I did everything they told me to do.
I snuck around at night, posting bandit signs, hoping nobody would see me… I spent hours driving around, searching for junky abandoned houses… I went into places of business and, when nobody was looking, because it’s embarrassing, I put fliers on bulletin boards.
You know… all the methods that are supposed to work. Except they didn’t.
That’s a bit from a VSL I wrote last year in the real estate investing space. It’s a typical story — I tried all the usual stuff, it was confusing and humiliating and got me nowhere… then I hit upon something new and different.
Typical. What’s not typical is the guy who was telling this story:
He is a bona fide Green Beret.
He served in the U.S. Army Special Forces for 10 years in Afghanistan and Iraq and various classified locations. Then he got out of the army, and worked as a firefighter for a while. Then he decided to make money. So he started investing in real estate and spun off a bunch of businesses and became a multi-millionaire.
But at the start, as he told me, he was confused and unsuccessful and ashamed.
A Green Beret! Confused and ashamed!
Is it any wonder you feel the same?
The fact is, people in almost any direct response market feel shame, whether openly or deep down. How else can they respond to having a burning problem… which they’ve failed to solve, over and over?
If you’re writing copy, there are several ways you can deal with this. The weakest is to tell people, “It’s not your fault.” Fortunately, better options exist.
One is to have a real-life action hero tell you, “It was the same for me. Here, let me take you under my wing and show you what really works.”
This does two things. First, it calms that burning sense of “must be something uniquely wrong with me.” Second, it allows the reader to tap into a new source of pride. Hey! I’m now in this inner circle with a real-life commando!
And in case you’re wondering if this really works:
This VSL increased response 3x over the control. In all fairness, a part of that impressive result was the flimsiness of the control. But a part of it was capitalizing on this guy’s action-hero status and his early struggles with real estate.
“Great,” you might say. “All I need now is a sensitive and vulnerable Green Beret. Thanks for nothing.”
Hold on. No Green Beret… no problem. Take a look at this John Carlton bullet:
* Amazing trick that instantly eliminates “performance anxiety” in men! (Used for centuries by the most daring and successful lovers in the world… see page 112.)
It’s the same damn thing as above. The only difference is… who are these daring and successful lovers?
Well, the book John was selling gives a few case studies of guys who overcame performance flop.
Are they the most daring and successful lovers in the world?
Perhaps.
Or perhaps John was burning with shame at how vanilla his bullet was… so he resorted to a bit of puffery to create mystery and intrigue.
It’s a harmless but effective trick… and if it’s good enough for a legendary and super-rich copywriter like John, well…
In case you want more shame-reducing copy tactics, particularly around the topic of real estate investing, here’s a tip.
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