In this issue:

• How to structure a logical argument that will have your prospects ready, willing and even eager to buy …
• The astonishing response-rocketing power of the “scientific demonstration” – and how I used it to sell more than $7 million-worth of products in a single DM package…
• 8 Ways to turn ordinary testimonials into profit-pulling powerhouses…
• And MUCH MORE!

Dear Business-Builder,

Over the years, I’ve tried to teach lots of folks to write sales copy – and (have I mentioned this before?) not all of them have gone on to be stellar successes.

One of my most spectacular failures had a Ph.D. in English Lit. Another was a crackerjack newspaper reporter. Still another had penned a best-seller and now wanted to try her hand at writing sales copy.

All three of these guys and gals were great word-jugglers. But as direct response copywriters, every one of them was hopeless. Not one of them could have written a winning sales letter if you’d held a .44 magnum to his or her highly educated head.

Looking back, though, it wasn’t their fault that they couldn’t “get” it. It was mine.

I should have been flogged for hiring these “great writers” in the first place.

See, I didn’t need great writers. I needed great salespeople – experts in the art and science of persuasion – who could also write.

They didn’t have to be Shakespeares, Longfellows or Hemmingways. They just needed to have a knack for helping others see things their way … and for persuading others to take a particular action – i.e. to look at their headlines, read their sales messages and for god’s sake, to order the doggoned product!

Put simply, I needed PERSUADERS.

So much is written today about the technical, nuts-and bolts aspects of writing great sales copy: How to structure a headline. How to use power words. How to find the right tone. How to write a fascination. How to close with conviction.

Too little, in my opinion, is written about how to be persuasive. And I mean to remedy that.

Everything You Need to Know About Being Persuasive, You Learned Before You Were 20

Persuasion is nothing more than the art (and sometimes, science) of steering someone else towards accepting and embracing an idea and/or taking a specific action through appeals to his intellect and/or emotions.

• Like we all did when we persuaded our parents to let us stay up an extra hour to watch our favorite TV show …
• Like you gals did when you first persuaded your dad to let you wear that dangerously short mini-skirt on a date …
• Like us guys did when we tried to persuade that mini-skirted gal to agree to a real kiss (and please, God … AT LEAST second base!) …
• Like we all did in college when we wrote home in a desperate attempt to persuade Mom and Dad to send pizza and beer money …
• And like we all did when we pulled out all the stops to persuade a “significant other” to become our spouse or life-partner.

There are lots of ways to be persuasive – let’s call them ‘Suasion Strategies – and I’d like to look at six of them with you – three today, and three next week.

Ready? Let’s get started …

‘Suasion Strategy #1:
The Logical Argument

This is the left-brain, “If-this, then-that” technique you used to persuade your parents to let you get your first car:

“Gee, Dad, if I just had my own car, then you wouldn’t have to pick me up after school, or take me to the library, or to swimming practice. I could even help mom with the grocery shopping!”

“Your life would be a veritable paradise. Your time would be your own. You could come home from work, take your shoes off and just relax in front of the TV!”

For us as (supposedly) grown-up copywriters and marketers, winning logical arguments typically begin from a mutually agreed-upon fact or belief – and progress, one ruthlessly rational step after another, until only one final conclusion is reasonably possible.

The logical steps you take must be small enough to bring your prospect along with you … yet large enough so he feels the wind in his face – feel momentum towards the final conclusion and the mind-blowing benefits he will realize by following the only “rational” course of action based upon your chain of logic (ordering, of course!).

This is pure left-brain, no-nonsense, intellect-appeal … real abacus-diddling, bean counter stuff. But if the direction you’re taking implies a powerful benefit awaits your prospect at the end of the rainbow, he or she will likely have strong reactive emotions to your conclusion – strong enough, hopefully, to trigger the appropriate action on his part.

Here’s how I might use this Logical Appeal approach in a promotion for a newsletter on gold investment …

What’s 326% BETTER THAN GOLD?

Argument #1:

1. Mutually agreed-upon fact: Gold prices are more than double what they were just two short years ago.
2. Commonly held belief: Gold prices always rise when Washington runs huge deficits and bullets are flying overseas.
3. Commonly held belief: No one in his right mind could possibly believe that Washington will suddenly balance the budget, or that Mid-East violence will abruptly cease.
4. Inescapable Conclusion: That means you can definitely expect soaring gold prices as far as the eye can see.

Bullet-proof – right? I can’t imagine any investor arguing with a single one of those points.

Especially if you include a few examples of how gold prices have surged when deficits soared and in times of geopolitical turmoil …

… And especially if you take a moment to poke fun at any loopy Lou who holds out hope that free-spending US politicians might suddenly get religion – or that militant extremists might suddenly abandon theirs.

If you’ve done your job at this point, your prospect now agrees that gold prices can only rise in the years ahead. It’s a dead-lock cinch in his mind.

What’s more, he’s beginning to feel something down deep in his gut. He knows – you don’t have to tell him – that when you spot a locked-in trend in the financial markets, it’s like having your own private tunnel into the richest bank vault in town.

Heck, at this point, he could just buy gold bullion and be nearly guaranteed of raking in returns that make every other investment he owns pale by comparison.

So the logical question is, why in the heck does he need you?

You, of course – being the consummate persuader – are ready for him with…

Argument #2:

1. Provable Fact #1: If history teaches anything, it’s that when gold prices rise, gold stocks skyrocket. When gold prices jumped xx% in 1980 for example, xyz gold stock jumped three times faster – handing savvy investors a whopping xxx% return – x times more! (Insert three or four more proof elements like this, accompanied by a chart)
2. Provable Fact #2: And gold stocks that meet my three proprietary criteria rise the fastest of all. In 2004, for example, when gold giant Newmont rose an impressive 35%, an obscure stock named xyz Mines skyrocketed 349%. (Insert three or four more proof elements like this, accompanied by a chart)
3. Provable Fact #3: In fact, while the average gold stock rose 79% over the last year, my portfolio of little-known gold stocks jumped an astonishing 457%. Every $25,000 you invested in my recommended stocks would have grown to $114,250 … a $35,000 investment would have grown to $159,950 … and a $50,000 investment would now be worth a spectacular $228,500!
4. Provable Fact #4: Meanwhile, if you had just bought $50,000-worth of gold bullion and held it for the last 12 months, your investment would now be worth only $70,000. (Bar chart showing investment in advisors stocks at $228,500 dwarfing $70,000 in bullion)
5. Inescapable Conclusion #1: Gold bullion is on a tear – up 40% last year – and my gold stocks did 326% better!
6. Inescapable Conclusion #2: My hand-picked gold stocks could easily make you 457% richer in 2006-2007!

See what’s happened here?

We began with a fact or belief that we knew the prospect would not – or could not – dispute.

We carefully added each new link in the chain of logic in a natural progression, taking pains to ensure that each one was proven beyond the shadow of a doubt and fully “bought into” by our prospect.

We used each of these “links” to move our prospect one step further down the road – never taking a side-trip that could blur our logic or slow our progress – towards our ultimate conclusion: Failing to pick up the phone and order right now would be idiotic, self-defeating, downright masochistic.

We added visual elements – charts – so our (somewhat statistically dense) arguments would be communicated quickly, easily and (most of all) dramatically.

Little if any emotional copy was needed to steer our prospect to the conclusion that gold will continue to rise … gold stocks will soar … our gold stocks will take off like a fuselage of bottle rockets … that if he owns them, he’ll get filthy, stinking rich … and that the only way to own the stocks we recommend is to subscribe to our newsletter.

Now … how do you think he feels about all of this? Do you think his dominant resident emotions … his fears, frustrations and desires – the “engines” that will drive him across the finish line to our order form are fully engaged even though they were never named or specifically addressed?

Sure they are – as a byproduct – a consequence of the compelling nature of our rational arguments.

Points to ponder:

• A logical argument is only as strong as its weakest link. To make a rational appeal work, each link in the chain must be presented in such a way as to be utterly irrefutable.If your prospect disputes a link in your chain – or worse, if any one link simply evaporates in the searing daylight of close examination – your entire argument and your credibility will crumple like a cheap suit.
• Remember: Nobody buys anything but basic food or water for purely rational or logical reasons. Ultimately, every sale is an impulse sale, fueled by a dominant emotion that is already resident in your prospect.Even persuading prospects to read your copy in the first place is best done by activating his most dominant resident emotions regarding the matter at hand.

  Directly addressing and therefore activating his self-interest, fear, frustration and/or desire in your head, deck, opening copy and throughout your sales message – even while making the coldest, most logical arguments – will help ensure he’ll continue reading.

• Arguments can backfire. In many cases, if you use an argument to try to make your case, you’ll get an argument in return. If the prospect senses even a whiff of confrontation or one-upsmanship in your tone, he may react as if you’ve challenged him to a mental chess match. Want to guess who’ll win?

‘Suasion Strategy #2:
The Scientific Demonstration

Logical arguments are often little more than thought experiments – where you can steer your prospect to the desired “ultimate conclusion” by simple reasoning. The entire “Attention-Interest-Desire-Action” process takes place in his or her head as you present your logical reasons why the purchase should be made.

This form of persuasion tends to work best when your prospect already has a adequate familiarity with the subject at hand – as investors do with how and why stock prices move, for example.

But when your prospects are unfamiliar with the mechanics of how or why a thing works or why your thing works better than your competition’s thing – and the explanation would be long, technical and boring – logic alone just won’t cut it.

Take the alternative health market, for example …

Consumers of nutritional supplements are savvy about a lot of things. Many can rattle off all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbs that help lower blood pressure, shrink prostates, ease joint pain, even free you from halitosis, B.O. and the heartbreak of psoriasis. But almost none of your prospects really understand HOW these natural medicines work their magic.

Lots of times, it doesn’t really matter. If you can cite a study in which Harvard scientists or a Nobel Prize winner says a nutrient does a thing, you’ll probably be OK.

But a picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words. And if you can figure out a way to quickly and easily demonstrate how your product does its thing – or better yet, how it does it thing better than the competition’s product does its thing – the impact can be palpable and the urge to try it irresistible.

Say a certain nutrient is normally water soluble – it needs water to dissolve and to be absorbed into the body. But the cheaper manufacturing process many of your competitors use makes it impervious to water and therefore, undissolvable, unabsorbable and unusable to the body.

Time to go up into the attic and drag out the old chemistry set you played with in fourth grade! Oh – and get the camera too, so we can snap some pictures for a super-persuasive sidebar.

Yep, it’s time for a scientific experiment:

Take two laboratory flasks (so much more “official-looking” than ordinary water glasses). Add water. Open a capsule of your competitor’s product and pour it into the first flask. Pour your product into the second. [SNAP!]

Observe that your product instantly dissolves, making the water cloudy to the eye. [SNAP!]

… But the competition’s product is just kind of floating aimlessly on top of the water like so much flotsam and jetsam! [SNAP!]

Now, just to prove you’re more than fair, take a spoon and stir the heck out of the competitor’s product. Hell. Put it in a blender if you like.

Wow. That worthless crap your competitors sell is still floating unmolested at the top of the flask! [SNAP!]

NOW do you see why they call cheap supplements “bedpan bullets”?

You might as well cut out the middleman: Take the money they gouge you for that worthless garbage and flush it directly down the toilet. After all: That’s where it’s going to wind up anyway!

Suddenly your claim that your product is more absorbable and therefore more effective is persuasive beyond doubt. Seeing is believing: Your prospect has been fully persuaded!

Can’t do an actual scientific demonstration? No problem. Conduct a theoretical one!

When promoting EDTA to remove plaque from arteries, I had an illustrator prepare a series of “Gray’s Anatomy”-style drawings:

• A baby’s artery – squeaky clean and free of plaque
• A 20-year-old’s artery – already beginning to grow ugly yellow globs of plaque … already beginning to restrict blood flow …
• A 60-year-old’s artery – nearly closed by plaque … only a drip or two of blood getting through to the heart muscle …
• EDTA moving through the artery, dissolving the calcium that bonds plaque to the artery wall, flushing it away and increasing blood flow …
• The 60-year-old’s artery looking more like the 20-year-old’s … and abundant blood coursing through the newly cleared artery.

Now Think: What kind of scientific demonstration – real or theoretical – would best persuade prospects that your product can, indeed deliver the promised benefits and/or is far superior to the competition’s?

Put it in your next promotion and watch response soar!

‘Suasion Strategy #3:
Presentation of Proof Elements

Great sales copy contains all kinds of proof elements – and not all of them have to do with your product.

You may use scientific studies, quotes from experts, even data from a credible third party (Consumer Reports, Wall Street Journal, the FDA, etc.) to prove the credibility of a forecast, or a prediction of the reasons why the prospect needs your product, for example.

You can also use testimonials, biographical sidebars, your spokesperson’s media appearances and press clippings to persuade prospects of your credibility.

Still, when it comes to persuading prospects of the effectiveness of your product, few things are more effective than testimonials.

And when I say “testimonials,” I’m not talking just about “Thank-You” letters from customers. There are all kinds of ways to present these proof elements to prospects – limited only by your own creativity …

• A case history in your spokesman’s voice – a narrative or story about how a customer was helped …
• A longer-form story written by a customer to the prospect: “This worked so well for me, I asked permission to tell you my story personally …”
• An interview between your spokesman and the customer in which the spokesman plays devil’s advocate and allows the customer to overcome objections the prospect may have …
• A mock “article” by a “reporter” who has interviewed five customers about their experiences and treats them like breaking news …
• The story of a competitor who threatened to sue when he saw your ad – but backed down immediately when he saw your proof …
• A real-life press clipping or media mention about the effectiveness of your product …
• A statement by a well-known expert vowing that your product (or the ingredient in it) is amazingly effective …
• And of course, the more typical testimonial from a customer, raving about the product … carefully selected to include specifics that make it interesting and believable … edited for brevity and easy reading (without changing the meaning) … given a headline to draw attention to it … including at least the customer’s first name, last initial, city and state … and presented with a picture of the happy customer.

Point to Ponder: If you’re taking the extra step – calling testimonial-givers and interviewing them to develop longer-copy stories about their experience with the product, try this …

Before you call, think about your prospect. Consider every objection he/she might have to making the purchase. Think about their skepticism upon reading your product claims – especially if they had tried similar products that overpromised and underdelivered … their fears, frustrations and desires relating to the problem the product solves … their hesitance to spend the money … their desire NOT to feel like a sucker – again …

Then, walk the customer through the entire experience of buying for the first time: How they felt and what they thought when they were struggling with the problem the product solves … when they first saw the ad for your product.

Ask them what made them decide to order … how friendly the customer rep was and how easy ordering was … how they felt while waiting for the product to arrive … how surprised they were when it arrived in record time … how easy/pleasant/fun it was to use … specifically – in minute detail – what it did for them and how it changed their life – both physically and emotionally.

Ask what they’ve done since experiencing the miraculous result: How many more of the same product they ordered … how many friends and family members they’ve convinced to buy it – the works.

Then, write the entire experience and have the customer sign off on it. You now have a DREAM testimonial for your next promotion!

Just how powerful are testimonials – really? Fifteen months ago, I wrote a 24-page tabloid promotion that’s about 80% testimonials. So far, the client has mailed more than ten million copies – at a substantial profit – and it’s still going strong.

Three More ‘Suasion Strategies
Next Week…

That should be plenty to chew on this week – I’ll introduce you to three more equally powerful ‘Suasion Strategies next week:

1. How to use the art of SEDUCTION to help your prospect persuade him or herself …
2. How to leverage the power of your prospects CORE BELIEFS and TRADITIONS to persuade them to see things your way, and when all else fails,
3. How the skillful use of RHETORIC allows you to persuade prospects to take action by bypassing the brain altogether.

PLUS, I’ll show you how combining all SIX of these powerful persuasion principles in a single promotion can drive your response to the moon!

Yours for Bigger Winners, More Often,

Clayton Makepeace
Publisher & Editor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE

This article has been repuplished from http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com

If you’re interested more about persuasive copywriting techniques you should definetely subscribe to Clayton’s blog.

I’m actually posting two seperate articles here by ETR because they seem to be conflicting slightly.  And it’s a testament how a few small phrases can make such a difference.

In the first article David Cross points out “Why Your Website ‘Design’ Shouldn’t Be Your Top Concern”. And “Your website design does matter… but probably less than you think. And a lot less than your website designer thinks”.

Now, these aren’t the main points David is trying to make.  What the article overall is saying is that the words you use on your site matter the most.  Sure you can have a fancy design but if your presentation is lacking in good copy then your nicely designed website won’t matter that much.

In the second article Michael Masterson states “But it’s been proven that images have a potentially huge impact on revenues. In fact, a colleague of mine was able to double his response rates in the mail just with good graphic design.” And “When you’ve got ‘pretty’ sales promotions, websites, and e-letters, you’ll have a healthy and successful business.”

What you’ll get from reading both articles is that both images(design) and copy matter.  How you package your content matters.

Give these articles a read and let me know what you think in the comments box.

A Word Is Worth 1,000 Pictures

By David Cross

For almost a month, “Alma” went back and forth with her Web developer on which illustration to use on her company website’s homepage. Should it be the lavender flowers? The bluebell-carpeted scene of springtime in the woods? Or would the photo of the healthy-looking young yoga instructor best convey what the site was about?

Everyone in Alma’s company had a different opinion. And changing one illustration on the homepage meant other graphics on the site needed to be changed to reflect the “core” image of the business.

It’s a situation that replays itself every day in website agencies and Web development companies around the world.

Now there’s no doubt that good graphic design can make or break a marketing campaign. A well-chosen, well-placed image can double, triple, or quadruple response rates. However, the design of your website is a whole different animal. Taking a close look at some recent research may offer a startling insight into what I’m talking about…

Nielsen Norman Group recently ran a battery of website usability studies using eye-tracking technology. In the studies, people were asked to perform a variety of tasks on different websites, such as “open an account” at an online bank or “find a local pizza restaurant” or “buy a black suit with a blue tie.” While they were engaged in these tasks, hidden infrared cameras monitored their eye movements to see what they looked at and where their gaze was fixed. From the data, the researchers drew “heat maps” that showed which parts of each Web page were looked at the most. Areas colored red indicated where the study participants spent the greatest amount of time. Yellow and blue indicated fewer eye fixations. And gray areas were those that didn’t attract any fixations.

In every case, statistically significant patterns emerged.

Here are three results that you should be aware of in order to make your website stronger and more appealing to your visitors:

• Banners and ads are ignored. People almost never pay attention to anything that looks like an advertisement, whether or not it actually is one. This is true of banners anywhere within a Web page.

• Images are ignored. Images receive similar scant attention fixations, with the exception of faces and “cleavage and other ‘private’ body parts.”

• Text is universally “interesting.” What all the study participants fixated on was plain text or written content.

Why Your Website “Design” Shouldn’t Be Your Top Concern

Your website design does matter… but probably less than you think. And a lot less than your website designer thinks (or would like to bill you for).

Think of your website as a dinner plate and your articles and other content as the dinner. Sure, you want an overall presentation that is attractive. But the food is the most important part of the meal. The plate itself should not be garish or bland. It should complement the meal and showcase it in the best light possible.

Almost all the websites and e-mail promotions that took Agora Inc., the parent company of Early to Rise, to its first $100 million in online sales were about as un-designed as you could imagine. They were mainly all text and headlines. In fact, Agora’s websites looked – and still look – very similar to the longer direct-mail sales letters you receive in the mail. According to many Web designers, these sites shouldn’t work any more than a bumblebee should be able to fly (because it breaks every rule of aerodynamics). But fly it does.

It is important for all Web designers to know where people look when they visit a Web page. Most people are looking for information, facts, or advice. And they want a website that gets that job done. If they are engrossed in a story or buried deep in content, they don’t want distractions and they don’t want to look away.

Plus, if your most important content is “hiding” in a banner or graphic, you could be missing plenty of opportunities to convert site visitors to paying customers.

Recognize the power of words. If you are considering placing a photo or other graphic on your site, ask yourself whether, instead, there is a way to express what you’re trying to communicate with words. Research and experience bears out that this will probably produce a better result.

What Does Matter?

Most website critiques focus on the look and feel of the site, its visual design and layout. But what matters primarily for most websites and to most people is text.

For this, there are a number of guidelines you can adopt:

• Make it easy to skim-read your Web pages. Online, people skim-read and scan for information. So break up your Web content with logical headings and subheadings. Use bullet points to break up paragraphs, and use bold type to make important words stand out.

Try skim-reading your Web pages yourself – or, better still, have a customer do it for you. See if they have any trouble understanding the page and moving onto the next step (signing up for your e-mail newsletter or purchasing something).

• Think “elevator pitch.” An “elevator pitch” explains what you do, what your product or service does, and, especially, what it does for the customer. And it does so in the time it takes to move between two floors in an elevator.

The first two paragraphs on any Web page should state the most important information in an easy-to-grasp way. If a site visitor reads those two paragraphs, there’s a better chance that they’ll continue reading the rest of the page.

• Begin with useful information. Beginning page titles, headings, subheads, paragraphs, and bullet points with information-carrying words will help your site visitors as they skim-read. People generally notice the first words of any block of text more than the later words. Make it simple for people to find what they need.

Creating content-rich rather than image-heavy websites is still unfashionable. Many designers still treat the Web more like printed advertising media and focus on graphical embellishments – which often end up being largely ignored. Even seasoned Web designers forget the power of words.

Above all else, make sure your website has useful, easy-to-skim information. Work with your graphic and Web designers to ensure that your design supports the content rather than overwhelms it. You’ll better serve your website visitors… and have a better chance of converting them into e-letter subscribers or paying customers.

Is Your Marketing “Pretty” Enough?

By Suzanne Richardson

Erika Laguna, ETR’s graphic designer, said, “My goal is to make ETR’s marketing efforts look pretty.”

Everyone laughed. The entire ETR team had gathered for a staff meeting, and each member was revealing his or her daily goal.

Little did we know that Erika wasn’t making a joke. She was 100 percent serious!

“What does pretty mean in our business?” asked Michael Masterson. “Does anyone know?”

Erika was the only one who spoke up. “Something that’s pretty brings in more money.”

“That’s right,” said Michael. “In direct response, pretty means graphic design that understands and supports the written word… and the selling process. Something can’t be pretty just for pretty’s sake. It’s about directing the reader’s eye and making an emotional message consistent with the sales message.”

“Did you know that graphic design used to get short shrift in the world of marketing?” Michael went on. “For the longest time, direct marketers believed that all that mattered was the copy. But it’s been proven that images have a potentially huge impact on revenues. In fact, a colleague of mine was able to double his response rates in the mail just with good graphic design.”

And it’s worked for ETR, too. Our marketing team tested one Yahoo banner ad against another. They were able to quadruple the number of clicks the banner ad received just by changing the image that appeared on it.

So how can you make graphic design work for you?

Test.

Michael recommends that you test different graphic formats to see what type of responses you get. That’s the best way to see what’s “pretty” to your customers. When you’ve got “pretty” sales promotions, websites, and e-letters, you’ll have a healthy and successful business.

This article is provided courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Again if you have any thoughts on this matter I’d love to hear them.  Tell me what you think.

Gary Halbert was one of the most talented direct response marketers of all time. You can learn a wealth of information from him. Feel free to download or listen online to some free audios of Him and Michel Fortin talking about direct marketing. Go here.

You might have heard of Rosser Reeves if you have read “Ogilvy on Advertising” or Bob Bly’s “The Copywriter’s Handbook“. Both of these I’ve read recently in which Rosser is mentioned multiple times.

Funny story on how I got my copy…

So about a week ago I was going over my book “The Copywriter’s Handbook” by Bob Bly where he mentions USP (Unique Selling Proposition) which Rosser coined while working for Ted Bates Agency. I decided to look up Rosser on Amazon.com to see if I can find his book “Reality in Advertising” and I did except copies were kinda pricey, starting at $175. Looking at the cool image of the book cover I noticed that it said below it “Customer image from Mockingbird Books” and immediately clicked on the link because that’s the name of my uncle’s rare book business.

I emailed him right away and asked if it was him and sure enough it was. I was totally surprised. I knew he sold rare books but never thought I would stumble upon a book I wanted on Amazon that he was selling. I told him I was interested in the book and he told me I could have it free of charge. How awesome is that?!

Not only did he send the book he included another not so famous book (but cool nonetheless) “How to Advertise” by Kenneth Roman & Jane Mass. It does have a small foreword by David Ogilvy though.

Ok, so I had to go back through my books on copywriting and advertising to figure out exactly where Rosser Reeves was mentioned and I found what I think is a brilliant quote in “Ogilvy on Advertising” by Rosser. In the book “Reality in Advertising” Rosser says”

I’m not saying that charming, witty and warm copy won’t sell. I’m just saying that I’ve seen thousands of charming, witty campaigns that didn’t. Let’s say you are a manufacturer. Your advertising isn’t working and your sales are going down. And everything depends on it. Your future depends on it, your family’s future depends on it, other people’s families depend on it. And you walk in this office and talk to me, and you sit in that chair. Now, what do you want out of me? Fine writing? Do you want masterpieces? Do you want glowing things that can be framed by copywriters? Or do you want to see the goddamned sales curve stop moving down and start moving up?

That pretty much sums up what advertising is supposed to be about…

Here’s Rosser Reeves on Unique Selling Proposition:

Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: ‘Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.’

The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique-either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.

The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions; i.e., pull over new customers to your product.

Fun fact: Rosser helped oversee the M&M’s “melts in your mouth, not in your hands.” campaign which is still in existence.

So a personal Thank You goes out to my Uncle Mike who was so kind as to send me those books! Thank you! And if you happen to be interested in rare books at all you can find a link to his inventory on his home page at http://www.mockingbird-books.com/

Stay tuned for a “Reality in Advertising” book review…

If you want to pick up your own copy of Reality in Advertising they are going for about $130 on Amazon.com right now.

A study conducted at the University of Rochester’s School of Medicine found that – to forge closer relationships with the people they treat – some physicians reveal personal information to their patients. Stuff like details about their health, family members, travel, politics, hobbies, and other interests.

You’d think this would help establish a bond between them. But guess what? According to an article in Rochester Review , the study showed that these disclosures “have few demonstrable benefits.” In fact, doctors chatting up the people they’re treating may even “disrupt the flow of important patient information.”

The lesson?

Other people care more about themselves – their worries, their concerns, their fears, their hopes, their dreams, even what movie they saw last weekend or where they went for dinner last night – than they do about you. Therefore, if you want people to like you, you have to stop talking… and start listening.

I am introverted and not social. But people who meet me at business and social functions often report a positive experience.

The reason is simple: I ask them questions and listen to their answers. I don’t interrupt them, but let them talk as long as they want. When they are done, I don’t switch the topic to me. Instead, I keep the conversation focused on them – by asking another question.

When do you stop catering to the other person… and start talking about yourself? Well, if you’re a businessperson trying to make a sale, the answer is never.

Perhaps you have heard the saying, “You have two ears but only one mouth – so you should listen twice as much as you talk.” That ratio is tilted in the right direction, only not far enough. One of my mentors, the late Howard Shenson, once told me that, to be successful in business, you should listen 80 percent of the time and talk only 20 percent of the time.

A common misconception many salespeople share is the compulsion to – at some point in the conversation – get their prospect to stop talking long enough so they can finally make their “presentation.” Their mistaken belief is that the presentation – an orderly recitation of the features and benefits of their product – is necessary to make the sale.

In fact, if you listen, your prospects will tell you exactly what you have to do – and say – to get them to buy. Just follow their lead… and forget about your “presentation”… and you’ll close more and bigger deals, more often.

The more the prospect talks, the better it usually is for the salesperson.

People are happiest when they can talk to someone who is paying attention to what they are saying. On the other hand, if you launch into a “presentation,” they may become bored and lose interest.

I once watched a graphic designer sitting in a marketing director’s office talking about designing a brochure. The marketing director was interested and ready to sign on the dotted line. But instead of letting her do so, the graphic designer said, “Let me show you some of the other things we’ve done” – and began unzipping one of those big simulated leather portfolio cases.

“That’s not necessary,” said the marketing director, clearly pressed for time and ready to issue a PO.

“But I want you to see our latest work,” the designer insisted.

Before the marketing director could protest further, the graphics person opened the portfolio and began flipping pages.

The marketing director was clearly bored – and in a hurry. She tried to end the dog-and-pony show, but the designer was oblivious, droning on about minute details of this catalog layout or that printing challenge.

Finally, the artist got the message. But it was too late. When the marketing director saw me observing the scene through the door, she shook her head, as if to say, “What a blockhead!” And I later found out that the project was awarded to another firm.

Yes, by talking too much, you can actually talk yourself out of a sale.

A good rule for selling: Say only as much as you have to. The more you talk, the greater your chances of saying something that the prospect will find objectionable or disagreeable. Result: sale gone.

The same “put the listener first” principle works not just in selling, but in virtually every interpersonal situation – from an employee persuading his boss to tackle a task in a certain way to two spouses debating what color tile to use in the new bathroom.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

This article itself is written by Bob Bly – who wrote this article for Early To Rise.

Bob Bly is an independent copywriter and consultant with more than 25 years’ experience in business-to-business, high-tech, industrial, and direct marketing. He has written over 70 books, many of which are about copywriting. He writes and great newsletter you can sign up for free as well as ETR’s newsletter. I subscribe to both.

I mentioned above how strange it was that so many copywriters play instruments. Turns out, according to Georgetown University researchers, that might not be a coincidence.

Not only does their research say that music and language — word use — use the same areas of memory, but that we also unconsciously learn the “rules” of what sounds good in both music and language, in the same way.

So if you have a good ear for melodies, you might also have a good ear for what sounds good in the printed or spoken word.

Research from the New York Academy of Sciences takes it even further: playing music, they say, can make you smarter. It can also beef up your immune system, improve your memory, and keep you sane, for lack of a better way to put it.

How they explain why so many musicians seem to go nuts or die young, I don’t know.

But what their research shows is actual increased grey matter in the part of the brain that manages hearing, which gets more pronounced in people who play music often.

Even listening to music –- and not just Mozart –- can give you some of the same benefits. But actually playing it seems to be even better.

The recitation involved just seems to help your brain’s neural network get “organized” so it can run more efficiently. Go figure, eh?

This article is published with permission from John Forde – A top copywriter who releases a free newsletter on copywriting every week you can get for free. I’m a subscriber and it’s is superb. It’s why I’ve chosen to reprint his article here. Go sign up!

“So,” one of them said, “here’s a question we’ve been dying to ask…”

Uh oh, I thought. Here we go.

“…uh… I’m not sure how to put this…”

I couldn’t even begin to guess.

I instinctively started crafting my alibi.

“Are all copywriters… well, you know… so ‘nice?’ I mean, we just keep coming across copywriters who are really friendly.”

Oh. That.

To be perfectly honest, I’ve noticed pretty much the same thing: Most copywriters I know do seem extra welcoming and easy-going, most of the time.

Why is that?

Sure, there are some exceptions. And in private, we all loose our cool once in awhile. Yet, it’s true. All the best copywriters I know are extra- generous with their time and advice.

Speak with them once, and they’ll usually remember what you’ve talked about. Introduce somebody and they’ll be happy to shake hands. In restaurants, they almost never snarl at a waiter. And I don’t know a single one among them who would ever kick a dog.

Does the industry attract those types… or make them? I can’t really say. Maybe it’s a typical chicken-and-egg kind of situation.

I tend to think those who have those qualities do better as copywriters, simply because, to write effective sales copy, you’ve got to develop some insight into what matters to other people.

You’ve got to know want they want. You’ve got to know what they need to hear to get them there. And to get there, you’ve actually got to stop, drop, and listen to what they’re talking about.

And that, as anybody who’s ever cracked the spine on a Dale Carnegie book, also happens to be the secret to forging any kind of connection with anybody.

There’s a dark side to the typical copywriter personality, of course. At least in direct response, everything we do is measured to the penny. It either works or it doesn’t. And everybody notices, either way.

We’re hired, fired, and respected based almost entirely on performance. That can make one more than a little self-conscious. Even defensive and arrogant. In a debate, we can also be stubborn — simply because we spend so many working hours piling up proofs to back our claims.

What else have I noticed about copywriting types?

I’ve yet to meet a good copywriter who doesn’t have a good sense of humor, even though humor is something so rarely used — at least overtly — in direct-response sales writing.

And not just a passion for jokes. “It’s dry,” says my wife. We’re also observant. But sometimes, observant to a fault. That is, we can get caught up in subsets of details… while even bigger trends and events blow right past us, simply because they exist outside of whatever we’re focused on at the time.

Most copywriters I know also read widely. Some read history books, others read blockbusters, still more are sponges for trade journals, news clips, blogs, and popular magazines.

We like movies. And music.

In fact, we’re generally drawn to popular culture, even more than most, because it’s yet another way to soak up what our target markets are talking about.

Strangely, a lot of copywriters I’ve talked to don’t watch much TV, even though that flies in the face of what I’ve just said. Why?

Again, I can’t say for sure. But I can guess. TV eats up time, but gives back little in exchange. It’s also addictive. And that’s something else about copywriters. Like a lot of other writers, we can have slightly addictive or compulsive personalities.

Not necessarily the usual compulsions, either.

For instance, a lot of the copywriters I know are collectors. Of everything from puns and trivia… to chateaus and high-priced automobiles. For me, there was awhile there that I couldn’t help buying cheap used guitars. Until I acquired a few nice ones.

Which is another thing… I don’t know why, but easily 8 out of every 10 copywriters I know seem to play an instrument. And more often than not, that instrument is the guitar.

Not all of us are good, mind you. But we at least appreciate music. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve sat past 2 am, muddling my way through Dylan and Stones covers with fellow writers.

Copywriters are also a curious bunch.

By that I mean, we tend to be especially inquisitive. About everything. Even those things we’ll never write about.

David Ogilvy once said that curiosity was the key trait he looked for when hiring a writer. Be warned, if you don’t like asking questions, this might not be the field for you.

We’re storytellers. In print or conversation, copywriters love to default to the story form. Sometimes, more often than our listeners can stand.

The same goes for analogies.

We make — or should I say test — a lot of them. Analogy lies close to the core of creativity. A good analogy can make a complex idea sound simple. It can make an unfamiliar idea feel like an old friend. That doesn’t mean we always get the analogy right. But you can bet that when we don’t, we’ll try again.

A handful of the copywriters I know are doodlers or artists, yours truly included. That’s not a universal trait in this industry. But common enough to make it worth mentioning.

I think it’s because copywriting demands an especially strong mix of both left and right brain thinking. During the research mode, you’re all strategy and calculation. But then you need to jump to the other side of the divide, where your passion for the rhythm of word-craft resides.

Not everybody can do both.

Copywriters can be extroverted, but most that I know are not. On the other hand, we rarely shy away from a debate. We’ve got deeply felt opinions on everything, including a few things we don’t know much about… yet.

This list could go on.

But you more than get the picture.

There’s plenty about this trade that can be taught. But even the best techniques and tools aren’t worth much unless you’ve got the right kind of knack for this career in the first place. I’d be cheating you if I told you otherwise.

But let’s say you’re not at all like the person I’ve just described, but you still want to find your footing in this profession? No worries. Just like everything else, there’s always the option to simply do your thing and let the market decide.

—

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The concept was developed by an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto over 100 years ago.

Ryan Healy, a direct response copywriter has something to say about it:

The 80/20 Rule is simple. It says 20% of inputs create 80% of outputs. Conversely, 80% of inputs create only 20% of outputs.

For instance:

* In a house that is carpeted, 20% of the carpet will get 80% of the wear.
* On a blog, 20% of the blog posts will get 80% of the “reads.”
* In a business, 20% of the customers will produce 80% of the revenue.

In anything you apply the 80/20 Rule to, you will find both great leverage and great waste.

He goes on to say:

Writing copy the 80/20 way is about getting maximum results with minimum effort. It’s about doing more with less.

Don’t waste hours trying to create the “perfect” sales letter. Rather, write a letter that’s good enough. Then split-test it to success. Let the software do all the heavy lifting for you.

If you write all your own copy, give this approach a fair shot. I believe you’ll be pleased with the outcome.

Read more at Copywriting the 80/20 Way on Michel Fortin’s Blog

Ten persuasive writing techniques you can use right now in your copy.

With a short description they are:

Repetition

Repeat your offer or case over and over again. Vary it up so you’re not repeating exactly the same thing. Use analogies etc.

Reasons Why

People respond more to reasons why… ie. Do this because if you don’t you’ll lose out later.

Consistency

People like consistency. Be consistent in your copy and overall message.

Social Proof

Offer testimonials, endorsements, proof others have purchased from you as well. People take comfort in knowing others are have chosen your business.

Comparisons

Everyone likes comparisons. Show how your product or service is different. Use metaphors, similes and analogies. If you’ve tested show exact test results.

Agitate and Solve

Show you understand a prospects pain by having gone through the same situation they are currently in. Show how the problem affected you and how you solved it.

Prognosticate

Predict future scenarios and convince people with your credentials.

Go Tribal

People want to have a sense of belonging. Offer a way of becoming part of a select group and you’ll have people on board.

Address Objections

Again, Reason Why… Address all objections someone has against your offer. Also called risk reversal. Take out all the risk of your offer and put it on yourself.

Storytelling

Basic storytelling. Writing persuasive copy comes down to being able to write compelling stories. It includes all the things above.

Read the original article over at Copyblogger