Monday Memo
A Byte of Knowledge
A brilliant idea for a sales letter hits you like a lightning bolt.
You can’t wait to get it down on the page.
So you skip the outline… and just start.
The words pour out. It feels incredible. Like you’re sprinting toward the finish line.
But it’s a mirage.
Suddenly, you’re 5,000 words deep and you hit a brick wall.
You scroll back… and realize the pieces don’t fit.
That big, powerful promise you made on page one?
There’s no way to connect the dots.
The cold dread washes over you.
You have to scrap it all and face that blank page again.
That shortcut just became the longest road home.
Writing a long-form sales letter or VSL without an outline is like trying to drive from New York to L.A. without a map.
Sure, you’re moving fast. The engine’s roaring. But you’re just burning gas.
An outline is the boring, unsexy tool that actually gets you there.
It keeps every twist and turn locked on course toward your offer.
And here’s the paradox every pro learns the hard way:
The more time you spend crafting your outline, the less time you spend rewriting.
So yes, it’s boring. It won’t impress anyone. Nobody will ask to see it.
But it’s the quiet, invisible work that makes the final piece impossible to stop reading… and even harder to resist buying from.
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Something to Ponder
We Asked – AI Answered
Our Question:
"How have industries historically transformed public perception of technologies initially viewed as dangerous? Electricity's evolution from a feared 'invisible death' to essential infrastructure is a primary example."
AI's Answer:
The Pattern Every Industry Follows
After studying dozens of "terrifying" technologies that became mainstream—cars (called "devil wagons"), microwaves ("radiation ovens"), cellphones ("brain cancer devices"), and now AI, the same seven stages appear:
💡Stage 1: Capture the Elite First
J.P. Morgan's Madison Avenue mansion was the first private home with electricity (1882), personally wired by Edison himself. Tesla started with $100,000 Roadsters for Silicon Valley executives, not family sedans. Why? Robert Cialdini's research on his "Authority Principle" proves we follow high-status leaders—their choices become our aspirations.
💡Stage 2: Safety as Theater
General Electric's "electrical evangelists" didn't just claim safety—they performed it. Demonstrators would grab live wires, shoot electricity through their bodies to light bulbs, and create spectacular light shows in town squares. They'd even electrocute hot dogs to show how "controlled" electricity could cook food safely.
Today's equivalent? OpenAI's dramatic "red team" safety testing announcements for each GPT release, complete with Hollywood-style reveal videos.
💡Stage 3: The "Mom Test"
Here's the psychological goldmine: Paul Slovic's landmark research shows technologies associated with nurturing and domesticity are perceived as 40% safer than industrial ones.
GE spent $20 million annually in the 1950s creating "Martha Logan," a fictional home economist who taught mothers about electric cooking through newspaper columns. Microwave sales jumped from 40,000 to 1 million units after Amana hired home economics teachers to demonstrate heating baby bottles in department stores. Even AI assistants have female names—Alexa, Siri, Cortana—and speak in soothing, maternal tones.
💡Stage 4: Write Your Own Rules
The electrical industry created Underwriters Laboratories (UL) in 1894—seemingly independent, actually funded by insurance companies who needed electrical adoption to sell more policies.
The largest AI companies (OpenAI, Google, Microsoft) are now calling for regulation, knowing smaller competitors can't afford compliance.
Why? Controlling the rules means controlling the game.
💡Stage 5: Never Waste a Crisis
The 1942 Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire killed 492 people. The response? Mandatory electrical emergency lighting systems in all public buildings, creating a massive new market overnight. Volvo turned Ralph Nader's 1965 attack on auto safety into a brand differentiator, giving away the three-point seatbelt patent and increasing sales 40%.
The Formula: Tragedy + Solution = Accelerated Adoption
💡Stage 6: Hook the Kids
Steve Jobs convinced California to pass legislation donating computers to schools, saying: "Kids will grow up with computers and be customers for life."
Television went from "hypnotic menace" to educational tool via Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street. Instagram positions itself as a "creative learning platform," with 72% of teens now using it daily.
💡Stage 7: Achieve Invisibility
The ultimate success? When questioning the technology seems absurd. More Americans die from electrical accidents (1,000/year) than shark attacks (1/year), yet nobody fears their light switch. We check our phones 96 times daily without considering the radiation we once feared.
🧠 The Psychology Behind the Magic
Mere Exposure Effect (Zajonc, 1968): Repeated exposure creates preference, even subliminally—subjects preferred Chinese characters they'd seen more often, even without conscious memory.
Risk Habituation (Slovic): We adapt to voluntary risks while fearing involuntary ones. The key? Make adoption feel like choice, even when it's not.
Social Proof Cascade (Asch, 1951): At 15% adoption, psychological pressure makes resistance feel abnormal—Asch found 75% of people would deny obvious facts to conform.
📔 Your Marketing Playbook
Don't convince everyone—seduce the elite, then let social pressure do the work.
Don't hide behind data—create theatrical demonstrations of safety.
Don't fight feminine perception—embrace it as your strongest ally.
Don't avoid regulation—help write it, then use it as a competitive moat.
Don't fear crisis—prepare to transform it into your breakthrough moment.
Thanks for reading the Monday Memo.
Until next time!
The AI Marketers
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