In short, pave the way for your price by making it look small
compared to something more expensive. Again, don’t lie. Tell the
truth. Think about what it would take for your reader to make or
acquire or even do without your product. Describe all of that.Then
tell your price.
This secret is known as contrast.
Scott Plous, in his book The Psychology of Judgment and Decision
Makingsays, “For example, real estate agents sometimes exploit the
contrast effect by showing buyers a run-down or overpriced prop-
erty before they show the home that is under serious consideration.”
At the risk of confusing you, let me bring in a little deeper psychol-
ogy to prove my point. John Burton, in his heady book States of Equi-
libriumsays people do not move toward success (pleasure) or away
from failure (pain). He writes: “Rather, we move toward or away from
the states of mind that we associatewith success or failure.”
What does that mean?
It means your reader has a mental concept about your offer,
your price, and your product. All of those concepts are percep-
tions, not reality. They are mental associations based on how you
described your product, price, and offer. You can influence and
even change your reader’s perceptions—their reality—by how you
describe your product, price, and offer. You also influence how
they will feel about your product, price, or offer by what you say
beforeyou ever describe them.
Again, when you paint a picture of life without your product,
and then you paint a picture of life with your product, you’ve
drawn a contrast and set up a perception. You can influence how
your reader feels about your product this way.
My father mentally associated a mixed breed stray dog as a
mutt. When I gave him a new view—that Spot was actually a rare
breed worth lots of money—he altered his perception and ulti-
mately his behavior. I sold him (so to speak) on Spot.
Remember, when you are writing, you have the power. You can
influence how your reader perceives your message by how you de-
scribe it and what you compare it to.
This is Hypnotic Writing at full throttle.HYPNOTIC WRITING