Learn How Persuasive Writing Can Help You Boost Your Sales | Josh Farrell, Business to Business Solutions

You do not have to be a mastermind for persuasive writing, but having the know-how for it will allow you to move your online marketing business to the next level. 

Farrell targets his wordy advice at online businesses marketing their products on the Web. But within all those words, he provides some advice useful to other people trying to write a persuasive document--from a speech to a brochure to a letter to Congress. I'll highlight his three methods.

After hyping something called the Constant Cash Machine, which you can ignore, he recommends a "popular method among writers that is known as 'the future glimpse.'" With that method, he writes

You persuade your audience to take action by giving them a very real picture of the future once they’ve taken that action. If you really want to have them on the hook, show them what they have now and how different their future will be if they just take action today.

Another method is "social proof." As I read his advice (and agree), he says people like to find out what other people, organizations or reviewers think of something before making choices. If they respect that the source of that review, they might follow its advice.

Farrell writes:

The obvious example of social proof can be seen in testimonials/case studies and referrals from others. You can tell that social proof is what is compelling the social media today. Of course if you do it correctly, you can also place social proof in your writing, which could vary from a professional review to just dropping names.

Farrell's third method is to "be convincing." Writers must have "an extreme sense of security"--or confidence, as I read it--in the point they're making or the product they're marketing. He writes:

It is critical that you believe in yourself when writing a piece and pass that conviction along with your text, so as to catch and hold the interest of your reader.

For more online advice on persuasive writing, check out Garbl's Action Writing Links. It's an annotated directory of websites that can help you get people to read your writing, keep readers interested and persuade them to respond while they're reading or afterward.