Flip honesty into your best selling emotional trigger

If you are a marketer who likes writing their own copy or reviews, here is a concept that I have learned from 8 years in telephone sales that doubled my sales.

Be honest.
Being honest in this day and age of skepticism is probably one of your strongest weapons. Think about it, if I were selling a "make $5000 on the internet in a month from now" manual, I wouldn't necessarily pitch it as the easiest, fail-proof system. Because that's what customers hear all the time and skepticism levels can be very high. On the flip side everyone is looking for the magic bullet. But here is how I would pitch something like this and you tell me if you think it will make a difference:

Want to Make $5K on the internet in a month's time with no work?

Then I am about to tell you something you are not going to like, so don't say I didn't warn you if you keep reading.

Hear me out. I don't cater to lazy and unmotivated people. I don't promise anyone they can make money without putting in effort and zeal in what they do. It is impossible and immoral from my standpoint to promise you success without an important ingredient. And that ingredient is your own willingness to succeed.
I have never seen an unmotivated, lazy person make something out of their lives. Somehow, I know that if you are reading that far, that doesn't apply to you, does it? Blah, blah, blah.........


Basically, what I do here is be honest with my customer base that if they don't take manners in their own hands and take action, they will not succeed. I manage expectations. But I also trigger their pride and ego, because no one wants to think of themselves as lazy and unmotivated.
At the same time I have given them a fair warning.
In my hypothetical copy I would then go on and explain why my system works, etc. But it works on the condition that the buyer will put in their time and effort to follow the steps and will be willing to succeed and not give up.
Also honesty makes you come across as more human and someone who is genuinely concerned for their customers success. It shows that you care and makes you be perceived as an authority figure. People want to buy from experts and people who are straight forward and to the point. People who mean business.
I think the overhyped sales letter has had its heyday and it is time to be more creative with things. On the other hand, the same psychological triggers work on people no matter what. Sometimes, they have to be presented in a new form in order to be more convincing though.

Hope this can be of help to someone. Would love feedback. Thanks.

Anton B.