Be Careful With Questions. Very Careful.

Lots of people send me copy to review with questions in the headlines or sub-headlines, and frankly this is a very dangerous thing to do.

For starters, in social settings and in courtrooms, questions are often used to “trap” someone into saying something or putting themselves in a position they really didn’t mean to. By using reverse logic, and starting at the end result of where you want to to, it’s really not that hard to back someone into a corner.

I’ll assume if you’re a reader of this e-zine that you’re smarter than the average bear, so I can safely assume you’ve probably been able to use this kind of logic to get to an “A-ha!” moment yourself, either in a personal or business relationship, more than once.

True?

Good, so you understand the first thing you need to be wary of when using questions: Like cars and baseballs, they are weapons when in the wrong hands.

Now let’s talk about the second thing you need to watch out for.

The second thing has to do with asking the WRONG question. And the wrong question is any question that has even the slightest possibility of getting the wrong answer from the right prospect.

But before we talk about the wrong answers from the right people, appreciate that the ONLY two answers to your headline question can be either “yes” or “no.” “What’s your favorite flavor ice cream?” isn’t a question you want to ask. Do You Love Chocolate?, on the other hand, is an excellent question to ask, because if you’re selling chocolate, ALL your prospects will say yes.

And if you’re asking a question, you ALWAYS want their answer to be “Yes.” You want to start your prospect down the “yes highway”, right from the get-go.

So basically, for the most part, the wrong answer is going to be any answer other than Yes.

The big problem is, most questions I see eliminate prospects, instead of attracting them to you. For instance, asking someone “Can you see yourself on stage, getting paid top-dollar as a world-class lead guitarist?” will ultimately elicit a number of “No” responses from people who either don’t see themselves really being that talented... or who just don’t want to get paid to play guitar... or who have insecurities and hang-ups, and for any number of other reasons.

On the other hand, “Would you like to be able to shred and play guitar as well as ANY world-class lead guitarist?” will ONLY elicit “Yes” responses from every prospect who wants to learn how to play guitar.

So be mindful of this second trap, which is NOT taking your prospect down the “Yes” highway.

And lastly, be specific and provoke curiosity whenever possible, and here’s a simple way of doing this. There’s an old famous headline written by Maxwell Sackheim for an English course, that supposedly ran for 40 years.

The headline said “Do You Make These Mistakes In English?”

This prompted tremendous curiosity over the more bland “Do You Make Mistakes In English?”, which is simply very vague, comparatively. And as you know, curiosity is one of THE most important emotional buy-buttons to push when it comes to selling (see http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive for more information on pushing buy-buttons).

So there you have it, that’s the cat’s meow on questions, and if you didn’t learn something from this, then feel your wrist because you are dead and have no pulse.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Remember, if you do not already subscribe to my Offline Newsletter, today is the LAST day you can get this month’s issue. Inside you’ll find:

• At LEAST one-dozen different online web page testing results, and how you can use them to improve your response rates in your own business! (Including testing of fonts, audio, photos, drop-caps, colors, scroll bars, home page, long versus short copy, and... much much more!)
• The three words I added to my home page that almost DOUBLED my response from 21.5% to 40.3%! (And no, “Free” wasn’t one of them!)
• Find out when a watch-winder is NOT a watch-winder, and how to “make” yourself or your product appear totally different to what you really are! This allows you to COMPLETELY separate yourself from the rest of your competition so there is no possible comparison between you and them! (on pages 5 and 7)
• The right way... and the wrong way... to research a product, including LIVE examples!
• How to use scarcity for a REALLY boring product, and what kinds of bonuses to give with the product to make it really dynamic!
• The fine slice of wisdom Mark Twain served up that shows you the power of FEAR and how to conquer it! (on page 8)
• Topical press release ideas for the completely oblivious! (So simple, even my ex-wife could figure them out!)
• How being Seldom Right But Never In Doubt helped create a $2.7 Billion Dollar empire!
• And much much more!

Test-drive it FREE here, and get FREE interviews, prior issues, and even free copy and marketing strategy critiques, right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Have you got junk in your trunk?

What is junk mail?

Well, the definition of junk mail is similar to the definition of “weeds.” A weed is any plant you don’t want, right?

And most people feel the same way about junk mail. If you get a piece of mail you don’t want, you pretty much consider it junk.

There are a number of reasons why you get junk mail: Mostly, it is because often a company will send out offers to people who buy one kind of product, because usually they will also buy another kind of product. For instance, if you purchased some sort of information or product about high blood pressure, you’re probably going to get offers about other vitamins and herbs that offer health and wellness for your heart and other cardiological benefits.

In a situation like this, the mail usually isn’t junk mail because the match is pretty related. But... other times the match will NOT be so closely related and that’s when the “junk” factor comes in.

For instance, loads of men who smoke cigars, often are likely to buy loads of other items. So if you are a cigar smoker (like me) and you order your cigars via mail order, you’ll get lots of other offers for golfing equipment or golfing magazines... for seksual enhancement products (I hope I never have to accept those offers)... for back pain... and for other outdoorsy-types of things like camping, backpacking and other kinds of activities for people who like to rough-it.

For me, roughing it is not being able to find good New York City pizza here in Lutz, but that’s another story altogether.

The thing is, you need to learn from the junk mail you get. You need to start thinking in terms of affinity relationships, so you can expand your target market and find new prospects who you’d otherwise miss, simply sticking to the folks who have purchased only what you’re selling.

Because although those are definitely the best prospects, there is a lot of other low-hanging fruit out there for you to pick. All you need to do is dig a little bit to find out where the trees are located, and then you’re in.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Tomorrow is the LAST day to get your hands on this month’s offline Seductive Selling Newsletter. If you are not already a subscriber, this is what you will be missing:

• At LEAST one-dozen different online web page testing results, and how you can use them to improve your response rates in your own business! (Including testing of fonts, audio, photos, drop-caps, colors, scroll bars, home page, long versus short copy, and... much much more!)
• The three words I added to my home page that almost DOUBLED my response from 21.5% to 40.3%! (And no, “Fre.e” wasn’t one of them!)
• Find out when a watch-winder is NOT a watch-winder, and how to “make” yourself or your product appear totally different to what you really are! This allows you to COMPLETELY separate yourself from the rest of your competition so there is no possible comparison between you and them! (on pages 5 and 6)
• And much much more!
  

Test drive Seductive Selling FREE for 30 days right here, and get TWO FREE sales copy and marketing critiques: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Clearly, in life... nothing is impossible.

Have you ever had something so unbelievably incredible happen to you, it was almost too good to be true?

Have you ever experienced something so strange it actually felt surreal? That the results of your efforts went SOOOO far beyond what you expected it seemed impossible?

Well, I have had the good fortune of experiencing TWO things in my life like this.

The first one was the experience I went through when I met and fell in love with my wife. If someone were to come to me and ask me to replay any particular moments in my life, that period of time would definitely be my first choice.

I remember almost every single detail of every moment, and this is truly probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience for sure, that sadly, many folks don’t ever get to have.

The second experience that occurred, happened very recently. You see, I wrote a 3-step postcard lead generation sequence for a client, and he proceeded to mail it out.

Now let me tell you something you may be surprised to hear: Most people foolishly think that when I write something, I have no worries. This simply isn’t true.

I’m as anxious as you are that my material performs and generates not only positive cash-flow, but a rate of return that affords my client the ability to use my piece over-and-over again.

After all, if you’re paying me a king’s ransom, that’s what you deserve, isn’t it?

But often times, I never wind up hearing, as Paul Harvey so often says... “The Rest Of The Story.” This happens for a myriad of reasons I’m not going to get into now, but usually at least a month or so will go by at a minimum, before I hear anything.

After all, it’s not like you can simply set up a mailing campaign or run display ads overnight -- it does take some time.

Needless to say, I was caught completely off guard and was totally unprepared for an e-mail I received from a client this morning. There was LOADS of information in this e-mail, most of it confidential -- but let me share with you one thing that was so hard to believe, I had to call my client just to verify this in person. Here’s what he said:

“So...

The postcards you did for me didn’t exactly pull a 1% response rate as I expected! When I sent out 698 postcards the first week I was anxious as to the response. Well I got 298 responses to my postcard and was floored! If I am doing the math correctly that’s over a 40% response to just the FIRST postcard. (Note: Actually, it’s a 42.7% response, but who’s counting? And I shudder to think what the number will be after the second and third mailings!)

Additionally, I have been approached by two of the biggest XXXX associations and have some meetings scheduled to see how we can work together. I was also asked to speak to a group of 200 fairly new XXXX about “how to grow your business” at the next XXXX conference in Chicago in November.

As you can imagine with this type of response I decided I needed to shift my focus and complete my product and get ready to launch a coaching program. All very exciting!

It was my day of COACHING with YOU that really got me thinking and moved me to the new opportunity. I sort of looked in the mirror and decided that I never want to work in corporate America again…and I want to do something that I really enjoy.

Craig, I want you to know that I really appreciate everything you have done for me! The best thing I ever did was to subscribe to your Seductive Selling newsletter and System and join your Mastermind Group.”

WOW!

Now I am sure there may be someone out there who has generated a higher response than 42.7% mailed to a cold list (that means a new list of names who you have never spoken with before), but I don’t know who that person is.

So what I’m going to do is to share some of the unspoken secrets I used to accomplish this previously unheard of feat -- very soon. And if you want to be one of the first ones to hear them, then I’d encourage you to let me know by heading over here:

http://www.kingofcopy.com/leads

And by the way, if you CAN’T learn something from this, than I’d actually suggest you unsubscribe from my list altogether, because frankly, this really IS... as good... as it gets!

To discover more about this incredible accomplishment, go to http://www.kingofcopy.com/leads

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. THREE DAYS LEFT! To get this month’s Seductive Selling Offline Newsletter -- test-drive it for fre.e, get TWO fre.e marketing critiques, and discover the sneaky way to use vanity and humiliation to create your next compelling sale message! Get it here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

P.P.S. Again, to discover how I got a 42.7% response to a lead generation piece I wrote, simply go to http://www.kingofcopy.com/leads

Another Reason Why The ‘Convincing’ Business Sucks

If you own any of my products that come with Audio CD Interviews, or if you’ve ever heard me being interviewed live, then you’ve probably heard me make the comment that “being in the convincing business sucks.”

What I mean by this, is that you’re FAR better off spending your time finding people who are already interested in whatever it is you’re selling, and then just letting them know why they are better off working with you than with anyone else, than... trying to convince someone in the first place, why they need your widget or whatever it is you’re offering.

But here’s another deep-seeded reason why you shouldn’t ever waste your time trying to convince someone to buy something they may not want to, or for that matter, to do anything they aren’t committed to: You see, most people have deep-seeded beliefs about how life works and what’s supposed to happen.

“Hoping” someone’s open-minded enough to toss those ingrained thoughts and feelings aside, isn’t a very good business strategy. (That’s another thing you’ll hear me say a lot -- “hope isn’t a good business strategy” -- Do you agree with that?)

So you either need to sell those folks who don’t believe you by telling them a message they will be receptive to instead (like stomach pain can be eliminated only be eating the right foods, not by using antacids), or you need to find better people who will be easier to sell to and more receptive to your messages.

Meaning, find someone who can hear your message louder -- without you having to scream.

Good advice for a selling relationship -- and probably even better advice for a romantic relationship.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. FOUR DAYS LEFT! To get this month’s Seductive Selling Offline Newsletter -- test-drive it for FREE, get TWO FREE marketing critiques, and discover the sneaky way to use vanity and humiliation to create your next compelling sale message! Get it here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

A Happy Birthday Wish For Nick, And A Lesson For Us All

Donny Deutsch is the captivating host of “The Big Idea” -- an interview show with provocative guests that’s on television nightly, here in the states.

Before he landed this television show, Donny was the CEO of Deutsch, Inc. -- a small advertising firm Donny took over from his father, and grew it into a multi-billion dollar powerhouse -- eventually selling it in 2000 for a rumored $300 Million dollars.

Anyway, I recently read Donny’s autobiography, “Often Wrong, Never In Doubt” and it’s got a number of valuable lessons in it. Donny shares a story about how he was behind on his bills in his early days, and one of his vendors (whom he valued) came to him and let him know this was unacceptable. That if he didn’t bring his account current, the vendor was going to stop providing services.

Donny learned a valuable lesson here: That if you don’t value your own business... if you don’t value the quality of your services and what you’re providing, that no one else will either. And from that time on, Donny was NEVER embarrassed to ask for money from his own clients.

You see, if you THINK you are a commodity, you’ll be treated like one, and shopped around like one -- with low prices being your barometer of success. If you THINK you’re ordinary, you’ll be treated and regarded very ordinarily.

But if you KNOW you’re special, and if you place a premium on the value of what you’re doing, then guess what? You’ll be treated as if you were special, and your prospects will regard you as something very special.

Desperation and neediness are for the weak, and in business, the weak get exploited worse than a third-world country gets exploited by the government of a super-power.

If you’ve been too submissive, sit down and ask yourself the question, “why”? The answer, for most people, is fear, and either desire, or want of more money. (By the way, to completely eliminate any fears about money or success, read The Science of Getting Rich: http://www.kingofcopy.com/science )

But one of the things you must realize is that only YOU are aware of your fears and needs -- your prospects and customers will only be aware of the things you make them aware of, and even then, you’re going to have to work at it.

If you really believe you are special, then treat yourself like someone who’s special -- and demand your customers and clients treat you the same way. Set up boundaries and stick to them. Make people pre-qualify before working with you, and stick to those guidelines.

And even if you’re unsure of yourself, fake it until you make it. The only downside to this is the one you create in your mind because of fear. Reality is actually much nicer than you think.

Finally, I want to wish my oldest son Nick, a very happy birthday. He deserves it.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. ONLY 6 days left to get this month’s Seductive Selling Offline Newsletter! Test-drive it for fre.e, get TWO fre.e marketing critiques, and discover the sneaky way to use vanity and humiliation to create your next compelling sale message! Get it here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Role Models: Oprah versus The Donald versus Martha. Guess who wins?

Well I’m back here in the good old US and A, after my trip to the UK and Portugal. I learned quite a bit while overseas and I’ll be discussing it in next month’s offline newsletter. I also got caught up on some new reading, but there again... nowhere near the amount I would have needed to accomplish just to offset the new books and material I bought while I was abroad.

Anyway, that’s life and that’s a good problem to have so it’s no big deal.

Here’s a curious tidbit of information I picked up while on the plane:

Apparently 66% of Americans who want to start their own business would choose Oprah Winfrey as their business partner over Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, or U2’s Bono (why he was even included in with the others makes no sense, but that’s another issue altogether).

This shows some surprisingly good judgment on the part of the American public, since Oprah Winfrey has a much greater net worth than The Donald or Martha Stewart, but I have a sneaking suspicion very few of the survey respondents thought about Oprah’s net worth while they were answering this question.

I believe they were thinking about their “relationship” with Oprah more than anything else -- or, more accurately -- they were thinking about their relationship with Oprah versus their relationship with The Donald. (Let’s not think about Martha for this exercise. Please.)

You see, when you see someone repeatedly, or when people interact with you repeatedly, there is a relationship formed with that person. And there are two things which will affect (or is that effect?) the depth of that relationship: The media where interaction takes place, and the intimacy of the information being exchanged.

I believe this is the hierarchy of media, from least intimate and meaningful to most meaningful:

E-mail... teleseminars... radio... regular telephone contact... television... live and in-person. Based on my experience, and the experience of my clients, sales also increase as you move up that media, just like the intimacy of a non-selling relationship will increase.

However, in reality, you should prospect and acquire new customers across all forms of media, just to keep your business balanced, and to capture a variety of customers with different buying habits.

Now let’s talk about the intimacy of information being exchanged, because this too SERIOUSLY affects the nature of your relationship with your prospects.

Oprah Winfrey is very in touch and open with her audience. She’s revealed many of her heartaches and setbacks in life, and she lets you know -- in spite of any money she’s made -- she’s just as vulnerable as the rest of us. She deals with relationship problems, family problems, and weight problems, just like so many of her viewers.

Now let’s look at The Donald. See, while Donald Trump also has his fair share of problems, he’s not the one discussing them with his audience. In Trump’s case, you know about his mishaps only through the media -- in fact, he doesn’t appear to have any vulnerabilities -- and this is why Oprah’s viewers feel much closer to her than Donald Trump’s viewers do.

Personally, I’d rather work with Donald Trump, but that’s because he’s more affiliated with the things I’m most interested in -- business, marketing, and real estate -- but no doubt, I’d grab the chance to work with Oprah as well.

Remember, when dealing with your prospects -- they may come to you initially for content about a specific subject -- it may be marketing, it may be bird watching... but it doesn’t really matter what that topic is -- but... they will stick around with you for the long haul, and take a personal interest in what you have to offer, for the entertainment and experiences you give them, NOT for the original content they came to you for.

So ask yourself, how can you be more intimate with your prospects and buyers. Can you escalate the level of media you’re using so you can forge better relationships with them?

Can you speak to them on a more personal level?

Remember, it’s going to be awkward at first -- just like riding a bicycle was -- but after you dip your toe in the water a few times, it’ll be normal. So get out of your comfort zone and then let me know how it works out. I promise you it will turn out a lot better than you may think.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. I’m no Oprah, BUT... On page 12 of this month’s Seductive Selling Newsletter I reveal some personal stumbling blocks I’ve had to overcome myself. Check them out and take a fre.e test-drive of the Newsletter at: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl (get 2 fre.e critiques as well!) Only 8 days left to get this month’s issue, so get on this NOW.

Black, White, Yellow? It’s all Greek to me.

So I spent the past 4 days in England -- sick with a cold from not sleeping on the plane flight over -- but enjoying myself none the less, and on my road to recovery.

England is a huge melting pot, culturally -- as much as New York City, for sure.

And while it’s not unusual seeing different shapes, sizes, and colors of people speaking different languages, it is VERY unusual HEARING all these folks from completely different cultures -- all speaking English, and all speaking with British accents.

For example, yesterday I sat on the plane with a black man who looked like former NBA Basketballer Charles Barkley. The man had such a thick Scottish accent I had to pay very close attention to what he was saying to understand him.

The day before, I was eating lunch in a town called Harpenden (at a place called The Slug And Lettuce) and I overheard an Asian man talking on his cell phone -- he had a strong London Cockney accent.

When you hear people who look a certain way, speaking with very strong accents you’ve never seen them use before, there’s a bit of a disconnect in your ability to digest what’s going on. It’s like the words and music don’t match, and there’s a delay in your processing of it all.

Of course, no matter where you are, people are people, and so if you can relate to them, and especially if you can make them laugh using clever wit and self-deprecating humor, it takes no time at all to establish rapport.

This is universal the world over -- even in places where people can’t speak English. Yesterday I arrived in Portugal, where almost no one speaks English outside of the big cities. In Portugal you hear French, Portuguese, Spanish and lots of other languages I couldn’t begin to identify.

Portugal is unusual in that it is so well-designed and modern as far as their roads, buildings, architecture and infrastructure goes, you may as well be in Miami or New York -- but then you’ll be driving around a small town and you’ll have to pull your car over and sit and wait until the local shepherd gets his flock of sheep across the road. I actually got some great pictures of this, including a picture of a newborn sheep, just moments after it was delivered. I may even be able to replace the picture on the back of my offline newsletter, in the “Tales From The Back End” column, with one of these snapshots I took yesterday.

The world’s a pretty interesting place -- all you need to do is get out and kick the tires around a bit.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. This month’s Seductive Selling Newsletter was mailed out last week - get your copy TODAY and receive two free sales copy and marketing critiques, TOTALLY risk-free: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

The Right Way... And The Wrong Way... To Structure An Offer

By the time you read this, I will be well on my way to London’s Gatwick airport for a little r & r.

Today is Friday the 13th, and many folks consider this an unlucky day. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, which comes from the Greek words that mean fear, Friday, and thirteen (duh).

The next time we’ll have a Friday the 13th will be in December of this year.

Earlier this week we had this month’s Seductive Selling Coaching call, and we talked about offers. Here is just some of the information we covered on the call:

• Multiple testing strategies, including pricing and “bribes” to get people to take a trial of a continuity subscription program!
• Where and When do you make your offer? (hint: it’s NOT where you think!)
• The right way... and the wrong way... to make or introduce your offer!
• Discover what an offer REALLY is (it is NOT an opportunity to buy something, despite what you may believe!)
• And much much more!

And here is one of the comments I received after the call, from Jeff Pettitt, who happens to live in England as well -- London, as a matter of fact. Jeff said, “Hey Craig, Tonight’s call: F’ing stunning - brilliant. Enjoyed it - I learned loads and loads tonight - probably the most I've ever learned in an hour!!”

You will receive this month’s coaching call completely Fre.e, when you order my Seductive Selling System, along with fre.e critiques, a fre.e test-drive of my offline newsletter, and most important, you will receive my 185-page manual containing “47 Ways To Push Your Prospect’s Emotional Buy-Buttons,” with three different scenarios or marketing plans, for each different emotional trigger, all laid out for you plain as day. Get it here, before it’s too late: http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Again, you can get your hands on the Seductive Selling System, right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive

Who said: oderint dum metuant

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was assassinated on January 24th, 41. Not 1941, but 41. You see, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus -- also known as Caligula, the third Roman Emperor, was also one of the most hated and despised men to ever walk the face of the earth.

Caligula had a saying -- it was “oderint dum metuant”, which means “let them hate, so long as they fear.”

Fear is a dangerous button to push, and there are many ways to direct fear -- whether you’re guiding prospects or even family members.

For example, you can make your children somewhat fearful of strangers, because in today’s crazy world, it’s probably better that they are NOT overly friendly with people they don’t know. That’s actually using fear for their own good, and not at anyone’s expense.

Then there’s the kind of fear where you put the fear of God into people by acknowledging a common enemy and creating paranoia. And you see, the natural reaction of this is that the people in fear will rally around the messenger.

After all, if you are the one pointing out the evils of “whoever,” then you must be the one to listen to, right?

Some folks say the Bush administration has used some tactics like this in our positioning with the “evil-doers.” Meaning, if we are afraid of the evil-doers, then we have no choice to rally around our own government, because in reality, who else is left?

I don’t put stuff like this past any government -- especially our government. If Caligula and a silly marketer like myself can understand these concepts, then surely W and his crew can figure it out too, no?

Other people say Michael Moore is doing this with his movies, making us all afraid of our own government. Funny how this all works, isn’t it?

Yet others say I’m doing the same thing making you afraid to even think about Michael Moore or George Bush -- or even Eva Longoria and Tony Parker’s wedding.

Weird, huh?

How can you use fear in your marketing? Can you rally your prospects and clients around you? And do you want to?

Let me know.

Now listen closely, tomorrow I’m going on a nice little business vacation. I’m going over to the beautiful UK, where it’s been raining for 30 days and 30 nights so I hear, but it’s going to get nice and bright once I get there.

Then from London, I’m going to hop on over to Portugal to see my friend Christian Godefroy -- one of THE sharpest men around. In fact, if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to persuade Christian to do an interview with me, and next month I’ll release it as my Audio Success CD to my newsletter subscribers in August.

And if I’m not lucky enough to do that, then you will get nothing.

So what I’m saying is that you won’t be hearing from me much next week -- time to have some fun. This also means you won’t have many opportunities to test-drive my newsletter and get this month’s Audio Success CD interview with Rod Underhill -- the founder of mp3.com and by far THE wisest person I’ve ever spoken to about intellectual property.

If you want to hear what Rod has to say, and if you want to uncover the results of over a dozen different online tests I’ve run online, using a wide variety of marketing variables, then test-drive Seductive Selling Free, right now: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

I will also send you TWO free copywriting and marketing critiques along with your newsletter as well.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. If you want to raise your game, and kick it up several notches, then apply for membership in my newest coaching group, right here. : http://www.kingofcopy.com/mavericks

Sometimes You Deserve To Get Swindled -- Maybe

A quote falsely attributed to P.T. Barnum (founder of the famous Barnum and Bailey Circus), but actually coined by famous con-man Joseph ("Paper Collar Joe") Bessimer, said “There’s a sucker born every minute... and two to take ‘em.”

Here’s a blatant example of this: Recently, here in Tampa actually, the FTC nailed a business for making false and deceptive claims. A company was selling a product called “Height Max” and they were claiming this supplement increased height in users between ages 12-25 years old.

In fact, specifically, they said Height Max would make you grow an extra 2 to 3 inches in 6 months, while also increasing lean body mass at the same time.

Obviously, anyone who’s got common sense would understand this simply isn’t possible, without doing some serious genetic altering, or without using growth hormones that would radically impact the internal workings of your body.

It’s just common sense here. Caveat Emptor.

The thing is though -- and you will see this pretty much consistently throughout any kind of fraudulent activity -- what scammers play on is feelings of frustration and humiliation. They are in the “pain relief” business, but they are not really able to relieve the pain they say they can.

The good news is, if you look at yourself as also being in the “pain relief” business, and you focus on the emotional triggers you will be relieving, you will be able to sell into those triggers just as easily, while being honest.

For instance, if you’re a computer geek, you can sell into the elimination of “lack of progress”, “down time.”

If you’re a landscaper, you’re selling into the pain relief of “not enough time”, “not enough skills”, and “not looking as good as your neighbors.”

And if you’re a back doctor, you sell into “pain relief” -- not “I’ve been in business for 13 years.”

Make sense?

Keep this in mind and let me know how it works for you next time.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. If you want to raise your game, and kick it up several notches, without using any kind of steroids, except the kind of steroids that are truly the MOST powerful enhancers -- “unconventional ideas and thinking” then apply for membership in my newest coaching group, right here. Our next monthly coaching call is tonight!: http://www.kingofcopy.com/mavericks

P.P.S. Seductive Selling Newsletter -- this month’s issue will be mailed out soon. Get your copy, and two free sales copy and marketing critiques, TOTALLY risk-free right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

How To Fix Irish Catholic Guilt

Look, once a month I meet with a few very sharp, very aggressive
entrepreneurs on a monthly coaching call. The members of this
team are all part of my Mavericks Coaching Group.

These people are incredibly successful, AND incredibly
motivated. And they are also willing to ask themselves
questions most people are afraid of. No, not things like, “What
is my wife going to look like when she gets old?”, but more
cerebral matters like, “How can I move forward in spite of
feeling uncomfortable about what I’m about to do -- and why am I
uncomfortable in the first place?”

And they also aren’t afraid to deal with more intimate issues
like guilt, fear, and frustration as well. Now don’t get me
wrong -- this isn’t some sort of a therapy session -- but it is,
in a sense, a business support group, where people come for help
with their marketing... help with their strategies... and for
inspiration in a world that is sometimes missing inspiration.
And, most important, you walk away feeling a lot better about
themselves and their businesses afterwards.

After all, that’s what you want out of a coaching group, right?

Anyway, one of my members is a VERY deep thinker. He’s the kind
of guy you would smoke a few joints with in college, and then
spend the entire evening figuring out the meaning of life, and
solving the world’s problems. His head is really in the right
place -- he’s just trying to make himself and the rest of the
world a much better place for us all -- and as far as I can see,
he’s doing a great job of it.

Just to give you an example of the stuff he’s willing to deal
with, to make SURE he’s continuing to grow and develop as a
person (which is the ONLY thing that allows you to grow and
develop as an entrepreneur), here are just a few of the
questions he has boldly sent in for me to answer on next Tuesday
night’s call:

“Craig, I got a case of the I.C.G.; better know as “Irish
Catholic Guilt”. I have this feeling like, if I stay on the path
that I’m going right now I’ll be a success no matter what (God
forbid anything serious should happen to yours truly). I’ve
been aggressively implementing Direct Response Marketing the
last 10 yrs in my XXX business, which means that deal flow is at
an all-time high, and this has lead to a very comfortable
lifestyle for the XXX family (name and business withheld unless
you are in the group).

Along the way we have been able to invest in a lot of rental
properties to boot, which is good for the present & future bank
deposits. I’m very humble and extremely grateful for being
graced with a lot of good stuff (my bride, kidz, health, and
biz,) in my life.

For me the I.C.G really rears it’s ugly head for me, when I see
others not doing as well as I’m doing at the moment for a
variety of reason, or people in general just down on there luck.
When the I.C.G. emotion kicks in, and he starts whispering in my
ear that (“I should be happy and content with everything in my
life”), all that I can think about is the “Disease Of More”…
more of this, and more of that… and let’s not forget about
W.I.I.F (what’s in it for me). I know that this is a character
defect issue of mine. Do you have these issues? Maybe you do…
maybe you don’t. If you do how do you snub them out?”

That’s pretty powerful stuff, isn’t it?

The truth is, I’ve been down this road before, and I think most
people who are self-made -- especially if you came from pretty
much nowhere and never hat a pot to piss in -- have struggled
with this at some point in their lives, or over several points
in time during their lives.

However, there is a simple formula most people use to measure
their success, that causes you to feel guilty, and once you
realize this formula is completely inaccurate, it eliminates
your source of guilt.

Plus, most of the people who apply this formula are broke
anyway, and once you realize this, you see how the whole thing
is totally flawed.

I will reveal this formula on next Tuesday’s call and I believe
it will help everyone to know this information.

If you want to be a part of this group of winners, you can apply
for membership, right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/mavericks

Appreciate though, if you like to AVOID the things you in fact
need to do to make you successful, this group isn’t for you.
You will literally be tossed out, or not accepted in the first
place. This is a group for overachievers only.

Check it out at http://www.kingofcopy.com/mavericks

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Have a great weekend, and don’t let those snot-nosed kids
of yours ruin it!

When Deception Works Effectively In Your Marketing

I get stuff like this a lot, “Craig, why can’t I just run an ad with a headline that says “Free Sex” and then try and sell them life insurance.

Here’s why this doesn’t work, and frankly, why deception doesn’t work in general. I will give you an example that I think will make things perfectly clear:

Let’s say you are a guy. You come home from a hard days work. In fact, your day absolutely SUCKED. Your biggest customer got VERY pissed off at you... your personal assistant -- who wasn’t too swift to start with -- quit without any notice... and your biggest supplier just gave you a 30-day notice about how their prices are going to double.

On top of that, your back is KILLING you and your Chiropractor is out of town.

But... things are about to get IMMENSELY better. See, as you walk through your front door, your wife is standing there in just about the most erotic piece of lingerie you can imagine (and you’ve got a VERY vivid imagination). Her hair is all done up, her makeup is on perfectly... her lips are pouty red... and she’s got a glass of wine in her hands and another one poured on the counter for you.

She says, “Get over here -- NOW!” as she slowly saunters into the bedroom, walking slowly in her FMP’s. She pulls you close to her, sticks her tongue in your mouth, and then continues walking towards the bed -- you following her like a ravenous mountain lion stalks a bloody wounded gazelle -- absolutely mesmerized.

She lays down on the bed, you follow, and then suddenly, she whips out a stack of pamphlets and papers with illustrations and price quotes about the new kitchen counter she’s been dying to get, that you haven’t wanted to talk about.

Sickening, isn’t it?

What’s your feeling at this point?

Disgusted? Disappointed? Frustrated? Annoyed?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, and more.

But you see, THIS is the exact same reaction -- the same sense of disappointment you provoke in your clients -- when you tell them “Free Sex” in the headline, and then you want to sell them life insurance... or golf balls... or toiletries... or anything else other than what the headline says.

Get it?

Look, the truth is, if you can’t be CREATIVE enough to tell a good story about the truth... then you’re probably not going to be able to lie and do it either. And if you can be creative and lie, then why not just be creative and tell the truth?

O.K.?

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. In this month’s issue of Seductive Selling, I’ll reveal the results of a dozen different online web page variables you can test -- and how the results will impact your response rates. Test-drive it now, FREE at http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl -- no deception involved, that’s for sure.

Happy 4th Of July: RAPID-FIRE DAY SALE.

Here in America, today is Independence Day. Bluntly, I’m pretty ignorant about the past, but I do know today’s the day we celebrate the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain.

This isn’t a political rant, because as you know, England’s been VERY good to me. My beautiful wife’s from there, and I have many friends and clients from there as well. Plus, I know as much about politics as you can fit through the eye of the needle, and what I don’t know about, I don’t talk about.

Early in the morning, I’ll be entering my lake association’s annual fishing tournament. Last year my son Casey won the kid’s division, but this year he’s fishing with me in the adult class. In any case, I expect to have a good time with him.

To me, when I think about “Independence Day,” I think about the first day I went into business for myself back in 1994. I enthusiastically left the company I was working for to start up my own financial planning practice. This was VERY liberating.

In fact, I felt SO free, I remember literally stooping down and kissing the newly carpeted floors.

My career and my life, have taken many long and prosperous turns since then, and today I know -- from the bottom of the soles of my feet, to the tips of the few hairs left on my head -- that true freedom comes RAPIDLY, once you have the ability to push your prospect’s emotional buy-buttons, and when you can create compelling reasons for them to take action.

So, to give you a shot at either becoming more independent, or at finally breaking free from whatever’s holding you back, I am going to give you a VERY special opportunity this fourth of July, ONLY.

When you order the Complete Seductive Selling System from now until the end of July 4th, I will also toss in the following EIGHT bonuses, worth an extra $1,079 Dollars:

One, a Bonus Special Report called “3 Inside Secrets To Making A Fortune Using Direct Mail!” (a $47 Dollar Value)...

Two, “5 Ways You Can Use Direct-Response Marketing To Start Increasing Your Sales... Immediately!” (a $97 Dollar Value)

Three, another Special Report, “5 Surprisingly Simple, But Rarely Used Ways Of Doubling Your Cash-Flow In The Next 90 Days!” (a $97 Dollar Value)

Four, a breakthrough report called “11 Common (But Incredibly Costly) Web Site Marketing Mistakes: Which Of Them Are You Making Right Now?” - also a $97 Dollar Value

Five, the hottest information about selling in print you can find, called “How To Use A Simple Sales Letter To Get ANYTHING You Want!” ($97 Value)

SIX, the REAL news you’ve been wanting for a long time, “The ONE Simple Thing You MUST Give Your Customers, That Lets You Not Only Survive... But That Lets You WIN The Game On Your OWN Terms!” ($97 Value)...

Seven, a recent interview I did with a niche marketer exposing a few little-known strategies you have not thought about using in your marketing, but can easily implement once you hear this discussion ($147 Value).

And EIGHT, last but not least, a FREE half-hour one-on-one telephone consulting appointment with me, (over a $400 dollar value at my daily rate of $6,500). For most people, this alone will make it worth your while to get your hands on the system IMMEDIATELY.

You’ll get ALL these bonuses, in addition to all the free gifts listed at http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive when you order before 11:59pm on the 4th of July.

Have a great fourth, and I will look forward to helping you achieve all the freedom... you deserve!

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Don’t forget -- in addition to the $1,079 Dollars worth of July 4th bonus information, you also get my TWO risk-free guarantees when you order:

First, if I don’t deliver, you don’t owe me a thing. In fact, let me be even more specific: Invest in The Seductive Selling System right now and you can evaluate it FREE for 180 days. Then, after you go through it, if for whatever reason you’re displeased, just box it up and zip it back to me and I will gladly buy it back from you any time within 180 days from the time you place your order.

And second, I’ll take this one step further. I’m not just going to do a wham bam thank-you ma’am hit-and-run on you either. Use The Seductive Selling System for a full year. Submit your FREE Emotional Buy-Button Audit Certificate, and your FREE Copywriting Review Certificates and receive honest eye-opening feedback on your projects from me, and if after one full year, you haven’t been able to make at LEAST an extra $10,000 Dollars by using all these resources available to you, I fully stand behind my system and I will STILL buy it back from you without hesitation.

In this case, all I ask is that you fax me a detailed letter stating exactly what you did, and what your results were, so I can promptly publish it in my Seductive Selling Newsletter. A bit of a challenge, yes -- but it’s one I’m prepared to honor on my end, without hesitation, and it also lets you know I’m as serious as a tidal wave about all this stuff.

I’m THAT confident about the success you’ll experience and I’m THAT willing to go out of my way to stand behind who I am and what this system does for you. Frankly, I can do this because you'll have a very tough time finding a better quality person to deal with than me, or a better value. But don’t believe me, just check out all the success stories you’ll find at http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive

One VERY successful entrepreneur told me the 18 different ways of attracting prospects on pages 128 through 131 ALONE, is worth the entire investment in this system. But don’t believe me -- as soon as you receive The Seductive Selling System, rip it open yourself and prove or disprove it at MY risk, IMMEDIATELY.

Have a great fourth! Become independent TODAY: http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive

Kowabunga: Spice Girl Get Spicy!

Wow, it’s July already. I let the end of the last month slip right out from under me.

I took Anne out of town for a nice long weekend as a well-deserved surprise and now I’m feeling pretty well rested.

I got a chance to watch some television over the past few days, and is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that Posh Spice’s Boobs are like THREE times the size they used to be?

Talk about a non-subtle adjustment -- what’s inside there, two soccer balls? Yikes!

Lordy, give that surgeon an Amstel Light. Homina-homina.

Anyway, since I wasn’t around last week, and since this was a landmark issue, I’m going to give you one last chance to get your hands on last month’s Offline Seductive Selling Newsletter, and test-drive it for free.

Here’s what you’ll be missing if you ignore this:

• A VERY revealing piece (5 pages) from some actual journal pages of mine, literally just DAYS before my career broke WIDE open! This has been VERY insightful for several of my subscribers, including Cris Chico from Hollywood, Florida, who had this to say, amongst many other comments: “You took a step back to do what you love and in the end things worked out rather well… it was nice to hear that story… I am going thru a similar dilemma now... You also let us know how much and hard you work .. so often the gurus make us feel guilty because they pitch the lifestyle business.. sitting on the beach ..just collecting your coins…and yet we have too many beautiful days that we make the conscious decision to stay inside and work because we are committed to our goals… (especially in florida) kudos to you for letting us know that there are others fighting the same battles…”

• Find out how to research and create a niche information product with little to NO competition, for less than a $50 Dollar investment! (ANYONE can do this!)

• See part of a sales letter I wrote for the late Gary Halbert and how the same strategy is being used in another VERY similar product, today!

• Discover how to sell a product... that doesn’t even exist! Secrets so rare I doubt they have EVER been shared!

• On page 7 you’ll hear, first-hand, why Bob Parsons -- CEO of godaddy.com -- is full of crap! (He won’t put this on the next go-daddy television commercial, that’s for sure!)

• In Example 3 you’ll see how to position even the most mundane product (cat food) like the gold that’s inside the treasure chest -- use strategies like this and you will attract more business than you want! (And yes, this IS possible!)

• How to get your mail envelope opened! Simple, VERY simple strategies that work! (Example 1A)

• Uncover easily accessible sources of LOADS of very well-done direct-response ads, for less money than a bad latte will coast you at Starbucks!

• Specific examples of common (and critical) mistakes typically made that prevent your marketplace from “matching” with your message! (Page 3)

Allright -- enough already! If your business can’t benefit from any of this information, then unsubscribe from this list, because the info in June’s Newsletter simply doesn’t get any better than this, and today is THE last day you can get your hands on it, AND test-drive it for Free, right here: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

Tomorrow I’ll reveal something astonishing... probably.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. FINAL DAY to get your hands on this month’s test-drive and get TWO free copywriting critiques just for trying: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl