In yesterday's email I described that you can literally just write to the pain points a general

customer might have... versus holding some imaginary figure in your head and writing to that
Avatar.

In other words, if it's not helpful, don't get caught up in thinking you have to have a very clearly
defined person to write to.

Then, we talked about the research process that makes having an Avatar not-so important.

I walked you through the first 2 phases of the research process.

Phase One is focusing your brain so you know what to look for.

Phase Two is the nuts of bolts of market & competitive research.

We left off on Step 5 which was breaking down what to look for in your competitor's sales
materials.

Which follows our Research Maxim: The majority of your research has already been done by
someone else.

STEP 6: Deep(er) Dive

In this stage you're going deeper.

Remember what your brain should be focused on from PHASE ONE.

You can ask AI to assist you in finding all of this, but double check its work.

A) Find studies related to your product. Look for scientific journals. Write interesting facts &
discoveries down on notecards (remember what you're looking for)

B) Gather your testimonials (if you have them)

C) Gather 3rd party credibility you could use (ie "The New York Times said, 'X,Y,Z'.")

C) Conduct surveys (if possible). Survey your audience a la Ryan Levesque's Ask Method.

D) Read blogs & articles that cover your topic both directly and indirectly (Again looking for
Headlines, Promises, Claims, and Proof).

E) Read forum posts and Reddit discussions taking notes.

F) Look for STORIES during this entire process. What stories could you tell?

Put everything on notecards or in a big Google Doc.

At this stage in the game, you've knocked out your competitive research and gathered a lot of
information.

Start flipping through your notecards (and I got this from Gary Halbert) saying, "Hmmm...
interesting."

PHASE THREE: YOUR PRODUCT & OFFER

Step 7: Build your offer

A) Consume your product. Read it. Use it. Get it delivered and open it.

Read through the course/book at least once.

B) Read it again and this time..

--> Take note of the Features of the product. Put each Feature on its own notecard.

--> On the backside, write out potential Benefits that Feature can provide to the customer.
Those Benefits are your Claims. What's a piece of supporting Proof you can give to that claim.
Write it down.

You want everything on a note card so you can just flip through them.

--> Take note of any stories or unique anecdotes you find. What Objections do you see
addressed within your product? (ie, "But what if I'm busy?" Well, chapter 2 talks about solving a
certain issue in 5 minutes).

Now you have your Offer -- a list of your Features, their Benefits (Claims + Proof) -- and you
have your Objections.

C) If you don't have a product at this point, build what would be an "Ideal Offer"

What Features would you include in an ideal world? Put them on notecards.

Don't judge just yet, you likely won't be able to include all the Features you've made up in this
Ideal Offer.

You can remove Features you're incapable of creating later.

PHASE FOUR: THINK THEN REST

Step 8: Say "Hmm..."

Constantly flip through your competitor's notecards and your Offer notecards.

"Mind the gaps" - what Features do they have that you don't?

What Promises are they making that you can't?

The gap might be where your opportunity is.

The gap might signal the differentiation that you can point to.

The gap might signal that you need to add more Features to your Offer (or maybe you could
build a bonus report).

Step 9: Rest

At this point you've done a lot and you have a lot to consider.

It's time to let your unconscious brain take over.

This will be an individual experience but get out of the office.

Go exercise.

Take the week or the weekend off of writing and researching.

Inspiration will hit at some point. When it does, listen to it.

Go write.

In CopyHour I'll show you a few more pieces to have in place before writing (like the Hook, Big
Idea, and Lead Type).

I'll show you a full, proven, 6 and 7-figure framework to "hang" your copy on.

And that's it!

This has been my research process for years, minus a few key elements that I can't really get
into in an email.
But if you scroll back through these last 3 messages you'll have a darn good guide on how to
get started with research.

I think this is a lot less scary and more empowering than "Avatars".

More to come!