Get your FREE Special Report “Your VSL Sucks!”

your vsl banner

Dark Sentences

Some copywriters are masters in the art of using… the bible calls them… dark sentences.

These copywriters are masters at hypnosis and NLP.

They’re more than adept at applying cognitive biases.

They’ve memorized Cialdini’s “Influence.”

Yet they still can’t close the deal.

Why?

Because they’ve forgotten on of the most important rules in copywriting…

To write like you talk.

No they’d rather impress you with their linguistic wordplay.

By now, you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this.

Did you catch that little embedded command “Buy now”?

Did you also catch the inception “You’re probably wondering…”?

It’s stupid, I know. I couldn’t help myself.

(Yikes, I did it again. Now I’m getting carried away. I’ll stop, I promise.)

But you do see how weird it is, right?

Personally, I prefer to have a meaningful conversation with someone who’s in the market for what I have to offer.

That’s how I sell on paper.

Sure I know all that stuff. I’m “certified” in all these persuasion technologies ten ways from Sunday.

But I have to admit, when I write copy using “dark sentences,” I don’t know about you, but…

I always feel a little bit “icky.”

Sure, I’m all for optimization. But if I have to use covert language to get my point across?

These days, I’ll pass.

I want people to buy for their reasons, not mine.

I want them to come to the right conclusion without having to rely on “dark sentences.”

If that squeezes me out of a deal or two, so be it.

I have to sleep at night.

Dark Sentences Revisited

I take back what I said about using dark sentences.

There is ONE SENTENCE, a dark sentence if you will, that I do embrace:

“People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies.” – Blair Warren

I don’t know if he had a brain fart or what, but from a copywriting perspective, that one sentence to me is a work of art.

As a copywriting principle, I use it constantly. Especially when putting together ClickBank offers.

It speaks to what’s at the core that drives people to make a decision.

If you’ve gotten an “Aha!” by just reading it, my email served its purpose today.

Till next time,

–Matt

P.S. If you want to find the report which explains that sentence in detail, go here:

http://www.actionplan.com/pdf/BlairWarren.pdf

Scroll to Top