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How I Write
Hypnotic Copy That Sells
© 2004 By Joe Vitale
Imagine someone hands you the following
message--
"Riguardo a gli dice il mio segreto di dollaro di
milione per scrivere di copia di vendite. Questo è
qualcosa non ho mai detto nessuno altro nel mondo
intero. Lo dirò giustamente adesso, se lei promette a
tiene quest'un segreto. Stato d'accordo?"
You wouldn't be too interested in it, would you? It would
look strange. Confusing. You might assume it's from another
language, but unless you knew Italian, you would only be
guessing to the language and the message.
What would you do?
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Obviously, you would need to
translate the message.
How? In this case, you might just go online at a
great website for translating languages, enter
the above text, and quickly discover that those
words in Italian actually mean---
"I'm about to tell you my million dollar secret
for writing sales copy. This is something I've
NEVER told anyone else in the entire world. I'll
tell you right now, if you promise to keep this
a secret. Agreed?"
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Ah! Now it all makes sense! Now
you know what the words mean and you are free to
enjoy them, act on them, or just dismiss them.
But at least now you've gotten the
communication. Relax. Breathe. Smile. Ahhhhhh...
But what does all this translation business
have to do
with how I write hypnotic sales letters, ads, and news
releases?
In a nutshell, translating is EXACTLY what I do in
writing sales copy.
When someone hands me a technical manual on a new
software program---with the idea they want me to write
a sales letter for the software---what I do is
translate that manual.
In short, I do the same thing
the language translation website does. I simply
look at what the manual says the software does,
and then I translate it into benefits that make
sense to you, the consumer. In a way, the manual
is written for techies, much like Italian is
written for Italians. I have to translate both
so you can understand and make sense of them. If
I don't, you won't care.
Here's an example of what I mean
Recently I was hired to rewrite
a brochure. My client handed me their draft. It
read well. There were lines such as, "When was
the last time you felt OK?" Well, nothing wrong
with that. It works. But I found a way to
translate it into something more meaningful,
understandable, and emotional. And I did it with
just one word. I wrote, "When was the last time
you felt fantastic?"
The translated line communicated better. It's
the difference between hearing the line in
Italian or in English. As Mark Twain put it,
it's the difference between lightning and the
lightning bug.
But maybe that example is too simple...
At another point in their brochure they
were trying to explain the concept of suppressing emotions,
and how suppression could be harmful. Their words were fine,
just as Italian words are fine. But they didn't communicate
in a way most people would hear. So I translated their words
to, "Suppression is building bombs. When you bury an
emotion, you bury it alive."
See the difference? I do this with all my copywriting. I
take what I'm handed and I translate it into benefits, clear
language, and bottom line emotion. This truly does feel like
translating languages to me. And like learning any new
language, it takes time to master.
I take the copy given to me, turn on the part of my mind
that knows how to speak copywriting, and I translate the
words in front of me into words YOU can understand.
I also do this "Copywriting Translation" with news releases.
For example, last month I was hired to write a news release
for a woman's book. I could have written a headline that
said, "New book explains how to communicate better," which
is what the book was about.
But that's Italian. It doesn't speak in emotional terms or
in a way most editors want to hear.
After doing some research and learning more about the
author, I translated the above headline to instead read,
"Female Pentagon Advisor Reveals Tips to Success." The
latter is far more intriguing. All I did was translate her
book into news. I took it from
Italian to English. I took it from English to Emotion.
I took it from words to power.
What's the secret to being a good "copy translator"?
I could probably quote a relevant line from any number of
books on marketing. But I'll grab one from a 1965 book I
just received today. It's by Robert Conklin. The title is
"The Power of a Magnetic Personality." He wrote:
"Putting it simply, it means this: Every time you state a
fact, describe how that fact will benefit the other person."
There you have it. It's what I've been saying for years:
"Get out of your ego and into your reader's ego." Translate
what you want to say into simple words and concepts that
make sense to your readers.
I hope I've done that with this brief article. I began with
the idea to tell you how I write sales copy. But I didn't
want to just say, "I translate all words into sales copy,"
which may or may not make sense to you. Instead, I wanted to
describe, with examples, what I do so you truly comprehend
it. Finally--
"Adesso che lei sa il mio segreto, va avanti e traduce
le sue lettere di vendite, l'advertisements, e le
liberazioni di notizie nell'ones che farà lei milioni
dei dollari. Piacere!"
Translation: "Now that you know my secret, go forth and
translate your sales letters, advertisements, and news
releases into ones that will make you millions of dollars.
Enjoy!"
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Joe Vitale is holding an intensive
training in his copywriting methods September
11-12 in Austin, Texas. Only 10 can attend. You
will learn Dr. Vitale's hypnotic writing
formulas and become certified as a Hypnotic
Copywriter Cost is $5,000. To register,
write
copy@mrfire.com |
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