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never let the truth get in the way of a good story

Writer's picture: John BrandtJohn Brandt

One of the more advanced copywriting skills is knowing when—and how—to ethically lie.


I don’t mean telling blatant lies. Like making your product seem like the only solution that will keep your customers alive. Nor do I mean little white lies either, which is defined as a harmless lie told to prevent hurting someone’s feelings.


Instead, I mean an ethical lie.


Or, in other words…


A lie that helps others improve their life.


Quick side rant real quick:


Many marketers and copywriters get this wrong. They hear someone they admire say “lying is okay,” and jump on their Twitter to tweet about how they make $50k a month when the real number is closer to $5k a month.


That ain’t an ethical lie, toots.


It’s a lie to please their ego, which ain’t the type of lying I’m talking about. In fact, you’d call these lies “black lies.” Or a “deliberate misrepresentation of facts in order to deceive,” according to the dictionary.


Anywho:


Mark Twain is the man responsible for today’s subject line:


“never let the truth get in the way of a good story”


So, let’s talk about how to ethically lie to your audience—and have them thank you for doing so.


The easiest, and least offensive, way to ethically lie is to lie in your stories. I don’t mean making up an unbelievable story with outrageous claims; Remember: your audience will never buy from you without the “KLT Factor,” that’s Know-Like-Trust, do it please ya, which means, you have to balance lying with being truthful and caring about your audience. Unbelievable stories with outrageous claims backfire because they sabotage any KLT you’ve built with your audience.


Instead, I mean twisting the details of said story in your favor:


For example, let's pretend we’re selling a weight loss product for women.


And you find a story on reddit of a woman being called a fat pig.


You can “tweak” the details and pretend either this happened to you (if you, or your client in this case, was overweight back in the day) or you can pretend it happened to a close friend to make the story feel a little realer.


As long as your weight loss product actually works—which is, admittedly, a big if—then there’s nothing wrong with this type of ethical lie. Especially if you’re persuasive enough to encourage your audience to take action, and shed their unwanted weight.


There are many such examples of this.


But heed my next sentence:


If you get exposed for lying, you’ll hurt yourself and your business more than a little ethical lie would’ve benefited you.


That’s what happens to a bunch of these Money Twitter scammers:


They make outrageous lies and claims, get exposed, and then are exiled from Money Twitter.


They forever walk around with an “A” on their chest, like Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter.


And whatever you do…


Please use this “skill” for good. I debated even sending it to you. And if I catch any of you lying to grow your business (I have spies all over the internet yanno), I’ll forever ban you from these emails, as well as any products or any services I ever create.


Understood?


Now, onto bidness:


If you need help converting more of your audience into paying (and loyal) customers while unleashing freedom across every area of your life, you know what to do:



John


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