How to write copy for a product using“red, yellow, and green zones” concept

Have I told you my “red, yellow, and green zones” concept for deciding how to write copy for a product?

It’s a super-simplified version of Gene Schwartz’s heady concepts around Market Sophistication and Solution Awareness. 

Basically, there are 3 levels of pain your product solves…

Red is severe. 

Like, you just got a scary call from your doctor… or you came home to an empty closet where your spouse’s clothes used to hang, and a note that says:

“Get a lawyer, prick.”

Red zone problems don’t require much copy if any at all. You ask people you trust who they used and start making calls. 

Yellow is moderate.

This is where most of us live in Direct Response.

Yellow zone problems can be put off until later.

“I need to get in shape.”

“I should really invest for retirement.”

Our job is to turn yellow problems into red ones and make NOW the only time to solve them. 

Green is casual.

A “nice to have.” 

“A better/faster/cheaper way to” type stuff. 

You can have fun with green zone problems.

Like Dollar Shave Club did solve the problem of expensive razors, and Poo-Pourri did with poop stank. 

The price is usually low, so you’re asking people to “join a movement” (pun acknowledged) with a few dollars and feel better/smarter/gratified for the purchase.

Another good way to sell “nice to have” products is to make your prospect feel really good about their small purchase. 

Tell a meaningful story about the product. 

For instance…

My friend Luz sells these cool $5 bracelets.

She started making them during the lockdown.

See, Luz has cerebral palsy and needs to do special exercises to keep her hands strong. 

With CP, it’s not that your hands are damaged, it’s that your brain isn’t connecting to your muscles as they do for you and me. 

Combatting that strange cruelty requires daily activities to improve neuroplasticity.

Without these exercises, it becomes nearly impossible to do everyday things like pointing, writing, or gripping a toothbrush.

During the lockdown, Luz wasn’t able to meet with her therapist like normal, so she began stringing together simple bracelets to keep her hands from cramping. 

She got super into it. 

Even though fitting the tiny beads onto the stretchy cord was tedious work for her, she loved seeing the finished product.

She was making pretty things when the world was a gloomy place. 

Even more, Luz loved gifting bracelets to people who inspire her. 

Friends, family, doctors, therapists. 

Making the bracelets with someone special in mind motivates her to keep at it, and the work is doing wonders for her hand strength.

YAI is an organization that works with developmentally challenged adults to teach them new skills. 

One of those skills is entrepreneurship. 

A volunteer at YAI suggested Luz try selling her bracelets on Etsy. 

So, she did. 

Setting up the online store and an Instagram page was even more challenging for Luz than guiding a spandex cord through tiny bead holes. 

But again, she was motivated.

How cool would it be to help people all over the world feel better with her colorful bracelets?

She named them “Inspire Bracelets” and decided that for every 10 she sells, she’ll give one away to a different person in her life who inspires her. Here she is gifting an Inspire bracelet to Kathy from YAI…

There are huge problems in the world that can feel impossible for us to solve.

We do what we can to step up and give our time, money, and attention to the causes that matter most to us. 

It’s hard to know who to trust and where, exactly, to put your energy into solving massive problems.  

Sometimes doing small things makes the biggest impact. 

And the gratification is immediate. 

How great would it feel to own one of Luz’s bracelets, knowing you’re helping her beat back cerebral palsy and making people happy in the process?

Even greater, you’re helping her learn to succeed at business, so she can do even bigger things.

That’s a bargain at five bucks if you ask me. 

I ordered two so I can gift one myself. I can’t wait to give it to my daughter (who always inspires me) and tell her the story about Luz. 

If you’ve got a loose five spot and want to feel really good today…

You can get one of Luz’s bracelets here!

It would mean the world to her.

Little thing – big impact.