This article is an expanded excerpt from my new eBook Words That Sell. If you like what you see here, you'll go bonkers for the real thing.

I've spent about 25 years writing marketing programs and applying effective psychology to them. As I look back over those years, I see an enormous hole in the business landscape - agents, advisors and their employers do not understand how to use psychology in their language. Worse, most marketing managers and marketing writers do not understand the psychology of language! Why should they? They probably did not study communication psychology.

Because of all that, the language used in marketing (and selling) today is either ineffective or dull and dead. Bottom line - most marketing today has approximately zero ability to capture anyone's interest. Zero ability to inspire people to take action. Far too often, it's like reading a user manual written by someone in China. The words just don't carry the intended meaning.

If you want to improve the responses to your marketing and selling efforts, you must improve the language you use. This article will take you a giant step into being more effective. I'm going to introduce you to psychological damage control. Follow these simple rules, and you'll see your results increase.

Simple mistakes - big blunders!

Nearly every person who sets out to make a sale makes a simple but profound mistake. They approach the prospect or target market as though everyone responds to the same logic. That's just knuckleheaded thinking. There are four personality types and sixty mental filters. Each person has a different combination of both. So, the odds of two people responding in exactly the same way are virtually impossible.

So, what can you do to improve your results? First - damage control. Stop making stupid mistakes. Second, replace the flawed thinking with a smarter psychological strategy.

In this piece, I'm going to expose language problems that nearly every human being suffers from. In other articles, I'll show you how to overcome the problems by using psychological techniques that very few people (outside of neuro-linguistic and semantic specialists) understand, and even fewer know how to apply.

To begin our journey, let's look at what NOT to do:

What Mistakes to Avoid

In every aspect of business, there are guidelines for what you need to do and other guidelines for what not to do. This next list shows you what not to do. Just review your marketing materials or selling scripts to eliminate these blunders.

1. Don't write long headlines.

Think of the human eye as a couch potato. When it sees a long headline, it thinks, "Oh @$%&. You mean I have to read all that? Waaaaah!" Actually the eye doesn't have to read it. Your brain is faster than your eye, and that's why the average time on a website continuing to decline. Long headlines on websites and paper marketing invite the reader to look away from your message.

What about face-to-face? At the beginning of a presentation, you would also deliver a headline. That would be the tantalizing statement designed to capture the audience's curiosity. Short and sensory will pay off for you. But as the headline gets longer, tantalizing turns into torture.

2. Don't try to be funny.

In an earlier life, I was a comic, comedy actor and comedy writer. I learned this lesson over and over. What one person thinks as funny is offensive to other people. Too many people are offended by any light-heartedness aimed at serious topics. And, too many people are offended at the lack of lightheartedness. It's a no-win situation. So, don't try to be clever or humorous. If you absolutely must step in that direction, seek to make people smile, rather than laugh. Get them on your side before you attempt the humor. How can you do that? With pictures or references to babies or puppies.

3. Don't set your headlines in ALL CAPITALS.

I say this for two reasons: 1) it's hard to read, and 2) readers perceive all caps as yelling. They feel like you are yelling at them, and who likes that?

There is another fascinating reason not to use all caps. Next time you're at the grocery or convenience store, look at a surgeon general's warning on a pack of cigarettes. The cigarette company doesn't want people to look at it, certainly not read it. So, what do they do? They set the warning in all caps. That type treatment is designed to be invisible. How well would that work for your marketing message? Their other trick is to print it in a gold color on a white background - gain, invisible.

4. Don't be so quick to explain How.

There is a psychological order to the information you should give. This goes for your marketing and selling, as well as your keynotes and seminars. First comes the Why. This addresses why anyone would pay attention to you. Second comes the What. Just what are you talking about? Only third comes the How, and that is where most financial people make their blunder. They nearly always start with How. At the beginning of your paper or presentation, no one wants to know How anything. They want to know Why they should pay attention to you.

In marketing, the headline and first paragraphs are part of an announcement, not an explanation. They tell the reader Why he or she needs to pay attention and/or What you're so excited about. But, that's not where you tell your reader How anything is done. That comes later.

5. Don't be vague.

A recent trend in marketing is to write a headline that is non-specific, like: "8 Ways to Boost Your Bottom Line!" Anyone who has ever held a job knows that there are a zillion ways to boost a bottom line. So, how would you improve on that vague head? "8 Ways to Delight Your Clients and Boost Your Bottom Line." Or 8 Ways Face Book Can Boost Your Bottom Line." Give just a little more information.

This isn't just a "personal taste" difference. If your headline lacks specificity, you show your lack of relevance. If you can't prove that you are more relevant than other similar firms or offers, why would anyone want to do business with you? When you're vague, you're saying, "I don't know much about this, but I need to make a sale."

In Conclusion

Selling is nothing more than applied psychology. Marketing - ditto. Every time you open your mouth to speak, you're starting to use psychology. Obviously, the more you learn about the psychology of communication, the better you'll do at marketing, selling, recruiting, reporting, building alliances, seminars and keynotes. The fundamental tool in all of those activities is words. The better choices you make with your words, the more tantalizing your business language will become. Then, you'll not only capture attention, you'll also hold it and become more inspiring.

Your Reward

Many of you have already requested our report titled Words That Sell. That report started as a 2-page introduction. Over the past two years, we've added new nuggets to it. Now, it is an eBook of 41 pages filled with intense wisdom and know-how, and it's available from my website. Next step - some real-life examples of how to use Words That Sell.

Your reward for reading my articles and communicating with me is free consulting. Send me your marketing letter, phone script or other marketing/selling piece. We'll select seven pieces to critique. I'll explain in detail what's wrong with each and how to fix all the mistakes. I'll also include those critiques in future articles. Email your pieces to me at: michael@aboutpeople.com

Instant Insights /

Words that Sell - How to Use Psychology in Your Marketing and Selling

More From HR Executive

Related Stories

Recommended For You