The ‘Mice and Cheese’ Marketing Secret: Why Your Targeting Fails (And How to Fix It)
Are you creating amazing content, promoting a fantastic product, or offering a life-changing service… but it feels like you’re shouting into the void? You spend time, energy, and money, yet the clicks are few, the leads are cold, and the sales are non-existent.
It’s one of the most frustrating experiences for any entrepreneur or marketer.
Here’s a hard truth that might change everything for you: The problem isn’t your offer. The problem is your targeting.
You’re trying to sell a state-of-the-art mousetrap to an audience that isn’t even looking for one. What you need to do is offer the one thing they can’t resist: the cheese.
Introducing the ‘Mice, Cheese, and Cats’ Marketing Principle
Forget complex analytics and confusing jargon for a moment. The most effective way to understand your audience can be broken down into a simple but incredibly powerful analogy.
- The MICE = Your Target Audience.
- The CHEESE = Their Deepest Desire or Goal.
- The CAT = Their Biggest Fear or Problem.
Most marketing fails because it only talks about the product itself (the mousetrap). It lists features, specs, and prices. But effective marketing—the kind that gets results—speaks directly to the mouse about the cheese they crave and the cat they’re desperate to avoid.
Let’s break it down.
1. The Mice: Who Are You Really Talking To?
Your target audience is not “everyone.” It’s not “people who want to make money.” That’s too broad. You need to get specific.
Create a customer avatar. Give them a name, an age, a story. For years, my avatar has been “John.” He’s 46, lives in Chicago, drives a Ford Mondeo, and hates his corporate job. He feels trapped and is desperately looking for a way out—for freedom.
When I create content, I’m not talking to a million people. I’m talking to John. This laser focus makes my message sharp, relatable, and powerful. Who is your “John”?
2. The Cheese: What Do They Truly Desire?
The cheese is not your product. The cheese is the outcome your product delivers. It’s the solution to their core desire.
- For an aspiring online marketer, the cheese isn’t a “sales funnel builder.” The cheese is getting their first lead overnight or making a commission without tech headaches.
- For an aspiring trader, the cheese isn’t “trading software.” The cheese is the ability to find a profitable trade in 5 minutes while still in their pajamas.
- For my avatar John, the cheese is freedom from his 9-to-5.
Your marketing should be drenched in the language of the cheese. Talk about the dream, the goal, the end result. That’s what attracts the mice.
3. The Cat: What Is Their Biggest Fear?
The cat represents the obstacle, the pain point, the thing that keeps your audience awake at night. This is the most powerful element because people are often more motivated by avoiding pain than by gaining pleasure.
- For the online marketer, the cat is tech overwhelm, complex software, and the fear of wasting money on ads that don’t work.
- For the aspiring trader, the cat is the steep learning curve, the risk of losing their hard-earned money, and the mental stress of analysis.
- For John, the cat is the thought of being stuck in his soul-crushing job forever.
Your messaging becomes magnetic when you show your audience how your solution helps them get the cheese while simultaneously avoiding the cat.
Putting It All Together: A Real-World Example
Let’s say you’re promoting a simple, done-for-you sales funnel that costs $7.
- Bad Marketing: “Buy Our $7 Funnel! It Has 5 Pages and an Autoresponder!” (This is selling the mousetrap)
- Good Marketing (Mice, Cheese & Cats): “Tired of the tech nightmares that come with building a business? (The Cat). Get our pre-built system that generates leads for you on day one (The Cheese) for just $7.”
See the difference? The second example speaks directly to the mouse’s desires and fears.
Watch The Full Breakdown
I explain this entire concept, complete with my own personal examples and a special appearance from my cat, Mortimer, in this video.
(Embed your YouTube video here)
Your Action Plan: Stop Selling Mousetraps
Ready to apply this to your own business? Follow these steps:
- Define Your Mouse: Get crystal clear on exactly who you are talking to. Give them a name and a story.
- Identify Their Cheese: What is the ultimate outcome they dream of? What is their #1 goal?
- Expose Their Cat: What is their single biggest fear, frustration, or obstacle holding them back?
- Craft Your Message: Re-write your headlines, ads, and content to focus on offering the cheese and helping them escape the cat.
When you make this shift, you stop being just another marketer. You become a problem solver, and your audience will finally start paying attention.
Ready for a System Built on This Principle?
If you’re an aspiring marketer, the biggest “cat” is almost always the technical setup and the fear of the unknown. That’s why we champion a system that is the perfect “cheese.” It’s a completely done-for-you marketing funnel that costs just $7 one time.
It’s designed to help you avoid the tech headaches (the cat) and start generating leads and commissions (the cheese) immediately.
Discover the system that does the heavy lifting for you at: https://leveragethissystem.com
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