Recently I sat on a plane from Phoenix to Austin. I decided to
kill some of the two hour flight by flipping through the online
magazines and catalog. You've seen them. They are always stuffed
in the pocket right before your knees. But what you may not have
seen is that virtually allyes, allads violate a secret
advertising principle invented more than 100 years ago.
I opened up one of the magazines and there was an ad for
magician Lance Burton. I know and like Lance. His shows at the
Monte Carlo in Las Vegas are well worth seeing. The headline for
his full-page, full-color ad read, "You will always remember
Lance Burton..."
I love this headline. Why? Because it is hypnotic. It is
actually a direct suggestion. Read it again and see what I mean.
Isn't it a command?
Also notice that it has Lance's name right in the headline. The
great ad-man David Ogilvy said you should strive to put your
products name in the headline. The reason being that many people
may not read past the headline. So if yours helps install your
message in your reader's brain, your un-read ad will still have
accomplished something. This could be an ego trip for many
people, but it works for Master Magician Lance. Why? Because he
IS the product.
Compare that with another headline I saw. This one clearly
violates one of the oldest rules in advertising. Even P.T.
Barnum knew better than this advertiser, and he died in 1891.
The headline on this quarter-page black and white ad simply
said, "A Perfect Fit."
Well, what does it mean? Does it engage you? Does it communicate
a benefit? If you had to guess what the headline was selling,
what would you guess? Go ahead and take a shot....
The ad is for luggage! The sad thing is, you have to read the
entire ad to find that out. And the headline isn't intriguing
enoughwell, it isn't intriguing at allto get you to read
much of the ad. So that advertiser just lost several thousand
dollars in running an ad that didn't work. The really sad news
is that this happens every day, by advertisers who are
forgetting a fundamental ancient truth in marketing.
I'll tell you what that truth is in a moment. But let's continue
to look at the online magazines and catalogs.
Another full-page, full-color ad had this headline on it: "Let
me give you the secrets of fearless conversation!" Right under
that bold statement is the sub-headline: "I promise you the
ability to walk into a room full of strangersand talk to
anyone with total confidence, authority and flair."
Whew! Now THAT'S a strong headline. It stops you dead. If you
are at all interested in being a better conversationalistand
who isn't?you will stop and read that ad. It signals a
benefit to you. It makes a bold claim. It states a powerful
guarantee. This is an ad that follows an old proven truth in
advertising.
What is that ancient truth? Simply this: That people do things
for selfish reasons. Appeal to their egos and they will do what
you want. Write to their emotions and they will open their
wallets.
P.T. Barnum knew this more than one hundred years ago. He put
his name in his headlines to help create a brand image for his
business. He told you what you would get from seeing his circus,
or his exhibits. And as a result, Barnum became one of the
richest men in the world and one of the first millionaires in
early America.
Barnum wasn't the only one to profit from appealing to egos. In
1897that's right, 1897Nath'l Fowler, Jr. wrote in his
book, "Fowler's Publicity": "Write your advertisements from the
customer's standpoint."
It worked in 1897. It worked in 1997. It will work in 2097. It's
the greatest advertising secret ever known: Get out of your ego
and into your reader's ego and you can GET RICH!
About the Author
Joe Vitale, regarded as one of the world's most powerful
copywriters, is a best-selling author of numerous marketing books and courses. His tremendously successful "Hypnotic
Writing" e-book is now succeeded by "Advanced Hypnotic
Writing," a breakthrough book that reveals how to use the
phenomenon of hypnotic suggestion to turn your words into cash.
http://www.roibot.com/tkadhyp.cgi?ahwyg4