How to sell a boring or undifferentiated product 

If you are a seasoned copywriter or into marketing in general, you must have heard the term "unique mechanism" drummed into your ears.

For those who don't know what it means...It is what differentiates your product from others.

For example in the fitness industry, there are a lot of unique mechanisms.

-Going to the gym to burn calories is a mechanism.

-Taking pills that target certain hormones that help reduce fat is a mechanism.

-Intermittent fasting is a mechanism. 

Even removing fat aka surgery is a mechanism.

Remember that all these mechanisms have processes behind how they work.

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But what happens when you have a product that is boring or doesn't "seem" to have a unique mechanism. What do you do?

First, you must find out if your product has a mechanism.

Most people dismiss what could be considered a mechanism because it seems unimportant and unimpressive.

Or don't look hard enough to see differentiators between their product and their competition.

And this is a skill issue.

Let's use a boring fishing pole as an example.

Is there anything unique about the materials the pole is made from? 

For example, maybe this pole is made out of carbon fiber and titanium, whereas most poles are made of graphite or fiberglass.

Well, perhaps there’s a reason that’s important.

Perhaps it makes the pole lighter weight than other similar poles?

If it does, then you’d need to ask:

Are there benefits to having a lighter pole vs. a heavy pole?

Answer: there would be if your pole was lighter yet more durable than most heavy poles

And then what if, when researching your market by visiting forums…

You discovered that a lot of potential customers talk about shoulder pain, how they get tired of carrying around a heavy rod, or how they don’t fish as often as they used to because they get sore.

Now you’ve got all kinds of ways to sell that fishing pole.

And you might have even discovered a whole new niche to go after which is older fishermen who value performance but also need comfort.

And that’s just the materials.

Perhaps there’s something unique about the reel or the guides or the handle even or the line itself?

Let’s say it’s the reel.

Maybe it spins faster than most comparable ones.

So perhaps you can start to play up the RPMs and you show how more speed = catching more fish?

Now, let's take another boring product.

Hammers

What about the handle?

There are wooden, aluminum, steel, and fiberglass handles.

What advantage does one have over the other?

Steel handles are considered to be the strongest and most durable.

But the biggest disadvantage for users is that steel hammer handles are quite heavy.

Can we sell this type of hammer to someone who loves construction but is very old and has blown-out back or shoulder pain?

Probably not.

Now we have figured out who not to sell to.

How about the heads of a hammer.

There are ball peen hammers, Cross peen hammers, claw hammers, sledgehammers club hammers...just to name a few.

Again what is the advantage of a specific type of hammer over others?

Depends on your audience.

A young fit man who works in construction and whose sole job is building demolitions needs a sledgehammer.

Someone who works in carpentry needs a claw hammer because it is used to drive nails into various materials like wood, drywall, or other surfaces. 

The flat end of the hammer's head, known as the face, is used to strike the head of the nail.

Mind you I am not an expert in fishing poles or hammers. 

These are top-of-the-dome ideas.

Imagine I spend hours researching deeply.

What would I find?

You just have to look hard enough.

Remember this also goes for Jewelry, even t-shirts and clothing, etc.

Often there’s some unique material or process that was used in the manufacturing.

This means your job is to uncover what that was and figure out why it’s a benefit to your target market.

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Now what about if you truly have no new mechanism:

Then you can create one in these three ways.

1. Tell a story behind "why" the product was made (and make sure that story relates to your prospect too). 

This is the simple hero journey story archetype.

The product creator shares the pain he was struggling with, how he went on a path of discovery, and how he found a solution.

Guess what...because you voiced out your story, people who identify and resonate with it will buy from you.

This is that simple 

2. Paint an identity with the product. 

I see this happening a lot in the music industry.

The primary goal is to sell music but somehow the artist wraps his/her identity into their product.

Let's take Kanye West for example.

Yes he is a genius at making music and you might not like him but most people identify with him because he can take anything and make it cool...heck he made bipolar disorder and pink polos seem cool.

He is unhinged, doesn't follow societal norms, says what is on his mind.

To someone, they might see it as someone courageous to follow his unique path and relate with him.

This forms a relationship and relationships breeds money.

Other notable examples.

Ronaldo/Eminem- A definition of grit meets success 

Elon Musk- Cool billionaire who defies all odds

Jayz-  Swag

These people are selling something different other than what their product primarily does and use that to drive sales to their primary product.

Let us a boring product, a necklace as an example:

You can paint a picture of how unique the customer will feel if they buy said necklace.

Talk about how people will notice, how people will ask where they got it, how people will give them compliments, etc.

3. Turn the product into a ritual. 

This is all about selling an experience.

For makeup, maybe it’s two minutes of self-love. Two minutes of "you time." Two minutes where you get to put yourself first.

For red meat lovers, it may be connecting with how our ancestors ate, and how you are not subscribing to feeding habits that make men lose their testosterone.

For the fishing pole, perhaps it’s those timeless moments on the water.

Timeless in that you’re taking part in a ritual (fishing) that is thousands of years old and that spans the horizon (Jesus was a fisherman and so was Hemingway). 

And our sturdy fishing pole is the catalyst that makes this experience happen.

That is all I have for you today.

Let me know how you like it.

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