Episode 005 - Stories That Demonstrate

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05/22/17 • 0 min

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Ask any experienced, successful salesperson what the single best form of selling is, and you’ll nearly always get back the same answer: “Demonstration.”
That’s why savvy car dealers let customers take a new car home for the weekend before they actually buy the car. It’s the same reason Internet marketers offer a $1 trial for the first month, on products or services that are billed for far more than that every month. They know that when people get to try what they’re selling, a lot more of those people will buy it.
That’s why pet stores let people take a puppy they’re interested in, home for the weekend. In sales, there’s even a term for this kind of hands-on (paw’s on?) demonstration – “the puppy dog close.”
Oddly enough, you can get your prospect to demonstrate your products for themselves without ever letting the touch the product! How? By telling them what I call “demonstration” stories. Prospects get to try out your product in their imaginations.
How to create and use stories is known by some of the best marketers and salespeople—but virtually unknown by everyone else. If you don’t know what they are, we’ll turn that around now.
Now for my friendly reminder:
Copy is powerful. That’s why I’m going to give you some really powerful new strategies today. And then, you’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Now, most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time.
OK, back to demonstration stories, and other tiny little stories that really pack a wallop! And by that I mean, for the small number of words in these stories, you’ll get a disproportionate payoff.
How? In advancing the sale in your copy. In getting your customers to want to learn about and then buy what you are selling, more than they did before they heard the tiny little story.
• How to get your prospect to imagine experiencing the benefit of your product, without ever having the product yet
So the great artist Pablo Picasso said: “Everything you can imagine is real.”
Easy for him to say. When he died in 1973, he had an estimated net worth of $500 million – which would be $2.8 billion today. And on June 21, 2016, his 1909 painting “Femme Assise,” which means “Woman Sitting Down,” sold at an auction in London for $63 million and change.
I’m not bringing up all these numbers to make the point that he was a great artist.
I’m just saying, when someone can dream up images, put them on canvas, and sell them for big bucks, it’s easy for him to say, “Everything you can imagine is real.”
But Picasso was right. In this way. If you imagine doing something or seeing something or hearing something vividly enough, your mind really cannot tell the difference between what you imagined and what actually happened (or never happened). It seems that real.
This is important with the kind of stories we’re going to talk about today.
Because these stories are designed to get your prospect imagining enjoying one or more of the benefits of what you are selling. In such a vivid way that they actually feel like they experienced it.
Then, when they realize they don’t really have what they just imagined having, they will want it all the more!
We’ll come back to that point and explore it in depth in a few minutes. For right now, let’s look at some very short stories that get the customer imagining benefits.
These are from a full-page ad in the National Enquirer that’s been running for at least a year and a half. The ad is for a product called “Jitterbug,” and it’s a cell phone designed especially for seniors who do not want complicated, sophisticated smart phones like an iPhone or an Android phone.
Each one of these paragraphs appears in the ad, and each one of them, by itself, is a story that gets the prospect to not only experience the benefit of the Jitterbug.
They also tell a wonderful mini before-and-after story – contrasting the storyteller’s frustration with the old, difficult phone to the delights and ease of the new, easy Jitterbug phone.
FIRST ONE: In quotes – “Cell phones have gotten so small, I can barely dial mine.” Close quotes. That first sentence was from a person like the prospect, talking to the prospect, and it’s in quotes. The next three sentences are from the company that makes Jitterbug. All part of the same paragraph:
Not the Jitterbug Flip. It features a large keypad for easy dialing. It even has a larger display and a powerful, hearing aid-compatible speaker, so it’s easy to see and conversations are clear.
That’s it. WOW! Incredible story there. I had this problem – so small, I could barely dial it. Jitterbug offers this solution: large keypad, large...

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Episode 004 - The Hero's Journey

Birds and airplanes don’t always get along so well. Just ask Sully Sullenberger, the Air Force Academy graduate. On January 15, 2009, Captain Sullenberger was piloting a commercial flight on an Airbus A320 as it took off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport—and the plane ran smack-dab into a flock of birds.
Both engines went out immediately. One caught fire. Sullenberger quickly decided there was only one way he could save the lives of the people on the the plane, and that was to do the impossible: land it on the Hudson River. It was a risky move, but he correctly concluded it was his only option.
What happened next has been called “The Miracle on the Hudson.” Captain Sullenberger and his co-pilot Jeff Skiles made a safe landing on the icy river. All 150 passengers, 5 crew members, and both pilots of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 were rescued safely.
That’s a truly heroic story. And, it’s a perfect example of what mythologist Joseph Campbell calls “The Hero’s Journey.” This kind of story can work very well sometimes in sales copy. Yet at other times, a hero’s journey is the worst possible kind of story you can use.
We’ll cover what a hero’s journey is – a six-step formula. When this kind of story works in your copy, and when it doesn’t.
How to create your own hero’s journey.
But first, let me tell you a true story about copywriting:
Copy is powerful is powerful... it’s SO powerful. I’m going to give you some really powerful new strategies today. And then, you’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. You. Yes, you! Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time.
What are the elements of a hero’s journey story?
you have an ordinary person on a typical day, who is suddenly thrown into a MISSION (Captain Sullenburger, another day, another flight) the MISSION gradually becomes more and more crucial, and difficult (bird strike! No engines) the ordinary person is now walking the path of a HERO (he’s evaluating his options, but all the doors close except landing the plane on the river. He has no other choice. None.)
At a crucial point, the mission becomes a matter of life-and-death. Either literally or symbolically
Happy ending – hero overcomes insurmountable odds, wins, then goes on to share what he learned with others (wisdom)
Tragedy – hero fails, dies.
My own hero’s journey
Trying to make a living as a writer after my big corporate gig
Things got worse and worse; debt; tax problems; relationship blew up
I discovered copywriting
I HAD to make it work
Abacus letter – I died a thousand deaths writing it, but, it worked. Company went on to make $40 million with it over the course of a decade
People started asking me to teach them copywriting
I started to put out products, write books, and become The World’s Greatest Copywriting Coach
(ORDINARY LIFE – trying to make a living as a writer SUDDENLY THROWN INTO MISSION – I need to change something to survive
WALKING PATH OF HERO – It’s copywriting... and it’s do-or-die) CRUCIAL POINT – Abacus letter. HAVE to make it work or my new career dies. And I can’t go back to the old one. Life-or-death. HAPPY ENDING – It works – into eight figures of sales. I continue in my new life, adding: putting out products, writing books, and becoming the World’s Greatest Copywriting Coach.
Every hero’s journey has some version of this. It’s true in romances and comedies, too. It’s true in comic books.
I just saw the movie Jack Reacher, Never Look Back. Classic Hero’s Journey. The Rocky and Bullwinkle movie, from the year 2000, was basically a cartoon brought into 3D. It was a hero’s journey.
Singin’ in the Rain, the 1950s romantic comedy, follows a fun and light-hearted version of the hero’s journey.
It’s a flexible format... and it’s pretty universal.
There are some fairly convincing theories that we are genetically wired to tell and hear stories.
When this kind of story works in your copy — and when it doesn’t
I started studying the Hero’s Journey in New York City in 1982, at a playwriting class, and I’ve been studying it in one form or another for over 30 years.
Hollywood classes; books on fiction writing; observation and analysis of movies; writing stories... long list of different ways I’ve studied it.
It took me a long time to really get. I understand it pretty well.
Bringing it into copy is another story.
I’ve used it; I’ve coached others on how to use it.
It can really work great, but there’s one thing to remember.
Often it doesn’t work, and you’re better off without it.
Also, there are lots of little details to keep track of. For the s...

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Episode 006 - How to Write Better Bullets

Bullet points can be tricky to get right, but they pay off big when you do. This week's episode will teach you how.
An Afghanistan vet and his wife went to the housewares department of a “big box” store. They were looking for an electric can opener. The vet was an amputee. He only had his right arm, but it worked fine. The salesman showed the couple the best model, and started rattling off the features: U.L. Approved, cordless operation, easy to clean, 5 star reviews online. The couple listened politely but didn’t say a thing.
This made the salesman nervous. “Are there any questions I can answer for you?”
“Just one,” said the vet with a smile. “If I get this, can I open a can with just one hand?”
The salesman was embarrassed that he had failed to mention this, but he recovered quickly enough. He said yes—and the couple happily bought a new can opener.
Every customer is like the vet. I don’t mean that every customer is an amputee. What I mean is that there’s usually one feature or benefit the prospect is looking for. Or maybe they’re not even looking for it, but when they find out about it, that alone may be enough to get them to buy.
Bullet points are where you highlight individual features and benefits. Better bullets = more sales.
And here’s the first thing I would like to remind you of:
Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time.
Now, back to bullets.
How to screw up a bullet point – and how not to
- Don’t use bullet points to list your features example: you’ve got a device to hang business suits for guys six foot seven hand higher
Don’t: • One foot taller than your average standalone suit hanger
Do: • Built for guys like you, so the bottom of your suit will NEVER touch the ground
or even: • At one foot taller than other suit hangers, it’s built for guys like you. That means the bottom of your suit will NEVER touch the ground.
- Don’t make bullet points obscure, or hard to understand
- Don’t make them so short that people need to strain their brain to figure out what they’re all about
- DO: Focus on a benefit very close to what they prospect already wants, or would want if he or she knew about it
- DO: Use intrigue to “tease” the prospect about unusual benefits they might want, without always spelling it out 100%
example: you’ve got a tropical resort with a petting zoo for children.
Don’t: • Your children will have a great time with our friendly petting zoo crew: seven sheep, two ponies, four llamas and three kangaroos.
Do: • Your children will love our special petting zoo with familiar and exotic animals. They’re all safe, and your kids will learn about animals they’ve never seen before!
- DO:
Do your best to keep one simple idea to each bullet. Because if it is clear and compelling enough, one bullet alone can knock your prospect off the fence and convince them to buy.
• What the best copywriters do when they write their bullet points
- When you’re swinging for the fences, take some time crafting really good bullets
° One of my A-List friends, who has had multiple controls in the mail for a major mailer at the same time, told me he writes each bullet four times
° Another A-Lister, known for beating controls of other A-Listers, admitted that at times he would spend hours on one bullet
° If you’re going for a major-league grand slam, this is what you do. If you’re not in the most competitive market in the world, you don’t have to. But it certainly pays to put more time and craft into bullets than you have been doing in the past, unless you’ve been doing what these A-Listers have been doing.
° Most people don’t spend nearly enough time on bullets. Good idea to put more into them.
- Go over the whole product slowly and carefully – when you write and edit bullets, this is a time when you really need to slow down
° Pull out as many unique features as you can
° Make each feature into a bullet
° Then make each bullet as good as you can make it
° This is what the pro’s do
- Vary the length and style of your bullets
° All should be written in as few words as possible to get the idea across, like a headline or a subhead
° But some should be short and punchy
° Some can be longer and more in-depth
° As a rule, it’s always a good idea if you can start with one of the 5 W’s or an H: Who, What, Why, When, Where, How
5 tips for writing better bullet points
1. Know your prospect, inside-out, so you can write from the point of view that will most lik...