Direct Response Copywriter on the Important Difference Between Persuasion and Motivation.

I bought and read a book recently titled “The Art of Persuasion.” How could I, as a direct response copywriter, NOT buy a book with that title? The author, Trish Hall, is a writer and editor and used to edit the Op-Ed pages at The New York Times. A big position in the world of American journalism.

You can see the full review of the book here.

I didn’t have high hopes for the book for two reasons.

First, people who edit Op-Ed pages have zero accountability. Ditto the people who anonymously write the editorials. More on this later.

Second, there’s a significant but subtle difference between persuasion and motivation. Persuasion is trying to get someone to change their mind. It’s trying to turn a liberal into a conservative and vice versa. It’s really, really hard. Persuasion is going up to someone in the Sahara and saying, “how about a really nice sun lamp?”

Motivation is different. It’s going up to that same person in the Sahara and saying, “how about a gallon of really cold water?”

Motivation is connecting the needs and desires of potential customers to the benefits of a product or service. I write a lot of golf copy and golfers want more distance. So … when I sell a product that promises … more distance … the result is usually pretty good. But let’s say I go up to someone who hates golf and try to sell them a golf club. It’s going to end in tears. No direct response copywriter can do that.

Motivation, in Op-Ed terms, is writing a piece about a liberal cause to the readers of The New York Times. The readers of said organ have a liberal bent. They want liberal articles to back up their views.

As a direct response copywriter, it’s VITAL you understand the difference between persuasion and motivation.

It’s not a huge surprise the book by Ms. Hall was not relevant to my work as a direct response copywriter.

I used to work for ‘big newspaper.’ It was a newspaper in the top 30 in the U.S. based on circulation. I was on the business side.

The people who organized the op-ed pages and wrote the editorial pages were, to be polite, very odd. My boss left my division to write editorials. He once confided: “It’s not very difficult … we write something then have some martinis for lunch then go home.” And that’s from someone who won a Pulitzer Prize.

I remember the guy who was in charge of the editorial board. I told him I disagreed with an editorial and he pompously replied, “you can.” The editorials were slanted one way but represented the newspaper. Thus the views of the editorial board became my views. Not exactly fair … from a group of people who were supposedly all about fairness. The newspaper would endorse candidates in elections. Why?

The guy in charge once wrote in one of his op-ed pieces, “I was a good writer.” Until that point, I hadn’t realized. How nice of him to let me know. He published a book of his editorials. Have you seen it on the best-seller lists? No? I haven’t either.

I always wondered why newspapers published editorials. “Because the newspaper has to stand for something,” was always the answer. “Then why not stand for impartiality, reporting the news, and not being biased?” was my answer.

My newspaper and publishing days are behind me now, thankfully. Here’s the problem with editorial writers and those of that ilk. It’s all theory. They never actually have to sell anything. There’s no accountability. They win awards given by other editorial writers. Eventually, everyone wins something and is an ‘award-winning journalist’ or whatever.

Newspapers have declined in almost every market in the United States. They’ve sold their buildings. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs. The people who owned the newspapers could have owned all the big Internet sites and be minting it now but they believed nothing would happen to them and then were late to the party.

The publisher at the newspaper where I worked was one of the more vapid people I’ve met. His brother was more interested in his corporate jet than dealing with the digital age. For every dollar those guys were making in the early 90s, they’re now making ten cents.

But I digress.

If you want to be a successful direct response copywriter and/or direct marketer, you have to understand the difference between persuasion and motivation.

And if you’re a Trish Hall, then pay close attention to direct response copywriting and direct marketing. We know what works when it comes to motivation. We have the results to prove it.