greatest idea for some new app, new technology, or new
biotech breakthrough.
No. I’m talking about the idea behind your

marketing message. The idea behind what you’re saying in
your ad, your headline, and your campaign.
See: the quality of the marketing idea determines

the success of the marketing campaign — and ultimately
how well it converts prospects into buyers. Because the
quality of the idea is what determines whether prospects
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will take notice, stop what they’re doing, and engage with
your marketing message.
A Big Marketing Idea will cut through the noise and

clutter and make your message stand-out from all of the
others. It will grab attention, engage prospects, and compel
them to want to hear more about the idea.
Think of it like this: The Big Marketing Idea is really

the advertisement for your marketing campaign. It’s the
hook for your marketing message.
Again, it's not the hook for your product. And it's not
the hook for your offer.
It's the advertisement and hook for your marketing

message itself. It’s the idea behind what you’re presenting
to prospects.
And that idea goes way beyond just your copy and
simple wording of a headline.
See: The idea and the headline are not the

same.
A headline is simply an expression of the underlying

marketing idea. Every headline, just like every book title, is
there to communicate an idea. And every marketing idea
can be presented a number of different ways with a number
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of different words.
Simply changing the copy, adding a word, or

replacing a word with a more descriptive word in a
headline, doesn’t necessarily change the underlying idea.
Changing “How To Grow Big Tomatoes” to “How

To Grow Monster-Sized, Juicy, Red Tomatoes” doesn’t
make the idea behind the headline better. It may make the
copy behind the headline better. But the idea behind the
headline is still the same.
What we’re talking about is the underlying idea

behind the headline.
For example, take a look at this book:
You can see from the title it’s, obviously, all about
how to outsource your business. I don't know who
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published this. I don't know the author behind this. I don't

know where this came from, but it’s crystal clear what this
book is about.
It's a simple, straight-forward, ordinary idea: how to

outsource.
I have no idea if this book sold well or not at all. If I

was a betting man, I would bet a stack of chips it did not.
Now I want you to compare it to this book:
The 4-Hour Work Week. It was on the New York

Times' Bestseller List for over four years. Translated into 35
languages. Sold over 1.3 million copies. And put the author,
Tim Ferriss, on the map.
What’s the difference between the content, the
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material covered in The 4-Hour Work Week and the first

book, How to Outsource?
Really, there is no difference. Both are about

outsourcing for your business.
The difference is not in the content. The difference is

not in the essence of the material. The difference is in the
idea behind how the content is being presented.
Tim Ferriss took the ordinary and common idea of

outsourcing, and turned it into something new, unique, and
different. Into, a Big Marketing Idea — you can work a four-
hour week, escape the 9-to-5, live anywhere, and join the
new rich.
And that one shift — that one Big Marketing Idea —

was enough to propel Tim Ferris on to super-stardom in the
publishing world.
That's the power of a Big Marketing Idea.
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Chapter One
Why A Big Marketing Idea Today?
One thing is for sure…
It’s getting harder and harder to get people’s

attention.
Today, because people have been exposed to more

and more marketing, they’ve become more skeptical and
guarded than ever. Many, reluctant and jaded.
Every day people are bombarded with thousands of

marketing campaigns, marketing messages, advertisements,
benefit statements, claims, and promises. Online, television,
radio, billboards, direct mail, email, magazines, flyers, you
name it. Many filled to the brim with hype.
So typical marketing messages no longer make an

impact. They’re dismissed or ignored. They roll off the back
of prospects.
And that’s why trying to “scream a louder promise”

in your marketing, or making a bigger, bolder claim or
using one of the common hype-style headlines to power
your marketing is no longer effective.
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Your prospects have already been exposed to these

type of claims over and over again. They’ve heard it. They’ve
seen it. It’s nothing new.
So today it takes a Big Marketing Idea to penetrate

your prospects’ armor and get them excited about what you
have to offer. Ordinary no longer cuts it. It takes something
bigger, something bolder.
As well, many of your prospects have responded to

advertisements with bogus claims, exaggerated promises,
and outright scams. So, many, have become cynical when it
comes to marketing. This is especially true online.
Because it's viewed as the Wild West where anybody

can put up a website today, the internet is the least trusted
of all advertising mediums. It’s not nearly as trusted as
newspaper or print or direct mail, because prospects
understand these mediums are governed. There are laws
regarding what advertisers can and can not say.
But not so — at least not to the same extent — with

the internet.
So with this heightened level of consumer

skepticism online, it takes even more extraordinary
measures to grab attention and engage prospects.
The ordinary marketing approach of extreme
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promises and claims is simply no longer adequate.
Prospects are also bored. They've been exposed to so

much of the same, so often, they're now constantly on the
lookout for something new, something different.
Your prospects are not interested in what’s old or in

more of the same. They’re interested in what’s new. Your
prospects don't even want old techniques or methods even
if they know those techniques and methods work.
No. Your prospects want the new stuff. The new

methods. The new techniques.
And that's why you need to use the power of a Big

Marketing Idea to avoid the Proliferation Of The
Formulaic.
More and more within the marketing world, we're

seeing the use of these so-called plug-and-play, fill-in-the-
blank templates and formulas for advertising headlines.
Prospects are seeing marketing built with these

“formulas” more and more… especially the claim-based or
promised-based formulas behind much of direct marketing.
And as they’re seeing this type of marketing message more
and more, they’re tuning out even more and more.
Why? Because, again, they've seen it all already.
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They've heard it all.
And when your prospects are exposed to something

that they've seen and heard, they tune out. They ignore it.
They experience Mental Opt-Out.
Mental Opt-Out is when your prospects see a

marketing claim and say, "Oh, that. I've heard that. I've
seen that. Oh, there's a book on that. There's a YouTube
video on that." And then they immediately bounce from
your website to go elsewhere.
Today, you have to avoid seeming and looking and

feeling like what your prospects have already been exposed
to. So you need to avoid "formulaic" marketing.
With a Big Marketing Idea you not only avoid the

Proliferation Of The Formulaic and prevent Mental Opt-
Out, you also overcome something called the Categorical
Imperative — a term I first learned from Bill Bonner, the
founder of Agora.
The Categorical Imperative is a principle which

demonstrates that individuals subconsciously look for ways
to immediately categorize information. If they see
something which looks like, sounds like, or feels like
something else they’ve already seen, they place the new
information into the same mental category.
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So, for example, if something looks, sounds, and

feels like the prior marketing they’ve seen before, it triggers
the Categorical Imperative… and it automatically gets
placed in the same “sales pitch” category or mental bucket.
This is yet another reason why you want to avoid the
common marketing approach.
When your prospects come across a marketing

campaign or advertisement that has the same feel, the same
vibe, the same style of messaging as what they’ve
encountered before, they instantly recognize it for what it is
— a sales message. They recognize it as a marketing
campaign or a marketing piece. So they immediately
categorize it as a commercial message and their filter
immediately goes up.
A Big Marketing Idea overcomes that Categorical

Imperative because it serves as a pattern interrupt. It’s not
what prospects expect or anticipate. So it doesn’t get
categorized. Which means, it doesn’t trigger the same
feelings of skepticism or reluctance. It doesn’t trigger the
same sales filter. So it gives your marketing message the
opportunity to do its job.
All that being said: We could really sum up why a

Big Marketing Idea is so critical today with one word:
differentiation.
Bringing something different to the market is critical
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to get attention — a different message, a different angle, a

different idea.
Remember, better doesn’t always get attention.

Better doesn’t always stand-out. Different does.
You need to differentiate your marketing

message from all the others. You need to differentiate
the idea, so your prospects say, "Wow, I've never heard
that. What's that about? I want to know more."
That’s why a Big Marketing Idea is essential today.

And that’s what a Big Marketing Idea does for you.
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Chapter Two
10 Elements Of A Big Marketing Idea
Every Big Marketing Idea meets ten criteria. In this

chapter we're going to take a high-level look at each.
Then, in following chapters, we'll get into the nitty-

gritty details of the Big Marketing Idea Formula, look at
some examples, and walk thru the process for developing
your ideas.
Criteria #1: Presents One Promise
At the root of every Big Marketing Idea is a bold,

audacious, true and believable promise of transformation.
One promise. We call this the Primary Promise -- the one
big overarching benefit the prospect stands to gain by
engaging with your marketing.
I'm not talking about the little benefits of your

product. I'm talking about the big result... the big outcome...
the big transformation your prospect stands to gain.
What are you promising them?
That's the main question on the mind of every

prospect. They want to know how their life will be improved
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and changed for the better from your message.
If you can't, or don't, answer it... you don't have a

marketing message. You just have a message.
Criteria #2: It's Specific
To have a Big Marketing Idea, your Primary Promise

must be concrete and specific. It must be tangible. Specific
enough for your prospect to envision it in their mind's eye.
Vague generalities do not sell. Specifics do. Vague

promises are not believable. They're not compelling. They're
not exciting. Specific promises and outcomes are.
So, whatever you’re promising, you must be specific.
Criteria #3: Conveys One Story
Every Big Marketing Idea is based on one storyline.

It may be a story of discovery... information discovered in
an old book... meeting a mentor... breaking news from some
company... a scientific breakthrough... or something else.
Regardless, there must be only one storyline

conveyed throughout your marketing campaign. Opened at
the Big Marketing Idea… and carried thru til the end of the
promotion.
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Introducing multiple storylines in your marketing

only serves to confuse your prospect. So keep it to one story.
One plot.
Criteria #4: Leads To One Conclusion
Every Big Marketing Idea clearly leads to one

conclusion. One thought you want the prospect to have. One
belief.
Don't try to get your prospect thinking about two or

three different things with your idea. Just one. That's it.
And that one idea is almost always based around

how and why they can experience the result they’re looking
for.
Criteria #5: Taps One Emotion
Every Big Marketing Idea stimulates one primary

emotion. It may be greed. It may be fear. It may be envy. It
may be belonging. Or, some other emotion.
Throughout your marketing campaign you'll likely

prod and stir a variety of different emotions. But with your
Big Marketing Idea you must focus on one primary
emotion.
What is the one emotion that your idea is leveraging,
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is prodding, is tapping into? What’s the one feeling you

want to stimulate in your prospect when they encounter
your Big Marketing Idea?
Criteria #6: Must Be New & Unique
Every Big Marketing Idea is original, unique. It's

different from what your prospects have seen before.
It can't be something they've heard from your

competitors. Or anywhere else for that matter. And this is
crucial.
Your idea must feel new and fresh. Remember,

familiarity in marketing breeds disinterest.
So, your idea can't be something your prospects are

already familiar with.
Your job, with your Big Marketing Idea, is to bring

something new, unique, and different to your market. And,
again, in this context I'm not talking about a new, unique,
and different product. I'm talking about a new, unique, and
different idea behind your marketing campaign.
Criteria #7: Must Feel Timely
Every Big Marketing Idea feels timely. It involves

something happening right now... or something about to
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happen. So it's relevant.
It's not about the past.
It can't feel dated, old.
It must be about the here and now.
Criteria #8: Arresting
Every Big Marketing Idea is bold. Captivating.

Arresting.
That means it needs to shock prospects out of their

complacency. It needs to wake them up from the funk of
everyday life.
It can't be a ho-hum, run-of-the-mill idea. That

won't get anybody's attention.
Remember, your prospects are inundated with

marketing. To get their attention you need to whack them
on the side of the head. A tap on the shoulder doesn't cut it.
So your Big Marketing Idea needs to be bold.
Criteria #9: Immediately Understandable
To have a Big Marketing Idea, your idea must be
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immediately understandable. It needs to have instant

appeal.
It can't be complicated, deep, or require lots of

thought. If prospects have to read or watch your full
marketing message to understand your idea, you've missed
the mark.
Prospects must get your idea immediately.
So your idea needs to be simple. And it needs to be

within their scope of reference.
If you're talking to women, and you're trying to

incorporate an idea about an automobile engine, unless
you're talking to female mechanics it's not going to be
within their scope of reference. So, obviously, they won't get
it.
Remember: Immediately Understandable.
For many entrepreneurs and marketers this isn't

always easy. Many fall prey to the Curse of Knowledge -- a
cognitive bias that occurs when we're predicting in other
people what we believe they understand. We typically
overestimate what other folks understand based on our own
level of knowledge.
And, over time, this overestimation spills over in to
34
our marketing. We use words, terms, and phrases which are

far too sophisticated and advanced for the average prospect.
When developing your Big Marketing Ideas, you

need to remove yourself from the equation. And you need to
put yourself in your prospects shoes. See the world through
their eyes. Through their understanding and knowledge.
Through their level.
You have to recognize, odds are you're an expert in

whatever topic you're speaking about in your marketing.
Your prospects are not.
You need to communicate in a way that resonates

with their level of understanding, not your own level of
understanding.
There are concepts and ideas which you may think

are elementary, basic, below your grasp of the topic. And
they may be.
But that doesn't mean they're below your prospects

level of knowledge and understanding.
You need to avoid the Curse of Knowledge. You need

to communicate ideas at your prospect's level. Simple ideas.
Simplicity also encourages belief. The human brain

is hardwired to trust simple things. The easier something is
35
to explain, and the easier it is to understand, the more belief

it generates.
On the flip side, complex, intricate ideas cause

confusion. And a confused mind doesn't remain engaged.
And a prospect who doesn't remain engaged doesn't buy.
So keep your ideas simple. Put yourself in your

prospect's shoes. And make sure your ideas are not beyond
their level of understanding.
Criteria #10: The Rule Of One
This final criteria could really be in a category of its

own. It's something I learned from my friend and mentor,
Mark Ford.
Big Marketing Ideas are made up of one single

powerful idea. Not a mix of ideas. Not a bunch of ideas. One
single idea.
Multiple ideas packed into one marketing message

don't strengthen the message. They weaken the message.
Usually, a number of mediocre ideas are packed in

to one campaign in an attempt to make up for a weak
overall idea. The thought -- if the idea isn't strong enough,
let's add more ideas to it.
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But this doesn't serve to strengthen the main idea. It

weakens it.
You need to narrow your focus to one idea, one

emotion, one promise, one story, and one thing that you
want your prospects to think. And the whole thing needs to
be powered by one Primary Promise.
That's the Power Of One.
And those are the ten criteria for every Big

Marketing Idea.
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Chapter Three
The Big Marketing Idea Formula
Over the course of my six year journey researching

and studying the Big Marketing Idea, I analyzed and
dissected over 92 million-dollar-plus marketing campaigns.
My aim was to see if there were any commonalities

across the board. To my astonishment, there were. Those
commonalities later became the foundation of what, today,
is known as the Big Marketing Idea Formula™.
Here it is:
E.C. (P.P. + U.M.) + I.I. = Big Marketing Idea
Looks awful, right? Like something out of an

advanced algebra class.
Fortunately, it's much, much simpler.
Let’s quickly go through the formula. Then we’ll

cover each piece in-depth.
E.C. stands for emotionally compelling.
Your idea is emotionally compelling (E.C.) when it's
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built on a Primary Promise (P.P.), and when that promise is

delivered by a Unique Mechanism (U.M.).
I.I. stands for intellectually interesting.
Your idea is intellectually interesting (I.I.) when it

piques your prospect's curiosity, gives them a feeling of
discovery, and makes them feel as if they’ve just stumbled
on something newsworthy. Something… they’d be
interested in hearing more about even if there was no
Primary Promise (P.P.) or Unique Mechanism (U.M.).
Combined — emotionally compelling and

intellectually interesting — and you have an idea which
appeals to both the heart and head of your prospect. To
both emotion and logic.
The Primary Promise (P.P.)
The Primary Promise is one of the most important

elements within any marketing campaign. Because it tells
prospects what they stand to gain by engaging with your
marketing message. It tells them how their life will be
transformed for the better by reading, watching, or listening
to your marketing message.
Remember, the main thing your prospects want to

know is “How is my life going to be made better by this?”
39
Your Primary Promise is what answers that question.
But it’s important you understand: The Primary

Promise is not the same as your list of product or service
benefits. We’re not talking about all of the little benefits
prospects can expect to experience with your product.
No. We’re talking about the one, big overarching

promise of change… of transformation… of result… of
outcome… your prospect can expect to experience by
responding to your marketing message.
What’s the main thing which will be different in your

prospect’s life?
To be effective, your Primary Promise needs to be

big, bold, and audacious. It needs to be exciting. Exciting
enough for your prospects to want to dive deeper and learn
more. And compelling enough for prospects to see the value
in swapping their time to hear more about it.
At the same time, your Primary Promise needs to be

completely true and believable. And, remember, not
everything that is believable is true… and not everything
that's true is believable.
To make your Primary Promise believable, first, it

needs to be specific and concrete. Meaning: It can’t be
40
vague and general.
“You’ll feel better” is an example of a vague and

general promise. Same with “You’ll make more money”,
“You’ll be happier”, “You’ll lose weight”, and so on. These
are all weak promises. Because they’re so vague and general
it’s nearly impossible to envision them in your mind’s eye.
“You’ll wake up every morning without an alarm

clock, never groggy” is an example of a much more specific
promise. Same with “You’ll make an extra $5,500 a month”,
and “You’ll lose a minimum of 3 pounds every four days”.
The specificity makes these promises much stronger.
They’re promises your prospect can picture themselves
experiencing.
Second, to make your Primary Promise believable it

needs to be backed-up by proof. You can’t simply expect
your prospects to believe you can deliver on the promise
simply because you say so. You can't present a promise that
has no proof because that’s not a promise at all. It’s simply
an unsubstantiated claim.
You need to have evidence and proof to make your

Primary Promise believable. If you say they will experience
X, you need to have proof they can experience X.
And your Primary Promise should never be bigger

than the biggest proof point you have. The bigger, better the
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proof, the bigger the promise can be.
So your objective is to determine the biggest,

boldest, most audacious thing you can promise to prospects
which is true and believable because it’s specific and backed
by proof.
And it needs to promise a payoff your prospects lust

after. A promise of transformation so big, so exciting, they
have to hear more.
It can't be little. It can't be weak. It can't be fragile.

It's got to be big, bold, audacious, true and believable.
In an ideal scenario, your promise would address an

urgent problem your prospect has (that your product or
service solves). The more urgent and severe and significant
the problem, the more powerful and valuable your promise
becomes.
When prospects see your Primary Promise, you

want them to think to themselves, "This is exactly what I've
been waiting for. This changes everything."
To begin thinking about your Primary Promise, start

by answering this question:
As it relates to the problem your product or service

addresses, what’s the most exciting, most compelling thing
42
your prospects are craving… lusting after… that they would

love to experience?
To help in answering this question you can use the

Magic Wand Technique.
If you could wave a magic wand and grant your

prospects anything: any transformation… any outcome…
any result… any difference in their life, what would they ask
for? What would that magic result be?
And, here, in this context, don’t place any

restrictions on your thinking. During this exercise it’s not
about what’s true or believable. It’s just about what your
prospects would ask for if you could wave a magic wand and
grant them anything related to their current situation and
problem.
Once you’ve got the ideal outcome your prospects

would ask for, then you can back it down until you have a
promise that’s true and believable. But start with the
outcome they would request. No matter how outrageous.
Another great exercise to do is the Ideal Client

Exercise.
This is where you imagine your greatest client or

customer success story. I don't mean the greatest success
story you already have. I’m talking about a future success
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story.
If you had a future client who became your greatest

success story, what result did they experience? What was
the outcome? What was the transformation? What changed
for them? What happened for them? What painful or
frustrating thing aren't they experiencing anymore that they
were experiencing before? What positive things are they
now experiencing that they're grateful for?
And drill deep here. What other ancillary

transformations happened in their life because of the core
result? What additional benefits are they experiencing now?
This is important and valuable. Because if what you

just described would be your greatest client or customer
success story, then it should play a role in the Primary
Promise you develop.
Again, you just want to make sure you start with the
ideal, perfect result prospects want… then back it down to
where it's true and believable.
Once you’ve identified your Primary Promise (P.P.)

you have the first part of the Emotionally Compelling
element of a Big Marketing Idea.
But there’s another critical piece — the Unique
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Mechanism (U.M.).
The Unique Mechanism is the unique piece, part,

component, aspect, process, or system behind your product
or service which delivers the Primary Promise for prospects.
It’s the thing within your product or service that gives your
prospect the result. It's the reason why your product or
service works.
For example:
It could be the unique algorithm behind your SEO

software that gets users top Google rankings. The unique
combination of nutrients in your vitamin supplement that
lowers cholesterol by 30 points. The unique bodywork
method you use in your massage practice which eliminates
your client’s pain within 20 minutes. The unique recipe you
use when baking your birthday cakes that makes them so
delicious.
Again, the Unique Mechanism is the unique part of

your product or service which is responsible for fulfilling
your Primary Promise. And having a Unique Mechanism is
incredibly powerful because it gives your prospects hope in
your product or service.
It gives them hope that maybe this time… with your

product or service… they will experience the result — the
result which has eluded them, the result which they didn't
45
experience from the other products and services they've

bought.
It gives them hope because they view the Unique

Mechanism as the thing they've been missing. The one thing
they haven't tried. The one thing that's been missing from
all the other products and services they've bought.
It gives them hope that maybe this time things will

be different because of the Unique Mechanism. Because
they've never tried another product or service with this
mechanism. So… maybe… this will be the difference maker
for them.
It's also worth noting -- having a Unique

Mechanism™ also prevents your product or service from
being viewed as a commodity, as a generic solution. And in
the process prevents something I refer to as the Google
Marketing Slap.
When you're marketing a commodity or a generic

solution, like: a magnesium supplement, a book on five
ways to grow bigger tomatoes, or a one-hour massage...
what you're presenting is a commodity. It's generic. It's
common.
And, when presented with a commodity, prospects

are propelled to pause your video, go over to Google, and do
a quick search for a cheaper, more convenient way of
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getting the same commodity.
Let's suppose, for example, you're marketing and

selling a fat burning supplement. And in your marketing
you tell prospects the reason why your fat burner works is
because it contains the amino acid L-Carnitine. Well, you've
now just presented a commodity - L-Carnitine. It's
something they can find anywhere. At a health food store,
VitaminShoppe, or right on Amazon.
Now… because you’re presented a commodity…

there's nothing special about your supplement. Nothing
unique. Nothing different.
So, all they have to do is press pause on your video,

go over to Google, and type in L-Carnitine. And they'll be
given dozens of different options for where to get it cheaper,
faster, etc.
See: That's an example of a marketing message and

a marketing idea that triggers the Google Marketing Slap.
Where someone can simply go get all the information you’re
presenting them with right on Google. And possibly buy
your commodity from one of your competitors or an
alternate vendor.
That's why you never, ever should market a

commodity or generic solution.
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You want to market and sell a proprietary solution.

And that's what having a Unique Mechanism™ gives you.
With a Unique Mechanism behind your Primary

Promise (PP), you're presenting a proprietary solution,
because you're the only one offering it. Prospects can't get it
anywhere else. They can't find it anywhere else even if they
do a search on Google. You're the only product, the only
software, the only program, the only vendor of the Unique
Mechanism™ you're presenting. That's why it's proprietary.
And that's why you’re product is not viewed as some
commodity or generic solution.
Let's look at a few real-world examples to really

make this clear.
The FrogTape® brand, marketed by ShurTech

Brands, LLC (a subsidiary of Shurtape Technologies, LLC)
markets and sells painters tape. Their Primary Promise: Use
our tape and you never have to worry about paint bleeding
over to areas where it shouldn't.
On the surface this seems like a commodity. Do a

quick Google search and you'll find hundreds of different
brands and options for painters tape.
But there's one thing which sets FrogTape® apart —

their Unique Mechanism.
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FrogTape® is able to fulfill on their promise of "no

bleeding" because their tape is built with Paint Block
Technology®.
While other tape manufactures claim wonderful

things about what their painters tape does and how it
works, none offer Paint Block Technology®. That can only
be found with FrogTape®.
So, while other companies are stuck fighting it out in

the red ocean of commoditized painters tape, Shurtape
Technologies is marketing something different -- premium-
quality, innovative painting tapes that feature PaintBlock®
Technology, "which keeps paint out and keeps lines sharp".
Today, Shurtape Technologies generates over $480

million dollars in sales. Not too shabby for painters tape.
Sleeping Well, LLC is a company which markets and

sells a mouthpiece to help eliminate snoring. It's called
ZQuiet®. Their Primary Promise: A comfortable mouth
guard that eliminates snoring in just days.
Again, on the surface, seems like a commodity. A

quick Google search for the term "snoring mouth guard"
reveals over 400,000 websites listed. With one site
reviewing over 29 different anti-snoring mouth guard
brands and models.
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But, like FrogTape®, there's one thing which sets

ZQuiet® apart from all other mouth guards. They call it
Living Hinge Technology. It’s their Unique Mechanism.
The reason why ZQuiet® is so effective, yet so

comfortable, is -- as they claim -- because of the Living
Hinge Technology behind their mouth guard. According to
their site, "it enables you to sleep comfortably throughout
the night no matter how you are positioned and whether
your mouth is open or closed."
See, they're not just making a promise and trying to

sell an average, run-of-the-mill mouth guard. That would be
a commodity. That would allow prospects to do a search for
a cheaper mouth guard.
No. They're marketing something different; their

Unique Mechanism -- a mouth guard with Living Hinge
Technology. It's not a generic mouth guard. It's not a
commodity. And they're the only company that offers it.
And it's allowed them to do extraordinarily well.
The anti-snoring market -- yes, there's an entire

market around snoring -- is a billion-dollar-plus market.
And according to a recent report from
MarketResearchFuture.com, Sleeping Well, LLC, is listed as
the top player in this space. No doubt, the owners of this
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company are sleeping well at night. (Had to slip that in.)
Let's look at one more example.
You've likely heard of P90X. It's one of those intense

in-home exercise programs. The company behind P90X is
BeachBody.
The early versions of their marketing didn’t

demonstrate a unique mechanism. So, as they shared in a
New York Times article, “The early P90X informercials
bombed.”
In fact, the company wasted tons of cash trying 14

different versions of the infomercial before they really
started to make money in 2006.
Once they introduced the right unique mechanism,

their sales took off.
The unique mechanism they came up with: Muscle

Confusion.
It's simply the name they gave to the exercise

method behind P90X which produces the weight-loss and
muscle-building results for users.
In that same New York Times article, BeachBody

even said, “P90X is not that special.” And later in an
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interview, Tony Horton, the spokesperson for P90X said,

"Muscle confusion was just a term we came up with… and
we sold millions.”
By 2015, their unique mechanism — muscle

confusion — helped BeachBody crack $1 billion in sales,
now with over 23 million customers.
That’s the impact of having the right Unique

Mechanism™.
Now, there are three different types of Unique

Mechanisms any product or service can have. As long as
you’re not selling a pure commodity, like a gallon of
gasoline, you can use one of these three types.
The first type of Unique Mechanism is The Actual

Mechanism.
You would use this type of Unique Mechanism when

you actually have a unique piece, part, component, process,
aspect, system behind your product or service. When you
actually have a unique algorithm in your software. When
you actually have a unique ingredient in your pizza sauce.
If you have something truly unique in your product

or service that produces the results for folks, you have an
Actual Mechanism.
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More often than not, your product or service may

not have an actual mechanism. That's when you're going to
use one of the other two types of mechanisms.
The second type of Unique Mechanism is The

Unspoken Mechanism.
The Unspoken Mechanism is used when the

mechanism that powers your product or service is not
necessarily unique amongst your competitors, but it’s
unique to prospects because none of your competitors are
talking about it.
In other words, it's not necessarily just your product

or service that has the mechanism. It may be just you that's
featuring the mechanism in your marketing.
This type of Unique Mechanism stems from

legendary ad man, Claude Hopkins.
Story has it, Claude was brought in by Schlitz Beer to

work on their marketing in hopes of capturing greater
market share.
So they took Claude on a tour of one of their

facilities. While there he saw something being done to the
beer bottles before they were filled with beer.
53
"What's going on over there?" Claude asked.
"Oh, that's where we sterilize all of our bottles. All

of our bottles go through that sterilization process before
we put any beer in there. It helps maintain the purity of
our beer.“
Realizing what he just heard, Claude asked, "Well,

why aren't you telling anybody about this? Why aren't you
sharing that as the reason behind the quality of Schlitz
beer?"
“Because every beer manufacturer uses the same

sterilization process,” the tour guide responded.
"But,” Claude retorted, “nobody's talking about it.

Nobody's presenting it to the market. Nobody's sharing it
with folks.”
So, Claude created an entire marketing campaign

around Schlitz’s sterilization process — their Unspoken
Mechanism. Even though other competitors had the same
mechanism, Schlitz’s new campaign was able to recapture a
tremendous amount of market share. Because they were the
first and only one to talk about the sterilization process at
the time. So it became their Unspoken Mechanism. And in
the process, gave prospects a reason to be hopeful that
Schlitz beer would be more fresh, more pure, and more
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delicious.
So, is there a part of your product or service that’s

responsible for delivering the Primary Promise, not
necessarily unique amongst your competitors, but none of
them are talking about it?
If so, it can your Unspoken Mechanism.
Now, it may be a temporary Unique Mechanism

until competitors see that it's working for you and knock it
off. But before they do, it can be an effective Unique
Mechanism for your marketing.
The third type of Unique Mechanism is The

Transubstantiated Mechanism.
Despite the strange name, this is the most

commonly used type of U.M.
I first learned about the idea of transubstantiation —

within a marketing context — from Bill Bonner, founder of
Agora.
The idea of transubstantiation comes from Roman

Catholicism. It’s the principle behind communion when the
wine is turned into the blood of Christ.
In a marketing context, the secret of
55
transubstantiation is the idea of turning something ordinary

into something extraordinary. Taking the common and
making it uncommon and new.
Let's say for example you were selling a vitamin D

supplement. Well, of course as you now know, simply
presenting vitamin D would be marketing and selling a
commodity. It would trigger the Google Marketing Slap.
Well, a little factoid for ya: Did you know vitamin D

is one of the most important nutrients taken by astronauts
in space? Well, it is.
So, couldn't we refer to vitamin D in our marketing

as… maybe... "The Astronaut's Nutrient".
Sure we could. And by doing so it’s a simple example

of a transubstantiated mechanism.
We turned the ordinary -- vitamin D -- into the

extraordinary -- "The Astronaut's Nutrient".
Now, this doesn't mean the product name needs to

be "The Astronaut's Nutrient". In this example, that would
just be the name we've given to the mechanism behind how
and why the supplement works. And we could then use "The
Astronaut's Nutrient" as the Unique Mechanism in our Big
Marketing Idea.
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This is just what financial copywriter, Mike Palmer,

did with his legendary Secret Currency marketing
promotion. It was all about investing in gold. But Mike
knew he couldn't simply talk about gold investing. That
would be the common. The ordinary. The market was
already being slammed with promotions about gold.
During Mike's research he found that thru the

centuries gold was quietly used by the richest people as a
medium of exchange. So, for his promotion, Mike
transubstantiated gold into the "Secret Currency". His
entire campaign, from headline to offer, was all about how
today the Secret Currency could be used by everyday folks
to hedge against inflation, deflation, market crashes, etc.
And the campaign was a home run.
A Transubstantiated Mechanism was also used to

introduce the marketing world to the "tripwire" by Ryan
Deiss and Perry Belcher of Digital Marketer. Two fantastic
entrepreneurs.
As they presented it a handful of years ago, a

tripwire is the first step in their funnel-building approach.
It's a low-cost, low-barrier-of-entry offer presented to
prospects with the aim of turning them into customers.
Here, Ryan and Perry took a piece of their marketing

methodology — the low priced offer — and gave it a
57
proprietary name. Tripwire.
While today, the tripwire is associated with Digital

Marketer, the idea of a low-cost, low-price offer is nothing
new. It's been around for decades. It's been a longtime
staple in the world of direct response marketing.
That's not a knock against Ryan and Perry. Not at

all. If anything it's a tip of my hat to them. They executed
the Transubstantiated Mechanism beautifully.
See: If Ryan and Perry had simply presented "a low-

cost offer" to the market, as the basis of their marketing
methodology, they would have been presenting a
commodity. They would have been marketing and selling
the generic. The common. And they wouldn't have gotten
nearly the traction they got.
Instead, they transubstantiated the common into

something different. And when they presented the idea of a
tripwire to the market, it triggered the feeling of something
new for prospects. It made prospects think, “Ah. A tripwire
is what I've been missing. That's the reason why I've been
struggling. That's what I need."
And because it was viewed as something new and

different, it gave prospects hope. Hope… that learning and
using a tripwire would give them the marketing pay-off they
58
were after. And, for many, it did.
See, Ryan and Perry took the ordinary low-cost, low-

barrier-of-entry offer and transubstantiated it into
something extraordinary.
Make sense?
Good.
By this point, we've talked about how a Big

Marketing Idea is emotionally compelling because it’s built
on the back of a Primary Promise which is fulfilled by a
Unique Mechanism.
Now we need to talk about what it means to be

Intellectually Interesting (I.I.).
Intellectually Interesting, in this context, means the

idea is something your prospect would want to hear more
about even if there was no explicit promise of benefit.
Something which piques your prospect’s curiosity.
Intellectually Interesting means it gives your

prospect a feeling of discovery. An AHA! Moment. As if they
just stumbled on something newsworthy.
Intellectually Interesting makes your prospect think,

"Hmm. I've never thought of that. I've never seen it that
59
way. I've never heard of that. This is big.”
Remember, to have a Big Marketing Idea you must

appeal to both emotion and logic. Your idea must speak to
both the heart and the head of your prospect. Stir their
feelings and captivate their intellect.
Now you know how to do it using the Big Marketing

Idea Formula:
Emotionally Compelling (Primary Promise +

Unique Mechanism) + Intellectually Interesting =
Big Marketing Idea
Let’s look at some real-world examples to see this

formula in action…
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Chapter Four
Big Marketing Idea Examples
In this chapter we’ll take a look at ten examples of

real-world Big Marketing Ideas.
For each, you’ll see I’ve listed the Primary Promise

and Unique Mechanism, so you understand what makes it
Emotionally Compelling, along with the Intellectually
Interesting component.
It’s important you don’t pre-judge any of the ideas.

While many, or all, may be from different markets than the
one you’re operating within, it’s important you look at the
overall application and not the specific idea.
As well, despite some of the ideas seeming

“outlandish” or “hyperbolic”, they’re all truthful and based
on research. While we may push the envelope with how an
idea is stated, we never, ever lie.
Example #1: Marijuana Blueprint
• Primary Promise: Turn fifty-dollars into a

massive fortune
• Unique Mechanism: The $50 Marijuana

Blueprint
• Intellectually Interesting Appeal: What is

happening within the equity markets regarding
cannibas on November 8th that presents this unique
opportunity?
Example #2: Fountain Of Youth
• Primary Promise: Slice twenty years off your age.
• Unique Mechanism: Medical science’s new

“magic bullet” discovery.
• Intellectually Interesting Appeal: Has the

“fountain of youth” really been discovered by
medical science?
Example #3: Dark Trades
• Primary Promise: Collect $80K in a matter of

days.
• Unique Mechanism: The anonymous trades

behind every major stock move.
• Intellectually Interesting Appeal: Are there

really “dark trades” happening before every
skyrocketing stock price… and is it really possible for
the little guy to get in on it?
Example #4: Spanish Heart Secret
• Primary Promise: Gain robust heart health.
• Unique Mechanism: Spain’s military “secret

weapon” for superhuman health and wellness.
• Intellectually Interesting Appeal: What did

Napoleon’s spies discover about how Spain’s
military was able to create such vibrant and
powerful soldiers?
Example #5: “Wiretapping”
• Primary Promise: Turn $2,000 into $10 million
• Unique Mechanism: Wiretapping America’s

Richest Investors
• Intellectually Interesting Appeal: What do you

mean “wiretapping”? How can it be done legally?
Example #6: “Fingerprints of God”
• Primary Promise: Prevent disease
• Unique Mechanism: “Fingerprints of God”
• Intellectually Interesting Appeal: What’s this

discovery that claims to prove God’s existence? And
can it really be used to prevent disease?
Example #7: Gold Skimming
• Primary Promise: Get paid from every ounce of

gold pulled from the ground
• Unique Mechanism: “Gold Skimming”
• Intellectually Interesting Appeal: What is gold

skimming? Is it a new way to invest in gold? And
how do I get paid on every ounce?
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Example #8: Gene Hacking IPO
• Primary Promise: Get-in on a ground-breaking

IPO investment
• Unique Mechanism: “The biggest Biotech

Discovery” IPO
• Intellectually Interesting Appeal: What’s this

“gene hacking technology” claiming to end all
disease? Can I really get-in on this kind of IPO?
Example #9: The God Key
• Primary Promise: Get in on a stock that could go

up by 35,000%
• Unique Mechanism: FDA Anomaly
• Intellectually Interesting Appeal: What's the

"God Key"? And what's this FDA Anomaly occuring
on January 12th?
Example #10: Smart Funnel
• Primary Promise: Experience double-digit sales

conversions
• Unique Mechanism: Smart Funnel
• Intellectually Interesting Appeal: Does it really

function like a real sales person? How? Is there
some new technology I don’t know about?
Chapter Five
Identifying Your Prospects’ Maturity
How "mature" are your prospects?
It's a question we need to answer before you can

begin to look for your Big Marketing Idea.
In this context, maturity is determined by the types

of marketing claims and ideas your prospects have already
seen from competitors. Remember, a Big Marketing Idea is
unique and different from what your prospects have already
heard and seen.
To identify maturity, we use a simple tool called The

Promise Exposure Spectrum™, or PES, for short. It’s based
on the idea of Marketplace Sophistication first presented by
Eugene Schwartz in his perennial book Breakthrough
Advertising.
Schwartz demonstrated how prospects evolve over

time as they’re exposed to various marketing promises and
claims. Over time, as prospects become more
“sophisticated”, they no longer respond to the same types of
promises and claims they once did. In order to keep them
responding, your marketing needs to evolve as they do.
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The Promise Exposure Spectrum™ allows you to

identify what stage of sophistication your prospects are at,
so you can ensure your Big Marketing Idea matches.
An idea at the wrong stage — too low for where

prospects are and what they’ve already seen — will fall flat.
In fact, an “immature marketing message” is one of the
biggest reasons for marketing campaign failure.
That’s why it’s so important you use the Promise

Exposure Spectrum™ to identify where your prospects fall.
There are five stages of the PES:
Stage #1: Promise
When your Primary Promise is something your

prospects haven’t heard before, they’re at Stage #1.
When you’re presenting your market with a promise

nobody else has ever made them, all you need to do is
present your Primary Promise. And the promise itself serves
as the pattern interrupt and all that’s needed to get
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attention.
For example: When the first fat burning supplement

was released to the market, all that needed to be said was
“Take this pill and you’ll lose weight”. Since nobody else had
ever made that promise, prospects saw it as something new
and different.
But, over time, as more and more competitors came

into the market and began knocking-off that promise,
prospects began to respond less and less. That’s when
weight-loss prospects evolved to the next stage. As did the
messages from savvy marketers.
Stage #2: Promise Expanded
At this stage, expanding the promise is needed to get

attention. Here, we see marketers promising more and
greater results.
In the case of the fat burning supplement, at this

stage we started seeing promises such as “Take this pill and
lose 20 pounds”… “Take this pill and lose 15 inches”… “Take
this pill and lose 30 pounds and 30 inches”.
It’s at this stage where lots of marketers remain…

trying to compete by enlarging their claims more and more.
They attempt to stand-out by simply screaming a louder
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promise than their competitors.
But, over time, prospects no longer respond to

simply enlarged claims and promises. Because at a certain
point enlarged claims are no longer credible or believable
(or true).
If today, for example, we had a fat burning

supplement and our promise was “Take this pill and lose
100 pounds”, it would fall on deaf ears. Why? Because the
promise has been enlarged past the point of credibility or
believability. Not too mention, beyond the point of being
truthful.
This is where savvier marketers evolve their

marketing message to the next stage of the PES.
State #3: Promise & Unique Mechanism
Here, at this stage, the mechanism behind the

promise is introduced. How does the product work to
deliver the promised results?
In the case of the fat burning supplement, this is

where you see messages like “Take this pill and lose up to 3
pounds every week… as the Garcinia Cambogia prevents
your body from absorbing fat.”
In this example, the Garcinia Cambogia is the
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mechanism that delivers the weight loss.
As long as your mechanism remains unique to your

product, operating at this stage can be extremely effective.
But, just like we saw with Stage #1, over time, as

competitors see your success and knock-off your
mechanism for their own product, staying with this message
will make it harder and harder for you to get prospects to
respond to your message.
The key is not simply having a mechanism behind

your Primary Promise. The key is having a Unique
Mechanism.
If you have a Unique Mechanism, you can remain at

this stage with your message long-term. Once your Unique
Mechanism becomes just a mechanism — common amongst
competitor’s products — it’s time to move on to the next
stage on the PES.
Stage #4: Promise + Expanded Mechanism
Similar to Stage #2, here we’re also expanding. At

this stage, we’re expanding the mechanism, not the
promise.
In the case of the fat burning supplement, here is

where we see the introduction of something like
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“pharmaceutical-grade Garcinia Cambogia”… “Garcinia

Cambogia from the rain forest”… “Garcinia Cambogia
blended with a digestive enzyme”… etc.
We’re taking the mechanism and enlarging it,

expanding it.
As long as your “expanded mechanism” remains

unique to your product or service, you can operate
successfully at this stage. But, if and when competitors
knock it off, you will need to move on to the final stage of
the PES.
Stage #5: Prospect Experience
Here, the marketing message no longer focuses on

the mechanism. Instead, you focus on the prospect’s
experience.
In the case of the fat burning supplement, your

message would become something along the lines of “Are
you sick and tired of dieting, exercising, popping pills… and
not losing weight?”
Now, imagine for one second, what would happen if

we rolled-out a fantastic new fat burning supplement today,
and our idea and message was simply “Take this pill and
lose weight”.
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What kind of response and results do you think we’d

see?
Yeah, barely any!
Why? Because that idea and message has already

been seen. It’s old. It’s too low on the Promise Exposure
Spectrum™ based on where prospects are right now. So it’s
too immature.
Like this book…
If you look at the PES, you can see the idea and
message behind this book is based on Stage #1.
Why?
Because it’s simply presenting a promise — How to

lose weight the natural way.
78
It’s not a Stage #2 message because it’s not

expanding on the promise (e.g. how to lose 20 pounds a
week). And it’s not a Stage #3 message because there’s no
mechanism behind the promise.
But, it’s way too immature for where weight-loss

prospects are today. Because the market has heard this type
of claim. Hundreds of times. For years.
So this type of immature message simply triggers

mental opt-out.
What this book is offering is information which is

immediately recognizable as stuff that can be found
anywhere.
It’s offering information which has been available

and offered many, many, many times before.
So the market is well beyond this in terms of their

sophistication.
79
Here’s another example:
Another Stage #1 idea and message.
Nothing enlarged. And no mechanism.
Also, way too immature.
The market heard this type of idea a decade ago.
It’s old.
Boring.
Blah.
Garbage.
How about this one?
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Again: old, dated, run-of-the-mill, and way too

immature for what this market has already been presented
with.
All three examples are exactly what not to do.
And with all three examples you should also now see
how there’s no specificity, no Unique Mechanism, nothing
Intellectually Interesting, and not even a big, bold promise.
At the root of all three is simply a weak idea.
And, no matter what we do with the copy — the

words used — the underlying idea will remain the same,
weak.
Changing “Get Rich On The Internet” to “Get

Wealthy In Just Weeks With Your Own Website” may
improve the copy. But the idea is still the idea. Weak,
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ordinary, and immature.
Remember, the copy stems from the idea. The idea

always comes first. It’s the foundation.
You don’t want to try to spruce-up copy for a

garbage idea. As the saying goes, “You can put lipstick and a
dress on a pig, but you’ll still have a pig.”
Start, instead, by developing a Big Marketing Idea.
Then, and only then, dial-in the copy to express it

clearly.
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Chapter Six
Developing Big Marketing Ideas
So, how do you develop your own Big Marketing

Ideas?
It all begins by first recognizing… Big Marketing

Ideas don’t come to you in a flash of inspiration. They’re not
based on your creativity… pulled from your psyche. They're
not simply going to pop into your head.
No. Big Marketing Ideas are discovered and

developed.
They come from digging into the market and

product. From research (i.e. The Examination Stage of the
E5 Customer Acquisition Marketing Protocol.)
Eugene Schwartz said it best:
“You don't get an idea or a headline. You dig it out

of the market research. You wring it out of your product.
You read. You listen. You experiment. The creativity is not
in you. It's in your market. It's in your prospects. It's in
your product. All you're doing is joining the two together.”
This is why, when it comes to research, legendary
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advertising copywriter, John Caples, said:
“You should collect 7 times the amount of

information you think you’re going to need…”
And all-star copywriter, Gary Bencivenga, said:
“Research with a hand-truck. You can never have

too much information…”
And my friend, Brian Kurtz, former VP of

Boardroom Inc., said:
“Be a bloodhound…”
Finding Big Marketing Ideas begins with deep

digging.
And, when digging and doing your research, you

need to consume lots of information. You need lots of ideas.
And to get lots of ideas, you need lots of input.
This is why the idea of a marketer not reading a

variety of diverse books and magazines… not watching the
news… not watching popular movies or television shows…
not reading general information as well as market-specific
information… is absurd.
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Marketers that foolishly limit their sources of

information are limiting their input. And, by limiting their
input, they're limiting their potential output of ideas.
In order to come up with lots of ideas, you must

have a lot of input. And you must have a lot of input and a
lot of ideas in order to find and develop a Big Marketing
Idea.
Remember: The whole process for finding and

developing a Big Marketing Idea is all about discovery and
assembly. Both come from your volume of input.
So what are ideas?
Well, an idea is nothing more than a new

combination of old, common, seemingly disconnected
elements.
Finding seeds of great ideas is about looking for new

or unusual combinations and/or connections between two
or three different things that are seemingly disconnected.
It's you seeing a new or unusual connection between two or
more seemingly disconnected items.
And, as James Webb Young shares in his fantastic

little book A Technique For Producing Ideas:
“The capacity to bring old elements into new
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combination depends on your ability to see relationships.”
Now, you might not be a natural at this. But, the

beautiful thing is… the ability to see relationships where
others don’t, is a skillset which can be developed like any
other skillset.
In his book, Young references the idea of being

either a rentier or a speculator — a concept first presented
by Wilfredo Pareto, the Italian sociologist behind the 80/20
principle.
Rentiers are people who view different elements as

separate, disconnected bits of information. They go about
life not looking for, or seeing, connections.
Then you've got speculators. These people are

preoccupied with the possibility of connections. They view
elements not as totally separate, but as another link in the
same chain. They’re constantly on the lookout for possible
combinations and connections. How is A like or connected
to B?
You need to begin to function as a speculator.

Proactively, intentionally looking for relationships between
things that rentiers ignore as being disconnected.
That's how you’ll begin to strengthen your idea

muscle. And how you’ll develop the skillset of seeing
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combinations where others do not.
This is exactly what entrepreneur and copywriter,

Porter Stansberry, did when creating the first marketing
campaign for his investment newsletter, Stansberry
Advisory.
The body of Porter’s marketing campaign detailed

how the spread of voiceover IP was about to radically
change the telecommunications industry. At the time of the
campaign, fiber optic cable was being laid all throughout
the country. And it was about to present savvy investors
with a monumental opportunity.
But Porter knew, if he simply announced another

new investment opportunity, the market would see it as
more of the same. It would be viewed as old-hat. Typical.
Instead, Porter chose to develop a Big Marketing

Idea.
He saw a relationship between the spread of fiber

optic cable and the spread of the early American railroad.
The spread of the railroad created tremendous

fortunes and created many titans of industry. Porter felt the
same opportunity was at hand with the spread of fiber optic
cable. And that became the foundation of his Big Marketing
87
Idea.
The campaign went on to be a wild success. In fact,

it helped launch, what is today, a $170+ million-dollar a
year business.
See how Porter found a relationship between two

seemingly disconnected things — the spread of the railroad
and the spread of fiber optic cable — and brought them
together for what became a Big Marketing Idea?
That’s the power of proactively looking for

connections.
Now, to have the correct input to find these

connections there are two different types of information you
should be consuming.
There's specific information which is related to your

product… related to your prospect… and related to your
88
market in general.
And there’s general information related to what’s on

the forefront of people’s minds (i.e. current events).
Ideas come from a new combination of specific

knowledge about your product and prospect, along with
general knowledge about the mainstream issues on the
markets mind.
This is why it’s important for you to consume a

variety of general information along with specific
information related to your product and marketplace.
Some various sources, just to get your wheels

spinning: books, magazines, newspapers, news programs,
forums, Amazon comments, blog articles, blog comments,
professional trade journals, Facebook groups, podcasts,
radio programs, YouTube, history, other experts' content,
past marketing promotions, etc.
While consuming, digging, and researching, you’re

looking for seeds of ideas you haven’t heard before. Things
shared with a different perspective. An interesting, curious
nugget. A twist on an old idea. A weird fact.
You want to find things that get your juices flowing.

Something which piques your own curiosity. Something
89
which gets you excited… and excited to tell others about.
And when you’re researching, don't pre-judge any

idea or nugget. Don’t start making decisions about whether
it’s good or not while researching. Just note it. Document
every idea that strikes your fancy.
When possible, also note proof points along the way.

Remember, promises and claims are cheap. They're
brushed-off without proof. There's no value in an idea if
there's no proof to back it up. So, when researching, note
proof points.
Also, when you're developing your ideas, don’t be

afraid to explore ideas that are outrageous, controversial, or
polarizing. You can’t be afraid to ruffle feathers. You can't
be afraid to say something that’s going to polarize you in the
eyes of your market. And you can't be afraid to say
something that’s slightly embarrassing. You've got to be
willing to go big.
Remember, you’re not looking for an idea that’ll tap

your prospect on the shoulder. You’re looking for an idea
that’ll whack them on the side of the head.
And don’t rush things. You need to be patient when

researching and looking for seeds of a Big Marketing Idea.
Give yourself the time and room to find interesting stuff and
flesh it out. Don’t rush ahead with an idea unless you feel
90
you have something you’re excited about.
Remember, the idea you go with can make or break

your entire marketing campaign. So be patient.
Another approach you can use when looking for

seeds of Big Marketing Ideas is to use the "Action Figure"
Technique. This is based on an interaction Mark Ford had
years ago while flying home from a family vacation.
Seated next to him on the plane just so happened to

be one of the original creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles.
Being the curious fellow he is, Mark leaned over and

asked the gentleman how they came up with such a popular
idea.
“At the time,” the gentleman responded, “mutants,

ninjas, and turtles were really popular. And since we were
targeting teenagers, we figured, let’s combine all of that
into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That’s it.”
Pretty funny, right? And interesting, though.
The idea here is to look for the different topics and

ideas getting a lot of attention in your marketplace right
now, and see if you can combine them into a new and
91
different story nobody else is telling.
Just, be aware: During this stage of “idea

development” you’re not writing any copy. You’re not trying
to craft a headline or any opening copy. You’re simply
developing the idea.
Think of it like developing the idea for a movie

script. You only begin writing when you’ve first determined
you have a great story to tell.
So, your aim is to get clarity on the idea itself, first.
To make sure you have clarity, you should be able to

sum up your Big Marketing Idea in a concise statement
that’s simple and powerful.
You must be able to articulate your idea in under 30

seconds.
Imagine you’re at a social gathering and you want to

run your idea by a friend to see if they would find it
interesting and compelling. You wouldn't take a half hour.
You wouldn't take 20 minutes. And you wouldn't rattle off
some headline.
You'd share the idea as quickly and clearly as

possible and wait for their response. And what you’d be
92
hoping for is, “Wow, tell me more about that.”
If you can’t sum-up your idea in under 30 seconds,

odds are you don’t have clarity yet. And you need to spend
more time thinking about it and developing it.
One final and important note about Big Marketing

Ideas: They exist within a context, within a point in time.
What was a Big Marketing Idea three months ago

may not be a Big Marketing Idea today. Likely, what was a
Big Marketing Idea a year ago is certainly not a Big
Marketing Idea today.
Sometimes ideas have a very limited window. Some,

weeks. Others, months. Rarely, years.
Why? Because things change. Your prospects evolve.

What was once new is now old. What was once unique is
now run-of-the-mill.
So, you never want to copy or steal an old idea. You

shouldn't be stealing anybody's idea to begin with, but it's to
your detriment if you do because they all exist within a
context. And likely, that context has changed.
Your aim is to develop something new and fresh.

Something timely. Something unique. Something your
93
prospects have never heard before. Something arresting.
And it needs to be Emotionally Compelling and

Intellectually Interesting. Something that prods your
prospect’s heart and head. Their feelings and their logic.
When you’re patient… and you develop that type of

idea — a Big Marketing Idea — you’ll then possess the
foundation of what can be turned into a very powerful and
very profitable marketing campaign.
It’s not easy. And won’t happen quickly.
But the payoff can be incredible!
94
Epilogue
If you're reading this section, my hope is you've read

the entire book. Kudos. Not many marketers will make it
this far. Not many people are committed enough to actually
read entire books.
Sad. I know. But you have. And that's cause for

celebration.
You too now understand the single most valuable

marketing lesson I've learned in the fifteen-plus years I've
been in the direct marketing trenches.
When I first learned the secret of the Big Marketing

Idea twelve years ago, it completely changed my entire
approach to engineering marketing campaigns. And, in the
process, helped me build several multi-million-dollar
businesses. And equipped me to help hundreds of other
entrepreneurs do the same.
Make no mistake, developing Big Marketing Ideas is

not easy. Or quick. But, then again, nothing great is. It will
take time. Commitment. Tenacity. And patience. But like all
great things, the payoff is so worth it.
Effective marketing is the life-blood of all business.
95
It's the foundation. The bedrock.
When done correctly, it can transform a fledgling

venture into a marketplace leader. A cash-strapped
entrepreneur into a cash-flush business owner.
And at the root of the most effective marketing... is a

Big Marketing Idea.
My deepest hope is you now recognize that. And

embrace it. That you go on from here and search for your
first Big Marketing Idea. Then your second. Then third. And
continue as an entrepreneur who engineers marketing
campaigns which stand-out and get attention. Captivating
prospects. Moving them emotionally and intellectually.
Creating a thriving source of new customers in the process.
And growing the business or businesses of your dreams.
That's what the secret of the Big Marketing Idea can

do for you. And now you know it too.
I’m certainly here to help. In fact, I'd love to help. It

would my honor and privilege to teach you my full E5
Customer Acquisition Marketing Protocol (C.A.M.P.) -- my
entire process for helping you find your Big Marketing Idea
and turning it into a full marketing campaign which brings
you new customer sales, every day. If you're interested, go
to: www.E5Camp.com.
96
Next Steps For You…
Now that you understand the power behind

developing Big Marketing Ideas, I want to invite you to turn
your Big Marketing Idea into a fully-launched marketing
campaign which brings you new customer sales, every day.
And I want to invite you to do it with a seat in the E5

C.A.M.P. Masterclass.
If you’re looking to learn a powerful, customer-

generating method that will finally make your marketing
work, the E5 C.A.M.P. Masterclass will give you the path to
succeed right away.
• Right off the bat you'll learn the difference between

setting-up a customer-generating campaign and an
ordinary marketing funnel.
• You'll learn how to make sure you’ve nailed your Big

Marketing Idea to ensure your campaign gets lots of
attention in your marketplace.
• You'll learn how to position your product so your

prospects see it as something new, unique, and
different.
• You'll learn exactly what you need to say in the first
97
350 to 800 words of your marketing campaign so

your prospects remain engaged.
• You'll learn how to develop the perfect marketing

message for your specific product or service that gets
prospects ready to buy.
• You'll learn how to construct a S.I.N. Offer which

makes it a no-brainer for prospects to purchase your
product.
• You'll learn how to prove the profitability of your

new marketing campaign in just days... without
wasting any time or money.
• You'll learn how to grow the daily volume of new

customers you're getting by using my simple traffic
formula: B.A.C.O.
• ...and much, MUCH MORE!
And, in just 45 days you'll have your new and

profitable campaign published and bringing you new
customers.
PLUS: There's zero risk to put it to the test.
Because you're protected by a full 100% Money-Back
98
Guarantee.
You're either thrilled with the quantity of sales and

new customers the E5 CAMP Masterclass is bringing you, or
you can send one email and get all of your money back.
This is your opportunity to finally have marketing

which really does bring you new customer sales, every day.
You just need to take action and enroll in the E5

CAMP Masterclass.
Look:
I have no idea what your financial situation or

lifestyle looks like.
But I believe you're a motivated entrepreneur.
Maybe you want a successful business to finally get

free of a 9-5 job.
Maybe you want to elevate your family's financial

status.
Maybe you want to experience the best life has to

offer.
Or maybe you just want extra cash every month you
99
can splurge on a vacation, a new car, the newest electronic

gadget, or a second home.
Whatever you're after, this is your chance to finally

have a business which gives you the cash flow and profits
you want.
It all begins when you enroll in the E5 CAMP

Masterclass and learn how to use it to bring you new
customer sales, every day.
Do it. This will be best decision you make for your

business.
Hope to see you inside!
100
Appendix
There are three additional benefits which come from

building your marketing around a Big Marketing Idea. All
three can have a significant impact on the volume of new
customer sales your marketing generates.
First, with a campaign built around a Big Marketing

Idea, you can tap into a monster source of new sales from
the largest, ignored segment of your marketplace.
Most entrepreneurs are completely clueless about

this.
To understand how this works, you need to first

understand the Prospect Awareness Pyramid™. It’s a
simple tool taught and used as part of the E5 Customer
Acquisition Marketing Protocol (www.E5Camp.com).
And it’s an expansion on the principle of prospect

awareness first introduced by Eugene Schwartz in 1966.
101
You’ll notice there are five levels of prospect

awareness.
Starting at the bottom, we have the Unaware Level.

Prospects which have no awareness of any existing problem
or of anything about you, your product, or your product
category, fall within this level.
One level up, we have the Problem Aware Level.

Prospects which are aware of their existing problem, but not
aware of any of the possible solutions available, fall within
this level.
Another level up, we have the Solution Aware Level.
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Prospects which are aware of their existing problem and of

the various solution types available, fall within this level.
Up another level, we have the Product Aware Level.

Prospects which are aware of their existing problem and of
your product, but aren’t sure if it’s right for them, fall within
this level.
And at the top of the pyramid we have the Most

Aware Level. Prospects which know all about you and your
product, and simply want to know the “deal”, fall within this
level.
Why is this valuable? Well, as Eugene Schwartz said,

“Knowing what your prospects know in advance of a sales
pitch is just as important as knowing who he is or what he
wants.”
Knowing who you’re targeting and where they fall on

the Prospect Awareness Pyramid™ is critical because it tells
you how “direct” or “indirect” your Big Marketing Idea
should be.
Meaning: How early in your marketing should you

be talking about the product or offer.
The more aware your prospect is — higher on the

pyramid — the more direct your Big Marketing Idea can be.
103
The less aware your prospect is — lower on the

pyramid — the less direct your Big Marketing Idea should
be.
Most entrepreneurs and marketers have been taught

to target prospects higher on the pyramid. Folks at least
with an awareness of an existing problem. Why? Because
they’re easier to sell.
But there’s an important element I want you to

grasp.
As you target higher awareness prospects, the

smaller your universe of prospects becomes.
Obviously, Most Aware — prospects who know you

and your product — is the smallest universe of prospects.
Whereas, Unaware — prospects who aren’t even

aware of a problem, you, your product, or any solutions — is
the biggest universe of prospects. A universe… almost all of
your competitors are likely ignoring.
While typical promise-driven ideas can work with

higher awareness level prospects, they will not work with
lower awareness level prospects.
Meaning: To tap into the lowest level of awareness

prospects… and hence, the biggest universe of prospects…
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you can’t use the typical promise-driven idea. You need a

Big Marketing Idea.
Now, with what you’ve learned in this book, you

have the ability to tap into a tremendous source of potential
new customers being ignored by almost all other advertising
in your market.
Pretty cool, right?
Next additional benefit…
When you build your campaigns around a Big

Marketing Idea, you have everything you need to create
paid ads which get higher clicks and engagement than pure
pitch advertisements. So, you have the opportunity to
quickly turn your Big Marketing Idea into faster profits
from cold traffic.
As you now know, Big Marketing Ideas standout and

get more attention then simple, ordinary ideas conveyed in
paid advertising. This greater attention tends to lead to a
higher CTR (click-thru rate). And a higher CTR and greater
ad engagement leads to lower advertising costs. Because
platforms like Facebook reward advertisers for content
which demonstrates higher levels of interest from users.
So, with a Big Marketing Idea, you not only have the
ability to get more traffic from your advertising, you also
105
have the ability to generate that traffic at a lower cost. And

more traffic at a cheaper price is a fast path to greater
profits.
And, finally, the third additional benefit…
Now that you understand how to find and develop

Big Marketing Ideas, you can market and sell the same
product every day for years... without your marketing ever
getting stale or dated.
See: Outside of the offer, the two most important

components of every marketing campaign are the idea and
the lead (the first 350-800 words).
Think of it within the context of the 80/20 principle.

The idea and lead are the 20% of any marketing campaign
responsible for 80% of the results.
What this means is you can regularly develop new

Big Marketing Ideas for your marketing, leave 80% of the
campaign the same, and sell the same product over and
over.
When the time comes where a Big Marketing Idea is

no longer generating adequate response from the market,
you can simply develop a new idea and lead, while leaving
the rest of the marketing campaign almost identical. It’ll be
perceived by the market as a new campaign. And will allow
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you to continue marketing and selling your product over

and over without your message every getting stale.
So, in summary:
Now that you know how to find and develop Big

Marketing Ideas, you have a way of ensuring your
marketing stands-out and gets attention even in a crowded
marketplace. You have a way to tap into the biggest
untapped source of potential new customers. You have a
way to quickly generate profits from cold traffic at a lower
price point. And you have the ability to market and sell the
same product over and over for years without your
marketing ever feeling dated.
Not too shabby from a single marketing book.
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About Todd Brown
Considered the #1 authority on engineering

profitable customer acquisition campaigns, Todd Brown is
the marketing expert other experts come to when they need
help with their own marketing.
With clients in over 33 different countries, operating

in over 65 different mass and niche markets, it's been said
that Todd has helped his students engineer more six and
seven-figure marketing campaigns than any other expert
online today.
His list of coaching students, consulting clients, and

subscribers reads like a Who's Who of A-List Marketers. His
agency has created the marketing campaigns behind some
of the biggest direct response marketers and companies
online today. And, entrepreneurs happily fly-in from all
around the globe for a single day with Todd to learn his
renowned E5 Method.
108
Acknowledgements
This book would not have come about without the

ideas, insights, and impact of a handful of people.
Mark Morgan Ford: Thank you for introducing me

to the incredible power of the Big Marketing Idea. It has
changed the course of my entrepreneurial journey forever.
I’m eternally grateful.
Rich Schefren: Your mentorship has played a bigger

role in my understanding of marketing and business
development than possibly anything else. I would not be the
marketer or entrepreneur I am today if it was not for your
unrelenting and generous support over the past decade-
plus. I’ve deeply valued all of our discussions about the Big
Marketing Idea. And, it goes without saying — your
friendship is something I cherish.
Joe Schriefer: You’re one of the most generous guys

I know. And your constant willingness to share and give
transparently has helped to clarify my understanding of the
Big Marketing Idea even more. You have no idea how
grateful I am that we were seat mates at the Titans dinner.
John Forde: Your documentation of lead types

helped to clarify how to best tie the Big Marketing Idea into
the opening (lead) of a marketing campaign. It opened my
109
eyes to the enormous value of understanding when to be

direct and when to be indirect. And greatly impacted many
of my most profitable marketing campaigns.
Mike Palmer: Your perspective on “bringing a new

story to the market” helped to hone my thinking about the
Big Marketing Idea even more. And it’s become a part of my
regular process when developing new ideas.
Eugene Schwartz: While I never had the great

opportunity of meeting Gene, his ideas were the launching
pad for much of what I’ve come to understand today about
effective marketing. And for that, I owe him a debt of
gratitude. I only wish I had the chance to repay it.
Agora Inc.: As a whole, this company has been a

constant source of inspiration, ideas, growth, and
excitement for me as an entrepreneur. I love what they do.
And how they do it. And I’m grateful that as an “outsider”
I’ve been bestowed such rare and valuable “insider” access.
Thank you Bill, Myles, Porter, and far too many others to
mention here.
110

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HOW TO FIND YOUR

BIG MARKETING IDEA

Standout & Grab Attention

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2018

In early 2006 I was given a twenty-five page

What this document revealed I had never seen

Thanks to what I found inside this document — and

Prior to 2006, or what I like to refer to as B.D. —

I had marketed and sold a variety of products. Put

And, of course, I was consistently buying something

But, I could never seem to breakthrough to what I

What I was hunting for at the time was the secret to

But no matter what I bought… no matter what I

Until I was given that document!

It was the first time I was introduced to Mark Ford.

Mark has written over a dozen books on

the billion dollar mark. He’s trained some of the highest

So, whenever I was lucky enough to get around

We were introduced by my good buddy, and then

At the time, our Strategic Profits offices — in

For whatever reason, Cigar Connoisseur was a

But, it seemed like dozens of meetings,

And, at least once a week it’s where you’d find

Mark… sitting at the bar… smoking a Padron 1926 Serie…

On this particular night, Rich and I were sitting a

That’s when Mark — having obviously overheard our

“Most if not all of the stuff you guys are talking

“Yeah, definitely. Please!”, Rich and I both

And… so… Mark began to explain to us…

The Real Secret Behind The Biggest, Most

He said it was the true secret behind how many of

And… that… it was the one single thing which has

And… that… if we really, truly wanted to make the

He even recommended we download (from a private

And it was downloading and devouring that little

The Incredible Sales Generating Power Of

“The Big Marketing Idea”

Over the course of the next six years, I went on a

I went through and analyzed everything I could get

I questioned every top advertising copywriter I could

And, as I routinely saw Mark over those next six

I fired dozens of questions at him like: how is a “Big

the correct “Big Marketing Idea”, and on and on.

And… frankly… it was…

The Most Profitable And Eye-Opening

Now, look: Before going any further, I need to make

When I say “Big Marketing Idea”… I’m NOT talking

But… as you’re about to discover… those are not

slam home run”.

And, it was only until I was knee-deep into my six-

The Real Secret Weapon Behind Their

They almost all said, it wasn’t their copy… their

No. It was the “Big Marketing Idea” they credited.

For example: Take legendary copywriter, Gary

Most students of marketing think Gary’s monster

In fact, listen to what his son, Bond Halbert, shared

HOST: “You mentioned right before we jumped on

BOND: “People would come to my dad and try and

And, even Gary himself, when writing (on one rare

“It’s so damn valuable!”