If you'd like a 100% "fool proof" way to boost the credibility and believability of your ad copy...no matter what you're selling or who you're selling to...then here's how Socrates did it centuries ago. And why you can do the same thing today with the information I'll give you in this article.

Let me ask you, do you know who Socrates was?

Amongst other things...he was known as the greatest master of persuasion who ever lived. He was especially famous for having converted people (even those who passionately disagreed with him) to his side in an argument.

What was his secret?

This: Socrates would simply get the person he debated to keep saying the word "yes" over and over during the conversation. He did this by asking questions people would have to agree with. And he would keep doing this over and over and over...until he racked up a pile of "yeses".

And do you know what happened 9 out of 10 times? His opponents would eventually find themselves agreeing with him...even though they were 100% dead-set against him at the start of the debate!

Dale Carnegie, in his book "How To Win Friends And Influence People" called this "The Socrates Method" and it's very, very powerful. If you don't believe me then find someone who passionately disagrees with you on something and play around with this "technique".

Seriously.

This isn't just a bunch of philosophical mumbo-jumbo. I've used this method myself to argue everything from politics to sports and it really does work.

Who else does this?

You'd be surprised how many hard-core sales people (especially the "door-to-door" types) do this. In fact, if you call Encyclopedia Britannica and tell them you're interested in possibly buying a set of their encyclopedias, the sales rep they send will immediately begin to use this method on you.

World-class sales trainer Brian Tracy once said that every time you get your customers to say "yes"...you raise the chances of them buying from you another "degree" or two.

The more they say "yes" the better the chances of them saying "yes" when you ask for the sale.

But how can apply this to your ads and sales letters?

Easy: Simply sprinkle little "yes" questions throughout your ad. Questions the reader pretty much has to agree with like:

"If money were no object, would you own Encyclopedia Britannica?"

"Would you like to see $1.00 grow to $60.00 - $8.00 grow to $500.00 - by next April?" (NOTE: this was written back in the 1930's when $500.00 was a lot of cash)

"Simple enough? You bet it is. And that's just one of the over 200 recipes found in this practical and money-saving book."

"Does that excite you? It should because..."

"Isn't that what you want?"

"Have you ever....?"

"Would you be interested in this widget if you could get your hands on it today -- absolutely free of charge? No strings, commitments or obligation whatsoever?"

"Would you like to be one of the privileged few to own one of the only 12 of these guitars in existence today?

"If I told you about a brand new way (recently developed by a famous Canadian holistic therapist) to quit smoking in JUST 3 HOURS -- that has a documented 90% success rate (even on the 'weak minded' and 'hopelessly addicted') and came with an unconditional 100% money- back guarantee, would you be interested?"

And so on and so forth etc etc etc. This is especially effective around the close (i.e. "do you want to snuff out those burning, painful hemorrhoids as early as tonight? If so just pick up the phone and call...").

Now, that's one way of doing it. Another way -- a more "subtle" way -- is to constantly say things your readers will agree with and nod with in approval. They don't have to be questions, they can be just simple words and sentences that describe their problems or symptoms. For example, if you're writing an ad selling a book on speed reading, you can get the reader nodding in agreement by saying things like, "the frustration of not being able to keep up with your reading -- and always falling behind no matter how hard you try to keep up -- can drive you insane..."

Look, believe it or not, this little "technique" works like gangbusters. In fact, each time you do this (whether you ask it in the form of a question or not) you start to build a chain of acceptances, building your own credibility and making your claims more believable.

Try it in your own ads and see what happens.

Ben Settle is a freelance copywriter and direct marketer. If you liked this article then check out Ben's website at http://bensettle.com -- where you'll find over 500 pages of advertising ideas, strategies and tactics just like this one -- as well as rare swipe file ads and hot marketing information not easily found anywhere else.