This secret “sock puppet” method changed the way I write my ads

Good morning.

We're being driven home from Concord.

And this is going to sound crazy when I say it... but I want to talk about sock puppets.

I was looking through my journals at where the idea of meeting people where they are in headlines came from.

At the same time, I was going really deep into the way Steve Scott approached writing infomercials, in A Millionaire's Notebook.

He talked about making a list of every possible objection somebody could have.

Not buying your product. Not buying anything in the category. Buying from somebody else.

Here's my interpretation of it.

All of those things are going on in the back of their mind while you're talking to them.

So whatever you're saying in your ad, your video, your letter... that conversation on the surface is really secondary to the conversation going on in their mind.

I imagine it like two sock puppets having a conversation, while the real evaluation happens somewhere else.

Steve illustrated it with the script for Lori Davis Hair Care.

Somebody watching might be thinking, "This probably won't work for oily hair." Or, "My hair is really dry. Will this work for me?"

I think the worst way to handle that is a frequently asked questions page.

"Does this work for dry hair?" "Yes, it works for dry hair."

It's too overt. It's a setup.

The valuable way is to know that question is going on in their mind... and answer it without ever bringing it up.

If they can get that concern addressed without having to ask, they value it more.

So Steve wrote a part of the script explaining that the products were formulated to adapt to whatever condition your hair was in.

That answers the question. Nobody had to ask it.

When I started thinking about the dialogue going on in people's minds, I realized that if I could get inside what they were thinking and address it in the headline, that was a win.

In the late '90s we were running ads headlined "How to buy lovely homes in Winter Haven with zero down payment."

Zero down mortgages were just becoming a thing.

But people might be reluctant to respond, because responding felt like admitting they didn't have any money.

So I added a little something to the headline for the sock puppet.

"How to buy lovely homes in Winter Haven with zero down payment (even if you can afford to pay cash)."

The response went up.

Now people could feel safe under that protective umbrella. They could be someone with all the money in the world who was just curious how these zero down mortgages worked.

You can see the same thing in the Muskoka home sites.

"I need to sell these six Muskoka home sites in the next 30 days, and I'm willing to sell them 33% below their current appraised value."

Getting the lots appraised answers the silent questions before anybody asks them. Why would they be doing this? And 33% off of what?

It addresses the skepticism in a way that moves them forward.

There are a lot of subtleties in this, and I'm going to do a couple of videos going through the process in more detail.

But for now, whenever you're talking, imagine there are two conversations.

The sock puppet conversation... the words you're saying and the words they're saying back.

And the deeper, silent dialogue going on in their mind.

Use your sock puppet to speak to that silent part of their mind, and you're going to win.

Show notes: https://deanjackson.com/podcasts/tol/128-this-secret-sock-puppet-method-changed-the-way-i-write-my-ads/

Join me live on the next free 50-Minute Profit Finder call: 50minuteprofitfinder.com/podcast