The Surprising Maxim that Maximises Your Copywriting Results
by Kris Mills
Published on this site: March 3rd, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
Who was it that said, "Modesty is a virtue"? Whoever
it was, I'm sure they weren't referring to the field of sales
and marketing, where self-promotion is the name of the game
... or were they?
Take a good look at anyone who is a roaring success in sales,
in copywriting or in marketing and you'll see that one of
the secrets of their success is in being able to really connect
with people one-on-one, on their level. Sure, that means developing
a great rapport with them, being a great listener and being
a great communicator and more. But there's one factor that
separates these greats from the wannabes.
It's called the "Modesty Maxim". The people who
master this element of rapport, achieve mastery.
Here's how it works in copywriting. It can be used in a very
similar way in sales too.
When you're writing to (or speaking with) a prospect who
has a certain problem that they want to solve, chances are
they are feeling a little insecure about a certain aspect
of who they are.
With that, it's important that your copy starts by coming
down to their level, where they are now at emotionally and
then bring them up to the level where they want to be.
Here's a story of Mary Bryant. Mary is a 42 year old mother
of four from Atlanta, Georgia. She was 25kgs overweight and
had been that way since her youngest child was born about
10 years ago.
Mary looked in the mirror everyday and hated the image that
stared back at her. She felt ugly. She hated those extra rolls
of fat around her waist. She hated her double chin. She hated
the saddle bags under her arms.
She desperately wanted to lose weight. She wanted to be able
to look in the mirror and like what she saw.
One day Mary decided to visit a weight loss centre. The weight
loss consultant was friendly and asked her questions about
herself, but as she did that, Mary felt about an inch tall.
Mary was embarrassed by her weight. What made it worse was
the weight loss consultant was reed-thin and looked like she
had never had an inch of fat on her bones in her entire life.
'She thinks she's better than me,' Mary muttered to herself.
'She is probably thinking to herself, "That fat slob.
How could she let herself go like that?''
On and on went Mary's mind chatter then after about 15 minutes,
Mary was fed up with the "high and mighty attitude"
of the weight loss consultant, so she left.
Because Mary was so entrenched in her own problem, she was
in a very emotional and not very rational state. In fact,
her emotions were clouding her judgment.
After Mary left she recognized just how irrational she was
being, so she decided to visit another weight loss clinic
and try again.
Again, she was greeted by a 'reed-thin' weight loss consultant
with a smile. Again, she was asked about her goals and her
personal situation.
But what happened this time was that this weight loss consultant
told Mary her own story of how she was a mother of five and
just 18 months ago she was more than 30 kilograms overweight
... and how she had tried diet after diet and nothing was
working ... how she hated looking in the mirror everyday ...
how she just didn't want to get out of bed at all.
Mary's eyes lit up. Mary looked at this blonde, waifish woman
and finally realized that just maybe she really could be like
that too - that maybe if that weight loss consultant could
lose 30 kilograms, maybe she could lose 20 kilograms.
See the difference?
The weight loss consultant in the second example shared her
story with her and doing that achieved two things:
First - Mary no longer felt inferior to the weight
loss consultant because the weight loss consultant had once
been in the same situation that she is in now.
Second - Mary felt that getting results was now achievable
because she was talking with someone who had been in her situation
and won.
Here are some other situations where the Modesty Maxim
applies...
- Wealth Creation
If you're a multi-millionaire who wants to teach the "Average
Joe" how to get rich, it's important to show how rich
you are now, but it's also vital that you tell them how
you were like them once. For instance:
- "How a lazy high-school dropout went from dead
- broke to $10 million in assets in 7 years"
Some Classic Headlines that Employ the Modesty Maxim
The Man with the Grasshopper Mind
Anyone who has loads of mind-chatter can instantly relate
to this headline and subsequently the man mentioned in
the ad. They want to know ...
- How much is his situation like theirs?
- What did this man do to fix the problem?
- What is his life like now?
How a new discovery made a plain girl beautiful
Again, a great example of "before and after".
Most women want to look more beautiful but many feel that
it's something you need to be born with. This headline promises
that beauty is available to even "plain girls".
- "They laughed when I sat down at the piano but
when I started to play"
Many people who want to play the piano don't learn for
fear of looking ridiculous. This headline resonates with
those people.
See how these examples connect with the reader?
What other examples can you think of? How can you apply the
Modesty Maxim in your marketing efforts.
Kris Mills and is part of the Freelance Copywriting
Success Home Study Course developed by Words that Sell and
the College of Copywriting and Marketing. Kris is an internationally
recognized direct response copywriter and author who has produced
record-breaking results for clients in dozens of industries.
For dozens more interesting articles, more information about
the course or about Kris' copywriting services visit http://www.collegeofcopywriting.com
or
http://www.wordsthatsell.com.au
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