It’s true. I shamelessly manipulated you. I might do it again. The worst thing is I’m so jaded I don’t think it’s a big deal any more.
I’ll explain everything. Let me start with this question I got two days ago, when I announced that enrollment for Copy Riddles is open again. A reader named Fanis wrote in:
I just read your entire sales page word-for-word and I love the concept!
The only thing that concerns me is you often talk about “getting away with extreme promises”, selling “uninteresting products”, “make up stuff”, and similar things. Now I am not against any of those, it’s just that my style of copy relies very heavily on bold honesty and staying away from over-hyping. Do you think Copy Riddles will still work for me? I really don’t want to be asking for a refund later (I’ve done it once and I hated it, because I hate it when they do it to me 😝)
It’s a fair question. Fanis is referring to these two bullets in the Copy Riddles sales letter:
* How A-list copywriters shamelessly make up facts and figures. Yep, they make up stuff, and you can do it too. It makes your copy more persuasive… and, as long as you follow what the A-listers do, the FTC won’t come a-knocking.
* The sneaky 7-word phrase Gary Bencivenga used to get away with making extreme promises. Gary was famous for providing proof in his copy… but this has nothing to do with proof. It’s pure A-list sleight-of-hand.
As I replied to Fanis, the objections he raises go to essence of what copywriting is. And that’s controlling attention and creating heightened emotions.
This means 1) stripping out details in your copy that don’t help your case (ie. not telling the whole truth)…
And 2) using reliable ways to get people more amped up than they would be normally.
That’s exactly what’s happening in those bullets above.
For example, it’s true that A-list copywriters sometimes make up facts and figures in a special way. But in every case I’ve seen of this technique, there was nothing devious or criminal about it. (Well, there was that Gary Halbert bullet with the “world-famous sex therapist”… but there’s a story behind that.)
In fact, the technique I’m describing in that bullet is worthwhile, solid, and maybe even unexciting. So of course, to sell that technique, I chose to omit those unhelpful details. And not only that.
I also chose to amp up the language and make it as dramatic as possible. “Shamelessly make up facts and figures.” What’s to be ashamed of, if you’re not doing anything criminal or devious? Nothing. Hence shameless, which is a powerful word to use in copy.
Because as you may have heard, people make decisions at an emotional level. Yes, you may have heard it. But you may still not get it, not deep in your gut.
So let me give you a second example, which might make you feel it:
Maybe you wouldn’t be reading this right now. Maybe not, had I written a less dramatic headline for today’s post. “How I heightened your emotions, and how I might do it again.”
“Sounds interesting,” you might have said. “Maybe later.”
That’s why I chose to use a more emotionally laden phrase. Manipulated you. It says much the same thing, but with negative connotations. And so, here we are.
Perhaps you’re inclined to shrug this example off. Perhaps you give me a free pass. After all, you’ve read halfway through this post already. Or maybe you kind of trust me.
But you shouldn’t discount what I did in today’s headline. Because like I said, it goes to the essence of what copywriting is.
Like it or not, you’ve gotta poke, prod, jolt, shock, creep out, and unsettle people. You’ve gotta highlight what you want them to see, and hide everything else.
At least, that is, if you want to write sales copy… if you want to make decent money at it… and if you want to avoid struggling against the powerful current of human psychology.
Perhaps you’re not ok with that.
Perhaps, like Fanis above, and like me once upon a time, you’re still hoping you can write copy that “relies very heavily on bold honesty and staying away from over-hyping.”
If so, all I can say is godspeed. Maybe you will prove me wrong. Or maybe we will see each other again one day, after the market has broken your back.
But if you’ve made peace with consciously manipulating other people, both so you can 1) make money for yourself and 2) get solid, worthwhile, if unexciting solutions into the hands of people you’ve manipulated…
Then you’ll find that bullets are the #1 copywriting tool in more situations than you would ever believe.
And if you meditate on that sentence, you might be able to suck out a valuable persuasion lesson. But if you can’t get it, you can find it explained in round 6 of Copy Riddles, which you can sign up for until this Sunday, at 12 midnight PST. For more info on that: