The
Hypnotic Power of Confusion
by Joe
Vitale
"Did you walk to work or carry a
lunch?"
Huh?
My father asked me that question
more than 25 years ago. I
still remember it. Why?
Because it's a ridiculous question.
A famous comedian in the 1950s used
to ask people, "Got a
banana?" The question might
make sense if asked in the right
situation, but he asked it everywhere.
I've forgotten the name
of the comedian, but I still recall
his question. Why? Because
it's strange.
As I write this, I am creating new
business cards for myself. I
decided to add a confusing line
to it. After some fun
brainstorming with my girlfriend,
I settled on, "Ask me about
the monkey."
Why is "Ask me about the monkey?"
worth putting on my business
card? As with my father's
question and the comedian's question,
it stops your brain in its tracks.
It makes you pause. It makes
you focus on ME. The theory
is that once you stop someone with
a confusing line, you can then implant
a hypnotic command right
after it.
In other words, if I write something
like, "Apples desk fly
dirt," and then follow it with,
"Read my new ebook," the chances
are very high that you are going
to want to read my new ebook.
Why? Because the first line
jammed your mind, and the second
line slipped into your brain while
you weren't looking. I've
just upped the odds that you will
buy my new e-book. And if you
don't, of course, it doesn't matter
because I never really told
you to go buy it. See?
The same thing will happen on my
new business cards. Since I'm
now known as "The World's First
Hypnotic Marketer," I wanted a
strange, confusing line on my new
card. When someone sees, "Ask
me about the monkey," and then asks
me about the monkey, I can
simply point out that I practice
hypnotic selling and I just got
them to do what I wanted.
The Japanese practice this "hypnotic
confusion," but probably
unknowingly. A friend of mine
who flew to Japan reported to me
that the English phrases on all
the Japanese products were
bizarre. A tube of toothpaste
might say, "Green days you not
sing." A box of cookies might
say, "Wood above fish."
How can you use this secret right
now? Don't be afraid to be
confusing. People tend to
sort out whatever you say anyway and
make sense out of it using their
own terms. If you are
describing your product in great
detail, be willing to toss in
something odd. It may increase
sales.
If not, swirl up!
Joe Vitale is recognized by many
to be one of the greatest
living copywriters. His latest project,
the Hypnotic Writer's
Swipe File is a collection of over
1,550 copywriting gems that
took him years to compile. This
is his personal swipe file that
he uses to create world famous sales
letters responsible for
generating millions and millions
of dollars of revenue. Click
here to learn more.
http://www.HypnoticWritingSwipeFile.com/g.o/21247
The Story of the Hypnotic
Writing Monkey
by Joe Vitale
A monkey could use this material
to write a riveting sales
letter, ad, or email message.
The only condition is the monkey
needs to be able to read.
I'll prove it to you.
Right now I have no idea how to write
this article for Larry on
"How to Easily Use This Material
to Get Gloriously Rich."
So, in this case, I'm the monkey.
Now follow my path....
I grab this material and flip through
it -- which is what I'm
doing right now -- and I spot a
phrase...
"You don't realize it, but in the
next few minutes you're going
to learn..."
I add to that phrase something my
monkey mind gives me, "...how
to get people to do your bidding
by using this amazing
collection of hypnotic materials."
I now have this: "You don't realize
it, but in the next few
minutes you're going to learn how
to get people to do your
bidding by using this amazing collection
of hypnotic materials."
There, I just wrote a good line.
Any monkey could do it, as long
as said monkey can type.
If you're like me, you'll probably
want another example.
Stop! Did you notice that "If you're
like me..." is one of
Larry's hypnotic lines? It is. It's
in this book. My monkey mind
found it and used it.
And "Stop!" is from his book, too.
I saw it and tossed it into
the above paragraph. Made you look,
didn't it?
Here's a fact for you: Any man, woman,
child or monkey can flip
through these pages and find words,
phrases, and complete
sentences to help them lead and
control the minds of their
readers.
Hey! Did you catch what I did? The
phrase "Here's a fact for
you..." is also from Larry's collection.
It's a way to assume
logic without having any. It works.
And did you notice that "Hey!" grabbed
your mind?
It, too, is from this collection.
It's a powerful yet simple
tool for practically yelling out
your reader's name in a crowded
room. It GRABS attention.
Are you beginning to see how you
can use this material?
Think about making use of this collection
of hypnotic material
and you'll begin to feel real power.
And did you notice that "Think about
making use of..." is yet
another golden nugget from Larry's
book?
Yes, a monkey with typing and reading
skills just might be able
to write a good letter with this
amazing collection of tried and
true hypnotic words and phrases.
But more importantly, since YOU are
smarter than any monkey, by
the time you finish reading this
material you will be able to
take these words and phrases and
weave them into hypnotic
letters and ads that get people
to act on your commands and
suggestions.
Stop! Note "by the time you finish
reading..." is ALSO from
Larry's priceless bag of tricks!
Can you see why I'm so excited!
As you study every word of this book
you will become amazed at
how easy it will be for you to start
writing your own hypnotic
material.
(I can't resist. "As you study every
word of this book you will
become..." is also swiped from Larry's
collection. This is
becoming way too easy.)
But let me confess something:
(Yes. "Let me confess..." is a hypnotic
phrase.)
When Larry wrote to me and said he
compiled this material, I was
angry.
("I was angry..." is from this collection,
too.)
I wanted to be the author of these
gems. I even offered to help
add more gems to the package if
Larry would let me be co-author.
He agreed, but I could barely think
of anything to add! Larry
already did the work---and did it
very well!
The further you read into this collection,
the more you will
realize why professional copywriters
always have "swipe files."
They use them for inspiration. In
this case, Larry has done ALL
the leg work for you.
("The further you read into this..."
is from his swipe file.)
Remember when you were in high school,
and you cheated to get a
passing grade? Admit it. You did,
at least once. Well, this
collection is your cheat-cheat.
("Remember when you were in high
school..." is swiped from this
book, too. Do you see how easy it
is to write with this
collection at hand? It's so easy
I feel silly accepting money
for writing material like this for
clients. But not THAT silly.)
Have you noticed yet that I began
with no idea of how to write
this article and now, with the help
of Larry's collection, have
written a very interesting and maybe
even hypnotic piece?
("Have you noticed yet that..." is
from this fantastic swipe
file, too.)
So here you are. You're holding dynamite.
Do you light it and
throw it in a field to watch the
dirt blow up, or do you light
it and throw it where you know lay
hidden gold?
FACT: The choice is yours. Use this
material wisely.
("FACT" is swiped, too.)
Go forth and profit.
Joe Vitale is recognized by many
to be one of the greatest
living copywriters. His latest project,
the Hypnotic Writer's
Swipe File is a collection of over
1,550 copywriting gems that
took him years to compile. This
is his personal swipe file that
he uses to create world famous sales
letters responsible for
generating millions and millions
of dollars of revenue. Click
here to learn more.
http://www.HypnoticWritingSwipeFile.com/g.o/21247
Hypnotic
Writing
Course
on Persuasive Writing
The latest
in our growing line of marketing courses. This course, by Joe Vitale (recognized
by many as the best copywriter in the U.S.), shows you how to use "hypnotic"
tricks in your writing to get people to more easily agree with you. A must
for anyone who wants to write persuasively. Click here to learn more about
Hypnotic Writing.
http://www.HypnoticWriting.com/g.o/21247
"The 10 Laws for Writing
Letters that Get Results."
By Joe Vitale
The following is a letter in response
to a question about
how to write sales letters. This
is something you could
model in layout, tone, and ideas,
to write your own letters.
By the way, this is where your letterhead
should go.
Dear Fellow Chicago Seminar Attendees,
Jerry Jenkins asked me to tell you
how to write letters that
get read and get results. That's
a tall order! Well, here's
what I think the "laws" are:
1. Know what's in it for your reader.
Get out of your ego and into your
reader's ego. Complete
this sentence: "Get my book so that
you can...(fill in the
blank)." Your book (or whatever
you are selling) is the
feature. What people get as a result
of having your book is
the benefit. Focus on benefits.
Always! Without this, your
letter will bomb.
2. Write a headline that telegraphs
the key benefit to your
reader.
ALWAYS use a headline. There is only
ONE exception to this
rule. When you personalize your
letter, the "Dear (whoever)"
opening becomes your headline. There
are few headlines more
powerful than the reader's own name.
The headline is THE
most important part of your letter!
Spend nearly all of your
time on it.
3. Be brief.
Say what you have to say in terms
of the reader's self
interest and shut up. This does
NOT necessarily mean a short
letter. If you are trying to make
a sale, and the reader has
never heard of you or your item
for sale, you may have to
write four or more pages to get
your message across. If all
you want is a return call, a one
page letter may do. Don' be
afraid of length. People will read
any length of copy AS
LONG AS IT'S INTERESTING!
4. Always use a PS.
Always. Why do copywriters who charge
upwards to $15,000 to
write a sales letter and have weeks
to draft it always use a
PS? They are always read. Always.
5. Look good.
Visual attractiveness accounts for
70% of your letter's
impact. Use short sentences, short
paragraphs, bulleted
points, indented paragraphs, subheads,
etc. Some people will
just skim your letter, so engaging
subheads and bulleted
points help reach them instantly.
6. Outline first.
Use a planning tool to help you think
through your message.
Or talk to a friend. Or to a tape
recorder. Or to yourself.
This also helps you get comfortable
with speaking your
letter rather than writing it.
7. Write first, edit last.
Turn your inner editor off. You can
rewrite later. For now,
write spontaneously and quickly
to get your ideas on paper.
8. Ask for something.
Why are you writing? You want a call.
Or an order.
Something. Say so!
9. Get a reader.
Find one person to read your letter
OUT LOUD in front of
you. If he (or she) has trouble
reading your letter, if he
wrinkles his brow or stops to reread
a sentence, rewrite
those places. Don't skip this step!
It's the secret of many
professional writers.
10. Rewrite your letter again.
Is it the best you can do? Be honest!
If not, throw it away
and call the person instead. Or
hire a copywriter to write
it for you. Why waste your time
or your reader's with
something that doesn't communicate
in a persuasive and
interesting way? (I rewrote this
letter 24 times!)
Well, there you have it. Of course,
there are more rules,
laws, ideas and suggestions for
writing letters that get
results. You should always guarantee
whatever you are
selling, for example, and always
offer proof for all of your
claims. But the above will get you
rolling.
Sincerely,
Joe Vitale Hypnotic Writing
http://www.HypnoticWriting.com/g.o/21247
(ALWAYS Identify yourself. People
look here to see who the
letter is from.)
PS -- Notice that you read this PS?
PPS -- Notice that you read this
one, too?
How to Hypnotize People
into Reading Your Sales Materials!
by Joe Vitale
On a sunny, warm day in August, 1996
I kneeled over the grave of
P.T. Barnum and had one of the most
remarkable experiences of my
life.
I had begun researching the famous
showman in order to write my
forthcoming new book, There's a
Customer Born Every Minute (to
be released in October, 1997). I
had visited the Barnum Museum,
the Historical Library in Bridgeport,
Connecticut, and met with
Barnum scholars, biographers, and
collectors of his writings. I
wanted to visit Barnum's grave and
pay my respects. Little did I
know that the incredible, magical
experience would change my
life forever...
Recently I went online to hunt for
old books by some of my
favorite authors, this time I went
after anything by Robert
Collier, mail order advertising
genius and author of such
classic books as The Secret of the
Ages and The Robert Collier
Letter Book.
I typed in his name at one of my
favorite book search engines
(which I'm going to keep a secret
as long as I can), and to my
amazement several new (to me) titles
came up. I stared
wide-eyed, my mouth open, as I saw
that someone had two copies
of a magazine Collier edited in
the late 1920's called "Mind,
Inc." I couldn't believe it. I immediately
grabbed the phone,
called, and bought those magazines.
A few days later they
arrived.
I opened the brown package, my heart
racing with excitement, and
nearly drooled as I slid the little
paperback sized magazines
onto my desk. They were well worn
but intact. I thumbed through
them and marveled at my find. Here
were new articles by one of
my heroes, my mentor, a man who
changed my life not once but
twice with his books. I felt like
a happy child on Christmas
morning, getting the gifts he longed
for and needed most.
As I looked over Collier's magazines,
something shifted in me. I
saw an advertising technique at
work that seemed hypnotic in
power. I had one of those "ah-ha!"
experiences great inventors
write about. I held one of the issues
in my hand and read the
back cover. Collier had an ad there
that began --
"How can I tell if I am working
aright?" many people ask.
There is an easy, simple rule. With
it in front of him, not even
a child could go wrong. Just ask
yourself one question. If your
answer is "Yes." You are on the
wrong track, and you will never
make much progress, until you get
off it and on the right track.
If your answer is "No," then you
are working in the right
direction, and you have only to
keep it up to attain any goal
you desire.
That question is the basis of the
Lesson in the next issue of
"Mind, Inc." If you are looking
for a road map to guide you
through the mental realm, send for
it!
Did you catch what Collier did?
Let me give you another example.
This one comes from Collier's
editorial in the opening pages of
the other issue I found:
Dear Reader: Twelve years ago,
the three examining physicians
at the head office of the Life Extension
Institute made a
thorough physical examination of
the writer. They had him hop
and jump and do sundry things to
stir his heart into action,
then they listened with their stethoscopes
and nodded knowingly
to each other, finally gathering
in a corner to whisper
earnestly together, with many a
meaning glance in the writer's
direction.
The upshot of their conference was
a solemn warning against all
forms of violent exercise. The heart
was dangerously affected,
in their opinion. Tennis, horseback,
swimming -- all these were
taboo. Even running for a street
car was likely to result
disastrously. If the writer wanted
excitement, he might walk (as
long as he did it sedately) or crawl
about the floor on all
fours!
That was twelve years ago, remember.
A few months back, he had
occasion to be examined for life
insurance. The examining
physician knew of the Life Extension
Institute findings, so he
asked the Head Examiner of his company
to check his report. The
Head Examiner came, made the same
exhaustive heart tests as the
Institute and put away his instruments
with a chuckle. "When you
get ready to pass out," he said,
"they'll have to take out that
heart and hit it with a rock to
make it stop beating. Work,
play, do anything you like in reason.
The heart can stand
anything you can!"
What made the difference? Perhaps
the following lesson may give
you an indication."
Collier did it again! Did you catch
his method?
Collier told you just enough to intrigue
you, to get you hooked,
to get you interested -- and then
he stopped!
In the first example he cleverly
trapped you into wanting to
know the question he kept referring
to. But he never told you
the question. He snared you and
then asked you to send for the
next lesson, where the mystery of
the question would be
revealed. How could anyone not send
for it? I sat at my desk
reading Collier's ad more than seventy
years after he wrote it
and I wanted to send in the coupon,
too. But Collier is long
dead. I'll never know the question!
In the second example Collier cleverly
told you two intriguing
stories, asked the question that
every reader would then have on
their mind -- put then didn't answer
it! Again, Collier
generated interest, and then told
you to read the magazine to
find the answer. Talk about hypnotic
writing!
And that's how you get people to
read your sales materials. You
pull them into it. You grab their
attention, keep them reading,
get them wanting what you have and
then -- stop and tell them to
send in a check, or call you, to
get what they now so badly
desire.
Did you notice how I began this article?
I used the Robert Collier technique
to hypnotize you into
reading more. I began saying I had
an experience at Barnum's
grave. What was the experience?
What happened? What's my new
book about? All of these are questions
in your mind as you read
the opening. It's hypnotic. And
if you've read this far, you
know the method works.
The next time you want to write something
and be sure people
actually read it, remember the Robert
Collier technique. Start
by writing about something that
will interest the people you are
addressing. Tell them an interesting
story. Get them wondering
about something that they want to
know more about. And then
STOP. Change direction. Write about
something else that may
still be related to the opening,
but don't resolve the opening
until the end of the article. And
maybe not even there. Maybe
you'll want people to send in a
coupon or call you for the
answer. For example:
Marketing specialist Joe "Mr. Fire!"
Vitale is the author of
nine books, including "Hypnotic
Writing", which answers the
question, "What will *you* do when
you learn to hypnotize people
with the power of words alone and
get them to obey your
commands?" Click here to find
out:
http://www.HypnoticWriting.com/g.o/21247
How to Write a Million
Dollar Sales Letter!
by Joe Vitale
Bruce Barton, cofounder of the legendary
BBDO ad agency, wrote
letters that got staggering results.
He wrote a letter for Berea
College that brought in an amazing
100% response! (You can read
the entire letter in The Seven Lost
Secrets Of Success.)
When you consider that the average
successful letter gets about
a 0.02% response, Barton clearly
leaped past anyone else in his
letter writing skills. But what
was his secret? After studying
Barton's letters, books, private
memos, speeches, and
advertising campaigns, I've discovered
Barton's method. I've
used his technique to write my own
letters and I've been
astonished at the results. One letter
got a 20% response.
Another nailed a 10% response. Still
another is approaching a
97% response (ninety-seven per cent!)!
(It, too, is in The Seven
Lost Secrets Of Success.)
I will now reveal the technique I've
been using: Bruce Barton's
"Secret Formula."
Barton said that good advertising
copy (and letters are
advertisements) had to be three
things: (1) Brief. (2) Simple.
(3). Sincere. In an eye-opening
essay he wrote back in 1925,
Barton said the following:
About Brevity:
"About sixty years ago two men spoke
at Gettysburg; one man
spoke for two hours. I suppose there
is not any one who could
quote a single word of that oration.
The other man spoke about
three hundred words, and that address
has become a part of the
school training of almost every
child." About Simplicity:
"I think it might be said, no advertisement
is great that has
anything that can't be understood
by a child of intelligence.
Certainly all the great things in
life are one-syllable things
-- child, home, wife, fear, faith,
love, God." About Sincerity:
"I believe the public has a sixth
sense for detecting
insincerity, and we run a tremendous
risk if we try to make
other people believe in something
we don't believe in. Somehow
our sin will find us out."
Let's look at these three steps a
little more closely.
Brevity. A short letter isn't necessarily
what Barton meant.
I've read many of his letters and
memos. Most of them were so
brief they were blunt. But those
were not sales letters. When
Barton wanted to persuade you to
donate money to a good cause or
buy something he was selling, his
letters were longer, sometimes
several pages long. (Again, see
that sample letter in The Seven
Lost Secrets Of Success.) Barton
knew you had to give people a
complete explanation before they
would buy.
Simplicity. Barton's letters were
always simple and easy to
read. He strove for clarity of communication.
No big words, long
sentences, or convoluted passages.
He was clear and direct and
conversational.
Sincerity. Barton was always sincere.
He once dropped a million
dollar advertising account because
he didn't support the client.
That sincerity came through in everything
he wrote. Readers
could pick up on it.
Finally, Barton's letters were "...
phrased in terms of the
other man's interest." Barton said
your letters had to go
straight to the reader's selfish
interest. He said the favorite
song of every reader is "I Love
Me." As Barton said in 1924,
"The reader is interested first
of all in himself... Tie your
appeal up to his own interests."
The next time you have to write a
sales letter, consider
Barton's formula. It helped him
write letters that are still
talked about today, and it helps
me write letters that are
making my clients rich. Now use
it and see what the formula will
do for YOU!
Marketing specialist Joe "Mr. Fire!"
Vitale is the author of
nine books, including "Hypnotic
Writing", which answers the
question, "What will *you* do when
you learn to hypnotize people
with the power of words alone and
get them to obey your
commands?"
http://www.HypnoticWriting.com/g.o/21247
Advanced
Hypnotic Writing
Advanced course on persuasive
writing
Advanced Hypnotic Writing," the
unparalleled sequel to Joe Vitale's blockbuster "Hypnotic Writing." It
reveals how to use the phenomenon of hypnotic suggestion to turn your words
into cash. Click here to learn more about Advanced Hypnotic Writing.
http://www.AdvancedHypnoticWriting.com/g.o/21247
The Easiest Way to Write
Anything
By Joe
Vitale
You've got something to say. You
know it. Your associates know
it.
But you don't regard yourself as
"a writer."
How are you going to express your
wisdom?
How will you communicate your thoughts?
Yes, you can follow the path of J.Paul
Getty, Lee Iaccocoa, and
Donald Trump and hire someone to
write your words. That works.
(And I'm available should you want
to talk about hiring me as
your ghostwriter.) :)
But there is an easier way.
I call this the "two step" because
that's all there is to it.
Here's the secret in a nutshell:
Step one is state your principle.
Step two is illustrate it.
Pretty simple dance routine, right?
Yet you can use this method
to write ANY type of nonfiction---whether
it's your life story,
a school paper, an executive brief,
or a full length scholarly
book. (Actually, the scholars sorely
need this method. They're
too stuffy!)
I was reminded of this method while
reading a book from the
1940's. I noticed that throughout
the book the author would make
a statement and then illustrate
it with a story. The more I
thought about it, I felt this was
the easiest way to write
anything.
Here's how it works:
1. Make a list of the ideas you want
to communicate. Pretend
these are laws, rules, insights,
commandments, theories, or
whatever will work for you. What
you're looking for is a list of
messages. For example, I was
working with a Houston body-mind
therapist and I told him about this
method. I said, "One of your
messages is that people can have
whatever they want, as long as
they aren't attached to how they
get it." He nodded. "Another
message of yours is that the energy
we put out is the result we
get." He nodded again. "Those
are your key points," I
explained. "Write those down. That's
easy. All you do is pull
out a sheet of paper or turn on
your laptop, and just jot down
the ideas you want to get across."
2. Now all you do is illustrate every
point with three stories.
This is what I liked about that
book from the forties. The
author made a statement, then illustrated
it with a story that
made the statement come to life.
"You have all kinds of stories
to share," I reminded my therapist
friend. "For every point you
make, support it with a story. Maybe
tell how someone achieved a
breakthrough following your main
point. This reinforces your
point and makes it easier to understand."
That's it!
Principle-story, principle-story,
principle-story.
You can take ANY subject and break
it down this way.
You're making it easier on the readers,
too. They don't have to
wade through a long involved tale.
With this method, you cut
right to the point. You say, "Here's
what I believe," and then
you use a story to explain why you
believe it.
The book from the forties that I'm
referring to was "How to
Develop Your Executive Ability"
by Daniel Starch. I'm using it
as an example of this two-step formula,
and not necessarily
urging you to run out and find a
copy (it's out of print,
anyway).
I just pulled the book off the shelf
and opened it at random.
I'm looking at the chapter titled
"Putting New Ideas to Work."
It begins with a statement: "Write
them down at the time they
come to you."
It then spends four paragraphs giving
lively quotes from
Tolstoy, Darwin, and Robert Louis
Stevenson about the importance
of writing down your ideas when
they come to you.
If you just write down your message
or key point, it will sit on
the page in a lifeless, very un-hypnotic
way. If you want people
to remember the message, if you
want them to install the message
in their skull, then tell a story
that illustrates it.
Your stories don't have to be classics
of literature. A relevant
quote can bring a statement to life.
Stories from other people
can bring your message to life.
But most powerful and memorable
of all are the stories from your
own experience.
I just flipped open Starch's book
to chapter twenty-four, on
"Turning Bad Breaks Into Opportunities."
Right off the bat
there's a statement: "Resolve not
to be downed by failure."
And then follows a page and half
of stories about people who
were in accidents and went on with
their lives, including a
quote from Cervantes and John Bunyan.
This supportive material
awakens your message in the reader's
mind.
You might notice that I just used
this very technique to write
this chapter. I told you there was
a two-step formula for
writing anything. Then I illustrated
the two steps with stories
from my clients, and with a story
about the book that gave me
the idea.
This "two-step" works!
The next time you have to write something,
remember:
principle-story, principle-story,
principle-story.
It's the easiest way to write anything!
Joe "Mr. Fire!" Vitale, regarded
as one of the world's most
powerful copywriters, is a best-selling
author of marketing
books and courses, including "The
AMA Complete Guide to Small
Business Advertising," Nightingale-Conant's
audio program, "The
Power of Outrageous Marketing!"
and "Create Advertising That
Sells." His tremendously successful
"Hypnotic Writing" e-book is
now succeeded by "Advanced Hypnotic
Writing," a breakthrough
book that reveals how to use
the phenomenon of hypnotic
suggestion to turn your words
into cash.
http://www.AdvancedHypnoticWriting.com/g.o/21247
Subconscious
Internet Marketing
An e-book that tells you 746 ways
to get people to buy your products and services.
Learn how to bypass your prospects'
unconscious minds and get them to buy anything you sell.
Click here to learn more about Subconscious
Internet Marketing.
http://www.SubconsciousInternetMarketing.com/g.o/21247
"How to
Tap Into Your Prospects' Minds and Influence them to Buy!"
by Larry Dotson
It's important for your sales letter
to tap into your prospect's
subconscious mind and trigger their
imagination. It will then
create and direct a mental movie
or scene that will persuade
them to visit your web site, subscribe
to your e-zine, buy your
product, etc. Their mental
imagery will actually influence
their conscious mind and body to
take action and buy.
But triggering a person's imagination
is not like controlling
their mind. Their imagination
is being triggered all day long by
TV, pictures, radio, other people,
movies, things they read,
etc. People have complete
control over what they imagine. It's
not like when you unconsciously
dream every night.
That's because people use their imagination
every day. We all
conjure up thousands of images in
our heads. People use their
imagination to solve problems, to
rehearse a future situation,
to remember things, to escape their
reality, to mentally
practice certain skills, to brainstorm,
etc.
For example, maybe you imagined what
you were going to have for
breakfast, lunch or dinner.
You mentally smelled it, tasted it,
saw it, felt it or even heard it
cooking. It could have
affected you physically too, your
stomach may have started
growling, your mouth may have watered,
you may have smiled and
you may have licked your lips.
Think about this: The food you
imagined wasn't there, your subconscious
mind didn't distinguish
between fantasy and reality.
Do you see how powerful the imagination
can be?
Now how about I suggest you visualize
something. Make yourself
comfortable. Relax in your
chair, close your eyes and imagine a
juicy, tender steak seasoned to
perfection. Take your time, and
enjoy the experience. If you
like steaks, you most likely had
some of the same experiences happen
to you which were described
above.
The visualization above was open-ended.
I just suggested what
to imagine and you did the rest.
You created the mental movie
or scene. You used your inner
senses, past experiences and
future visuals to experience it
how you wanted to. It happened
so quickly that you weren't consciously
aware of it.
I also suggested that you should
relax; relaxation is one of the
key ingredients used to open up
your prospect's subconscious
mind to be receptive to your suggestions.
People often relax by
getting comfortable, closing their
eyes, wearing loose clothing,
etc.
Sometimes it might be difficult to
anticipate which mental
suggestion will trigger your target
audience to buy. You should
study, survey and communicate with
them regularly to know which
images will persuade them to order
your product. The more
targeted your suggestion, the less
distance it needs to travel
to reach their subconscious mind
which means it will persuade
them more quickly.
When you trigger your prospects’
imagination they can go into a
flow state or zone. It's like
when you are totally focused on a
movie or thought and you don't pay
attention to anything else.
You have no time awareness, just
like in your subconscious mind.
This flow state can lead them right
to your ordering page!
------------------
Larry Dotson is the author and co-author
of 8 e-books and over
150 articles business related articles
which have been published
in thousands of online and offline
publications. We recommend
his new e-book, "Subconscious Internet
Marketing."
Click here for immediate access:
http://www.SubconsciousInternetMarketing.com/g.o/21247
"746
Ways to Bypass Your Prospects' Subconscious Minds"
Learn how
to bypass your prospects' subconscious minds -- and
get them
to buy your products ad services.
Click here
for immediate access:
http://www.SubconsciousInternetMarketing.com/g.o/21247
Psychological
Triggers
Course on the psychological strategies
in the sales process.
"Triggers" is a groundbreaking book
that takes you deep inside the caverns of the human mind and reveals secret
strategies you won't read anyplace else. No weapon ever forged in
marketing has been as powerful as the knowledge of psychological triggers
that cause people to buy what you’re selling. Click
here to find out more about Psychological Triggers.
The Triggers of Success:
How to Trigger a Successful Sale
through the Power of
Psychological Triggers
By Joseph Sugarman
A desire to buy something often involves
a subconscious
decision. In fact, I
claim that 95% of buying decisions are
indeed subconscious.
Knowing the subconscious reasons
why people buy, and using this
information in a fair and constructive
way, will trigger
greater sales response -- often
far beyond what you could
imagine.
I recall a time when I applied one
of these subconscious devices
by changing just one word of an
ad, and response doubled. I
refer to these subconscious devices
as psychologal "triggers." A
psychological trigger is the strongest
motivational factor any
salesperson or copywriter can use
to evoke a sale.
There are 30 triggers in all, some
of which I will reveal to you
in a moment. Each trigger,
when deployed, has the power to
increase sales and response beyond
what you would normally
expect.
There are triggers, for example,
that will cause your prospect
to feel guilty if they don't
purchase your product. Let me give
you an example. Whenever you
receive in the mail a sales
solicitation with free personalized
address stickers, you often
feel guilty if you use the stickers
and don't send something
back -- often far in excess of the
value of the stickers.
Fundraising companies use this method
a great deal. You receive
50 cents worth of stickers and send
back a $20 bill.
Another example are those surveys
that are sent out asking for
you to spend about 20 minutes
of your time filling them out.
Enclosed in the mailing you, might
find a dollar bill included
to encourage you to feel guilty,
and entice you to fill out the
survey. And you often spend
a lot more than one dollar of your
time to do that.
Guilt is a strong motivator.
I have to admit that I've used
guilt in many selling situations,
in mail order ads and on TV --
with great success, I might add.
I call one of the most powerful triggers
a "satisfaction
conviction," which is a guarantee
of satisfaction. But don't
confuse this with the typical trial
period you find in mail
order, i.e., "If your not happy
within 30 days, you can return
your purchase for a full refund."
A satisfaction conviction is
different. Basically it takes
the trial period and adds
something that makes it go well
beyond the trial period.
For example, if I were offering a
subscription, instead of
saying, "If at anytime you're not
happy with your subscription,
we'll refund your unused portion,"
and instead said, "If at any
time you're not happy with your
subscription, let us know and
we'll refund your entire subscription
price -- even if you
decide to cancel just before the
last issue."
Basically you're saying to your prospect
that you are so sure
that they'll like the subscription,
that you are willing to go
beyond what is traditionally offered
with other subscriptions.
This in fact gives the reader the
sense that the company really
knows it has a winning product and
solidly stands behind the
product and your satisfaction.
Is this technique effective?
You bet. In many tests, I've
doubled response -- sometimes
by adding just one sentence that
conveys a good satisfaction conviction.
I received an e-mail from a company,
a subsidiary of eBay,
requesting my advice.
They had an e-mail solicitation that
wasn't drawing the response that
they had expected. What was
wrong?
Looking over what they had created,
I saw several mistakes, many
of which would have been avoided
if they knew the psychological
triggers that cause people to buy.
Let me give you just one
example.
In the subject line of most e-mails
that have solicited me, I
have been able to tell, at
a glance, that the solicitation was
for a specific service or an
offer of something that I was
clearly able to determine. Examples
such as "Reduce your CD and
DVD costs 50%," Or "Lose weight
quickly," pretty much told me
what they were selling. Was
this good or bad?
The problem with those subject lines
is that the reader was able
to quickly determine:
1) that it was an advertisement; and 2)
that it was for some specific product
or service.
Most people don't like advertising.
And most people won't make
the effort to open their e-mail
solicitation if they think they
are getting an advertising
message -- unless they are sincerely
interested in buying something that
the advertisement offers.
The subject line of an e-mail is
similar to the headline of a
mail order ad, or the copy
on an envelope, or the first few
minutes of an infomercial.
You've got to grab somebody's
attention and then get them to take
the next step. In the case
of the envelope, you want them to
open it. In the case of an
infomercial, you want them to keep
watching, and in the case of
an e-mail, you want them open up
the e-mail and read your
message.
The key, therefore, is to get a person
to want to open your
message by putting something into
the subject area of your
e-mail that does not appear to be
an advertising message --
one that would compel them to take
the next step. And the
best trigger to use for this is
the trigger of curiosity.
There are a number of ways you can
use curiosity to literally
force a person to take the next
step. You can then use this
valuable tool to put a reader in
the correct frame of mind to
buy what you have to offer.
Once again, all the principles apply
to every form of
communication -- whether it
be advertising, marketing or
personal selling. And to know
these triggers is the key to more
effective communication and most
importantly, the avoidance of
costly errors that waste time and
money.
====================
Joe Sugarman, the best-selling author
and top copywriter who has
achieved legendary fame in direct
marketing, is best known for
his highly successful mail-order
catalog company, JS&A, and his
hit product, BluBlocker Sunglasses.
Joe's new breakthrough
book, "Triggers," cracks the human
psychological code by
identifying 30 triggers that influence
people to buy.
http://www.PsychologicalTriggers.com/g.o/21247
I Almost Flunked English
But Went On To Make Millions of
Dollars Writing Sales
Copy
By Joe Sugarman
The Guinness Book of World Records
listed Joe Girard as the
"World's Greatest Retail Salesman"
for 12 consecutive years. He
holds the singular distinction of
having sold an average of six
cars a day over his career.
Recently, Joe Girard told me:
"Joe, I can sell in person to individuals
in a personal way - in
fact, I can sell more cars per day
than anyone else. Yet, I
can't do what you do -- you sell
millions of products to masses
of people through the sheer power
of print."
Salesmanship in Print
When you look at it from Joe Girard's
perspective, it's hard to
deny the awesome power of writing
good sales copy - which I call
"salesmanship in print" -- a power
that anyone can take
advantage of. You don't need
good looks, a charming personality
or even great intelligence.
In fact, you don't even have to
pass English.
This is why it baffles me when people
desperately rack their
brains trying to find ways to make
money -- when the greatest
opportunity is staring them right
in the face. What's even more
mystifying is that those very same
people, when presented with
ingenious approaches to writing
copy that sells, take the skill
for granted and don't use it to
make personal fortunes for
themselves.
Flunking English
Not many people know this, but I
almost flunked English back in
high school. In addition, I don't
know many big words, unlike
the rest of my advertising and marketing
colleagues -- and my
writing style is quite unsophisticated
to boot. Yet, by learning
to incorporate into my sales copy
all the things about how the
human mind reacts to certain words
and phrases that I've learned
over the years, I have made millions
of dollars for myself.
The most important lesson you must
remember is this: If you
learn nothing else but the proper
use of psychological
principles in writing sales copy,
you will always make more
money than you'll ever need.
The Million-Dollar Grapefruit Farmer
If you're one of those people who
believes that you're not a
good enough writer -- and that you
couldn't possibly learn to
write ad copy that sells -- I want
to tell you the story of a
man who attended one of my seminars.
This man was a grapefruit
farmer who had never written sales
copy prior to attending my
copywriting seminar. In fact,
he expressed his doubts that he
would get anything at all from the
copywriting lessons he
learned. Yet, by the end of the
seminar, he was able to write
direct mail copy to sell grapefruit
by mail which, over a period
of ten years, has earned him millions
of dollars.
Success Leaves Clues
For many years I specialized in "space-age"
products, and my
claim to fame was in building and
selling "the better mousetrap"
-- from state-of-the art smoke detectors
to chess computers to
new-fangled calculators -- and more
recently -- to BluBlocker®
sunglasses.
But you don't need a space-age product
to make a million
dollars. In fact, that is the downfall
of most people who enter
the marketing field. They find a
product, fall in love with it,
and try to get the market to buy
it. With an unproven product,
you could lose a lot of money in
the process.
Instead what you should do is find
a product that's already
selling well -- and use compelling
copy to sell it better.
Harmonize with the Marketplace
One of the psychological principles
I describe in my book,
"Triggers," is simply this: Your
product needs to harmonize with
the marketplace.
Here's a tip that you would definitely
find useful: When you're
looking for a product to sell, go
to the library and flip
through the back issues of magazines
-- particularly the
tabloids. Note those mail
order ads that are running week after
week, month after month. There's
only one reason why those ads
keep running -- they're making money.
Those products are
already proven to sell well -- they've
demonstrated that they
harmonize with the marketplace.
Even if there are many companies
that are already competing in
those product categories (example:
weight loss, hair
restoration, and wrinkle products,
etc.), don't worry. If you
apply good copywriting guidelines,
your marketing efforts will
fare better than those who are making
money, despite their poor
sales copy.
"Splish Splash I Was Takin' A Bath"
Take a clue from Bobby Darin, a popular
singer of the '50s.
Darin was a young singer in New
York who, for a long time, tried
unsuccessfully to break into the
music business. He would go
from record company to record company
trying to convince them to
make an album of him singing popular
jazz oldies. He was
rejected.
So one day, Darin sat down and wrote
a song that fitted or
"harmonized" with what the public
was buying at the time. What
was popular at the time was good
old rock and roll sung by black
artists -- it was called the Motown
sound.
The song he wrote was called "Splish
Splash" and the words
started out, "Splish splash, I was
takin' a bath/ 'Round about a
Saturday night." It had a good old
Motown rock and roll sound --
and it became a smash hit, selling
millions of copies.
Darin recognized what the market
wanted, and he created
something that harmonized perfectly
with the prevailing
market. From his earnings, he himself
produced a record in the
music genre that he really loved
-- popular jazz oldies. His
song, "Mack the Knife" went on to
become a multimillion-selling
single and made Bobby Darin famous.
To summarize, you must first have
a product that harmonizes with
your market. If you haven't
made a substantial amount of money
from your marketing efforts yet,
sell only products or services
that have a ready market -- this
is the path of least
resistance. Afterwards, with
the money you make, you can blaze
new trails with other products of
your own preference.
http://www.PsychologicalTriggers.com/g.o/21247
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