The Binary Duality Sequence

How to manipulate your list to buy more

“We are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” - Edward Bernays

This article is a part of Renegade Email, my course on building a lifestyle business writing one email a day and available for free to paid members.

Last year I read 'Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee', it's a fantastic book. If you are a comic book nerd like me, grab a copy if you can get it.

But you are not here to have Marvel comics shoved down your throat, you are here for marketing... so open wide.

Sorry, fooled ya, we are back to Stan Lee for a second.

Early on in Stan Lee's career, before he hit the big time, he used to write all kinds of crazy scripts.

Not because he wanted to, his boss would have all these completely wacko ideas, and Stan Lee would write them.

But he was okay with that.

There is a quote in his book which says...

“Anytime we needed extra money, I could always write more scripts. If Joanie wanted to buy a new wardrobe or I wanted to get a new TV or the latest camera equipment, I’d say, ‘Well, I’ll write a couple of extra stories and that’ll take care of it.’ I guess that’s one of the reasons I wrote so much. I could buy almost anything I wanted because I could pay by writing stories …”

He had a skill which he could use to make money whenever he wanted. It was an asset that paid over and over again.

Pulling this back to marketing though... this is what we do.

You create a product, or pick an affiliate product, and then you sell it over and over again.

Your job is to build an audience, and then get them to buy.

And like Stan Lee, in my world, if I want to make more money, I just write another email.

If I want to go on holiday, or get a new kitchen fitted, or buy a hot tub, I switch to two emails a day.

... and two emails a day, doesn't just bring in double the money, it's more like 3 times the money.

So if you are emailing daily to your list right now, then try the two email approach. Roughly 12 hours apart. And use two different types of email, so there is contrast.

And that is the key, two different types of email.

It could be an AHA moment, a story, a personal reveal, a Q&A, a rant, and so on, but in this article I will show you the most powerful combination of emails.

The Binary Duality Sequence.

The Binary Duality Sequence is pure manipulation. It is dark psychology at its best, and it preys on people’s emotions.

Emotions generate sales.

It doesn’t work in every niche, but in those where it is suited, it can bring in a huge amount of sales daily.

So the discovery of this little manipulative sequence began a few years ago when a client complained that he gets practically no sales in November and December, a load in January, then the rest of the year being pretty steady.

Can you guess what niche he is in?

November and December are the holiday months. If you are not directly in a niche related to the holidays, then there is a natural drop off in sales over that time.

January, when everybody has spent up, has only one winner, health & fitness.

And Calvin, my client, was indeed in that niche, selling weigh-loss supplements.

Naturally, you would think, because of the extra eating that goes on over the holidays, sales would increase, but alas, people don’t feel the guilt of this until the new year.

And that is where it all began… guilt.

All of Calvin’s emails are upbeat, filled with encouragement and positive affirmations. He is a likable character who lost a ton of weight himself and always has a good story to tell.

I wanted him to change things up. I wanted him to write one email in his positive style, and another which picked on an insecurity / fear his audience might have.

Things like:

• Not being around for their children.

• Being overweight and getting diabetes.

• Heart disease and having a heart attack.

• Not being able to travel.

• High cholesterol.

• Blood pressure.

• Losing a foot from diabetes.

• Having to book two seats on a plane.

• Being asked when the kid is due.

• Not being able to get clothes that fit.

• A lack of fashionable clothes in large sizes.

• Not being able to walk far.

• Being so overweight you can’t even take the dog for a walk.

• Being embarrassed when you order food.

• Finding it hard to go out with friends.

• Can no longer use a bath and finding it difficult to wash.

• Can’t get up the stairs anymore.

• Losing confidence the more weight they put on.

I asked him to tell a daily story based on one of those insecurities / worries that his audience might have. He could tell the story based on his own progress, or from a customer's point of view, even from a medical view.

Just pick something that his audience was worried about and then tie it in to the supplement.

It didn’t even have to target the obese overweight, he could tell a story about the slippery road of having a binge, leading to progressively eating more, etc.

You get the idea.

I asked him to send his trademark ‘happy’ email in the morning, then twelve hours later send his ‘insecurity/fear’ email.

Then do that daily.

The result. After a few days of emails, the sales started coming in, and boy did they come in. He did more in November and December than he had ever done in January before.

Since working with Calvin, I have also shared this sequence with another of my consulting clients in a pet niche, and it worked for her too.

I don’t use this technique in my day-to-day niche emails. Like Stan Lee, when I want to pay for something expensive, I will switch to the twice a day emails for a couple of weeks.

Hope this helps.

Dan