Inside: 30+ sneaky secrets to cultivating irresistible influence over your prospects

mary_k

14 years ago

I've never seen so many V words in my life!

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Colin Theriot 14 years ago

Originally Posted by mary_k

I've never seen so many V words in my life!

There's a book called a Dictionary.
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ArticlePrince

14 years ago

Great post, a ton to remember and learn for those of us who are copywriters

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Colin Theriot

14 years ago

Originally Posted by ArticlePrince

Great post, a ton to remember and learn for those of us who are copywriters

Glad you liked it! It was tedious and very frustrating for me trying to figure out how to truly connect with people like this. I'm sure that you've noticed in your own studies in copywriting that everyone likes to talk about headlines and fonts and whitespace and risk reversal, etc. No one seems to come right out and say: "What are you supposed to SAY to people to get them to do what you want!?"

Now I'm not saying that it's really some guru conspiracy to keep this information private. I think the guys that are good at it tend to be naturals, and they don't really know how to express what they do.

But just like when you're studying a magic trick, you don't listen what the magician says, you watch what he does. And I widened my scope to study all the areas of life where persuaders operate INSTEAD of copywriting itself.

In doing that I discovered that the trick isn't in knowing what to say exactly. It's in knowing what you need to do to make a prospect into your friend. Once you know what you're trying to do, what to say comes naturally. It certainly makes it easy enough for a slacker like me.

That's why that "Introduction Induction" is so powerful. If you follow it, you'll be doing what you need to do to get the prospect to think of you in a light that will allow them to be influenced. And if you practice, you start following the pattern like 2nd nature.

For example, I used it to write this response without even thinking about it.

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fab

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Colin Theriot

Glad you liked it! It was tedious and very frustrating for me trying to figure out how to truly connect with people like this. I'm sure that you've noticed (Verify their perceptions and observations.) in your own studies in copywriting that everyone likes to talk about headlines and fonts and whitespace and risk reversal, etc. No one seems to come right out and say: "What are you supposed to SAY to people to get them to do what you want!?"(Validate their conclusions and feelings about those observations.)

Now I'm not saying that it's really some guru conspiracy to keep this information private (Decry Villains that thwart your common purpose). I think the guys that are good at it tend to be naturals, and they don't really know how to express what they do.

But just like when you're studying a magic trick, you don't listen what the magician says, you watch what he does. And I widened my scope to study all the areas of life where persuaders operate INSTEAD of copywriting itself.

In doing that I discovered that the trick (Volunteer secrets) isn't in knowing what to say exactly. It's in knowing what you need to do to make a prospect into your friend. Once you know what you're trying to do, what to say comes naturally. It certainly makes it easy enough for a slacker like me.

That's why that "Introduction Induction" is so powerful (Use this Vantage to insert your own material and exert your influence.). If you follow it, you'll be doing what you need to do to get the prospect to think of you in a light that will allow them to be influenced. And if you practice, you start following the pattern like 2nd nature.

For example, I used it to write this response without even thinking about it.

My dissection of your post

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Colin Theriot 14 years ago

Originally Posted by fab

My dissection of your post

I see what you did there. Now aren't YOU clever. I also consider promotion of easy-to-do tactics as a value share. And stating myself as a slacker while also sharing success is a little bit of vicarious experience. Also indicating the broad study of disciplines to inform application of persuasion and influence demonstrates both versatility and virtuosity.

You can mix and match the secondary tactics however you want to. The main ones you should always include are the 5 in the I.I.

If you verify without validating, there's no real connection. If you validate without verifying, you seem like a suck up. If you utilize the vantage of a verify/validate pairing without including values and villains, the prospect will distrust you (unless you're a performer and the fact that you're pretending to be friendly is inherent in the act).

They'll think "hey, why is this person trying to get in my head!?" But when you reinforce common values and enemies, they think - "Oh, they're not trying to pull one over on me, they're LIKE me. They see the same things, like the same things, and hate the same things. They're not trying to get IN my head, we just have the SAME kind of head! I LIKE this person, and I'll check them out again next time I see them."

Now here's WHY this happens: when you convince a person that you are like them, only somehow *more* like what they want to be, they will want to study you to figure you out in hopes that they can make the transformation. They really want to be LIKE you, but they will subconsciously associate themselves with you more and more.

The things that YOU look at should be the things THEY look at. They should want whatever it is that you want, because you represent who they want to be to some degree. And the ongoing subconscious hope is that it will rub off, or they will figure it out just by paying attention.

And I'm not saying anywhere in here that you need to be dishonest. You should do all these things for people honestly and with sincerity. The only *trick* you're pulling is that you're using the automation, scaling, and communication power of the web to *simulate* a more close connection from their end than actually exists from your end.

As long as you never abuse that gift of attention that they are PAYING you, you can go far beyond what you think is possible now as far as being able to produce results on demand from your list.

This kind of stuff keeps them highly engaged and highly attentive and highly responsive. This is how you generate big and continuous profits from a small list WITHOUT having to bust ass and churn and burn to constantly add new subs to replenish the ones who leave.

Don't BATTER your audience. Better them and butter them up.
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getsmartt

14 years ago

Thanks Colin, I'm gonna dump all this into PDF File and take it down to Kinkos and have a poster made to hang in my office.

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Steven Wagenheim

14 years ago

As soon as I saw the thread subject, I said to myself "This guy's a
copywriter."

I was then curious to see what you were going to share with us.

A lot of fancy phrases and words that sound real cool, but when I
dissected everything (took a while to do) it really just comes down to this.

Know you sh*t, be straight with people, and offer them a solution to their
problem that actually works. And...treat them with respect...not like a
side of beef.

I've been doing this since, well, since I can't remember when. I don't know
if I use all the little tactics and sub tactics you have outlines, but I do
know I use enough of them to get the job done.

I enjoyed reading your thoughts.

But man, you slick copywriters gotta start communicating in English
cause I'm gettin too old to try to decipher this stuff.

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Colin Theriot

14 years ago

Dang, Steven. You almost had me. Folks, Wagenheim is a genius. Check out his mastery:

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

As soon as I saw the thread subject, I said to myself "This guy's a copywriter." (Verify Observations)

I was then curious to see what you were going to share with us. (Validate Feelings)

A lot of fancy phrases and words that sound real cool, but when I
dissected everything (took a while to do) it really just comes down to this. (Using a Vantage)

Know you sh*t, be straight with people, and offer them a solution to their
problem that actually works. And...treat them with respect...not like a
side of beef. (Eliminate Vestigial Ideas and Share Values)

I've been doing this since, well, since I can't remember when. I don't know
if I use all the little tactics and sub tactics you have outlines, but I do
know I use enough of them to get the job done. (Vulnerability and Virtuosity)

I enjoyed reading your thoughts.

But man, you slick copywriters gotta start communicating in English
cause I'm gettin too old to try to decipher this stuff. (Villains and Vices)

Nicely done, sir. On purpose, I hope? Or maybe you're just one of those naturals. If you weren't doing it on purpose, can I get an official Warrior Forum Merit Badge for getting called out on being verbose by freakin' Steven Wagenheim? That's got to be some kind of special event.

Thanks for the reply, Steven. Much appreciated. "A bunch of fancy words and phrases that sound real cool" is going into my review clip file, by the way. I hope you don't mind.

Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill

This is how politicians manipulate citizens all the time. I hope your post helps people to realize this. It doesn't matter if you're a liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between, if you don't look past their rhetoric and personality you'll always be a pawn. Look at their records, not their language.

It's also how children manipulate their parents into buying them toys and getting a later bedtime. Persuasion is an innate ability in all of us that we develop at an early age. Some just develop it more than others. The problem with it is exactly what I said. It's like having magical powers, and power corrupts. I wouldn't want a politician who WASN'T persuasive enough to get other government officials over to my side. But those in office tend to use persuasion to stay in office to their own ends, basically facing the wrong way, manipulating the public rather than the republic.

But the tactics themselves can be divorced entirely from authenticity or genuineness on the part of the persuader. Like I said, the end result of using these tactics over and over is influence. They may not end up liking you or agreeing with you, but they will listen, and what you say will have more influence on what they do, regardless of their actual feelings about you.

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Steven Wagenheim

14 years ago

Colin...my answers are below.

Originally Posted by Colin Theriot

Nicely done, sir. On purpose, I hope?

Actually, I was just giving you my honest gut reaction to the post. I'm
not as cold and calculated as people think. It's much easier to be honest
than to try to make up stuff because you have to remember all the
freaking lies and BS and I'm too old for that.

Or maybe you're just one of those naturals

I don't know. I just consider myself an ordinary person who tries to do
the best he can. Sometimes I do okay, sometimes I screw up...just like
everybody else.

If you weren't doing it on purpose, can I get an official Warrior Forum Merit Badge for getting called out on being verbose by freakin' Steven Wagenheim? That's got to be some kind of special event.

Um...I guess...okay.

Thanks for the reply, Steven. Much appreciated. "A bunch of fancy words and phrases that sound real cool" is going into my review clip file, by the way. I hope you don't mind.

Feel free to use it for whatever you like.

PS - For what it's worth...I really enjoyed reading your OP.

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Colin Theriot

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Actually, I was just giving you my honest gut reaction to the post. I'm not as cold and calculated as people think. It's much easier to be honest than to try to make up stuff because you have to remember all the freaking lies and BS and I'm too old for that.

Wow, really? Crazy!

But I think that it's great that you didn't do this on purpose, because it proves that the little "system" I have works. It was designed by modeling the way people like yourself communicate. It's meant to help remind me to continuously do the kind of things that you may do naturally.

Though I can do it easily now through practice, the reason my list of tricks is so comprehensive is because I really did have to address each of them separately while learning to write copy by the seat of my pants.

No one joins anyone's list to hear about how awesome the author is all the time. They will stick around if your list makes them feel awesome. Which in this case it will, because it lets you inject your own awesome info directly into their brain where it can make a difference in the way they think and behave.

This kind of thing isn't just for convincing people to buy stuff. It can get people to do or think anything at all really. The I.I. is essentially a kind of teaching method, based on establishing a deep connection and bond of trust.

Or maybe I like thinking of it as "simulated friendship" more - I'm a dork, I know.

Thanks again for the great comments, Steven. I always get lots of value from your contributions here.

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Dennis Gaskill

14 years ago

This is how politicians manipulate citizens all the time. I hope your post helps people to realize this. It doesn't matter if you're a liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between, if you don't look past their rhetoric and personality you'll always be a pawn. Look at their records, not their language.

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jasonmorgan

14 years ago

Know you sh*t, be straight with people, and offer them a solution to their
problem that actually works. And...treat them with respect...not like a
side of beef.

thanks... I didn't feel like reading war and peace today.

oh yeah, outstanding advice. common sense really. and if that doesn't work, the pick-up artist suggest wearing a really big fancy hat to get attention.

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Colin Theriot

14 years ago

Originally Posted by jasonmorgan

thanks... I didn't feel like reading war and peace today.

oh yeah, outstanding advice. common sense really. and if that doesn't work, the pick-up artist suggest wearing a really big fancy hat to get attention.

I just want to point out that one of the items in my list of tricks, the one about trimming vestigial ideas from the minds of prospects - this is exactly why it's included.

Personally, I tend to like writing and reading A LOT. It's just me. I love words. But some people like to get right down to the point and doing that for them - trimming the fat - is a very useful service.

Think Cliffs Notes.

You don't really have to part the sea for your prospects. Taking things away can sometimes be just as valuable as adding things that weren't there before.

Another funny thing is that though I don't know much more about pick-up "artistry" than what I've seen on VH1, my understanding is that a lot of what they do comes from the early works in NLP, which I've read a lot of myself.

There could actually be a lot of overlap as far as underlying intent in what I try to do and what they try to do. In my world though, it's less about wearing a funny hat to stand out than it is knowing what your prospect's inbox is going to look like so you can make your subjects stand out from them.

It's about engaging the primal, pattern recognition parts of the brain by presenting a visual anomaly. That stuff isn't in this list of tricks. But I have another list of a bunch of "C" words I can share if anyone's interested.

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max922

14 years ago

Thanks Colin Theriot For Sharing Great knowledge with us

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Will Edwards

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Colin Theriot

Carpe the sh*t out of every diem.

Very funny - you owe me a keybvoard!

On the other hand, it was probably worth the coffee.

Will

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Colin Theriot 14 years ago

Originally Posted by max922

Thanks Colin Theriot For Sharing Great knowledge with us

You're welcome max922. Enjoy the backlink!

Originally Posted by Will Edwards

Very funny - you owe me a keybvoard!

On the other hand, it was probably worth the coffee.

Will

Well, you're welcome! It's important to note that I meant to portray oneself as being that kind of person. I'm not too much of a "Carpe Diem" type myself in reality. Most people aren't, and are drawn to people who are. Even people who ARE lust-for-life types have a secret suspicion that they aren't getting all they can out of every minute. (Verify , Validate and Vantage, plus Vulnerability)

But it's not all bad. It's almost lunchtime and I'm still in my pajamas, "working". I won't put on real clothes until after I eat a sandwich after I'm done for the day. In about... 30 minutes. (Vicarious and Values)

Internet Marketing can be pretty fun sometimes.

Also, I went ahead and posted this on my blog too as someone from here left a comment there. I'm always telling people to put their best articles on their own site before putting them in directories and I realized that with an OP of over 2800 words, I needed to follow my own advice.

EDIT: I realized after posting that the last bit there is a bit of Vouching, since it points out that as a fellow warrior, you've gotten early access to valuable information before I've even posted it for my own benefit. Now, I really DID do that without any deliberate intent. But this is the kind of thing that's important to tell people, and I think it's a detail I shared naturally in this case because of repeated practice at using the list above.

This checklist isn't meant to be something you have to reference forever. The more you use them deliberately, the more they will creep into your spontaneous communication, which is a good thing, right? Then you can be a natural like Steve Wagenheim! Try it. You'll like it.
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Inside: 30+ sneaky secrets to cultivating irresistible influence over your prospects

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