Blogs & Articles: Orange-Pilling Secrets From An Ad Copywriter đ 50 weeks ago
- Category: Blogs & Articles | Bitcoin Magazine: Bitcoin News, Articles, Charts, and Guides
- Author(s): SV
- Published: 6th May 2023 13:00
This is an opinion editorial by SV, the editor-in-chief of BitcoinMaxiNews.com and a former professional advertising copywriter.
After getting seriously into Bitcoin a while back, I decided to approach the subject of orange-pilling â which basically means to âsellâ newbies on Bitcoin â as I would any given copywriting gig.
The first thing a professional ad copywriter will identify is the prospectâs main conscious and unconscious âobjectionsâ and fears. In other words, whatever is most likely standing in the way of this person being converted.
Letâs therefore start with the main orange-pilling obstacles, before a solution is presented.
Why âSellingâ Something As Great As Bitcoin Is So Hard
The challenge of orange-pilling newbies boils down to three things, and all three mutually reinforce each other to make it even harder:
Source: Author
1. Fiat paradigm blindness mixed with fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD)
When I prompted it, OpenAI defined âparadigm blindnessâ as the âinability to recognize or fully understand the assumptions and frameworks that shape one's beliefs, values and actions.â
Bitcoin is a paradigm-breaking innovation, and itâs therefore hard to truly grasp its value without breaking out of the âcomfort zoneâ of the indoctrinated fiat paradigm.
A lot of the FUD is generated by this âfear of the unknown,â in addition to the fear of losing money.
2. The skeptic âpower-positionâ compensation (resistance to being âlecturedâ).
Nobody likes being in the âsubmissiveâ position of being âlectured,â and few are humble enough to admit that they âdonât knowâ something.
Any orange-pilling attempt thus creates an equal and opposite force of resistance in them, and this is especially true if you try to convince them in person.
Remaining âskepticalâ gives them the perceived âpower positionâ and âupper hand,â which is why people love to proclaim how âskepticalâ they are.
3. The blind men and the elephant dilemma (the âholistic-understanding killerâ).
If you try to capture the âfull elephantâ of Bitcoin in your orange-pilling attempt, you will most likely come across as the guy in the meme below:
As all sales people know, logic and arguments are there to retrospectively rationalize decisions (or reinforce ingrained positions). A true change of mind is always a paradigm shift (small or big), and leaving the comfort zone of the old, ingrained paradigm is always a âleap of faith.â
Logic alone is seldom a strong enough catalyst and motivator for that to happen. This is why the purely-educational approach seldom is enough to break a newbie's self-reinforcing, fiat-paradigm-blindness, FUD loop.
In addition, the educational approach takes too long, and itâs too boring/technical for the âinstant gratificationâ fiat mindset.
What is needed is another semi-conscious force that's equally powerful to FUD; namely fear of missing out (FOMO). If the level of FOMO eclipses and exceeds the level of FUD, people will convert. Simple as that.
Making Bitcoin Irresistible To The Fiat-Minded Nocoiner
This was always the first question I would ask myself when starting a new sales page copywriting gig:
âHow do I present this offer in a way thatâs absolutely, mouthwateringly irresistible to the target audience?â
The example below clearly illustrates the difference between feature-oriented âeducationâ and âsexy,â benefit-oriented persuasion:
Do you see the massive difference in perceived value?
Boring, educational, feature focus is a classic ârookie mistakeâ in the world of ad copywriting, and itâs an epidemic in the world of orange pilling.
Itâs easy to believe that people need to âunderstandâ Bitcoin before they would âinvestâ their hard-earned fiat into it.
The truth is, however, that Mr. Normie Nocoiner is less likely to âinvestâ the more you try to make him understand Bitcoin.
Itâs hard to âsellâ people on Bitcoin when you focus on the features.
Paradoxically, Bitcoin sells itself to anyone who does understand it, and the reason why is simple: Bitcoin is the best deal in town. Itâs an absolutely, 100% irresistible offer.
This is why every Bitcoiner is doing everything they can to get their hands on as much bitcoin as humanly possible. The key takeaway here is the âirresistible offerâ part.
There is a massive difference between trying to âeducateâ normies about Bitcoin, and in presenting Bitcoin as the irresistible offer that it is.
With that in mind, letâs forget about âpeer-to-peer,â âpermissionlessâ and âdecentralizedâ for a moment. Letâs instead dive into:
Bitcoin: The Irresistible Offer
Normies do not need to be confused by the technical monster that is Bitcoin (repeat that sentence a few times for yourself, and sense the sigh of relief it gives you).
Nor do they need to understand the history of money, what âsound moneyâ is, or why proof of work is such a big deal.
Mr. Normie Nocoiner only needs one single thing to âclickâ in his mind to be orange pilled on the spot, and that is to see a deal thatâs irresistible.
In essence: What will push Mr. Normie Nocoiner to take the âleap of faithâ into Bitcoin boils down to three things:
- A clear vision of the deal that a bitcoin âinvestmentâ represents (not what Bitcoin âisâ or even what it âdoesâ).
- A justified sense of urgency and FOMO.
- A clear understanding of why the deal is so irresistibly good (and why holding zero bitcoin is a far bigger risk than getting off zero).
Without further ado, here is my ultra-simple orange-pilling formula. It opens with the following question:
âSo, what do you think will happen to the price of bitcoin once a critical mass realizes that Bitcoin mining not only solves global warming, but also the global energy crisis?â
This flies right in the face of what theyâve most likely been programmed by the media to believe, so it will definitely get their attention and make them curious.
I then follow up by reminding them that bitcoin has absolute scarcity, and that most of the supply is already in the hands of long-term holders who already understand where this is going.
You will most likely get tons of resistance when making the above claim about Bitcoin mining, which is good. It clears the space for you to present irrefutable proof elements to back it up.
You must have these proof elements ready up front, of course, and itâs a good idea to store them on your phone. You will find plenty of ammo in the orange-pilling rabbit hole that I have created over at Bitcoin Maxi News.
Once they see the proof elements of how Bitcoin mining is already being used to mitigate methane emissions (which is far worse than CO2 when it comes to the âgreenhouse effectâ), and how it balances the grid and incentivizes the buildout of renewable energy, well, at the very least, youâve given them something to think about.
You can then repeat the initial question, and remind them that this early-bird opportunity will not last forever. This starts a âticking FOMO clockâ in their mind, as nobody wants to miss out on a great deal.
Explain that they donât have to go âall in,â and that owning as little as 0.2 to 0.5 BTC can turn into generational wealth for their family when all this goes mainstream.
Close by saying that owning zero BTC is the biggest financial risk they can take, and that knowing these things is akin to having fully-legal âinsider knowledgeâ that 98% of the population doesnât know about â yet.
With this approach, you avoid all of the technical, confusing and boring stuff, and you present Bitcoin as the sexy and irresistible offer that it is, all within a few minutesâ time.
This is a guest post by SV. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.