36. Research - Keto 1

Keto Sales Letter Time Log

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Saturday, March 2nd, 2019

Research

1:45 pm to 4:50 pm [3 Hours & 5 Minutes]

Videos:

1.1 Research – Keto 1

1.2. Research – Keto 2

1.3. Research – Keto 3

Total Time Spent On Research: 3 Hours & 5 Minutes

I. What We’re Looking For…

Insights Into Demographic :
Who Is Your Customer?
40-65 year old women who are significantly overweight – at least 50 lbs, sometimes a lot more.

How Old Are They Typically?
40-65 years old

What Attitudes Do They Have? (Religious, Political, Social, Economic)?
Like shopping at second-hand stores and thrift stores, places like Goodwill. So they are “thrifty.” Social – family is important, kids and grandkids, as well as husbands.

What Are Their Hopes and Dreams?
Achieving their ideal body weight. For a wedding. For longer life. Throwing out their old “fat clothes” and replacing them all with new “skinny clothes.” Having the doctor look at their medical chart and tell them they are perfectly healthy. Not being judged based on their weight. Living a happy, carefree life with the ones they love.

What Are Their Victories and Failures?
Failure: tried IF/Keto and failed, “falling off the wagon”

Failure: My blood sugar is up, I have gout in both legs, the doctor is telling me I have probably 10 years to live.

Failure: I lost 7 pounds in the first 3 weeks but now have gained it all back.

Failure: My husband wanted me to have a beer with him. One turned into two turned into I don’t know how many, then we went to a Thai Restaurant and I had a giant bowl of noodles. My stomach hurt all night, I’m out of ketosis, and I feel like shit.

Failure: Stall – a lot of people stall. Lose 7 weeks after the first week but now stalling. “Is there a type of body that keto doesn’t work for?”

Failure: 5.5 Weeks In And Frustrated! Please Help! “I feel like a broken record, but I cannot figure out why I am not losing weight! I lost the initial 8 pounds (water weight), but the scale hasn’t budged in weeks and I’m definitely not losing inches. I am severely overweight with about 150-170 pound to lose.

Failures: Constipation and Bloating

Failures: Very dry skin on my face, female irregularity even though I’m on the pill, mild headaches.

Failure: I found myself crying like an alcoholic, that’s how evil my sugar impulses are. I used sugar addiction as a crutch and drug for my whole life, I’m scared that’s how intensive my mood was.

Failure: At my mom’s birthday I ate a piece of her cake, then I couldn’t stop eating for 3 days.

Victory: Discomfort in my hips is gone.

Victory: Going to goodwill again to donate large clothes that don’t fit anymore. Can play with this more: my husband says I do too much shopping, and he’s right. But it’s also not my fault because literally NONE of my old clothes fit anymore. What am I supposed to do – walk around naked?

Victory: “This might not seem like a big thing, but I fit in the cinema seat…I’m not wedged. I sat comfortably with an inch on each side to spare. My trousers aren’t tight.

Victory: I jumped out of the shower and had to run into the living room. Half way down the hall I realized that I had a towel around my waist! Both arms free, not holding the towel, because it fit. This had not happened in 10 years.”

Victory: I was cutting some slices of leftover cake from my daughter’s birthday party, and I suddenly realized that I wasn’t even interested in it. Not that I had self-control. I didn’t even need self-control – it might as well have been Styrofoam. No cravings at all. What makes this amazing is that a few months ago it would have been torture to look at this cake without eating it. A few months ago, I would have snuck down when everybody else was asleep and cut a couple thin slices (away from the letters or words so nobody would notice) and gorged on it like it was the last crumbs of sugar on earth. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like a HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders, not to crave sugar or to feel like I need to hide eating something.”

Victory: “I’m no longer diabetic.”

Victory: “The problem I’m having is I still think I need the size I wore when I started. The shirts and pants look too small to me, because of so many years wearing XLS.

Victory: “I love putting on 2 decade old clothes that fit as well if not better than they did then.

Victory: “I’m now sporting a Size 12 I haven’t worn since the 90s. next up is a size 10 from the 80s!”

Victory: I’ve started a pile of “donation” clothes that are too big now. I’m just so happy to be able to shop for regular sizes instead of plus sizes.

Victory: “Getting out of the plus size section was so joyous! Last summer I walked into a department store to buy some khaki shorts. I’m looking at a rack on clearance in the back, and a sales associate comes up and asks me if I’m looking for plus size or regular size. At first I’m embarrassed because maybe I’m still fat, but then I realize that I’m looking at pants with a size 22 Waist! The Associate says: “you really look more of a regular size to me” and we both laughed.

Victory: “I’m finally at that point where the voice in my head, the hateful, doubting voice, is gone.”

Victory: “Judging by the way things are going I may need another wardrobe before long, everything is so baggy.”

Victory: “Now I have so many choices (nice to meet you choices). I’m excited about having a different or updated style.

Victory: I find myself loving skinny jeans these days. And I actually didn’t wear leggings before. Now I love them, where have these been all my life? I guess before I was worried that leggings wouldn’t look good on me.

Victory: Recently I was in a second-hand shop next to where I work. They know me and have watched me drop 80 lbs in the last year. I was trying on 2 coats, one a basic fleece style and the other a really sassy designer number. The clerk looked at me in both of them and then said the fleece one was for my old self, but the sassy one was better suited for my new self. Sold!”

Victory: “My wife made me start wearing a different batch of t-shirts on the basis that my favorite ones “make you look like you’re wearing a circus tent.”

Victory: “I have a lot of oversized shirts that hid all of the problem areas. I can’t wear them anymore. They look like tents on me now!”

Victory: “I had to pretty much get rid of everything, so I have been shopping a lot! The biggest problem now is having lost so much weight, everything I try looks and feels so much better than it did, and I have to struggle not to buy it all. Great on the ego, not so much on the budget.”

Victory: “This past week I had a couple of doctor appointments. I have been getting blood work done every 3 months at this point. As of March I was 356 pounds. At my appointment I was 220 pounds. The best part of my conversation with my doctor as he reviewed my medical charts:

“Well, we can take Insulin Resistance off since you are no longer insulin resistant.”
“We can take Metabolic Syndrome off since you don’t meet the criteria.”
“We can get rid of Pre-Diabetes as you are obviously not in that category anymore.”
“We can take off Mild Hypertension.”
“And, obviously we can take you off Class 3 Obese.”

What Are Their Prejudices?
Generally don’t like doctors, health insurance providers, and all the meds they are put on. They are distrustful. They dislike skinny self-righteous women, people who are judging them. Have a voice in their head, or a pre-disposition to assume people are thinking the worst about them and their weight, especially strangers.

Sum Up Their Core Beliefs About Life, Love, and Family In 1-3 Sentences.
They want to enjoy life with their families, being able to spend quality time, while also feeling sexy, confident, and empowered in their own skin. They believe the world can be a nasty place, especially when you’re fat, but it can also be a beautiful place.

Other Existing Solutions:
What is the Market Already Using? (List Out)
Keto Forums, Guides/Books, YouTube, Podcasts

What Has Their Experience Been Like?
Negative:

“Desperate and Discouraged”

“Help. 3 Weeks of Keto and I’m Tired, Hungry, and Clumsy.”

Not On Keto: “My A1C is “out of control” and one of my tests shows mild kidney damage. I’ve got edema (gout) in my legs and a few other symptoms I don’t feel like mentioning. Now it’s just a matter of feeling my mortality.

On Keto Books:
Recipes are very labor intensive. Spend a long time in kitchen preparing meals. Not very tasty. I was still hungry because meals weren’t filling.

“One-Sized All Approach” when everybody’s body is different.

This book is basically a 2 week menu plan with recipes, after 2 weeks you know nothing on how to proceed.

Contains a bunch of info I can already find online.

Vague

Not enough meal plans

Too much detail, hard to follow and understand

Forums:
Misinformation, confusing, not clear.

Positive:
“Can’t Fit Into Any Of My Old Clothes”

“My medical charts are nuts – no longer diabetic, no longer have met-s, no longer obese.”

“I’m nicer and happier.”

“I’ve lost XX Pounds In YY Time!”

- smaller waist sizes

- Wearing clothes from the 90s and even the 80s…

- Fun shopping again, being adventurous with clothes, going into department stores I would have never dreamed of entering before.

- The best part is my brain is so focused, like I am on a smart drug or something. I am totally blown away by the results I am getting. Lose fat, have more energy than I know what to do with, and high functioning mind. When I first got into keto I just wanted to lose weight. But I got so much more. This shit works period. Combine IF and keto and you’ll be unstoppable. I look at myself in the mirror every morning and I am in awe.

Keto Books/Guides:

Great for Beginners

Loved the shopping lists that coordinate with recipes.

Easy-to-follow recipes and substitutions

Helping my husband keep his blood sugar down.

Easy-to-understand breakdown of the science.

Troubleshooting guide

What Does the Market Like About Existing Solutions?
Energy level is best it’s been since I was in the Marin Corps.

I’m not hungry all the time.

My sleep is better than it has ever been.

“When I go to scratch my back I don’t brush against the big love handles. I seem to have lost the “back fat” in the middle of my back, if there is such a thing?

Gas and bloating 100% gone

I have gone from size 38 to 35

“Yesterday started week 3 on keto. I must say I am LOVING it and have so much more energy than I had when I was eating like crap all the time! Below are my weigh ins:

Starting: 373 lbs

Week 1: 360

Week 2: 355

“Not energetic, I’m getting irritated very easily and don’t like being active.”

“Kidney Pain”

“Pancreatic Pain and Nausea”

What Does the Market Dislike About Existing Solutions?

“The scale gets in my head.”

“I’m not a newbie in terms of time…but in terms of results – I’m pretty bummed.”

“Overall I feel like I’m doing a LOT of things right. YET I am NOT seeing weight loss results…and that’s pretty frustrating.”

“I don’t know if I have a metabolic issue?”

“Help. 3 Weeks of Keto and I’m Tired, Hungry, and Clumsy.”

“I had no idea I had to manage calories or track carbs so week 1 was a free for all. But I started cooking more.”

Week 2, found an app Carb Manager, plugged in my stats. Lost 6 lbs in a week and Constipated as hell.

Week 3: changed macros, added supplements, can poop again but no energy. Lost muscle quick, feel terrible, very hungry, over my protein and fat by like 20 grams. But I’m freaking hungry.

Week 4: tired, hungry, cranky, fighting to not eat more protein but feel like I’m going to fall over if I don’t eat more. No energy for gym and losing more muscle. Period started and bleeding way more than normal. No weight change. This officially sucks.

“I’m always thirsty.”

Are Their Horror Stories About Existing Solutions?
Not about the existing solution, but about the exiting problem in this case:

Mom has birthday party for 10 year old daughter with a big cake. Husband is in the army and overseas, so it’s a military cake. Party is great, but as mom is putting the leftover cake into Tupperware to put into the fridge, she starts having these awful cravings. She thinks she beats them, and goes to bed. But she can’t all asleep because she’s just fiending sugar and the cake. She sneaks down and tells herself it’ll just be one slice. But she ends up eating the whole thing. The next day her daughter has her friends over and she wants to eat cake with them and show the army cake (she’s talking about her daddy and how much she misses him) and then opens it and the box is empty. Daughter is crying, saying she misses daddy – and the mom feels like a fat piece of shit. How could she do that to her daughter?

Getting stuck in the tube of a water slide at a Water Park.

Mistaken for being pregnant

Button pops off a blazer.

Had to leave a restaurant because all they had were booths and couldn’t fit in any.

Woman sat on a foldable table and it broke

Meeting anyone from your old life (or past) since you gained weight – like an ex.

Lying to everyone and pretending to hate the beach when really it’s because you’re emabarssed/ashamed.

My butt knocking things over, off desks, off tables, my boobs not fitting in rollercoasters and stuff.

Asking for airplane seatbelt extender while surrounded by coworkers.

Sitting in a chair for work, had to squeeze in, stands up to leave but the chair is stuck to them because they are so fat.

Some places have MRIs with 250lb weight limit, so suggest going to a zoo with an MRI for elephants.

“Wow you’ve gained weight, but you’re still pretty.”

Folding chair busted.

Seatbelts (cars + planes), restaurant booths, amusement park rides.

“My 5 year old son said one time when we were eating at the table that he was full. He ate everything except his veggies. I told him he had to finish before he left the table and he said: “I don’t want to eat it because I’ll get fat like mommy.”

“You’d be really pretty if you weren’t so heavy.”

Does the Market Believe Existing Solution Works?
Yes they do, however sometimes they feel like the solution (keto) works for other people, but not for them. They can’t figure out why it’s not working for them when it works for everyone else.

If Not, Why?

Curiosity:
Has Someone Tried to Solve the Market’s Pain Points Before In A Very Unique Way?
Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Paleo, Atkins, Low Fat

What Was The Result?
Some people lost weight, market craze for a while, then looked like a fad. Some of them are still going, some of them are still believed to be good by a lot of people, even though they are bad – ie. Low Fat Diets. Ultimately heart disease is up, diabetes rates are up, obesity is up, - we’re fatter than ever before.

Is There A Conspiratorial Story Behind Why Old Solutions Didn’t Work?
You can say it’s all due to marketers hyping this stuff up.

Are There Any Older Attempts to Solve the Problem (Pre-1960) That Are Unique?
William Banting’s A Letter on Corpulence (1863) – became a best seller with 12 editions being published up to 1900.

Start of 20th century, talks of weight reduction target women. Articles and ads promoting weight loss advice begin to show up in popular women’s periodicals.

https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2015/01/battling-with-the-scale-a-look-back-at-weight-loss-trends-in-the-u-s/

^^ people have been selling us weight loss solutions since 1908.

Could totally look at William Banting’s stuff and see if there’s similarities.

What Happened? Were they successful but forgotten? Or were they a failure? Why?
For William Banting – it was successful for him.

Examples:

1) Tesla in the energy space. Big energy didn’t want his solutions, he was discredited and shamed. His inventions and discoveries were thrown into the ash heap of history until now.

2) U.S. Army tried to cure foot fungus during WWII, surgeon general was on a desperate race because troops were missing service time. Finally succeeded by using Undecylenic Acid. But today we forget how effective it is.

Corruption:
Is There A Belief That the Market’s Pain Point Used To Not Exist, Or Used To Not Be So Bad?
Yes, pre Dr. Ancil Keys. Also pre-industrial revolution. Also pre-agrarian revolution. Proof element – indigenous people like Aboriginals used to all be skinny, now they are fat (The Magic Pill).

Is There A Belief That It’s Been Recently Exacerbated By Outside Forces?
Yes.

If So, What Are Those Forces And What’s The Reason Behind Their Presence?
Big food, mass production, large corporations, U.S. Government being misguided and in the pocket of big food.

Examples:

Diabetes and obesity used to be uncommon, but now they are common. People blame big corporations, processed foods, lazy Americans, sugar, etc. So many of these interests are commercial and greed that have forced or tricked people into an unhealthy lifestyle.

This isolated group of people doesn’t struggle from whatever condition/pain point that most of us do. In America we DO suffer from this pain point. The reason why is that we are exposed to these outside forces while this isolated group isn’t.

This renegade person doesn’t suffer from the same pain point as the rest of us. The reason why is that he’s managed to stay free from outside corruption, while the rest of us haven’t.

II. Where to Find The Answers to Our Research Questions?

Forums/Reddit:
Look for replies vs. views. Why? On a post, if lots of people view it that’s great, and there may be interest. But when there are a ton of REPLIES, it means people are really passionate, interested, and engaged.

Examples:

https://www.reddit.com/r/fatpeoplestories/comments/28nuy3/a_rant_on_the_sad_reality_that_is_often_type_2/

https://www.reddit.com/r/fatpeoplestories/

https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/

https://bitcointalk.org/

http://www.personaldefenseforum.net/showthread.php?814-Venezuela-A-Case-for-Prepping

Facebook Groups and Pages:
Similar to forums. Pay attention to the posts with the most engagement. Not interested in a ton of “likes.” Only semi-interested in a ton of “shares.” Really interested in a ton of comments and arguments.

Example:

https://www.facebook.com/Diabetes-Support-119703998103102/?ref=br_rs

YouTube:
Same thing again. I’d look for one that has a good amount of views. But then I’d also look at the engagement and comments.

Examples:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bitcoin+conspiracy&sp=CAM%253D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8iBKbubCxM

Comment Sections on Articles:
And same thing again.

Examples:

http://www.breitbart.com/

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/04/17/macron-europe-migration-destiny-africa/

https://conservativetribune.com/

Authority Figures / Influencers:
Has Dr. Oz/Kim Kardashian/Oprah/Sanjay Gupta/Hot Lifestyle Model/Mommy Blogger/Whoever been discussing a specific pain point or solution?

We laugh at Dr. Oz and the free trial guys (and straight sale guys too) have kind of turned it into a joke. But at the end of the day if Dr. Oz is talking about an ingredient or a product, then most baby-boomers believe It must be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

When looking at an authority figure or influencer’s website, article, Instagram post, blog, etc…

Did they explain any science behind how problem works, or how the product acts as a solution?

Google:
It sounds simple but Googling the problem and solution is the best way to find information. Look at information from both Big Name sites and smaller ones. If you find something interesting, open a new tab, and start doing more research about it…

“How to”

“How does”

“What is”

“Best ways to”

“Natural ways to”

“Why do”

“____ Benefits”

For Nutra:
Google: “Product name, humans, ncbi”.

Look for double blind studies and pay attention to dosages in there, and if the ingredients in your product match or exceed those dosages.

“Meta-Analysis” articles are super useful too.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664031/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4609100/

More Places to Go…

com (Go To Human Effects Matrix For Studies)
com
com
net
Amazon.Com
No surprise here of course. But perfect for looking at similar products on the market, and reading reviews of them too. This works for both indirectly compete products, and direct competitors.

Look at 5 Star Reviews and 1 Star Reviews.
Look at the FAQs as this will help know what your market is wondering about.
Look at similar products customers have bought.
Look at product features/benefits/claims.
Examples:

https://www.amazon.com/Turmeric-Curcumin-Bioperine-Joint-Relief/dp/B0112M60KI/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1523981225&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=turmeric+curcumin&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Penn-Plax-Aquaponic-Promotes-Environment/dp/B012QGR2TC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1523981281&sr=8-5&keywords=aquaponics

III. IMPORTANT Notes:
Through your research you’ll typically end up getting the kernel for the mechanism behind the problem and the solution.
If you find a unique solution to the problem, and your product fits it, don’t be afraid to fit the two together.
For example:

If you have a weight loss product…

And your product is geared towards helping with metabolism…

You find a lot of research about how metabolism is governed by the thyroid hormone…

You may want to bridge-the-gap, and have your product talk about…

Which means making your copy about how a dysfunctional thyroid is the real cause of your poor metabolism.

Rabbit holes are your friend (within reason). I’ve found some of my most interesting unique mechanisms and my best stories by going down rabbit holes.
Examples:

Maybe you’re looking at doing a DIY solar generator. You see someone’s name as an early inventor of a prototype. You look into the prototype and find out it had a novel mechanism of action. That’s all great fodder for copy.
Recently writing a new offer for foot fungus. It has an ingredient called undecylenic acid in it. End up finding a U.S. Military Medical History about how during WWII, U.S. soldiers were PLAGUED by foot fungus. It was so bad it caused almost 10% of our soldiers to miss time in action. The U.S. Surgeon general at the time went on a desperate quest to find something that would control fungus. Ultimately they discovered that undecylenic acid was superior to all the rest.

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