Sex and Charisma - How to Write Copy that Uses it to Increase Your Sales

Picture this ...

One summer Sunday afternoon, four guys in their thirties were relaxing with a few beers watching the cricket at the local pub. They were having a great time "downing scooners", yelling out their own play-by-play commentary of the televised proceedings.

When the cricket match stopped for lunch, two beautiful, blonde, promotions girls walked into the bar. They walked up to the guys and the most scantily clad of the two leant over them and said, "Hi fellas. Having a great time?", with a big smile and a flirtatious look. "Would any of you like to buy a can of the new X brand Bourbon?"

Six sets of eyes popped out of their owner's heads and you could hear them all saying, "Yep. Yep. I'll 'ave one." (I've cleaned up the language a little).

After the girls had gone and all of the "ogling" had finished, one of the blokes said to the others, "Anyone want my bourbon? I hate the stuff."

The responses from around the table were ...

"Nahh mate! Can't stomach it either. It's rubbish."


"Nahh, not me either."


"Nope. I'll stick with me beer."

Now, why did six guys each buy a can of Bourbon when they each knew they didn't like the drink?

... because they were attracted to the person selling it.

I'm sure you've seen or been in similar situations before ... when you have bought a product or service simply because you liked the person selling it NOT because it was the best product for your needs.

It's true, sex sells every day of the week and so does charisma.

Have you ever been to a party and seen a certain person walk into the room and the whole crowd stops and takes notice?

Someone who owns the room. Someone who is captivating to listen to. Captivating to watch.

Someone who radiates this aura of power yet approachability and at the same time appears to be really "into you".

Everyone likes this person. You know the type of person I'm talking about.

Now - imagine that person is YOU as seen through the words you write on a page. Your copy exudes charisma.

Charisma is something that works really well in copy.

If you can make your copy so charismatic that your reader thinks of you as their new best friend, how many extra responses do you think your marketing material will produce? A lot.

With direct response copy YOU as the writer have the power to seduce your audience so they want to buy YOU and not just the product.

I'm sure you have seen charismatic or "sexy" businesses that draw in customers like ants to a breadcrumb.

You know the ones ... the businesses that have an intoxicating brand.


Virgin Blue and most of the Virgin companies have a sexy image. Many people want to be Virgin customers just because they love the Virgin brand. The product itself (in many cases) isn't that special. They're buying the cheeky, adventurous Virgin image.

How to Add Charisma to Your Copy

In the last lesson, we talked about how some sales occur purely because of the great level of rapport between the salesperson and the consumer (or in the case of the Bourbon ... sexual attraction).

Obviously, this only happens in some sales situations. In most situations, a combination of both happen ... the consumer buys the benefits of the product as well as the relationship with the salesperson.
In this lesson, you will discover why that is and how you can apply these secrets in your writing.

It's about building rapport on paper.

With that, I'd like to introduce you to the teachings of a man who has done more to influence the way we communicate tha anyone on the face of the planet. He was the father of the self-help movement. In fact, an industry began as a result of his efforts.

The man I'm talking about is Dale Carnegie, the author of the immortal book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

Through his public speaking and self-confidence seminars, Dale Carnegie taught people the art of getting people to like them ... the art of communicating in a way that gets heard ... of building rapport and showing respect for others.

Master these principles and use them in your copy and you will have your reader's undivided attention.

Here is an example of just some of Dale Carnegie's teachings as listed in his book (and yes, it's another "must read").

Six Ways to Make People Like You

Principle 1: Become genuinely interested in other people.


Principle 2: Smile.


Principle 3: Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.


Principle 4: Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.


Principle 5: Talk in terms of the other person's interests.


Principle 6: Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

Source: "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie, Chancellor Press

They make sense, don't they?

Pull away our masks and you will find that underneath it all, we are all the same. We all want the same thing.

After all, we want to know that we matter. We all want to be happy. And we all want to be loved.

As a copywriter, if you can show people that they do matter ... that you do care; you will have won a friend. Simple as that.

For dozens more articles on copywriting and a free copy of Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins go to http://www.wordsthatsell.com.au