Sean D'Souza: Sometimes all it takes is a bullet to make a point

Step into a bookstore; step into the business section and pull out a book. Then flip the book to the back cover. And here's what you're sure to find on almost every business book. Yup, you guessed it: you find bullets.

And there's a reason why bullets make it to the back cover of a book. It's because you tend to read the title, then the subtitle (on the front cover), then flip the book to get the gist of what it's about. Yes, there's the yada, yada about the book on the back cover. Yes, there's an index. Yes, there's a contents page, but you ignore most of the yada, yada and head for the bullets.

And you do so because bullets are like flashing Christmas lights.

They flash because of their ability to create curiosity. And not just some amount of curiosity, but a massive amount of curiosity.

So here on my desk I've got a book about podcasting. And at the very top of the back cover are these bullets:

* How to find and download audio and video podcasts to your computer or portable media player.

* How to develop, format, produce, edit, encode, and upload your audio or video podcast, including in-depth information on using music legally.

* How to set up an effective audio studio, including the complete and updated "The podcast studio buyer's guide".

* How to create great video, including tricks of the trade such as the law of thirds, the line, and the three-point light technique, as well as tips on casting, locations, scheduling, and more.

* How people are marketing and making money through podcasting in the era of Web 2.0.

Notice how they've put the entire guts of the book in those four or five lines? And notice how each of those points started with a "how" statement?

So let's tackle those two ideas one at a time.

Idea 1: Notice how each of those points started with a "how" statement?

Idea 2: Notice how they've put the entire guts of the book in those four or five lines?

Idea 1: The "how" statement

It doesn't matter what the line is - if you put the word "how" before it, it instantly becomes interesting.

For example, replace "I went to Ireland this summer" with "How I went to Ireland this summer".

Or replace "I make butter chicken" with "How I make butter chicken".

Of course you can always add a "why".

So instead of "I make butter chicken" it becomes "

Why I make butter chicken".

Of course you need to tidy up your sentences so they're not as boring as the ones above, but you do get the point, right? The only question that does remain is how do you get all of these sentences. And the clue lies in Idea 2.

Idea 2: Notice how they've put the entire guts of the book in those four or five lines?

So take your entire book or course, or speech, or whatever. Split it up into distinct parts. For example, The Brain Audit has seven parts, so it could be split into seven distinct parts. But hey, you could choose seven or you could choose five.

Then pull out something from each part to describe what the reader could get from that part.

So in The Brain Audit, the bullets read like this:

* How to instantly get (and keep) the attention of the customer.

* The roller-coaster sequence (and why it matters when selling).

* How to create a uniqueness factor in a matter of days.

* How to know if a customer is really interested in your offering.

* Why benefits and solutions aren't the most effective way to sell.

Each of those bullets represents a different part of the book.

And each of them has a simple "how" and "why" structure to get and keep attention. In fact, this same technique that you see at the back of a book can be used for any promotion, be it a sales page, an event, a speaking engagement, product or service.

The fundamentals are simple.

Take your product/service. Split it into five/seven parts and pull out the most important highlights/benefits.

Take those highlights/benefits and put a "why" or "how" before it.

And there you have it: a whole bunch of bullets.

And that's how you make your product/service or course stand out. Like flashing Christmas lights.

Sean D'Souza is chief executive of Psychotactics and an international author and trainer. He is the author of The Brain Audit - Why Customers Buy (And Why They Don't).

www.psychotactics.com