History of whatever.... If you can't afford Porcelain then we have just what you want

[GordonJ]

If everyone knows it, hardly a secret eh?

But here is one, a big one...and I am confident that it will be simply brushed off, looked at, and get an oh yea, or oh right...and will get glossed over and never looked at again.

The power of a secret exposed, it remains a secret to those who only see the surface...few ever crawl inside. So, it doesn't matter if you know it, I know you most likely won't use it or ever consider it again. Which is ok.

Now I've worked under several Non Disclosure Agreements (NDA) and won't get into specific details but I will say, copywriters can use this secret for 80% of their offers, maybe more, if you learn the depth of it. Are you ready?


Here tis:

The single greatest action response mechanism is an appeal to ....




wait for it...

insecurity.


Whether I was perusing old magazines from 1860 or books on psychology from 1910 or studying the secrets of remote direct marketing there runs a common thread.

We humans are a dang insecure bunch.

Now it took me a decade of Elmer Wheeler/Elmer Leterman and Maslow and Crane to SEE it, to understand it and then to later USE IT.

Only Psychopaths and some Sociopaths lack insecurity, in fact, it being a hallmark of their anti social behavior, they think they are superior.

The rest of us, we aren't.

Appeals can be blatant, like Charles Atlas sand in the face or Karate training in the comic books of yesteryear. And they can be very subtle, when selling prestige, how you will look (jewelry, makeup BILLIONS of dollars).

Well there is the secret, now feel free to ignore it.

Gordon

Thanks Gordon.

Excellent. Wow. I have been writing from a very backward perspective in a couple different ways. Even though my own experience with people agrees with you.

Eric

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

Here tis:

The single greatest action response mechanism is an appeal to ....




wait for it...

insecurity.


Whether I was perusing old magazines from 1860 or books on psychology from 1910 or studying the secrets of remote direct marketing there runs a common thread.

We humans are a dang insecure bunch.

Now it took me a decade of Elmer Wheeler/Elmer Leterman and Maslow and Crane to SEE it, to understand it and then to later USE IT.

Only Psychopaths and some Sociopaths lack insecurity, in fact, it being a hallmark of their anti social behavior, they think they are superior.

The rest of us, we aren't.

Appeals can be blatant, like Charles Atlas sand in the face or Karate training in the comic books of yesteryear. And they can be very subtle, when selling prestige, how you will look (jewelry, makeup BILLIONS of dollars).

Well there is the secret, now feel free to ignore it.

Hi Gordon,

Thanks!

I keep a list of a summary of some of the best techniques I've learned from various copywriters... You, Gordon, of course, are on the list!

You are great when it comes to talking to people's real (and often hidden) desires and fears... And another one who I've found is great at this is... the late Bud Weckesser.

I LOVE this Green Tree Press ad...



(Click on the image to see the larger version... I got it from here...)

Thanks to Gordon, I actually met with "Webmaster Raymond Steinbacher" (who wrote the course the ad is for)... I remember us sitting around having a beverage, I think, Gordon, Raymond, and myself, in Erie many years ago...

Of course, this ad is about the feeling of insecurity - of using a computer! (Especially of older folks, back in the early days of the 'net...)

Apparently, it sold 1.5 million courses at $12.95 each (according to Mike Winicki's research)...

It is one of the greatest direct response ads, in my humble opinion...

Thank you, Gordon!

Best wishes,

Dien

[GordonJ]

...insecurity.

You know I went over millions of dollars of Bud's ad, and had the results right in front of me. Pete kept great records of how the ads performed, where and when they ran.

Between GreenTree Press and SCI (seed world), I may have analyzed as many ad results as anyone.

Green Tree took in millions with their various diets, and most of the ads featured stories taken from real people and turned into empathetic promotions which worked.

Housewife almost arrested.
Trick on EX.
Boyfriend Wanted.

Woven through the words that made Bud a multi-millionaire and let him build that beautiful home we wandered through...was a deep knowledge of people's insecurity. He was, after all, a College Professor of Communications.

One mentor once told me, EVERYONE IS FISHING FOR COMPLIMENTS.

And if within those you boost their ego, give them recognition (one of Garn's Fatal Four), it is a Cialdini style click-whirr shortcut to access their reprtile brain of survival....and sur THRIVAL.

Weight loss fortunes are made on insecurity. But it has nuances. Many facets. And the words used to evoke it emotionally at levels of unawareness, are power words which leverage pennies to dollars.

Gordon

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Gordon,

Thanks!

I keep a list of a summary of some of the best techniques I've learned from various copywriters... You, Gordon, of course, are on the list!

You are great when it comes to talking to people's real (and often hidden) desires and fears... And another one who I've found is great at this is... the late Bud Weckesser.

I LOVE this Green Tree Press ad...



(Click on the image to see the larger version... I got it from here...)

Thanks to Gordon, I actually met with "Webmaster Raymond Steinbacher" (who wrote the course the ad is for)... I remember us sitting around having a beverage, I think, Gordon, Raymond, and myself, in Erie many years ago...

Of course, this ad is about the feeling of insecurity - of using a computer! (Especially of older folks, back in the early days of the 'net...)

Apparently, it sold 1.5 million courses at $12.95 each (according to Mike Winicki's research)...

It is one of the greatest direct response ads, in my humble opinion...

Thank you, Gordon!

Best wishes,

Dien