One of the more intriguing biographies I once read is called:
“The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis”
Obviously, about the late, great writer and Christian thinker C.S. Lewis who was known to be an especially great debater — both when he was an atheist, then a pagan, and later on when he became a Christian, creating some of the most influential Christian writings ever published.
As a religious man, he often debated atheists and pagans.
And, he often “won” these debates.
Yes, from what I’ve read, even according to the atheists & pagans he bested in these debates, who were simply no match for C.S. Lewis’s dialectal persuasion prowess. He was revered for his skill at such things far and wide by everyone except… himself.
Here’s what I mean:
One thing he admitted was, the more he “won” these debates, the more his own faith suffered, and the more he began to doubt his own beliefs.
This is a little-known psychological “bug” in the human brain.
It can effect everyone to some degree.
And, this is especially true, if you but observe, in direct response copywriting.
Yes, Reepicheep, it’s true.
It’s why so much otherwise persuasive sales copy fails — because it tries to “convince” rather than influence. There is a very distinct difference between these two things that is lost on, I would guess, 99% of copywriters or people who do any kind of direct response selling in any media.
Yes, writing copy that “convinces” works on the hyper buyers who buy everything.
They are, after all, looking for reasons to believe.
But, it turns off the skeptics – who make up 2-5 times more people than the hyper buyers – looking for reasons NOT to believe.
And the reason why it turns off the skeptics is because convincing copy always comes off as Needy, as if the copywriter doesn’t fully believe everything he is writing. This is a very insidious copywriting problem nobody seems to ever address. But now that you know about it, you can adjust your copy as needed.
Don’t know how to do that?
You can start with the upcoming February 2021 Email Players issue.
The entire issue shows how to write copy that isn’t convincing but influencing.
Huge difference between the two.
In the meantime, to check out the newsletter, go here:
Ben Settle
