How to Profit From Fear and Greed

Greed and fear (and a whole bunch of their emotional firstcousins) reside inside of everyone. They well to the surfaceat different times and for different reasons in each of us.When they do, it's as if they grabbed us by our lapels andshook us to get our attention.

And getting your prospects' full attention is a must if youwant them to reach for their wallets.

Here's an example of how this works.

Imagine you're walking all alone through a graveyard atnight. The full moon disappears behind a cloud as a distantclock tower ominously strikes midnight. Suddenly you hearwhat sounds like a large stone slab scraping against stone.Your eyes must be playing tricks on you in the gloom,because just ahead, the door to that crypt seems to beopening all by itself…

I'm pretty sure this situation would have your completeattention. In fact, I bet you would be highly receptive totaking action (a headlong race to the front gate?) dependingon what was offered up next. All because of a little fear.

And so it is with a well written sales letter or otherpersuasive piece of copy. Before any selling takes place,you first have to get the attention of your prospect. You dothis by connecting with your prospect on some emotionallevel. This sets the stage for the selling message, andultimately the call for action.

While the copywriter has many arrows to draw from in theemotional quiver, greed and fear are two of the mostpowerful.

There are many kinds of fear - fear of financial loss, fearof lost health, fear of humiliation, fear of pain, fear oflosing out on a once-in-a-lifetime golden opportunity. Thelist could go on and on. It's the job of the copywriter toidentify which will resonate the strongest with the targetprospects.

Greed too comes in many flavors. While the word itself seemsto suggest base human instincts, greed has its positiveattributes. Is it greedy to want a better standard of livingfor your family? Is it greedy to want to advance to the topof your profession, or to be a more talented pianist? Abetter lover?

If you stop and think about it, fear and greed cover a lotof emotional territory. Again, it's the job of you thecopywriter to determine which particular flavor will mostlikely evoke the desired response in the prospect's heart.

But that's just part of the equation. You also need to paintthat fear or greed in ways that are believable to yourprospects. And you need to offer a real solution to theemotional needs triggered by your copy. That's what promptsyour prospects to buy.

For example, let's say "fear of never finding a soul mate"is the emotional trigger you want to exploit in marketing anonline dating service for hopeless romantics.

You might begin such a sales letter like this.

"Dear Friend,

"Last year I received a letter that broke my heart. It wasfrom a woman named Kathy who had completely given up on everfinding true love.

"Life held no special joys for Kathy. Her words on thatsingle hand written page painted a grim portrait of anempty, lonely life..."

If someone reading your letter fears never finding true lovethemselves, this opening will probably evoke an immediateemotional response. They can identify with Kathy. You havetheir attention, now what do you do?

You need to offer a solution, perhaps to Kathy's immediateproblem, but certainly to your prospect's problem. (They'rereally one and the same, aren't they?) And you need to offerlots of specifics to help make it believable. Maybecontinuing the letter with something like this:

"But there's a happy ending to this story. Only four monthsafterwards I received a second, much longer letter fromKathy. She told me about just returning from an incrediblehoneymoon in Paris, and all about her wonderful new husbandBrian.

"She shared their plans for an exciting, bright futuretogether in a picturesque New England town. She told meabout some of the little things in life that suddenly heldspecial meaning, like picking apples together and long walkson the beach. About what it meant to have finally found hertrue soul mate after so many years.

"I was ecstatic for Kathy of course. But hardly surprised.In fact I could tell you about 5,735 other success storiesjust like Kathy's. That's how many couples have gottenmarried after first connecting through Soul Mates Forever.

"And you could be the next success story."

Deciding which emotional trigger to emphasize in your copycan be challenging. You need to carefully study the natureof both the product and the prospects to choose the rightone. When in doubt, look to those old standbys fear andgreed and you won't be far off the mark.

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