I think one of the biggest advantages you can have in business has absolutely nothing to do with business.

It's perspective.

The ability to look at somebody doing something you personally would NEVER do and, instead of immediately deciding they're stupid, ask:

“Why does that make sense to them?”

That's a completely different way of thinking.

And if you want to become really fucking good at selling things online?

You need it.

Because the art of making somebody click “Buy” requires you to understand psychology at a level deeper than:

“Well, this is what I would buy.”

Nobody gives a fuck what you would buy. 😂

You're not always the customer.

I Don't Need to Agree With You to Understand You

If you look through enough of my blogs, you've probably noticed I have a pretty unique way of analyzing how people think.

Good mindsets.

Bad mindsets.

Jealous mindsets.

Successful mindsets.

Insecure mindsets.

Confident mindsets.

And some just genuinely weird-ass mindsets. 😂

But there's a reason I'm fascinated by all of it.

I let people be.

I'm not constantly trying to force somebody's behavior into what I think it should be.

Sometimes I'll see somebody do something and think:

“That's fucking ridiculous.”

But then there's a second question:

Why did they do it?

That's the question that actually teaches you something.

Because you don't gain much wisdom from simply labeling everything you dislike as stupid.

Sometimes you have to study the stupid shit too. 😂

Seek to Understand, Not to Be Right

This is where people lose perspective.

They enter every conversation trying to prove their worldview.

Someone makes a decision they wouldn't make?

Wrong.

Someone values something they don't value?

Wrong.

Someone spends money differently?

Wrong.

Someone responds emotionally instead of logically?

Wrong.

Okay.

You won the argument.

What did you learn?

Probably nothing.

I'd rather understand why somebody thinks the way they think than spend all day trying to convince them they shouldn't think that way.

Because once you understand the why, you start understanding people.

And once you understand people?

You start noticing patterns.

Letting Things Be Gives You Information

This is something I think gets overlooked.

Sometimes observation requires you to stop interfering.

Let somebody talk.

Let them make their decision.

Let them explain why.

Let them show you what excites them.

Let them show you what scares them.

Let them show you what pisses them off.

Let them contradict themselves.

Don't immediately correct it. Observe it.

I'm not saying never challenge anybody or never have an opinion.

Obviously I have plenty of fucking opinions. 😂

I'm saying don't let your opinion prevent you from seeing what's actually happening.

There's wisdom in being able to temporarily remove yourself from the equation.

Instead of:

“Here's what I think they SHOULD want.”

Ask:

“What do they actually want?”

Now we're getting somewhere.

And This Is Where E-Commerce Gets Interesting

Because e-commerce is basically applied human psychology with a checkout button attached to it.

😂

Think about what you're actually trying to accomplish.

A person is sitting somewhere with their phone.

They weren't born wanting your product.

They probably weren't thinking about your company five minutes ago.

Now somehow you need to get them from:

“What's this?”

to:

“I want this.”

to:

“I trust this.”

to:

“Fuck it, I'm buying it.”

That journey is psychology.

Stop Building Stores for Yourself

This is one of the easiest mistakes to make.

You start designing everything around what you like.

I like this color.

I like this headline.

I wouldn't click that.

I don't care about reviews.

I hate pop-ups.

Cool.

Are you the fucking customer? 😂

Maybe.

But if you're not, your personal preferences aren't automatically useful.

Your customer might need reassurance you don't need.

They might care about social proof more than you do.

They might respond to urgency.

They might need to see the product five times before buying.

They might buy because of convenience.

They might buy because something makes them feel exclusive.

They might buy because they're insecure about something.

They might buy because everybody else has it.

They might buy because it solves a boring-ass problem they deal with every morning.

None of those motivations have to personally resonate with you.

You just need to understand them.

“I Would Never Buy That” Is Almost Useless Information

I've heard people look at successful products and say:

“Who the hell buys this?”

Apparently somebody.

Now go figure out why. 😂

That's where the opportunity is.

Maybe they're buying identity.

Maybe they're buying convenience.

Maybe they're buying status.

Maybe they're buying relief.

Maybe they're buying belonging.

Maybe they're buying curiosity.

Maybe they're buying the feeling that they're getting a deal.

Maybe they're buying because the advertisement caught them at exactly the right moment.

Products aren't always purchased strictly for what the product is.

People buy what they believe that product is going to do for them or make them feel.

That's an important distinction.

Your Ads Change When You Understand This

Once you start thinking this way, marketing gets way more interesting.

You're not just saying:

BUY THIS PRODUCT. IT'S GREAT.

You're asking:

What is this person already thinking?

What's frustrating them?

What are they skeptical about?

What would stop them from buying?

What would make them trust us?

What language do they naturally use?

What outcome are they actually chasing?

What are they embarrassed to admit they want?

And probably most importantly:

What does this person need to believe before clicking “Buy”?

Now you're not just advertising.

You're positioning.

Being Unbiased Is a Competitive Advantage

And when I say unbiased, I don't mean walking around with zero opinions.

That's impossible.

I mean being willing to temporarily put your opinions down long enough to understand somebody else's reality.

That's a fucking superpower in business.

Because the person obsessed with being right sees:

“That customer is irrational.”

The person obsessed with understanding sees:

“Interesting. What made them respond that way?”

One dismisses the behavior.

The other gets data from it.

Guess which one I'd rather have running marketing?

😂

Perspective Gives You Wisdom

This goes way beyond e-commerce too.

The more types of people you genuinely understand, the less surprising human behavior becomes.

You start recognizing motivations.

Patterns.

Insecurities.

Incentives.

Fear.

Ego.

Desire.

Status.

Belonging.

Convenience.

And you don't have to become any of those people to understand them.

That's the key.

Understanding somebody isn't endorsing them.

I can understand why somebody made a terrible decision without believing it was a good decision.

I can understand why somebody buys something I personally wouldn't spend $2 on.

I can understand why an advertisement works on an audience I'm not part of.

That's perspective.

And perspective makes you dangerous in marketing because you're no longer limited to selling to people who think exactly like you.

The Best Marketers Are Students of People

That's really what I've come to believe.

You can learn Facebook Ads.

You can learn TikTok.

You can learn landing pages.

You can learn funnels.

You can learn copywriting.

You can learn CRO.

All of that matters.

But underneath every one of those things is still a fucking human being making a decision.

And humans are complicated.

We're emotional.

We're contradictory.

We're impulsive.

We're skeptical.

We're tribal.

We're curious.

Sometimes we're extremely logical.

Sometimes we're absolutely fucking ridiculous. 😂

If you want to sell to people, study people.

Not so you can manipulate everybody.

Not so you can prove you're smarter than everybody.

And definitely not so you can tell everybody how they should think.

Study them because understanding people gives you something far more useful than being right:

Perspective.

And the more perspective you have, the easier it becomes to see what other people miss.

Especially when there's a Buy button involved. 😂