Maybe you guys can enlighten me on this.

You see it all the time... lines like "don't take my word
for it..." then referencing testimonials and third party
endorsements.

I think it's crap!

I want my prospects to believe me, and my endorsers

Why is this used? How is it done well? What does it add?

Thanks!

-Brian

PS- I don't know a bloody thing about NLP, but that's what
it reminds me of... the statement "don't believe me" seems
like an awful one to include in your copy.

Hey Brian,

I've used that phrase before. I don't have any psychology behind it, it's just pure conversational copy. It's the kind of thing a salesman might say face to face. And that makes it good copy.

To me it says, "You don't HAVE to believe what I'm saying because I have this other proof".

As for NLP, when you say "Don't believe me", that is actually a command to believe me. The subconscious doesn't process the negative.

<Cue Harlan to come in and say I'm simplifying it or have it all wrong...>

Thanks Bruce... like I said, I don't know anything about NLP,
but I should have recalled that the subconscious doesn't
process the negative.

One of my best golf coaches gave me one bit of advice that
nearly eliminated major disasters from my game... think
about where you'd like to miss your shot, not where you
don't

Cheers,
Brian

Try testing it with some of the Brazilian beauties down in Rio. "Hey, I'm a great guy... but don't just take my word on it."

Actually, I use lines like that as a transition... to move from my "voice" in the copy to a 3rd person "voice" (testimonials & endorsements). That way, the testimonials are less of the reading road bump (cue Mr. Subtle to rant about testimonials in the middle of the sales letter).

Later,

Mike

Ok Mike, tell me how to say that in Portuguese and I'll do a field experiment

-Brian

If you don't want to say "don't take my word for it..."

You could always say any of the following -

"Need even more proof"

"Here's the rock solid evidence"

"Here's what our delighted customers say"

"Here are the 100% iron clad indisputable facts"

And so on...

For what it's worth - if you just don't like a certain word or phrase - don't use it.

You'll always be unhappy with it.

And every time you read the copy - you'll go "Awwwwww!" - and you hear that awful "clunk" in your head.

There's lots of phrases and transitions that I could have used over the years - but whatever reason they didn't resonate with me.

They might have worked even better than the ones I did use - but I'll never know.

Because you can't test the stuff you hate against the stuff you like - it's no contest.


Steve

I've always liked "listen to what "this person" or [name] has to say about it".

Yes, I use the word "listen" because I don't want the reader to realize they are "reading"... I want them to "hear" what I'm saying in their head.

Although it might work for some of you guys and gals, I tend to stay away from negative words like "don't" in body copy... unless, of course, I'm in the call-to-action stages and I'm giving commands to my hypnotized subject.

To me it's a bit of a rapport builder. It tells the reader "hey, I know you're too smart to make a decision solely on the word of someone you've never heard of until now."

It is a compliment to have you acknowledge that they're a smart person. It also humanizes you by letting them know that you're not just trying to hurry them along to the order. Rather you want to offer up some social proof for them to take into consideration.

That's my 2 cents.