Jeff Walker is a master manipulator - here's what he's doing to you...

Jeff Walker is a master manipulator – here’s what he’s doing to you…

I’ve followed Jeff Walker’s work for a long time. I’ve watched what he’s done with Product Launch Formula for almost as long as it’s been out there.

And now he’s snagged a spot at center-stage, by landing on the New York Times Best Seller list for “How-to” books, with the launch of his new book, Launch: An Internet Millionaire’s Secret Formula To Sell Almost Anything Online, Build A Business You Love, And Live The Life Of Your Dreams.

[Update: Jeff has released a new, Updated & Expanded edition of Launch.  All links on this page have been updated to link to the latest edition.]

Count me among the readers who put him there…

I got the book…

And I’ve been devouring it!

And hidden in the first chapter of the book, I found a HUGE lesson for you…

A lesson that is absolutely perfect for this Copy Tuesday.

You see…

From the moment you start reading the book — or paying attention to ANY marketing that Jeff and friends are doing around the book — you’re being MANIPULATED.

And I assure you, it’s very intentional. It’s masterful. And it’s a lesson in ethical persuasion.

I say ethical because I know Jeff’s Product Launch Formula is a HIGHLY effective marketing approach. And if he’s using his persuasion and manipulation skills to help you reach a goal and destination you want for yourself… By buying the book and applying the lessons in it… Well, there’s nothing wrong with that.

If he were using the same skills to cheat you or take from you, that’d be another story. But from everything I know (I don’t know him personally, but I know at least one person who has worked closely with him)… Jeff’s a stand up guy.

This is one of those lessons that can be used for good or evil — and it’s wickedly powerful.

So before you read on, I simply ask that you only use what I’m about to show you for GOOD.

Agreed?

Let’s look at Jeff Walker’s sneaky manipulation…

Here’s the story Jeff uses to manipulate you as you read Launch…

I’m going to have to summarize, because I don’t have either the permission or room to reprint the whole first chapter… You can buy Launch for yourself — and I recommend you do — if you want to get the full experience…

– Back in 1996, Jeff was a bumbling stay-at-home-dad who had failed as a corporate stiff and hadn’t had a job in 7 years… In his words… “Humble beginnings indeed.”

– It even got so bad that his wife came home from work one day, crying, telling him that he’d have to do something to help her support the family.

– Then, in short, he launched a product for sale on the internet (with an email — the reality is there was no grand system, no “Formula,” yet)…

– Within 59 seconds, he made a sale — within an hour, $8,000 — within a week, $34,000!

– And with that, his wife was able to quit her job, which had been their previous sole source of income supporting their family…

– Jeff’s “new” online business started to grow, with more of these product launches — eventually surpassing $106,000 in 7 days (from home, with no staff, with almost zero costs)…

– They moved to their dream hometown of Durango, Colorado, where Jeff just kept making money quietly applying this in his business…

– And then one day everything changed…

– At an internet marketing seminar in 2003, he told a few people what he was doing — and practically couldn’t get folks off his back…

– He became a reluctant teacher, and started helping others with their online launches…

– One of his first big successes — John Reese — made $1.1 million in one day!

– After urging from John, Yanik Silver, and others, he agreed to package the Product Launch Formula up into a product…

– And today the system he’s created has now generated at least $500 million in trackable sales, with the likely total being much higher…

– Now he’d like to share his full approach with you!

A simple enough story…

Did you spot the manipulation?

Probably not. Even when I laid it out step-by-step. Like I said, Jeff is a master. But by studying how he’s doing it, I think you’ll become a better persuader, marketer, copywriter, and salesperson…

And make a whole lot more dineros as a result!

Let’s look at the crucial elements of this sales story — and break down how they manipulate maximum people into buying into Jeff’s work, and buying his stuff.

First, is “started from nothing…”

Jeff’s “aww shucks” character is just that, a character. He’s a sharp, sharp marketer. Maybe one of the smartest, most systematic and sophisticated marketing minds out there.

But read his stuff, and he’s an EVERYMAN. He’s just like you, maybe a little more plain and a little dumber. (Not saying YOU are dumb, of course! You’re a Breakthrough Marketing Secrets reader, after all!)

There’s a very specific reason he’s doing this.

Combine this with the story of being out of work, broke to the point of driving his wife to tears, and desperate…

And very quickly he’s got you — the reader — thinking, “If he can do it, I can do it!”

This is the purpose of this story.

Is it true? Probably. Mostly. There’s surely a lot of detail being left out. Like how long he’d actually been trying to get something to work on the internet. What he was doing before that product launch. What else he’d tried and failed at. It’s all about starting with nothing and stumbling onto something that works…

Which leads us to…

His amazing discovery!

Yes, the story Jeff starts Launch with is indeed one of his early launches. But he admits it wasn’t his first. He’d sold stuff online before that. Just not with results good enough to let his wife quit her job.

But for the story to be as compelling as possible, it was a matter of positioning this as the ONE event that changed everything.

And notice the dimensionalizing of the benefit — not just what happened, or how it benefited them, but how it CHANGED THEIR LIFE.

Yes, he made sales. In fact, he made $34,000 in sales! A tidy sum today — even more so in the mid-1990s.

But that wasn’t the emotional hot-button turning point of the story…

Remember, his wife had come home CRYING, telling him he’d need to do something to help support the family.

After this one launch though, she QUIT HER JOB!

THAT was the difference this made in their life.

That is a powerful reversal. And it all came about because of the amazing discovery (that Jeff will share with you if you keep reading).

A “reluctant teacher” is born…

Here especially is where it pays to have a good idea of different character and story archetypes that work in selling stories.

For example, there’s the renegade genius and adventurer who always knows the way — but you have to catch up with them to get it…

There’s the curmudgeon — who’s been there, done that, and will tell you the best way to do things, but only if you can pry it out of them…

And then there’s the reluctant teacher…

This is someone — preferably an “everyman” — who has made an amazing discovery…

And didn’t think it was even special enough to share it… (Paraphrasing Jeff, “I thought everyone was doing it. I didn’t think I’d discovered some big secret.”)

But who, when sharing it with a person or two, was persuaded that it really was a big deal…

That they HAD to share it…

And so they did…

And then, the proof is piled on top!

It wasn’t just Jeff’s launches making money…

It wasn’t just his close friends’…

It was ALL his students — to the tune of $500 million or more!

And YOU can now benefit from all his greatest secrets — because you were smart enough to pick up plucky ol’ Jeff’s book (which he “embarrassingly” called “An Internet Millionaire’s Secret Formula…” — watch his marketing to see him say that with a straight face!).

There you are: masterful manipulation, persuasion, and sales storytelling — broken down before your very eyes!

I encourage you, to get the full lesson, to pick up Jeff’s book… (And yes, these are affiliate links, earning me mere pennies from Amazon.com if you buy through them — but that shouldn’t really matter to you.)

Read through the first chapter especially focused on what he’s doing — not just the superficial details of what he’s saying…

Watch the master at work…

And read the rest of the book as well, both to understand the Product Launch Formula system AND to watch every step of the way as Jeff continues his masterful persuasion.

YES, by the end of the book you’re going to feel like you were just sold on becoming part of a future Product Launch Formula class…

(The book is both a teaching tool and a sales letter for Jeff, all at the same time — another lesson in itself.)

But you’re also going to walk away a smarter, more sophisticated marketer who has a fuller grasp on how having the right system in place can get you even better results.

And if you’ve enjoyed this lesson, be sure to stay tuned, because before the end of the week I’ll be opening up full registrations for my November Advanced Direct Response Copywriting workshop (invitations will go out to email subscribers)… And if you liked today’s lesson, you’re going to love the immersive learning environment I’ll be creating for you covering all these same topics!

Yours for bigger breakthroughs,

Roy Furr

Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets