Fantastic! Any tips on how to use this in print ads?

I had heard about it, but never before did I see it in action. Amazing!

That’s just trippy. I don’t want throw the discussion in another direction, but I have to ask, does anyone think that using this stuff to make money i.e. making people decide to buy something with NLP, is like stealing?

Those people on the train, except for one, were completely and utterly at the mercy of that guy. While exciting for selfish reasons only, the flip side is just scary to me and sometimes I think it crosses the line - like 2-3 miles over the line.

The other part is the purist in me to always look for the best products to sell which sell themselves despite over-engineered copy - which makes me think of NLP practitioners in marketing as cheating somehow.

Then again - I’d like to make a 10% conversion to the point where I’d try anything. There is that bothersome family to feed and all.

Jack, i hear you on the deceitful practices thing. I mean, it is funny and amazing but is it really real?

I don’t really mind it in copy so much, but when your face to face and totally controlling the person…
that’s scary.

Any more hints on using this stuff in print?

Jason, Lawton.

Yes, during the next few posts to this blog, I’ll be sharing more details on this and other hypnotic copywriting strategies and instructions on how to apply them to print and web ads.

Miguel Alvarez
Copywriting.com

I’ve changed my mind. Would be nice to have customers looking a bit “off in the distance” reading our copy and signing up without knowing exactly how or why they got to the checkout page.

Everyone SHOULD have a product I recommend, so if putting them in a trance to get them over their hesitation is what it takes - then I’m doing them a favor!

Thanks for this series, Miguel. As you might have expected, it ties in well with my mindtweaking obsession. Though I’m aware of the techniques, and use them for various effects, I’d never thought about intentionally using them in my own copy.

I sometimes share Jack’s earlier concerns over ethics, but honestly, the impact isn’t as profound as it seems in the video, especially when limited to copy. And in my mind, it’s less sleezy to inspire trust or desire this way than some of the other copywriting tricks many people use (false appeals to authority, for example)

Thanks Miguel. I’m a big fan of Derren Brown, to the point where I used to make transcripts of some parts of his show, to figure out how he did what he did.

Derren Brown uses a lot of stuff, ranging from NLP to traditional sleight-of-hand. Plus, he has a phenomenal memory. He can memorize a whole deck of cards in a matter of seconds.

Still, I bet he’d suck at writing copy

That is the most amazing thing I think I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot in my years.

What awesome power for healing is encapsulated in this… healing deep childhood emotional wounds, building self-esteem, removing trauma scars…

Holy WOW…. thanks for the wonderful lessons… now to figure out how to apply them ethically and powerfully.

Best regards,
Donna

Great demonstration of this aspect of copywriting. The videos were awesome backup as well, Go Derrren Brown.

I think the safety/ethical issues work themselves out in most cases. These tricks don’t suck brains out through ears . . . they just side step a set of pre-conditioned responses. And people “wake up” remembering what happened to them. So if you bamboozle someone you better remember that they will probably find a way to get even.

I think the most useful applications of the techniques are in helping people (as a teacher, coach, trainer, advisor) or in communicating clearly (writer, actor, director, speaker).

interesting what he did. he said: you’re getting off at what stop, thinking about it; which stop, thinking about it.
the command is “stop thinking about it”! this is why they forgot.
I see an ethical issue here, you’re putting thoughts into someone’s mind that wasn’t there.
it’s a subtle form of manipulation.

Interesting videos. Thinking of trying it myself.