Page 44 - Hypnotic Writing - How to Seduce and Persuade Customers with Only Your Words

My Secret to Hypnotic Writing
them. But at least now you’ve gotten the communication. Relax. Breathe. Smile. Ahhhhhh . . .
But what does all this translation business have to do with how I write hypnotic sales letters, ads, and news releases?
In a nutshell, translating is exactly what I do in writing sales copy. When someone hands me a technical manual on a new soft- ware program—with the idea they want me to write a sales letter for the software—what I do is translate that manual.
In short, I do the same thing the language translation web site does. I simply look at what the manual says the software does, and then I translate it into benefits that make sense to you, the consumer. In a way, the manual is written for techies, much like Italian is written for Italians. I have to translate both so you can understand and make sense of them. If I don’t, you won’t care.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
Recently I was hired to rewrite a brochure. My client handed me their draft. It read well. There were lines such as, “When was the last time you felt okay?” Well, nothing wrong with that. It works. But I found a way to translate it into something more meaningful, understandable, and emotional. And I did it with just one word. I wrote, “When was the last time you felt fantastic?”
The translated line communicated better. It’s the difference be- tween hearing the line in Italian or in English. As Mark Twain put it, it’s the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.
But maybe that example is too simple.
At another point in their brochure they were trying to ex- plain the concept of suppressing emotions and how sup- pression could be harmful. Their words were fine, just as Italian words are fine. But they didn’t communicate in a way most people would hear. So I translated their words to,
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