The Persuasion Toolkit-1

Copyright 2010 www.deliciouscopywriting.com | www.matthew-oconnor.com

The Persuasion Toolkit

“5 Simple Copy Tweaks To Skyrocket Your Sales, Increase Conversions & Boost Your Bottom Line…”

By Matthew James O’Connor

www.deliciouscopywriting.com 2010

You MAY give this report away if you wish .


Hey,

In this short report I want to open your eyes to a few little ‘tweaks’ you can add to your sales copy right now to almost instantly increase sales and pour fatter profits into your back pocket.

“But I don’t ‘do’ sales copy” I hear you cry.

Listen, if you have an online business, your copy is right at the heart of it.

Copy is the foundation of everything you do online.

It’s in your sales letters, your emails, your Adwords ads, your pre-sells, your review pages… the list goes on.

I know a lot of folks get confused on the difference between content and copy (basically copy persuades, content informs) but… add some of these tools of persuasion to any content and you’ll get your reader to do whatever you want them to do.

Whether its click on a certain link, sign up for your newsletter or buy your product, effective sales copy can gently coax and push your prospects towards the desired action.

So this stuff is important, ok?

“I Don’t Have Time For This!”

I get it.

You don’t have the time to learn how to become a great copywr iter.

Hell, it took me 2 years to get good, even longer to become really persuasive.

That’s why I’m giving you some of my favorite techniques in bite size form.


Little tweaks to spice up your existing or future copy to make it more readable, more emotional… and a whole lot more persuasive.

Ready?

Then we shall begin…

Tool 1: The Power Of Storytelling

We’ve told stories to each other ever since we sat around campfires as cavemen regaling others with tall tales on how we slayed a sabre-tooth tiger that day. “And it was thiiiiiis big!” Perhaps.

Stories… we can’t get enough of them.

Do you know why the movie Star Wars is so effective? B ecause it contains all the elements of a ‘perfect’ storyline.

George Lucas is quite open about his Joseph Campbell influence. Campbell came up with “The Hero’s Journey” a template pulling together all the elements of a compelling story.

It’s the same with the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies… all heroes coming from humble backgrounds and facing adversity on their way to personal triumph.

How could you add The Hero’s Journey to your sales messages?

This is something done to death by folks like Frank Kern and Eben Pagan.

Take Pagan’s alter-ego David DeAngelo and his progress from shy loser to dating guru. Telling this type of transformation story is a great way to make the shift to guru in your prospects’ eyes.


Maybe your product or service grew from a similar tale of hardships and triumphs?

Go check out Campbell’s book ‘The Hero With A Thousand Faces’ for a more in-depth analysis..

Stories engage the reader and once you’ve got him in a trance, you can persuade him to take any kind of action. And the longer he stays engaged, the more likely he is to take that action.

That’s worth rephrasing…

The longer your prospect stays engaged with your message, the more suggestible he becomes.

How can YOU use these storytelling fundamentals to sell your product?

How can you implement the power of story into your copy?

Now I’m not suggesting you write an epic Beowulf style poem or the next blockbuster. Instead, take note of Campbell’s summarization of the ‘hero’s journey’…

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man. ”

Now in your copy all you have to do is pick a central character, either you or another character in your story.

Describe them going through some kind of journey or rite of passage and watch as their lives are transformed (perhaps because of using your product – nudge, nudge).

For example…


You might tell a story of how Jack was flat broke and down on his luck. Suffering through many hardships and struggles (which we can all relate to) he stumbles upon an amazing money-getting widget transforming his income in one fell swoop.

Now Jack lives in total peace and harmony not to mention financial freedom… and it was all thanks to the widget which… by the way… is available for the first time today but only if you buy now etc.

Ok… little bit simplified.

But you get the idea…

Whenever you tell someone a story… they picture themselves as the main protagonist.

So if you’re relaying a story of how you went through some hard times and uncovered an amazing technique which turned your life around making you richer, happier and healthier …

Your prospect is going to imagine him/herself going through those motions.

And when he comes out of it at the end, he’s going to have a serious hunger to buy your product.

Check out Therapeutic Metaphors by David Gordon for more in -depth info on storytelling and persuasion.

Weave a story into your copy and it pulls the reader through your sales message. Think about it, if a story has an intriguing set -up we have to find out how it’s going to finish.

It’s in our nature.

Advanced Tip: Make sure you split the story into 3 or 4 sections throughout the copy.


Get to a cliffhanger with the line “…but I’ll get to what happened next in just a second. First…”

This works a treat to keep your reader hanging on and glued to your sales message.

Stories can form the backbone of your copy, but they must have a point. Don’t get so involved in the story that you begin writing a novel.

Make it brief yet involving enough that the reader is t ransported, coming away from the story desperate to get his hands on your product.

Easier said than done, but look over some great sales letters and see if you can find the selling story within.

Ok, now onto some techniques to add to your sales messages wh ich up the persuasion factor…

Tool 2: Future Pacing (…or the “imagine if…” part)

I love writing this part of the sales letter .

The idea with future pacing is to get your prospect imagining what it’s like to experience your product directly or… and this is more common… the results of your product.

I find the best way to write these is to simply imagine that I’m the prospect and how each of my senses would react to the use of the product.

So for example…


Say you’re selling chocolate cake (nice work if you can get it. ) Here’s how you’d ‘future pace’ your prospect…

“Imagine for a second…

You slice into the prime piece of deliciously rich cake, the knife gliding through the soft sponge. Squeezing it ever so slightly with your fingers as you lift the slice to your mouth, the pungent aroma of cocoa makes you salivate.

Biting into the light sponge sets off all kinds of taste sensations and your mind drifts back to the chocolate cake your mom used to make as a child… Except this is even more delicious…”

Anyway, you see what I’m doing there.

It’s what Gary Halbert called “painting pretty pictures in the prospect’s mind”.

Make them see, feel and even smell what your pr oduct (or the benefits of your product) is like.

In fact, the more of the senses you can engage … the longer your sales message stays lodged in their mind and - yes - the more likely they are to buy your product.

Tool 3: Hidden Scarcity Tactics

Read any general copywriting manual and there’s guaranteed to be a section on how you must include scarcity.

Sure, if you have a limited number of products to sell then the inherent scarcity will urge your prospect to buy more quickly.


Likewise, an imminent price increase is a great scarcity weapon to wield and always gets people to snap up products for fear of missing out.

So far so obvious.

If you have any chance of instilling genuine scarcity into your sales message do so.

But what if there is none?

In these days of selling eBooks and other digital goods, the price is fixed and quantity unlimited so… how do you tip the prospect over the fence so that he has to buy right then and there?

You can do it with bonus items. Pile them one on top of the other and say “only the first 50 get this bonus package”.

Then for the next 50 buyers they get a slightly smaller bonus pack. This works really well and you’ll see it used by top copywriters like Makepeace and Carlton.

But if you don’t want to mess around with bonuses, just give them a little psychological shove toward the buy button.

Here’s a little tactic I use to just push them in the right direction ;)

Picture the scene…

You’ve revealed the price and the guarantee after a long, persuasive argument revealing your product to be the best thing since sliced bread but… your prospect still has that nagging feeling…

“Ah, If I come back tomorrow, this’ll still be here…”

This is not what you want to happen.


So instead, gently remind them if they leave right now they might forget to come back and miss out on this opportunity altogether.

Or even better…

Remind them that unless they grab your product right now… they face a future stumbling along the exact same path they’ve always been.

Unless you get hold of it this very second… you’re doomed to wander aimlessly through life without having enjoyed the majesty of this product.

Or maybe you want to play some real mind games…

Write something like… “listen, I know you’re on the fence right now but it’s times like this… when you’ve had the chance to make a re al change in your life… that it’s easy to walk away not having dared take the chance…

I urge you right now to grab this opportunit y with both hands and not let go. Turn your back on this and you risk missing out on the chance to change your life in ways you can’t imagine…

And of course there’s absolutely no risk because of the iron -clad guarantee…”

This all depends on your product bu t you see what I’m doing there…

It’s the “two roads” argument. Either they grab the chance by the scruff of the neck or live to regret it further down the line.

This is where a lot of would-be copywriters fall down, they get nervous when it comes to pushing the prospect over the edge.

Likewise when it comes to asking for the sale.


When you want them to buy… ask them. Tell them what to do, what steps to take.

Make it clear and simple and the right thing for them to do at that moment.

Because let’s face it, we’ve all thought about buying stuff and then left it, maybe even regretted not buying it later.

So tap into that.

On top of this, paint a picture of how their life will continue to be unfulfilling or dull (depending on your product ) unless they buy right now.

These are the tactics I use very successfully when having to create some non-existent scarcity.

Just promise me one thing…

Don’t try and fake it. It’s obvious. Those countdown tickers just falsify your entire product and ruin your image.

So don’t do it, ok?

Tool 4: Both Sides Of The Story

No matter what you sell you’re going to face competition, but… this isn’t anything to be scared of.

In fact, when writing copy, having some healthy competition provides an extra weapon for your arsenal. A ‘fall guy’ you can use to make YOUR product look like the preferred choice.


All you have to do is compare your product with theirs and point out why yours is far superior.

Easier said than done perhaps? Not when you’re subtle in your approach.

One tactic which most copywriters use is to SLAM the other guy(s).

You’ve probably seen this happen most often in Internet Marketing products where the ‘anti-guru’ angle is used time and again.

For example…

“Listen, I know how you feel… you’ve been ripped off and lied to more times than you count. You’ve bought junk systems again and again because they promised you fast and easy riches… but there’s only one person getting rich out of all of this – the guy you’re handing over your hard-earned cash to.

I’ve been there. I bought a ton of systems, methods and so -called strategies… but none of them worked. So I got to work on developing my own method. And that’s what I’m revealing to you today…”

So we lay into the competition without getting s pecific. And, in the IM field particularly, this is extremely effective because …

1) There’s a lot of junk out there which makes them easy targets…

2) The nature of the average IM consumer is to jump from one thing to another, never giving anything a chance and thus never making any money.

C’mon, we’ve all been there ;)

So slamming your competitors is effective but there’s an even more powerful way.


What if you ‘BIG UP’ your rivals?

“Eh?” I hear you say “why would I want to do that?”

Because it makes you seem more trustworthy and open while you can still, covertly, maintain that YOURS is the superior product.

So say we’re selling a dating system…

“You’ve probably heard of, or even tried, the Venus Flytrap Girl Catching Method and there’s no doubt that it works. Absolutely no doubt whatsoever. For a long time, this was the most effective system out there.

I mean… I had some huge successes with this and if you’re starting out in the dating game it’s worth a look, it gets my full thumbs up. But…

It does have a few flaws, and, through no fault of its own, women have wised up… lowering its effectiveness.

These days you need to get more ‘intelligent’ with your approaches and that’s why I developed the ‘Egg Head Dating System’ to achieve just that…”

See how I’m being positive about the competition while still positioning our product as being the best?

Sneaky and super effective.

Give it a try in your promotions.


Tool 5: Join The Club!

It took me a while to realize how powerful this tactic can be but, when used subtly, it can have your prospects hammering the order button.

One of our primal needs is to belong.

We want to be a part of something, a movement, a club, a group of people.

Otherwise we face isolation and that’s just not pretty so…

In your copy be sure to reveal (through description or maybe even photographs) the kind of group your prospect will be joining when they purchase your product.

But here’s the thing… make sure th e group contains aspirational figures we’d all like to rub shoulders with.

Point out that buying your product makes the prospect part of an exclusive club of like -minded yet super successful people.

The urge will gradually build within our unassuming prospect to become a member, to join this club, to jump on your bandwagon.

On the flipside…

You can be just as persuasive by helping your prospect avoid becoming a member of a ‘club’.

You may be selling an acne product and you could warn how unless they act fast and apply your solution, they’re doomed to spend their days in the company of taunted and bullied kids with acne -ridden faces unless… they grab your product NOW.


With a money-making product you could urge them to see that they’ll continue to belong to a low -income bracket unless they take the chance to put your whizz-bang system to work this moment.

The chance to belong to a group of like-minded or aspirational people and the ability to avoid groups that drag us down is motivating in the extreme.

Use it in your copy and watch the effect on your sales.

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In closing…

Of course there are many more ultra-persuasive tricks and techniques in a top copywriter’s bag of tricks.

I’ll save some for next time but for now… using any of these will add a sprinkling of persuasion to your sales machine.

In fact, you may be surprised by the results and ever-increasing profits.

But you’ll never know unless you apply them.

And remember test, test, test!

Until next time…

www.deliciouscopywriting.com | www.matthew-oconnor.com


"Man this guy is GOOD and FAST!

He turned around 2 kick-ass letters and they were so good I just sent my deposit for a 3rd letter :)

And then I will take him up on a 4th letter.

Basically I'm going to book him SOLID for work..."

Howie Schwartz

This dude is my secret weapon. Matt's copy alone pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars for me this year.

Eric Rockefeller

Matt, we hit $100,000 in the first 24 hours...I' m stunned. It's only 4 days into the launch and we're at $300,000 in sales and counting.

Tom Strignano

If you're looking for a copywriter and marketing consultant who truly 'gets it'... one who delivers killer cash -generating copy and is still wildly underpriced, give Matt a call.

Vin Montello

Matt O’Connor’s uniquely persuasive copy is fast becoming the number 1 choice of online marketers the world over.

If you’d like to be the next in line for a six figure (and beyond) launch, head over to the site and lay down some b rief details about your project.

I look forward to working with you…

www.deliciouscopywriting.com

The Persuasion Toolkit-1

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