NLP Language Patterns for Advertising

Finally available: Extreme Language Patterns...

2011-05-24T17:26:00.003-05:00

If I could show you a simple way to change someone's mind, have them take your advice, reverse their opinion, or make them buy from you quickly, would you be interested?

Then go to:

www.NLP-Techniques.com/Extreme

There you will find more information on using some of the world's most effective and powerful language patterns and persuasion techniques. I think you'll find it quite interesting -- and quite unlike anything you've seen before.

Neochanging Words for Persuasionation

2010-10-17T11:08:00.010-05:00

When Noble prize winning economist Paul Krugman called certain low-level employees at mortgage services “robo-signers”. He created a word that puts a strong picture in your head.

Years ago, 7-Up created the word “un-cola” to put in their advertising so they could compete with Coke and Pepsi.

Robert Dilts coined the term Transderivational Morphology to describe the process of changing a root word by adding prefixes or suffixes that normally wouldn’t be applied to that word in order to create something new. He used this in therapy to change the intensity of words that clients habitually used in order to change their states.

And you can do the same to make your advertising more interesting and more persuasive:

1. Make a list of words associated with your business or product. These could be nouns, adjectives, or verbs.

2. Start adding prefixes (from the list below) to your list of words, then go to the suffixes.

3. Once you find a new word that resonates with your mind, you can be sure it will have the same effect on others.

4. Test the word(s) in your ads.

Here is a list of some prefixes and suffixes:

PREFIXES:
neo-, un-, inter-, re-, non-, com-, con-, syn-, im-, trans-, ex-, de-, para-, meta-, co-, robo-, ambi-, aero-, anti-, agri/argo-, aqua-, aristo-, bio-,circum-, cosmo-, counter-, cyber-, fore-, geo-, mega-, metro-, multi-, nano-, omni-, pre-, post-, pseudo-, sub-, tele-, trans-, ultra-

SUFFIXES:
-ment, -ion, -ian, -ist, -ism, -ia, -ness, -able, -al, -an, -ful, -ic, -ure, -ive, ation, -ly, -ing, -er, -ize, -ite, -phobia, -philia, -bot, -icious, -ate, -ality, -bound, -city, -aholic, -hood, -ish, -land, -less.

You can find longer lists online. Just go to your favorite search engine and look for lists of prefixes and suffixes.

Changing root words is often used to dismiss or disparage competitors. One journalist referred to most blogs out there as “McWriting” (referencing McDonald’s). And of course politicians are well known for making up words (amongst other things).

Another great use of root word changing is coming up with names of new products or book titles.

You can try adding both prefixes and suffixes to a word. Just be careful you don’t come up with something like CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet.

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An Attention Grabbing Word For Your Ads

2010-08-02T11:58:00.010-05:00

In a few second I'm going to give you one of the most powerful attention grabbing words you'll ever use in your ads. It has a multitude of uses, from implying Cause and Effect to getting prospects to experience certain emotions and feelings, which of course leads to more people to buy.

And the word is?

NOTICE

When you use this word, you get your readers and listeners to pay attention to something that might not have been on their minds before coming in contact with your copy. And you can use this word in a variety of ways.

Notice...

Notice how you feel when/about...

Have you ever noticed...?

Here are some examples:

• "Notice how Barrack Obama moves his head from left to right when giving a speech? That's no accident. He does that because...." (A company that offers effective presenting could use something like this, or they could mention another effective presenter, Steve Jobs: "Notice how Steve Jobs tells stories in his presentations...")

• "Notice how you feel when you think about going for a new job." (This could be for a resumé writing service.)

• "Have you ever noticed businesses that use NLP Language Patterns for Advertising make more money?"

I invite you to use this attention grabbing word in your advertising today. (Notice how I just used an NLP Language Pattern in the above sentence?)

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Speedy Cash With This Advertising Language Pattern

2010-07-10T12:40:00.006-05:00

Please do not read this blog post unless you really want to accelerate your website conversion rate.

Today, more than ever, the vast majority of humanity wants quick results--from microwave Mulai Kofta to becoming Instant Millionaires. And if you can promise quick results, you'd make a lot more money, don't you agree?

How would you like to be able to tie in your offering with the highly desirable need-for-speed?

The language pattern you are about to learn is great because it not only presupposes that you will get them results quickly, but if they answer the question, it also presupposes that YOU will get them the results they want.

Here's how to use it:

First, think of the positive result(s) your product or service delivers. How does your product help your prospects achieve their aspirations or how does it remove your prospects' problem?

Then your place the outcome in a question that presupposes speed. Like this:

THE NLP LANGUAGE PATTERN:

How fast/quickly/soon do you want [POSITVE OUTCOME or RESULT/THEIR GOAL]?

"How fast do you want to get a job?" (Possibly for a resumé writing service)

"How quickly do you want to master persuasive language patterns?" (NLP Language Patterns for Advertising)

"How soon do you want smooth and beautiful skin?" (Possibly for a facial cream or acne remover)

Another useful way to use the Adjectives of Speed presupposition is to presuppose the results of your product or service will last a long time.

How long do you want [BENEFIT] to last?

"How long do you want your lawn to remain green?"

The Adjectives of Speed presupposition is a great pattern to use for headlines and subheads.

Give yourself permission to use this pattern today.

[Photo by Irargerich]

FREE NLP EBOOK DOWNLOAD: 27 Of The World's Most Powerful Written Persuasion Techniques

2010-06-22T07:35:00.004-05:00

Why muck about trying to get people to do what you want? Why not model the world's most persuasive and influential men and women to get what you want?

Makes sense, right? Now here's an NLP ebook in PDF that you can download for free just minutes from now and then use the techniques in your emails, sales-letters, blog posts, advertising, etc. later today!

All you have to do is sign up for the--also free--NLP Language Patterns Newsletter (see the subscription form to the right), and you'll immediately get the download link to the World's Most Powerful Persuasion Techniques. The subscription is free, you're under no obligation...and no salesman will call (also no spam, and you can cancel at any time).

Will you subscribe now while you are still here on the page, or will you sign up later to get your free ebook? Because you may already have started to become aware of how useful the ebook and newsletter will be in your life. ]→→→

17 of The World's Most Powerful Written Persuasion Techniques

2010-06-09T09:40:00.006-05:00

“They who influence the thoughts of their times, influence all the times that follow. They have made their impression on eternity.”

Influence and the psychology of persuasion. Whether you are writing an advertisement, an email to a friend, an inter-office memo, hoping to change a family member's actions, or trying to convince a group of people to come over to your way of thinking, you need to know the methods top persuaders use to change people's thinking and get them to take action.

Here is a collection of the most persuasive techniques used by politicians, advertising copywriters, spin-doctors, propaganda writers, lawyers...anybody who has to change an individual's mind--or groups of people's minds--quickly.

A person could use these techniques to get people to do things they wouldn't ordinarily do, change their beliefs, get them to change their minds, get them to take action.

I'll give some short examples for each technique in an advertisement using the fictitious Special-J Dog Food. I've tried to sum up each technique with a sentence or two, but you could expand each one into a few sentences or paragraphs. That would make the techniques you are using much more powerful.

Here we go:

1. Appeal to Their Identity. Who a person is and how they see themselves is an incredibly important influence tool, maybe the most important of them all. If you can tie in what you want with what their identity would do in a similar situation, you'd have a very good chance of getting him or her to do it. As a matter of fact, if you're convincing enough, you would cause inner conflict that would compel them to act in the way you want.

Of course people have more than one identity. They combine with their roles in life and how they see themselves. Many of these are fairly universal: being a good parent, a good friend, a good manager, being interesting, honest, etc.

Another use of the Appeal to Their Identity is the use of Labels. What positive label could you put on the person(s) you are writing to? Here are some frames you can use for labeling someone:

* You're a natural _______. ("You're a natural entrepreneur.")

* You're not the type of person who _______. ("You're not the type of person who would lie ." The label here? Honest.)

* One thing I really like about you is _______. ("One thing I really like about you is your open-mindedness.")

* Unlike other ______, you're ________. ("Unlike other managers, you're generous.")

The above frames are very useful in buttering a person up before asking them to do something for you. You would use one of the above frames and then make a request that would cause a conflict with the label you gave them. So, if I used the, "Unlike other managers, you're generous, " I would then, later on, ask for a raise or a loan of some sort.

Here are a couple of examples I might use when selling to dog owners:

• Pet parents always serve their dogs Special-J Dog Food.

• Caring pet owners feed their dogs Special-J Dog Food.

While you're writing, ask yourself, "Who is this person?" Who does she think she is?" "What roles are important to him?" "What positive, complimentary label can I apply to him or her?"

2. Use Their Hierarchy of Values. This technique can tie into the one above. People place a value on practically everything. And that includes time, goods, ideas, people, etc. But they do have priorities. They will compare the characteristics of one thing to another to determine which one is more valuable to them, especially if they have to make a choice. How can you tie in what you're offering with one or more of their highest values?

Some of the fairly universal values (at least here in the west) are these: love, health, attractiveness, security, safety of family, pleasure, impressing others, happiness.

Think of something fairly expensive you bought recently. Why did you buy it? What value(s) of yours made it appeal to you? What would have stopped you from buying it? What would have had to happen for you to pay twice the money for it? Whatever your answers to these questions, they show the values you applied to your purchase.

An example:

• What's more important to you, saving a few bucks or your dog's health?

Questions to ask yourself while writing: “What’s important to this person?” "How can I make my offer just as valuable?"

3. Invoke Emotions. As any professional advertising copywriter knows, you sell something by getting the prospective customers' emotions involved. Propagandists and spin-doctors know this too. Positive emotions like hope, anticipation, love, and negative emotions like anger, loneliness, disgust can spur people into action.

You also need to use emotionally charged words that add impact to your writing. Try to pull out bland words and head to a thesaurus to find words that have a punch.

An example:

• Show the love for your dog that he or she shows you.

Ask yourself, “What emotions do I want to invoke, and how can I do it?”

4. Motivate Your Reader. Why should they do what you ask them? What's in it for your reader? What do they get? What's the incentive? What are the major benefits of doing what you are asking them to do? Make big promises. Promises you can keep if you don't want major fallout later. A great way to get your readers motivated is to use a list of benefits, just pile on all the great benefits of what you are offering or what they will get when they do what you are asking.

Here's an example:

• When you feed your dog Special-J Dog Food, you'll notice your dog will :

* Be more content and happier
* Sleep better
* Have a shinier, healthier coat
* Be less likely to get sick
* Recover from injuries faster
* Have cleaner breath

While writing, ask yourself, "How can I motivate my reader(s) to act now? How can I light a fire under them? What are all the benefits they will get if they act?"

5. Show Them the Consequences. How will your readers lose out by not doing what you suggest? Paint a word picture for them. What pain will they experience if they don't do as you ask. This doesn't mean make threats. That will set up resistance. Just tell them some of the negatives of not doing what you want, choosing an alternative to what you are offering...or doing nothing.

An example:

• Many dog foods are not nutritionally balanced, especially imported dog food. The last thing you need is for your dog to get sick, start losing his or her hair, becoming listless, just because you have been serving your dog canned food that isn't as healthy.

An important point when using this technique is to NOT dwell on the negatives for too long. People are exposed to negative news all day long. If you spend too much time on the consequences, you might lose them. Keep it short.

Ask yourself, "How will they lose out if they don't act now?" "What pain will they experience if they don't do as I ask.?"

6. Ask Questions. When you ask lots of questions of your readers, you get them involved. And once they are involved, you can lead them where you want them to go. One old time use of questions in sales and copywriting is to ask several questions in a row that get the prospective customer to say "Yes". This will, more often than not, get them into a positive mood and more receptive to your request.

Another good way to use questions in your writing is to make suggestions rather than orders.

"Why not order now while you are still on this website,: instead of just using "Order now!!". Questions are an ideal way to insert embedded commands.

Some examples:

• How do you know your dog is getting the proper nutrition heshe deserves?

• Why not treat your dog to Special-J Dog Food today?

When writing try to put in a few questions to get your readers involved.

7. Reframe Possible Objections. What would stop someone from doing what you want them to do? What possible anxiety could they feel about doing what you ask? Write down all they could possibly reject about your offer or request. Then take your list of possible objections and reframe them. Put a spin on them or change their perspective.

Example:

• Special-J Dog Food contains micro-capsules to release nutrients into your dog's body all throughout the day, keeping her immune system running at peak levels, lessening the chance she will get sick. (THE POSSIBLE OBJECTION IS: "All dog food is the same.")

What you DON'T want to do is ignore any possible objections. By not bringing them up, you risk looking like you're hiding something, or you are making your offer sound too good to be true by leaving those objections out.

Ask yourself, "What would stop this person from doing what I want?" "How can I put a more positive spin on this objection? ""What else could this mean?" "What's not apparent to them?"

8. Use Quotes. Authority and Social Proof are incredibly convincing ways to persuade. Just by quoting an expert or a celebrity (in the form of quotations), or satisfied customers (in the form of testimonials) you ramp up the persuasive content of your writing quite a few notches.

Another benefit of using quotes in your writing is that they attract the eye when put inside quotation marks.

Example:

• "Nine out of ten veterinarians feed their dogs Special-J Dog Food."

• "My dogs love Special-J Dog Food. They're healthier, happier, and look great!" ~ Marlin Perkins

When writing your piece, ask yourself where you can find quotes and testimonials that will support your case.

9. Employ Metaphor. The use of metaphor (and analogies and similes) have been used to influence, persuade, educate, and convince for thousands of years. Most of the Bible and other religious books are written in metaphor. It's another powerful technique. How is what you want them to do like something they love to do? What are the parallels between the two?

If you are selling a product, how is your product like something else very desirable? The classic advertising positioning statement "ABC is the Rolls-Royce of printer inks" uses metaphor for this effect.

Here are some examples:

• Special-J Dog Food is like an immunity booster shot for your dog.

• It's the canine Fountain of Youth!

Ask yourself, "What is my offer like?"

10. Compliment and Flatter. If you can pull it off, make your reader feel special. This technique might be a bit transparent when writing to cold audiences (people you don't know), but if you know them or you know the type of people they are (like a certain car owner), you should compliment them, especially if you have something negative to tell them.

If you can't think of anything nice to tell your reader (C'mon!), you can always do what Joe Gerard (Guinness Book of Records' World's Greatest Salesman used to do: mail them cards that said "I like you!" inside. He swore that this technique worked miracles.

It also ties in quite well with Technique 1 ("Appeal to Their Identity").

Ask yourself, "What do I appreciate about this person?" "What do I like about this person?" "How can I compliment them with sounding like a brown-nose?"

11. Show No Gray Area. Point out to your readers that there really isn't any choice in what you have to offer. They have only a very positive outcome if they do as you say or a very negative one if they don't. Which one are you going to choose?

You can (or will) do/have/be (POSITIVE), or (NEGATIVE).

An example of this technique:

• You can give your dog nutritious, balanced meals, or you can take him to the vet every month.

When you are writing your piece, ask yourself how your readers don't have a choice. It's only black or white.

12. Belong to a Special Group. Because of our tribal nature, we almost always seek out people who are similar to us. Veterans, collectors, artists, even people who have the same illnesses are all groups that come together in rapport.

There are a few variations on this technique that you can use alone or in combination:

a) people who already belong to a special, desirable group

b) people who don't belong to a special group...BUT WANT TO

b) having a mutual enemy

c) getting on the bandwagon or being left out

Each one would require a different approach.

Here are some examples using each of the variations above:

a) To all you pit bull owners out there....

b) Here's how you can become a pit bull terrier lover too...

c) The State wants to take your pit bull away!

d) If you own a pit bull terrier, this is your last chance to join Pit Bull Owners of America.

"A sharply defined enemy is a far stronger argument for your side than all the words you could possibly put together." ~ Robert Greene

Of course this technique works well with Technique 1 ("Appeal to Their Identity") because when you are part of a group, it's also a party or your identity or a role you take on.

When using this, ask yourself, "What groups of people does my offer appeal to? What are their interests and desires? What group of people would my target want to belong to?" "Can I start a desirable group of my own?"

13. Have Them Make a Commitment. When people make a commitment to an idea, they tend to find it very difficult to change their minds without creating conflict or anxiety (called, Cognitive Dissonance). This is a little more difficult to do in one-way writing (say an advertisement or a sales letter), but it can be done.

For an advertisement, You would first ask your readers a question where they would most likely say yes. Then you'd continue with your writing. Finally, you'd remind them of what they said yes to.

For example:

• Do you love your dog? (THEN I'D CONTINUE WITH THE BODY COPY OF THE AD.) Earlier in this article (letter/ad), I asked you if you loved your dog. What better way to show your love for her by giving her a delicious and nutritious meal...

For a more personal correspondence, say an email, online chatting, or a letter, you could ask one of these questions:

• I thought you said you were....,

"I thought you said you were a Conservative. That's not what a Conservative would say."

• Didn't you say you...,

"Didn't you say you loved animals? Why would you eat meat..."

• Don't you think (UNDESIRABLE TRAIT or TYPE OF PERSON) is (NEGATIVE LABEL)? IF THEY AGREE...LATER FOLLOW UP.

YOU:Don't you think being a cheapskate is a horrible?

HE: Yeah, sure.

...LATER...

YOU: Hey, can I borrow twenty bucks?

When writing your piece, find out how you can get your reader to make a commitment, even a small one: donating a little money, trying something, even saying "yes" to something, etc.

14. Change their life. Most people are unhappy with their lives...or at least a some aspect of it. Many of them want change. But they don't know how to change, or if they do, they are too afraid or lazy to do so.

How can what you are offering change your target's life for the better? Your offer must do more than change lives though, it has to change lives with the least amount of effort. What many people are looking for is the Magic Pill. Something where they wake up and their lives are magically different.

• As you know, your dog's life affects your whole family. You, your spouse, especially your kids are affected by the health of your beloved dog.

Your offer can probably change your readers' lives for the better someway, somehow. How?

15. Overcome Inertia. The first rule here is to simplify the steps they need to take. Don't go into too much detail as to what they have to do. Narrow their choices or options down. It's been proven that people won't take action if they have too many choices available to them.

It also helps to show them the consequences of not acting now (See Technique 5 "Show Them the Consequences").

Top persuaders often create urgency by telling their readers how scarce their offer has become. You can use a time deadline, a limited quantity, a limited supply of a freebie/bonus/premium, or a soon-to-arrive price increase to get your readers off their butts.

Some examples:

• Get a 25% discount of Special-J Dog Food before November 10th.

• Receive a bottle of Special-J Puppy Shampoo with every case of Special-J Dog Food. But please hurry, we only have 53 bottles left.

Ask, "How can I increase the urgency of my offer?" "How can I add a deadline?"

16. Add Presuppositions. These are compelling ways to put thoughts into people's heads without even verbalizing the thought. You can find more on presuppositions and what they are here. Here's a quick way to incorporate presuppositions into your writing: Use questions. This requires a little more thought than Technique 6 ("Ask Questions") presented above. Just think of what you want your readers to believe about your offer or product. Then put it into a question form.

Some examples:

• Do you know of any other dog food that makes your dog healthier than Special-J Dog Food? (NOTE: Whether they answer yes or no, by answering the question they imply that Special-J Dog Food will make their dog healthy.)

• How are you going to handle your dog's newfound vitality and playfulness?

When writing, ask yourself how you are going to imply your claims.

17. Use Rhetorical Questions to Make Claims. This one is used a lot by the mass media. Why? Because it lets claims slip into readers' minds without resistance. If I say, "XYZ tablets let you lose weight while you sleep," you probably won't really believe it; you've heard claims like this all the time. But if I ask, "How has XYZ tablets helped thousands of people across the USA lose weight while they sleep?", it has a better chance of being accepted without resistance.

Take a claim that you want to make, and try out different types of questions to frame it in.

Example:

• How does Special-J Dog Food help your dog live a longer, healthier life?

When you are writing, ask yourself, "How can I put some of my claims into question form?"

There you have seventeen ways to influence and persuade....

...When working on your project, keep sentences fairly short. One mistake I see quite often in ads and other forms of persuasive writing is sentences that are too long. The longer your sentences, the more difficult they are too read, and the more likely they will be ignored.

You can mix and match these techniques depending on your project. The US military's Psychological Operations (PSY-OPS) has had a lot of success with leaflet drops over enemy territory. They are often quite small in size and need to get the job done quickly. They tend to use Technique 3 ("Invoke Emotions"), Technique 4 ("Motivate Your Reader"), and Technique 5 ("Show Them the Consequences"). For something like a billboard, demonstration placards, or bumper stickers, you could use Technique 6 ("Ask Questions") or Technique 9 ("Employ Metaphor").

You now have a ton of power in your hands. You've turned your pen (or keyboard) into a formidable weapon. Please use this power ethically. I don't know if you've already begun to notice how great you feel because of this power.

Thanks for reading this post. Clearly, you are an incredibly intelligent person. And I like you, I really do.

"It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people's lives." ~ Clint Eastwood

In the next post, I'm going to be turning this article into a free PDF workbook that includes about 10 more powerful persuasion techniques.

Planting Thoughts in Prospects' Heads Using Modern Marketing

2010-05-30T08:58:00.006-05:00

Have you ever experienced that moment where you had a problem, and you read some sales copy and thought, "I've got to have this!" and then you bought the product advertised?

What caused you to buy it? Wasn't it that voice in your head telling you to buy it... that it was just what you needed?

What if there were an easy way to control the little voice in other people's heads, getting them to buy what you are selling, how useful would that be?

But you know, it is quite easy to control that voice. All you have to do is tell them about it. Remind them of that little voice in their heads.

Here's the advertising language pattern:

Did/Do you find that little voice in your head wondering, "(PROBLEM)"?

AND SOME EXAMPLES:

● "Do you find that little voice in your head wondering, "How am I going get clients if I'm just starting out in this business?"

● "Do you find that little voice in your head wondering, "What if my neighbors see this carpet?"

● "Did you find that little voice in your head wondering, "How am I going pass this interview?"

The past tense (Did) is useful for a prospect's problem that hasn't been solved yet. They may have tried a solution, it didn't work, and now they come across your solution to their problem.

Because this is a short NLP language pattern it's pefect for marketing on social networking sites like Twitter.

A caveat for this language pattern: When using Yes/No questions (also known as Closed Questions) in your sales copy, you have to know your prospects pretty well. This is because if they say no to the question, you might lose them. One way to avoid this problem if you don't really know your prospects is to keep piling on benefit on top of benefit of what you are offering.

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A Powerful New System for Converting Prospects Into Paying Customers

2010-05-07T08:30:00.005-05:00

If you could pick the one thing that would make your online business the super successful...if you could tell what actions would get you incredible profits...if you could model the people who have made the most money online, you wouldn´t hesitate for a moment, right?

The one thing that the most successful businesses online do is use autoresponder follow-up emails, in the form of reports and courses. These are a fantastic way of growing your list and selling a lot more.

Here´s a service that can offer you a series of autoresponder follow-up emails in the form of reports or e-courses that your prospects will enjoy receiving. Check it out here.

When you really begin to see how valuable these autoresponder emails are to your business, you´ll sign up right away.

(Photo by Sarabbit)

Why Are Advertisers Raving About This Language Pattern?

2010-04-14T09:19:00.006-05:00

If you´ve studied copywriting and marketing, you´ve probably come across the advice of getting a prospect´s emotions involved. Unfortunately, many of these instructors don´t tell you how to do it.

There are several ways to get prospects’ emotions stirred. One way is to pile on benefit after benefit of your product, so your readers-listeners mouths start to water.

Another way is to create an emotion scenario. Here you describe in detail with lots of specifics what the prospects will get.. or you commiserate with them, describing the problems in their lives they are experiencing right now.

But there is also a language pattern that can get prospects emotionally excited.....

How (EMOTION) are you about (THEIR SITUATION)?

Some examples...

• “How upset are you about the current job situaton? ”
• “How concerned are you about the state of your carpets? ”
• “How angry are you about the federal government stealing so much tax from you? ”

As you can see, negative emotions have been used here. They tend to have a stronger impact.

This type of question is called a leading question because it leads the reader down the path of where you want them to go. It presupposes they they are experiencing the emotion. This is a powerful pattern. Use it ethically.

Unfortunately, major media stations aren´t so ethical. One time, when he was working at CNN, Lou Dobbs asked his viewers...¨How outraged are you about your government´s immigration policy?¨ Then he went to a commercial break (CNN seems to have many of them). Soon after, he started getting emails from people who were very angry. Clearly, he knew what he was doing.

How concerned are you about Lou Dobbs using this language pattern on his viewers? How outraged are you that CNN shows commercials every five minutes?

(Photo by Stefan Baudy)

Future Pacing Moving Away Motivation

2010-03-23T07:51:00.006-05:00

Fear sells. Sometimes. If you spend too much time trying to scare your prospects, you could lose them. Still, a large majority of the population is motivated by a Moving Away strategy. You can inject a little negativity into an overly positive ad by using the following pattern:

How secure/safe is your/are you (SOMETHING THEY CARE ABOUT THAT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE CAN HELP)?

This is an interesting language pattern in that it presupposes something wrong with their current situation and of course affecting their future situation.

"How secure is your child's education?"

"How secure is your computer?"

"How secure are you in giving effective presentations?"

"How safe is your computer monitor?"

Try this pattern on yourself. Think of something you care about. Now apply the pattern: "How safe is your beer supply?" "How secure is your house?" What's your internal experience as you apply the pattern to your own life? Gets you thinking, doesn't it? It will have a similar experience in your prospective customers.

You could use this pattern as a subhead and then go into how your offer will make things better or avoid the problem in the future.

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Exclusion by Inclusion: Outdoor Advertising Ideas

2010-03-16T07:59:00.006-05:00

The other day here in Puerto Viejo, I walked past a restaurant sign that said "Food and Pizza". I started to smile. What does that imply? What does that tell you about pizza? It tells me that pizza isn't food.

I soon realized that by including an item along with its category, you effectively negate it. In NLP terms, if you take a HIGHER CHUNK (like a category) and include a LOWER CHUNK (like an example), you actually exclude the example.

So, if I say, "Professionals and Realtors". What does that say? (By the way, I'm NOT saying Realtors aren't professionals, some of my best clients and the MOST professional have been people working in the real estate industry. This just an example.)

How about "Shoes and Cowboy Boots"?

This problem seems common to advertisers who are not native speakers of English. Not long ago I saw a sign in a small New Jersey grocery store that had a big sign that said, "Grocery and Nuts". The first thing that came to my mind (after I stopped laughing) was that maybe they sold nuts in large quantities....the meaning of your communication is the response you get.

This could be an interesting advertising language pattern to negate your competition.

Social Proof and the Social Economic Pattern

2010-02-11T09:40:00.004-05:00

In the early twentieth century, nephew of Sigmund Freud and "the father of public relations" Edward Bernays stated, "If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway."

A century later this still holds true. People need leaders to look up to, leaders to follow, leaders to help them succeed. It's all about authority. And here's an advertising language pattern that powerfully simulates that effect:

Most [TYPE OF AUTHORITY or GROUP PROSPECT WANTS TO BELONG TO] agree: [CLAIM].

Some examples....

• Most pro golfers agree: The Callaway X460 driver gives the longest and straightest tee shots.

• Most audiophiles and sound engineers agree: The ROSE xyz speakers give a fantastic experience.

• Most millionaires agree: NLP Language Patterns for Advertising was their best buying decision ever.

What experts or desirable group are you going to invoke in your ads?

You may have already started to be aware of how useful this language pattern will be in your advertising and marketing mix.

[Photo by Fred Hultstrand History in Pictures Collection, NDIRS-NDSU, Fargo]

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Fill in the blanks for your prospect, so they love you

2010-02-03T10:08:00.007-05:00

Why did you come here? Isn´t it true that you came here because of some gap in your knowledge or problems in your business? Helping others fill in the gaps of their own problems will definitely get prospects moving in the direction of becoming your customers.

THE PATTERN:

What´s missing in your (AREA OF BUSINESS)? You can also use the past tense with this pattern: What was missing from your last (AREA OF BUSINESS)? SOME SAMPLES

¨What´s missing in your child´s education?¨
¨What´s missing in your advertising?¨
¨What´s missing in your morning coffee?¨
¨What was missing from your last vacation?¨
"What was missing from your last oil change?"

You´ll notice that this pattern presupposes that the reader is lacking in something. If they feel they are lacking in what you suggest, you´ll gain rapport because you paced their problem.

If they weren´t thinking about what they lacked, they certainly are now with some possible doubt about your competitor´s abilities. Of course you would then show the reader how you can help.

[Graphic by Rosenfeld Media]

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Greetings from Costa Rica...

2010-01-21T15:44:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted for the past six months because I've been traveling and working in Central America. Right now I think I've found a place to set up shop on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. I'll be posting longer posts in the future, but right now I'm just posting short posts on Twitter. You can follow me here: @nlpcopywriting. Talk to you soon!

(Image by Pura Vida)

The Holographic Endorsement Language Pattern

2009-07-03T19:11:00.003-05:00

The Concept: Since the brain is attracted to and delighted by the novel and we tend to buy when we recognize an important DIFFERENCE among all similar offers, the Holographic Endorsement Pattern is an ideal pattern to cut through the clutter of other's advertising messages and really hit home with a difference.

It's a powerful metaphor that uses the combination of two well-known positives to create an unforgettable endorsement of a business that creates delightful pictures in prospects' minds...and a tickled-pink brain USUALLY buys.

If this sounds like something you can use, proceed this way:

1. Think of how you want your business or product to be represented. What positive attributes do you want to have associated with what you're selling? You want something "solid", so choose a nominalization. For example, honesty, precision, power, wisdom, etc. You need at least two.

2. Now who or what represents these positive attributes? These can be famous people, animals, places, businesses, archetypes, etc. You need someone or something that most people know and recognize.

3. What two people, animals, etc. from step two above, if combined, would best represent your business? You want something that creates a powerful, somewhat unusual image.

HERE'S THE PATTERN:

[SOMEONE/SOMETHING/COMPANY POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED TO YOUR FIELD or POSITIVE METAPHOR] meets/plus [ANOTHER POSITIVE THING, PERSON, or METAPHOR]

AND HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:

• "Milton Erickson meets Madison Avenue" (NLP Language Patterns for Advertising)
• "La Grenouille meets McDonald's" (McBurgertown)
• "Google meets Sherlock Holmes" (Bing)

This pattern is similar to the common positioning statement: The (EXPENSIVE, VALUABLE, NOTED PRODUCT) of (FIELD YOUR PRODUCT IS IN) ("The Rolls Royce of Ipecac Syrup"). However, the holographic endorsement pattern creates new images in your prospects' minds. This is such a great pattern that has many uses (just don't use them all at once).

You can use this pattern as a headline, an unattributed testimonial, or a self-testimonial. It's also good for blurbs and tag lines.

And this pattern can also be used to put down the competition ("McDonald's meets E.Coli" - Krusty Burger). I wouldn't recommend doing that though.

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Slaying Your Customers' Dragons

2009-06-18T07:54:00.002-05:00

Since a large portion of the population tends to have a moving-away strategy when trying to reach their desired states, it becomes necessary for a portion of your advertising to focus on your prospects' dragons.

These are the negative states that block people from achieving what they want. It's your job, with your products or services, to kill off these dragons and clear the path to where your customers want to go and the states they want to be in.

Here are some of the nastiest dragons:

• FEAR OF LOSS. This could be anything: financial loss, health deterioration, spouse or partner leaving them, dying, etc. People are often more willing to save what they have then to go after what they want.

• NOT BEING ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH. And I mean this on several levels. The first one, thanks to Hollywood, is not being physically attractive. These can also be included: not being attractive enough for a new job, not being attractive enough to fit in with a desirable group of people, not having "nice" possessions, etc.

• BEING REJECTED. This can tie in with not being attractive enough, but it can also mean people being afraid of sending their books to publishers for fear of rejection...or even worse, not even writing a book because of the IDEA of being rejected, approaching someone for help, etc.

• FEAR OF BEING UNCOMFORTABLE. Remember this is the FEAR and the THOUGHT of being uncomfortable. Not even actually experiencing the discomfort, just the thought of it! This freezes more people than you can imagine.

There are plenty of others of course, including the usual suspects: Fear of Failure, Fear of Success, Fear of Poverty, to name just a few.

What fears, pains, and dragons could be stopping your prospects from buying from you? What excuses do they give for NOT buying? And just as important, are your competitors doing a better job than you at being the customers' Knight in Shining Armor?

How can you prove that you can whip these dragons and turn them into fashionable belts, wallets, and boots?

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Are you still thinking of Elvis knocking on your door?

2009-06-15T10:48:00.008-05:00

How do you get your prospects off the comfortable Fence of Indecision and on to Fast Action Street?

One way to give them a mighty shove is by planting a thought they didn't know they had. . . or to pace what they've been thinking all along.

A powerful language pattern that can do both is a presupposition with a Change of Time Adverb. Once they read or hear this language pattern, no matter what they were thinking before, they will think of what you just said.

THE PATTERN:

Are you still thinking of [WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO THINK or ACTION YOU WANT THEM TO TAKE]? [CONSEQUENCE AND/ OR BENEFIT].

SOME EXAMPLES:

• "Are you still thinking of buying NLP Language Patterns for Advertising to increase your sales?"

• "Are you still thinking of taking an NLP Training?" [from NLP Comprehensive]

• "Are you still thinking of flying Continental Airlines to Paris this summer?"

This advertising language pattern is useful for prospects who are undecided about buying because you are pacing their indecision.

You may also want to pace the reasons why they're hesitating. This depends on your market of course, but it could be anything from price (too expensive). . .to the belief that they won't be able to do what you suggest. What are some of the reasons prospects are reluctant to buy in your particular market? Like this...

• "Are you still thinking of buying Finster Prize toys for your children this Christmas? Our toys are produced in limited number in America. We use no imported parts or paint." (This paces objections or hesitations.)

You can also lead into a major benefit after the language pattern:

• "Are you still thinking of buying a HAL 9000? They make the perfect babysitter. The perfect companion on long trips."

Depending on what you are selling or how you feel, you can follow with a consequence:

• "Are you still thinking of buying stock in Skynet? This might be your last chance to buy at these prices before they skyrocket."

It's also a great pattern to use in a follow-up mailing or for any autoresponder emails after the first one or two have been sent.

* As I was writing this post, I realized that this presupposition is the one used in the old joke, "Are you still beating your wife?" No matter how a person responds, it doesn't look good.

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How to Get People to Stop Reading Your Ads

2009-06-07T08:15:00.006-05:00

In 1795, Napoleon Bonaparte had to give a talk to his army. An invasion of Italy was about to begin, and although the Austrian army would outnumber his men by 2 to 1, his success at Piedmont a month before encouraged him to make greater and faster conquests with what he had.

So on a warm Milano night, when he stepped up to the microphone and gave his speech to his 5,000 strong army of mainly Savoyards...

STOP. Everyone knows that Napoleon gave this talk in 1796. But see what happens when you have a wrong fact or incongruent message? Check your internal experience. What did you say to yourself when you came across such a wrong fact (Ai)? Any unpleasant internal kinesthetics (Ki)?

This is what will happen to you if your ads contain any errors, lies, and over-the-top hyperbole. An internal experience that could have prospective customers saying "Yuck!" and ignoring your ad, your message, and your business.

And yet I see these type of ads all the time. They're especially prevalent in the Biz Ops and Internet marketing ads. (I think written mainly by people with little copywriting experience.)

Take an ad you're thinking of making public, but before you do, hand it to your skeptical friend, John, who has a finely tuned B.S. Detector (and isn't afraid to use it) and let him read it. Does he find any incongruities and inconsistencies?

Don't have any friends who like to tell you the truth? Fine. If you can handle the criticism, go to an online copywriter's forum, sign up and post your ad there for a critique. They will be plenty of people willing to help.

* By the way, don't bother emailing me about the use of microphones in the late 18th century. I know they only used solar power'd megaphones back then; I was just trying to make a point.

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Chaining States Diagram

2009-06-03T06:30:00.009-05:00

Every ad you create needs to follow a progression to make a sale. Since people buy on emotions, it is your job to enter your prospect's model of the world and their present state to change their emotional state(s).

Before you write your ad, ask yourself what your typical prospect's present state is. Take second position to gain insights. Present states are often negative. And by that I mean, if a person is looking to solve a problem and is in the market to buy a solution, he or she is probably in a negative state of mind: fear, worry, despair, concern, etc.

Next, consider what states you would like your readers/listeners to experience as they go through your ad. What states would you like to have anchored to your business? Some of these states can include, hope, anticipation, excitement. These states tend to be positive. What can you say to bring on these positive states?

Now think about what their Desired State could be. Ask past customers if possible. Some typical states are security, relief from pain, pleasure, peace of mind, cheer, etc. How is your product or service going to help this person reach their desired state? Show and tell them how.

Remember, you are a dealer in states, a First Class State-Change Merchant. People are buying things/services from you to change their states. Help them get to their desired state in the quickest way possible.

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Using Comparative Deletions is a Better Way to Eliminate and Obliterate Your Competition

2009-05-26T08:26:00.001-05:00

Here's an NLP language pattern that uses a comparative that presupposes your USP. It will help you and your company stand out from the hordes of others trying to put your prospects' money in their pockets.

The pattern:

[NAME OF YOUR PRODUCT OR COMPANY]: [INTENSIFIER, e.g., Far/Way/So much] [COMPARATIVE] than (just) [TYPE OF INDUSTRY or NEGATIVE ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR INDUSTRY].

Here are a few examples:

NLP: Far Better Than Psychotherapy
Wendy's: Way Better Than Fast Food
TRY-N-SAVE: So much more than a department store
NLP Language Patterns for Advertising: Way More Effective Than Ordinary Copywriting

Do you see how this works? By making a comparison with the typical and ordinary, you not only subtly put down the competition, you have your product or brand stand out more.

[Photo by Rudresh Calls]

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NLP Language Patterns for Ads Workbook

2009-05-24T08:34:00.006-05:00

Here's a little piece of software that's like an electronic workbook. This workbook is a digital product/software for Windows where you learn about the patterns, then you create patterns for your products or services, press a button, and your personalized language patterns are copied to your clipboard - ready for use in your website, eBay descriptions, classified ads - where ever you need a little extra persuasion! Check it out here:

NLP Language Patterns for Ads Workbook
$9.97
by loularsen

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Advertising Ideas: Inject a Little Negativity Into Prospects

2009-05-12T07:55:00.004-05:00

It's true that positive advertising tends to do better, sometimes a lot better, than ads that focus on the negative, the pain, the problem.

Many times what people want, and what you are offering, can be framed either as positive or as negative.

NEGATIVE EXAMPLE :-( There's no need to be lonely anymore.
POSITIVE EXAMPLE :-D Find the love of your life!

I'd say for longer ads like sales letters and brochures, use positive language with a brief dose of negative to persuade the moving-away-motivated crowd AND to show the consequences of not acting now (or going with competitors). But generally, keep it positive, upbeat and interesting.

But there are times when a negative ad can be very striking and memorable and actionable. And here I'm talking about very short ads: billboards, bumper stickers, Adwords, banners, etc. Advertising that is only a few words, but needs to capture the attention and the imagination quickly.

Here's a negative, stopping pattern that you can use for brief ads:

Don't wait/delay (to WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO). (SOMETHING NEGATIVE) isn't (waiting).

Here are a few examples:

• "Don't wait to get a check-up. Heart disease isn't waiting."

• "Don't wait to get your resume. The recession isn't waiting." (For a resumé/CV writing service)

You can make them even briefer if you want to or have to:

• "Don't wait. Heart disease isn't."

• "Don't delay your resume. The recession isn't."

These ads would even be more stopping/attention getting with a striking graphic.

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Reasons You Need to Use "Reason Why" Copy in Your Advertising

2009-05-10T10:19:00.002-05:00

This post is more of a "modeling success" post rather than a specific language pattern.

In old school NLP, it was considered bad form to ask Why questions. Why? Because asking why-questions tended to validate and strengthen the beliefs and reasons that supported a problem state...

THERAPIST: Why do you feel that way?
PATIENT: Because she hates me.
THERAPIST: Why do you think she hates you? (etc...)

In successful advertising, however, prospects need reasons why in order for them to buy. And you have to supply the reasons. You can't let your readers deduce the reasons themselves. They probably won't. If that happens, you've lost a customer.

Here are some Reason Why questions to get you started. It's been proven that answering these will create persuasive and compelling copywriting:

Why should they be interested in what you're offering?

Why should they listen to you?

Why should they believe you?

Why should they buy from you?

Why is what you are offering a good deal?

Why should they act now?

When you've written your ad, go through it asking yourself why you've written what you did. Are your reasons congruent with your reader's needs, wants and desires?

Doing this with several of your ads will make you write better, tighter, more persuasive copy. This will become second nature, and you'll find yourself more persuasive and elegant with your communication in all walks of your life, not just writing ads.

Are you going to use the advice from this excellent post? Because once you do, you'll find yourself quickly and easily selling more products at higher prices.

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Do What Successful Businesses Do: Tell Your Customers to Model Success

2009-05-02T08:27:00.004-05:00

If I can show you a way to make your customers and prospects buy faster, would you be interested?

People love to know how a successful person or company got that way, and if you can show them how to achieve the same or similar results, they'll love you for it. . .and buy from you.

And why not? Because you're helping them reach a goal or solve a problem using the same techniques or products that successful people use.

The pattern:

Do as/what [POSITIVE ADJECTIVE] (optional) [PERSONS/BUSINESSES or SOMEONE FAMOUS] do/did — [COMMAND - WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO].

Here are a few examples:

• "Do what Abraham Lincoln did: use powerful language patterns everyday."
• "Do as Barrack Obama does: use powerful language patterns when dealing with people."
• "Do what caring parents do: serve your children Bop-Tartz for a nutritious breakfast."
• "Do what the last Miss America winner did: use the Ab Compressor 5000 daily."

You can expand on the above pattern by giving more details and more reasons why.

This language pattern is most useful when you're trying to close the sale. A sort of round-up of the benefits in one shot, a final push.

A person could use this pattern in his or her advertising with powerful effect.

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The Power of Concentration: How to Condense Your Offer Into a "Magic Pill"

2009-04-08T06:34:00.003-05:00

(Sorry for not posting lately, I've been flooded with great copywriting clients, both new and ones who have been using my services for years. It's sometimes difficult to find a lull to write and post to a blog. Anyway, to the Bat Pole®. . .!)

In NLP, when we Change Frame Size, we reframe by adding information to or subtracting information from an issue on the same logical level. Doing this will often give the recipient of the reframe new options he or she hasn't thought of before (if we enlarge the frame) or make the issue seem trivial (if we shrink the frame).

We can use this in advertising for a powerfully persuasive effect. We take a large desirable frame (that's usually difficult to achieve) and shrink it down in to an easy Magic Pill for your prospects to swallow.

Here's one pattern you can use for this:

Get (LARGE QUANTITY) of (DESIRABLE BENEFIT) in (SHORT PERIOD OF TIME or SOMETHING SMALL).

Some examples:

• Get one month's worth of vigorous cardio workouts in just one session.

• Get a day's worth of amino acids in one spoonful of MegaPower Mix.

• Get 44 years of advertising writing experience in the time it takes to read this book! (From Victor Schwab)

• Get 2000 years of persuading and influence techniques in one seminar.

Think about your offer or your experience. How long did it take to develop? How many ingredients are in your product? Who do you work with? How many years of combined experience can you offer your customers?

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Getting Past Yes!

2009-03-20T07:52:00.005-05:00

If you are creating a direct response ad, you probably already know that getting prospective customers to your order coupon (offline) or order page (online) is vital for sales. Mess up here and you wasted your time and money on your sales pitch.

We'd do right to model the most successful direct marketers here. So every order page/coupon should have these things:

Written in first person (I, Me, My). To show agreement.
State what the customer must do
Repeat the most important promise - the main benefit the customer will get
State the guarantee
Offer an additional minor benefit that might not have been mentioned in the body of the ad

Can we make this stronger with NLP language patterns? Check out these clip-out order coupons. The first one is the plain vanilla, the second one enhanced with NLP.

The first one: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[_] YES! I want to make my ads more powerful. Please send me NLP Language Patterns for Advertising. I've enclosed $XX.xx. If I'm not convinced that these amazing language patterns will help me sell more, or if I'm not satisfied for any reason, my refund request will be honored. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's the coupon with NLP language patterns added:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[_] YES! Lou, the more I think about it, the more I realize I need this. Please rush me NLP Language Patterns for Advertising TODAY for $XX.xx so I can make my ads more persuasive. I understand that once I start using these patterns in my advertising, and in the unlikely event that I don't increase the money I make, I still have the option to get a refund.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They both do need some work, they're just off the top of my loaf. But you get the idea of how NLP Language Patterns can enhance your message.

BONUS QUIZ: Did you recognize any of the NLP Language Patterns in the second example?

Here they are:

Sentence #1: Linguistic Bind.
Sentence #2: Cause/Effect.
Sentence #3: Presupposition (Subordinate Clause of Time), an embedded command, and another presupposition (Contrary to Expectation).

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Use Scope Ambiguity to Build Rapport With Your Readers

2009-03-09T07:25:00.004-05:00

Here's a quick and subtle way to gain rapport with your prospects. It uses an Ericksonian language pattern that suggests equality, possibly camaraderie. It's also a compliment. And at the same time, if the suggestion is accepted, gives you instant credibility.

Say I'm marketing to copywriters who want to add more flair and persuasion to their writing, and I want them to buy my NLP Language Patterns for Advertising. I could start with this:

"Writing to you as a professional copywriter. . ."

Do you see how this is ambiguous? Who's the professional copywriter? Me or them? We both are. Now we are equals. You're like me. That's perfect for rapport.

"Writing to you as a professional copywriter, I need to tell you about a product that is making some writers incredibly wealthy. . ."

Normally, being ambiguous in your ad copy isn't such a great idea, but here it works well.

Here's the pattern:

Speaking/Writing/Coming to you as a (COMPLIMENT)+(PROFESSION or TYPE OF PERSON THEY SEE THEMSELVES AS).

And a few examples:

"Speaking to you as a loving mother..."
"Writing to you as a neighbour who cares deeply about the environment..."
"Coming to you as a savvy traveler..."

This pattern is great if you're marketing to people who are just like you. . .or if you want to suggest that.

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Meta-Programs in Advertising #2: Chunk Size

2009-03-01T16:01:00.004-05:00

One Meta-Program we've discussed here quite a bit over the years on this NLP blog is the need to include both the Moving Away and Moving Toward motivation in your ads.

This is because your prospects are motivated to move away from something they don't want (pain/problems) or towards something they do want (goals/aspirations). . . with the majority of people being inclined to move away from problems.

PRESENT STATE (Problem)=====> SOLUTION (Your offer) =====> DESIRED STATE

Another Meta-Program you should keep in mind when you're creating your ads is Chunking. This is where we Chunk Up (Abstraction or Generalities) or Chunk Down (Specifics).

We chunk up so we have our readers fill in the blanks with their own ideas, and we chunk down to show and convince our readers that what we say is true.

To chunk up we ask, "What is this an example of?" To chunk down, we ask ourselves, "What is an example of this?"

"NLP Language Patterns for Advertising are the same communication patterns influential people from politics, sales, entertainment, and industry exploit to persuade thousands to think in a certain way and to take action. One way they accomplish this is by using what are called Linguistic Binds, language patterns that appear to offer a choice but, in reality, they only offer one option. This shortcuts the thinking process, making it easier for the reader to decide. . ."

The first sentence in that paragraph is the chunk up and the second one is the chunk down.

Here's another way to chunk up and down:

To chunk up we can ask, "How will this product/service change my prospect's life?"
To chunk down, we ask, "How, specifically, will this product/service change my prospect's life?"

Be careful not to chunk up too often or too high. This leads to that fluffy advertising language that sounds silly and doesn't convince anyone: "We will surpass any and all your expectations!" If you or your clients want to chunk up to the fluffy stuff, make sure you back it up with specifics and proof (like satisfied customer testimonials).

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Subliminal Advertising Pattern #1

2009-02-15T08:10:00.006-05:00

Here's an NLP Language Pattern that calls into question a reader's identity. I hesitated to include this advertising language pattern since it's quite strong and in the wrong hands could be lethal.

WARNING: You need to have deep rapport with your targeted audience if you use this pattern. Used incorrectly, and you risk insulting, even alienating, them.

But use it correctly, and it will sink into your prospects' minds subliminally, making them keen to act.

Here it is:

Are you [A HIGHER IDEAL OF THEIR IDENTITY] or just another [LOWER, MORE DEROGATORY FORM OF THEIR IDENTITY]?

"Are you a highly regarded copywriter or just another underpaid hack?"
"Are you a savvy website owner or just another spammer?"
"Are you a star salesperson or just another used-car salesman wearing a polyester suit working the seedy car lot in the suburbs?"

One way to lessen the intensity of this language pattern is to use it as an unattributed testimonial. That will make it less personal.

Jonathan Turley used this pattern not long ago to question, rhetorically, Barrack Obama's following the US Constitution's rule of law concerning the Bush administration's use of torture on detainees: "Are you a true statesman or just another politician looking to win the next election."

You can also future pace this identity pattern by starting the question with this: "Do you want to be...?"

"Do you want to be a successful real estate agent...or do you want to be Shelly Levene from 'Glenlarry Glen Ross'?"

THINK! How does your product, business, blog, or website enhance your audience's identity? What are the two extremes, the most positive and the most negative? How do they see themselves? How would they like to see themselves? Incorporate these answers into this language pattern. Then test it.

You may not know if this powerful language pattern will bring you the higher conversion rates you crave until you use it.

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Asking Obvious Questions to Plant Doubts

2009-02-02T07:47:00.002-05:00

One rule for powerful copywriting you often hear is to leave out modals (would, could, might, etc.) and conditionals (if) from your ads. Which of the following seems stronger to you?

• What would you do if the economy collapses?
• What will you do when the econony collapses?

Pretty obvious, is it not? The second one changes a possible to a definite. However, there is a way to use the modal "would" to create a form of parallel logic that's quite powerful.

Would you (SOMETHING UNUSUAL/UNLIKELY/STUPID)? Then why would you (SOMETHING THEY'RE PROBABLY DOING OR THINKING ABOUT NOW) to (WHAT THEY WANT)?

EXAMPLES:

"Would you hire a window washer to do your taxes? Then why would you hire an ad agency copywriter to write your website copy?"

"Would you build your house out of toothpicks? Then why would you only use features and benefits to put in your advertising?"

"Would you try lighting a barbecue with gasoline? Then why would you spend all the money you do on ineffective pay-per-click ads?"

And because this advertising language pattern is an excellent use of parallel logic, the first question can use examples that aren't even related to what you are selling. It's also fine to use the first question for metaphors suggesting futility, extremeness, brokeness, and other negative nominalizations.

But notice your internal experience when you read this language pattern. It brings a strong state of doubt to bear on what follows. That makes it perfect to change a belief.

How would it feel if you use this NLP language pattern in your ads or on your website and notice a sharp jump in your conversion rates?

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Pace Past Pleasure to Present Pain So Every Person Gains

2009-01-23T09:19:00.006-05:00

Years ago, copywriter Victor O. Schwab noticed the most successful ads were the ones that get prospects to remember situations in their past, specifically, creating nostalgia.

David Olgivy knew this when he created his highly successful "Pepperidge Farm Remembers..." campaigns in the 1970s.

We can strengthen this pattern by not only having prospects remember the good ol' days, but by showing how their situation has deteriorated into a painful one they are experiencing now. We empathize with their problems. Here's the pattern:

(PAST TIME) + (PAST PLEASURABLE ACTION or EXPERIENCE) + (PRESENT CUE WORDS) + (PRESENT PAIN)

And here are some examples:

• "When you first started your blog you were excited about all the possibilities: the community, the money (especially the money), the recognition, and the opportunities. . . But now, just a short time later, you're starting to wonder why you even bothered—your bank account is still empty, your comments section is full of flames and links to sites to help with erections..."

• "Several years ago your phone was ringing off the hook with job offers. Now you can't even get a job flipping burgers at your local greasy spoon. What happened?"

• "Remember when you had a full head of hair, you checked in the mirror and saw this great-looking guy staring back at you? Today you can barely glance in the mirror. Strangers refer to you as the 'Bald Guy'. Your confidence is shot...."

Of course, once you have introduced this powerful language pattern, you show your readers or listeners how your offer will help bring them back to the good old days. And don't dwell on the negatives, we want to help people - not make them feel awful. Pace and lead to a bright, compelling future.

Salon used this pattern in one of their headlines recently: "When he entered office, George W. Bush inherited a peaceful, prosperous America. As he exits, experts try to assess the devastation." Unfortunately, Salon doesn't end on a positive note here.

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State the Benefit of the Benefit So You Can Retire in Style

2009-01-15T09:26:00.005-05:00

How can you ratchet up your promise? How can you leave your competitors in the dust? How can you make your readers, listeners and viewers reach for their wallets quickly? Simple. Just show them how your product will change their lives.

Think. How can your product or service benefit their lives? What is the main promise of your product? How can that promise change your prospects' lives for the better?

Not only chunk up the benefit, future pace it. How will your prospects benefit over time, the long haul?

Look through your competitors' marketing materials, their brochures, their websites, etc. What is missing from them? What's not quite right? For example, service sellers, like real estate agents, tend to stress features or make vague promises ("The most forward thinking, internet wise, experienced Realtors who can efficiently service all your property needs!"); Internet marketers tend to be phony ("Who Else Wants to Explode Their Profits 376% With This One Amazing Secret!!!"). How can you stand out from the mediocrity?

You do it by making specific promises, promises you can prove. Then you show the positive consequences of buying your product or service. Here's an excellent example:

In 1929, at the start of the Great Depression, Jessel Cohn started the Acme Shoe Company, mainly dealing in the manufacture of children's shoes. He soon realized there was bigger money in cowboy boots, and even bigger money targeting the affluent. He changed the company's name to Acme Boots and started his direct response and lead generation advertising. Here is the copy for a pricey pair of boots that went out on his direct mail postcards.

"These fine cowboy boots were made by Acme Boot Manufacturing Company and are priced at $3,500.00. The leather is from the hide of the Grand Champion steer, T.O. Pride, sold at auction for $44,375.00, highest price ever paid for a steer. These colorful boots are rich in hand tooling and are trimmed in gold. Imagine the impression you will make, and the heads that will turn when you walk into the club wearing these quality boots. They are sure to bring you a lifetime of enjoyment and style.

Gentlemen: I am looking forward to the pleasure of calling on you..."

On the other side of the card was a color drawing of the boots. Note the great USP, the implied scarcity, and the benefit of the benefit (impressing others). In the 1940s, Acme Boots became the largest maker of cowboy boots and remained the world's largest until the mid 1980s. And the Acme Boot Company is still around; they were purchased by H.H. Brown, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway just a few years ago.

There is another important lesson here: it's vital for companies to continue their advertising during a depression or recession. Here's an interesting post on Google Answers: Successful Companies and Industries During the Great Depression if you'd like to find out more on how companies can thrive during economic downturns.

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It's About Time Released Suggestions

2009-01-02T05:48:00.006-05:00

A favorite blog you'll bookmark and return to often and where you respect the writer greatly is the one that gives you useful, relevant information and tips — often in the form of a numbered list towards the end of the article or post. Makes sense, does it not?

Because the writer cares enough about his or her readers to want to help and to give advice and advanced tips that can't be found anywhere else.

One such advanced tip in the ad copywriting field is the use of Time Released Suggestions (TRS). As you probably know, it's preferable for believability and credibility when readers of your ads come to certain conclusions themselves. Obviously, you can't just say "Trust me" and expect that to work.

You need to use connotation, a way of implying something you want your readers to believe without actually stating it.

Here's how to use TRS to create that subliminal state:

1. First off, make sure you firmly state your benefits and promises clearly. You DON'T want your prospects having to guess at what you are offering. This is Copywriting 101.

2. Now, to use TRS, consider what you want your prospects to think about you, your company, or your products. You can often sum it up in an adjective or two: Trustworthy, Trendy, Technologically Advanced, Successful, etc.

3. Early on in the piece mention what an (ADJECTIVE) company or person does. "A trustworthy company is one that puts its contact information at the bottom of each web page, since they have nothing to hide."

4. Later on in the copy, do what an (ADJECTIVE) company or person does. In the above example, I'd put the phone number, email address, and mailing address on the bottom of each page of the website.

Of course, you don't want to call attention to what you have done. In the above example, you would NOT write: "You'll notice we put our contact information on all of our pages!"

As you consider the benefits of adding Time Released Suggestions to your advertising, you might like to use other NLP Language Patterns in your advertising to make it more persuasive. They work wonders. Trust me!

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How to Use Cartesian Logic to Create an Emotional Selling Argument

2008-12-20T10:16:00.009-05:00

In Michael Hall's phenomenal book, Mind Lines: Lines for Changing Minds he gives us a way of using the four questions from Cartesian Logic to easily come up with Counter-Example reframes.

Here are the four parts from the quadrant:

Theorem (A) + (B)

Inverse (-A) + (B)

Converse (A) + (-B)

Mirror Reverse (-A) + (-B)

When you use these four as questions to ask yourself as you write your ad copy, you will come up with a full, persuasive argument on whatever you're selling. Here's an example:

1. THEOREM: Why is buying your product a good idea? (These are the benefits of course. Aside from your main promise, come up with as many reasons why buying your product is a good idea. You never know which one will get your customers jumping.)

2. INVERSE: Why is NOT buying your product a good idea? (These are the objections your customers—and competitors—will come up with. You'd best come up with all the reasons people wouldn't buy your product then reframe and answer them in your ads. Because you know your customers and competitors will surely come up with reasons not to buy from you. Beat them to the punch by answering this question truthfully.)

3. CONVERSE: Why is buying your product NOT a good idea? (Now you're looking for a flaw in your product with which to mention a damaging admission. Here you are going to be honest with your prospects, thus building stronger credibility. This is especially important if you're just starting out or have a new product. You could also tell them who this product is NOT for.)

4. MIRROR REVERSE: Why is NOT buying your product NOT a good idea? Or, put another way, why is NOT buying your product a bad idea? (The answers to this question are the consequences of not buying what you're offering. What pain will they experience if they don't BUY NOW?)

Answer these questions and combine them with the F.U.S.E. Method, and your ads will practically write themselves.

________________________________________

Add this to your ads...

2008-12-13T16:21:00.006-05:00

I've discovered a useful phonological ambiguity/embedded command that you can use in your NLP salesletters right away.

See if you can recognize it in this sentence:

"By the way, this car gets excellent gas mileage."

Do you see it? It can have two meanings. As it's written here, "By the way" meaning "in addition to," or as it could sound like this:

"Buy the way this car gets excellent gas mileage."

Here's the frame:

By the way, (A SECONDARY BENEFIT).

"By the way, NLP Language Patterns for Advertising can help you communicate persuasively in all areas of life."

The reason you would use a secondary benefit as opposed to a primary benefit is because the way it is written almost suggests an afterthought.

Hope you find this useful,
Habanada!

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Art of Persuasion Techniques #1

2008-11-04T08:18:00.007-05:00

I couldn't believe the power of this NLP language pattern when I first learned it. Neither will you.

Recently, I received an email from Janet, a copywriter friend also based in New York City. She told me she discovered a language pattern that would be perfect for persuasive speech topics, as well as many types of copywriting.

"So, what is it?" I asked. "What is it that I don't know already?"

She said, "You know that Robert Cialdini stated, 'everyone is persuaded by social proof.'"

"Right."

"And you also know most people want to belong to a special group. And to be flattered."

"Yeah."

"Well, this language pattern incorporates a presupposition with social proof, belonging, and flattery. All you have to do is use a Universal Quantifier with the type of person they want to be, add a little Mind Reading...and voilà: a powerfully stacked, easy-to-use language pattern."

Here's an example:

"Every intelligent and successful real estate agent knows they need persuasive copywriting on their websites."

Do you see the structure?

[UNIVERSAL QUANTIFIER] + [COMPLIMENT] + [TYPE OF PERSON THEY WANT TO BE] knows [WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO or THINK]

One interesting quality of this language pattern is that it can also be used negatively, in a type of pain-inducing, moving-away motivation.

"All bankrupt real estate agents knew they could write their own ad copy."

An important point in this negative version is that you need to use the past tense of "know." This implies that the person reading your ad is engaging in that behavior or thought now and if they continue to do so, they will have awful consequences.

Thanks Janet!!

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Always Use Universal Quantifiers to Have Readers Step into Buying States

2008-10-02T07:16:00.006-05:00

Each one of us has the ability to help our customers get what they want out of life. All of our products and services can help them solve their problems or help them to lead quality lives on some level.

The basic problem in selling your products and services is getting enough of the emotions involved to get your prospective customers to take action. Universal Quantifiers stimulate the emotions because they can be so extreme.

The following language pattern concentrates on your prospect's problem state or on their desired state. It uses a Universal Quantifier, specifically, "every time" to increase the intensity of the problem or desired state.

PATTERN: Every time (you) [PROBLEM or BENEFIT].

This NLP Language Pattern can be used to pace a negative state. When you use it to have people step into their problem state, you are talking about their past experiences, but you're also implying that their problem will continue into the future—unless they do something (like buy your product).

• Every time you feed your dog, you don't know what are you feeding him or her. Is it melamine? Is it some sort of industrial waste?

• Every time you look at your dwindling bank account statement, your heart sinks.

• Every time it rains, you have to worry about whether your roof will hold up or not.

When you use this pattern to bring out the positives in your offering, you are implying a future pace towards a desired state:

• Every time you look at your email inbox, you'll see another "Notification of Payment Received." Once you realize the power of this method, you'll be on top of the world!

• Every time you use NLP Language Patterns for Advertising on your website, you'll notice higher conversion rates.

Of course this language pattern presupposes that there were or will be other times, either good or bad (your choice in how you want to bring that to your prospect's attention).

Another interesting use of this Universal Quantifier is as a hypnotic command, a sort of post-hypnotic suggestion:

• Every time you see negative economic news, you'll think of how my service will help you sell your house.

• Every time you wake up and smell the coffee, you'll think to yourself, "I can really go for a Drake's Cake right about now!"

• Every time you look in the mirror, you will be reminded of me. (Okay, I'm being a wise-guy here, but you get the idea!)

Let me close this post. Come back to this blog often, because every time you do, you'll be delighted at your control of persuasive language and how that positively affects your cash flow. Imagine that!

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Using Facts, Just the Facts, to Pace Up to Believability

2008-09-23T06:45:00.003-05:00

When you pace people's current experience with a fact, some facts, or a mind-read about their current situation or problem, there's an excellent chance they'll agree with what you are going to say next. It's a type of pacing & leading pattern.

I know that [PRESENT STATE OF AFFAIRS/THEIR PROBLEM/WHAT'S ON THEIR MIND]. I also know [SUGGESTION/WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO THINK/A BENEFIT OF WHAT YOU ARE OFFERING].

Here are some examples. As you read the following examples, you'll wonder how you can use this pattern in your advertising...

"I know that most people have difficulty selling from their websites. I also know that NLP Language Patterns have helped thousands of people just like you to sell more from their websites."

"I know you're concerned about the quality of your vitamin supplements. I also know that when you start taking high-quality Rumford Yeast Powder daily, your health and appearance will improve dramatically."

"We know you are worried about the present state of the economy. We also know that a well-written resumé/CV is your ticket to a great job in ANY economy.

This language patterns also works well with compliments or flattery:

"Although you and I have never met, I know something about you. I know you're an intelligent person. I also know that you're intelligent enough to realize what a great deal this is."

All of the above examples imply Complex Equivalence ("This means that.").

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ATTENTION Real Estate Professionals...

2008-09-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

A good percentage of my copywriting clients are real estate agents and other professionals in the real estate business. That makes sense. It's a tough business with a lot of competition.

What I'd like to do is create some sort of information product (books, workbooks, software, etc.) - combining NLP, and NLP Language Patterns in particular, with the needs of real estate agents. That's where I need your help. If you are a real estate professional, would you like to collaborate on this project with me? Of course we'll split the millions of dollars in profit!

Just click on this link to get started.

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How to Sell Prevention

2008-09-15T12:38:00.004-05:00

Standard copywriting advice you'll get regarding selling pain is to never sell prevention; always sell a solution to an immediate problem. The reason being that people are more motivated by the pain they're in now rather than some future possible pain.

In this case, mentioning the consequences of not taking action won't work. "What's the worst that can happen?" won't get them moving.

But there are selling situations where the only thing you can do is tell people about the consequences. Businesses like life insurance and security come to mind.

Fortunately, there is a language pattern you can wield like a dentist's drill to get them to step into pain and make them budge from their lethargy.

Here's the pattern/frame:

You (SOMETHING THAT TOOK A LOT OF TIME, EFFORT, OR MONEY). In minutes (WHAT COULD TAKE THAT ALL AWAY)!

OR

You (SOMETHING THAT TOOK A LOT OF TIME, EFFORT, OR MONEY). Don't (COMMAND).

Some examples:

"You spent years saving and budgeting for your beautiful home. In minutes a fire can destroy it!"

"You spent years saving and budgeting for your car. Don't let thieves get their hands on it."

This one is from my website content service:

"You spent a long time creating, working on, and developing your website. Don't let it join the millions of other sad websites that are just floating along unnoticed in cyberspace. . .not getting any visitors. . .not making any money - just discouraging their owners day by the day."

You can expand the above by adding more details. Don't dwell on it though. You don't want to keep your readers/listeners in pain. Move on to the more positive aspects of your offer.

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Using Suggestive Predicates in Advertising Language

2008-08-27T07:46:00.003-05:00

Are you wondering how this post will help you create more persuasive ads? Has it ever occurred to you that reading this blog regularly will help you communicate and persuade more effectively, not only in your marketing messages but in your life as well? It has. Good. I'm glad I can help you.

The first two lines of this post are examples of suggestive predicates. These powerful language patterns actually lead your listener's/reader's attention into what you want to bring to their attention (your suggestions). If they weren't thinking about what you were suggesting, they are now.

The structure is simple: the first half of the sentence or question is a predicate, usually of wondering or awareness, and the second half is the suggestion you would like to make. Have you noticed how easy it is to construct suggestive predicates?

Here are some frames you can use:

- Are you wondering...?
- You might be wondering...
- You might not be wondering.... (LOU: it doesn't matter if you use a negative in the predicate.)
- Has it ever occurred to you that...?
- Are you aware that...?
- I don't know how soon...

And some examples -

• Are you wondering how this georgeous collectible will look in your display case?

• You might be wondering how NLP Language Patterns for Advertising will make your PayPal account burst at the seams.

• You might not be wondering how Robette Absinthe will increase the quality of your life.

• Are you aware that Bonnore's Electro Magnetic Bathing Fluid has helped thousands of sick people regain their health and vitality?

After you use this language pattern in your body copy, make sure to give some specific details of how what you are suggesting will come about. Give yourself permission to use some of these in subheads, too.

I've seen this pattern used incorrectly in sales-letter web pages: "You might be wondering how you will be able to afford this. Well, don't worry. We have a simple payment plan..." Do you see what the problem is there? The writer is actually causing the reader to think about a negative that he or she might not have thought of otherwise.

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What's Preventing You?

2008-08-06T10:56:00.007-05:00

Let's say you've placed an ad, and it's a dud. You can get all discouraged and [place your favorite negative state here]. Or you can analyze the situation, see what you can change, and try again.

What restrictions could be caused by you -- or caused by the minds of your prospects -- that are preventing them from buying your product or service? How can we take those restrictions (a dis-empowering nominalization if there ever was one) and make them less restricting, less binding to cause them to fall away from your prospects' minds and get them motivated to buy?

Let's turn to the Neurological Levels for some answers. Because we know that somewhere on some level will be the key to turning that ad around.

Take second-position to your prospective customer to get an idea of what it's like to be them, and ask yourself these questions (from first-position):

1. Environment. "What in their environment could be stopping them from buying? Could it be a family member? A co-worker? Could it be an embarrassment to them? Do they need special equipment to use what I'm selling?"

2. Behaviour. "What do they need to do in order to get what I'm offering? Am I making it easy for them? Can I get them to see themselves doing it?"

3. Capabilities. "Can they do what I'm suggesting? Is it too difficult? Can they afford it?"

4. Beliefs. "Do they believe my ad? How can I prove to them that what I am saying is true?"

5. Values. "Do they value their money more than what I'm selling? Is your ad somewhat insulting? What's more important to them? Can they trust you? Do your competitors seem to be offering something better - better value, better savings, better deals?"

6. Identity. "Do they see themselves as the type of person who can do what you're suggesting?"

(I'll leave out the Spirituality and Systems levels for now.)

By going through the Logical Levels questions, you're basically coming up with possible objections that you might have missed by using a standard copywriting formula.

Once you've reached a level where there might be a sticking point, it's time to eliminate or reframe it. If you think that they could be stuck on several levels, you'll have to include them all. You might like to do a hierarchy of criteria on them and see which ones can be combined or focused on more strongly. But generally speaking, the higher levels are the most powerful levels affecting change on the lower levels.

Although there are many NLP techniques and copywriting techniques you can use to bring up and eliminate objections, for today we'll use an Ericksonian language pattern from the Milton Model.

MIND READING

With Mind Reading you create empathy with your readers/prospects by telling them what they are/could be thinking or feeling at the moment. Mind Reading statements often start with these language patterns:

• You (might) think that...
• You must be thinking...
• I know you're thinking...
• You realize...
• So many (TYPE OF PROSPECTS) just like you feel/think...

You would then place your Logical Level objection in the above (or similar) language pattern and reframe it. Here are some examples for longer, informal print ads:

• IDENTITY: "Right now, you are probably thinking you aren't the type of person who can do this. Well, I'm here to tell you that I have helped thousands of people across the country, people who are in the same position as you are now able to (DESIRABLE OUTCOME). Just listen to what So-and-So has to say...." (LOU: I'D PUT A SATISFIED CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL HERE.)

• VALUES: "You must be thinking, 'Jeez, that's expensive! How can he charge so much? I mean ACME down the street only charges 99 cents for their widgets!' And of course, you'd be right. They are cheaper, but have you thought about the quality of other widgets and why they don't last very long? Our widgets are made from...." (LOU: I'D PUT SOME SORT OF COMPARISON CHART HERE OR A DESCRIPTION OF A PROCESS.)

• BELIEFS: "I know you're thinking, "this guy is full of BS!" Hey, I'd feel the same way if I were in your shoes. But I'd like to prove to you.... (LOU: I'D ADD PROOF HERE, POSSIBLY A TESTIMONIAL, OR BEFORE/AFTER PHOTOS. FOR AN ONLINE SALES LETTER, I MIGHT PUT IN A VIDEO, etc.)

You can proceed in the same way. Just ask yourself how your ad would affect people on each logical level and reframe or eliminate that or those objection(s).

All right, now you must be thinking, "Oh, I can't go through all that trouble." But I know you can. It will be worth it.

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Advertising Language: Asking Why

2008-07-30T08:27:00.003-05:00

"Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why."
~ Kurt Vonnegut

In NLP therapeutic interventions, it's considered bad form to ask clients "Why" questions. The reason being that answers to these types of questions tend to validate their behavior or their responses to the troubling situation.

Questions like, "Why do you get depressed every time the boss tells you to do something?" or "Why do you feel that way?" are considered dead-ends in NLP.

However, in writing ads asking "Why?" is vital.

And three why questions you should always ask when you begin writing your ads are these:

1. Why do customers need to buy this product or service? (This is the reason why people will buy this, the benefits they receive, the problems they'll solve, etc.)

2. Why should people buy this from me? (Especially important if what you are offering is some sort of commodity product or service. Why should people buy from you if they can get the same or similar thing someplace else cheaper?)

3. Why should they believe me? (How are you going to prove what you say is true?)

So start your copywriting by answering questions like these to make the most persuasive ad possible.

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How to Use Logical Levels in Advertising: Identity

2008-07-21T05:55:00.002-05:00

In NLP's Logical Levels (of Beliefs), the second highest level (after Spirituality) is Identity. Who you think you are and how you think of yourself.

Influential copywriters from Robert Collier to Eugene Schwartz had known that attaching the products they were writing about to the identity of their prospects was just about the most powerful way of influencing somebody. This was one of their best-kept secrets.

Although there are many ways to affect a prospect's identity, I'd like to show you an easy way using an NLP language pattern. You can use it in just minutes from now.

Here goes.

"For (TYPE OF PERSON) only."

That's it.

The type of person has to be the type of person readers (or listeners) see themselves or would like to see themselves.

This language pattern makes a great subheading or can be incorporated into the body copy directly.

EXAMPLES:

• "For mature minds only."
• "For dedicated fans only."
• "For serious gardeners only."
• "For patriotic Americans only."

Here are some longer examples:

• "NLP Language Patterns for Advertising are only for business owners who are dedicated to their success."

• "NoVa Motor Oil is only for car owners who are proud of the automobiles."

As you can see, this language pattern is powerful and should only be used for people who are serious about making money.

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Anchoring Objections to Your Competitors

2008-06-04T07:34:00.002-05:00

How would you like a quick and dirty way to plant objections in your prospects' minds about your competition while at the same time you come out smelling like a rose?

This language pattern can be used for any aspect of your ad, but it's especially useful when your competition is hiding some sort of negative. This language pattern also asks a question, engaging your prosects' minds.

It also operates at a subconscious level. How? Say your prospects are shopping around, they're comparing offers, the doubt you brought up when they read your ad will be in the back of their minds. When they realize no one else will fulfill their wishes, they'll see you as their knight in shining armor and come running back to you with fists full of money. (Ha! Don't we wish it were that easy?) Okay, I'm kidding on the last part. But it will bring up possible objections and here's your chance to eliminate the major ones.

LANGUAGE PATTERN:
When you (SOMETHING THEY'RE THINKING OF DOING), do you (want/need) (SOMETHING NEGATIVE)? Or do you (SOMETHING POSITIVE or WHAT THEY WANT)?

EXAMPLES:

A BOOK ON COPYWRITING: "When you buy a book on copywriting, do you want get the same stale advice that is regurgitated time and time again or do you want fresh, useful, and persuasive ideas that will help you sell more at a greater price?"

A PLUMBER: "When you have someone come over to your house to fix your leaky toilet, do you want to see them several times a month, making their bank accounts bigger, helping them buy their Mercedes? Or would you rather flush without fear?"

Another benefit of this language pattern is that it uses both negative, moving away motivation with positive, moving toward motivation. A winning combo. But it's also flexible in that you can use two negatives together to make it stronger since, as you know, more people are motivated by the removal of pain than they are in going after a goal.

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Don't Be Like All the Other Non-Conformists

2008-05-08T08:31:00.005-05:00

"If you want to be one of the non-conformists, then all you have to do is dress like us and listen to the same music as we do." ~ Goth Kid in South Park episode Raisins

Highly intelligent and innovative people like you already know that prospects and customers want to belong to a special group. Maybe it's our tribal nature.

If you can put in your ads that what you are offering can have readers join this special, desirable group, you'll have a winner.

Equally important, especially in the West, is the idea of people not wanting to be part of the non-thinking members of society, you know the ones, the people who see a television commercial and then crave the object being sold. Or the ones who hear about a new toy, gadget, or game and then sleep outside the shop for a week before the item arrives. Ooooh, bad insult to be part of THAT group.

And you can use that not-wanting-to-be-part-of-the-mob mentality in your ads. Just state or imply that if prospects DON'T do what you're suggesting, they are just non-thinking, stimulous-response conformists.

SOME EXAMPLES:

"Don't get caught up in the herd..." or "Don't get caught up in that herd mentality..."

"Don't be part of the herd (mentality)..."

"I'm absolutely convinced that you have made that important first step and broken from the herd and that you will be one of the best students I have ever had."*

This pattern is quite strong, please make sure you have rapport with your audience before you use it.

* I got this NLP language pattern from Larry McLauchlin.

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Changing Perceptual Positions to Put Money in the Bank

2008-04-10T06:23:00.002-05:00

Today's post is more of an NLP technique rather than a language pattern. One of the hallmarks of genius is the ability to view a problem from more than one perspective and to identify with different perceptual positions. [Dilts, 1994]

In NLP, the ability to see from another person's point of view is called, "taking second position" or "taking 'Other' position." And it seems that many of the most successful, wealthiest copywriters have done this. In their imagination, they take second position with their customers' (or their clients' customers') point-of-view before they write a word of copy.

Doing this gives them penetrating insights into customers' minds and a way of writing ad copy that they wouldn't have gotten if they had just listed the features and benefits.

Here's some advice Robert Collier had to say about this in the 1930s:

"No matter what the product or service you are writing about, first put yourself in place of your prospective customer. Think of every property you could possibly desire in such a product or service. Think of everything you would like to have it do for you. Work out the ultimate ideal, then write a letter that stresses every desirable point of that ideal product."

(The emphasis is mine. It should be noted that Mr. Collier helped make the companies he worked for millions of dollars during World War I and the Great Depression.)

Here's a more contemporary example:

"[I] visualize my letter's recipients as living, breathing, thinking, feeling, walking, talking human beings. I visualize their day's experience... What do they worry about, complain about, secretly wish for, enjoy? Through this stretch of my own imagination, I try to become one with my letter's recipients, so I can anticipate their thoughts and reactions."

(That emphasis is mine again. This is Dan Kennedy telling readers of his Ultimate Sales Letter (1991) his first step in writing ad copy.)

[Photo by Ejhogbin].

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NLP Copywriting Critique: Make Your Ads or Website More Persuasive with This Service...

2008-04-02T05:46:00.005-05:00

"With success, [a] new business attracts competitors without brains enough to be original."
~ Doug Hall, Founder of Eureka Ranch

Have you created an ad and are wondering if it's compelling enough?

Are you using too many NLP Language Patterns? Too few?

Perhaps you're not a native speaker of English, but you want to put your best foot forward in selling to the largest, most affluent market on the planet.

Whatever your reasons, we are offering an NLP Copywriting Critique service. You send us what you're working on, and we'll send it back to you polished, persuasive, and ready to publish, put online, or send off.

This reasonably priced offer is limited to the first 10 people who contact me. It expires on 10 April 2008. If you're interested, find out more about it here.

(www.critique.nlplanguagepatterns.org)

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NLP Copywriting Tip: Casting Doubt for Fun & Profit

2008-03-22T05:46:00.003-05:00

All right, John Prospect is reading your ad. He's intrigued by your sales argument. He thinks what you have might be able to help him. How do you push him over the edge and get him to buy?

Doubt plays a big part in his decision making, of course. If you don't answer his doubts, he won't buy. Here's where standard copywriting will help you. Can you prove your claims to him? Do you offer a guarantee? Can you show him before & after photos? Anything to make your case and eliminate his doubt.

Luckily, you can also have doubt work for you. Here you create a doubt where customers will not succeed in accomplishing their goals - or eliminating their problem - unless they use what you're offering.

THE PATTERN:
No (PROSPECT or PRODUCT TYPE) has/had (ever) (BENEFIT) without (DOING WHAT YOU WANT/IMPLYING).
OR

No (POSITIVE ADJECTIVE) (PROSPECT TYPE) has ever (BENEFIT) without (DOING WHAT YOU WANT).
OR

No (PROSPECT or PRODUCT TYPE) would be (BENEFIT) without (DOING WHAT YOU WANT/IMPLYING). (NOTE: The above two are stronger. This one borders on just a plain advertiser-type assertion. If you want to use it, you'd better add some proof to back it up.)

EXAMPLES:
"No salesperson has ever become truly wealthy without mastering persuasive language."

"No stamp collection would be complete without these stunning first day covers."

"No successful coyote has ever caught a road runner without using ABC Products." (NOTE: ABC Products would be a competitor of ACME PRODUCTS.)

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign uses this pattern a lot. At various times she, or her campaign, has said these things:

"No candidate has ever become president without winning Ohio."

"No Democrat has won the presidency without winning Pennsylvania since 1948."

"No candidate has won the Democratic nomination without winning Pennsylvania since 1972."

Adding a time element (since....) adds more power to this pattern, especially the further back in time you go.

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NLP Marketing: Oblivious to Obvious NLP Copywriting

2008-03-16T08:34:00.002-05:00

Lately I've been seeing a couple of persons write how, if NLP is too obvious in an advertisement - if it is too blatant, it will damage sales. I once saw a seller's website where practically every other sentence was some sort of NLP language pattern. It was full of embedded commands, linguistic binds, mind reading, you name it. I thought, "Wow, he's gone overboard!" Turns out he was making sales everyday, and he wasn't going to touch a thing on his site.

These patterns are obvious to the people who already know them. Most prospects aren't aware of them at all. They would figure a sentence like this: "So he said, 'I wonder if you will get excited when you buy now!'" as just plain weird or hype rather than some sort of pattern to manipulate them. Readers know it won't turn them into mindless zombies ready to hand over their wallets. (Granted, being weird or using hype doesn't really sell either.) Surely, they're aware that most advertisements want to manipulate them into buying something anyway.

Listen, when a magician watches another magician do a trick in front of an audience and he knows how the trick is done, he doesn't think, "how can the audience fall for that old gag?" They are both in on the secret. See? The audience doesn't care. They just want to enjoy what they paid for. True magicians don't try to ruin the business of other magicians by pointing out their secrets.

OK. Let me finish this post. Bye now!

___________________________________________________

No Other Advertising Claim Beats Parity Advertising

2008-03-02T06:41:00.001-05:00

"Comparisons are odorous." ~ Constable Dogberry

Everyone selling a product or service should be able to differentiate themselves from all of their competitors. It's smart business. But what if you can't? What if you're selling some sort of commodity item? Or you're a copywriter who's been given an assignment for a product that's the same as every other similar product?

Well, help is at hand in the form of the Meta-Model Violation of Comparative Deletion. Copywriters who know their stuff will recognize this as a weasel word of the highest order. And like other NLP Copywriting language patterns, it's very easy to use.

Here's the frame:

No other (TYPE OF PRODUCT or TYPE OF BUSINESS) gives you more (BENEFIT).

and...

No (TYPE OF PRODUCT or BUSINESS) is more....

and...

No (TYPE OF PRODUCT or BUSINESS) has more...

EXAMPLES:

"No other car dealer gives you more choice."

"So try Cryalot shampoo. No shampoo has more natural ingredients."

This language pattern suggests superiority to competitors, but in fact nothing is really being said, nothing is really being compared. But because of the structure of the language, it appears that the product or business is at the top of the heap.

You can also stack this pattern for greater effectiveness:

"Use NLP Language Patterns for Advertising on your website. No other copywriting language gives you more persuasive power. No book on advertising has more range of language patterns for every circumstance. And no copywriting book will make you more money. You can count on it."

Needless to say, don't try to use this weasel when selling your products to NLP practitioners. They'll Meta-Model you out the door.

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Many Benefits for the Price of One

2008-02-06T11:42:00.000-05:00

Can't come up with a ton of benefits for your product or service? No worries. Here's an NLP Copywriting tip that allows your prospects to fill in the blanks:

One of the things you'll love/like/really enjoy about (YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE) is (BENEFIT).

EXAMPLE:

"One of the things you'll love about Arnold's is our large selection of high-quality food at reasonable prices."

This advertising language pattern presupposes that there are other things your prospects will like about your product. You don't have to mention what they are as your prospects will figure that out, either consciously or subconsciously.

You can also add additional benefits to your ads with a similar language pattern using the phrase "another thing...". These additional benefits can be something prospects wouldn't normally think they'd get with your product.

EXAMPLE:

"Another thing you'll like about using NLP Language Patterns for Advertising is that they will make you more persuasive in all areas of your life, not just business." (I would then go on with specific examples.)

You can also tie in a target market or an exclusive group (a group your market wants to be part of) with this pattern. Just change it to the third person.

EXAMPLE:

"One of the things wealthy internet marketers really love about NLP Language Patterns is how easy they are to use."

===============================================

A Never Ending Supply of Money

2008-01-23T09:13:00.000-05:00

By using language of permanence - the permanence of your company and the permanence of your results - you'll achieve top-of-mind positioning and make your prospects feel a whole lot better doing business with you. Placing yourself on your prospects' and customers' time lines is a smart thing to do.

There are several ways you can do this: straight out and tell them, implying permanence, or presupposing permanence.

And of course you can suggest moving towards permanence, in other words how the results and the help you'll give your customers and clients will be permanent or long lasting. You can also suggest moving away permanence. This is where you suggest that the pain they're in will persist, will be permanent unless they let you help them. Suggesting all the permanent problems they'll get by dealing with your competitors is also a lot of fun.

SOME WORDS YOU CAN USE:
lasting, remaining, stable, secure, staying, indestructible, endless, non-stop, stay with, year after year, day after day, long term, continuing, eternal, ceaseless, constant, enduring, persistent, etc.

Just use your trusty thesaurus to help you find more words and phrases that suggest permanence.

EXAMPLES:

STRAIGHT OUT: "We will work with you year after year helping you (BENEFITS YOUR BUSINESS OFFERS)."

IMPLYING: "We've been helping thousands of clients (ACHIEVE RESULTS) since 1989." OR "We've just updated our lease until 2015."

PRESUPPOSING: "Do you know of any other (TYPE) company that gets such long lasting results as ACME (YOUR COMPANY NAME)?"

So make sure you start using NLP Language Patterns in your ads and live happily ever after. . .

¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦

Expert Rub Off

2008-01-10T15:45:00.000-05:00

"What kind of a guru are you, anyway?"

~ 'Cosmik Debris', Frank Zappa

How would you like instant credibility? How would you like to take your learnings and have the people who taught you these learnings endorse you, even if you've never met them. . . even if they're no longer with us?

It all works with a simple language pattern and the meme that comes attached to famous experts. The great thing about this NLP language pattern is that you never had to meet your expert personally, just what you've learned from a book, video, or seminar from them (unless of course you have met them and they did actually tell you to your face, all the better).

But for those of us less fortunate to meet these great people face-to-face, here's the pattern you can use.

It works especially well in personal communications like sales letters, emails, or opt-in reports where you'd normally use the first person.

The covert expert endorsement goes like this:

"One thing I learned from (EXPERT'S NAME) was/is (WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM HIM/HER)."

OR

"If there was/were one thing that (EXPERT'S NAME) taught me, it's this: (WHAT YOU LEARNED)."

Examples:

"One thing I learned from Steve Jobs is always innovate, never stagnate. "

"If there was one thing that David Olgivy taught me, it's this: always make your ads interesting. You can never bore people into buying from you."

There are a couple of common-sense caveats that go with this language pattern: the first is make sure what you say is relevant to what your prospects want. For example, if you were selling cars, it would be pretty useless to say something like, "Well, if there was one thing that Vidal Sassoon taught me, it's this: be a perfectionist." Much better for a car seller would be this, "Well, if there was one thing that Lee Iacocca taught me, it's this: be a perfectionist."

The second caveat is to make sure the expert who taught you something is still alive or passed away recently (say, within the past twenty years). If I tell you, "One thing I learned from Abraham Lincoln was always be honest." It loses its impact more than if I said, "One thing I learned from Jimmy Carter was always be honest."

See/hear/feel the difference? The first one implies that you've got the information second-hand. The second one implies that you actually talked to Jimmy Carter.

Well, one thing Ben Franklin taught me is, "time is money." So, let me finish this post and get back to work.

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Advertising Techniques: Using the FUSE Method

2008-01-01T09:53:00.000-05:00

Wouldn't it be great if you had a way to write ads that immediately focused on what your customers wanted? It's amazing how advertisers who aren't doing well seem to ignore what I'm about to tell you. This post isn't so much about specific language patterns as it is on beating your competition. Fail to do these things and you'll be scratching your head wondering why you're not making any money, or even worse - why your competitors are making all the money. And using this method is as simple as remembering a simple acronym: FUSE.

F = Fast, as in fast results. Tell your prospects how fast they can expect results from your product or service. Tell them specifically how many hours, days, minutes if you can. Tell your prospects, specifically, how much faster you are than your competition. Dominoes Pizza did this with their pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less.

U = Unique. If you're offering the same thing as everyone else then nothing will stop them from buying from your competitors. If the only thing you can offer that is unique is your price, you're going to lose, because there will always be someone who can beat your price. This is where you tell them about your unique selling proposition and the ultimate advantages of your product.

S = Simple. Simple to use, simple to understand. Start off with your ad. Make it simple to read. Simple to understand. Cut the jargon and the buzzwords. Cut the "We are the best" and "we are number one" out of your ads. Now tell your prospects how simple your product is to use. Show them how simple it is to contact you. Show them how a few simple steps will help them solve their problems or help them reach their goals.

E = Effective. Prove to your prospects that you or your product can help them. Use every tool at your disposal: testimonials, quotes from experts in your field, article excerpts, pie charts, comparison charts, presuppositions, etc. Show them how, specifically, effective your offering is and how you will help them.

There you have it. An easy, four step method you can put to use in just a few minutes (fifteen minutes at the most for each product or service you sell). Use the FUSE technique to harness the power of the most successful companies of yesterday and today...and tomorrow.

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Using Sleight of Mouth Patterns in Your Ads

2007-12-11T06:48:00.000-05:00

The NLP Sleight of Mouth Patterns usually are used in a therapeutic context to take a stuck client from their problem state to their desired state by reframing and expanding their frame of reference. They are fantastic ways of changing a person's beliefs about what is possible.

They're also extremely useful in sales and advertising. By using Sleight of Mouth (SOM) patterns in your ads, you'll be able to leap-frog over competitors. How? Here are a few ways:

• Changing your market's perceptions about your products or industry. This is especially useful if the thinking about it tends to be negative.

• Changing what your prospects believe THEY can do. As mentioned in other posts, your prospects believe your claims, they believe OTHER people have gotten what you've claimed, they just don't believe THEY can do it.

• Changing the perceived value of your offer. If prospects think what you're offering is too expensive or can be gotten elsewhere cheaper, they'll leave you. Using these patterns is your chance to keep them interested.

Here are some of the more useful SOM patterns you can use in your copywriting. Answer the questions to get your reframe to put in your ads:

INTENTION: What are your prospect's intentions for buying your product? Aside from the obvious benefits, what could be a hidden motive or hidden agenda you can appeal to?

CONSEQUENCES: What are some of the negative consequences your prospects will experience if they don't buy your product or if they go with your competitors? What won't they get if they don't buy from you?

CHANGE FRAME SIZE: What are some additional benefits they will get once they buy your product? Also, how will your main benefit affect them later on in their lives? (Larger Frame) How can they benefit if they buy today/now? Why is the price of your product inconsequential? (Smaller Frame)

CHUNK UP: What is the “benefit of the benefit” of buying your offer? What higher level benefits will customers experience after they buy your product?

CHUNK SIDEWAYS (ANALOGY): What is your product like? What is it similar to in your prospect's model of the world? What metaphor would describe your product or your business?

HIERARCHY OF CRITERIA: What's important to your prospects? How is your product more important than that? Also see this post: Hierarchy of Criteria.

COUNTER-EXAMPLE: Why might your prospects not respond? What objections would/do they give? Anticipate their rejections and come up with an answer for them. So if your product is an information product and it's perceived to be too difficult to learn, ask your readers if they've tackled complicated things before and master them.

REDEFINE: What are some negatives associated with your industry, market, or products? How can you lessen the impact of these negatives without resorting to euphemisms.

ANOTHER OUTCOME: What else will prospects be able to do with your product? How else can they benefit?

So use SOM to turn your marketing pieces and websites into multi-faceted gems your prospects will start drooling over - and cause them to either buy from you straight away or try to figure out how to get the money to buy from you.

There are quite a few more Sleight of Mouth patterns and variations - For additional information on Sleight of Mouth, visit Robert Dilts encyclopedia entry on them here.

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NLP Copywriting Tips: Using Linguistic Binds in Your Ads

2007-12-03T12:14:00.001-05:00

Here's a slide show telling you how to make your ads and websites more persuasive using Linguistic Binds (double binds and single binds).

What Does Using Complex Equivalence in Your Advertising Mean?

2007-11-20T14:52:00.000-05:00

If you've come to this blog via a search engine or a link, that's great as this tells me that you need some help with your advertising, perhaps you want an edge over your competition. And this is a good thing because it means you really want to succeed. So now that you're here, you can be more successful.

The above three sentences are examples of the Complex Equivalence language pattern. And it's basically a way to say that one thing means, is, or equals the same as something else. It's saying that if the first statement (or first part of a statement) is true then what follows is true too.

• "coming to this blog" = "you need help with your advertising"
• "coming to this blog" means "you need help with your advertising"

In ordinary copywriting, turning features of a product into benefits for the customer usually relies on some sort of complex equivalence:
I'm selling pencils. They are yellow. You ask, "So what? What does that mean?" "It means you can easily find them in a crowded drawer." (yellow = easy to find)

What are you selling? What does it mean to your prospects? How are your prospects feeling? What does that mean? Does it mean they need your product?

To use the Complex Equivalence you can use these words:

• means
• must mean
• is the same as
• is one of the best ways to
• tells me

The same warning that goes with the last post on Cause & Effect goes with the Complex Equivalence: even though the Complex Equivalence language pattern is an Erickson language pattern, it also is a Meta-Model violation ("She didn't smile at me. I know she doesn't like me." --> no smile = dislike). So be careful how you use it. Misuse of the Complex Equivalence could mean disaster for your business.

This is This. . .

2007-11-05T07:14:00.000-05:00

Your reading and studying this blog and integrating the language patterns into your advertising allows you to be more elegant in your language and persuasion abilities. The result? More sales and more hard cash in your Swiss bank account.

Now that you've realized how important the mastery of language is and how vital it is to your bottom line, we can begin talking about Cause & Effect.

The above sentences are examples of the Ericksonian languaging technique of Cause and Effect: THIS CAUSES/MAKES THIS or THAT.

To use C&E you tie in with what your prospects are doing (or feeling) now and how that causes them to do what you want them to do or feel how you want them to feel.

(ACTION or FEELING) will help you/lead you/make you to (OUTCOME).
"Your reading this blog will help you to create more powerful and persuasive advertising."

(ACTION or FEELING) will cause you to (OUTCOME).
"Your lack of money will cause you to keep your eyes open for new opportunities."

Now that you've (DONE SOMTHING THEY'D BE LIKELY TO DO) we can begin (OUTCOME).
"Now that you've read up to here, we can begin talking about how I can help you."

Your (QUALITY) allows you to (OUTCOME).
"Your curiosity allows you to master this material easily."

Do be careful when using this pattern, because it is, after all, a Meta-Model Violation (Distortion), too. What you say does have to have some truth to it, or it will just sound incongruent and ridiculous:

"Just listening to the president's 'speech' will lead you to agree with his arguments and pick up a gun and head to Iraq."

Having finished this post now allows you to use cause and effect statements with elegance and pure persuasive power.

Photo of full moon by Frode Steen (CC A3.0)

Ecology Check (before your accountant calls you crazy)

2007-10-28T07:26:00.000-05:00

In a previous post I mentioned that it's possible for prospects to believe you and your claims, they believe that other people can achieve what you're claiming, but they just can't believe THEY can achieve what you're promising.

Another problem you might face, is the "system" your prospects are in, specifically, their family, friends, neighbors, and workplace. This is especially important if what you are offering is indeed life changing: weight loss, making money, gaining health are some common examples.

When writing your advertisements ask yourself, "what problems could arise if they actually achieve what I'm claiming?" You have to ask this question because you certainly know your prospects are asking it, possibly unconsciously. If you can get this information straight from their mouths, perfect. If not, take second position to them and see what you come up with. Use your imagination.

For example, if a person wants to lose weight and you sell some sort of weight loss product, prospects might start to think that "Yes, I can achieve this, but I'm going to have to buy new clothes, people might be sexually attracted to me, etc."

Or you might be selling some sort of money making kit. Same process. "I'll have to pay more taxes...I'll have less free time...etc."

Are they unhealthy and your product will make them healthier? They might miss the caring treatment and sympathy from their spouses and kids.

Keep in mind the system your prospect is part of and how what you're selling might negatively affect this system. Everyone from jealous family members to jealous co-workers could affect their buying decision.

Once you've run this ecology check, it's time to start reframing these objections. Spending money on new clothes a problem? Tell them that clothes for thinner people are less expensive. Worried about less free time because of your business opportunity? Tell them how they will have even MORE free time to enjoy it, especially with the extra money.

People telling you that using NLP Language Patterns in your advertising is manipulative? Tell them they are trying to manipulate you into believing that.

Get the idea?

The Strange Tale of Using Opposites to Add Believability to Your Claims

2007-10-13T08:13:00.000-05:00

Want a way to add some muscle and memorability to a claim you're making? Just add the opposite of what is expected to supply some contrast. I'm not sure why this pattern works. Maybe it brings an objection out into the open. Maybe it allows people the promise of a goal without having to give up something to get that goal. Whatever the reason, it works. Try it out.

Here's the pattern. Very simple:

(CLAIM). Even when/if (OPPOSITE)!

Here are some examples:

WEIGHT LOSS PRODUCT: "Shed ugly fat. Even when enjoying your favorite foods!"
NLP LANGUAGE PATTERNS: "Write persuasive copywriting. Even if you know nothing about advertising!"
POLITICIANS: "Become president. Even if not elected!"

If you are going to use the above pattern, I'd definitely use some strong proof or a specific testimonial to back it up. Just to be on the safe side.

Or, you can use the above pattern as a subhead, and then elaborate on HOW, specifically, your product or service will help them achieve that claim.

Create Ease/Eliminate Difficulty

2007-10-03T10:55:00.000-05:00

People are lazy. But you already knew that. Anything that can make your ad easier to read and easier to act upon is what you want. As you also know, people would rather have something done for them than do it themselves. So if there is any way you can make your product or service appear that it does all the work, you could have a winner.

Fortunately, direct marketers have done all the work for you and have come up with a twist in language that they have tested thoroughly. When these marketers tested the differences they were amazed at the response rates. (I'm too lazy to go find the exact percentages, but it was substantial.) All you have to do is have your product do all of the work using the third-person singular form.

So instead of saying something like this:

"You can make your ads more powerful with NLP Language Patterns for Advertising." (which is OK)

You will make it stronger by saying this:

"NLP Language Patterns for Advertising makes your ads more powerful and persausive."

See (Hear, Feel) the difference? You're getting your product to pull all the weight.

Here's the pattern:
(PRODUCT) gives you.../makes you.../allows you to.../gets you...(BENEFIT)

EXAMPLE:
"The HAL 9000 gives you the freedom to get things done and allows you to concentrate on the important things in your life."

To use this pattern, just make a list of the benefits your prospects will get from your product. Then word it so your product is doing all the work.

Image of a two-toed sloth by Leyo (Creative Commons 2.5)

Planting Seeds of Doubt

2007-09-22T11:11:00.000-05:00

Directly bashing competitors in your ads is considered a no-no. Doing so makes you and your offer look desperate, having the opposite effect of what you intended. (Just look at what happened with the recent Moveon.org full page ad against General Petraeus.) But there are ways to indirectly, almost subliminally put down competitors.

This pattern needs careful consideration and comparison of your offer and that of your competitors. The first thing you need to do is make a list of all your competitors' negatives and faults. Also take a look at their claims, and especially how they are separating themselves from the competition. This particular pattern is especially effective when attacking your competitor's USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Pay attention to the advice they are giving. Make a note of that as well.

Next, think of the negative consequences of the list. How can these consequences affect your prospects?

Now link a colorful comparison with one of the strongest negative consequences.

The Pattern:

(ACTION PROSPECT IS THINKING OF DOING) is about as useful/effective/smart as (SOMETHING SUPERSTITIOUS, USELESS, OLD-FASHIONED, or DANGEROUS).

So it comes out like this:

"The methods available now are about as useful as consulting a carnival psychic."

"Using a swipe file to write your ads these days is about as old-fashioned as calling your refrigerator an 'ice-box'."

Here are some examples using food:

"Counting calories is about as effective as using a laxative after every meal."

"Relying on those big-box chain stores for your groceries is about as smart as eating at Makku Donarudo seven days a week."

"Getting your pizza delivered in 30 minutes is about as tasty as eating road kill."

This pattern also works extremely well in changing the minds of the 'do-it-yourselfer':

RESUMÉ (CV) WRITING SERVICE: "Writing your own resumé is like cutting your own hair."

ADVERTISING COPYWRITER: "Creating your own ad copy is as risky as peeing on a State Trooper's boots."

HOUSE PAINTER: "Painting your house yourself is about as healthy as putting your mouth over a chemical factory's smoke stack and inhaling."

If you'd like (or you feel it's necessary), you can then explain or give a reason why you are saying that. For example,

"Creating your own ad copy is as risky as peeing on a State Trooper's boots. You might make a certain claim about your product and then face all sorts of legal issues - from being sued to getting thrown in jail for fraud!"

These patterns will start planting seeds of doubt in prospects' minds and that their previous plans (i.e., not buying from you) might not be such a good idea.

People familiar with the NLP Sleight of Mouth patterns will recognize this pattern as a combination of Chunking Sideways (Analogies and Similes) and Changing Frame Size.

My Blog Tells Me You Want Higher Conversion Rates

2007-09-16T08:08:00.001-05:00

Here's a technique that can make what you say or write sparkle. If you want to create a warm, fuzzy feeling inside your prospects, read on.

On reading this technique, you might think it's quaint or silly; Super Salespeople will tell you it's money in the bank. And I think the people who create animated movies with their talking toys and animals will tell you the same thing.

And the technique is simple. If your product could speak, what would it say to your prospects? And more importantly, what would it say after the prospect bought it and started to enjoy its benefits?

"Your hair will tell you it loves you."
"This software will grab you by the hand and guide you step-by-step through the process."
"This car told me it needs a caring, considerate driver."

Give your product human abilities and emotions to make your copy more memorable. Using patterns like these will come as a hypnotic surprise to your readers. It also has the advantage of being another way to include embedded commands in your ads:

"My ebook just said, 'Try me and read me tonight!' I couldn't agree more."

And just when you thought linguists ran out of labels, having your product talk has a label too. It's called Selectional Restriction Violation.

Here's what John Grinder has to say on the topic in the context of hypnotic therapeutic intervention:

In every natural language there are words called predicates which describe relationships or processes.

These words pick out specific categories of experience in the models of the speakers of that language. Certain processes or relationships occur only between specific parts of the models of the speakers' experience.

For example, using English, we are certain that the process named by the predicate drink has never occurred in any reader's experience associated with the object designated by the word nominalization, as in the sentence:

The nominalization drank two quarts of orange juice.

Linguists have characterized the kind of oddity displayed by this sentence as the violation of a selectional restriction.

Specifically, the predicate drink is said to have a selectional restriction which requires that it be used only with nouns which name sentient beings. Since the word nominalization does not refer to a sentient being, the sentence above contains a selectional restriction violation, thus explaining its oddity.

Erickson uses selectional restriction violations to force the client into a transderivational search for meaning. Erickson says, for example:

. . . a tomato plant can feel good. . . .

In the standard usage of the predicate feel, there is a selectional restriction violation which requires that the noun which appears as its subject be an animal or a human.

For most speakers of English, the sentence quoted above is peculiar; specifically, the selectional restriction on the predicate feel has been violated. The sentence doesn't quite make sense.

In the context of hypnosis, this selectional restriction violation is puzzling to the client who, in order to make sense out of Erickson's communication, activates a transderivational search for possible relevant meanings.

In this case, the set of Deep Structures generated by the transderivational search process will be identical to the recovered Deep Structures except with a noun substituted into the position(s) occupied by the noun(s) which caused the selectional restriction violation(s). Using the above sentence as an example, we have:

A tomato plant (deep structure) can feel good (surface structure). . .

One of the Deep Structures generated by the transderivational search process will be the Deep Structure associated with the Surface Structure:

. . . I (the client) can feel good. . . .

(from
Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, MD Vol. 1)

So get your products talking and your bank account will proclaim its love for you.

Don't Use No Double Negatives

2007-09-12T05:48:00.001-05:00

According to NLP, a higher percentage of any given population runs on a Moving Away Motivation (I certainly do). Knowing this, it behooves you to include negative motivation in your ads. If you don't appeal to people's negativity, you're throwing lots of money away. Sure, it's important to make big promises and load up your marketing with all sorts of benefits and advantages, just don't leave out the Negative Nancies.

Here's a language pattern you can use to achieve this:

If you don't (DO WHAT I WANT), you won't (ACHIEVE OUTCOME) / you will (NEGATIVE OUTCOME).

Some examples -

If you don't use Mr. Sparkle on your dishes, you'll be feeding your family harmful bacteria.
If you don't download NLP Language Patterns for Advertising by midnight, you won't receive your free bonuses.

See, what you're doing here is telling prospects what they WON'T GET if they DON'T RESPOND to your offer.

Another tip: You can also include an embedded command in the first half of the pattern - "If you don't use Mr. Sparkle..."

A Money-Making Framework

2007-09-09T08:32:00.001-05:00

In order to sell as much as you can, you can't just string a bunch of language patterns together in the hope you'll sell something. I have seen people do this, but I'm not sure how well they're selling.

You need a framework, a way to sprinkle NLP Language Patterns throughout your marketing to make it sparkle – and persuade.

There are plenty of these frameworks around, and some of them have been in use for a very long time indeed. If you've been in marketing for any length of time, you've probably come across these formulas: AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) or PPPP (Promise, Picture, Proof, Push). There are plenty of others.

One that works well with the integration of NLP Language Patterns is the AHEXBA Formula. Here's the way of it:

A=Attraction. This is the headline and lead paragraph. With this you are aiming and calling out to your targeted market. Normally, you'd mention a problem your targeted market is having. Some language patterns that work well for this are here, and here.

H=Hold attention. You want to do this so your prospects don't click away. Most people surfing the internet just stay a few seconds, UNLESS you hold their attention. You can do this by making a bold promise – and backing this promise up with very strong proof (testimonials or success stories work well for this).

EX=Excite. Now you build on your promise. Making it bolder, shinier, louder. Use VAK to paint a picture of how their lives will change once they use your product or service. This pulls them into your advertising where they say to themselves, “this sounds great; I have to have this!” But you're not done. You have to add more benefits, all the great things they'll get. Now go up on their Hierarchy of Criteria. Ask yourself, “Why would they want what I'm selling?” Now ask yourself, “What's even more important than that?” Put your answers in your copy.

B=Belief. If you've made your promise(s) very bold, they might not believe you. So you add more proof to the mix. That should take care of it. BUT another problem you might have is they believe you, they believe other people have gotten the benefits you provide; they just don't believe THEY can do it. You've got to get them to believe that they can. Here's where you can add reframing and presuppositions to get them to believe that ANYBODY can do it.

A=Action. Here you tell your readers/listeners/viewers what, specifically you want them to do. Since most people tend to procrastinate you have to do whatever it takes to get them off their butts and pull out their wallets. Put up a deadline and put it on their time-lines. Add scarcity and use embedded commands to get them moving.

This framework has worked very well for me and others who have used it. Once you've written your ad using the above AHEXBA formula, you can look through the other NLP Language Patterns for Advertising and see where you can place them to strengthen your message.

Assumptions vs. Presuppositions

2007-09-01T06:41:00.000-05:00

Many NLP'ers try to explain what a presupposition is by saying that it's an assumption. But that's simply not the case. To assume is to take to be true without proof or verification. To presuppose is to take for granted or take as a given.

Look at this example:

Eptu has over a million customers.

What can we assume about Eptu? For me, I'd assume Eptu has a lot of money, and that they are probably successful.

Now, what's the presupposition in that sentence? In other words, what have we accepted unconsciously as a necessary precondition in order for the above sentence to make sense?

Simple. That Eptu is a company. In order to accept that sentence as true we have to presuppose that Eptu is a company or business.

On reading this sentence, especially outside any context, we make the mental adjustment (in a split second) that we're talking about a company.

So, how can using presuppositions be applied to your copywriting, and why would you want to bother?

First, what do you want your prospects to presuppose about your business? What do you want them to believe true? A quick way of doing this is to help your prospects realize (unconsciously) a benefit they'll get by using your business. . . or perhaps reaching a coveted goal they're trying for.

A simple method of helping a prospect presuppose you'll be able to help them is by asking a simple question:

Let me ask you this: what will you do with all the extra money you will make using NLP Language Patterns for Advertising in your ads?

When prospects read this they'll presuppose that they can make this extra money -- and that NLP Language Patterns are going to help them achieve it.

Here's another example:

Do you want to order now or would you rather continue reading?

This question presupposes the prospect is ready to order.

Can You Use Conversational Postulates in Your Marketing?

2007-08-21T07:33:00.001-05:00

As you probably know, questions are a fantastic tool to get your prospects involved in your copy, don't you think?

To crank up the power of your copywriting questions, you can add what are called "Conversational Postulates." These are questions, that if taken literally, would require a yes/no answer, but in actuality, presuppose and produce a behavior. So if you are sitting at home and there is a knock on the door (or the phone is ringing) and your spousal unit asks you, "Honey, can you get that?" He or she doesn't expect you to just say, "Yes." They expect you to get the door (or answer the phone). You have just been exposed to a conversational postulate.

Another example is a stranger approaches you on the street and asks, "Do you have the time?" Normally, you'd look at your watch and tell them the time. They are asking you a question to get a behavioral response out of you. Do you understand?

Now you're probably asking yourself, "how can I use conversational postulates to make my advertising more persuasive?" Good question.

It's a simple procedure. Just think of a response or an action you would like your prospects to take, and ask a yes/no question that presupposes the desired behavior. Another way to do it is put an embedded command in a question frame.

Some examples:

"Can you see how our product will help you run your business?"
"Will you order now while this letter is still in your hand?"
"Can you think of all the ways this product will impact your life?"
"Do you see how powerful this is?"
"Are you going to click on the Order button to download this product and use it within five minutes from now?"

There you have it - a simple way to bypass resistance and increase the persuasiveness of your ads. Are you going to add conversational postulates to your ads now?

Pacing Prospect's Immediate Experience to Get Agreement

2007-08-14T12:32:00.000-05:00

As you sit there with your eyes focused on the computer screen in front of you, reading this blog post with your hand on the mouse deciding whether or not further reading will be worth your time, you realize how language patterns can bring enormous power to your advertising. . .

The above sentence is an example of pacing an immediate experience and leading it into a suggestion.

Ericksonian Hypnosis uses pacing and leading to bring on and deepen trance states, as well as making clients more suggestible.

"As you sit comfortably in that brown chair with your feet firmly on the ground, you are listening to my voice and feeling your arms resting on the chair you are starting to relax deeply..."

This is the same principle as the "Agreement Train" in sales. During a sales presentation you start getting your prospect to say "yes" to practically every question you ask. The first questions are the easiest ones to answer first, "You are Ted Marcus, aren't you?" "Today is August fourteenth, right?" You continue building on agreement because as the prospect keeps saying 'yes,' the more of a climate of agreement is built and bigger requests can then be made. "People really need quality these days?" "Everyone likes to pay with credit cards, don't they?" "So, you'll be buying this today, right?"

To use pacing and leading in your marketing, start by using words like "As" and "While" and then follow with what your readers are probably experiencing at the moment. Then lead up to a suggestion. You can begin the suggestion with awareness words: "know", "realize", "become", etc.

Another way to pace your prospect's experience is to empathize with a problem they are currently having. For example, if I were trying to sell my NLP Language Patterns for Advertising to Internet marketers, I'd say something like this:

"You've spent all that time and money creating a product and putting up a website, and yet everyday you look in your Clickbank account you see 0 SALES. Every time you look in your PayPal account you see BALANCE: $00.00. You have a good product. You are getting plenty of visitors to your website. The internet gurus said your bank account would be stuffed with cash. Why isn't anybody buying? The real reason nobody is buying from you is that you're not convincing enough. You need a way to...."

Painting Perfect Pictures for Your Prospects

2007-08-05T05:06:00.000-05:00

Top copywriters and salespeople, the ones who make millions of dollars in sales, are the ones who get prospects and customers to picture what their lives would be like after they've bought the product. When I was a kid, I bought tons of stuff from the novelty and magic catalogues (and ads in comic books). They were masters of getting kids to picture what a blast they would be after they bought their products. "Imagine the look on your friends' faces when you show them the label!" (Chocolate Covered Ants)

You'll be delighted with the results when you use these patterns in your advertisements. No batteries. Fun. Make millions.

• You can see yourself...
"You can see yourself driving home in this sexy Jaguar."

• You can see your...
"You can see your co-workers' jealous looks when you show up to the office with this."

• You can imagine...
"You can imagine all the pleasure this trip will bring you."

• Can you imagine...?
"Can you imagine the look on your girlfriend's face when you slip this beautiful ring on her finger?"

Tell your prospects what they will see, what they will hear, and how they will feel after they buy your product. Students of NLP will recognize this as the conditions for Well-Formed Outcomes. Except in this case, you're telling the prospects all the goodies they will see, hear, and feel.

Here are a couple of old ads from The Johnson Smith Novelty Company's Catalogue that use these principles:

DEVIL DOLLAR
Borrow any bill, place in transparent envelope - then burn it in plain view! Scare audience by saying "something went wrong", but happy ending when real bill produced unharmed. Amazing, easy. $1.95

STEREO TV SPECS
Amazing optical discovery makes it possible to watch TV in 3 dimensions on any set. Exciting, life-like, in-the-room action. Creates optical illusion that causes real thrill when watching TV. Get more than one pair for friends, relatives. $2.50

If You Didn't Think You Could Crush Your Competition with NLP Language Patterns, You Wouldn't be Reading This

2007-07-21T11:37:00.001-05:00

Presuppositions are some of the most powerfully persuasive language patterns you can use in your advertising.

Competitors are some of the most annoying pests to take the discretionary income from your prospect's pockets and put it in their own. The nerve.

What better way to negate your competition than using presuppositions to do the work for you.

Here are some presuppositions and examples that work well in achieving this.

1. COMPARATIVES
* "There aren't many hamburgers tastier than Krusty Burgers." (This presupposes that Krusty Burgers are very tasty and that other hamburgers (Krusty's competitors) aren't.)

* "There aren't many copywriting techniques more persuasive than NLP Language Patterns for Advertising."

2. END/STOP

* "The way to end lunch time indigestion is to eat Krusty Burgers." [OR] "The way to end your bad eating habits is to eat Krusty Burgers."

* "The way to stop falling for false internet marketing claims is to use NLP Language Patterns for Advertising." [OR] "The way to stop a plummeting bank account is to use NLP Language Patterns for Advertising."

3. BECOME

* "Why did you become concerned about getting great tasting burgers?" (presupposes they are concerned) [OR] "When did you become aware that Krusty Burgers are so delicious and nutritious?" [OR] "When did you become alarmed that McDonald's hamburgers are so dangerous?"

* "How did you become aware that NLP Language Patterns for Advertising outperforms other copywriting techniques?" [OR] "When did you start becoming discouraged by the results you were getting before using NLP?"

These are just a few ways of using presuppositions to lessen the competition in they eyes of your prospects.

When did you realize you needed help writing powerfully compelling advertising? Don't do it alone. Send an email to this address:loularsen@gmail.com

Eleven and a Half Ways to Use NLP Language Patterns in Your Advertising

2007-07-16T11:59:00.000-05:00

There are many ways you can use NLP Language Patterns besides putting them in the body copy. Here are just a few ways I've used them.

For example, you can add them in the following places:

1. In your headlines - These can be used with keyword rich headlines on your website or in regular snail mail sales letters
2. In your subheads - Create that "dual readership path" and make it more persuasive with language patterns
3. In unatributted testimonials - As mentioned in a previous post, you can create your own legal testimonials and make them stronger with language patterns
4. In the signature files of your outgoing emails - Great place for some embedded commands and a future pace
5. On your order pages or on your order device offline - Don't let prospects get away at the last moment, you have to make this page as powerful and as easy as you can
6. In your sign-up form - If you have follow-up emails, you can use the language patterns right above the sign-up form, instead of just saying "Sign up for our free newsletter!"
7. Inside the Follow Up Emails - Just like the ones you put on your website
8. Put them in your blog posts - You can add them to change states, change beliefs, make learning easier, etc.
9. Answering machine messages - Add NLP Language Patterns to your incoming answering machine message, instead of the "Hello. I can't come to the phone right now."
10. Voice mail messages - Use some patterns on the voice mail messages you leave (embedded commands are good for this) with other people.
11. Your business card - No sense just adding contact info and title on your card. Make them into tiny, persuasive billboards
12. You can (USE YOUR IMAGINATION). Wherever you need a little bit extra persuasion

Once you start realizing the power of these language patterns, you'll find ways to enhance your communication and persuasion skills.

You Will be Able to Future Pace the Possible After Reading This...

2007-07-12T08:16:00.000-05:00

Here's a great way you can create a compelling future for your clients, and it can be done with just one sentence. It's best to use this NLP Language Pattern as a headline or subhead. This very easy and very effective pattern goes like this:

Modal Operator of Possibility + Desirable Benefit (your prospects' goals) + Future phrase
or
ATTENTION: (Target Market). + Modal Operator of Possibility + Desirable Benefit + Future

Here are some examples:

• Be able to Control Your Boss's mind by next week

• You Can Speak French by October 15

• ATTENTION: Acne Sufferers. You can have clear, touchable skin by August 1st.

• You will be able to speak in front of a large audience fearlessly by April 10...

If you're selling some sort of money making opportunity, be careful of telling your prospects they can earn a specific dollar amount before a certain date; it's illegal to do that these days (at least here in the USA). However, there are other legal ways to imply your prospects can earn specific amounts of money. ===========================
Hey! Don't touch that keyboard! Listen. Stop struggling to write effective ad copy. Give me permission to write it for you so you can see your bank balance grow. Send an email to loularsen@compelling-copywriting.com so we can begin.

Hierarchy of Criteria: In Which Your Prospects Value Their Money More Than Your Product (and what you can do about it)

2007-06-23T07:28:00.000-05:00

Let's say that your prospects have an urgent problem your product can solve. They believe the claims you're making about your product. Let's also say that they have the money to buy your product. And that your product is sufficiently different enough (your USP) to separate it from your competitors. After all of that, they're still NOT whipping out their wallets and buying your product. What's the problem?

The problem is they aren't convinced that your product is worth more than the money they have to buy it. What you have to do is change that perception. To make what you're selling more valuable than their money.

There are many ways to go about doing this. The traditional ways are to offer lots of premiums/bonuses/freebies with specific cash values:

"If you order before midnight tonight, you also get these 3 bonuses:

• Bonus #1.... (if bought separately would cost you $49.95)
• Bonus #2.... (worth $29), etc."

You can also increase the value by telling your customers how much it cost to develop the product: "It took 7 years of research and tens of thousands of dollars to create the Wonder Widget. And it's yours for only $47."

You can tell your prospects what the equivalent of your product would cost: "If you went to a seminar to learn this information it would cost you $500.00, easily. But now you can have the same information that thousands have paid $500 for only $47."

Another thing you can do is add Social Proof: "Thousands of people across the country have paid $200 for this product. But now, thanks to...we can offer it to your for just $47!"

Of course, to get your prospects really off their wallets, you need to add a bit of scarcity. You can do this by telling them that the price will be going up soon (give a specific date), or you can tell them that the product will no longer be available after a certain number of days, or your inventory will be running out.

======================================================
Do you need help creating advertising that's more compelling? Drop me a line at loularsen@compelling-copywriting.com and we can get started right away to help you make more money.

Free Embedded Command Generator

2007-06-17T07:12:00.001-05:00

Here's a little piece of software you can use to put embedded commands in your ads to make them more compelling. It's been sold before for USD$15, but now it's free. It's quite small (581KB), and doesn't need to be installed (just delete it if you don't want it anymore). It's in .exe format so it will only work on computers running Windows®. Will you download it now, or will you download it later? It doesn't matter, because it will be there when you need it.

Click here to DOWNLOAD IT NOW!
That link will take you to the Mediafire hosting page.

E-Prime is Good: How to Make Your Copywriting Strong

2007-06-15T11:19:00.000-05:00

If you've studied the "rules" of writing tight ad copy, you have undoubtedly run across this rule: "Don't use the passive voice. Use the active voice instead." In other words, you would change a sentence like this:

"The copy was written by me." (PASSIVE VOICE)
TO
"I wrote the copy." (ACTIVE VOICE)

Doing this gives the sentence more power, making it clear and easier to act upon.

Governments like to use the passive voice to divert blame from themselves. When using the passive voice they can leave out the "doer" of the action (called "the agent" in linguistics). For example,

"Many mistakes were made." (PASSIVE)
FROM THIS:
"The Bush Administration made many mistakes." (ACTIVE)

So, if you want to make your ads sound like a politician's vapid speech, by all means, use the passive voice. However, if you want to give your copywriting clarity, strength, and power the active voice should be used. (;-)

Now, let's take this power copywriting a step further. . .

To do this, you'll use an NLP technique called Writing in E-Prime. (from Korzybski's General Semantics) With this technique, you scan your copy for all uses of the verb "to be." (is, are, was, were, am, been, being, be) and replace them with active verbs. Not only does this strengthen your copywriting, making it more forceful and easier to read; it also removes what Korzybski called the "unsanity" of these two problems: the 'is of identity' and the 'is of prediction' which can lead to all sorts of limitations.

Use E-Prime to make your writing more specific. Instead of saying something like "We are the fastest!" Tell your prospect how, specifically, fast you work. "We will finish the job in less than 8 hours!" Apply the Meta-Model to your copy. Search for violations. Zap the Verb to Be.

Don't knock yourself out to do this though. For example, which would you rather use, "She is a bank manager," or "She works in the bank in the capacity of manager"? Use E-Prime to add power and clarity to your writing. But don't torture yourself if you cannot squeeze all the verbs to-be out of your ad. It's impossible.

Disarming Your Prospects' BS Detector

2007-06-10T07:53:00.000-05:00

One of the problems with listing all the benefits of your product (which is still a very good idea by the way) and creating an ad from this list is that it creates the feeling of "this is too good to be true." And with that thought, you might just lose the sale.

A way around that problem is to use what's called a "Damaging Admission." And it's a bit of a paradox. Somewhere in your ad you simply state a minor flaw in your product or service. By doing this, you create a sense of honesty about your ad. The reader's unconscious thought might go something like this: "Wow, they're pointing out what's wrong with their product. They must be trustworthy." Just make sure when your stating a flaw not to point out any flaws in your main promise.

Here are some patterns you can use.

"We might not..., but..."

"If you're (picky) about.... then.... probably isn't for you."

"This isn't..."

You're not going to convert EVERY reader of your ad by using NLP Language Patterns for Advertising, but converting just a few more might make all the difference in your success.

Say No to Resistance and Reactance

2007-06-04T07:30:00.000-05:00

This is going to be the best copywriting post you've ever read, and I guarantee I'll convince you to buy my book by the time you finish.

STOP. What was your internal experience after you read the above sentence? I'd bet you were annoyed and put up some resistance. (Notice the embedded command in the first sentence?)

Reactance is the term used to describe the feeling someone gets when they realize they are being manipulated. As you can imagine, most forms of advertising cause reactance. And with reactance comes resistance – and no sale.

I saw copywriter Joe Sugarman do this in a talk he gave in New York City a few years ago. He started by telling the story of his life and how he got into copywriting. After about 20 minutes of this talk, he launched into a sales pitch for his books. Audience members who didn't know Joe complained, and some walked out. For such a brilliant copywriter he didn't deal with his audience's resistance.

So, a couple of ways to stop reactance and resistance are to not use superlatives (best, biggest selection, etc) unless you can really quantify them with numbers. Hype will also cause resistance, so don't use it. Don't tell your prospects what they are going to do after they've finished listening to/reading your ad. Tell them what to do, of course, just don't tell them that you are causing their actions. A lot of this is common sense really. Take second position when writing your ad and ask yourself if you would believe what you're saying.

Right. Now say you want to make a claim that your prospects might not believe. It's not BS, but it's not part of your prospect's model of the world. How do you get them to believe you? Resistance and Reactance theory suggests that you "address resistance by simply acknowledging that the message recipient would probably disagree with the message." This is reverse psychology at its best.

Joe Sugarman used the same principle in his multi-million dollar ads for Blu-Blocker sunglasses.

"I'm about to tell you a true story. If you believe me, you will be well rewarded. If you don't believe me, I will make it worth your while to change your mind. Let me explain."

Here are some similar patterns you can use:

• "You're going to find what I say next hard to believe: (STATE YOUR CLAIM)."
• "You're not going to believe this. (YOUR CLAIM)."
• "You are probably going to disagree with what I have to say next. (YOUR CLAIM)."

You are probably not going to use this pattern in your ads because you think it's outrageous.

Monkey Business

2007-06-02T07:21:00.000-05:00

Any good copywriter worth his or her salt will tell you to avoid clichés like the plague. They say using a cliché weakens your copy. They claim it shows lack of imagination. That's too bad, too. Because clichés often capture what you want to say colorfully. They are instantly recognizable and understandable.

However, there is a way to use clichés that allows you to use their images in a new way. It's a technique often used by spin doctors to use that image that everyone knows and allow it to slip into people's minds in an novel way. Of course, it also persuades the listener/reader to their side of the argument.

All you have to do is reverse, exaggerate, extend, or add additional information to the original cliché and apply it like you usually would.

For example, Christine Hanson, spokeswoman for Democratic Representive Jay Islee, said that the CIA's attempt to stop Valerie Wilson from publishing her memoir was like, "trying to get the cat back into the bag."

CLICHÉ: Let the cat out of the bag. NEW USE: Get the cat back into the bag.

Do you see how that works? It uses the same imagery as the original cliche, but it allows the reader/listener to see a new meaning, capturing some of the original color. . .and, more importantly, to be subtly influenced by it.

CLICHÉ: Opened up a can of worms. NEW USE: Trying to seal that can of worms. (implying it's too late) OR: Opened up a barrel of worms. (implying that it really is a HUGE mess)

CLICHÉ: Drew a line in the sand. NEW USE: Drew a canyon in the sand. (implying impossibility) OR: Used water to draw a line in the sand. (implying weakness)

It all depends on the meaning you want to get across in a novel way.

When you use a modified cliché in your copy, you get familiarity plus surprise - a winning combination. It should be pointed out that these modified clichés are often used in disparaging remarks. Useful when talking about your competitors in your ads.

FOR THE NLP STUDENT. I don't know about your internal experience when you come across a cliché in someone's communication. But for me, it depends on where I see or hear it. It also depends on who is saying it. If it's from someone who should be an expert communicator I get a strong Ki. Sometimes it's just disappointment, other times it borders on nausea. But if they use a modified cliché, I get a sharp Vi followed by a strong Ki that could be surprise or delight. What's your internal experience?

Wrapping it Up

2007-05-23T12:01:00.000-05:00

One nice way of finishing your sales letter or website copy is to offer readers a choice. Either they can continue with their old, unpleasant way of doing things, go with your competitors and suffer the consequences; OR they can achieve the results they want by buying your product or service.

The beauty of this NLP Language Pattern is that it combines both a moving away motivation (away from pain) and a moving toward motvation (to pleasure).

You now have a choice: (NEGATIVE OLD WAY WITH WASTED TIME/CONSEQUENCES OF USING A COMPETITOR) or (EASE, SPEED, PLEASURE WITH YOUR PRODUCT).

For example:

"You now have a choice: You can buy your dog food with the possibility of it containing melamine. Or you can buy all-American made Doggy King Dog Food, ensuring your pet will be happy and healthy."

"You now have a choice: you can continue to write out your features and benefits in the hopes you'll sell something. Or you can start using NLP Language Patterns for Advertising to gain an edge over your competition."

Students of NLP will recognize this as a Meta Model Violation (Either/Or Thinking - from the extended model). It represents black or white thinking with no middle ground/grey area.

All Wealthy Copywriters Do This...

2007-05-19T08:34:00.000-05:00

We all want to belong. It's especially thrilling if we belong to an exclusive group, a group where outsiders aren't welcome.

Your job as a copywriter or marketer is to make prospects and customers feel they will be part of a special group - if they buy your products or services. You have to convince prospects that your product is the word in the bouncer's ear which allows them to jump the long line, bypass the big guys blocking the door to the general public - and gain entry into an exclusive club filled with beautiful people.

You start by using NLP's Milton Model language pattern of Generalization (All, Every, Most, etc.). Then you include the type of people your prospect aspires to. Finally, you add what you want them to believe or do. So the pattern would go like this:

(All/Every) + (GROUP PROSPECT WOULD LIKE TO BE PART OF) + (VERB) + (WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO BELIEVE OR DO).

NOTE: You don't need to include the adjectives "All" or "Every" to imply a generalization.

Here are some examples:

• All the most successful freelance writers we spoke with, the ones who are actually living well from their writing, subscribe to Writer's World magazine.

• The best-loved teachers give their students ACME Gold Stars. (OK, that's a bit of a stretch - remember to keep what you say believable. This one is more believable: The best-loved teachers are eager to show delight in their students' success.)

• Bloggers who have become financially independent give their readers useful, hard-to-get information.

• Caring mothers serve their families Hostess Twinkies and Cupcakes.

Another way to use group mentality, and is especially useful for people with more of a moving-away motivation, is to tell prospects NOT to belong to an undesirable group. It's very easy to set up:

• Don't be part of the herd!

• Don't join the Chicken Littles of the world.

• If you're happy with being in the bottom 15%...

• Only the naysayers would think that.

To make this group pattern even stronger you need an outside enemy to attack the group or what it stands for. Why? Because it helps us band together. Feel closer to each other. Emperors, kings, and politicians have known, used, and abused this method of persuasion for centuries. I'll include how to do that for your ads in a future post. Successful people will be sure to read it; cretins will probably ignore it. (Ha! Just kidding!)

Why You Must Chain Modal Operators

2007-05-06T08:51:00.000-05:00

If you are selling any sort of do-it-yourself item (info products, kits, home repair, etc.), you have to stress how your product is easy to use. Any doubt on the mind of your prospect ("This sounds difficult," "I can't do that," "That's easy for people with talent," etc.) and you'll lose the sale.

Obviously, just telling your prospects that your product is easy to use isn't enough. You need to show them how easy it is. There are a couple of ways of doing this. The easy way for you is to give brief step-by-step instructions/process in your copy. So when I want people to buy my NLP Language Patterns for Advertising ebook I can say something like this:

"What do you want your customers to think about your business? Excited? Confident? All you have to do is open the book to the section where you can change your prospects' states. Then choose the patterns that best fit your situation, fill in the blanks - and THAT'S IT! All you have to do now is put them on your website or in your sales letters. It couldn't be easier. There's no need to study the psychology of your prospect. You don't need to hire a Madison Avenue copywriter..."

Another way to eliminate the doubt your prospects might feel is to chain modal operators of impossibility (can't) or necessity (should) to modal operators of possibility (can). Take second position to a typical prospect and ask yourself, "What could prevent me from achieving this?" Take your answers and reframe as to how it's possible. Here's another example I could use for my book:

"You might be thinking that you can't do this - that it's impossible, and perhaps you shouldn't use them. Maybe using these patterns is too manipulative for you. But if you open yourself up to the possibility that they are easy to use AND you are helping others then you can achieve your goals and help others achieve theirs."

I highlighted the modal operators here, but you shouldn't in your ads.

"Creating Testimonials Out of Thin Air"

2007-04-22T11:24:00.000-05:00

Almost everyone who does well in business realizes the importance of satisfied-customer testimonials, and many books on marketing and copywriting stress that YOU NEED TESTIMONIALS in your marketing materials. Testimonials are so effective in getting prospects to take action that it is illegal to use fake ones.

So what do you do if you're just starting out in business and have no necessary testimonials? Some tried and true advice is to get your friends or colleagues to try out your product and write glowing (but truthful) testimonials that you can use on your website or in your sales letter and brochures. If you're selling a service, you can give it away free (at first) in order to get some testimonials. This is probably the best way to get your starting testimonials.

But what if you have no friends and you're not particularily generous with giving your service away for free? What can you do?

The answer is you can use what are called "unattributed testimonials." These are rave reviews about your business, but they don't have anybody's name attributed to them. You are basically saying how great you are. This is perfectly legal. Sneaky, yes. And not as effective as real testimonials with a person's full name, city and the specific benefits they received.

To up the power on your unattributed testimonial you can tie your name with an expert in your field. It's probably a good idea from a legal standpoint to use an expert who is no longer with us.

"Lou's copywriting service has converted many prospects into paying customers. And like David Olgivy he treats customers with courtesy, respect and the intelligence they deserve."

Make sure when using your testimonials, either attributed or unattributed, to use quotation marks around them. Readers are very drawn to words surrounded by quotation marks.

Stimulate Prospects' Minds by Shakespearing Your Language...

2007-02-28T05:22:00.000-05:00

The Science Blog has websited this article on how William Shakespeare's languaging techniques create magic in readers' minds.

"Shakespeare uses a linguistic technique known as functional shift that involves, for example using a noun to serve as a verb. Researchers found that this technique allows the brain to understand what a word means before it understands the function of the word within a sentence. This process causes a sudden peak in brain activity and forces the brain to work backwards in order to fully understand what Shakespeare is trying to say." [MORE....]

The NLP Meta Model states how nominalization can be an impediment to understanding (that sentence is just full of nominalized verbs!). Maybe changing nouns into verbs can aid understanding. Then again, maybe not. See what Calvin and Hobbes have to say on the subject.

[Whole strip here]

STOP! Do Not Turn Page Until You Are Told to Do So

2007-02-22T08:53:00.000-05:00

Any reader who has been through the American education system will immediately recall reading those jarring words at the bottom of most exams. Coming up to those words definitely changed your state.

Although that particular usage had a negative effect on readers, you can use it to change your readers' (or listeners') states.

This is especially useful when you have elicted a painful state or had them relive a problem they want to get rid of.

You can apply this language pattern to stop your reader's internal processing and create a space to suggest a new action, a new belief, or a new way of thinking.

Here are some of the patterns you can use:

• Stop, and get a sense of...
• Stop and think about...
• OK, stop that and say to yourself...
• Stop for a moment and start to picture...

Once they have stopped, you can make a suggestion to get their minds going in another, more positive direction.

• Stop, and get a sense of what will be possible once you achieve this.
• Stop and think about how you'll feel once you start converting more visitors.
• OK, stop that and say to yourself, "I can master this!"
• Stop for a moment and start to picture how your neighbors will turn their heads to see you driving around in this car.

Beware of Second Rate Advice from Second Rate Marketers: Or How to Use Your Competition's Claims Against Them (Part One)

2007-01-29T09:09:00.000-05:00

Wouldn't it be great if you had a simple way of knocking your competitors out of the water with their own words? But without saying something as trite as this: "We're the best!"

The following language patterns will develop in your prospects unconscious negative feelings about your competitors. They come in the form of a warning. Personally, I think you should develop your products or services with a USP (or here) in mind. That way, you'd have a jump on your competitors anyway. But with the marketplace being what it is, sooner or later, someone without your imagination will steal your USP.

Try out these patterns if you need an edge over your competition:

Don't be taken in by (COMPETITOR'S CLAIM).
Don't fall for (COMPETITOR's CLAIM).
Don't be deceived by (COMPETITOR'S CLAIM).

After you use this pattern make sure you tell your customers why they shouldn't be taken in by/fall for/ be deceived by you competitors.

For example, as a freelance copywriter I could say something like this,

"Don't be taken in by other internet copywriters who say they will create copy for you that will draw money from your customers' pocket like a huge vacuum cleaner. It doesn't work that way. What you need are sound marketing principles. These principles have withstood the test of time and yet have been updated - and found effective - for internet marketing."

Language Pattern for Making Your Prospects Feel Guilty...

2007-01-14T08:12:00.000-05:00

Check your internal experience after I ask you this next question:

Are you still using Microsoft Internet Explorer?

or

Are you still using Microsoft XP?

If you indeed are using these Microsoft products, how did you feel after reading those questions?

Like most people you probably felt a pang of guilt and a sense of "what am I missing out on?" And this can be an effective way to either pull your prospects/customers away from your competitors or to try your new product.

This exact language pattern was used very successfully by the Thirsty Dog and Thirsty Cat company to get pet-owning prospects to try their bottled water for pets. Here was their line:

"Are you still giving your pet tap water?"

You can do the same. Just think of the ways your prospects are doing something now: trying to reach a goal, trying to get out of pain, trying to solve a problem, or just their day-to-day purchases. Then reframe it as an old-fashioned or a less effective method by using this pattern.

Are you still...?

You can make the pattern a bit stronger by emphasizing the word "still" - make it bold, put it in italics, or underline it.

Are you still writing out features and benefits to try to sell your products? Why not put NLP Language Patterns into your ads to make them more compelling?

Why should I buy from you?

2007-01-13T16:06:00.000-05:00

One question all marketers should ask themselves:
"Why should people choose my product or service over my competition's?"

If you've read a lot about marketing, you'll realize this is our U.S.P. or Unique Selling Proposition.

One language pattern to emphasize your competitive edge goes like this:

* Unlike other (COMPANIES IN YOUR INDUSTRY), (YOUR COMPANY OR PRODUCT) is the only one that (YOUR USP).

- "Unlike other landscaping companies, Green Thumbs is the only one that will give you your money back if you even get one weed within a month of our lawn treatment."

- "Unlike other marketing methods, using NLP Language Patterns in your advertising is the only method that DIRECTLY influences a prospect's subconscious decision-making mind."

Not selling enough? Maybe you're going in the wrong direction...

2007-01-11T08:39:00.000-05:00

Wouldn't it be great if you can get your customers to move in the direction you want them to go? NLP talks about 2 types of motivational directions. You have "moving away" motivation and "moving toward" motivational direction.

With a moving away motivation a person avoids pain, problems, and negativity. In the opposite direction we have moving toward motivation. Here a person is drawn to achieving goals, gaining pleasure, going after the good things in life.

Successful marketers agree that using a moving-away motivational strategy outpulls a moving-toward strategy by almost 10 to 1.

How can you use this? Brainstorm all the problems and pain your prospects are in because they don't have your product or use your service.

When you have a list, focus on the strongest for your market.

Then use this language pattern:

* Stop putting up with (PROBLEM).

"Stop putting up with a garden full of weeds."

"Stop putting up with ineffective advertising."

Then tell how your product or service can help them with their problems.

Using NLP Embedded Commands in Your Salesletters and Websites

2007-01-07T08:52:00.000-05:00

Why would you want to use Embedded Commands and other forms of covert influence?

When creating marketing materials you want to get your prospect's mind moving in "certain direction" without making them feel you are manipulating them. Because once they feel you're doing that, you'll encounter a lot of resistance, resentment, and the tossing of your ad.

Yes, most people want to be led, have decisions made for them, but they never want to feel like they are being manipulated. They can be manipulated, they just want to feel like they're in control. This ties in with the common saying in sales that says that people like to buy, indeed want to buy, they just don't want to be sold to.

Once you start using embedded commands and other forms of covert influence, you'll get your prospects' minds moving in the right direction soon will be transforming in to physical actions (such as pulling out their credit cards!).

What direction do you want your prospects to go?

In creating your marketing materials the first thing you have to decide is what you want your prospects to feel and what do you want them to do.

So before you can start embedding commands you have to get clear on what emotions you want to invoke in your prospects. If you've been doing any kind of marketing up to know, you've probably heard (or experienced) the fact that people buy on emotion and then they justify their purchase with logic.

This is important. If you try to use logic, features, rationalities (left-brain stuff) either without evoking emotions at all or before a prospect is emotionally jump started you'll lose the sale.

Think of your own experience, especially for larger, more expensive purchases. Didn't you get all emotionally worked up before you bought? And then either right before or just after you bought, you justified your purchase perhaps only to yourself, but probably to people you know?

Most advice on sales will tell you to evoke emotions, but they rarely tell you how. The best advice you'll get is to list all the benefits of your offer. This is a fine way to go about doing it. But what do you do if you don't really have that many benefits to offer? Most marketing experts suggest at least 6 benefits (inlcuding your main, most important benefit) to get the strongest effect.

That's where embedded commands and other forms of covert influence come in....

Embedded Commands

Embedded commands are language patterns that bypass the conscious mind and directly influence people at the unconscious level, allowing you to make people feel a certain way or to take specific actions. They are imperatives (commands) within (embedded) a larger sentence causing them to be responded to below a person's level of awareness.

We'll be discussing 2 ways of using embedded commands: the first one is to get the person's mind going in a certain direction – to get their emotions and feelings involved. The second is for them to start taking action.

First make all a list of all the feelings you want readers to feel about your product. Some common ones are

hope

anticipation

greed

curiosity

excitement

interest

There are plenty more. Which ones would work in your particular situation?

Since no one gets thrilled about buying a product, you have to include the benefits a prospect will get when they buy your product.

Now you can embed these feelings and benefits into longer sentences:

What would it be like to get really excited about making a living on eBay?

When you start to feel curious, do you act on it?

I wonder how quickly you'll feel the anticipation of meeting beautiful women where ever and whenever you want.

How surprised would you be to feel good about all the possibilities?

As you read this brochure notice how you become really interested in all the ways you can make more money.

Once you've gotten your prospects in a good, anticipatory mood, you can start adding embedded commands for action: You can try these commands out for starts:

trust me

decide now

believe me

call me

do what I say

agree with me

buy today

desire more

read each word

change your life

When you want to use embedded commmands in spoken language, you'll want to keep the commands to about 2 or 3 words (like the above ones). When used in writing the commands can be longer.

It's not necessary to decide now.
What would happen if you decide now?
Now you have the opportunity to buy today.
As you read each word of this brochure notice the excitement you feel.

So you see, you can put embedded commands into practically any sentence or question.

Make sure when using embedded commands that you mark out the command in some way. In written communication this can be bold, underlined, italics, colored, different fonts, or highlighted.

When using embedded commands in conversations or in monologues mark out the embedded command by STRESSING THE COMMAND, pausing.... just before the command, or pausing just after the command.

When you use embedded commands in your marketing make sure not to use too many - just a light sprinkling here and there, especially at the beginning and then again towards the end. I came across one website where the guy just put embedded commands everywhere. That ruined the message he was trying to convey. The most important thing to keep in mind when you are creating your marketing materials is how you can help your prospect...how you can solve their problems...how you can help them reach their goals. Everything after that is just icing on the cake and an addtional push in the right direction.

Make Your Claims More Acceptable by Quoting "Experts"

2007-01-06T08:08:00.000-05:00

"We take the very best of what people do, synthesise it down, make it learnable and share it with each other - and that is what the real future of what NLP will be and its gonna stay that way!” - Richard Bandler

You know what you can do to make prospects believe your claims, accept your suggestions, or just gain more credibility (even if you have none)?

You can start by quoting an expert or authorities. You don't even have to mention these experts by name. It's such a knee-jerk reaction when we see words like "expert" we can leave out the referential index and still get postive results.

"Communication experts say that using NLP Language Patterns in your advertising definitely increases your conversion rates."

"At the seminar in New York City, the speakers were saying that when they used NLP Language Patterns in their advertising they tripled response."

You can also use quotes from noted experts in your field to pepper your sales copy and to reinforce your claims - even if these experts have never heard of you --- even if these experts have long since passed away.

"...Language is a treacherous thing...it can seldom arrange descriptive words in such a way that they will not inflate the facts - by help of the reader's imagination." - Mark Twain

Another way to back up your claims is to provide quotes or snippets from magazine or newspaper articles.

"Despite the obvious role of language in communication and persuasion, the marketing literature has surprisingly little to say about how words are used to persuade audiences to accept advertising claims." - Journal of Advertising

You can find all sorts of great articles to grab snippets at FindArticles.com and of course finding true quotations from experts is easy on any search engine.

NLP Language Patterns for Advertising

2006-05-27T05:35:00.000-05:00

~~I'm moving this off Blogger.com and onto a new server~~. In the meantime, for more information, check out this website: NLP Sales and NLP Techniques