How to FAB

I have spoken before on how I think that pretty much everyone in any position should learn something about the art of selling. Want to get a promotion? That’s selling yourself.  Want to grow your magical order? Ultimately you are selling it. Want to be a successful writer? Those million dollar making books are on a best seller list, not a best written list.

When I say this, it turns some peoples stomach, because they associate the need to selling with inferior products, but great products also need selling. In fact a large part of selling is about qualifying your customer – finding out what their needs are, finding a product that fits that need, and than communicating how your product fits the need to the customer. If you are honest, and working with good products, selling can help people a great deal.

There is a technique, a thought process really, for evaluating a product and explaining it to a client. Over the years, this technique has become so ingrained in my head that I use it as a lense for evaluating almost everything, including things associated with magic. That sales technique is called the FAB or FABing a product. Here is the breakdown:

FEATURE: Very simply, what a thing or a specific feature is.
ADVANTAGE: What does the feature do? Why is it good?
BENEFIT: What does this advantage mean for me specifically? Why is it good for me?

For example, Benjamin Moore’s top grade of paint is called Aura. It retails for $67 a gallon, almost $20 more than their Regal line which is standard for homeowners. Whats the FAB?

FEATURE: Aura has the highest solid content of any paint on the market, uses water based colorants, and has extremely low VOC’s.
ADVANTAGE: The solid content makes it able to cover with less paint than a normal gallon. The water based colorants will lock in a truer color over a longer period of time, and the low VOC’s are good for the environment and give off less of a smell than the Regal paint.
BENEFIT:  I am painting my dining room dark red, which normally will take 4 or 5 coats over a white. Aura will cover it in 2 coats taking less time and use less pain which will save money even though it will cost more per gallon. The true color lock is not such a big deal because I will change the color again before even the regular paint would fade. The VOC’s are kind of important because I don’t want my kids to breathe fumes and I like being environmentally friendly (as long as it doesn’t put me out too much).

In this case the High solids are a great benefit, the color lock is not really a benefit at all, and the VOC’s are kind of a benefit but probably not worth paying for on their own.

Get it? Good.

So why am I talking about this on a magic blog? Because I often use the same system to evaluate magic products, potential workings, and groups. Lets take a hypothetical customers view of my new book:

FEATURES: Has chapters on killing debt, finding work, starting my own business, and retiring successfully.
ADVANTAGE:  The chapters above all feature extremely detailed strategies with a mix of magical and mundane methods that have all been tested by the author as well as several students and peers.
BENEFIT: I am not in debt, I know how to find a job, I have no interest in starting my own business, but I am struggling to even figure out how to afford retirement and plan for it. The passive income and retirement chapter could be a huge benefit that is worth the $16 price tag.

A year or so ago I was asked to join in a series of Enochian workings. The members of the group were all regaling me with tales of strange paranormal occurrences, as well as lots of volatile shake-up’s in their lives.

FEATURE: Being part of an Enochian Magic series of workings.
ADVANTAGES: Generates lots of paranormal experiences and life shake-ups.
BENEFITS: I have already had paranormal experience, and am not all that interested in that kind of thing for its own sake. My life is pretty much going on a decent track so I am not looking for a big shake up either.

Needless to say, as cool as I found the idea of doing Enochian Magic with some people close to my home, I said no.

I did the same thing with the OTO when at various points. When I joined as a Minerval in 1992:

FEATURE: Being part of an international group of occultists dedicated to spreading the law of Thelema.
ADVANTAGES: Access to more experienced people than myself, lots of group ritual, and a system of training and initiation in Thelemic philosophy and magic.
BENEFIT: I had only periodic access to mentors that I had met until this point, and very few peers to do serious ritual work with. My training up to that point was somewhat scattered. I was not particularly into Crowley’s philosophical ideas but I was interested and open to them.

So, of course I joined. It was just the right thing for me to do at the time, and I am glad I did.

In 2007 the FAB had changed:

FEATURE: Taking further initiations into an international group of occultists dedicated to spreading the law of Thelema.
ADVANTAGE: Access to people with more experience in Thelemic ritual and philosophy.  lots of group ritual, further training and initiation in Thelemic philosophy and magic.
BENEFIT: I had already developed a network of friends with and outside of the OTO that would not depend on my membership to continue. I had stopped taking initiations at the 2nd degree because of a personal disagreement with the requirements for advancement. Moreover as the Order moved to be more like mainstream religions in their approach to Thelema, I lost more and more interest in Thelemic ritual and religion.

There would be certain disadvantages, but even though the F and A remained basically the same, the B for me had changed to the point where I decided that it would be more respectful to the OTO ( and I do, to this day, very much respect the OTO and what they do) to resign from the Order politely and on good terms.

I have seen lots of people undertake magical operations and paths of study where they could clearly define the Feature that caught their eye, but had a little trouble with explaining the advantage (why it is good generally) and the benefit (why it would be good for them).

Your homework this week, should you choose to accept it, is to FAB things. Lots of things. Think about everything from what you eat, to what you buy, to what rituals you are doing in terms of the FAB.