John Bejakovic

Marketing yokel discovers hidden way to write Ben Settle-style subject lines

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A long time ago in a galaxy pretty, pretty nearby, a marketing yokel subscribed to Ben Settle’s email list.

Now if you are reading this, odds are good you know who Ben Settle is.

​​No, he didn’t invent daily emails.

​​But he did do the most to popularize this marketing format… to develop it… and to teach it… so I and hundreds of other copywriters like me could get paid writing emails much like what you’re reading.

But let me get back to my story of the marketing yokel.

The very next day, our hero opened up his first Ben Settle email. The email had a big promise in the subject line, something like:

“How to have power & influence even if you don’t deserve it”

The yokel tore through the email. He was disappointed to find no step-by-step instructions there. Instead, he hit upon a link at the end, which led to a pitch for a paid newsletter.

“You got me once,” our marketing yokel muttered. “Never again.”

But the day after, a new email arrived from Ben Settle. The exact subject line is lost in the mists of history, but it might have been:

“What never to write in an email subject line”

Seeing this, our marketing yokel forgot his resolution from the day before. He opened this second email… chuckled a bit at the writing… and again hit a paywall.

“Ya sonova—”

Never again, right? Of course. The third day, another Ben Settle email arrived, with a colorful wrapper like:

“A secret way of using an ordinary pocket watch to get booked solid with paying clients”

Our hero hung his head, admitted defeat, and opened up the email to start reading.

Now here’s a Darth Vader-level reveal, which you might have seen coming. Cue James Earl Jones’s voice:

I AM that marketing yokel. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

Fact is, I kept getting sucked into Ben’s emails until I eventually broke down. One day, I became a subscriber to his email newsletter. I stayed subscribed for over 3 years. Plus as of today, I’ve ponied up an extra few thousand dollars to buy his other books and promoted offers.

There’s more to Ben’s email system than great subject lines. But subject lines are a big part of it, especially in the early days.

Great subject lines take people who haven’t yet bonded with you… who aren’t familiar with your inside jokes… who don’t yet care about your personality and your unique views… they take those people and suck them in. Just like they sucked me in until I was ready to start buying.

But now I’ve graduated from marketing yokel to somewhat of an email marketing authority. So I’d like to share a subject line tip with you.

It’s something I learned from Ben, though he doesn’t explicitly teach it, not as far as I know. It’s a ready-made way to come up with great subject lines like the ones above. Take a look at the following:

“How to have ‘killer sex’ at any age even if you don’t deserve it”

“What never to eat on an airplane”

“How to stop smoking using an ordinary hairbrush”

These are all bullets from classic promos. Compare them to Ben’s subject lines above. You will see that Ben adapted these classic bullets, either in form or in intent, to create his own subject lines.

So that’s my tip for you for today.

If you have your own list and you want to start mailing it daily… then classic bullets offer great templates for your subject lines.

And if you have no list, but you’re hoping to work with clients…

Then to me it seems like email is it. For every successful VSL and sales letter copywriter I come across, I meet three others who focus only on email.

By the way, I mentioned yesterday I’d make a prediction.

It has to do with a stubborn belief, popular in copywriting circles, that long copy will never die.

Well, my prediction is it will.

My reasoning is that, in an age when most of us feel our sense of control is under growing threat, we become more sensitized to outside manipulation.

Anything that looks and smells like advertising will be the first victim of this new sensitivity. And 45-page sales letters will be the first to go.

I think there are signs of this already. Or maybe I’m just biased, because I myself have a hard time reading a long-form sales letter for products I’m personally buying.

In any case, email marketing is still holding on, and likely will for a while.

And if your client wants email, the first thing he (and his customers) will care about is subject lines.

So my tip for you (again) is classic bullets.

And speaking of classic bullets, my Copy Riddles program is open for enrollment for the next few days. It’s all about teaching you sales copy, using the mechanism of bullets.

No, Copy Riddles is not just for learning bullets.

It’s also not just for email subject lines.

But even if that’s all this program gets you to do… then I reckon it can easily pay for itself.

So in more words of Darth Vader, “You’ve only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training.” If you want to find out more about the power of bullets:

https://bejakovic.com/cr

A chance to be afraid of how much you love Copy Riddles

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“Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.”
— Michael Scott, Dunder Mifflin Paper Company

Today, I am officially re-opening enrollment for my Copy Riddles program.

This only happens a few times a year. And whenever it happens, I get people coming and asking me a version of the following question:

“Is Copy Riddles about how to write bullets specifically, or copy in general?”

Oh ye who don’t read the sales page. (Though I can’t really blame you. I rarely read the sales page either. And I think there’s a valuable industry prediction to be made about that… something I will talk about tomorrow.)

But to get back to the question whether Copy Riddles is about copy OR bullets. In Michael Scott’s words:

“Simple. Both.”

In a few more words:

Copy Riddles is about implanting copywriting fundamentals into your head. Stuff you can’t do without if you write sales copy… like promises and proof and intrigue… and then some of those dirty and hidden copywriting tricks you may have heard whispered about between insiders.

So that’s the outcome that Copy Riddles focuses on getting you. And the mechanism to get you there… that’s A-list bullets. Because to mangle another Michael Scott quote:

“Copywriting courses are the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about copywriting and sell it. So you know you are getting the best possible information.”

That’s not what I wanted to do with Copy Riddles. That’s why I went with a unique mechanism.

So each day, for 8 weeks, you get a few paragraphs of text… you write a few bullets based on that text… and then you compare your bullets to the bullets of A-list copywriters, selling that same text. Do it regularly… and you’ll soon be afraid of how much you love the learning that’s happening inside your head.

Anyways, that’s my intro for Copy Riddles. I’ll talk more about it over the coming week (except Thursday, something different on Thursday).

If by chance you are already convinced you want in on Copy Riddles… or if you want to (cough) read the sales page, you can do that at the link below.

Otherwise, I’ll sneak in more subtle pitches for Copy Riddles over the coming days, all the way until Sunday. (Enrollment closes Sunday at 12am PST, and the program kicks off on Monday.)

So fear it or love it… here’s the link:

https://bejakovic.com/cr

A favorite resource for persuasion secrets that make men swallow gallons of nasty, unpalatable nostrums

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Today I’d like to tell you about a book that’s one of my favorite resources for persuasion secrets.

It has nothing to do with copywriting, but it came as a recommendation from an A-list copywriter. “If you understand that on a deep level,” this A-lister said about this book, “you will be able to influence people in ways you’d never dreamed possible.”

Now let me admit that when I got going with copywriting, I really didn’t get what the fuss was about these A-list copywriters.

I looked at their copy. Simple words, simple sentences, simple arguments.

“Pff,” I said. “I can do the same.”

In time, feedback from the market beat some humility into me. So when I heard that recommendation from the A-lister, I decided to follow it.

I started reading the recommended book, expecting only information. And I got that. The book talks about the hidden psychology behind the irrational, self-defeating things many of us do, often without being aware of them.

The first few chapters were interesting. Insightful. Maybe useful for work. A few times, I even felt like they were personally relevant.

But then, I started a new chapter.

Right on the first page, my skin started to crawl.

I turned the page. I cringed.

I read a bit more. My forehead began burning.

I won’t tell you exactly what was on those pages. But I will tell you in general:

Those pages were describing symptoms. Beliefs, feelings, behaviors. At work. With family. With friends. With lovers. With strangers. In private. Things you avoid. Things you do to cope.

Cope with what?

Well, that’s what the chapter was about. And I won’t tell you exactly what that was, because it was exactly describing me, and I’m secretive like that.

But I will tell you that the spot-on description of symptoms sold me on the diagnosis in the book. And the diagnosis sold me on the cure, which came a few pages later. Because as Robert Collier once wrote:

“What is it that sells patent medicines by the millions every year? What is it that makes men swallow gallons of nasty, unpalatable nostrums, pounds of seaweed, and yeast cakes put up in all manner of forms? Proof! A man describes your symptoms with such exactitude that you think he must have taken a look down your epiglottis, then assures you that one dose or a dozen pills or cakes or yeast relieved him of every trace of your ailment.”

So if you are a marketer or a copywriter, that’s my tip for you for today. Describe your market’s secret symptoms to a T… and you can sell them as many gallons of seaweed and pounds of yeast cake you like.

Of course, a part of how you do this is the usual research. Talking to your customers and leads… digging around in forums… studying successful copy from your competitors.

All that’s important. But you can go deeper. At least, A-list copywriters, like the guy I mentioned above, go deeper.

And that’s the value of this book. It spells out the symptoms for the main categories of everyday crazy. And whether you can believe me or not — almost all of us are crazy, at least here and there, about some aspect of our selves and our lives. And if somebody can convince us he knows exactly what’s ailing us… well, we become very open to influence.

So here’s my offer to you:

Sign up for my email newsletter here. That’s where I share copywriting and marketing tips in an email every day.

And once you sign up for my newsletter, send me an email at john@bejakovic.com.

I’ll tell you the name of this book, so you can get it and devour it and influence people in ways you’d never dreamed possible.

But in exchange, I’d like something from you. I’d like to know about you.

Nothing too deep.

Just send me an email, and let me know who you are… and what you’re working on right now.

And if you’re wondering why I want this sensitive information, it’s simply to inform my newsletter. I want to make it as insightful, attractive, and provocative as I can.

But for that, I need some feedback from you.

So in case I don’t know you yet… or even if I do…

And in case you want to know the name of this valuable resource… or even if you think you know it already…

Sign up for my newsletter, and then write me an email and let me know a bit about yourself. And as soon as I get your email, I’ll reply, with the name of this secret psychology book.

How copywriters can avoid ham-handed segues that get them eaten alive

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Here’s one of the greatest (and for copywriters, most instructive) scenes in Hollywood history:

“Now then, tell me,” says the doctor behind the glass. “What did Miggs say to you? Multiple Miggs in the next cell. He hissed at you. What did he say?”

The young FBI agent on the other side of the glass adjusts a bit in her chair. “He said, ‘I can smell your cunt.'”

“I see,” the doctor says with a slow blink. “I myself cannot.”

That’s from the first meeting of Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter and FBI agent Clarice Starling, in The Silence of the Lambs.

Hannibal Lecter is a genius psychiatrist who happens to be a serial killer. ​​

Clarice is a young FBI trainee. She’s been sent to get Lecter’s help on a case of serial murders.

In those first few moments of the meeting, Clarice does lots of things right:

She makes a damaging admission (“I’m a student”). She flatters Lecter (“Maybe you can decide whether I’m qualified to learn from you”). She makes the embarrassing admission about Miggs. And she shows interest in the drawings of Florence on the walls of Lecter’s cell.

“All that detail just from memory, sir?” she asks.

“Memory, Agent Starling, is all I have instead of a view.”

So far, so good. And then comes the rupture:

“Well,” says Clarice with a nervous smile, “perhaps you’d care to lend us your view on this questionnaire, sir.”

Lecter tilts his head and smiles. Like he’s talking to a 3-year-old girl who just fell and scraped her knees.

“Oh no no no no no,” he says. “You were doing fine. You had been courteous and receptive to courtesy. You had established trust with the embarrassing truth about Miggs. And now this ham-handed segue into your questionnaire. Ts-ts-ts… it won’t do.”

And that’s exactly what can happen to you, and what will happen, unless you take care.

Because your prospect reads your value-laden content or watches your entertaining video. And then comes the pitch.

“Oh no no no no no,” your prospect says with a sympathetic tilt of the head. “It won’t do.”

If you don’t believe that that’s how it is, then let me make a damaging admission of my own.

A while back, an A-list copywriter sent out an email.

I’d been on his list for years, but he never ever emailed anything.

And here he was, writing, and with an interesting personal story. He got me sucked in.

And then, with a ham-handed segue, he switched to an offer for a course he was selling.

I’ll tell you this. I wasn’t as cool and courteous as Hannibal above. I might have cursed at my laptop. And that’s even though I make my living doing the same thing as this guy… and though I should be immune to being pitched.

So my point for you is this:

Indirect selling works. But you have to be better than Clarice was in that opening scene.

Your indirect lead is not just about building a bit of relationship, good will, and rapport.

In the indirect-selling bait, before you get to the switch, you have to do something critically important.

What exactly?

You can find out about that inside my Most Valuable Email training. Because the above email is an email that uses my Most Valuable Email trick.

If you want an explanation of how and where this email uses the Most Valuable Email trick, you can find that in the Most Valuable Email Swipes, which is something I give you along with the core training of the course. Look up #10 in that swipe file, and you will see the trick in action. Plus as a benefit, you will learn how to avoid ham-handed segues that get you eaten alive.

To get it now:

https://bejakovic.com/mve

How to diffuse a witch hunt and nothing else

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Do you want an ultra-powerful persuasion tool?

Well, you’ve already got it. But you might not be using it to the full. Let me show you why, with an example from The Crucible.

The Crucible is a play about the Salem witch trials. A bunch of girls in Salem turn hysterical and start accusing people around town of being witches.

The local reverend, Samuel Parris, is all for the witch hunt.

John Proctor, a farmer and humanist, is all against it.

Proctor knows the girls are lying. He’s even got one of them to confess in private. And now he’s trying to reason with Parris. How could the best people in town, who have been respected and trusted their whole lives, suddenly be in league with the devil? But the Reverend cuts Proctor off:

PARRIS: Do you read the Gospel, Mr. Proctor?

PROCTOR: I read the Gospel.

PARRIS: I think not, or you should surely know that Cain were an upright man, and yet he did kill Abel.

When I read this line, I thought Proctor’s goose was gandered. How do you respond to that? For one thing, it sounds like solid logic. For another, arguing against it means you’re arguing against the Bible. And not respecting the Bible is a sure sign of being a witch… along with weighing the same as a duck.

But then in the very next line, I was shocked and awed. Because Proctor does respond, and in a way that gets him out of the mess he was in.

PROCTOR: Aye, God tells us that. But who tells us Rebecca Nurse murdered seven babies by sending out her spirit on them? It is the children only, and this one will swear she lied to you.

I thought this was brilliant. In fact, I thought I had hit upon something like the reverse philosopher’s stone. A way to turn gold back into lead. A way to diffuse analogies in general.

My greed glands started working. I could use the Proctor technique both to dismiss other persuader’s analogies… and to make my own persuasion stronger. I’d be rich!

Aye, but no. I tried to generalize what Proctor did above. And after thinking about it a lot, the best I came up with is, “Look close at the analogy and figure out where it breaks down.”

Bah. That’s about as useful as telling a kid to lick faster because the ice cream in his hand is melting. It’s too little, too late.

Because most of us aren’t as quick on our feet as John Proctor. And if you try to engage your System 2 brain in diffusing an analogy, well, good luck. The analogy is already in your head, and it’s done its work.

At least that’s my claim. An analogy is an ultra-powerful persuasion tool that’s almost impossible to resist when used right. It lights up your prospect’s brain from the inside. And it’s above critical judgment.

Perhaps you don’t agree with me. Fine.

So look at what Proctor did above. And figure out how you could do the same in general. And then take your new system… and let me know how well it diffuses the following related idea:

“Most people are like automobiles. They can be pushed or pulled along, or they can be moved to action by starting their own motive power within.”

Have I got your own motive power going? Then steer your automobile towards my email newsletter, because I have many more powerful persuasion ideas to share there.

Make ’em laugh and take their money (a resource for you)

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“And you know what?” George Wallace says with a twinkle in his eye. “I want them to bring back smoking on these airplanes.”

A few people in the crowd yell, “Yeah, yeah.” But they’re getting ahead of themselves. Because George isn’t pro-smoking:

“I was one of the first people said, ‘Get rid of smoking.’ Now I want them to bring that smoke back!”

The crowd chuckles and wriggles in their seats with anticipation. They know something good is coming. They’re ready. So George gives it to ’em:

“I had no idea what this smoke was covering up! People are releasing odors on these airplanes—”

The crowd erupts with laughter and applause. Meanwhile I hit pause. And I stare.

I’m not great at writing funny. I’m trying to get better, because it’s a valuable skill. As Dan Kennedy put it, “Make ’em laugh and take their money.”

So I spend my lonely Thursday afternoons watching old comedy specials. And while the crowd is laughing, I put the video on pause and I stare at the screen. Like a mule, staring at a barn door, trying to discover the secret of how to make the door handle work, and how the farmer does it so easy every day.

But there’s a problem with a mule like me imitating a farmer, I mean a comedian, like George Wallace.

Comedians have a lot of live-show advantages. The audience comes in a good mood… ready to laugh… and triggered to laugh when they hear others laughing. Plus the comedian can mime, do voices, roll his eyes.

You’ve got none of those advantages when writing.

That’s why funny writing is so rare and so elusive. And that’s why I’m always on the lookout for funny writers.
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So today, I want to tell you about a writer who’s got it. In fact, a copywriter.

I could pump him up because he’s got endorsements from big-name marketers and copywriters. Like Ramit Sethi. And Drayton Bird. And even a guy named Andrew Campbell, from the Harmon Brothers Ad Agency, which makes those funny and viral video ads.

But forget that.

Instead, I could pump him up because he is the biggest copywriting thing on an entire continent. An improbable feat.

But forget that, too.

Instead, I could pump him up because he’s sufficiently controversial to get himself banned from large corners of the Internet. And you might be curious to see what’s up.

But no. Forget all of that. And instead, I suggest you check out this copywriter only because he succeeds in writing funny, day after day, in the context of selling.

You might know who I have in mind. Or you might not.

In any case, if you liked this email, you might like his emails also.

And if you didn’t like this email, you might still like his emails, because he does humor in writing much better. And maybe he can show you how to do it too.

So in case you’re curious… then start wriggling in your seat with anticipation… and get ready for something good here:

https://persuasivepage.com/

Growth, infinity, destiny (plus an early-bird sale)

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I once wrote a list of 10+ ways to inspire people. Each way came from a piece of copy that made my heart beat faster and my breathing quicker.

On occasion, I still come across a new way to inspire, one I haven’t noticed before. For example, take a look at this section of an old sales letter:

No man can read Wells’ without realizing that the whole purpose of existence is growth — that life is dynamic, not static. That it is ever moving forward — not standing still. That electricity, magnetism, gravitation, light, are all but different manifestations of the same infinite and eternal energy in which we ourselves live and move and have our being.

Wells gives you an understanding of your own potentialities. You learn from it how to work with and take advantage of the infinite energy all about you. The terror of the man at the crossways, not knowing which road to take, is no terror to the reader of Wells. His future is of his own making. For the only law of infinite energy is the law of supply. The ‘life-principle’ that formed the dinosaur to meet one set of needs and the butterfly to meet another is not going to fail in your case. You have but to understand it — to work in harmony with it — to get from it what you need.

This copy was selling a book called The Outline of History. The Outline of History! How boring can you get?

And yet, the copy above is inspiring. At least to me. So I asked myself why.

My best answer is that it talks about growth, infinity, destiny. About massive and awesome forces, and how they are inside us and all around us.

These aren’t ideas I see discussed in sales copy a lot today. (The sales letter above was from 100 years ago.)

Still, growth and infinity and destiny might be worth keeping in your inspiration quiver… and pulling out on occasion when you have a tough and woolly beast to bring down.

For example:

Have you thought recently about the pulsing, never-stopping growth of the entire world of commerce? How the interconnected mesh of billions of human beings, doing deals, all across the globe, is constantly expanding? And how money — the trillions of dollars and euros and yuan out there — is just a measure of the action and reaction you can motivate in other people?

I’ve thought about it.

And that’s one of the reasons I’ve decided to work as a copywriter. So I can learn to motivate action in other people… and to do it at an almost unlimited scale.

And in that vein, I have an offer for you today.

Starting next week, I will be promoting my Copy Riddles program, because a new run of this program will kick off on September 20.

As you might know, Copy Riddles gives you the fundamental and unavoidable rules of how to motivate action and reaction in other people.

How to get them bothered and unsettled with desire…

How to get them to lie awake at night, puzzling over the paradox and intrigue you’ve put in their heads…

How to quiet the critical devil on their shoulder, which is whispering in their ear that your offer can’t possibly be as good as it sounds.

So if you like, you can join Copy Riddles next week to find out all that stuff. As I said, I will be promoting Copy Riddles all week long, at full price.

Or you can choose to join Copy Riddles right now. For a 29.1% discount off the official price. Just head to the page below, and apply the coupon code GROWTH&INFINITY at checkout. The price will adjust automatically.

This offer is only good until tomorrow at 9pm CET. You can think of it as my way of saying thank you for your reading this post now, all the way to the end.

So if you’re ready to start working in harmony with the great pulsing law of human desire… and to get from it what you need, from here till eternity, at a 29.1% discount… then here’s where to go:

https://bejakovic.com/cr

The real heroes are dead

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“As a soldier, Rick Rescorla served in Vietnam, where he earned a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and also a Purple Heart. When he returned home, Rescorla landed a job as Head of Security for Morgan Stanley. And as you’ll soon see, in many ways, he was the best investment Morgan Stanley ever made.”

I’ve gotten interested in writing financial copy. So as the first step, I started watching financial promos while I eat lunch.

I got going yesterday, with a Stansberry VSL. The hook is the story of a U.S. Army vet named Rick Rescorla… who, the VSL tells you, could end up having an “enormous impact on you, your family, your money, your savings and investments.” And then it leads to the bit about Morgan Stanley and its best investment ever.

“This story sounds familiar,” I said.

“An Army vet… going to work on Wall Street… as Head of Security… where did I read this before?”

I typed a few words into Google. And yep, there it was. First result.

For many decades, the recommended bathroom reading material for copywriters was The National Enquirer. At least so claimed Gene Schwartz, who said:

“That’s why I say that the required medium for you is all the junk magazines in the United States. I would go out tomorrow and get a subscription to The National Enquirer and read every single word in it. That’s your audience. There are your headlines. There are your people and their feelings.”

But the Rick Rescorla story didn’t come from the National Enquirer. So I’d like to give you a different magazine recommendation as new required reading.

I’m talking about The New Yorker.

It’s a snob magazine. If you’re writing sales copy, it’s unlikely to reflect your audience or their feelings.

And yet I recommend it.

Because the New Yorker and its writers manage to dig up obscure stories… find the fascinating implications… and create drama through substance rather than form.

Stansberry’s Rick Rescorla hook came from The New Yorker.

And it’s not the only one.

If you’ve been reading my emails for a while, you know I’ve written about Dan Ferrari’s Genesis sales letter. It tripled response over the control and sold out the entire stock of Green Valley’s telomere supplement.

Dan’s sales letter kicked off with a snapshot. A secret meeting of Hollywood stars and Silicon Valley millionaires… gathered in a Malibu Beach cliffside mansion… to listen to a Nobel-winning scientist reveal her breakthrough research on doing away with death and old age.

That story was true. And it also came from The New Yorker.

“All right Bejako,” I hear you saying. “You almost have me convinced. Two examples is good. But where’s your third example? Don’t know you all copywriting proof comes in threes?”

You got me. I only have the two examples above to give you.

If that’s enough of a pattern for you to work with, then start scanning The New Yorker and checking if some of their stories could be used for your hooks.

And maybe you will be my third example one day… or maybe I will be, because it’s what I’ll start doing.

In any case, if you’d like to read why Rick Rescorla was the best investment Morgan Stanley ever made, follow the link below.

But before you go, consider signing up for my email newsletter, which serves you up with a daily idea or recommendation for improving your marketing or copywriting.

And now, here’s the tight, fascinating, and moving New Yorker article about Rick Rescorla:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/02/11/the-real-heroes-are-dead

Introducing: Watershed beliefs

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I was chatting to a friend in January of 2020. He spends too much time online and is a bit of a hypochondriac.

“Have you heard about the new corona virus?” he asked.

“Oh no, here we go,” I said. “Where did you read this?”

“CNN, just today.”

“Figures,” I said. “I’m sure they will blow it up into a new swine flu by tomorrow.”

Today I’d like to introduce to you the idea of watershed beliefs. For example:

That time in January 2020 was the first time I’d heard of corona virus. It’s colored my whole corona experience since… all the stories, stats, and recommendations I’ve heard and read. To the point that as of today, September 6, 2021, I’m still not vaccinated against covid19.

Had my first experience with corona been different… say, had my mom gotten a mysterious flu-like illness around that same time… wound up in the hospital… had severe complications for weeks… and spent months recuperating… I would probably feel very different about everything that has happened over the past 18 months.

That’s how watersheds work.

Early on, it’s easy to channel a few drops of water down one side of the mountain or the other.

But once water collects into rivulets… streams… and eventually rivers… it becomes dangerous, hard, or even impossible to manage or divert.

And so it is with beliefs.

There are certain moments when it’s easy to influence or form people’s beliefs around a certain topic.

Those turn into watershed beliefs.

But if you find yourself downstream from those moments, you have a dangerous, hard, or downright impossible task.

“Not very inspiring,” you might say.

Fine. so here’s the inspiring bit.

In many situations, it’s possible to go upstream to identify and attack the watershed belief itself. This can be an easy way — and often the only way — to alter the course of a powerful torrent of downstream thoughts and action.

For example, if somebody could truly convince me that news sites like CNN are not a bunch of circus monkeys that fanned and continue to fan corona fears for their own ends… maybe I would question much of my own beliefs about corona.

(But that’s a bit of a tall order. I just saw today that for the first time ever, the majority of Americans, specifically 58%, agree with me that “journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.”)

You’re welcome to try to change my mind about the media. But your efforts are probably better spent on identifying your prospect’s watershed beliefs… and then finding ways to attack those. You’re likely to have more luck there.

But what if your prospect’s watershed beliefs are also too hard to change?

Well, then you’ll have to create a new watershed downstream. And divert at least some of the thoughts and actions of your target audience in a new direction… the direction you want.

What are your current beliefs about signing up to my email newsletter? If you’re not set against the fact yet, I’d like to suggest you try it out. You get daily ideas about persuasion, marketing, and copywriting… to maybe change how you see these topics.

In case you’re interested, you can sign up to try it out here.

One of the greatest direct response mysteries of all time

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“Jesus, that looks frightening.”

There are many cosmetic dentists in the town I’m staying in. Some of these dentists advertise.

So there’s a billboard down the road, and it shows a pretty girl, with perfect teeth, smiling brightly at the driver-by.

​​And then closing in on both sides of the girl’s face… approaching her like monstrous tentacles of an unseen krakken… are various dental instruments of torture — drills, picks, mirrors, and suction tubes.

Every time I pass this billboard, I shudder. It seems to be such a full-on advertising miss.

I guess they tried to associate dentistry with beauty and happiness. They wound up doing just the opposite — making a bright and happy smile look frightening. But who knows, maybe it works?

In any case, it brings to mind one of the greatest direct response mysteries of all time, at least to my mind. Because here’s a quote from Claude Hopkins, the grandfather of direct marketing and the author of the book Scientific Advertising:

Show the bright side, the happy and attractive side, not the dark and uninviting side of things. Show beauty, not homeliness; health, not sickness. Don’t show the wrinkles you propose to remove, but the face as it will appear. Your customers know all about the wrinkles.

In advertising a dentifrice, show pretty teeth, not bad teeth. Talk of coming good conditions, not conditions which exist. In advertising clothes, picture well-dressed people, not the shabby. Picture successful men, not failures, when you advertise a business course. Picture what others wish to be, not what they may be now.

We are attracted by sunshine, beauty, happiness, health, success. Then point the way to them, not the way out of the opposite.

Can this be true? But it’s got to be, right?

After all, Claude Hopkins didn’t have opinions about advertising. He had hard results — scientific advertising — based on keyed ads. The idea back of an ad either sold, or it didn’t.

But hold on. We know today, from equally scientific advertising, that the story of a fat woman humiliated at a ritzy clothing store…

T​he image of a frightened and injured dog, loose on a busy highway…

T​he snapshot of a man walking into a shopping mall, killing three people, leaving his shotgun on the counter, and walking out…

W​e know these are all are powerful ways to make a sale. Or at least my clients and I know.

Because those were all stories I used to start emails, advertorials, and sales letters. And all of them worked many times better than bright, happy, and attractive alternatives.

So what gives?

Has human nature changed so much in the last 100 years?

Or was Claude Hopkins wrong in reading the data he was getting?

Or was this just a classic case of a marketer saying one thing about his marketing… but doing another?

I don’t know. If you do, I hope you will enlighten me about this mystery. And if you’re into direct response mysteries, you might like my scary email newsletter about marketing and copywriting.