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I recently read this best-selling book for the third time, titled "Cashvertising: How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone." In this video, I will share 35 of the most powerful lessons to help you sell anything more effectively.
Lesson Number One: Directing Mental Movies. Let me give you an example. Mental movie number one: Go somewhere and do something. This is a blank movie screen, no imagery. Number two: Go to the kitchen, open the oven, and get food. Notice how you pictured yourself opening an oven. Number three: Go to the kitchen, open the oven, and pull out the freshest, crispiest, most delicious, hot pizza you've ever eaten. Go on, cut yourself a big slice. Careful, it's hot. Now take a big bite. Talk about crisp! The dough was made fresh this morning and baked in virgin olive oil. The sauce prepared from scratch from juicy plum tomatoes picked this morning and blended with select fresh herbs from our own garden. Did you see a better image in your head? I bet you want to order a pizza now.
The reason this works so well is that it engages almost all five senses: taste, smell, touch, hearing, and sight. Every time we experience something, a blend of these five senses is always involved. So, to boost the effect of your words in your ads, you need to turn the simple image in your customers' heads into something that can be seen clearly. How can you do that? You need to ramp up the intensity of the five senses. And of course, you won't always be able to use all five senses, depending on your products.
Lesson Number Two: Put Your Biggest Benefit in Your Headline. David Ogilvy, the best copywriter of all time, said, "Unless your headline sells your product, you've wasted 90% of your money." 60% of those who see your ad only read the first few words. So, put the one thing most important to them in the place where they're most likely to see it, which is the headline. Your headline also needs to attract the right audience. For example, the author saw an ad with the headline, "We'll help you brighten up your life and save big." What a waste! Why? Because it does nothing to address the audience. Who is that for? Is it an ad for painting? Window cleaning? Anti-press? Present? It's actually an ad from a lighting supply store. Just use the simple headline: "Need lamps?" Think about it. Who would be attracted to a headline that says "Need lamps?" Someone who needs lamps, of course. The audience in this case is perfectly selected. There's no guessing for whom it's meant.
Let me give you another example. Let's say you're writing a headline for your restaurant workshop that teaches waiters and waitresses how to boost their income. Don't say, "Attention food servers! New workshop teaches you the tricks of the trade." But say, "Attention food servers! New workshop teaches you how to boost your tips by 52% or your money back." Sounds better, doesn't it?
Now, a question: Which one is more effective, a shorter or a longer headline? Let's turn to psychology. Researchers found that people can grasp the meaning of five to six words in a single glance. This means shorter headlines often get more readers because they're quicker to read. But before you grab an axe and start chopping down your headlines, understand that well-written, long headlines can still be highly effective. A short headline is not the only effective headline. According to David Ogilvy, longer headlines sell more products. Okay, you might be confused now. So, let's simplify: Number one, always put your biggest benefit in your headline. Number two, if you can write two equally effective headlines, the shorter one will probably be read by more people.
Lesson Number Three: The Psychology of Pricing. What's the difference between $19.98 and $20? Okay, not that two-cent difference. I mean psychologically. Odd-even pricing theory says that prices ending in odd amounts, like 77, 95, and 99, look like a cheaper option than prices rounded up to the next whole dollar. So, $9.77 seems like a better deal than $10. 64 cents for a pound of bananas seems to be an okay price, but 70 cents? You got to be kidding! Psychologists say that prices with odd numbers, like $9.99, make us believe that the seller has calculated the lowest possible price. We also tend to ignore the last few cents instead of rounding up to the next whole number. So, for $9.78, we see it as $9 instead of rounding it to $10. This helps us justify a purchase that might feel too expensive.
Apart from that, people who saw ads with prices ending in .98 or .99 were much more likely to believe the product was on sale compared to those with prices ending in .00. On the other hand, if you want your product to be seen as higher quality, use rounded whole numbers in your pricing. For example, the price $11,000 suggests higher quality. The $999.95? This pricing strategy is used by luxury brands. A study by Rutgers University found that people rated a dress at $49.99 as lower in quality compared to the same dress priced at $50.
Lesson Number Four: Test Different Offers. Just as you should test different headlines, it's also important to test different offers. Just because people don't respond to your ad, that does not mean they don't want what you're selling. Your ad may not have communicated effectively, or it was not appealing enough. For example, let's say you're a chiropractor. Your current ad announces your grand opening. The ad seems great, but no one calls. Try different offers to see which one works best. How about a free spinal evaluation? Or 50% off their first visit? Okay, for 50% off, here's another way to reframe it: "Two visits for the price of one." It's the same thing as 50% off, isn't it? But it sounds more attractive because it's similar to saying "buy one, get one free," and as you know, "free" is a powerful word. What are other offers with the word "free"? How about "Every fifth visit is free"? How about "A free back support pad with every first visit"? If your ads aren't working, don't throw in the towel and say, "Nobody wants what I'm selling." First, try changing your headline. Then, check your price because you could simply be out of line with the market. Then, try a different offer. Find out what appeals to the marketplace. You can't tell the marketplace what to buy from you; they will tell you what they want. If your ad doesn't work, they are telling you. It's up to you to find out what they want and then give it to them.
Lesson Number Five: Associate with Models. When you see the Marlboro Man, it's your ego, not your craving for paper tubes stuffed with tobacco, that motivates you to switch brands. The same goes for a woman who sees the Victoria's Secret model in her long, silky hair, wearing fancy underwear. It's her ego wanting to be like the model. So, what's going on here? When you show your product with certain people or images, you can make buyers believe that by using it, they'll be like those people. It makes them feel like they'll have the same look or lifestyle as the people they see in the ad. Persuading this way isn't too difficult. You don't have to work hard to persuade a woman to want to be sexier, or a man to want to be more powerful, self-confident, and appealing to women. These desires are built-in, pre-wired into our being. God! Knowing this secret, how can you apply it to your business? If you're the most expensive dog groomer in town, show photos of the rich celebrities who bring in their dogs. You own a security firm? What big companies trust you to protect them? Let's say bank presidents and local jewelry store owners use your product. Put that in your ads. If they trust you to protect their biggest assets, I'd feel good about hiring you to secure my home too.
Lesson Number Six: The Positive End Result. Don't buy my product for what it does for you today; buy it for what it will do for you tomorrow. If you sell microwave ovens, people don't want the big electrical box with all the fancy buttons and the spinning glass plate. They just want to cook and eat quickly so they have more time for other things. Let me give you another example. If you're a realtor, buying a new Lexus will make you look more successful to your home buyers. They'll be more likely to list their houses with you. They'll think, "He must be selling homes. How else could he afford that new Lexus?" Luxury goods and services are often advertised using the positive end result strategy. This strategy persuades your buyers that your product will provide secondary benefits to them. You got it. In the author's "Cashvertising" seminar, he played a game with the audience, asking them the positive end result of buying a window sign for a new retail business. Drew started with this question: "Why should I buy a window sign for my business?" One of the audience replied, "The sign tells people who you are." Then Drew asked again, "Okay, but what's the benefit of telling people who I am?" Another voice from the crowd responded, "So they'll do business with you." Drew asked again, "True, but what's the benefit of people doing business with me?" And someone shouted, "So you can sell your products." Drew asked one last time, "But what's the benefit of me selling my products?" One of the audience members finally responded, "So you can make money." There you go. Your ads, the writing, and the images should always represent the positive end result.
Lesson Number Seven: The Psychology of Color. Psychologists ran tests for the effect of color on weight and size. They put eight boxes, all the same size, in a glass display case. People were asked to look at the boxes in random order and rank them based on how heavy they thought the boxes were. Here are the results from lightest to heaviest: the darker the color, the heavier they thought the boxes were. To make its packaging look heavier, a food manufacturer switched to a darker colored package. Boom! More food inside. Color affects us strongly, including our perception of weight. For example, lifting and carrying boxes all day long can be a real drag. To give its employees some relief, a manufacturer started painting their heavy-looking black boxes light green. There you go. Psychologically lighter boxes look... color. Color can even affect taste. There's an example from Canada: Dr. Pepper's sugar-free ginger ale. At first, the can was in red. In the beverage industry, we all know that Coca-Cola owns the red color. So, when a ginger ale was in a red can, people thought it was cola. But when they changed the can to green and white, sales shot up more than 25% because it looked more like ginger ale. So, the color of the package can change how people think something tastes or what kind of drink it is, even if the drink itself hasn't changed.
Lesson Number Eight: Crush Your Competition with Extreme Specificity. One of the most powerful things you can do in selling is to educate your prospects about the specifics of your product or service. Let's take a look at how these two hardware stores advertise their products. Hardware Store Number One: "Hammers, screwdrivers, power tools, home fix-up, lawn and garden equipment. Peterson has the hardware you're looking for at neighborhood-friendly prices." Hardware Store Number Two: "Handyman Jack's isn't just any hardware store, it's a super store! We have 343 kinds of fasteners, 28 types of nails, 86 kinds of wires, 43 kinds of sandpaper, 16 different hammers, 28 kinds of screwdrivers, and 47 types of keys. Plus, we have 354,000 bolts and screws! The best power tools at great prices and a money-back guarantee if you're not happy." Now, I have a question for you: Which of these stores would you pick? It's probably the second one. Look, who really cares how many nails and bolts they have, as long as they have what you want? But there's a psychology behind it. The length implies strength. Okay, what if you don't have that many products, like hardware stores? You need to be extremely specific when you describe your products or services. This approach is similar to the example we've given in lesson one, which is to intensify the five senses.
Let me give you an example. Let's say I randomly call two local pizza shops and ask them, "What makes your pizza better than your competitors?" Call Number One response: "We use better ingredients. Our sauce and flour are from Italy." Call Number Two response: "To make the cheese better, we use hard-to-find buffalo milk mozzarella. The cheese is never shredded because shredded cheese releases too much moisture on the pie. The sauce? Ah, now this is a thing of beauty. We refuse to use pre-prepared sauce like our competitors. No, sir! We crush our own tomatoes. And not any old tomatoes, either. We insist on genuine San Marzano tomatoes from Italy. The flour we use? Only hard Northern spring wheat because of its excellent rising qualities, crisp exterior, and chewy interior crust. The dough is hand-stretched, not flattened by steel rollers in a mindless machine like those big chain guys." Now, if you're going out with your friends, which pizza place would you pick? I'm sure it's the second one.
Lesson Number Nine: Show Evidence That Your Product Is Valuable. People buy from you when they believe what you are selling is of greater value than the money they need to pay for it. For example, if I give you an envelope and I want you to give me $20 for what's inside that envelope, what's the one question you'd ask me? I bet you'd ask, "What's in the envelope?" In other words, "What's in it for me?" You want to make sure what's inside the envelope is worth your money, right? Now, imagine I hold a plastic bag with a $20 bill clearly visible. If I offer you the plastic bag for $1, will you take it? Of course, you would. Think of it this way: for anything you're selling, whether it's a product or a service, you have to convince your buyer that what you're offering is worth more than the money you're asking for. If what you're selling promises to solve a problem or improve my life, I want to be convinced that it will work as you say. But at the same time, I don't want to be ripped off. So, how do you convince your potential buyers? Give them persuasive evidence. Evidence can be facts, figures, testimonials, endorsements, research, charts, videos—anything as long as you, the advertiser, didn't create it yourself. For example, if you noticed at the beginning of the video, I included a screenshot of the book from Amazon. I highlighted the number of reviews and a star rating. There's a reason I did that. I was showing you the evidence that this book is valuable.
Lesson Number Ten: What People Really Want: Life Force 8. According to research, human beings are biologically programmed with the following eight desires. The author called it Life Force 8: Number one, survival, enjoyment of life, life extension. Number two, enjoyment of food and beverages. Number three, freedom from fear, pain, and danger. Number four, sexual companionship. Number five, comfortable living conditions. Number six, to be superior, winning, keeping up with the Joneses. Number seven, care and protection of loved ones. Number eight, social approval. When you sell, you need to tap into any of these eight life forces. For example, if you're selling a security camera or a CCTV, you're tapping into Life Force Number Seven: care and protection of loved ones. These eight desires are biologically programmed in each of us. We need it, not just want it. According to the author, there was a guy, Halman Julius, who made big money by selling books during the 1920s and '30s. He would write a book, and if it didn't sell, he would just change the title according to these eight desires and try advertising again. After reading this book, I had an "aha!" moment about my YouTube videos. I thought, "Why not do the same thing and just change the title?" Before, if a video didn't perform, I would move on to creating the next one and forget about it. But that was extremely painful. Take this video, for instance. Today is September 30th, and it's exactly 2 months since my teammate and I started to prepare the script, and it's still not done. And I'm not even counting the animation and recording that's yet to come. It's frustrating to invest so much time and effort and see little to no results. Today, if a video doesn't do well, I don't just give up on it. I tweak the title and thumbnail until it clicks. I even had a video that performed well after a year when I finally found the right title and thumbnail.
Lesson Number Eleven: The Fear Factor. Selling the scare. For example, "No matter how often you wash your sheets, your bed is an insect breeding ground teeming with thousands of hideous, crab-like dust mites aggressively laying eggs in your pillow and mattress, causing you and your family to suffer year-long allergy attacks. Did you know that 10% of the weight of a 2-year-old pillow is actually dead mites and their feces? This means that every night, you and your family are sleeping in the equivalent of an insect toilet." So, what's the solution? "Blockx anti-mite mattress covers and pillow cases help your family enjoy a more peaceful night's rest." Do you see what I'm doing here? According to the author, fear sells. It moves people to take action. It drives them to spend money. In the example I just gave, I just planted a fear inside you about your bed sheets. And why does using fear work? Because fear causes stress, and stress makes people want to do something about it. Here are two things to keep in mind when applying this to your business: One, the product you're selling must fix or solve the fear you're talking about. You need to convince buyers that your product is the solution. Two, another common way to use fear is by using deadlines and scarcity. Use phrases like "limited offer," "one-day sale," and "while supplies last." But here's one last note: If you use fear to sell, don't create too much fear, because too much fear leads to inaction, like a deer becoming frozen when they see the headlights of an oncoming SUV.
Lesson Number Twelve: Establish Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). What makes you unique compared to your competitors? When people can't differentiate you from your competitors, they have no reason to prefer you. For example, when people buy sugar and salt, they just grab it without comparing brands. Your goal in business is to get people to prefer your product and choose you over everyone else who offers the same thing. So, what interesting story can you tell people about your product or service? The author gave an example of a restaurant, Nifty 50s. They take every opportunity to make sure you know how great they are. They make sure you know that they never use frozen beef. Their hamburger beef is ground fresh daily. Their french fries are fresh-cut and homemade. They never use frozen onion rings. They tell you what kind of oil they fry in. They make it clear why you should prefer them rather than the burger place down the street. They don't leave it up to you to discover these things on your own, like 99.9% of other businesses do. They're proactive. They tell you why they're great. Another great way to use your USP is on your headline. For example, which of these two headlines grabs your attention more? "Work from home. Home and turn your email into big profits." Or, "19-year-old college kid discovers clever way to persuade people to send you money via PayPal." Which one would you click? I'm sure you'd pick the second one because it is specific and unique. It puts a clear picture in your head. Here are more examples: "With Just 4 Months Left to Live, Millionaire Agrees to Reveal His Secrets of Wealth and Success." "Chinese Billionaire Reveals 14 Secrets That Help Make Him So Rich." Get it? The point is to create a hook or positioning that's specific and different from what thousands of other advertisers are saying. Ask yourself: What's unique about my offer? Am I the only one offering this plan, product, or service? What's unique about me that I can promote? Let your competition blend in with the rest, not you.
Lesson Number Thirteen: Transfer Credibility. Your offer must be credible. No matter how wonderful your ad is, if buyers don't believe in your product, they won't buy. So, how do you prove your product's credibility? If something is endorsed by a person or group you respect, your brain trusts it as credible. Think about which persons and organizations in your industry have a reputation that carries enough respect. If you get them to endorse your product or service, you can take advantage of the transfer of credibility it would create for you. For example, the luxury coffee brand Nespresso has George Clooney as its brand ambassador. Seeing a well-known celebrity like him using the product makes it feel more credible.
Lesson Number Fourteen: Bombard Your Readers with Benefits. You've heard this many times: benefits, not features. To help you understand, let me share with you how the author made an activity in his seminar called "Feature-Benefit Exercise." He paired up two participants. One person played the role of the seller, and the other one as the buyer. The seller starts by talking about their product: "My product is an inkjet printer. It has multiple ink tanks." Notice that "multiple ink tanks" is the feature, not the benefit. And the buyer responds, "Big deal. What's in it for me?" Then the seller explains, "You benefit by saving money because you don't have to replace the entire cartridge when only one ink color runs out." And then the seller continues with another feature: "500-sheet tray." The buyer responds again, "Big deal. What's in it for me?" And the seller replies, "You benefit by not having to fill the paper tray often. Most other printers can only keep half of what this printer can." All right, I hope through this exercise you can see the difference between features and benefits. By showing the benefits, you're telling your buyers how their lives will improve after buying your product. At the same time, you're answering their most important question: "What's in it for me?" So, how do you apply this? Every time you present a feature of your product, ask, "What's in it for my buyers?" Sometimes you might need to ask this question a few times before you reach the core benefit.
Lesson Number Fifteen: Scarcity. Imagine your ads are filled with excellent words, wonderful graphics, perfect pricing, and amazing testimonials. Everything is perfect, but there's no deadline. If your ads don't have a deadline, you're telling people that your offer is always available. There's no need to act now. "Take your time deciding. I'll get back to you in the future to see what you've decided." As advertisers, we need to motivate people to take action right now. We don't want them to wait, or think about it, or put off the decision until a "later" that never comes. You want them to take out their cards and order now. You do that by creating the perception of scarcity with powerful deadlines. Simply include standard phrases like: "Offer expires May 15th," "Supplies are strictly limited," "Offer good only before 4:00 p.m.," "Seating is limited to 50 participants," "Discount pricing only until August 3rd."
Lesson Number Sixteen: The Psychology of Social Proof. It doesn't matter if you sell to doctors or Pizzeria owners; people believe testimonials. How do you get them? Ask. Tell them you want their honest opinions about your product or service. For example, let's say you're a website designer. To get a testimonial, you might ask questions like: "What do you think about our design services?" "How do our services compare with other designers you've used before?" "What do you like best about the way we do business?" "Are our prices reasonable?" "Would you recommend us to a friend?" If you want people to respond, you have to make it easy for them.
Lesson Number Seventeen: Length Implies Strength. "Length implies strength" is a principle based on the idea that if the ad is long and contains numerous credible facts and figures, people will have a positive perception of the product or the service. It causes the buyers to believe, "Wow, look how much is here. It must be true." It's similar to listening to someone speak at length about a particular topic. After hearing enough, and as long as the presentation was reasonably polished, you'd probably feel that the speaker knew what he was talking about. Of course, length itself doesn't mean it's true, but that's how this principle works. Here are two ways to use this principle in your business: Number one, load your ads with testimonials and photos of satisfied customers. Show as many happy customers as possible. If you just show one customer, it means you only have one satisfied customer. But if you include dozens of them, it creates a strong sense of credibility about how good your product is. For example, the author has a client who sends his prospects a brochure called "101 Success Stories." It contains, you guessed it, 101 testimonials and photos from clients who love his service. You're not going to read them all, but seeing so many positive reviews makes you think, "This must be good." Number two, write a long, engaging sales page. A long sales page gives you more opportunities to persuade. It also makes your buyers think that with so much information, there must be something to it. How many good reasons can you give prospects to buy your product or service? List them out. The author once advertised one of his products called "Daytime Organizer." He listed 22 good reasons why people should buy it. The list gets people excited about the many benefits that they will enjoy, and it helps convince them that the product is good. After all, it has 22 good reasons. People might believe in some of the benefits, if not all. But if you provide enough information, the "length implies strength" principle kicks in.
Lesson Number Eighteen: Power Your Ads with Pictures. There was a study made on how pictures affect ads. Here is the result of that study: Ads with 50% visuals (whether photos, graphics, or illustrations) are seen and remembered 30% more often than ads with no visuals. And what about photos of your product? Placing a photo of your product in your ad attracts readers 13% more often than not showing it. But there's more. If you put photos of the product being used, it gives you an extra 133% boost compared to just showing the product alone. For example, here is a pepper spray ad from two companies. Company A's headline: "Mugger Stopper." It showed a close-up photo of a woman's hand holding the product, as if she were showing you the label. And Company B's headline: "Stop Muggers at the Push of a Button." It used a black-and-white illustration of a woman spraying a group of attackers who surrounded her in a semicircle. Each of the attackers is shown in various stages of distress: on their knees, flat on the ground, coughing, grabbing their faces, screaming, and running away. Now, if you saw only the headlines and the pictures, which of these two ads will convince you to buy? The answer is obvious, isn't it? Company B gave you a demonstration, so to speak, of how its product works, and even though it's just a black-and-white illustration, it still conveys the message of how effective the pepper spray is.
Lesson Number Nineteen: Show a Face. A head or face is the best attention-getter. The face should be looking directly at the reader. Smiling is generally preferable, but this depends on the product or service you're offering. For example, if you're selling tear gas, the right photo would be the screaming, distorted face of a 235 lb mugger who just got sprayed directly in the face. If you're a carpenter, put a close-up of your face somewhere in your ad. And if you're a dentist, the same thing. Show your face. Not only does a face grab attention, but it gives your ad a personal and warm feel. The result? More trust. Now you're not just a faceless business; you're a real person. For example, to advertise the "Cashvertising" seminar, the author put his photo at the top of the ad, and next to it, he added his quote as the headline: "Give me 90 minutes, and I'll show you how to double your ad response." Now, let's talk about how to take that photo and position yourself as an authority. Authority figures have a great deal of credibility. One of the easiest ways to signal credibility and authority is through your profile image. For example, imagine you're hiring an interior designer. Which of these two candidates would you pick? Example Number One. Example Number Two. Not hard to say, right? Maybe the first candidate is better than the second, but the image doesn't reflect that. So, here are some tips to position yourself as an authority using your profile image: First, you can hire a professional photographer or ask someone with good photography skills to take your professional headshot. Make sure you're dressed appropriately for your business. Then, don't be shy. Put it on all your sales materials. Put it in your ads, emails, websites, and sales pages. Do podcast interviews, give webinars, create online courses, write a book, or even write a weekly newsletter. All of these help build your authority.
Lesson Number Twenty: 20 Powerful Visual Adjectives (PVAs). By using PVAs, you will help your buyers to imagine your products in their minds. Let me give you two examples to help you understand: Number one: "People love our authentic Italian food. Try it, it's delicious." Number two: "We make our pasta fresh every morning. We bake our own bread, golden and crusty. Our sauce is made from scratch, never from cans. Everything we serve is homemade, 100% natural, and delicious." So, which one stands out the most? The answer is obvious, isn't it? The second example is packed with powerful visual adjectives, or let's just call it PVAs. These PVAs produce clear, bright, and high-impact visual images. So, how can you apply this in your ads? Don't say "make lots of money," but say "earn $2,750 cash weekly." Don't say "drink cleaner water," but say "enjoy pure, crystal-clear, glacier-fresh water." The more specific your words, the clearer the picture. It helps your customers to imagine it. It takes up more space in their brain by creating a mental movie of your product.
Lesson Number Twenty-One: Be Clear, Not Clever. To help you understand this lesson, compare these two headlines: Number one: "Only $250 keeps you from getting caught in a sticky web on the net." Number two: "Powerful web pages designed in 24 hours by famous marketing expert for $199." The first example seems clever, but not clear. The "sticky web" headline is not clear. It doesn't tell the reader what you're selling. Remember, 60% of people who read ads only read the headlines; they scan. So, with the first example, you'll lose at least 60% of your audience. And the second example is clear. It directly appeals to those who need a web page, want it done by a pro, need it created quickly, and don't want to spend a fortune. So, be clear, not clever.
Lesson Number Twenty-Two: Survey Power. What's the best way to find out what your customers want? The answer is: ask them. One great question to ask to get your customers to express themselves freely is: "If you were the owner of my business, what would you do differently?" You'll be amazed at some of the great answers you'll get. The feedback you receive could completely alter the way you run your business. Apart from asking this question, you can also do a survey. Instead of spending thousands of dollars running ads trying to guess what your customers want, why not simply ask them through a survey and then create advertising around their responses? For example, if you run a pizzeria, ask people: What things are most important to them when going out for pizza? What do they like? What do they hate? Would they come in more often if you offered two free drinks with every large pizza? What's their biggest complaint? Okay, now who should you send this survey to? How about everyone within a 5-mile radius of your Pizzeria? And don't forget your own previous customers. Bribe them to take your survey, like offer a free slice as a thank you for their feedback. Make sure you limit the response time. Remember the scarcity factor. If your survey doesn't have a deadline, you're saying there's no need to act now; you can do it later. Later that never comes.
Lesson Number Twenty-Three: Compare with Competitors. To make your buyers prefer you over your competitors, help them to compare. For example, let's say you own a pizza shop. You could say something like this: "Our competitors tell you they use fresh mozzarella, but they don't tell you they buy it pre-shredded in big plastic bags. At Paulie's Pizza, we hand-shred our mozzarella every morning. Our competitors tell you how convenient their home delivery services are, but they don't tell you that their average delivery time is over an hour. Paulie's Pizza delivers in 28 minutes, or your pizza is free." So, what are you doing here? First, you let the buyers process the facts made by your competitors, but through your lens. Tell them what to look out for, what's good, what's bad, and give facts about what makes you better. By doing this, you're implying that you're so confident in what you sell. Another example: Let's say you own an auto body shop. You can say, "Our competitors will tell you that the little dent in your fender costs over $1,000 to fix. They'll quote you $800 to replace your windshield because of that tiny chip in the glass. What they won't tell you is there are many insider secrets in our business for getting these jobs done for a fraction of the cost. For example..." All right, the key here is to help your buyers process your competitor's claims through your filters. So, here's how you can apply this principle to your business: First, you need to present a point from your competitors, then show how you're better. This way, you can help your customers do their research by comparing you and your competitors. But here's a quick note by a consumer psychologist: If you use this principle, your attack must be weak. Don't be too harsh in your attack.
Lesson Number Twenty-Four: Repeat Your Ads. People don't start seeing your ad until you run it seven times. Repetition is a key factor in getting your point across in advertising. With each repetition, your audience becomes more familiar with your product and company. However, repetition isn't always a good thing. For example, if you run the same ad over and over again, you're being repetitious. So, what can you do? Run different variations of the same ad. For example, if one woman tells you how healthy it is to eat chocolate every day, you might believe her or not, depending on how the idea hits you at the time. But if five different people throughout the day tell you a similar but slightly different version of this argument, it'll probably have a bigger impact on what you believe.
Lesson Number Twenty-Five: The Psychology of Simplicity. If you don't understand what I'm saying, I can't persuade you. I have great lessons in my videos, but if I can't explain them simply, you don't want to watch. The same goes for your sales page. If you can't explain it simply, people will stop reading. You could have the greatest invention since indoor plumbing, but if no one understands what you're saying about it, selling will be tough. People won't study your ad carefully; they can't be bothered. So, you have to make your ads simple. Let me give you two examples to compare: Example Number One: "Would you like to make $10,000 a month making your own ice cream? We showed our friend Steve, and now he makes an additional $4,300 every month with ease." Example Number Two: "If you wish to acquire vast financial resources, please pay close attention to the following information. Numerous individuals in the frozen confectionary industry have kept closely guarded secrets that reveal the fast route to establishing yourself as an ice cream producer in a short period of time." Oh no, you've already lost your attention in this second example. Example Number One uses shorter words and it's straightforward. It's easy to understand regardless of your customer's educational background. Short words and short sentences make reading easier for everyone. Simple is better, but simple isn't always easy. It takes practice to communicate clearly. The author lays out three simple tips to make your writing simpler: Number one, use short, simple words. In school, we were taught to write like adults. Because of this, we tend to write that way even in ads. Just be clear, natural, and simple. Number two, the shorter your sentences, the better. Express only one thought in a sentence, no more. Use your next sentence to say the next thing. Number three, pile on the personal pronoun: "you," "you," "you." Do you? Can you? Would you? Should you? May I ask you a question? May I ask for your advice? Can I get your opinion? Did you know? Let me tell you. I think you'll like this idea. The words "you" and "I" give your writing a warm, personal tone that people notice. It turns mass communication into personal communication. Even if you have the best product and lots of happy customer reviews, if your ads are messy or confusing, it will be hard to make sales. What's worse is that you might hurt your business if your ads give people the wrong interpretation of your original message.
Lesson Number Twenty-Six: The Power of Questions. Use questions in your headlines or subheads, and of course, in your body copy. What does it do? See, I'm using a question here. It causes your prospects to desire the answer. According to neurolinguistic programming (NLP), questions create an open loop in the reader's brain. Once the loop is created, the brain looks for a way to close it. It keeps people engaged to find the answer. Asking questions keeps everyone alert because it acts like mini pop quizzes that keep people alert. The author also suggests using rhetorical questions: a question that doesn't need an answer. Pretty sneaky, isn't it? See how I just used it? The idea is that if people aren't fully tuned into your message and your ads, slipping in a rhetorical question grabs their attention. They have to think about the message. The more your audience thinks about something, the more likely they are to remember it.
Lesson Number Twenty-Seven: Long Versus Short Sales Page. According to the most influential copywriter, David Ogilvy, long copy outsells short one. If someone is a real buyer of your product, you never know how much of the sales pitch they will read. You don't want to ramble on your sales page, of course, but you should write enough to inform, build desire, convince, and motivate people to take action. You pile on the benefits, show pictures to help them see it, add testimonials, and back it up with a warranty. By the time you're done, you'll have created a convincing sales page. Here's why I think most people don't get it: They think that people must read all the words before buying, and that's nonsense. Some people need a long pitch to be convinced. Others can decide with less information. A long pitch satisfies both types. Miss Long gets all her details. Mr. Short can stop reading whenever he wants and buy right away. If you only use a short pitch, Miss Long doesn't get what she needs, and she goes away unconvinced. How silly would it be to create sales materials for only one type of buyer?
Lesson Number Twenty-Eight: Strong Money-Back Guarantee. Do you believe in your product or service? How strongly? The author offers a full one-year money-back guarantee on many of his products. Why? Every time your prospect thinks about buying, their head becomes a battleground between two forces: skepticism and the desire to believe. Including a strong guarantee helps lighten the skepticism side and press down on the desire side. This gives people the confidence to buy. Did the guarantee help close the sale? Yes, it did. Studies show that short-term guarantees like 30, 60, or 90 days keep customers ready to make a return and make them more conscious of the return deadline. On the other hand, longer guarantees like 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, or a lifetime give prospects confidence in the product and avoid the feeling of having to rush to return it within a short time.
Lesson Number Twenty-Nine: Make It Easy to Buy. An ad that only informs and doesn't move people to buy is like a salesperson who can't close the deal. Getting buyers to take action requires two steps: First, ask for action. Second, make it easy to buy. So, how do you apply it? Tell your prospects exactly how to order, step by step. Accept as many forms of payment as possible: all the major credit cards, PayPal, etc. Offer a strong money-back guarantee to stop their fear of loss. Offer a payment plan: "Just $14.99 a month" to reduce the psychological pain of spending money. Offer several shipping options. If you're a retailer, always provide your address, phone, and your working hours.
Lesson Number Thirty: Examples Versus Statistics. Which is more effective? Emotion is the key to sales. Because of that, using examples is more effective than statistics. No matter what you sell, even a $10 mousetrap, until you get your buyers to imagine themselves using your product or service, they're not going to take the next step and buy. For example, if you're selling gym memberships, show photos of lean and attractive men and women, before and after shots, and testimonials from happy members. According to research, examples are more effective because they relate more closely to the buyer's personal experience and they're easier to understand because they require less mental effort to process compared to statistics. You might argue, "Some people do want to know facts and figures." Of course, they do. Depending on the product you're selling, you should include them. For the gym example, apart from the photos and testimonials, you can also include stats like how many exercise machines you have and the square footage of your facility. It all depends on your product. If you sell a laser printer, it's more to stats. Apart from the photos, tell how much paper it holds and how long the ink lasts. If you sell a landscape service, this product is all about beauty and self-image, how your property looks to neighbors.
Lesson Number Thirty-One: The Psychology of Font. Different fonts can give your messages a different meaning. For example, you wouldn't advertise women's lingerie using a font set in dark, bold, and masculine Cooper Black. On the other hand, you wouldn't advertise your bodybuilding gym packed with a lovely, delicate, and thin font. No matter what font you choose, just know that it will communicate something. The author also mentioned that serif fonts make words easier to read. Examples of serif fonts are Times New Roman, Georgia, and Garamond. Now, let's talk about headlines: Which one is better, all uppercase or a combination of upper and lowercase letters? According to research, using all capital letters slows reading by 11.8%. This is because people recognize words by their shapes. Mixed-case text gives each word a unique shape, allowing for faster word recognition. When the words are in all caps, they all look the same height, which makes it harder for the brain to recognize the shapes. So, write "free cookies" instead of "FREE COOKIES."
Lesson Number Thirty-Two: Use White Background. Research shows that using a dark background makes your writing difficult to read. In the study, the same words were printed on two papers. The first one was white paper with black fonts. The second one was a black paper with white fonts. The normal white paper with black fonts was readable from a distance, while the black paper with white fonts required participants to move closer to be able to read it. So, don't use a dark background.
Lesson Number Thirty-Three: The Empty White Space Around Your Ads. Researchers found that people notice ads more when they have this white space around them. But there's a balance. If you use too much white space (more than 60% of the total ad area), it won't be as cost-effective. The sweet spot is around 20%. More white space around your ad. Sometimes I use this technique for my video thumbnails. I leave empty white space in the thumbnail. I don't add more words or more images to it. You can apply this technique to your ads too. You can make your ads more noticeable by leaving white space around your ads.
Lesson Number Thirty-Four: Hire a Designer. Just because you have a hammer doesn't mean you're a carpenter. Just because you know how to work in Photoshop or Canva doesn't make you a designer. Your image is critical, especially when promoting to those who don't know you. Many sales are won or lost simply by how you graphically represent yourself. If you choose to find a designer online, be sure to review their portfolio. Many charge depending on how big they think your company is. Hint: Don't sound big.
Lesson Number Thirty-Five: 22 Psychologically Strong Headline Starters. Your headline should do two things: First, it grabs their attention, and second, it should motivate them to keep reading. A well-constructed headline can stir up enough curiosity to motivate your buyers to keep reading. In the book, the author lists 22 proven headline starters that can be used for almost any product or service. Just replace the example wording with words that are relevant to your business. This is one of the easiest ways to come up with strong titles. An even easier way is to give these proven titles to ChatGPT and then ask to adjust them to your product or service. If you want the 22 proven title templates, a two-page visual summary of all 35 lessons (which you can print and use as a handy reminder), the entire text of this video as a PDF (if you prefer reading), and an audio file (if listening is more your style), check out the description for more info. Thanks for watching.