5 Ways Your Before and After Pictures Will Sell Better
So tell it. Find out what was happening in the life of those customers before they started.
One of our before and after client’s had congenital heart disease. She was restricted to 500 mg of sodium a day. Do you know how much that is? She had to count the sodium in baby carrots (which by the way are pumped with more sodium, so by the whole carrot and cut them yourself)!
She was retiring from her last year of teaching when she began and she was transformed by the time she did retire 3 months later. By Christmas time the same year, her grandchildren were referring to her prior traditions and her new ones as they talked about new “fit grandma.” Pretty cool.
That’s definitely an if-she-can-do-it-I-can-do-it story.
Even more important, it’s an if-they-work-with-clients-like-that-it-won’t-be-as-intimidating-as-I-thought.
I most often share stories not from fat to thin or fat to fit even, but of transformation happening. It’s so good to have customers still on the journey but not where they want to be telling their story. I’ve got a client who has lost over 75 pounds. She’s by no means where she wants to be, yet she’s living her life in a way she was not 5 years ago.
I’ve got community members (our online community) who have started things after 60 who are just beginning to set goals. They’ve stopped smoking, ended toxin relationships, all because they feel better and aren’t willing to settle for energy drains anywhere. I tell those stories as much or more as I tell about inches and pounds lost.
Let’s face it, we all know women who’ve had assistance with their bodies or faces who are not happy or fulfilled. I don’t tell those stories.
Ounces to perfection doesn’t interest me or my audience. Having a life though there may be 50 pounds to lose interests me and my audience.
Know who you are and know what makes your audience cheer. It’s not usually perfection. Julie Moss crawled 15 feet to the finish line in 1982 and soiled her pants. It’s quoted as one of the most inspirational moments in sports history. We don’t have to have a size 4, botoxed, cosmetic surgery-created body to inspire. In fact, for your customer that may be a huge turn-off.
Tell those stories.
Here’s five ways to make before and after pictures work better:
Create headlines that go beyond the pounds and inches.
Resist the body builder or figure competitor’s stage shots. (unless that’s your customer, few people will change their lives by following a rigid short term diet and exercise plan) Show your customer “living the dream.”
Get your customer to tell her own story in her own words. Record it then use the audio or video or transcribe an interview into a blog.
Not every customer who makes testimonial-worthy before and after pictures has a good voice or ability to talk. Create questions to use that will get the responses you want.
Keep checking back in for updates. More interesting than the immediate results to many individuals is whether the person still struggles, how they overcome it, and whether it’s lasting change. Talk to the person, rather than talk about the body. A testimonial you got three years ago should still be working for you.
Working with women 45-70? For support creating content – blogs specifically – in about 5 minutes so you can attract them, send us your best email.
