Copywriting secrets of the masters michael masterson - fear and greed -two overrated emotions

1. Copywriting Secrets of the Masters:
Michael Masterson
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Fear and Greed: Two Overrated Emotions
How to Become a Smarter and More Powerful
Copywriter
Way back when I was learning how to write advertising copy, it was
commonly believed that the way to get high response rates was to appeal to
our prospects’ greed and fears.
I don’t know who first made this pronouncement, but it was practically a
commandment of direct marketing in those days.
All the ―experts‖ I listened to espoused it. All the copywriters I admired
seemed to do it. On the surface, it seemed to be a good, practical rule. One
I should follow.
But I thought it was stupid.
I didn’t need a degree in psychology to know that reducing human
motivation to two, very obvious, emotions was wrong.
I knew in my bones — based on 30 years of experience (first with my
mother, then with my teachers and eventually my colleagues, wife, and
children) — that there were better ways to be persuasive than by stirring up
fear and greed.
Sure, using fear sometimes seemed necessary — to keep the kids from
riding their bikes in the dark without headlights, for example. But mostly it
paralyzed the person I wanted to motivate. I found it to be both heavy-
handed and clumsy. There were many other emotions and desires I could
stimulate that would get the job done.
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3. And greed? I grew up in a household where greed was considered a deadly
sin — ―the devil’s instrument.‖ I had no desire to use it as my own.
I wanted to build my career by working with, and selling to, people who, like
me, were subject to greed and fear but wanted to rise above those base
impulses.
I wasn’t being altruistic. Not really. I didn’t want to associate myself with
greedy, fearful people because I knew I couldn’t trust them. I couldn’t trust
them as friends. I couldn’t trust them as business partners. And I couldn’t
trust them as customers either.
So even before I got into marketing in a serious way, I knew something
about persuasion that most of the experts writing books and giving lectures
did not seem to know.
And I had enough common sense to recognize that just because something
is often said and generally believed doesn’t make it so.
I’m happy to say that the myth about fear and greed has been eroding. I
believe Bill Bonner had something to do with that. The great promotions he
wrote in the early 1970s relied on other emotions and instincts to sell his
products. Gary Bencivenga and Clayton Makepeace, too, wrote copy that
helped disprove this lie.
The biggest move forward came, ironically, from a man whose intention was
to warn consumers against marketing. In his book Influence: The Psychology
of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini, a professor of social psychology at Arizona
State University, analyzed dozens of very successful promotions. He didn’t
choose the ones that relied on greed and fear. Instead, he focused attention
on those that used more subtle, clever approaches.
The consumers he was hoping to enlighten hardly read the book. But it
became a great hit with a lot of marketers who applied Cialdini’s insights on
the psychology of persuasion to their promotions.
Among Cialdini’s insights were these:
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4.  We instinctively try to reciprocate when someone does something for
us.
 Once we’ve made a commitment to do something, we strive to be
consistent with that decision.
 We tend to look to others to determine what our decision should be in
any given situation.
 We prefer to say yes to the requests of people we know and like.

Cialdini eventually crossed the river and became an authority on marketing.
His later books and seminars taught how to do the kind of subtle marketing
he had despised. Good for him. Good for us. (I say ―good for us‖ because I
believe this kind of marketing is not only more effective, it is more honest.
But that’s another subject for another essay.)
As I said, the idiotic ―rule‖ about fear and greed has been eroding — but it’s
never going to completely disappear.
Why? Because many marketers still believe that fear and greed are the most
motivating of all the emotions. And there is some evidence to support this.
Let’s begin with fear.
Fear is a primal emotion — one that was inherent in man at a very early
stage of human evolution. It is also an essential emotion, one that is
necessary for survival.
Neurobiologists tell us that our primal emotions are rooted deeply in our
―reptilian‖ brains and are instinctive. Because they are instinctive, they can
be very strong and very difficult to overcome.
And there is no doubt that fear is effective in selling all sorts of products —
from burglar alarms to baby monitors to almost every form of insurance.
But just because an emotion is strong doesn’t mean it should be used to
market everything.
The reason is simple. Human beings have three ―primal‖ responses to fear:
to fight, to flee, or to be paralyzed into inactivity. And a copywriter doesn’t
want his prospects to do any of those things.
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5. In selling investment advice (something I’ve done a good deal of), fear has
sometimes been useful. But I’ve noticed that if you crank up the fear, you
reduce the responsiveness to your ad. A little fear can go a long way when
you are trying to motivate people to worry about their savings or their job
security, for instance. But you must quickly follow that fear with hope of
some kind.
And that brings us to greed.
Proponents of the fear-and-greed approach often argue that the smart thing
to do is to follow a fear-based lead with an appeal to the prospect’s greed.
But I have found that if you do that, you wind up attracting the kind of
customer you don’t want: someone who is gullible and greedy.
You can’t build a business by selling to the gullible and greedy. You can make
scores, sometimes big scores. But you will never have a sustainably
profitable business.
About six months ago, I had a conversation with a copywriter who’d had
amazing success with several fear-and-greed promotions. In fact, his
commissions on all the sales from those campaigns should have come to
more than a million dollars. I say ―should have,‖ because his clients
discovered that many of the buyers brought in by his fear-and-greed
promotions asked for refunds. And those that stayed were not good buyers
of their other products.
So he made out temporarily, but eventually lost most of his clients.
I suggested that he learn to appeal to other emotions. He wasn’t interested.
He just kept on using his credentials to snare new clients… until they, too,
experienced the same disappointing results. And now I hear through the
grapevine that he’s finding it harder and harder to find anyone who will buy
his copy. (By the way, he sent me an e-mail this morning. I haven’t read it
yet. I wonder if he’s ―seen the light.‖)
Greed doesn’t work because good customers, the kind that will stick with
you and continue to buy from you year after year, don’t think of themselves
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6. as greedy. They want to be successful. They want to make more money. But
they don’t want to be greedy.
Here’s what I want you to take away from this:
Use fear as a primary emotion to sell insurance products (which include such
things as burglar alarms, baby monitors, etc.). For other products, you can
try a little fear… but don’t go too far with it. Then concentrate on giving your
prospects hope. Hope is far and away a much stronger selling proposition
than fear.
And never use greed. Greed-based promotions will only attract customers
who will ruin your business.
Let Michael take you by the hand and show you how to tap into the raw
power of human emotion to sell more products and services than ever before
with the AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting. Use those
skills to sell your own products and services or get paid handsomely for
them by becoming a six-figure copywriter.
This article was originally published as part of The Golden Thread
MICHAEL MASTERSON – There is no one more qualified and experienced
than copywriter, entrepreneur, and business-builder Michael Masterson to
teach you the art, craft, and business of copywriting.
Michael started his first business – a fifth-grade publishing venture – at age
11.
After finishing grad school at the University of Michigan in 1975, he spent
two years in the Peace Corps, where he began his writing career.
Several years later he was working as a writer for a small newsletter
publishing company in Washington D.C. Then, in 1982, he learned the art of
copywriting and launched the first of dozens of successful direct-marketing
ventures, many of which have become multi-million dollar companies.
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7. All told, he’s been directly involved in the generation of over ONE BILLION
DOLLARS of sales through the mail and online.
He’s also a highly successful author. He’s published more than a dozen
books, including several which have become Wall Street Journal,
Amazon.com or New York Times bestsellers.
Today, Michael consults mainly for newsletter publishing giant Agora, Inc.,
and writes regularly for Early To Rise, one of the most popular self-
improvement newsletters on the Internet, and for The Golden Thread,
AWAI’s weekly copywriting newsletter.
But there’s more to Michael Masterson than just his writing and business
skills.
Michael also has a knack for taking just about anyone with a burning desire
to upgrade his lifestyle – no matter what his background or education – and
transforming him (or her) into a top-notch copywriter:
 He’s the one responsible for transforming Paul Hollingshead from a 35-
year-old minimum-wage grocery store stock boy into a copywriter
earning upward of $300,000 a year … and Don Mahoney from a
woodworker to a $300,000-a-year copywriter living in Miami Beach …
 He’s mentored other copywriters who have gone on to generate
hundreds of millions of dollars in sales each year through their copy …
 He’s shown people in their 50s and 60s – people preparing for
retirement – how to successfully change careers and become well-paid
freelance copywriters …
 He’s taken young people fresh out of college – with no ―life experience‖
at all – and turned them into top-notch copywriters and newsletter
journalists …
 He’s taught housewives, bartenders, and laborers to excel …
 He’s even helped ―professionals‖ – doctors and college professors –
leave successful careers to enjoy the big money and stress-free
lifestyle copywriting offers
Discover how Michael can do the same for you with his
AWAI Accelerated Program For Six Figure Copywriting.
Michael Masterson
www.ProCopyWritingTactics.com

8. "For more great free information on how to take your copywriting career to
the next level please visit www.ProCopyWritingTactics.com
and don't forget to collect your free Pro Copywriting Tactics Reports
www.ProCopyWritingTactics.com