Essay preview
“The principles of hypnosis when applied to copywriting add a new spin to selling. Joe Vitale has taken hypnotic words to set the perfect sales environment and then shows us how to use those words to motivate a prospect to take the action you want. This is truly a new and effective approach to copywriting, which I strongly recommend you learn. It’s pure genius.” —Joseph Sugarman, author, Triggers “Wow—Hypnotic Writing kept me awake last night! I planned to read for 15 minutes or so before going to sleep and ended up turning out the light when I noticed it was past 3 A.M. That’s how powerful this book is. Sure, Joe gives you a world class education in the writing of copy itself, but that’s just a start. What you really get is a deep understanding of how people think, feel, and act— yourself included. This knowledge is priceless in turning words into power, and ethically using that power to sell more of what you offer.” —Bob Serling, www.DirectMarketingInsider.com “I’ve read countless books on persuasion, but none comes close to this one in showing you exactly how to put your readers into a buying trance that makes whatever you are offering them irresistible.” —David Garfinkel, author, Advertising Headlines that Make You Rich “I am a huge fan of Joe Vitale and his books, and Hypnotic Writing, first published more than 20 years ago, is my absolute favorite. Updated with additional text and fresh examples, especially from e-mail writing, Joe’s specialty Hypnotic Writing is the most important book on copywriting (yes, that’s really what it is about) to be published in this century. Read it. It will make you a better copywriter, period.” —Bob Bly, copywriter
“I couldn’t put this book down. It’s eye-opening and filled with genuinely new stuff about writing and persuading better. And it communicates it brilliantly and teaches it brilliantly—exemplifying the techniques by the writing of the book itself as you go along.” —David Deutsch, author, Think Inside the Box (www.thinkinginside.com) “Hypnotic Writing is packed with so much great information it’s hard to know where to start. The insights, strategies and tactics in the book are easy to apply yet deliver one heck of a punch. And in case there’s any question how to apply them, the before and after case studies drive the points home like nothing else can. Hypnotic Writing is not just about hypnotic writing. It IS hypnotic writing. On the count of three, you’re going to love it. Just watch and see.” —Blair Warren, author, The Forbidden Keys to Persuasion “Hypnotic Writing has it all. It shows you how to master and accomplish the three things you need from your prospects. Attention! Captivation! Action! Never before has there been such a treasure trove of techniques for writing magnetic copy. Hypnotic Writing can be used immediately. It’s an incredible desk reference tool. This is not a book you read and put up on the shelf for 20 years. It’s on your desk where you can use it every day. I love Hypnotic Writing and I refer to it more often all the time. Joe Vitale is the world’s first true and pure hypnotic marketer and this book will only bolster that fact. You will learn how to write headlines, openings, the power of perception change, and yes even secret laws of persuasion. I love this book. I encourage you to get your copy today and keep it away from your competitors.” —Kevin Hogan, Psy.D., author, The Psychology of Persuasion and The Science of Influence
HYPNOTIC WRITING
HYPNOTIC WRITING
How to Seduce and Persuade Customers with Only Your Words
JOE VITALE
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Copyright © 2007 by Hypnotic Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. The publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services, and you should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. For general information on our other products and services please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed by trademarks. In all instances where the author or publisher is aware of a claim, the product names appear in Initial Capital letters. Readers, however, should contact the appropriate companies for more complete information regarding trademarks and registration. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Vitale, Joe, 1953– Hypnotic writing : how to seduce and persuade customers with only your words / Joe Vitale. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-0-470-00979-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-470-00979-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Persuasion (Psychology) 2. Written communication. 3. Influence (Psychology) 4. Business communication. I. Title. BF637.P4V58 2007 659.1—dc22 2006020136 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Robert Collier
All successful communication is hypnosis. —Milton H. Erickson, M.D.
Words were originally magic and to this day words have retained much of their ancient magical power. —Sigmund Freud, 1915
In what I call waking hypnosis, however, all four of these features are absent; sleep is not mentioned in the preliminary explanation to the subject; sleep is not suggested, directly or indirectly; the subject experiences neither drowsiness nor sleepiness, if we may trust his introspective account; and there are present none of the objective indications of drowsiness or sleep. —Wesley R. Wells, 1924
CONTENTS
Author’s Warning Acknowledgments Introduction John Burton 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 It’s Time to Awaken Stop! Do This First What Is Impossible? A Disclaimer A Beginning Agatha Christie Proves Hypnotic Writing Exists My Secret to Hypnotic Writing You Can’t Even Bribe Me to Read a Lousy Letter! What Is Hypnotic Writing? Hypnotic Writing: A Case Study The Great Intimacy Secret What’s More Important than Copy? Hypnotic Writing Controlled Study How I Learned the Secret of Hypnotic Writing What Is Hypnosis? Two Ways to Cause Action What About Your Web Site? How Long Is Too Long? What Every Reader Wants to Know The Hypnotic Power of Repetition xv xix xxi 1 6 8 10 12 15 18 22 26 31 38 40 44 53 58 60 70 75 77 81
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CONTENTS
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53
The Inner Game of Hypnotic Writing Imitation Sugar Is Sweet, Too! How to Jump-Start the Muse How to Nail Your Reader’s Attention How to Make Your Writing Walk, Talk, and Breathe Give Me Some Meat! A Writing Lesson from the World’s Greatest Hypnotist Electrifying Tips for Creating Breakthrough Writing A Case against Perfection How to Persuade Readers to Your Side Warp Speed Editing Secrets Worth Killing For How to Make Your Writing Sexy How People Think How to Create Hypnotic Stories How to Control the “Command Center” in Your Prospect’s Mind The One Hypnotic Command That Always Works What I Learned from The Sea Wolf Your Turning Point Message What Everyone Will Always Read Your Connotation Is Showing What Are My Secrets for Writing Hypnotic Selling Stories? Hypnotic Blogging Reminders as Triggers How to Change Average Writing into Hypnotic Writing 30 Ways to Write a Hypnotic Headline Hypnotic Openings Hypnotic Quiz My Three Biggest Secrets How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? How to Change Perception At Last! The Joe Vitale Hypnotic Writing Formula A New Hypnotic Copy Checklist The Five Secret Laws of Hypnotic Persuasion
84 91 96 99 103 109 112 115 118 121 127 133 137 139 144 148 152 155 158 160 164 166 174 176 178 189 192 193 197 199 205 215 217
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Contents
54 55 56
The Seven Most Hypnotic Books of All Time The Hypnotic Writing Formula Your Challenge
219 222 224 225 246 253 261 262
Appendix: Hypnotic E-Mails Bibliography Index About Dr. Joe Vitale Bonus Offer
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AUTHOR’S WARNING
T
he material you are about to read is based on a privately published book I sold to seminar attendees in 1985. I later updated and released the material in 1995, as my first e-book. It became an instant online bestseller. In 2004 I taught a private seminar based on the principles in this book. Attendees paid $5,000 each to sit at my feet and hear the secrets you are about to read. This book in your hands is an enlarged, revised, and updated edition of all my previous works on the subject. Hypnotic Writing is powerful. Anyone who uses it will increase their ability to communicate and persuade, which can obviously lead to more sales. But there are other reasons to use Hypnotic Writing than immediate sales. For example, a friend of mine is a medical doctor. He can’t get everyone to follow his advice. Smokers keep smoking. Overeaters keep eating. If he knew some of the principles of persuasion that you’ll learn in this book, he would be better able to up his success rate at getting people to do what is in their best interest to do. Whether he writes or speaks, he could use words in a more hypnotic way to get better results. Also novelists, journalists, romance writers, e-mail writers, web site creators, and even blog writers can use Hypnotic Writing to capture more readers and keep them longer. The secrets in this book will help you make your writing stand out in the crowd. In
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AUTHOR’S WARNING
this age of information overload, you need an edge. Hypnotic Writing is it. This book itself is an example of Hypnotic Writing. Throughout this book you will find yourself going into a light hypnotic trance. Better stated, you will not notice you were in a trance until you wake up from it. In other words, you will become aware that you hadn’t been aware. That’s fine, as it means you were in a “waking trance” (which I explain later). Obviously, this will not cause you any harm. I’m mentioning it so you become alert to the hidden mechanism of Hypnotic Writing at work, even in this very book, so you can begin to use it in your own writings later. Please use this material for good. You cannot make anyone do anything against their will, so don’t even try. Hypnotic Writing is for ethical businesspeople (or anyone else) who want to better state their case to their prospects. Someone wrote me a nice letter, thanking me for my books but also taking the time to tell me she was “put off ” by my use of hypnosis in marketing. She said it removed choice from people. She thought it was evil. Since you may be thinking the same thing, let me point out a few facts: • Hypnosis never removes choice. You can’t be made to do something under hypnosis that you didn’t already want to do while fully awake. For proof, just ask yourself if you buy everything I offer. Probably not. Yet I’m the father of Hypnotic Writing. Obviously, you used your power of choice to buy or not, despite any “hypnosis” in my marketing. • Hypnosis is not evil. It is used by dentists, doctors, and psychologists to help people get more of what they want out of life. It’s been sanctioned by the American Medical Association since the 1950s. Anyone still thinking hypnosis is evil is caught up in a cultural myth, which is a kind of trance all by itself. So what is hypnosis?
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Author’s Warning
My definition of hypnosis is anything that holds your attention. A good movie, or book, is a type of hypnosis. So is a good sales letter, or sales pitch, or infomercial. I’m not talking about manipulating minds; I’m talking about entertaining them. For example: • Britney Spears is pretty hypnotic. But not everyone buys her music. (I don’t.) • Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, is pretty hypnotic. But not everyone buys his books. (I don’t.) • Harry Potter has much of the world in a trance. But not everyone buys the books. (I don’t.) Bottom line: Hypnosis is another tool. It does not control people and it does not give godlike powers to anyone. In marketing, it gives you an edge, but if you use it to try to sell a lousy product, it won’t help you at all. Kevin Hogan, hypnosis trainer and author of several books, including The Psychology of Persuasion, says, “Hypnosis makes life better in most every way. It gives a salesperson or marketer a decided advantage over the competition but not over the client.” You want to learn Hypnotic Writing because it helps you get and hold attention. It also makes you a much better communicator. After all, if you aren’t getting attention and you aren’t holding it, you aren’t doing any selling, are you? —Joe Vitale, www.mrfire.com
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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want to thank everyone involved in creating this book, many of whom I’ll forget to mention by name, so forgive me. Nerissa, my love, is my main support person and best friend. Matt Holt and my friends at Wiley are terrific people to know and work with. Blair Warren and David Deutsch are best friends and lovers of books. Suzanne Burns is my key assistant and publicist, and a positive influence in my life. Kevin Hogan helped me become a better hypnotist. David Garfinkel and everyone in my mastermind group supported me in this project, including Jillian Coleman-Wheeler, Cindy Cashman, Craig Perrine, Pat O’Bryan, Bill Hibbler, and Nerissa Oden. Mark Joyner was the first to believe in this book over 10 years ago, when it was a skinny e-book that made history online. Elsom Eldridge has shown his support of me and this material every year by asking me to speak about Hypnotic Writing at the annual National Guild of Hypnotists convention. Thank you, one and all.
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INTRODUCTION
John Burton
ow! Multilayered goodness in each piece. You think the outer layer is wonderful but then, as you delve deeper, you go to the center and find the most satisfying textures, savoring each uniquely flavored nugget. A new candy bar? No, no, no. Joe’s new book, Hypnotic Writing, a “how to” manual, is just that and so much more. Joe not only describes how to do Hypnotic Writing with great details and guidance, he also explains what it is and why to use it along with countless examples of successful applications. You get to glimpse behind the scenes into the creation of Hypnotic Writing. And you get to learn how to do Hypnotic Writing for yourself as Joe guides and supports you through the whole learning process. Just who am I to make such claims about Joe’s book, Hypnotic Writing? I come from a field, not so far away, a field where I also explore, develop, and utilize hypnotic language. But I use hypnotic language differently from Joe. I hold a doctorate from Vanderbilt University in human development counseling and a master’s in clinical psychology. I’m a licensed counselor and supervisor in Greenville, South Carolina, running my own private counseling practice. I’ve been a practicing counselor for over 20 years and a practicing human being for 51 years. I’m also certified as a clinical hypnotherapist. I co-wrote Hypnotic Language: Its Structure and
W
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INTRODUCTION
Use and was the sole author of States of Equilibrium. My next hypnotic language book is due for publishing this autumn. Now we find the convergence. I hold a great fascination and appreciation for language and its amazing power. Words exist like winged energy, transporting us to places high and wide. Words link each of us together as human beings. Words can paint pictures, move us to tears or to joy. Words can expand our consciousness until there are no words for the experience. I have read and studied, practiced, and been in trainings with experts in hypnosis. Language is the vehicle that transports us to that wonderful otherworld, hypnotic trance. Here, we can do anything as everything is available. Joe Vitale is an expert in his field. He has studied, read countless books and articles, and practiced and received trainings from linguistic and marketing experts. He uses this expertise to persuade consumers to purchase particular products or services. Some might say that the category of marketing or sales and the category of psychotherapy exist in a mutually exclusive way. But I can safely say that while sales is not therapy, therapy is sales. So I am familiar with this interesting process and its dynamics. Perception, motivation, and values combine to create choice. Language in general and hypnotic language in particular, written or spoken, can provide the necessary perceptual shifts, access motivation, and lead toward satisfying choices. Choice may exist as the way our free will manifests. Joe skillfully and effectively identifies and works with these principles and dynamics that exist within each of us. And he does it with love, yes love! Joe does not stoop to low-level and transparent tricks in his work. He rises to higher levels of being in order to bring love into the equation. I believe this element of love provides the difference in what works over the long haul with consistency. After all, love is what we each seek. Love rules. As William Law stated, “Love is infallible, it has no errors, for all errors are the want of love.” Joe accomplishes many feats in this book. He does not make you meet him where he is; he meets you where you are. This makes it so much easier for the reader, you. Joe does what good teachers do. He
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Introduction
helps you identify your current style, ways of thinking, and beliefs. He provides exercises to encourage getting in touch with your thoughts, perceptions, and goals. And imagine this: He induces a trance in the process! Throughout this whole work, Joe masterfully invokes trance after trance so that you will gain insight and more deeply understand Hypnotic Writing. Experience is not just the best teacher. It may be the only teacher. Reading this book gives you the experience of Hypnotic Writing. This all leads to your mastery of Hypnotic Writing. But this process of gaining mastery includes more than just writing hypnotically. Another significant quality of this book is that you don’t just learn Joe’s Hypnotic Writing. You learn how to do this for yourself, how to make Hypnotic Writing your own. Joe does not suggest you mimic him. He does not want you to write from rote! He shows you how to launch off in your own direction, drawing on your inner creativity. How does Joe do it? Well, this brings us to another powerful dynamic recurring throughout this book. The book presents the material in such a way as to makes the unconscious conscious. Hmmm, now that’s an interesting notion. Just what the heck is that, the unconscious becoming conscious? Some of you may have experienced your conscious mind becoming unconscious. But with Joe’s book, he writes in a way that increases your awareness, not just by providing you with more information. Joe lifts the cover off the unconscious processes used in Hypnotic Writing. Now you can see, understand, and utilize these potent principles in your own writing. The genius of the master hypnotherapist, Milton Erickson, was apparently so natural to him that Erickson himself could not or would not fully explain the processes he used in hypnotherapy. Many experts studied Erickson’s hypnotherapeutic ways so that others could understand the processes and utilize them as therapists. In this book, Joe identifies and illuminates the many attributes of effective Hypnotic Writing. You don’t have to wonder what qualities are present in Hypnotic Writing. He lists them clearly. Joe provides examples and practice exercises for you to gain familiarity with them.
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INTRODUCTION
Yet another accomplishment happens in this book. Joe not only shows you how to write hypnotically, not only shows you how he does it, not only helps you develop your own style, but (whew!) he provides you with references to numerous experts who know Hypnotic Writing and the mental-behavioral principles driving it from within. He shows you, trains you, and then points you toward resources that you can use to further enlighten and train yourself. The result is that you gain the knowledge and master the knowhow to become an accomplished hypnotic writer. Oh, and one more thing. You must practice. Only practice as much as you want to get good at Hypnotic Writing. John J. Burton, Ed.D. Author, Hypnotic Language and States of Equilibrium www.DrJohnBurton.com
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1 IT’S TIME TO AWAKEN
“ ou are getting sleepier . . . sleepier. . . . As I count backward from 10 to 1, you will feel your eyelids getting heavier . . . and heavier. . . .” That’s the image you probably get when you think of hypnosis. And you’re right. Hypnosis is about getting you so relaxed that your mind, especially your subconscious, is more receptive to commands. Hypnosis is controversial but effective. It’s been around since 4 B.C., and for good reason. It works. To understand Hypnotic Writing better, let’s begin with a little history.
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IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE TRANCE According to William Edmonston in The Induction of Hypnosis, trance states and the seeds for hypnosis began with the ancient Hindus. Later, ancient Greeks in the fifth century B.C. used “sleep temples” to help cure people. Most of the other ancients, including the Romans, used words to create spells. They also usually placed their hands on or over people to move the “magnetic energy” within them. In 1765 Franz Anton Mesmer, generally (and inaccurately) considered the father of “mesmerism,” opened salons where patients applied magnets to afflicted parts of their bodies. Later Mesmer
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HYPNOTIC WRITING
moved to Paris where he further developed his theory. He became very popular. He wasn’t using hypnotism per se, but he was using words to create suggestion, probably unknowingly, to influence his patients. In 1784 Louis XVI set up a commission to investigate Mesmer. It included Benjamin Franklin, M. La Guillotin, and AntoineLaurent Lavoisier. They concluded that magnetism with imagination had some effect, but Mesmer’s magnetism and magnet healing theories were discredited. Le Marquis de Puysegur believed magnetic power was produced in his own mind and was transferred to the patient via his fingertips. He found that he could produce a sleep in which the patient would follow his commands. In 1841 the British doctor James Braid saw a demonstration of mesmerism by a Frenchman named La Fontaine. He was impressed, and started using the mesmerism techniques in his practice. He used a shiny bright lancet case to induce his patients to enter a deep “hypnotic sleep.” In that state his patients would accept his suggestions. He coined the word Neurypnology (literally ‘nervous sleep’), from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. This was the first use of the word hypnosis. Dr. Braid didn’t care for magnetism, believing rather in “fascination” (fixation) and verbal suggestion. He also instituted the use of hypnosis as anesthesia for both minor and major operations. In 1884 Dr. Ambroise-August Liebeault of France proclaimed that he could cure people in a hypnotic state by suggestion. In 1886 he was joined by Professor Bernheim from Paris, and together they published De La Suggestion, which further rejected the concept of magnetism. During World War I, between 1914 and 1918, the Germans realized that hypnosis could help treat victims of shell-shock. It allowed soldiers to return to the trenches almost immediately. A formularized version of hypnosis, called Autogenic Training, was devised by Dr. Wilhem Schultz. After World War II, Milton Erickson—arguably the most famous hypnotist of all time—had a major impact on the practice
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It’s Time to Awaken
and understanding of hypnosis and the mind. He theorized that hypnosis is a state of mind that all of us are normally entering spontaneously and frequently. As you’ll soon see, this has enormous implications for your ability to influence people through your written words. On the heels of Erickson’s work, hypnosis evolved into a wellrespected practice, used by doctors, psychologists, business and law enforcement personnel, and even by people in sales and marketing. It’s also used for self help and self improvement. With the development of self-hypnosis, one doesn’t even need to rely on a therapist any longer. Hypnosis is a tool, not a cure in and of itself. It is used for stress management, stress related disorders, dental and medical anxiety, and anesthesia, even in obstetrics. It is also used for pain management, as an adjunct to psychotherapy, and in the management of a wide range of phobic, anxiety, and other medical and psychological problems. It’s being used by dentists, doctors, and therapists as well as stage hypnotists. It’s been sanctioned by the American Medical Association since the 1950s. It’s been used to help people with a variety of problems, from psychological to physical ones.
HYPNOTIC WRITING But none of the above is Hypnotic Writing. You don’t want your readers to fall asleep and neither do I. By “Hypnotic Writing” I mean writing that is irresistible. Writing that rivets your eyes to the page. Writing that is so clear and concise and effective that you can’t resist reading all of it. And more than that, Hypnotic Writing gets you to remember—and act—on what you’ve read. Hypnotic Writing is spellbinding, unforgettable, and filled with embedded commands. That’s a lot better than putting your reader to sleep, isn’t it? I believe you’ve come across Hypnotic Writing at one time or another. Think back to the last time you were totally focused on a letter or a book. Did you lose track of time? Did someone call you,
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HYPNOTIC WRITING
but you didn’t hear them yell out? Were you so absorbed in your reading that nothing else mattered? Face it. You were hypnotized. Even Shakespeare used Hypnotic Writing, though of course he would never have called it that. According to Peter Brown, in his book, The Hypnotic Brain, Shakespeare’s The Tempest uses hypnotic induction to get readers captivated. The play begins with a shipwreck, causing people to sit up and take notice. That’s a key element in hypnosis: Get attention. Shakespeare did it. The play then moves into a dialogue where the audience is told to sit still and listen. That’s a hypnotic command. Brown adds, “The story is as absorbing and moving today as it was nearly four hundred years ago.” One of the readers of my books wrote me one day to tell me a book he had read hypnotized him to stop smoking. He said Allen Carr’s book, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, actually awakens people from their trance of addiction. By the time they finish reading the book, they are nonsmokers. Apparently Carr’s Hypnotic Writing works, as he has now helped millions of people stop smoking. Many people said just reading the book will help you stop smoking. Friends told me the same thing happened when they read Healing Back Pain by John Sarno. Again, apparently just reading the book helped them awaken from the “pain trance” and actually alleviated and in many cases cured their back pain. I had a similar experience while reading Sarno’s latest book, The Divided Mind. It seemed to take me from one trance—believing in the power of traditional medicine—and to put me in another trance—believing in the power of the unconscious mind. This is the power of Hypnotic Writing. (I explore this trance state in my next book, Buying Trances.) In fact, in a few pages I prove how one of the greatest mystery writers of all time actually used hypnotic techniques in her books to make her readers buy more of them. In short, she made readers addicted to her novels. I love Hypnotic Writing. I long to read books that capture my attention and won’t let go. Actually, I don’t see enough writing of that caliber. Do you?
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It’s Time to Awaken
If you want to hold your reader’s attention, then you have to learn how to create Hypnotic Writing. That’s what this book is all about. My intention is to reveal—for the first time anywhere—the principles and strategies that will transform your writings. In an age when radio, television, computer games, videos, and movies are screeching for our attention—and when there is more information than you can possibly read—you must learn to write material your readers can’t avoid. You don’t have any other choice. With these Hypnotic Writing concepts in mind, you’ll begin to write memos, letters, ads, reports, and yes—even books—that few can resist. You will be able to create mesmerizing writing. You will become a superwriter! You will be equipped to develop writing that outshines the competition and dazzles your readers! And with your new ability, you’ll be able to get more results and command higher pay for your work. “Hypnotic Writing,” in short, will give you the edge you need to create successful and powerful writing. Hypnotic Writing isn’t about manipulation; it’s about communication. You won’t put your prospects or buyers into trance states where they do your bidding. People will never do what they don’t have a latent desire to already do. The idea behind Hypnotic Writing is to help you better communicate, and thus better persuade people. All of this will become clear as you move through this book. Are you ready?
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself. —Galileo
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2 STOP! DO THIS FIRST
ow do you currently write your sales letters, e-mails, ads, or web site copy? You already have a strategy for writing. For this book to make the most sense to you, you need to know where you’re at right now. In short, become aware of your current writing method. From there, it will be easier to adapt what you are about to learn. On the lines following, write a brief explanation of how you currently go about your writing. Explain your process. What do you do just before you write? What do you do as you write? What do you do after you write? Write your answers here:
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Stop! Do This First
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3 WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE?
few minutes ago I read about a woman who has 6 children, 35 grandchildren, 75 great-grandchildren and 10 great, greatgrandchildren—who jumped from an airplane to celebrate her ninety-third birthday. That’s a woman who thinks big. I believe in the impossible. I think you can have, do, or be anything you can imagine. That’s the subject of one of my earlier books, titled The Attractor Factor. It’s also, for the most part, the way I live my life. I love to think big. I also love to read about people who set “impossible” goals, and then achieve them. Whether it’s Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile, NASA sending a man to the moon, Bruce Barton writing a fundraising letter that pulls a 100% response, or a 93-year-old woman skydiving, all of it proves we have no known limits. None. What we have, instead, are mind-sets, or mental models. Yoram Wind and Colin Crook, writing in their mind expanding book, The Power of Impossible Thinking, declare, “Mental models shape every aspect of our lives.” For example, I am currently reading C.K. Prahalad’s book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, and love the true stories of people and companies helping the poor in places like Brazil and India. These people are not thinking small. For example, Aravind Eye Hospital in India grew from an 11bed facility to the largest eye care facility in the world. They see
A
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What Is Impossible?
over 1.4 million patients and perform over 200,000 sight-restoring surgeries each year. Two-thirds of their patients are served at no cost, and those who pay, pay an average of just $75. The hospital was modeled on the management style of McDonald’s—only it gives fast care for low (or no) money. Here’s another example: Casas Bahia grew from one man selling blankets and bed linens door-to-door to the largest retail chain in Brazil. They sell electronics, appliances, and furniture. With its emphasis on serving the poor customer, its low prices and credit determined by payment history rather than formal income—70% of Casas Bahia customers have no formal or consistent income—Casas Bahia grosses over US $1 billion and has invoked total loyalty in its customers. I feel most of us don’t think big enough. Not even close. To help s-t-r-e-t-c-h your mind, read Prahalad’s book just mentioned and read The Power of Impossible Thinking by Wind and Crook. Wind and Crook explain that our mental models of the world are what stop us or help us. Thinking there is no profit in helping the poor is a limited mental model. The people in Prahalad’s book have moved beyond limited thinking. With all of this in mind, what do you want to accomplish from studying this material? What’s your “impossible” dream? What would you want, if you knew you could not fail? Whatever it is, write it down here:
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4 A DISCLAIMER
I
’ve been writing for almost 40 years. I’ve been teaching writing for over 30 years. I’ve read hundreds of books on writing, written a dozen or so myself, and have taught and spoken about writing for decades. Still, I don’t know it all. Neither can I put everything you need to know into one book, even if it is a book I’ve worked on night and day for months, that’s based on my entire life’s education and experience to date. That said, please know that I strongly advise you to read other books on writing. A few treasured classics are listed in the back of this book. Many of my articles can be found on my main web site at www.mrfire.com. A search for books on writing at www.Amazon.com will keep you busy for years with the pages and pages of titles it will return to you. If all you want to know is Hypnotic Writing, then by all means read this book, the books listed in the Bibliography, and invest in two other key sources: 1. My Hypnotic Writing Wizard software. See http://www .HypnoticWritingWizard.com. 2. My entire library of hypnotic e-books. See http://www .HypnoticLibrary.com/g.o/10386.
10
A Disclaimer
I’ve made this book as easy to follow as is humanly possible. I’ve distilled the Hypnotic Writing method into something you can understand and implement. The rest is up to you. Ready to get started?
11
5 A BEGINNING
My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way. —Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
PULL UP A CHAIR AND I’m considered the creator of Hypnotic Writing. While it’s true that I wrote the first book on the subject (okay and the next seven ebooks on the subject), I have to confess that I learned how to write “hypnotically” from two unusual sources. I used to read Jack London, Mark Twain, Shirley Jackson, and Ernest Hemingway and marvel at their ability to weave words in such a way that they moved me to laughter, fear, or tears. How did they do that? We have access to the same alphabet and same vocabulary as those masters, yet they wrote classics and most of the rest of us write garbage. What’s up here? Then, I would read sales letters by Robert Collier, or Bruce Barton, or John Caples and wonder how they used the same language but caused people to shell out their hard-earned money—often during tough economic times. How did those famous copywriters do that? How did they write to persuade?
12
A Beginning
My obsessive curiosity led me to investigate both kinds of writing. I studied literature throughout college and for years afterward. I minored in English and American literature. I loved Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Jack London, Mark Twain, William Saroyan, and others. I wrote fiction, plays and poetry, trying to adapt what I was learning and did pretty well at it. I was published a fair amount. And I saw a play I wrote, The Robert Bivens Interview, produced in Houston in 1979. It won an award, too, in the first Houston Playwrights Festival. Years later, I studied copywriting. I read everything I could get my hands on, from in-print marketing books to out-of-print collectibles. The Robert Collier Letter Book changed my life. The works of John Caples opened my eyes. I spent time practicing what I was learning, writing sales letters that sometimes bombed, but more often broke all records—some of them on the verge of being miraculous. My letter for Thoughtline, an old DOS program, is still being talked about today. (You’ll find it later in this book.) The result of this foot in two worlds experience led me to create what I later coined “Hypnotic Writing.” That didn’t happen overnight, of course. It took well over 20 years of cooking within me before the recipe was ready. And it wasn’t until I had read the book Unlimited Selling Power before everything came together for me. That’s when I wrote a book that became the beginning of a movement. I used to sell that book in the back of the room at my talks in Houston, way back in the 1990s. That book later became my first e-book. It’s now sold in the tens of thousands online. The title is Hypnotic Writing. Generally speaking, Hypnotic Writing is any writing that holds your attention. Hypnotists call it a “waking trance” (which I explain in a minute). John Burton, in his advanced book Hypnotic Language writes: “All communication invites the receiver into a hypnotic trance.” Note he said invites a person into a trance. You can start writing
13
HYPNOTIC WRITING
something and bore people, which is a trance you don’t want to invite people to experience. You can start talking to someone and that will invite them into a trance, too, but if you are boring, their mind will not stay with you. My definition of Hypnotic Writing is: “Hypnotic Writing is intentionally using words to guide people into a focused mental state where they are inclined to buy your product or service.” The kind of writing I do in my business of copywriter and marketing consultant usually means I’m writing to sell. That means Hypnotic Writing is any writing that holds your attention long enough to get your money. I don’t mean that to sound blunt. I’m a results oriented kind of guy. I think you want to know how to write to sell, too, else you wouldn’t be reading this book. So let’s be honest with each other. You want to know how to write the kind of words that make people buy your product or service. You aren’t trying to start a cult or sell snake oil. You believe in your product or service. You want to help people and you want to make money as you do. Right? Me, too!
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6 AGATHA CHRISTIE PROVES HYPNOTIC WRITING EXISTS
D
id mystery novelist Agatha Christie literally hypnotize her readers? Consider: According to a British television documentary aired in December 2005, scientists from three leading universities studied 80 of the famed novelist’s works and discovered she used words that invoked chemical responses in the brains of her readers. The study—called The Agatha Project—involved loading Christie’s novels into a computer and analyzing her words, phrases, and sentences. The scientists concluded that her phrases trigger a pleasure response. This causes people to seek out her books again and again, almost like an addiction. According to the study, Christie used literary techniques mirroring those employed by hypnotherapists and psychologists, which have a hypnotic effect on readers. This is clear evidence that the principles you’re going to learn in this book truly work. The study found that common phrases used by Christie act as a trigger to raise levels of serotonin and endorphins, the chemical messengers in the brain that induce pleasure. I’ve been saying this for years. Certain words and phrases push
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HYPNOTIC WRITING
buttons unconsciously in people. They respond without being aware of it. I’ve been teaching people how to improve their sales letters and web site copy with these very insights for over 30 years. Apparently Agatha Christie used Hypnotic Writing to make her books—as one scientist unhypnotically said—“unputdownable.” It sure worked for her. Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie (1890–1976) is possibly the world’s best-known mystery writer. The Guinness Book of Records lists her as the best-selling fiction author of all time with over two billion copies in print in the English language. Obviously, Hypnotic Writing helped her. The study went on to report the following about Agatha’s writings: Favorite words or phrases, repeatedly used in a “mesmerizing” way, help stimulate the pleasure-inducing side of the brain. They include she, yes, girl, kind, smiled, and suddenly. George Gafner declares that certain words lead people into trance states in his book Hypnotic Techniques for Standard Psychotherapy and Formal Hypnosis. He says such words include wonder, imagine, and story. Again, to me, this isn’t news. There are similar words and phrases in marketing that set off brain activity—and later buying activity. Do you know what they are? Probably not. Few people do. But they are revealed in this book. Imagine: You are about to learn the proven ways to use words to put people into what I call a buying trance. This is a hypnotic state of focused attention where people are riveted to your message and more inclined to do what you ask—such as buy from you. I tell you in this book story after story of how others use this skill. As you read, a sense of wonder will awaken within you. Did you note the hypnotic words smoothly used in the paragraph you just read? Take another look: Imagine: You are about to learn the proven ways to use words to put people into what I call a buying trance. This is a hypnotic state
16
Agatha Christie Proves Hypnotic Writing Exists
of focused attention where people are riveted to your message and more inclined to do what you ask—such as buy from you. I tell you story after story in this book of how others use this skill. As you read, a sense of wonder will awaken within you. Hypnotic Writing is almost invisible. You don’t see it in action unless you’ve been trained to look for it. For most readers, all they experience is a need to read. With this book, you’ll help awaken in people a need to buy. Agatha Christie secretly encouraged people to buy her books with Hypnotic Writing. You’re about to learn how to make people buy your product or service—with words alone. Imagine the possibilities!
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7 MY SECRET TO HYPNOTIC WRITING
I
magine someone hands you the following message: “Riguardo a gli dice il mio segreto di dollaro di milione per scrivere di copia di vendite. Questo è qualcosa non ho mai detto nessuno altro nel mondo intero. Lo dirò giustamente adesso, se lei promette a tiene quest’un segreto. Stato d’accordo?” You wouldn’t be too interested in it, would you? It would look strange. Confusing. You might assume it’s from another language, but unless you knew Italian, you would only be guessing the language and the message. What would you do? Obviously, you would need to translate the message. How? In this case, you might just go online at a great web site for translating languages, enter the above text, and quickly discover that those words in Italian actually mean: “I’m about to tell you my million-dollar secret for writing sales copy. This is something I’ve never told anyone else in the entire world. I’ll tell you right now, if you promise to keep this a secret. Agreed?” Ah! Now it all makes sense! Now you know what the words mean and you are free to enjoy them, act on them, or just dismiss
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My Secret to Hypnotic Writing
them. But at least now you’ve gotten the communication. Relax. Breathe. Smile. Ahhhhhh . . . But what does all this translation business have to do with how I write hypnotic sales letters, ads, and news releases? In a nutshell, translating is exactly what I do in writing sales copy. When someone hands me a technical manual on a new software program—with the idea they want me to write a sales letter for the software—what I do is translate that manual. In short, I do the same thing the language translation web site does. I simply look at what the manual says the software does, and then I translate it into benefits that make sense to you, the consumer. In a way, the manual is written for techies, much like Italian is written for Italians. I have to translate both so you can understand and make sense of them. If I don’t, you won’t care. Here’s an example of what I mean: Recently I was hired to rewrite a brochure. My client handed me their draft. It read well. There were lines such as, “When was the last time you felt okay?” Well, nothing wrong with that. It works. But I found a way to translate it into something more meaningful, understandable, and emotional. And I did it with just one word. I wrote, “When was the last time you felt fantastic?” The translated line communicated better. It’s the difference between hearing the line in Italian or in English. As Mark Twain put it, it’s the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. But maybe that example is too simple. At another point in their brochure they were trying to explain the concept of suppressing emotions and how suppression could be harmful. Their words were fine, just as Italian words are fine. But they didn’t communicate in a way most people would hear. So I translated their words to,
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HYPNOTIC WRITING
“Suppression is building bombs. When you bury an emotion, you bury it alive.” See the difference? I do this with all my copywriting. I take what I’m handed and translate it into benefits, clear language, and bottom line emotion. This truly does feel like translating languages to me. And like learning any new language, it takes time to master. I take the copy given to me, turn on the part of my mind that knows how to speak copywriting, and I translate the words in front of me into words you can understand. I also do this copywriting translation with news releases. For example, last month I was hired to write a news release for a woman’s book. I could have written a headline that said, “New Book Explains How to Communicate Better,” which is what the book is about. But that’s Italian. It doesn’t speak in emotional terms or in a way most editors want to hear. After doing some research and learning more about the author, I translated the headline to instead read, “Female Pentagon Advisor Reveals Tips to Success.” The latter is far more intriguing. All I did was translate her book into news. I took it from Italian to English. I took it from English to Emotion. I took it from words to power. What’s the secret to being a good “copy translator”? I could probably quote a relevant line from any number of books on marketing. But I’ll grab one from a 1965 book I just received today. It’s by Robert Conklin. The title is The Power of a Magnetic Personality. He wrote: “Putting it simply, it means this: Every time you state a fact, describe how that fact will benefit the other person.” There you have it. It’s what I’ve been saying for years: “Get out of your ego and into your reader’s ego.” Translate what you want to say into simple words and concepts that make sense to your readers. I hope I’ve done that with this brief chapter. I began with the idea to tell you how I write sales copy. But I didn’t want to just say, “I translate all words into sales copy,” which may or may not make
20
My Secret to Hypnotic Writing
sense to you. Instead, I wanted to describe, with examples, what I do so you truly comprehend it. Finally! “Adesso che lei sa il mio segreto, va avanti e traduce le sue lettere di vendite, l’advertisements, e le liberazioni di notizie nell’ones che farà lei milioni dei dollari. Piacere!” Translation: “Now that you know my secret, go forth and translate your sales letters, advertisements, and news releases into ones that will make you millions of dollars. Enjoy!”
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8 YOU CAN’T EVEN BRIBE ME TO READ A LOUSY LETTER!
I
n 1994 I taught a workshop to 10 people on Hypnotic Selling and Hypnotic Writing. (See www.HypnoticMarketingStrategy .com.) Each paid $5,000 to be there. I began the event with the following story: I got a FedEx package yesterday and I want to read the letter that came with it. First of all, it came by FedEx, so that was pretty attention getting in itself. It had a $20 bill attached to it. Pretty attention getting, too. I’m going to take a look at this. It begins: Dear Joe Vitale: I have an offer that I would like to share with only you, that will make you a stack of those $20 bills in one to two weeks. Before I go on, let me explain why I am sending this to you.
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You Can’t Even Bribe Me to Read a Lousy Letter!
Then he goes on to say, “My name is,” and I won’t say his name. Then he says, “I am in a jam and need to make $10,000 before the end of the month. There are three reasons why I need this: one, to keep a promise to a close friend. I told a close friend that I would have a motorcycle before he gets back from his deployment in the desert.” He goes on to explain that, “Two: I made some bad decisions with money a while back and I’m currently very tight with money. In other words, broke,” is what he says. “Three: I’m on vacation from the 13th of this month until the 29th and I would like to be able to do something over that time period. I would at least like to be able to visit my grandparents in Fort Worth and have enough money to enjoy it.” He tells me where he lives. He then goes on to say he wants to create a joint venture with me. On the second page he describes himself as being a marketing specialist and that he wants me to send out a mailing to my list, looking for people who want his services. He says, “I will charge a retainer fee up front, anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000, depending on how much of a profit I think I could make for their business. “That is with anywhere from 5 to 50% of the profits generated. The retainer will be paid off on the back-end profits.” Then he goes on to say, “I will give you 50% of all the profits.” He gets down here and asks me to call him and so forth, and gives me his name and number. One of his P.S.s says this: “If you are wondering why there is a $20 bill attached to this letter, it is because I hope to be sending you a large stack of them in the next several weeks.” I then looked at the 10 people in the room and asked: “Is this a hypnotic letter?”
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HYPNOTIC WRITING
I got a yes, I got a no, I got a maybe. What do you think? Was the letter hypnotic? To me, this is not a hypnotic letter. In fact, it is a terrible letter. I sent his $20 back, because he said he’s broke. The only reason I did not burn this is because I need his address, which is on the back of the second letter, so I can send it back. Why isn’t it a hypnotic letter? My observation is, first of all, he got my attention, which is one of the key ingredients for writing good copy. He FedExd it to me; very important. Twenty dollars: very eye-catching. It begins well: “I have an offer that I would like to share with you that will make you a stack of those $20 bills in one to two weeks.” That’s good; he’s speaking to me. However, from there it is all about him. The first statement was something to the effect that he wants to buy a motorcycle. I do not care if he needs a motorcycle. He wants to buy it because he made a promise to a friend. I do not care that he made a promise to a friend. The second one is that he has made bad decisions about money. He is broke. I do not care about that. I would care, probably, if he told me in different terms, but a lot of people are broke. He’s telling me that he is broke and he wants to do something that is off-the-wall. Third is that he is on vacation. I do not care if he is on vacation. He wants to make use of his vacation time and make some money. Then he is asking me to do a mailing to his list, and he is claiming he is a marketing specialist. Where is the proof that he is a marketing specialist? So, this is full of doubts. I am just thinking that this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Then he wants to charge people on my list $5,000 to $25,000 to do marketing, which is what I do! Why would I send my people to him and then let him get half of the money that all should go to me?
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You Can’t Even Bribe Me to Read a Lousy Letter!
None of this makes sense. Of course, there is his P.S.: “If you’re wondering why there is a $20 bill attached,” he wants to help me make more. That is pretty good. However, it’s powerless at that point, because he lost me with all of this self-serving stuff. Obviously, a letter written with Hypnotic Writing would be focused on me, not him. By the same token, this is a clue for you to remember: Hypnotic Writing occurs when you get out of your ego and into the reader’s ego.
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9 WHAT IS HYPNOTIC WRITING?
ecently I spoke at the world’s largest hypnosis convention. Two thousand professional hypnotists from all over the world came to hear me describe Hypnotic Writing. I told the crowd that Hypnotic Writing is a form of waking hypnosis. “Waking hypnosis” is a term coined by Wesley Wells in 1924 and first published in the book An Outline of Abnormal Psychology in 1929. He wanted to separate the idea of hypnosis as conscious sleep with hypnosis as awake concentration. In other words, traditional hypnosis thinks of someone with their eyes closed but aware; Wells proposed that someone could have their eyes open and still be subject to hypnotic suggestion. Later in his 1964 book Hypnotherapy, Dave Elman defined waking hypnosis as: “When hypnotic effects are achieved without the trance state, such hypnotic effects are called waking hypnosis.” Waking hypnosis is not magical or mystical. It’s no different from being absorbed in a good movie. Or being riveted by a good book. Or driving down the highway for hours and being “zoned out.” In each instance you are in a waking trance. A waking trance is a concentration of attention. You are fo-
R
26
What Is Hypnotic Writing?
cused on something before you, to the exclusion of virtually all else. Whenever you read a fascinating book, you are engaged in a mild trance. Because your eyes are open, this state is called a waking trance. In 1956 an anonymous hypnotist, writing in his famous mailorder course, Dynamic Speed Hypnosis, declared: “Anything you do which makes your listeners react because of MENTAL IMAGES you plant in their minds is WAKING HYPNOSIS!” Just replace “listeners” with “readers” and “waking hypnosis” with “Hypnotic Writing” in the sentence you just read and you have a good working definition of Hypnotic Writing. It would read like this: “Anything you do which makes your readers react because of MENTAL IMAGES you plant in their minds is HYPNOTIC WRITING!” Of course, the kind of Hypnotic Writing you and I want to do is focused on making a sale. That’s why my definition is: “Hypnotic Writing is intentionally using words to guide people into a focused mental state where they are inclined to buy your product or service.” Again, Hypnotic Writing is a form of waking hypnosis. It is characterized by a focus of attention. It is a trance state where you are wide away but focused on something you are reading. Hypnotic Writing achieves this state by the right use of words to create mental experiences. In other words, you get people so interested in your web site, or e-mail, or sales letter, that almost nothing else matters. And if you do this right, your Hypnotic Writing will lead your readers to take action. All of this will make sense as I walk you through some of the secret steps and insights of how to create Hypnotic Writing. But first, let’s look at an example of Hypnotic Writing.
Take This Test See Figure 9.1 for a picture of a massage pen.
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HYPNOTIC WRITING
Figure 9.1 A Massage Pen
Basically, it’s a regular pen—it writes—and the tip of it (shown), also has a massaging head on it. Press it against your skin and you get a massage. I know it isn’t much to go on, but how would you write a paragraph to sell this pen? Write it here.
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What Is Hypnotic Writing?
Now, here is how one web site describes the massage pen:
Product Description The unique metal ball-point pen with built-in massage. Rugged metal construction. Attractive design. Patented massage function. Replaceable ink refills. Batteries included.
Well, is that Hypnotic Writing? I don’t think so. It has the facts, but it doesn’t have any reason, or benefit, for you to care about the facts. Result: boredom. Now, here is how the lively copywriters over at http://www .Stupid.com describe the exact same massage pen:
IMAGINE you had a teensy-weensy masseuse to carry around in your shirt pocket. Any time you desired, you could order your minimasseuse to soothe your tired muscles and rub away your tensions. Now imagine this tiny masseuse had a pen sticking out of his head and ran on batteries. Well, you’re not likely to come across a miniature, penheaded masseuse—but here’s the next best thing. Introducing the world’s first MASSAGING PEN !
Is that Hypnotic Writing? You bet! Before you go on, note your observations about the “stupid” description.
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HYPNOTIC WRITING
Why do you think it was hypnotic?
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10 HYPNOTIC WRITING: A CASE STUDY
M
y friend Pete Siegel showed me this copy, which he wanted to use on a web site. Look at it and tell me what you think.
Discover Why The Country’s Foremost Success Hypnotherapist Continues to Help So Many Enjoy “Unexplainable” Breakthroughs, and Truly Massive Personal Gains! For 26 Years, His Claim of “I’ll Help You Move from Ordinary to Extraordinary!” Has Been Proven to Help Millions Worldwide Enjoy Amazing Life Transformations; He Guarantees You’ll Make Staggering Confidence, Incredible Personal Income, and Peak Life Performance Your Everyday Fact! You’re About to See That His Acclaimed, Mega-Personal Development System Will Work as Thoroughly and Decisively—for You. Yes—Now You Can Go On to Produce the Simple, Yet Stunning Personal Change That Makes Life Say an Overwhelming Yes—to YOU!
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HYPNOTIC WRITING
(Read On!) Hey—are you getting all you can—all you want to, all you believe you should—out of yourself every day, doing targeted things to prosper and purposefully move yourself ahead? If not, why not! Is your confidence, motivation, focus, and sense of capacity for serious improvement—for success—where it should be, indeed, where you know you truly need it to be, for you to start making megagains in your life? If not, why not! Are you naturally mentally programmed to exert the quality, irresistible effort that steadily, decisively moves you into greater personal increase, personal triumph—and personal income? If not, why not! Even though you say you work “hard,” try “hard,” and/or strive to improve consistently—do you find it seems you’re sort of just “going through the motions”—seemingly stuck at levels of “same old, same old”? Or “Okay”? Or even “good”? But not seeing or feeling you’re making the kind of progress you want to, sense you should, indeed, deeply know you should? If so, why! Are you finding that decisively reaching your personal development and financial goals seems to be elusive. That pride laden, joy overflowing, richly substantive success filled life you see others possess still seems to be a far-off case of “Want it, but for some reason aren’t getting it” for you? If so, why! And are you becoming more—notably, decidedly more? Is your life steadily becoming richer and more rewarding because of your daily efforts? Indeed, are you growing, increasing, advancing, and succeeding in multiple areas of your life because of the kind of hopes, dreams, and continual life effort you expend? If not, why not! Now, stop for a moment, and think here—and really get a sense of just how commanding you and your entire life would be if you had all the preceding aspects set and working the way you really wanted them. Well, you can do more than just think about this now, because:
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Hypnotic Writing: A Case Study
You’ll Now Go Ahead and Fully Take Charge of the Mental Factors to Bottom Line Success In These Areas. Is This Do-Able? Yes. Is It Do-Able by You—Absolutely! See If You Want the Following to Start Characterizing Your Life • Incredible self-confidence? • Empowering self-esteem? • Boldness and directness projected outward from feelings of solid self-worth? • The ability to decide upon an increased income or financial goal—and to then strategize, work toward, and achieve it (fully)? • Efficient action and peak life performance that produce overwhelming success results and outcomes? • Full, free, wholly genuine communication impact? • The affinity to easily, comfortably connect with quality people—and form lasting, positive relationships? • The ability to ask for something—and get it? • Feeling in control of your destiny, instead of being at the mercy of other people’s thoughts and whims? • Reflecting the talent and discipline that efficiently follow all the way through with a task, project, or requirement—until it’s conclusively, successfully completed? • Awakening each day calm, positive, and filled with an uplifted spirit—and success expectations about your upcoming day? • Taking that ability, potential, and capacity for excellence you know you have, and actualizing (bringing it forth) into tangible, empowering, real-life fact? • Feeling mentally strong, emotionally strong, and filled with the dynamic energy moving you to recognize, seize, and then to convert opportunity into decisive personal gain? • Feeling a genuine, surging motivation and confidence to start speaking up, acting up, and start doing for yourself what you know you’ve been leaving up to others?
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HYPNOTIC WRITING
• Finding your true place in this world—your purpose—and richly living it, and enjoying all the relationships, money, joy, and fulfillment it has connected to it? • Being forever free of your negative past (and its life compromising tendencies)? • Releasing, forever, tendencies toward blocking, limiting, and/or sabotaging yourself—and enjoying new, selftailored affinities that build you up, empower you, and efficiently move you ahead in your life? • Reflecting the mind-set that regularly takes the initiative to ensure that your vital health, personal advancement, and perfect self-expression continues demonstrably? • Looking within yourself and finding answers you’ve heretofore been haplessly looking for (and not finding) outside yourself! Success—Your Success—Is Never an Accident but the Result of Regularly Applied Strategies, Actions, And an Internal Framework That Fully Overcomes the “Small You”— and Engages Life Vitally as the Maximum You!
Now here’s how I rewrote his copy, making it more hypnotic:
Discover Why the Country’s Foremost Success Hypnotherapist Continues to Create “Unexplainable” Breakthroughs, and Truly Massive Personal Gains in people just like YOU! For 26 Years, His Claim of “I’ll Help You Move from Ordinary to Extraordinary!” Has Been Proven to Help Millions Worldwide Enjoy Amazing Life Transformations; He Guarantees You’ll Make Staggering Confidence,
34
Hypnotic Writing: A Case Study
Incredible Personal Income, and Peak Life Performance Your Everyday Fact! At Last: Gain Iron-Will Self-Confidence—Destroy Your Inner Limits— Develop a Power Mind and quit pussyfooting around with your life and get RESULTS! Guaranteed by the world’s foremost sports hypnotherapist! Now, at last—Get his three PowerMind worldwide best sellers combined into one brilliant Mega-life transforming system— Read on for details. Would You Like Any of the Following? • Incredible self-confidence? • Empowering self-esteem? • Boldness and directness projected outward from feelings of solid self-worth? • The ability to decide upon an increased income or financial goal—and then strategize, work toward, and achieve it (fully)? • Efficient action and peak life performance that produce overwhelming success results and outcomes? • Full, free, wholly genuine communication impact? • The affinity to easily, comfortably connect with quality people—and form lasting, positive relationships? • The ability to ask for something—and get it? • Feeling in control of your destiny, instead of being at the mercy of other people’s thoughts and whims? • Reflecting the talent and discipline that efficiently follow all the way through with a task, project, or requirement—until it’s conclusively, successfully completed? • Awakening each day calm, positive, and filled with an uplifted spirit—and success expectations about your upcoming day?
35
HYPNOTIC WRITING
• Taking that ability, potential, and capacity for excellence you know you have, and actualizing (bringing it forth) into tangible, empowering, real-life fact? • Feeling mentally strong, emotionally strong, and filled with the dynamic energy moving you to recognize, seize, and then to convert opportunity into decisive personal gain? • Feeling a genuine, surging motivation and confidence to start speaking up, acting up, and doing for yourself what you know you’ve been leaving up to others? • Finding your true place in this world—your purpose—and richly living it, and enjoying all the relationships, money, joy, and fulfillment it has connected to it? • Being forever free of your negative past (and its life compromising tendencies)? • Releasing, forever, tendencies toward blocking, limiting, and/or sabotaging yourself—and enjoying new, self-tailored affinities that build you up, empower you, and efficiently move you ahead in your life? • Reflecting the mind-set that regularly takes the initiative to ensure your vital health, personal advancement, and perfect self-expression continues demonstrably? • Looking within yourself, and finding answers you’ve, heretofore, been haplessly looking for (and not finding) outside yourself!
Success—Your Success—Is Never an Accident but the Result of Regularly Applied Strategies, Actions, and an Internal Framework That Fully Overcomes the “Small You”— And Engages Life Vitally as the Maximum You!
36
Hypnotic Writing: A Case Study
Write down as many things you notice that make this new copy different and better.
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11 THE GREAT INTIMACY SECRET
ou should notice something about the “stupid” web copy you just read, as well as the before and after copy you read. You should note the same insight about these very words you are reading right now. In fact, you should notice this characteristic in virtually all Hypnotic Writing. What am I talking about? Intimacy. As you read those earlier words from the stupid.com site, you probably sensed a personality behind the words. As you read these words here, by me, you probably get a feel for my personality. This secret is one of the greatest keys to creating Hypnotic Writing. People buy from people they like. When you allow your personality to come through, people feel a sense of intimacy with you. They begin to trust you. And like you. Rapport is built. And sales happen. All of the great copywriters that I can think of wrote in their own voice. They didn’t try to be someone else. David Ogilvy wrote like David Ogilvy. Dan Kennedy writes like Dan Kennedy. Joe Vitale writes like Joe Vitale. I don’t try to be Dan or David, and they don’t try to be me. This lesson is of enormous importance. What it means is this:
Y
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The Great Intimacy Secret
Forget trying to imitate any writer you admire. (Note: Studying other writers is a wise way to learn how they wrote. I just don’t want you to become another writer.) Forget trying to please English teachers. Erase everything you ever learned about “how to write.” From now on, you have my permission to write in any way that feels right to you. If your style is to use slang, then use slang. If you are from a different country, let that uniqueness come forth. If you like to tell funny stories, then tell them. Your style is your voice, and your voice will create an intimacy with your reader that is profound. Now note: I am not advocating being mindless in your communication. I will teach you my persuasion formula in this book. By writing in your own style, by following my formula, you will create Hypnotic Writing. It will just be your Hypnotic Writing. Not mine. Not anyone else’s. Yours. I can’t stress this enough. What people want is a new voice. They want to read words from a trusted new friend. That can be you. Here’s a million dollar secret: Many great copywriters call a friend and tell them about the product or service they want to sell. They record the call. They then play it back, listening for the ways they described what they were selling. Why did they do this? When people think of writing, the inner pressure gets turned on. All their past education comes rushing in, almost drowning their creative voice. But when they speak, they are loose. Mark Twain said, “If we were all taught to speak the same way we were taught to write, we’d all stutter.” Hypnotic Writing comes from being loose. It comes from not editing yourself as you write. It comes from trusting yourself, being yourself, and expressing yourself. It comes from being you.
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12 WHAT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN COPY?
I
don’t want you to get hung up on writing. It’s important but it’s not that important. Let me explain it this way: There are three keys to the success of any direct marketing campaign, whether it’s done online or off: 1. The list (or the traffic). 2. The offer (or the deal). 3. The copy (or the Hypnotic Writing). Out of the three, copy is the least important. For example, just this past week I completed an e-book on RSS and Blogging, new technologies online. I mentioned the e-book in my recent newsletter. Even though the web site for the e-book isn’t done, and the sales letter isn’t up, so many people rushed to the site, ready to buy the e-book, that my sweet co-author gently said, “Ah, Joe, maybe we should rush things along.” I thought about it and said, “Just throw something up online, saying we don’t have a sales letter yet, but if you can’t wait and want the book right now, click here.” She did. You can take a look at it in Figure 12.1.
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What’s More Important than Copy?
Figure 12.1 The Stampede Secret Web Site
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HYPNOTIC WRITING
I then sent out this quickly written e-mail:
Subject: This has GOT to be the wildest thing I’ve ever seen. All I did was *mention* how to create a stampede of traffic with a new RSS tool, and people drove to the site at http://www.stampedesecret.com to order. The thing is—we weren’t live yet. We didn’t have a sales letter up or even the ordering system turned on. I told Laura—my co-author—to just slap something up on the site, turn the ordering switch on, and to open for business today. I’m going to go out of business as a copywriter when people want something so bad they don’t even need the sales letter for it, but if you can’t wait either, go see— http://www.stampedesecret.com. This one will go down in the history books. Go for it. Dr. Joe Vitale. President, Hypnotic Marketing, Inc. Author of way too many books to list here. See www.MrFire.com or www.Amazon.com. Member BBB Online 2004.
As you can see, there isn’t much copy, but what’s there is designed to create excitement and curiosity, two key ingredients to Hypnotic Writing. The result of our “no sales letter” marketing campaign? I tested this letter to one of my smaller lists. We made one sale almost instantly. (Laura was so excited she nearly called me to scream, “WE MADE A SALE !”) Of course, I’ll eventually put a full-scale sales letter on the site. When I do, I’ll mention that people were so eager for this new e-book that they didn’t even need a sales letter to encourage them to buy it.
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What’s More Important than Copy?
But the truth is, a sales letter is essential. Why? Here’s a quick answer: When people went to the site and then clicked “order,” they were suddenly faced with the price of the e-book: $97. Most people aborted right then and there. A good sales letter will prepare the reader for the price, and then give it in a soft, convincing way. That’s why you need a sales letter. It does the persuading. A “no sales letter” site means no sales. My point here is this: Copy is important, but it’s not the most important element of your results matrix. You need a terrific offer, and a list or traffic that wants that offer. Writing copy after that should be a snap. Remember: List/Traffic + Offer + Copy = Success! (Check http://www.StampedeSecret.com to see what sales letter we finally used.) Now don’t think you can make sales without Hypnotic Writing either. The following case study will prove what I mean.
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13 HYPNOTIC WRITING CONTROLLED STUDY
ust in case you’re still skeptical and need proof that Hypnotic Writing exists, consider the following. Brad Yates is a master at EFT, or Emotional Freedom Techniques. EFT is a method for tapping away psychological issues so you are free to have, do, or be what you want. Some people call it “psychological acupuncture.” You use a finger or two to “tap” on certain areas of your body, which releases stuck energy so you can move forward without any internal blocks. Snicker if you like. EFT has been used for well over 10 years and is now practiced by tens of thousands of people. They can’t all be faking problems and then faking resolutions. EFT works. Brad Yates was one of my guests when I did my Attract a New Car teleseminar a while back. I liked him and told him about an idea I had for a series on Money Beyond Belief. It would be a course to help people remove their barriers to having money. Brad would teach people EFT so they could remove their blocks to receiving money. Brad loved the idea, we conducted the seminars, and then quickly put up a web site to sell the audios. Now, Brad knows EFT but he doesn’t know marketing, so the site wasn’t the strongest in the c...