Hypnotic Sales

Brainpower Newsletter

I recently read another book on the brain; "Your Miracle Brain," by Jean Carper. It's a few years old, but full of interesting research findings. Here are a few of my notes from the book, on foods that are good or bad for the brain.

Bad For Your Brain

Wheat (For some, due to subtle allergies)
Dairy (Many can't digest dairy products well)
Sugar (Can't say enough bad things about this one)
Processed oils
Saturated fats
Hydrogenated oils (and partially hydrogenated oils)

Good For Your Brain

Fruits
Vegetables
Seafood
Lean meat
Nuts (especially walnuts and almonds)
Beans
Potassium
Skinless poultry
Flaxseed (linolenic acid)
Olive oil
Fatty fish
Fish oil

These are generalizations based on the research. Beans, for example, may be good for long-term brain health, but make some people a bit drowsy right after eating, so aren't good for "revving up" the brain. I will cover more specific recommendations from time to time.

Today's Riddles

1. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?

2. Name a word that has all five vowels in it, in the same order they are found in the alphabet.

(answers below)

A Key To Success

One key to success is to find successful people to emulate. Be careful, though, if you think you can ask them for advice. People often don't really know why they succeed, but they will give you as many explanations as you want. For example, I saw a 100-year-old man explain that smoking a big cigar every day was one of the secrets of his longevity. It would be nice to know why he lived so long, but I'm pretty sure we won't learn by asking him.

The key, then, isn't in doing as they say, but rather doing as they do. This is how to learn success from the successful. Of course, you have to look closely and apply a little brainpower to see what they are really doing that is causing their success.

A wealthy real estate investor told me once that he didn't believe in setting goals. Watching him and listening to him, though, I came to realize that he knew just where he expected to be with his projects in six months. This is goal-setting - he just called the process something else.

You shouldn't stop listening to what successful people have to say, but you should read between the lines. Listen to their words for insight into how they think about things, how they approach their challenges. Suppose a successful basketball player only advises you to practice more, but he casually mentions "I saw that going in," after a great shot...

Continued here:
http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com/key-to-success.html

Hypnotic Sales Writing

We like to think our minds are entirely logical and immune to the influence of others. This just isn't true, as any good salesman knows. I have come to accept that I will not just buy things, but I will be "sold" things.

I can at least learn the techniques used on me. Then I can use them too when I believe it is ethical, but more importantly, I can protect myself from these techniques, and be sure I am at least sold the RIGHT things. Want to do the same? Start with this excerpt from Chapter 8 of "You Aren't Supposed To Know - A Book Of Secrets."

Read the following sales pitch:

"Does public speaking make you nervous? What if it was easy? Imagine standing at the podium, knowing exactly what to say to make them love you. Wouldn't that feel great? Just apply our simple methods, and you'll have that power. Use the form below to order right now."

Okay, let's dissect the sales pitch, sentence-by-sentence.

Sentence #1 : Does public speaking make you nervous? This gets the reader to say yes, which is habit forming. Getting a prospect to say yes is a classic old technique that still works. It also introduces the problem, for which the solution is coming.

Sentence #2 : What if it was easy? This suggests the possibility of a solution, creating hope and anticipation in the reader.

Sentence #3 : "Imagine standing at the podium, knowing exactly what to say to make them love you." The word "imagine," gets the reader to do just that. Helping a prospect to create a scene in their mind creates desire for that scene to be reality, and creates good feelings too.

Sentence #4 : Wouldn't that feel great? This suggests a positive emotion and gets another yes. Questions involve a prospect more, and it is better to suggest an emotional state (by asking) than to tell a person how to feel.

Sentence #5 : Just apply our simple methods, and you'll have that power. The "and" is used to infer cause and effect (you'll have the power because you used our product). This is subtle way of getting the reader to accept the benefits of a product uncritically.

Sentence #6 : Use the form below to order right now. The last line directs the reader with "Use the form below." The "order right now" is called an "embedded command," because putting it in italics subtly draws attention to it, and influences a prospect without him noticing consciously.

That simple paragraph uses many so-called "hypnotic sales techniques." The idea is that by using the right words and techniques, you can put a person into a kind of "buying trance," in which they are much more receptive to your offer. Do these techniques work?

When I first learned about them, I used them to rewrite the subscription page for the Brain Power Newsletter. A free newsletter may be an easy sell anyhow, but I immediately started to get four times as many subscribers from the same traffic.

This is powerful stuff. Sales writing uses some of the same subliminal techniques that are used for selling in person. One difference, though, is that you cannot "correct course" when a prospect is half-way through a written sales presentation. This is partly why long sales letters have been found to be more effective than short ones. In a long letter, you can address the pitch to many types of personalities. Here are some more techniques to use, or to watch out for...

Chapter eight continues with explanations of "embedded commands," "hypnotic phrases," and dozens of other subliminal sales techniques. Intrigued? For more information see my website:
http://www.TheSecretInformationSite.com

Until next time,

Steve

The answers to the riddles:

1. Charcoal

2. Here are two: facetious, abstemious,

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