Mind Gaps:

   Or, How Wrod Illsuinos Can Imrpvoe Yuor Slaes

                            by Dr. Joe Vitale
                            www.mrfire.com

    I'm teaching an intensive seminar on Hypnotic
Copywriting techniques in September. One of the
principles you'll learn there is the idea that the mind
is easily tricked by optical as well as literary
illusions.

    You're probably familiar with optical illusions.
There are numerous books and sites showing pictures
that can be seen in a variety of ways. One famous image
looks like an old woman -- until you stare a little
longer and suddenly see the profile of a young woman
in the same image.

    Something similar can happen with words. After all,
words are images, too. They are subject to the blind
spots in our brains. For proof, read the following.

    Aoccdrnig to a rsceearcehr at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,
it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod
are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and
lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a
total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.

    Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

    Fascinating, isn't it?

    I'm *not* advocating mis-spelling words or
intentionally misleading people. I'm demonstrating a
principle. Your mind is vulnerable. It can see things
that aren't there and miss things that are there. This
is important information. It's what allows magicians
the ability to fool us.

    So, how does this fact help you with your sales
letters, ads, emails, websites and any other writing
you do?

    Here's how: You can consciously weave your words
in such a way that people fill in the blanks. In other
words, you can help them imagine buying your
product or service without asking them to get it.
This is the sport of hypnotic writing. Here's an
elementary example:

    "Imagine driving this sleek car down a country
road."

    What did you see in your mind?

    Most likely you imagined a sports car.

    But why a sports car?

    The word "sleek" led your mind to create a visual.
That image came from your mind, not mine. I gave
you a prompt and your mind leaped to a conclusion.
Minds are like that.

    Also, in the paragraph before that example, I
planted the word "sport" in your mind.

    Did you notice it?

    It's where I wrote, "This is the sport of hypnotic
writing."

    The word "sport" was already in your consciousness,
and was easy to bring up when I asked you to imagine
a "sleek car."

    Here's another example: Go back to the opening
paragraph of this article. Look at the second line. It
says: "One of the principles you'll learn there is the
idea that the mind is easily tricked by optical as well
as literary illusions."

    Notice anything unusual?

    You shouldn't have. But your mind interpreted the
sentence that YOU will attend my event in September. I
could have said "One of the principles *people will
learn at my event* is the idea that the mind is easily
tricked by optical as well as literary illusions." But
by writing it so YOU would be in the sentence, I
am leading your mind to imagine signing up for the
actual event.

    I was talking with my hero Kevin Hogan
(author of "The Psychology of Persuasion" and
everything else about influence...) and he says that
if you can actually get your customer to see themselves
doing or using whatever it is your product does,
you win big. The trick is, they have to imagine
*themselves* with your product.

    Showing how another person is going to experience
something or has experienced something isn't enough
to push the "yes" button in most people.

    In other words, "Yeah, John felt the same way,
then he tried this and found it worked" is a weak
persuasion tool.

    Kevin explains it this way:

    "Joe, what you want your participants to do is
see *themselves* writing ad copy and then have them
see *themselves* getting the incredible results of
Hypnotic Writing. Specifically. The orders racing
into *their* email box. Not yours or mine."

    My earlier sentence -- "One of the principles
you'll learn there is the idea that the mind is easily
tricked by optical as well as literary illusions" -- is
a psychological switch to get you imaging yourself
at my event.

    That example may be difficult to grasp at first.
It's actually an embedded hypnotic assumption, or
presupposition. It's explained in my e-books and will
be demonstrated in my seminar in September. So let's
take a final quick example:

    I went to the MSN home page and saw a headline
that read, "See a Ferrari laptop." I like sports cars,
so I clicked. Imagine my surprise when I saw a picture
of a laptop computer, not a convertible. My mind
highlighted the word Ferrari and let me slide past
the next word.

    I could go on and on. For example, sometimes
I end a letter with "Stop buy and see us." Few note
I used the word "buy" instead of "by." The mind
sees it as "stop and buy."

    I learned that subtle method when a friend of
mine out of town ended an email with the words,
"Take Car." He meant to say, "Take Care."
He slipped and wrote "Take Car" as a way
to speak to my mind and urge me to drive
and see him.

    In short, these "mind gaps" can be cause for
confusion, or for communication. I can't explain all
the ins and outs of this rarely looked at subject here
(that's what my seminar is for), but let this article
be a stimulus for your own thinking -- without the
mind gaps.

**************************************

    Dr. Joe Vitale is holding an intensive training
    in his copywriting methods September 11-12
    in Austin, Texas. Only 10 can attend. You
    will learn Dr. Vitale's hypnotic writing formulas
    and become certified as a Hypnotic Copywriter.
    Cost is $5,000. To register, write copy@mrfire.com

    Get a crash course in hypnotic copywriting
    by grabbing many of Joe Vitale's works at --
    http://www.HypnoticLibrary.com/g.o/10386

    And get his famous writing software from --
    http://www.HypnoticWritingWizard.com

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© 2004 Joe Vitale. All rights reserved. Feel fre^e
to forward this in its entirety to anyone you wish.
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Dr. Joe Vitale is the world's first Hypnotic Marketer.
He is President of Hypnotic Marketing, Inc., and
author of way too many books to list here, including
the #1 best-selling book "Spiritual Marketing," the
best-selling e-book "Hypnotic Writing," and the
best-selling Nightingale-Conant audioprogram, "The
Power of Outrageous Marketing." His latest books
are the best-selling "The Greatest Money-Making
Secret in History" and "Adventures Within." He's
being called "The Buddha of the Internet." His main
website is at http://www.MrFire.com