Last night I noticed that my lower back was feeling a little bit off.

As I slept, I kept waking up in discomfort…😴

But that was nothing compared to what happened when I tried to get out of bed this morning.

A wave of pain surged through my body that took my breath away.  

It was scary – there was a moment where I was unsure if I’d be able to get out of bed at all…

And thank God I finally did.

It sucks…

I’m pretty sure it’s from letting my daughter Eden physically walk all over my back…

Which turned into her jumping up and down on my lower back.

Apparently having a 40 lb human jumping on your back probably isn’t the best idea…

So, lesson learned there.

Still man, this pain, yikes.

I’ve had a stiff back before…

But never extreme lower back pain like I’m dealing with this morning.

It’s especially irritating because I had a ton to get done…

Before flying to Austin on Monday…✈

And then being on my feet for most of the week (during our Copy Accelerator event).

I’m sure I’ll be fine (best advice I’ve gotten so far: rest and ice)…

But I will say that given how excruciating this pain is…

In the first two hours that morning I have already: 

Followed along to 5 different YouTube videos with lower back stretches…

Talked to two friends who’ve suffered from similar issues in the past…

Googled Emily Lark’s Back to Life program and considered buying it…

Taken some turmeric to hopefully help with the pain…

Try going for a walk, though I cut it super short after one of my friends who has dealt with similar issues advised me against it.

And the fact that I’ve done all of this already is what triggered the email I’m writing to you today.

My back pain SUCKS – it’s probably an 8 out of 10…

But it also serves to remind me of a fundamental marketing truth…

Which is that the best time to sell to a prospect is when their pain is immediate and impossible to ignore.

Sell to the bleeding necks…

Those who have the visceral, urgent, make-it-go-away pain.

Right now, if you told me you had the magic elixir for making this back pain go away…

I would pay vast sums of money…

But it’s the same thing for prospects who are: 

Broke and close to losing their home/car/etc

In any major physical pain (like me, lol)…

Depressed/anxious…

In a crumbling relationship…

And so on.

This is the reason why selling a weight loss supplement is normally better than selling a cholesterol supplement…

Being overweight is visceral and real…

Having high cholesterol is mostly abstract and distant.

But even when you have a weight loss supplement…

You’re not just selling to all people who are overweight…

You’re mostly selling to the customers who have recently experienced some trigger event.

Maybe it happened after they caught their reflection in the mirror and didn’t like what they saw…

Maybe it happened after they realized their spouse wasn’t attracted to them anymore…

Maybe it happened after somebody said something…

Maybe it happened after an overweight relative had a health scare…

No matter what it was…

Typically the person who buys from you is the person who has just realized things can’t go on the way they are. 

Does that make sense?

They’re desperate for a change…

And if your product is good enough, it can be their life raft.

Now of course, with really good copy…

You’ll probably be poking and prodding those pain points too.

It’s a little uncomfortable to admit this, but it’s true. 

That’s why using curiosity in the opening of your copy (and your headlines) is so effective.

If you can catch the prospects attention right away…

And then once they’re hooked in, you start exacerbating those pain points…

Until you’ve got them in a state of urgency, where they feel like today is the day they MUST make a change…

That’s when you get blockbuster sales copy.

Why?

Because now you’re selling not just to the bleeding necks…

But to the onlookers too…

And that’s extremely powerful.

—

Okay, I gotta step away from my desk and try and post up in a recliner.

This sucks, gonna text my friend Adam who is an orthopedic surgeon next and get his advice.

– SPG

P.S. This post originally came from an email I sent to my private list. If you want to see more stuff like this from me, you can apply to join my list using this link.