Use This (Hopefully) Brand-New Copywriting Trick To Sell More: Just Make Your Reader Ask “What The Hell Is Going On Here?”

When this idea first popped into my head, it was really cool.

Then, when I thought about sharing it with people, I started thinking.

Holy shit.

Is this actually a real thing?

Am I missing something?

Surely, someone has discovered this before...and when I point it out and call it this brand-new thing, people are going to say…

“Robert — you know we’ve seen this shit before, right?”

But nonetheless, here I am.

I’ve got a quick little copywriting tip for you.

Specifically, it’s a tip to help you write simple, attention-grabbing leads without having to work any copywriting wizardry or black magic f**kery.

And that’s actually part of my fear. Since this thing is so simple, I’m almost forking positive somebody’s discovered it before.

So guys —

If you’ve seen this shit before…

CALL ME OUT. SAY IT.

Don’t let me be that guy at the party with spinach on his teeth.

Okay, so I’ll stop teasing you now and actually get into what the hell I’m talking about. I call it:

Fact-Stacking.

If you’ve got even the slightest bit of creativity in your bones, it can be one of the easiest ways to write a lead ever.

So, what the hell is it?

Exactly what it sounds like. Stacking one fact on top of another.

But this isn’t like Jenga.

These facts don’t have to support each other.

In fact, they work better when they’re entirely separate from one another. When they are all seemingly out of left-field and your reader is thinking:

What in the actual f**k is going on here?

Because that’s exactly what we want.

The goal of Fact-Stacking is to build tension. To cause your reader to wonder:

What’s going on here?

Because his desire to find the answer to that question is what will keep him reading.

Example #1: Kira Hug - The Copywriter Club

This is my favorite example of Fact-Stacking, from Kira Hug of The Copywriter Club.

Notice how Kira doesn’t even have any sort of intro.

She just starts throwing statements at your face. And they seemingly have nothing at all to do with each other.

So you keep reading…

Because you HAVE to find out what the heck all these random statements have to do with each other.

You eventually find out that they are all regrets. And they tie into the Big Promise that TCCIRL (not an affiliate link, btw) is an event you would regret missing.

Example #2: Heatseekers (Money Map Press promo)

Here’s another one from a Heatseekers promo from Money Map press. (Shoutout to Kyle Milligan for his incredible breakdown of this.)

This one is less random than Kira’s, which makes it perfect for Money Map’s older audience.

If you were to come at them with the level of curiosity Kira is slinging above, they might get too bewildered to continue.

And that’s not an “old people” joke....

It’s a fact.

Younger, more connected audiences are used to the absurd. (You’ve seen an Old Spice commercial lately, haven’t you?)

Older audiences? Not so much.

Just another reminder that knowing your audience is key.

(Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.)

But I digress.

Even though the facts being stacked in this promo are related, they’re still ambiguous enough to spark a sense of curiosity.

You’re still left wondering:

What the hell do these things have to do with each other?

And you keep reading to find out.

Example #3: Lifetime Income Report (Agora Financial promo)

Another one. This time from an Agora Financial promo.

What’s interesting about this lead is that it focuses specifically on facts about Donald Trump —

But after the lead is done and the Big Promise is made…

Trump is nearly completely forgotten.

The writer just used facts about Trump and his financial statements (which have been hot-button topics) to grab the reader’s attention long enough to get to the most important part of the letter.

Example #4: Sales Page That Converts - Derek Halpern

This next example is from Derek Halpern’s Sales Page That Converts course.

While this one is more straightforward — it still keeps you reading.

It’s less overt in that you know something is happening. You know there’s some strategy or tactic behind these facts…

But you keep reading to find out what it is.

You want to find out the “secret” behind the facts.

Example #5: Clean Closet Capsule Wardrobe - Yours Truly

Okay, last one.

I went through my 29x29 Sales Letter Project to see if I could find any examples of Fact-Stacking in my own writing.

My search was, for the most part, unfruitful, but I did find one example from Day 11 worth sharing.

This is probably the most basic example of Fact-Stacking we have.

It’s just a series of facts (my true opinions about shopping for clothes as a tall, thin dude in America) that hit on the reader’s pain points and leave him wondering:

Okay — so what’s going on here? What are you getting at?

The Ultimate Goal of Fact-Stacking

The main goal of Fact-Stacking is to build tension.

Without tension, you’re not stacking facts, you’re just being boring, and people will stop reading.

That tension causes your reader to continue reading to find out what the hell is going on, propelling him to your Big Promise — which ties all your facts together.

So — how do you actually do Fact-Stacking?

Glad you asked.

The Quickest, Easiest Way to Build Tension With Fact-Stacking

Boom. There it is.

To make Fact-Stacking work, all you need is one Big Promise and a few random (or not-so-random) ideas.

Then, all you have to do is stack ‘em up and find a way to tie them to that Big Promise.

Here’s a quick example off the top of my head for kitty litter:

The garbagemen used to hate me…

But now I think I’m their favorite stop.

And my laundry room used to be my least favorite room in the house…

But now it’s one of my favorite spots.

And I never understood why Mr. Whiskers was always licking his paws…

But now I get it.

I’ll admit — it’s not my best work. And it sounds like an ugly, overgrown haiku, but I think you get the idea.

You’re presented with a series of seemingly unrelated facts.

What do garbage men, a laundry room, and a cat all have in common?

They all have some relation to the kitty litter.

The Big Promise, which we were leading into, is that this new kitty litter is better for x, y, and z reasons.

I’m not a kitty litter producer. I’ll leave it to them to figure out their own competitive advantages.

But you get the point.

So…

What do you think?

Fact-Stacking:

Is it bullshit?

Has someone found this before?

Am I crazy?

Comment below and lemme hear it.