Imagine if you had the power to move your readers to take action on the invitations that you gave them in your blog posts! How powerful would that be?
Lately I’ve heard a number of radio advertisements that have opened with lines similar to the one above — inviting those hearing the ad to “imagine” something. One ad that aired in the lead-up to Fathers’ Day (which falls in September in Australia) said:
“Imagine the look on your Dad’s face when he opens a gift from you and sees a newspaper from the day he was born!”
What a great opening line that is — I immediately envisioned my Dad opening a present and seeing the gift. I was primed to take action and buy that newspaper (although I didn’t because we’d already got him a gift).
After hearing this technique used in radio ads a number of times recently, it struck me that this powerful technique could be used in writing blog posts. Here are a few thoughts I recorded about the idea of using imagination in blogging that I put down on a walk (my second “WalkCast”). Just click on the icon below to start listening.
What do you think? Do you ever use an invitation to ‘imagine’ in your posts? How has it worked?
IMAGINE
lol, even good old John Lennon said it, so it must work ;)
Visualization both in positive and negative terms is very useful and SUPER-effective, that’s why I always use visual language as much as possible.
Short and sweet, Darren !
Excellent advice Darren. I do this all the time when I write copy.
I got this idea from face to face conversations. When I would ask people to imagine something, they would become much more engaged in what I was saying. It works!
And nice reference to Lennon Mars ;)
Using “imagine” in blog posts is a great idea. It’s been used in successful ad copy for a long time.
Great ideas! After all it is imagination that brought movies such as Avatar to the masses!! Imagine using such powerful techniques to capture the minds of your visitors!! Awesome!
Not till now. Planning to do to attract more loyal readers :P
Imagine yourself writing that killer, untoppable blog post. You click publish, and wait for the flood of traffic.
But you get no traffic. Why?
Your pet iguana has chewed through the power cord, and the screen goes black.
And you forgot to save a draft.
It is interesting that I have been teaching people how to visualize what they want and how to materialize it… but I have never thought of applying this technique on my blog writing!
Thanks for this “kick”! ; )
Visualization is always effective and it does work! It immediately establishes a visual connection :)
This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes.
“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”
Jamie Paolinetti
Love the way you have used the “Walkcast”. It makes you more real.
I love the word imagine because you then are taking people back into time by telling a story. We always wanted to listen to stories ever since childhood. Therefore we are hard wired. As children we anticipated what would happen next whenever we heard a story. If we become good story tellers people will want to listen to us and what we have to say. More prospects will be joining us in our business and we will be looked up to as an authority.
I have a confusion… Was the main purpose of blogging since the beginning was only to attract more visitors and earn money through advertisements? Then why a focus on visitors?
I always took blogging as a way to let my heart out not caring who’s reading and who’s not. Yes, the comments do make me smile always that somebody is interested in what I write.
I also like your idea of a WalkCast. Seems like a good way to brainstorm and exercise some creativity
Well I had not thought about this..Seems like a genuine idea..See what a lot of Visualization can do for you….
Yes, I think imagination is a huge motivator with people. Once they imagine something, they become engaged and invested in whatever it is you’re selling. You tap into someones wants/desires/fears in an incredibly powerful way. I just wrote a post that kind of had my readers play along in imagining something, and it played out really well for most. Most “felt” more from the post I think because I engaged their imagination. Good point! I didn’t realize I did that.
Oh..and I love how you multi-task. I need to start exercising and blogging at the same time, too. =)
I write about meditation at times and have asked my readers to imagine things such as their ideal reality– a location or relationships that inspires them. I think you are right that it is a powerful way to engage readers. It helps engage readers’ senses and makes them remember the post and the experience.
Opening an article this way, I “imagine” the possibilities are limitless……. Great tip!
Reading a story and imagining it is one of my favorite types of posts to read (and write). It’s a great way for those of us with overactive imaginations to take advantage of them…
imagination, i almost forget it , i still haven’t use it to article, so terrible, now, i will try to use it and do better
Imagine that your blog gets thousands of hits per day and your readers love what you write about… Great technique that should be used more often
Imagine is a strong way to begin. It works for all sorts of blogs. Great ideas.
sometimes imagination works.