Why you should NOT always tell the TRUTH ...

I dont agree with you, i respect your professional opinion but does not mean I agree with you.

Why do infomercials sell, why does hype marketing sell... because it sells the dream. Yes you are 100% correct that the one story is believable but why would you buy a lottery ticket...

because the 1000's that won the free ticket?

or...

because the one that won the millions?

Do not fool yourself and think that marketing, without focusing on the dream, is good marketing. Marketing is about selling the dream and then being a good business manager is about making sure you follow through.

I am not saying lie or anything else, what i am saying is you need to find out what people desire and then offer a solution to that.

Ray,

I wish what you were saying is true. Unfortunately, the hype sells. There are examples everywhere from infomercials, mlm's, and IM copy.

I hear what Ray is saying but my philosophy is
never say anything you can't prove and never
leave anything relevant out that you can prove.

If I can prove it I have no problem saying it... if it's relevant.

Tsnyder

In your example, "How I Made $100 In One Day Online As a Newbie" would still be true, because if you actually made 10,000 then it is also true that you made 100.

I don't see how the lesson from this would be "Don't tell the truth."If the $100 claim really converted better, then the lesson would be "Tone down the hype," which is still different from not telling the truth.

It is always best to tell the truth.

You can change your second example to do just that...

"How I Made $100+ In One Day Online As a Newbie"

or...

"How I Made Over $100 In One Day Online As a Newbie"

or...

"How I Made More Than $100 In One Day Online As a Newbie"

or...

Use the first headlne and back it up with proof, or avoid the mention of a specific dollar amount.

There are plenty of options, none of them involve lying.

Now, here's the catch. Your second example ISN'T automatically lying. After all, to get to the $10,000 you must have had to have had $100 at some point; if that makes sense.

All the best,
Michael

Note that I said go with what is BELIEVABLE.

In know that the "$10,000" quoted in headline #1 is very believable
for some people because that's nothing for them. but depending on
your market, some people can never IMAGINE that kind of money
in a day.

Sometimes what I'll do in my headlines is use a range of incomes ...

"How To Make $500, $2,000 or Even $20,000 Per Month In Your Pajamas"

If the reader cannot swallow the $20,000, then he will believe the $500.

But, please do not brush this off in your marketing. Use what is
believable, not just credible.

And BTW, "not telling the truth" is not the same as lying.

-Ray Edwards

yeah i agree. sometimes i cant even believe it myself that i make over $10K a month online doing nothing...

Here's a phrase that pays: underpromise and overdeliver.

So, why does a Double Whopper or a Big Mac look nothing like the picture? It seems that overpromise and underdeliver also works.

Maybe a relationship example would help here ...

Tom approaches Mary and asks here out. Mary has
just been dying to get Tom's attention and has already
been planning their wedding. I mean, she is just head over
heels with Tom--something Tom has no idea about.

Do you think Mary should propose to Tom on their first date?
In fact, if Mary really expresses her love for Tom as she
really feels it, what do you think will be Tom's reaction?

It's the same for a prospect. You can scare him off if
you tell him the truth.

-Ray Edwards

I've heard this before and I agree mostly. It strikes me that your demographics should play a roll. If your audience happens to be 49 years old, 35K a year income, 2 kids, and rents a home... perhaps $10,000 a day although real doesn't pass the BS factor for that person.

On the other hand if your audience is 49 years old, 590K a year income, professional, owns a home... perhaps that message will be taken as possible.

Stupid examples based on zero actual data, but you get the point. To the second person the promise of $100 would be a yawn. To the first person that would be exciting. To the first person $10,000 a day would be impossible, to the second it might strike a cord.

There are ways and ways to work around unbelievable and/or offensive truths. Ray is right - I would have a ver-ry hard time believing a Newbie made $10000 in one day. But it IS TRUE that that Newbie made $100 in one day... and that is much easier for readers to believe as well as act on. You're just hiding the fact that the Newbie made $100 in one day... 100 times over. I have no problem with this.

It's like the old story, a lady is wearing the ugliest hat you can imagine. So many fruits and feathers, you'd think she raided the garden and the chicken coop! Then she comes up to you and, obviously pleased with her topper, asks how you like her brand-new hat.

What do you say?

It would be unnecessarily cruel to tell the truth: Where in the world did you get that ugly thing!? Instead, I very much prefer to say something like, Gee that's an interesting use of colors. I bet your new hat goes with everything.

See what I mean? I believe in truth with my whole heart... but I also believe in not using the truth to hurt. And I believe in using the truth to sell. So Ray's point about believability is valid.

Haven't you ever had something happen to you that if you'd written it into a story, you knew no one would ever believe it? Sure - we all have!

Hope this helps,
Dot

If I had the two ads in front of me;

"How I Made $10,000 In One Day Online As a Newbie"

"How I Made $100 In One Day Online As a Newbie"
I would pick the first. It's more intriging and besides if the sales page wasn't convincing enough I'd just click the back button and look at the next one. Fair comment?

Depends to on the price of the product. If it is selling for $27 that would say alot.

I think it was Joe Karbo who reports running an Ad in the LA Times
employment section with the headline:

"Make $50,000 in commissions per year using this new lead generation system"
(not exact, but you get the idea.)

He got 0 response! In frustration he ran the same ad again EXCEPT he used
"$20,000" instead of "$50,000" and the ad pulled in more leads than the RE
firm could handle.

Go figure ...

-Ray Edwards

I'd have to agree with Ray on this.

Years ago I had Dan Kennedy critique a sales letter package I'd written for a client. It was doing pretty well, but not to the levels we needed.

Kennedy, in reviewing the letter, immediately said the claim made in the headline was not BELIEVABLE. It was the truth btw, but not something the typical prospect would believe, Kennedy said.

So, I changed it to a lower earnings figure....and guess what? ...conversion rate went up . That was a simple change that made a big difference....I'll never forget that.
_____
Bruce

Ray I tend to agree with you. People don't believe in themselves. People don't believe they can accomplish good things or high things. Maybe it's because they've been scammed in the past, or found it was too much work in their minds or have just generally been beat down by life.

I have heard about doing this before and I don't think it's being dishonest at all because if you made $10,000 then you also made $100.00 within that $10,000. I think the amount will depend on your market though like some of the examples on this thread has shown.

Sometimes people need to be given baby steps to achieve. So give them what is believable if it's truth within what you actually accomplished. Again, if you made $25,000 in a month, you can tell people how they can make $2500 in a month because you did do that...you also did more!

Under promising and over delivering creates raving fans.

It keeps people from having unfulfilled expectations.

100 or 10000 it all depends on the person your marketing too. Most people I imagine would be crazy over having an extra 3k per month income so I would downplay how much the secret can really make some one.

Look at it this way...

You promise I will make $100, and I make $5,000. I think you're some kind of demigod.

You promise I will make $10,000, and I make $5,000. I think you're a lying POS scumbag scammer.

Same delivery, different promise, different perception.