Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Want to Know a Secret That Can Rev Up Your Copywriting?
Of course you do! Who wouldn't? We're all wired big-time with curiosity that compels us to strain for the forbidden knowledge that can solve our problems.

In fact, you're probably ready to strangle me right now because I keep withholding this secret from you. Well, here it is. The secret that can rev up your copywriting is...

secrets.

How so? Well, consider how you felt just now. I suggested I would reveal to you a major secret. Your mind went on high alert. "What is it? What is it? I need to know!"

The people who read your copywriting are wired exactly the same way. Suggest that you have some hidden information that can help them conquer a problem and their minds flip wide open until you reveal it to them.

You can present them with questions, like I did, that put their minds on alert for an answer. Or you can do it more subtly.

There are plenty of words that imply that you have insider information to share. I've used a number of them in this blog entry:

• Secret
• Forbidden
• Withholding
• Hidden
• Reveal
• Insider

All of those words convey a sense of mystery, of something desirable just out of reach. And there are plenty of others that do the same thing:

• Discover
• Uncover
• Unlock
• Unmask
• Unveil
• Expose
• Unfold
• Lay bare
• Bring to light
• Tips
• Tricks
• Discovery

And any good thesaurus can give you dozens more words that have the same affect. By cloaking what you say in mystery (there's another couple of good words), you can turn a mind-numbing announcement into an attention grabbing revelation.

But what if you don't have a thrilling secret to reveal? Consider this. Anything that you know that your visitors don't is a secret to them. And the more valuable that information is to them, the more worthy it is of such a treatment.

Use this carefully, though. If you portray everything you say as a deep, dark secret, eventually people will tune you out like the story of the boy who cried wolf. But if you use it to focus attention on your most important points, you can tune people in to what you reveal to them in a powerful, compelling way.
Jeff