Can You Keep a Secret?

By Clayton Makepeace

Secrets tease, tantalize, and torment us. An offered secret is irresistible - impossible to refuse.

Once our curiosity is engaged, knowledge that someone else knows a secret that we don't know is like having a stone in our shoe. It gnaws and nags at us. We can't willingly rest until we're in on the secret too.

Since offering to reveal a secret appeals to us humans on so many visceral levels, it's no wonder that many of the most successful direct-response promotions of all time have used it to boost attention and readership. Nor is it any wonder that offering to reveal more secrets in a free report that is delivered along with the product being sold can drive response rates, revenues, and p rofits through the roof.

So how could YOU use secrets to hit one out of the park the next time you're at bat?

The way I see it, there are four kinds of secrets...

1. Simple Secrets. If you haven't done so already, buy a product - any product - from Boardroom or Rodale. Before long, your inbox and mailbox will be stuffed with promotions that tell simple secrets - and offer to give you thousands more secrets when you buy the book or newsletter they're promoting.

2. Forecasts. If you think about it, predicting a future event in a promotion is kind of like telling your prospect a secret that very few other people know. If you can show him, in your product or premium, how to use this "confidential, privileged information" to solve a problem or get something he wants, your readership and response are likely to soar.

3. Mis/Disinformation. Lies are, by definition, secrets too. When you show your prospect how "the establishment" or, better yet, your competitors are at fault for his difficult situation, you free him from responsibility for it.

4. Conspiracies. These are big, fat, irresistible bundles of secrets that amplify and broaden their power by an order of magnitude. Show your prospect why and how the deck is stacked against him and you create massive credibility for your product by validating his suspicions and creating an excuse for his current predicament.

[Master copywriter Clayton Makepeace publishes the highly acclaimed e-zine The Total Package to help business owners and copywriters accelerate their sales and profits. Claim your 4 free moneymaking e-books - bursting with tips, tricks, and tactics that'll skyrocket your response - at MakepeaceTotalPackage.com.

And don't forget the upcoming Web 3.0 live training at ATrafficPlan.com

You don't want to miss it.