Yesterday I wrote about the process I’m using to build some of my copy habits.
Today I want to highlight a psychological principle that’s built into the process.
I take no credit for being clever in its creation. Only that I notice it in hindsight after I learned more about the principle reading a chapter of Influence by Robert Cialdini.
Though even with my limited experience in sales and marketing, the principle seems obvious – though I didn’t necessarily know the name of it.
The Contrast Principle
The contrast principle essentially states that what you see or do first has an influence on similar experiences that come directly after.
In Cialdini’s book he describes an example of putting one hand in cool water and one in warm. The subjects then put their hands into the same room temperature water and were amazed to find that one hand seemed cold and the other hot… Yet the water was the same temperature.
So what does this have to do with copywriting and my Swipe Surgeon strategies?
For most people, writing the sales letter is the hardest thing you can do.
In my process, I’ve made the steps leading up to it much harder.
For example, let’s say you’ve got even a five page sales letter. It’s a little one.
Depending on formatting, that could be between 500 and 1500 words in those five pages.
If you follow the Swipe Surgeon process… You will have just written every sentence on an index card and put them in the proper order to manage the flow. The amount of thought and focus that goes into understanding why a sentence belongs in the place it does in a sales letter is difficult.
By the time you get to writing your own letter, you have done some very hard drilling. Based on the contrast principle, this final step should feel much easier than before.
The Bigger Picture
Even stepping back and looking at the process as a whole. Let’s say you’re not just mastering as swipe. But writing your own letter for a customer.
The process and depth of work done in mastering the swipe process does not make the efforts required for a completely different letter seem so difficult.
Certainly there are many other psychological principles at play here. My examples here were intended to only view through this single perspective.
I hope you consider the contrast principle as you set up your own processes and goals. It can really help make a difference in your output.
However, time is up for the day. Process calls.
I’d like to hear from you. I’d love it if you were part of my email list. But even if you’re not, you can always reach out to me at [email protected] and strike up the conversation.
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