Stick your fingers in the left hand pocket of any of my jackets, and you’ll notice a gritty feeling.

It’s not dirt. It’s not sand.

Instead, it’s a reminder that you’re better off using a carrot than a stick.

I carry dog biscuits for Wally the Wonderdog in my left pocket.

He’s our Lab/Basset mix (that’s not a typo), and because he mixes a Lab’s energy with a Basset’s stubbornness, it’s a lot easier to get what you want by bribing him than forcing him.

Like most of our customers, Wally the Wonderdog responds better to bribes than beatings.

To him, a biscuit is a benefit. And a scolding is a negative.

It’s a good lesson for copywriters. (Wally the Wonderdog is available for copywriter training sessions every afternoon.)

Good Stuff Beats Bad Stuff

I recently received an inquiry about writing a sales Web site, but the “sample” copy used by the prospective client was so busy beating up competitors there was little room to sell the service.

I’m no stranger to fear appeals, and know they’re effective. They grab attention. And start a conversation.

One of my most effective sales letters featured a fear appeal that went something like this:

“The Gartner Group says 80% of existing IVR systems will suffer a Y2K failure. Will yours be one of them?”

Of course, to sell anything, you need to go positive (except in political advertising).

Benefits sell, and the above sales letter quickly moved to another question - one that asked “why fix an aging IVR system when you could replace it with a modern solution - and enjoy benefits like screen pop?”

From there, the benefits fell like rain. And the letter pulled like crazy.

Focus on Benefits. And Positives.

Benefits. They’re they key. But even the words wrapped around the benefits should be positive.

One of my biggest weaknesses as copywriter was my tendency to go negative. For example, I’d write “don’t let this [bad thing] happen” instead of “enjoy this [good thing] more often.”

Writing negative is an easy trap to tumble into. And a hard one to dig out of.

Fight it.

Don’t be saccharine or sugary. Be clear and positive.

When you’re using a fear appeal, make it a strong one. But then move on to the good stuff.

Feed your reader the biscuits instead of yelling at them.

Wally the Wonderdog would be proud.

[tags]wally the wonderdog, copy, fear appeal, benefits, marketing, copywriter[/tags]