Use These Four Words That Generated Over $30 Million in Sales
By Sandy Franks

The commercials were just two minutes long, but that was more than enough time for these two marketing and copywriting geniuses to generate $30 million in sales.

The product they were selling, a pair of knives, made its TV debut in 1978 in what was considered a master work in long-form infomercials.

But these weren’t just any kind of knives … they were sharpened to slice through a tomato without leaving a “juicy” mess.

If you haven’t guessed by now, the knives I’m talking about are Ginsu knives.

And while you might recognize that name, you probably aren’t aware that it was Barry Becher and Ed Valenti who developed the somewhat hokey series of late-night infomercials that sold the knives.

Today, the two are given credit for changing the way products were sold in infomercials.

It’s how they did it that made ordinary households items must-have consumer products including the Miracle Slicer, Miracle Duster, and Miracle Painter.

Part of their secret was creating memorable phrases that caught viewers off guard. You see, throughout the long-form infomercials, the two shouted out phrases that caught your attention.

In fact, many marketing experts say it was Becher and Valenti who perfected the false close … an element of persuasion that is present in every kind of long-form sales letter.

If you need a refresher, a false close comes near the end of your sales letter … just when your prospect is expecting the sales pitch. However, instead of writing the close, you switch to something completely different, such as another benefit or promise your reader won’t be expecting.

It’s a proven technique for breaking up a linear argument. If your long-form sales letter is too predictable, you give your prospect the opportunity to race ahead and say, “I know what that is … and I don’t need it.”

So you have to change the pace from time to time … leap around a little … to keep him interested.

The way Barry Becher and Ed Valenti presented their false close to viewers was with these four words: But wait, there’s more.

It was Ed who coined the now famous phrase, along with a few others, such as:

• Now how much would you pay?
• You get it all for the incredible low price of 19.99.
• This is a limited time offer.

When a client hires you to write a long-form sales letter for them, you’ll want to make sure you include a false close. And you can even use the same four words Ed used to turn Ginsu knives into an icon of marketing.

Not only does the false close break up a linear argument, it serves two other purposes:

Purpose #1: It lets the reader off the hook — Because the reader is expecting to be asked to part with his money soon, he has his guard up. He's expecting the close, and when it doesn't come, he feels a sense of relief and lets his guard down.

Purpose #2: It gives the reader another reason to buy what you're promoting — If you've written a good sales letter, the reader should be excited by the benefits in store for him and ready to buy what you're selling. So when you divert his attention to yet another (and unexpected) benefit or reason to purchase, it heightens his desire for your product.

There are a few more ways to present your false close and I cover them in full in my live training program, Sales Letter Writing Mastery & Certification.

It’s an eight-week coaching and training program where I walk you through every element involved in writing a long-form sales letter, which is the ultimate form of copywriting.

And if you can master long-form sales letters, then a whole new world of copywriting opportunities opens up to you. Not only that, but writing long-form sales letters is a way to skyrocket your income.

That’s because you can charge higher up-front writing fees plus often you’ll get paid a royalty on top, sometimes as much as 5% of sales your letter generates.

If you want in on the training, you have to lock in your spot before we go live with the first session next week.