Anyone Tried/Tested "The Negative Sell?"

Thanks Claude, body language speaks volumes, eh? Which is why, in my opinion, face to face sales is so much easier than remote selling which relies on copy only. And, of course, the what is being sold holds weight too.

SARubin shows a very good negative approach with:>>>>

A better negative approach, for the average person, might be something like...

"Quite frankly this course isn't for everyone, because it involves work and some people are not willing to put in the effort it takes to double, or even triple their income over the next 12 months.

Some people just want a free lunch, and those people are doomed to failure.

I don't do failure. I only do success! So of you're not 100% certain that you're ready to take action, and invest in your own bright future, then this might not be the course for you.

On the other hand, if you are the type of person who... "


And then describe the benefits of a bright future and a better life, after taking the course.
Depending on the audience, something like that might be worth testing.<<<<<<<<

In my 60+ years, only those I've mentioned (Dean F.V. DuVall and Jeffrey Lant) had success with negative copy, and it had the context of their personality, also NEO-TECH man; Frank Wallace (born Wallace Ward) used negativity in his promotion.

It might be considered negative also, when attack is used, to rally those, as SARubin stated: "already drooling" over the person making the offer.

I do know Gary Halbert's two biggest failures ever were negative, the famous FAT BOY radio ad that poked fun of fat people was his biggest bomb, his negativity was wrapped around a friendly "big brother" or "coach" attitude, being insulting to his proteges for their own good, but that didn't carry over into copy (with maybe some high finance offers).

Funny thing, when you watch the Wolf of Wall street, that sort of berating worked on those ready to invest thousands of dollars, think of the Madoff pitch, where most marketers can't sell a 35 dollar book.

GordonJ

See what he did there, everyone?

It wasn't personal. He was speaking about a hypothetical person, and then immediately went on to describe how nearly all of us would describe ourselves...rightly or wrongly....in glowing terms.

That's selling.


When you see The Wolf Of Wall Street, or read any of Belfort's books (or take his course)...

These brusk, berating statements only come at the end of a pitch, after the buyer is trying to hang up.

It's a Hail Mary attempt to get them to act emotionally.

The purpose is to generate an emotional response that can be more easily handled than indifference or indecisiveness.

It tends to work more on people who are very intimidated by authority figures...or Alpha males who love engaging with other Alpha males.

I walked into a busy retail store once to sell my local online marketing service. The owner heard me say about three words, and just walked away. For some reason, it really angered me.

I yelled "I'm not done talking to you!". He turned and engaged. At first, a little put off, but he bought that day.

It was dumb luck on my part that I pulled the right trigger.

Thanks Gents. : ) It's great to hear from established Salesmen/Copywriters.

Cool. : ) Thanks. That's a much better approach/example. Hopefully People can see how to use "Negative Selling".

Yup. Great example of Copywriting/Selling.
: )

P.S.
Would part of that work for an eMail message? Or is it still off-putting?

Nice catch Paul. You recognized the source of my swipe file for that first sentence in my example above.
Most youngsters never even heard of that sales letter. Now I know you're old-school, like me

Interesting. Thanks Tsnyder. What about "Assuming the sale" ... Does that play a part? And similar to what you said?

I can't remember the original Copywriter or Ad for this strategy ... However here's a similar example from "The 12 Month Millionaire"

Thoughts?

Wow. Thanks for contributing Paul. : ) I love that example.

Let's say the Copywriter does everything they can to Persuade their Relationship Prospects to Buy/Invest ... Then as a P.S. They say something like ... "We will provide you with everything you need to meet the Partner of your Dreams ... However if you're not 100% sure you want to invest in this ... Then maybe you're not ready to buy."

Thoughts?

Thanks for contributing max5ty. : ) I've been a fan of your Posts for some time now.

Lol ... OK, fair enough.

Interesting eMail follow up strategy Ewen.

Another way to sound negative is to offer a "damaging admission" that is actually a benefit.

Male enhancement pills were advertised with a warning "If erection lasts for 4 hours or more, see your doctor".

The first time I read it I laughed, because it was obvious that the statement was not a warning, but designed to get men to think "This could work for 4 hours? Wow!"

The thing that works better than testimonials is a recommendation from a friend.

Friends usually share the same interests. I've talked about this many times.

There is a science behind starting a business and building a business.

The biggest problem in starting a business is people do not understand the minimum viable product concept.

Someone says I want to start a hotdog stand. But, I should add chips...and maybe hamburgers for those that don't like hotdogs...and maybe chicken sandwiches for those that don't like hotdogs or hamburgers...and maybe I should add something vegan so I can attract that crowd...and maybe I should add some ice cream to attract even more people that might be on the fence about buying...

your business MAY eventually take off, but you've spent way too much money getting it to where you want it to be...and you've spent way too much time finding out if anyone even wants what you're selling.

I'm using a very simplistic example. It applies to anything you want to start.

MVP...I sell the world's best hotdogs, and that's all I sell...

I'm not trying to get everyone to like them. My goal is to get 50 people to like them...which is where my referral from a friend comes in.

Those 50 will refer me to their friends...then those friends will refer me to their friends...and those...on and on.

Instead of spending hundreds and thousands on advertising, I'll just use my early adapters to advertise for me and give them incentives for doing so since it's more effective.

MVP is one of the hardest concepts for people to grasp. Then again, the longer an idea is in planning, the longer you can procrastinate before the real work begins. Anything before the real test of whether your idea works or not is just dreaming, and dreams are always in your favor because they're your best scenario.

Adding more options in the future ensures your current customers keep being your current customers and gives you more room for NEWS in the future...another scientific concept.

Anyways, there could be a whole discussion on this that goes much deeper.

But, along that line of thinking...

I see so many copywriters in 2023 that get hired to promote a product and they think they need to write something so good that thousands of people hit the buy button...

no, you don't. You need to focus on maybe 50 or even 100 people to get on board and then switch your campaign up to focus on those 50 or 100. This is 2023...we're not spending $200,000 on a full-page ad anymore, we've figured out easier ways to attract customers.

If I were looking for clients these days and an established business came to me saying they wanted more customers I wouldn't try and write something to entice new customers...

I would realize they did a poor job of nurturing the customers they had and I would focus on firing their current customers up to bring in more customers...or look to see if there was a reason their current customers weren't recommending them.

100 good customers can help you build an empire...even 50 good customers will work.

Along the lines of this thinking, a 50 or 100-person email list can make you a fortune.

So anyway, I'm rambling on again...

what I really wanted to say was personal referrals are gold. I apologize if I got a little off subject