What writers & others say
“It’s not what you do with the product, it’s what you do with the mind.”
— Anonymous
Joe Public Doesn’t Care About Your Hospital
— title of a book by Chris Bevolo and Helena Bouchez
“Writing persuasively is not about persuasion. It’s about empathy.”
— Ray Edwards, direct response copywriter
“Everyone’s favorite radio station is WiiFM.”
— Old sales joke
“Our readers don’t want to just read stories. What they really want is a big button they can push that says, ‘Solve my problem.’ It’s up to us to be the button.”
— Brian J. O’Connor, editor at Bankrate.com
“Nobody wants to buy our products; they want to buy the products of our products. They don’t want to buy vitamins; they want to buy health.”
— Nido Qubein, CSP, CPAE, motivational speaker and business consultant
“It’s not about what you do, but about what I can do after you’re done.”
— Alan Weiss, principal, Summit Consulting
“A few years ago, my former newspaper did a study in which interviewers asked readers who or what was most important to them. Their answer was in some ways surprising. Many did not say their families, children or God. Instead, their answer was: ‘Me.’”
— Dick Weiss, former writer and editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Focus on what they’ll get out of it, not on what we put into it.”
— Ann Wylie, writing coach
“Stop selling. Start helping.”
— Zig Ziglar, late, great motivational speaker
Move readers to act with persuasive writing
Your readers are bombarded with the data equivalent of 174 newspapers — ads included — every day, according to a study by USC’s Annenberg School for Communication.
In this environment, how do you grab readers’ attention and move them to act?
Learn how to write more engaging, persuasive messages at our persuasive-writing workshop.
