A few months ago I decided to look into, and learn about, internet marketing, affiliate sales & PPC (pay per click) techniques. The industry was interesting to me and I figured I could use my skills as a programmer to make me some extra cash on the side. I will write more on this in an upcoming post.
When I started learning I found that "writing" is the bread and butter of affiliate marketing & sales. I decided to educate myself and help improve my writing skills. I ran into a book titled "Hypnotic Writing" by Joe Vitale. I was a little skeptical because the cover art was pretty cheesy. I tried not to judge this book by it's cover (insert "buh bump bump" sound). Best decision I could have made as this book is awesome. I keep it on my desk now for immediate reference when I get stuck trying to spice up some of my sales copy or PPC ads.
As I was working on this post I stumbled across this article written by Chris Bloczynski, where he accurately defines Hypnotic Writing as:
"Hypnotic Writing is an effective technique that marketers and advertisers have used for years to make the most of people’s natural inclinations and conditioning."
If you consider the potential that a hypnotic sales letter or advertisement has, you can see that it's a pretty powerful technique. As a side note, Chris also wrote an awesome article titled 99 Headline Techniques Revealed that is related to this topic; I suggest you read it.
There are several types of hypnotic commands that can be used when you are writing your sales letter or ad copy. Here are a few methods mentioned in the Hypnotic Writing book.
Directing the reader to complete the action that you want them to. Just read the example below to see what I mean:
"As you continue reading this page..."
It's a fact that people read what's in quotation marks. Ever notice that the headlines on various sales pages are almost always in quotes? People naturally read what is in quotes so headlines that are hypnotically powerful placed in quotes can be very effective. You can also use an actual quote from somebody famous or one that is inspiring and can be related to your sales letter.
"Finally! Free from the Rat Race!"
Reading a conversational dialogue is a great way to invoke emotion in your reader. When the reader relates to the dialogue they place themselves in the conversation. This is a natural reaction and can be used to help with your sales conversions.
"Man! My tooth is killing me!" Johnny said.
"Ouch! I had my wisdom teeth removed last week." I replied
"Woah... Sounds painful!"
"Nah. Dr. Smith is the best! No pain at all."
These are just a few techniques that can be used in Hypnotic Writing. You're smart enough to see the benefits that Hypnotic Writing can offer you when used correctly. It just might be what your sales letter is lacking. Take some time and do some reading on the subject. In the world of internet sales, your ad & sales copy is your "pitch" so why not give yourself every advantage possible?
Oh, by the way. Notice how many times I mention "Hypnotic Writing" in this post? Repetition is also a method of Hypnotic Writing =)