Selling the Sizzle

When you "sell the sizzle instead of the steak," you're selling the dream portion of the benefit.

Think about a car commercial, for example. The car is the steak, but the mountains, the bikini-clad babes, the breathtaking views, and the rugged terrain positively sizzle. Most buyers will use their car to go to work and pick up the kids, but they'll rarely, if ever, conquer a Southwestern mesa with their new SUV. People buy based on fantasy and then hold on to the fantasy as a possibility as they haul kids around and sit in traffic.

If you think in terms of sizzle, you can get a sense of what else it is your eBay customers want, and then move that to center stage. If you sell hip fashions, sell the dream of looking like J.Lo or Britney Spears. If you sell golf equipment, elicit the glory of adding up that low score at the 1989thth hole. If you sell porcelain dinnerware, create images of elegant dinner parties and timeless family feasts. Whatever it is you sell, there’s a way to connect to a buyer on a deeper level.

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