Its amazing. You can wrack your brain. Read all the books. Invest in $2000 guru courses.

And sometimes … the big revelation you’ve been looking for can come out of nowhere. Out of left field. Even driving down an LA freeway on a Friday afternoon.

Because that’s exactly what I was doing last week. When a story came on the radio. That involved a dying man’s wish. A mother’s promise. A family’s love. And how all three transformed the lives of people they didn’t even know.

Now if this was just a feel-good story, I probably wouldn’t be telling you about it. But the implications for your life … and your business … are staggering.

It involves Aaron Collins. A 30-year old, whose dying wish was to leave a tip. But not just any tip.

“Leave an awesome tip … and I don’t mean 25%. I mean $500 for a pizza for a waiter or waitress.”

You see, Aaron once left a $50 tip for a woman who had been very rude. And it changed her attitude. And her outlook. And he wondered:  What might happen if I took that up one more notch?

Now Aaron’s mother Tina remembers him as someone who always wanted to make a difference. But when she was sitting at his deathbed, she wondered if she had misled her son about the massive impact she was certain he would make.

Until she realized his last wish
might be the answer to her prediction.

And when his family decided to make this last wish a reality … the idea took off. CNN.com put them on its front page. CBS This Morning interviewed them. Their YouTube video of one unsuspecting waitress receiving her tip went viral.
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Strangers started donating money. First hundreds. Then a few thousand. Then $11,000. And … as of this writing … over $55,000.

That’s a $500 tip for 110 waiters and waitresses.

Now I know you’re thinking, “What does this have to do with my business?” And the answer is: Plenty.

What if you could craft your business message, so the promise it presents is just as powerful as what prompts total strangers to donate money to people they’ve never met? So more people they’ve never met could have a life-changing experience?

Now … when I suggest this to my clients, I usually get, “That’s hard! Its where I usually stop.”

Well …  the reason you stop is probably the same reason why you aren’t making as much money as you’d like.

What if you COULD make what you offer just as compelling as the story that prompted total strangers to give $55,000? (And counting!)

Well … you can. And here are six ways to start:
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1.  Your Message Isn’t About You

Are you sitting down? OK. This might hurt: No one cares about what you do. Well, probably your dog. And your friends. And of course, your spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. And your parents. But as your prospect, I am not going to pay good money to watch you gratify yourself.

I am going to pay good money for you to help me achieve an outcome I desperately want.

And my willingness to pay you depends how successfully you inspire me to believe that’s exactly what you are going to help me do.

While its nice that if I donate money, I can help Aaron realize his final wish. And change the life of a waiter or waitress who is struggling to get by. The real key is doing that makes me feel FANTASTIC.

So … your message needs to be more than what you want. It also must connect with something big your prospects have been yearning for. Searching for. That faciliates an outcome that changes everything for them. And the more directly it connects with that inner spark … the more people will want to work with you.
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2.  Your Message Needs Magnitude

When you speak your message, I have to FEEL it. I have to get that its big.  That its not about what you do. Its about what you make possible. Its not about a process. Its about the ultimate outcome you help create.

Its not about something vague and lyrical. (I help “possibility oriented professionals” take their life to the “next level” to achieve their “heart’s desire …”). But something specific (“I am going to rock waiters and waitresses around the world to their core by giving them a $500 tip!”)

KEY: The more powerful the backstory behind what you are doing, the more powerful a response you can create. Someone simply deciding to give someone a $500 tip is nice. But it doesn’t move me.

But a grieving family dispensing $500 tips to total strangers because it was the dying wish of a loved one … and a way to make him live on through a powerful legacy … and I’m on my knees. I can’t stop thinking about it. Or talking about it.

The more powerful the backstory, the more potent the profit.
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3. Your Message Must Have a Tangible AND an Emotional Payoff

In order for people to invest in your Ultimate Outcome:

• There must be a substantial, tangible, specific payoff.
• And an equally or more substantial emotional one.

The people who donated money for Aaron’s wish, got the immediate emotional high of giving. They can continue the good feeling by checking in at Aaron’s website to view how Aaron’s legacy continues to effect more people. And they can view videos of the impact their gift is having on the lives of others.

But they can also see the specific, tangible benefit of their investment. One waitress said the gift would help her pay the rent that month. That’s a specific payoff. Not “your highest possibility”. Or “taking your life to the next level.” But “I can pay my rent this month”. That’s specific. That’s cool. That’s what you are looking for.
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4.  Your Message Must Trigger a Pre-Existing Emotion and Awaken a Pre-Existing Desire in Your Prospect

Those of you with kids approaching college age, or who have been through the school of hard knocks know:  Education is expensive. Its time consuming. The problem is, many of you have to educate your prospects on why what you offer them is valuable. Instead of giving them what they already KNOW is valuable.

Your message must trigger an immediate, almost involuntary flood of interest towards you. You don’t have time to educate your prospects why they should want it. The have to already want it. I don’t have to be educated on why its cool to give someone a $500 tip. And the impact it can have. I already know it. And feel it.

You do this by crafting a message that triggers pre-existing emotion in your prospects. And awakens a pre-existing desire for something they already want.

Crafting your message to trigger emotions that are ALREADY inside your prospect, and awakening desires they ALREADY have is your superhighway to success.
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5.  Your Message Must Stir the Imagination

Your message must stir the imagination. FACT:  Every expensive course I have ever enrolled in was proceeded by what I call The Success Fantasy. As I wrote my check or feverishly entered my credit card information I was experiencing, before the fact, a stunning, 3D IMAX vision of what it would be like to receive the benefits of what I was paying for.

Aaron’s story instantly creates this. Literally seconds after it began playing on my radio, my imagination ran wild. And a vivid movie began playing in my mind about:

• The sadness of a promising young life cut short.
• A mother’s anguish in losing her son and yearning for a way to have him live on.
• A brilliant way to turn his death into an ongoing legacy.
• An outpouring of generousity and excitement that funded the idea.
• And the overwhelming gratitude of someone receiving a massive, unexpected gift.

Not only was I completly swept up by this movie playing out in my mind. But more importantly … I began to see how I could play a part in this movie. And it felt fantastic.

Create your message (and all your marketing) so it immediately stirs these powerful images in your prospect’s imagination. And allows them to take center stage in their own success. Even before they have achieved it. And watch your profits soar.
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6.  And Finally … You Must Give Others the Opportunity to Invest in Your Message

This is where alot of us get squeamish. But here is the reality: Good intentions are not enough to fund your message. If Aaron’s family didn’t give all of us the opportunity to invest in his message … they probably would have only given one or two $500 tips. Instead, they are now able to give over 100.

More money gives us the opportunity to change more lives. It not only provides the resources to get our message out there in a big way. But it lets others participate financially in the vision we have inspired in them.

The more people who can participate and invest in the possibility your business and your message promise … the more successful you will be. Which, in turn, allows you to make a bigger difference with a widening circle of followers.
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Here’s the thing:

Unfortunately, when many of us see something like this we consign it to the YouTube Viral / Inspirational Scrap Heap. We turn it into some wonderful, but freak story. Like a circus sideshow, it entertains us for a few minutes. And then fades from memory.

Instead, what if each time you saw something like this, you asked:

• What about this specific situation is making people respond in such an amazing way?
• What is happening inside those getting caught up in the story that prompts them to respond?
• And, most importantly: How can I apply both of these discoveries to my own marketing, in a way that would make my business go viral … the same way the idea or the video went viral?

Would love to hear your thoughts on this. And Araon’s last wish …  when you share in the comments below.