“Gifts make slaves.” – Levi Strauss, Born Feb. 26, 1829. Cialdini stated this in a less harsh way. He calls it the Law of Reciprocity. When you receive a distinct item of value from someone else, you are compelled to grant them something in return. We feel that we owe them. That we are indebted… Read More →
You Have to Feel Bad Before I Can Help You Feel Good. You Have to Be Bored Before I Can Catch Your Eye.
“The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.” – Arthur Schopenhauer, Born Feb. 22, 1788. It may seem like a shitty thing, to sit around plotting ways to make people unhappy with their current existence. But that is what we do for a living. We don’t describe products and services. That’s bitch work…. Read More →
Only Two Things Have Potentially Infinite Value: Art, and Information… (And Art IS a Kind of Information)
“The price of a work of art has nothing to do with what the work of art is, can do, or is worth on an existential, alchemical level.” – Jerry Saltz, Born Feb. 19, 1951. Information is like art in this way, at least when it’s for sale. For example, imagine a piece of information… Read More →
Good Advertising Consists of Desirable Lies People Prefer to Hear (Because the Truth Sucks the Glaze Off a Donut Sometimes)
“Sometimes you have to lie. One often has to distort a thing to catch its true spirit.” – Robert J. Flaherty, Born Feb. 16, 1884. Consider a poem, which often describes reality with a refined and elegant metaphor – one that reveals a deep but unobservable truth about a given thing. But despite the bard’s… Read More →
Lie Like a Magician, and Make the Audience Work the Magic For You
“When a magician lets you notice something on your own, his lie becomes impenetrable.” – Raymond Teller, Born Feb, 14, 1948. A lot of people think persuasive writing is about what you say to people. Your words push their buttons and they act. But a lot of times, it’s what you DON’T come right out… Read More →
What Most Copywriters Don’t Know: When to Shut Up, and What NOT to Say
“To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact.” – Charles Darwin, Born Feb. 12, 1902. That’s true, Charlie. It’s not just as good or better. It’s way easier, too. To know what is wrong in the world of your prospect… Read More →
Words that Wound, Words that Heal – We Alternate Them to Persuade People to Buy
“All books are either dreams or swords, you can cut, or you can drug, with words.” – Amy Lowell, Born Feb. 9, 1874. If you’re just using words to describe shit or explain shit, you’re wasting them. Words can stab. Use yours hit the reader’s tenders organs. Make them bleed. Reopen old wounds. Carve new… Read More →
Guess What People Are Thinking, and They’ll Mistske You For Their Own Mind.
“Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs.” – Robert Peel, Born Feb. 5, 1778. Some other famous advertising writer guy once said that persuading people was about entering into the conversation happening inside their own mind. But you don’t need to be a mind-reader to… Read More →
I’ll Never Ever Tell How This Trick is Done
“If you have a secret, people will sit a little bit closer.” – Rob Corddry, Born Feb.4, 1971. This is a simple power. But it’s strong. Instant. Easy. Irresistible. However, I won’t explain it to you. So don’t ask. I can’t. I’m not allowed to. Don’t beg. It’s unbecoming. It’s a secret – A powerful… Read More →
Capture Attention, Embed Memories, Make Money. How? Curiosity!
“Curiosity is as much the parent of attention, as attention is of memory.” – Richard Whately, Born Feb. 1, 1787. This is the formula. You want people to remember you after they consume your messaging. Unless they stick around to consume more, or buy something to take home, you want to linger in their consciousness…. Read More →