3 Keys for Any Business Owner

What do every successful business, brand, cult, and even church have in common? They all built a mass movement. That one idea explains why some groups grow fast while others stall.

A mass movement is a group of people moving toward something together. They share an identity. They believe in the same thing. Above all, they feel excited about it. In other words, they aren’t just customers or members. They are part of something.

Any good product or service has built a movement like this. In fact, this has happened throughout time. The same pattern still works today. This article breaks it down into three simple keys.

What Is a Mass Movement?

A Collective of Common Belief

A mass movement is nothing but a crowd heading in one direction. All in the crowd are heading towards the same goal. Their shared identity ties them together. What they believe is also what excites them.

So a movement is more than a customer list. A customer list buys once. A movement stays, shares, and follows. That difference is huge.

Movements Throughout Time

Good products and services have always built these groups. Churches did it. Brands did it. Even cults did it, which shows how strong the pattern is. The pattern doesn’t care whether the cause is good or bad. It simply works.

Tesla and Elon Musk

Take Tesla as an example. Elon Musk built a massive movement around it. Many people are obsessed with the brand. Some would follow him to the end of the earth. That level of loyalty doesn’t come from ads alone. It comes from a movement.

Apple and Steve Jobs

Apple tells the same story. Steve Jobs built a movement around the iPhone. People didn’t just buy a phone. They joined something. That is exactly what a mass movement looks like.

You Don’t Need to Be Steve Jobs

“You aren’t Steve Jobs or Elon Musk,” you might say. That’s correct. But you don’t have to be. It’s simply that you must know a handful of key concepts. Once you do, you can apply them to your own business.

Why Every Business Needs a Mass Movement

Customers Move and Change With You

Every business needs to create a mass movement. A movement gets your customers to move and change with you. When you launch something new, they follow. When you change direction, they come along. Without a movement, you must convince people from scratch every time.

It Works for Any Product

It doesn’t matter what you sell. Maybe you sell supplements. Maybe you sell information products. Or maybe you sell software. The psychology of getting people to follow you is the same. Therefore, the lessons here fit almost any business.

How Do You Create a Mass Movement?

Learning From Churches and Cults

Start by asking how the biggest churches do it. Then ask how the biggest cults do it. Both have a positive and a negative side. Even so, the main question stays the same. How do people build these movements in the first place?

Only Three Things Matter

After studying them, the answer boils down to three things. Only three things actually matter. Better still, none of them is difficult.

Simple Enough for Any Business

These three things are pretty simple once you understand them. You can apply them to any business. As a result, you can build a movement of people who will go to the ends of the earth to buy your products and services.

The Three Keys to Create a Mass Movement

Picture a Triangle

Picture a triangle. Each corner stands for one key. Together, the three keys form the pattern that every mass movement has followed throughout time.

One Pattern for Every Movement

This pattern works at any size. It works for a small movement or a medium one. It also works for a family, a religion, or whatever else you are trying to build. The process is the same.

The three keys are an attractive character, a future-based cause, and a new opportunity. Let’s take them one by one.

Key 1: An Attractive Character or Charismatic Leader

Someone People Can Identify With

Every mass movement has an attractive character, or charismatic leader. This is somebody people can identify with. Without that person, the movement has no face. Therefore, the first key is always a human being.

Who Can Be the Leader

For most businesses, this person is you. It can also be someone on your team. Sometimes it is a success story instead. Either way, a real person is tied to the movement.

Why a Leader Helps You Create a Mass Movement

A movement needs someone to follow. Without a person at the center, it feels empty. A leader gives your movement a face and a voice. As a result, people feel they are following a person, and not just buying a product.

From Brands to Humans

This matters more than ever today. A hundred years ago, people identified with the brand itself. Now it’s different. People connect with brands nearly as much as they connect with other humans.

We Live in a Connection Economy

We now live in a connection economy. People connect with people. Because of this, most good businesses have a human being tied to them. That human is what makes people stick.

Customers want someone they can plug into. They want to feel that this person will take them where they want to go.

Why Connection Keeps Customers

Think about two software companies. Both might offer strong products. Now suppose a rival launches a new feature, or a cheaper price. Customers may still stay. Why? Because they feel connected to the people behind the first company.

That connection is hard to copy. It also keeps people from leaving. So share your story. Let people know who you are. They will connect with you, and not only with your product.

Believe in Your Idea

One more point matters here. If there is something you believe in, let no one discourage you because your belief could make life easier for lots of other people too. Getting your message, product, or service to more of them is how the world changes.

Key 2: A Future-Based Cause

Where Are We Going?

Every mass movement has a cause that points to the future. Put simply, it answers one question. Where are we going? It tells people, “We’re heading in this direction, and we’re going together.”

Why People Buy Into a Cause

That is why people buy into a movement. They aren’t only buying a product. They are joining a group that works toward something bigger. As a result, they feel they belong.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Look at the movements you already belong to. Think about whatever faith you hold, if any. Is there a future-based goal? Are all of you working toward something?

Check Your Business and Your Software

Now ask the same about your business. Then do the same for the software you use. In each case, look for the direction the group is heading. If you can’t find one, your cause needs work.

Key 3: A New Opportunity

The Key to Your Offer

The third key deserves the most attention. Many businesses skip it. Yet the new opportunity is the key to building a strong offer. It is also what lets you create a mass movement around that offer.

Why You Need All Three Keys

You need all three keys together. If you try to create a mass movement with only one of them, it will tip over. Think of a table with only two legs. It simply can’t stand up.

For that reason, start by figuring out your new opportunity. Then build the other two keys around it.

The Improvement Offer Trap

Most people make the same mistake when they build an offer. They create what we call an improvement offer. An improvement offer promises to help people get better, faster, stronger, or smarter. Notice how many of these words end in “er.”

Improvement offers have two big problems. First, there are far too many of them. Second, they force people to admit something painful.

Admitting You Are Not Good Enough

For one to be able to say “I want to get better,” he has to first acknowledge that he is poor at something. This is difficult because of pride. Few people would be willing to say “I am really bad at this.”

Imagine the inner argument. “Maybe I’m not good enough.” “Yes, you are.” “No, maybe I’m not.” People go back and forth like this. Therefore, an improvement offer fights against human nature from the start.

Desire Is Not Enough

Next, consider desire. Many people want to be better. Many want to be smarter. However, improving takes more than desire. It takes ambition.

Everyone has desires. Yet only about two to three percent of people have real ambition.

Why Improvement Offers Miss the Masses

Only ambitious people will say yes to an improvement offer. That leaves out the masses. As a result, an improvement offer can never build a true movement. You only reach a small slice of people.

What a New Opportunity Looks Like

A new opportunity works differently. It isn’t a better version of what someone already does. It is something completely different. Because of this, people don’t have to admit they are bad at anything.

Instead, you tell them that what they tried before doesn’t work. The old method is the problem. They are not. This makes it easy for them to say yes.

How to Find Your New Opportunity

Picture the Mountain

Here is an easy way to find your new opportunity. Imagine a small mountain. At the top, there is a flag. The flag stands for the result your customer wants.

Maybe they want to lose weight. Maybe they want to make money. Or maybe they want a new car.

Look Up From the Bottom

Your customer stands at the bottom of the mountain. They look up at the flag and say, “That’s what I want.” Now ask yourself a simple question. How are they trying to get there today?

Swap the Car

Think of their current method as a car. They are driving it toward the flag. Meanwhile, every other business is selling them a new car. Each one says, “Your car isn’t good enough. Buy mine instead.”

You might guess that most people want to grow their company, make more money, or hit a big goal. They already drive a car to get there. A better version of that same car won’t change much.

Step Into the Ferrari

Here is a better way. Don’t sell a slightly faster version of the same car. Instead, say, “Get out of that car. Come into my Ferrari.” A Ferrari isn’t just an upgrade. It is a different vehicle. It is faster and stronger, and it gets people to the result sooner.

Map Out Your Dream Customer

If you don’t know your new opportunity yet, map it out. First, picture your dream customer sitting at the bottom of the mountain. Then picture the result you offer them. Whatever you sell, that result is your flag.

Find the Vehicle They Are In

Next, ask what vehicle they are using right now to chase that result. They are always doing something. So figure out which opportunity they are in at the moment. Then decide what you will switch them into.

For many business owners, a sales funnel can be that new vehicle. It is a different way to reach the same goal.

Prove the Old Vehicle Falls Short

Now study what your audience is trying to do. Some want to make money online. Some want to grow their business. Whatever it is, they are trying something to reach that result.

Your job is to show that their current method falls short. Then offer your new vehicle. If they make that switch, they will be fully on board.

Make the Opportunity Switch

This is the opportunity switch, and it is the real key. You aren’t improving what people already do. You are moving them from the old way to a new one. First, show how they try to reach their result now. Then show the new opportunity.

Stop Selling Improvement Offers

Take a hard look at your own offer. Most business owners still sell improvement offers. That is why so many of them struggle to close sales. Closing rates stay low because the offer asks too much of people.

Make an opportunity switch instead. This takes some thinking. Even so, it is worth the effort.

Start Building Your Movement

Think About Your Own Business

Now start thinking about how you can create a mass movement inside your business. Ask three questions. Who is the leader people can connect with? Where is the group heading? What new opportunity are you offering?

Final Thoughts

A mass movement isn’t magic. It follows a clear pattern. You need a charismatic leader. You need a cause that points to the future. Above all, you need a new opportunity.

Start with the third key. Find the vehicle your customers use today. Then offer them something completely different. With that, you can create a mass movement around your business, one customer at a time.