Thursday, September 29, 2005
Teasing your prospect
Closely related to the previous thought
about selling the sizzle not the steak,
is some feedback I was recently given about
a site I'd done.
In July I went to the Persuasion in Print
seminar put on by Kenrick Cleveland along
with Dr. Harlan Kilstein. The first day's
session was with John Carlton.
He did 3 marketing "hot seats" -- and one
was of a guy who sells high-fashion
designed swim wear - bikinis. He had a
large glossy catalog filled with pictures
of extremely beautiful women modeling all
the different bikini designs.
For the rest of the day, John referred to
him as "the pornographer." Even though, by
any conventional definition, his catalog
was NOT pornography. It did NOT contain any
full frontal nudity. Yet, of course, it was
sexually arousing to any heterosexual male.
My critic told me that my sales letters
should be that kind of "pornography." The
trouble with my site, it was full frontal
nudity.
That is, I explained too much. I should have
teased readers, revealed enough bare skin
to demonstrate the models are quite
beautiful, but left on a few strips of cloth
in strategic places.
You'll arouse your prospects more if you
give them hidden "pornography" than full
frontal nudity.
copywriting seminars
about selling the sizzle not the steak,
is some feedback I was recently given about
a site I'd done.
In July I went to the Persuasion in Print
seminar put on by Kenrick Cleveland along
with Dr. Harlan Kilstein. The first day's
session was with John Carlton.
He did 3 marketing "hot seats" -- and one
was of a guy who sells high-fashion
designed swim wear - bikinis. He had a
large glossy catalog filled with pictures
of extremely beautiful women modeling all
the different bikini designs.
For the rest of the day, John referred to
him as "the pornographer." Even though, by
any conventional definition, his catalog
was NOT pornography. It did NOT contain any
full frontal nudity. Yet, of course, it was
sexually arousing to any heterosexual male.
My critic told me that my sales letters
should be that kind of "pornography." The
trouble with my site, it was full frontal
nudity.
That is, I explained too much. I should have
teased readers, revealed enough bare skin
to demonstrate the models are quite
beautiful, but left on a few strips of cloth
in strategic places.
You'll arouse your prospects more if you
give them hidden "pornography" than full
frontal nudity.
copywriting seminars
Sizzle or steak?
The more I study copywriting (and I'm
far from learning everything I need and
want to learn about it), the more I'm
convinced that the essence of effective
copywriting can be summed up in the
words of Elmer Wheeler:
"Sell the sizzle, not the steak."
It's basic that people buy on emotion,
not rationality (although rationality
must be placated by being given good
reasons for buying -- at least for
prospects who even try to think
rationally (I do believe that there're
many prospects who don't give 2 hoots in
H*ll about whether any purchase is
even remotely rational or not -- light
up their desire and they want it. Look
at how big the recreational drug and
alcohol industries are. There're no
rational reasons for them, it's all
to feel good.
There may be some areas where the product
is so good and the prospect needs it
so badly, that they talk themselves
into it, but that's got to be rare.
To leave out the emotional element of
products would be to send us to a
communist heaven where everybody wears
the same gray Mao jacket and never has
any fun.
various copywriting resources
far from learning everything I need and
want to learn about it), the more I'm
convinced that the essence of effective
copywriting can be summed up in the
words of Elmer Wheeler:
"Sell the sizzle, not the steak."
It's basic that people buy on emotion,
not rationality (although rationality
must be placated by being given good
reasons for buying -- at least for
prospects who even try to think
rationally (I do believe that there're
many prospects who don't give 2 hoots in
H*ll about whether any purchase is
even remotely rational or not -- light
up their desire and they want it. Look
at how big the recreational drug and
alcohol industries are. There're no
rational reasons for them, it's all
to feel good.
There may be some areas where the product
is so good and the prospect needs it
so badly, that they talk themselves
into it, but that's got to be rare.
To leave out the emotional element of
products would be to send us to a
communist heaven where everybody wears
the same gray Mao jacket and never has
any fun.
various copywriting resources
