This is SOOOO much fun to do!!!
I first learnt this secret when I read how Claude Hopkins, John Caples and David Ogilvy approached their copywriting. A few years later when I heard Jay Abraham speak, I did a Homer Simpson and went, “DOHH!” and I finally GOT the importance of this step.
I mean, you learn this when you learn about the copywriting fundamentals but it’s only when you truly JUMP into it with all your heart and soul that magic happens.
It’s about REALLY understanding what drives people (REALLY, REALLY, REALLY understanding).
Sound obvious? Of course it does, BUT (and I may offend some copywriters here by saying this) …
… most just don’t give this step the attention it deserves. But copywriters who consistently get results, do.
They’re like chameleons. Somehow they get to know the reader so well, it’s like they somehow morph into the person they’re writing about.
When I first started in the business, I was determined to be a great copywriter so I learnt everything I could about how people think.
I was obsessed.
I devoured everything I could find on the subject -– every psychometric profiling method under the sun -– everything I could find on buyer behaviour principles, hypnosis, Neuro Linguistic Programming, selling, neuroscience, personal development, various Ancient wisdom and mystical principles, the play of energy, and a lot of woo-woo kind of stuff — the works. (I would have spent well over $100,000 learning and applying what I learnt.)
I then applied what I learnt noticing what worked and what didn’t.
From there, I incorporated my findings into a very simple Buyer Behaviour framework. (It’s now one of the first steps in my copywriting system).
When you apply these principles, you really –- TRULY — get to know who the reader is.
It’s like you somehow develop a sixth sense for the pain that the reader is going through in their lives.
A sixth sense for the hopes and dreams they have. For the information they need to know before they make a buying decision.
And most importantly, a sixth sense for what sparks them to say “YES”.
Best of all, it’s one heck of a lot of fun performing this morphing technique.
