This book contains copywriting tactics that are rarely thought about. Read this free eBook to find out how to persuasively market your products to clients and customers.

1. The Secret 7
“How to Unleash 7 High Powered Tactics In
Your Ad Copy And Blast Your Conversion Rates
Through The Roof!”
By
Mark “Elmo” Ellis
©2014 – Mark Ellis
www.MarkEllisCopy.com

2. Tactic #1 Turning Flaws into Selling Points
How to Eliminate Your Customer’s Fear and Objections ― and Come Out a
Winner Every Time!
Your copy should try to uncover your prospect’s deepest, darkest fears, concerning
your product or service, and then tackle and eradicate them to the best of your
ability. As you know, every product in the universe has its drawbacks. However,
you shouldn’t try to ignore or hide them because this may actually draw more
attention to them.
What you really should do is point them out!
Yep, you heard me right. Point them out.
You need to bring those drawbacks out into the light and deal with them
confidently. Anticipating and dealing with an objection from the start, before it is
raised, is a very powerful way to hook the reader to your sales letter and get them
on your side.
Here are a few examples of this dynamic and powerful tactic in action:
Example 1: Selling a typewriter in today’s laptop and computer dominated world.
Everyone knows that selling a typewriter in today’s computer driven world is next
to impossible, right? Well, here is an excellent example of skillfully written
advertising copy that brings obvious flaws into the light, right from the get-go.
THE WORDSMITH’S MANUAL TYPEWRITER
This is the manual typewriter that
recalls the thoughtful, well-written
correspondence of yesteryear. Devoid of
technological crutches such as spell-
check and deletion, each of its 44 keys
requires a firm, purposeful stroke for a
steady click-clacking cadence that
encourages the patient, considered
sentiment of a wordsmith who thinks
before writing. Using a 10-characters-
per-inch Pica 87 font, it faithfully
produces the eclectic printed
impressions of its forebears — variable
kerning, subtly ghosted letters, and
nuanced baseline shifts — imparting unique, personal character to
every letter, piece of prose, or verse of poetry. Updated with a
lightweight yet durable ABS housing and carrying case for easy
portability. Black/red/stencil
spool ribbon. 4 1/2″ H x 12 1/4″ W x 14 1/4″ D (9 1/4 lbs.)
$199.95

3. Here’s how the objections are handled:
 The copy addresses the objections from the very first sentence and
cleverly makes you feel as though you are inferior for using a
computer or laptop.
 It also makes use of the term “wordsmith” evoking an image of a person that
is skilled and can hand-craft messages with this tool. Later the copy really
nails this concept by stating, “steady click-clacking cadence that encourages
the patient, considered sentiment of a wordsmith who thinks before writing.”
 The copy tackles the obvious “delete key” and “spellcheck” issue by
reversing the way someone would think of these drawbacks by
calling them “technological crutches”. (Once again using the
moniker “wordsmith” to evoke the idea of a highly skilled
craftsman.)
 Notice the word “impressions” when the copy speaks about the words on a
page, making the quality of a computer printer seem common to this high-
quality method.
 Last sentences would have you believe that using this device will
make your writing seem personal and quaint.
Example 2: PBS pledge drives that eat up too much air-time.
A common complaint from people that
regularly watch PBS is “You’ve eliminated
commercials during your pledge drives only
to sell your subscription for 20 solid
minutes! If you’d stop your pledge drives,
I’d probably become a subscriber!”
PBS’s Response: “For years, people like
you have commented: ‘I’ll tell you why I don’t give to PBS. It’s because of those
pledge drives! If you would just take those drives off the air and give me the
intelligent television I love, I’d become a subscriber!’ “Well, last year we took
you up on this challenge by canceling two of our three life-sustaining
pledge drives. And we’re going to take this huge gamble again.”
How the objection was handled:
 PBS restated the viewer’s words and addressed the problem from the start

4.  They gave a reasonable solution for the issue and showed the viewer
that they were willing to listen
Tactic #2 Presupposition
Now that You’ve Already Learned a Ton About Killer Tactics, Here’s How to
Get Your Prospects to Really Agree with You!
Question: What if I asked you if you knew that I quit drinking coffee? If I asked
you that question, you would assume that I was already a coffee drinker, right?
This, in a nutshell, is the power of
presupposition.
It is an assumption in your sales message
that gets the reader to unconsciously
agree with what you are saying. You can
use this power to your advantage when
crafting your sales letter because if you
can get the prospect to go along with
your assumptions, it’ll be easier to make
the sale.
For example, you’re in a store discussing a piece of jewelry with a lovely saleslady.
After she tells you about the ring you are fondling, she smiles and says, “Will you
be using MasterCard or Visa for your purchase?”
However… You didn’t even tell her you were buying it yet!
(It kinda makes you wonder how many bazillions of dollars were made by prospects
being pushed over the edge of a sales message like that, doesn’t it?)
You can use this type of tactic in your sales letters as well. Here are a few
examples of this idea at work:
 From an article on writing sales letters: “You already know that words
have power. Everybody in marketing and sales knows this.”
 From a magazine ad about a real estate investment course: “What’ll you do
with the extra $500, $5,000, even $50,000 per month you’ll earn
when you implement Dave Del Dotto’s real estate investing secrets?”
 On a hamburger lid: “Unique? You might even say it’s Delicious!” (The
presupposition here is that you already think the product is unique.)

5.  “Now that You’ve Already Learned a Ton About Killer Tactics —Here’s
How to Get Your Prospects to Really Agree with You!” Ha-ha, good
buddy! I’m assuming you’ve “already learned “a bunch.
Tactic #3 The Zeigarnik Effect
Use the Power of Incompletion to Drive Your Prospects to Your Irresistible
Offer!
This is the psychological tendency to remember an uncompleted task rather than a
completed one. It was a human tendency noticed and written about by Russian
psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik back in 1927.
The easiest way to think of this principle is to think of a
good cliff hanger in a movie or a TV show, especially if
the storyline builds to a hair-raising climax and then
having to wait until next week to see the conclusion.
This effect can easily and effectively used in your sales
copy headlines. Here are some headline examples of
how it can generate genuine curiosity:
“Know When the Next Market Crash is Coming!”
“Discover How To Reduce Your Next Cell Phone Bill By 50%”
“Want to Double Your Income Overnight Using Only a Computer and a Piece of Wax
Paper?”
“How To Buy A Yacht, Resell It ― And Make A Killing!”
You can also use the Zeigarnik Effect within the body your ad copy as well. One of
the ways that you can use this powerful tactic is by using it in your bullet
statements:
 Three secret traffic techniques that’ll humiliate your competition and
shovel massive profits into your bank account.
 The reason why you should always use the cheapest kind of octane at the
pump instead of the higher priced one
 On Page 5 of my book you’ll learn the reason why beautiful women
are attracted to some of the dumpiest men ―and how to reel them in
yourself!

6. Tactic #4 Eliminate the Competition
Talk About the Competition — And Make Yourself Smell Like a Rose!
One of the hurdles that you will have to leap over in your ad copy is how to
address comparisons to your competitors. You’ll want to keep your
prospect’s mind off of any solution your competitor may offer somewhere in
the body of your copy.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to mention the competitors by name in
the body of the copy (or at least allude to them) as in this commercial for
diet pills that ran in a national ad:
“Beyond Sustained Energy, Mega-Loss 3000 is Serious Weight
Loss... We’re talking amazing, significant weight loss, five
times more weight loss than America’s most notorious, stimulant-
based diet pill and all the energy you’ll ever want or need…day
or night.”
Actually, you can bump this method up a notch by mentioning more than
one competitor if you are in a very competitive market. The following
example is from a sales letter for another weight loss product:
Look, I don't mean to brag, but darn it, I'm pretty proud
of myself. The doctors couldn't help me. All those diet
"experts" couldn't help me. Even my family couldn't help
me. (But God bless them for trying.) I didn't get help from
Weight Watchers, Richard Simmons, Optifast, Nutrisystem or
anybody else. No, I did it all on my own and I learned how
to do it fast and cheap.
However, if you really want to be bold about this
tactic, you can always use it this way:

7. Tactic # 5 Subtle Scarcity
Use the Power of Implication Make Your Prospects Drool Over Your Offer
This is a common tactic that in order to make it more un-common we have to use it
subtly. Most ad copy writers use urgency and scarcity to sell products and services,
because it is a very powerful motivator for prospects to take action. However, it is
quite overused and therefore not as effective.
Take the countdown clock example below from an Internet sales page:
The problem with using a tactic like this is people have seen it so much and it is
even more ineffective when it is a vain threat. In other words, you go back after
the clock has run out and you can still get in on the deal. Make’s a person feel like
they’ve already been taken, and therefore you’ve lost all trust in what you are
saying.
That’s OK for us, because we are going to use a more advanced, more refined
method of employing this incredible approach.
If you make the scarcity more REAL rather than create a fake countdown or use the
“limited number” ploy like you see on the TV infomercials, it has a lot more impact.
Take this for an example. This part of an ad was written for a course in writing
advertising copy and several times subtly throughout the copy the guru eludes to
his retirement:
“...in addition to the 150 sets I've produced for the seminar
attendees, I've run off an additional 3,000 sets of both the
DVDs and illustrated transcript. These are the only 3,000 sets
that will ever be available anywhere at any price, and after
these 3,000 sets are gone, they’ll be gone forever.”
At least three times in the body of the copy of the rather long sales letter, the
writer refers to his retirement, and he makes sure you are aware of it right from
the second sentence:

8. "But as my retirement legacy,
I will share all seven with you ...
if you can meet the
four qualifications spelled out in this letter."
The suggestion being planted in the mind of the reader from the get-go is, “I won’t
be around for long so this deal won’t be around for long either.”
When the writer mentions the scarcity of the number of copies being sold, he has
already planted the idea in your mind that he isn’t going to make anymore. This is
a tactic that must be handled gently and almost imperceptibly to be extremely
effective.
Tactic #6 Reluctance
How Hesitant Selling Can Increase Your Sales!
Reluctance is very similar to scarcity except it is even more subtle. This tactic
places the idea in the prospects brain that it is their decision to buy, rather than
you are convincing them to buy.
Here is an excerpt from a copywriter’s website. Notice he had to twist a publisher’s
arm to get you the deal on a course he was selling:
"So I've twisted my publisher's arm and worked out a special
deal: One year of my service – with all the things we talked
about earlier – will only cost you $500.”
The next example is part of a very long advertisement for a direct mail marketing
seminar. Notice that the reluctance is just hinted at and is not spoken of directly.
By saying that there is a danger posed by a flood of people, the reluctance is
inferred.
We Can Only Tell You What Hotel The Seminar is Being Held At - When You Call
“This is a prudent move to avoid any last minute flood of people
wanting in and causing the hotel management any grief and
getting the Fire Marshal involved. (This happened the last time
we had a seminar of this magnitude and 10 times the number of
people expected showed up, almost causing a riot...)”

9. Tactic # 7 Apples to Oranges
Avoid a Head-On Comparison and Increase the Value of Your Offer!
Rather than compare prices and features of similar products, you can use a
comparison that confounds prices and other issues.
Here is an example, of a way to get around this. This example is from a website
called GetFitWhileYouSit.com and notice how the copywriter managed to compare
the fitness e-book he is selling to going to a gym or a piece of fitness equipment,
rather than another book:
“Let's do a quick comparison - last time I checked a NordicTrack
would set you back over $1,000.00. And almost everyone I know
who bought one uses it as a clothes rack within a few weeks
anyway. Or you could easily pay $50 - $75 bucks per month for a
gym membership you'll probably go to a few times (that's over
$500.00 per year!).”
Another way to get around head-on
comparisons is to show that the different
parts of your product or service is more
than the whole. This is a technique used
by salesmen on TV when the sell their
knife sets or their different kitchen
appliances.
Have you ever noticed on the TV ads that
the salesmen make sure that you know
that each little part of their widget is
worth its weight in gold so that all of
these widgets combines are worth more
than the entire set? You can create a lot
of extra value in your offer and therefore the overwhelming value in what you have
to sell will dominate your competition on price.
If you are selling an information product, you could run it like this:
You could easily have different parts of a course that
would add up to a whole product with a perceived
value that would outshine any competition in your
niche.

10. I hope this book has helped you and your business out. If it has, I’d love to hear
from you. You can contact me and find out more about my services by using the
contact information below.
To your continued success!
Mark “Elmo” Ellis
www.MarkEllisCopy.com
"When it comes to high response copy, I've got your back!"
(859) 797-9560
elmo033057@gmail.com
Portfolio Site: http://markelliscopyportfolio.blogspot.com/