“Hyperbole,
Exaggeration, and Half
Truths”
By Beth
Ann Erickson
You’ve seen the webpages.
I’m sure you have.
They
dissolve on your computer screen in a flurry of red headlines,
black text, and little yellow boxes filled with gushing
platitudes and exclamation marks.
I’m
talking about those one-page websites filled with promises to
make your life easier, your wallet fatter… designed to make
your wildest dreams come true.
They’re
the ones that claim to teach you such indispensable skills as
how to “manifest” as much money as you’d like (up to $100,000!)
simply by following a five-step
“system.”
Or how
would you like to attract potential clients to your business
until they’re “tingling” to give you their money again and
again?
Or better yet,
did you know you can purchase a “100% 'Legitimate' Way
To Quickly & Easily Drive Targeted Cash-In-Hand
Prospects And Visitors To Any Of Your Websites at NO
Cost.” PLUS you can even watch a “'shocking' play-by-play
underground video” that’ll “prove” this person’s
claims.
Based upon
the number of these little one-page sales gems, I’d venture to
guess that this form of selling is probably pretty lucrative.
After all, if these sites didn’t generate an income, they
wouldn’t exist.
But I have
to wonder who would actually fall for these sales
pitches.
Seriously.
Does any reader truly believe that any one product would live
up to the hype generated on these
sites?
Probably
not.
And yet,
people buy.
At least,
that’s what we’re led to believe….
Each
morning I begin my day curled into my Lazy-Boy rocker reading.
I read anything I can get my hands on, but I particularly enjoy
marketing books.
This past
week, while soaking in book #3 in the Wizard of Ads trilogy by
Roy H. Williams, I’m struck by his most humane view of his
client’s potential customers.
Williams
says that instead of writing to a greedy non-faced entity whose
only goal is to pour dollars into their pocket, he suggests
that our readers are human beings. People who live a complex
life as family members, brothers, sisters,
parents.
According
to Williams we shouldn’t insult our readers by expecting them
to believe anything less than the truth. He says, “The simple
truth is that nothing sounds quite so much like the truth as
the truth, and most people seem to know the truth when they
hear it. The truth is never full of loopholes and generalities.
The truth is made of specifics and substantiation, it’s solid.
That’s why it’s easy to spot in a world full of paper-thin
lies, half lies, and hype.” (Secret Formulas of the Wizard of
Ads, page 15).
My
suggestion? Avoid hyperbole, exaggeration, and half truths and
instead focus on each product’s benefits and USP (unique
selling proposition). If you do this, you can avoid most of
these unbelievable claims made by markets who should know
better than to dehumanize their audience by appealing to the
most base of human nature.
After all,
I like to think we’re writers bent on making this world a
better place, not hucksters out to make a quick
buck.
~~~
Beth Ann Erickson is Queen Bee of Filbert Publishing
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