Viral email and Zeigarnik

Sophie,

Among emailers who forwarded 1 or more emails in the past 30 days… 55% said they forwarded an email because it had “An Amazing Insight.”

Want to know what #2 & #3 characteristics were?

Get the full results as a thank you for taking the survey…

http://thinktwoproductsahead.com/survey

So, maybe you will forward this email if I give you an amazing insight? I said maybe…

I really want you to forward this email…

So, here goes my attempt to impress you with an amazing insight…

This is from cult expert Blair Warren’s $97 special report entitled “One Sentence Persuasion”

“People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them
throw rocks at their enemies.”

GET BLAIR’S REPORT FOR FREE AT:
http://BlairWarren.com
(just opt-in for his newsletter which comes about every other week or so it has in the past)

Ben

p.s. don’t forget to take the survey…

http://thinktwoproductsahead.com/survey

p.p.s. Sophie…

You’re still reading? This is bad. You haven’t clicked on a link. See, I’m not very good at this persuasion game.

Please know, I’m doing okay. I can’t imagine why I frighten some of my fragile readers.

I like the toughness in you. We have that in common. We’re rhinos!

I don’t need anybody feeling sorry for me and I especially don’t nee anybody else calling the cops on me to make sure i’m not hurting myself…

…and calling my mom (this so truly sucked…)
[same story. the same woman called the cops on me and found my mom's cell phone number and scared the wits out of my mom over the holidays...

what started as a great gift became a HUGE emotional drama...

...two days before Christmas weirded-out that I'm not okay. Did you hear me tell that story? It started with me throwing a teleseminar as a Christmas gift for my mom, an amazing publicist in her day.

So please, let me set the record straight.

Am I really doing okay? Yes. I'm doing great!

I'm *this* close to making way more than I made as a Senior Vice President at BBDO, lead strategist on that company that used to be called Cingular.

Some folks truly don't get the value of the size of a list...

Please know that I'm emailing approximately 23,999 other people when you get this email. Thank you. I appreciate your time and considerations. I truly hope I'm serving you well.

That's why I crafted this survey. This aint no simple asking of a single great question... no, this is a professional grade Survey Monkey
online survey (that's the name of the company Survey Monkey)

[by the way, I used to be an in-house focus group moderator and project director here: http://lrwonline.com/ ]

Dave Lakhani has a bigger list than me. Much bigger. I hope this isn’t TMI. I have a little bit of list envy going on here.

Me: “It’s not the size of list, it’s the magic within it.”

Dave: “Ben, size matters.”

Dave’s right. Size DOES matter.

If you have a small list and want to stop being embarrassed when people ask: “How big is your list?” Then please read the following
instructions carefully:

To grow your list click here… http://thinktwoproductsahead.com/list

THAT WAS IT. That was the instructions for how to bake a really big list… by clicking above on the previous link

you may have to wait 8 seconds for the above link to load and hear Tellman speak

somebody said placing the link a second time makes more people click so here goes…

http://thinktwoproductsahead.com/list

why is it a funny code? because i’m tracking your actions. I’m measuring your actions. I’m improving my skills by seeing what’s effective… Always Be Testing…

what’s the #2 reason people will forward an email?

The Ol’ Zeigarnik Effect In Defense of Long-Form Copy By Ben Mack
http://ThinkTwoProductsAhead.com

The Zeigarnik Effect is said to be the most powerful tool of Direct Response marketing, advertising engineered to elicit an immediate response. Direct Response techniques are employed in infomercials, in bulk emails, letters sent to your home asking you to send a check right now and
ads in the back of verticle pubs like golf magazines where they sell a video of a one-legged golfer whose proprietary swing will add 50 yards to your drive.

Direct Response employs unabashed persuasion. Carl Rove began his career in Direct Response and applies the techniques of Direct Response
to his political strategies.

I asked persuasion expert Blair Warren to teach me The Zeigarnik Effect. Blair said, “Ben, people will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies.”

I asked if that was the essence of The Zeigarnik Effect. He said it was the antithesis of The Zeigarnik Effect. That stumped me.

I asked what the opposite of people doing anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies. He didn’t answer.

“Ben, you should know this. You grew up as a kid magician. What was it like when you bought a magic trick from the magic store?” I told him I had bought a 9-inch silk hanky just last week. “No, Ben. I’m not asking about a prop for magic, I’m talking about buying a magic trick,  purchasing a magic trick that had you fooled and you had to buy the trick to learn the secret.” I had to think about that for a while.

It had been a long while since I bought a magic trick to learn the secret. Then, it dawned on me. The last magic trick I purchased was The Invisible Deck.

Blair asked me about the experience. I told him that the magic store employee had asked me to shuffle an invisible deck of cards and to remove a card and place it up-side-down in the deck. He then pretended to meld the invisible deck with a real deck and my card was up-side-down in his deck. “Ben, what happened after you purchased the trick?” Well, I ripped open the instructions and was extraordinarily disappointed how
simple the trick actually was.

“Did you ever buy a magic trick and wait, say, a day or two, before reading how the trick was done?” Never. “Why not?” I couldn’t wait. “Why not?” I needed to know how the trick was done. I wanted to be able to do the same trick. I wanted to be amazing. “Was buying the magic trick a form of the magic store encouraging your dreams?” Yes. Is that what the essence of The Zeigarnik Effect, to encourage somebody’s
dreams? “No.” What then? “Human nature - even the most extreme examples of persuasion such as suicide cults and mass movements - are based on the most basic of human desires. Just as magicians can perform miracles using mundane principles, powerful persuaders shape the world in much the same way.”

Are you saying the world is controlled by secret ultra-powerful magicians? “Ben. You sound paranoid when you talk like that. No, I’m not saying that. I am saying that people who have something to gain will often employ whatever they can to get what they want.” Blair, isn’t that the same thing? “No. Magic implies that there is some supernatural power employed. The Zeigarnik Effect simply exploits a basic drive of
human nature.”

I asked him if he was going to teach me The Zeigarnick Effect or not. “Ben, I’m trying to prepare you. Like the magic tricks you have paid for in the past, the secret will be disappointing.” Then disappoint me already.

My dear reader, human beings have a need to know. The Zeigarnik Effect demonstrates that people are motivated by incomplete information. At the next party you’re at, half-way through the party walk past a girl and say to her, “I overheard half of your conversation earlier and I really agreed with what you were saying.” Dollars-to-doughnuts says she’ll break away from that group and come ask you what you heard her say earlier. She’ll be dying to know.

The process of building suspense, of dividing information, increases the audience’s titillation and makes them more likely to buy or take whatever action they are directed, or at least to give you more of their attention than they would have otherwise. This technique can only be used in
long copy.

Now, who else would benefit from the content of this email?

Thank you for your considerations.

Gar…

Ben Mack

to learn the #2 reason people will forward an email, click here…
http://thinktwoproductsahead.com/survey