I know you’re used to seeing the words direct response writing, but what I’m going to show you is much more persuasive to people who don’t know you yet.

And that’s the ability to indirectly write to your prospects.

Because?

Because if you write copy that’s ‘in the face’ of your readers, you’ll just turn them off.

If you’re starting your promotions with deals, big promises, or problems, the solution may be too direct.

Essentially, there are two main ways to write to people.

Directly or indirectly.

A direct lead focuses on the product or service, an indirect lead focuses on the prospect or customer.

The direct approach talks about the benefits you can get from owning the product, while the indirect approach talks about the benefits you get from reading the promotional piece itself.

The direct lead is talking about the problem you solve to a lead who has high knowledge of your problem.

The indirect heading focuses on educating the reader about a new approach to solving a problem that they are not yet fully aware of.

For example: Most business owners want to be successful and get rich by owning their own business.

So making an offer or a promise is pretty common on the internet right now. “Buy this software” or “Learn how to make money creating mobile phone apps.”

But most business owners are completely unaware that being able to write persuasive direct response copy is THE most reliable way to make money today.

But selling copywriting training requires you to educate your reader with great information. You have to hook the reader at the beginning of the promotion and clearly give them a huge advantage or benefit just for reading the copy.

Here is another important distinction.

When you use a direct approach, like this:

“Buy One Get One Free” – make sure it’s for customers who know you.

The time to use the indirect approach is with prospects who don’t know you. Here’s an example, “Read this or fix yourself.”

The first method is to get repeat purchases… the other is to get people to buy from you for the first time.

The more people know you, the more direct you can be.

You could use a promise like this:

“Book now and get a half price vacation for two on the Italian Riviera.”

An indirect approach would be:

“Discover a world of natural beauty.”

Here’s an example of a more direct approach. This time it is the leading solution to the problem, like so:

“What would you do if you had the money?”

Here’s another example of an indirect approach by showing that you know something they don’t. This is called a ‘secret’ track.

And it’s one of Gary Halbert’s headlines:

“How to get the names of every man, woman, and child who is likely to become one of your customers.”

As you can clearly see, the indirect approach is much more powerful when you talk to people who don’t know you, and then draw them into your copy with curiosity and self-interest.

All ‘leads’, or the first piece of copy you write, can start only one of six ways.

The first three are direct, the second three are indirect.

The offer: “7 cents a minute any time of the day, anywhere in the United States.”

The promise: “The best chocolate cake you’ve ever eaten.”

The solution to the problem: “Do your fears stop you?”

The secret or system: “What makes some entrepreneurs get rich while others starve?”

The prediction or proclamation: “Read this or die young!”

The story: “15 rivers to cross and only seven bridges.”

With the first three leads, you know exactly what the writer is selling and that he or she is selling you something right from the start.

However, with the other three you have no idea what is being sold or who you are being sold to.

Look at it like this… you have a sliding scale, on the left is the most direct advantage, on the right is the most indirect advantage.

And there are four places in between.

When the marker on the scale is at the furthest point to the left, start your offer.

As the slide moves to the right, you refrain from announcing your offer.

So when the marker is furthest to the right, start with anything but the offer.

like a story

While most people are writing offers, making huge, almost unrealistic promises, or using the old problem-solving methods, the best online writers are withholding their offers until the end of the promotion.

That’s why writing indirect answers will take center stage online and offline for the foreseeable future.

And if you are not learning to write indirectly, you will be left far behind in the history books of those who did not know how to adapt to the times.

You can study alongside other successful copywriters online, or you can be a statistic we’ll all be talking about years from now.

If you choose indirection, you will be far ahead of those who also run online or offline.

A useful resource is this.