Toluu

PeteGodfrey.com

The Wizard of Words Copywriter & Sales Strategist

If Ever There Was A Secret To Success!May 28

Wow, I got a lot of feedback from the last post and I appreciate it. Seems like a few readers have benefited from the advice by taking action and actually doing something with it. Well done! If ever there was a secret to success, there it is above.

Anyway, moving on…

The past couple of weeks have been one long slog. I felt like I was on a treadmill… jogging away and not getting any damn where. One job after another. Bang, bang, bang. Mainly seminar promotions. For myself and my clients. Frankly, I’ve barely had time to catch my breath.

But I made a vow recently about this blog.

I’m determined to get at least one post up per week. This way, every week you can tap into the power of Emotional Direct Response Marketing and Copywriting.

So I knew I had to get a post up today, not tomorrow.

But Monday is looming with two deadlines that have to be completed. And in the world I live in, you can’t get away with “the dog ate my lunch” kinda story, just won’t cut it.

Some deadlines are soft; meaning, they are not set in stone and you know you’ll have to make a few changes anyway.

Other deadlines are hard; meaning people are relying on you to get it done on that day and people are standing by, ready to implement. For Monday’s deadlines, my clients have got printers ready to print, web guys ready to upload my copy, and they are itching to launch their seminar

The Power of a Provocative QuestionMay 28

You are just one sales letter away, heck, even one ad or headline away from riches. If you crack the code with a powerful headline the world truly can be your oyster. Because it’s your headline that will make the difference between a loser and an off-the-wall WINNER. And one way to come up with a dynamite headline and instantly hook your reader is by using a provocative question.

Years ago, I came across this headline in an old Dan Kennedy newsletter…

“How Much Younger Do You Want To Look?”

It was an ad for cosmetic dentistry.  Below the headline was a before and after shot. Powerful stuff.

And I’ve adapted that headline many times over the years with great results for my clients.

“How Much Better Do You Want To Feel?”
“How Much Energy Can You Handle?”
“How Much Happier Do You Want To Be?”

If you really know your market, their thoughts, fears, wants, desires and so on, these kinds of headlines break through the clutter. Instead of promising one over-the-top benefit after another, you are focusing on your prospect’s emotions. This gets past the “Yeah sure” response you get when you have merely benefit-driven headlines.

It also gets under your prospects’ BS detectors and hones in on their feelings.

Here are three more templates you can use…

Tired of the same old….?

Isn’t it time you….?

Isn’t it time you did something for yourself for a cha

The Fear of Loss is More Powerful Than The Hope For Gain!May 21

The headline above has been drummed into my head since I first started writing copy over a decade ago. If you study guys like Kennedy, Halbert and Carlton, as I do, you know these guys really get it.

So if you’re a student of Emotional Direct Response, you know this.

You know in reality, people would much rather save something they’ve already got, than get something they want. It’s hardwired into our heads.

So if you’re a student, you know this already.

But do you really get it?

Is this undisputed fact of human behaviour permanently imprinted into your mind? If not, then this is my objective here. To show you how to always be aware of this fact, but also to show you how to craft compelling copy that targets this primeval emotion, what we call, the fear of loss.

(I hope by now, as an astute reader of this blog, you realise the BIG POINTS I make here, the ones I want to really ram home to you, are the exact same BIG POINTS  I keep reminding myself on. By reminding you, I’m reminding me. And being astute, I bet you’ve got a notebook beside you, a BIG IDEA book you’re writing all of these lessons down in. You are, aren’t you?)

Anyway, I was going through an old Jerry Buchanan newsletter the other day (Jerry was a famous old info marketer from way back), when I came across an example of fear of loss that really struck home.

Jerry was commenting on a

Persuasion Power … The Two-Sided CoinMay 19

People buy on feelings. And if you’ve been with me awhile now, you know you are really in the FEELINGS business… that’s where the real money lies.

And basically, there are two kinds of feelings, positive and negative.

Now I’m a positive person, so I’m always looking at the positive feelings, the positive benefits a prospect gets from the product I’m selling. It’s only natural, that’s the way I think. But here’s what I have to constantly remind myself of: In many cases, you get better results by manipulating negative feelings than you do positive feelings.

Fight this statement as much as you want. But it’s the truth. Here’s an example to prove this point…

Guilt
Love
   
Two sides of the same feelings coin.

Now let’s pretend for a minute I’m trying to sell you something and you’re a parent. I can go down the love angle and I would do this. I would stress in story form the love you feel for your kids. But this love angle would be my secondary priority.

Guilt would be my major emotion. I would hammer home the guilt angle. About not being around for your son’s soccer game, missing out on his graduation, not taking him fishing and so on.

It’s why the subhead I wrote below for a client specialising in children’s learning and speech difficulties worked so damn well. (It’s why the Special Report I wrote for her over two years ago is still bringing in the money.)

"

Copywriting Salesmanship in PrintJanuary 31

WHAT SAVVY MILLIONAIRE MARKETERS KNOW THAT YOU DON’T…& HOW IT COULD BE COSTING YOU A FORTUNE!

Salesmanship in print (and sorry to all of my valued female readers, I just couldn’t write salespersonship in print…just wouldn’t sound right okay?)

That’s what we’re doing when we write an ad or sales letter. We’re taking basic salesmanship and transcribing it on to the page. And that’s what millionaire marketers know that most people don’t.

When they take their message to the market, it’s complete, vibrant, and really connects with their prospects. It’s pure salesmanship. No matter what the media … print ads, direct mail pieces, websites, it doesn’t matter. The message remains the same.

And a lot of people don’t get this.

They get all “holier than thou” when they start writing … like they are speakin’ some kind of different language. There is no connection there, no empathy or under-standing or pure, unadulterated raw emotion. It’s like they forget they are there to sell!

So get this straight…

When you’re writing sales copy (you know, a sales piece that’s supposed to sell your product), write the way your target audience speaks. Sure, you’ll have to adapt your language to the different markets you’re selling to. But… An