The Brain Audit
by Sean D'Souza, John Forde · first published 2009
7mentions
6recommended by
7HN commenters
2011–2023first – last mentioned
86% recommend14% neutral
Why HN recommends it
An accessible introduction to selling non-commodity products and writing copy that connects with customers' buying psychology. It is quick to read and useful for anyone working on marketing or website copy.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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1. Brain Audit - Sean D'Souza 2. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word - Joe Sugarman
on “Copywriting tips to drive up sales” ↗…Rainmaker: The Rules for Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients by Jeffrey J. Fox * The Dollarization Discipline: How Smart Companies Create Customer Value...and Profit from It by Jeffrey J. Fox * The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy (And Why They Don't) by Sean D'Souza * The Ultimate Sales Letter: Attract New Customers. Boost your Sales by Dan S. Kennedy * The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation…
on “Ask HN: How to ask companies about problems they are facing?” ↗…competence in programming with competence in sales can do anything they want. One of my favorite really accessible introductions to this idea of selling something that isn't a commodity is Sean D'Souza's The Brain Audit. Read it in one sitting and then change all the copy on your website to be targeted to solving the client's problems instead of what technologies you know. Happy to chat with more about this - my email's…
on “How to balance full-time work with creative projects” ↗The Brain Audit by Sean D'Souza
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗I didn't listen to this, but I have read The Brain Audit and it was actually a decent book. Some of it was pretty obvious, but some was quite enlightening. Of course, I say that as someone who read it while not having anything to sell and therefore didn't try…
on “How to convince people to buy without being pushy” ↗…and more. The first step of marketing is to always meet people where they are the most frustrated. Good resources for this are Amy Hoy’s Sales Safari [1], or Netnography [2]. I also like Sean D’Souzas Brain Audit [3]. Sean’s is the most accessible. 2. Copywriting: Once you can empathize with the persona / customer, you’ll need to learn how to relate your product or service to the person’s problems, needs, or…
on “Ask HN How do I learn marketing?” ↗…detail the solution they need, provide an offer, establish their authority, highlight customer success stories, counter objections, and reverse risk. (This is all yanked from Sean D'Souza's book, the Brain Audit: http://www.psychotactics.com/the-brain-audit-marketing-strat...) It would be hard to do all of this with a short sales page.
on “Show HN: Designing Web Applications” ↗