Posted by:
Daniel Levis
November 8, 2006
Issue WMA #23
In this issue:
- How “confirmation bias” betrays your prospect’s true beliefs, feelings, and desires through popular culture …
- The mass market core complex …
- A website that insults people to get them to “opt-in” …
- How to use the “hero’s journey” archetype to win the hearts, minds, and wallets of your best prospects …
- And more!
Dear Web Business Builder,
Gene Schwartz, one of the most successful and highly paid copywriters in history, recommended all copywriting and marketing people keep their fingers on the pulse of popular culture.
He did so by experiencing all of the best selling movies, books, and TV programs of the day. This was one of his primary ways of divining the core beliefs of the people he was writing to.
His reasoning was simple. The more a movie, or book, or TV show conforms to your beliefs, the more you’re apt to like it. It’s something called confirmation bias: The natural human tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's own preconceptions.
The movies people enjoy tell a lot about what makes them tick.
If you want a glimpse into the mind of a particular sub-culture, go to a theatre and take in a popular cult classic that appeals to members of that particular sub-culture. Similarly, if you want to delve into the psyche of mainstream consumers, go and see a blockbuster movie like Titanic, or Lord of The Rings.
In either case, watch the hero or heroine carefully. Why? Because you can be darn sure your prospects identify with this character strongly, or it wouldn’t be a top grossing movie.
I came across a website the other day that I thought was brilliant. Not because it appealed to me because it didn’t. What I found fascinating about it was the way it was echoing mainstream beliefs. The site was called TheRichJerk.com. And the copy on the site is what I would call “intimidation copy”. It’s demeaning, and insulting. Check this out …
(more…)
Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
November 6, 2006
Issue #68
Dear Business Builder,
Ever feel like you’ve been sucked up by a tornado?
That’s me this week – cows flying everywhere!
The Redhead and I jetted down to Florida last Thursday for the American Writers and Artists bootcamp in DelRay Beach, where I spoke – brilliantly and to standing ovations – three times.
Today, I’m in private web marketing meetings with my friends at Early to Rise (AgoraLearning), and tomorrow, I’ll be in a pow-wow with the marketing folks at Weiss Research. On Wednesday, after nearly a week on the road, we’re flying home.
Now, since I’m writing this the Wednesday before you read it – and before any of that actually happened – I still have a lot to do in preparation for this whirlwind tour. So I’m going to keep it short and sweet this week.
(more…)
Posted by:
Daniel Levis
November 1, 2006
Issue WMA #22
In this article:
- Three product questions, the answers to which you should always delegate to document before writing a headline …
- The Kone Study approach to uncovering headline worthy product benefits …
- How to marry product benefits with proven headline syntax …
- The 100 greatest headlines of all time …
- And more!
Dear Web Business Builder,
Every month I review client websites and give them suggestions on how to improve their conversion. Sometimes I even go to the trouble of writing a headline or two that I give to them …
In a lot of ways, when I do a critique, I’m going through the same mental processes that I do when I write, so writing a headline or two is no big deal, and sometimes my critique clients appreciate it.
When I’m brainstorming headlines, the first thing I do is take a few moments to organize my thoughts by answering the following three questions with the help of my client …
1) What are we selling? 2) Who are we selling it to? 3), Why would qualified prospects want to trade money for it? Sounds elemental, but I’ve discovered very few people go to the trouble of formally answering these questions “in writing” before they begin to write. Doing so makes the task infinitely easier.
For the sake of demonstration I’ve pulled out one of the most unusual critiques I’ve ever been asked to do. Believe it or not, I had a horse dentist approach me to critique his website. He had written an e-book about horse teeth that he was selling on-line.
So let’s run through the process of coming up with a headline. Here are my notes …
(more…)
