brain hickey

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." -- Maya Angelou Words don't matter as much as how you make your readers feel. Pretty wild hearing that from a guy who writes for a living, right? It's true. The most important aspect of powerful copy is the layout, flow, and feeling it creates. And in today's episode, you're going to learn my step-by-step process of crafting killer copy. If you hate writing, suck at writing, or are slow at writing, my step-by-step process will help you power through copy projects that will make your readers crave more.

People are overstimulated and bombarded with marketing messages everywhere they go. Capturing and keeping attention is a battle, and the days of poetic prose are gone. Be brief. Cut to the chase. Deliver the most concise message as possible. In today's Episode, we're dissecting real world scenarios as we dive into the art of simplicity.

My wife and I were strolling our downtown when we saw this ad in the window of a jewelry shop. Living in a town whose primary industry is tourism, we see a lot of ads, but this one was different. It stopped us both in our tracks. It read, "Long-Term Wife Insurance" and was accompanied by a photo of a diamond ring (see www.brainhickey.com/podast - Episode 25 for a picture of the ad). We cracked up laughing. Five months later, I'm bringing my wedding ring there to get resized. In today's Episode, you'll learn the psychology of why this ad worked (and the other one in their window), and how to maximize the real estate of your media to tell powerful, memorable stories that capture and keep attention.

This weekend I got a message on LinkedIn. It was from Angel. Angel is a Podcast listener and a connection of mine on LinkedIn. We've been sharing book recommendations, resources, and exchanging pretty regular messages on LinkedIn recently. A month or so ago, Angel sent me an Audible book. It blew me away. And this weekend, he asked for my mailing address to send me a print book in July. Funny thing is, I've never even met Angel in person, and he's my most memorable connection on LinkedIn. As I'm sitting there reading his LinkedIn message on Saturday night, I started to think about all the past gifts and appreciation gestures I've received over the years. I remembered them in great detail and have shared their impact with my circle of friends, colleagues, and clients. It got me thinking, "Customer appreciation gifts sure do leave a brain hickey!" And that's what this week's Podcast is all about. The power of a customer appreciation gift to leave a long-lasting impression, create brand loyalty and generate buzz around your business.

As I'm recording this Podcast a mule deer walked up to my window to say hi. Talk about timing... (picture below). Back to episode details. There is no better feeling than buying something that makes you smile. The joy, bliss, and excitement you feel erase any concerns about money. Remember that last check you got at a restaurant when you went a little overboard on food and drink, but the service was stellar? You probably laughed and happily laid down your credit card. But the bargain meal you ate with sub-par service...? Talk about regretting going out to eat. Same money. Different experience. When you're smiling, you just want to buy more. It's natural. In today's episode, I share personal stories and brand examples showing you how to turn smiles into sales.

In today's episode, we'll explore why none of the email marketing statistics, tips, and tricks are relevant. All that matters is your list, your audience, your credibility as a sender, and the data that you collect. I'll share some stories about how I tried to use the latest tactics and failed. What worked? Experimentation and exploration. I'll show you how I do it and give you some pointers to revitalize your email campaigns.

Modern marketing has sparked an obsession with "reach" and "impressions." As if that's the primary metric that matters. In today's episode, I dissect many falsities of modern marketing in order to refine our focus on the ONLY impression that truly matters.

Modern consumers have become savvy to the marketing tactics used to capture attention and make sales. Nearly anyone can launch a company online, buy Facebook advertising, and start showing up in the newsfeed of thousands of people within hours. This has led to an inherent distrust of online companies. Consumers start to question, "Are they credible? How long have they been around? Who is behind this company?" Many companies combat this inherent distrust by positioning themselves using ridiculously strong claims about their product or service. Consumers are responding with even more trepidation. In today's episode, I'll be exploring the modern (savvy) consumer's response to current marketing trends and showing you techniques to authentically engage with your audience.

Ever notice that a keynote speaker is always introduced by someone else? It'd be a little weird if he personally rattled off his accomplishments... but someone else doing it seems to build credibility and social proof. It's no different with marketing your business. You can make all the claims you want, but they only carry so much weight. The minute your customer says the same thing it becomes true. People believe it. This is the power of social proof. In today's episode, I'll be sharing stories, facts, and simple practices to transform your online reviews into marketing assets.

Sensory overload. It's what nearly all of us experience everyday day. We subconsciously disconnect from the non-stop bombardment of relentless marketing messages that appear nearly everywhere we look. As a marketer or entrepreneur, we need to compete for mental bandwidth (which is constantly dwindling in our fast-paced world). In this episode, I explore key strategies to join the dialogue that is already going on in the prospect's mind.

Your inbox and newsfeed are flooded with marketing gurus who seem to have all the answers and the perfect "systems" for online sales success. I'll tell you how I cloned a marketing funnel that successfully launched a 7 figure business and used it for one of my new product launches and it FAILED. I was shocked... frustrated... and a bit angry. I was expecting massive success, and it flopped. So I went back to the drawing board and figured out why. The answer is the GOLDEN rule for any and all marketing communications. In today's episode, I'll be discussing why "proven" strategies and "proven" funnels are often garbage. Be careful what "advice" you take. There is no "one size fits all" approach for online marketing.

I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed on my phone and was stopped cold in my tracks. It was an ad that stopped me. Funny enough, it wasn't even the image or the copy. It was the name. It made me think. Why did I stop? What about the name was so intriguing? Travel back in time about two years and a fellow marketer told me, "Adam, names don't really matter. People will buy from you if they like you, and your product." In today's Episode, I'll be discussing naming conventions, strategies to help you name things, and discussing why names are so important (especially today).

You're out in public and bend down to pick up a napkin you dropped when it happens. Something rubs your butt. It's the person behind you. You just rubbed her butt with your butt. You both stand up and spin around to see who touched whose butt first. There's an awkward moment of vulnerability before you both realize it was a complete accident. Both of you have a laugh and strike up a conversation in the face of this forced (albeit quite funny) encounter. Before you know it, you're both buddy-buddy and chatting away like old friends. We'll explore the butt rubbing phenomenon in today's episode as we learn how to rub butts with our audience in our email marketing.

Email is by far the best way to communicate and engage with your audience, but most businesses are missing a massive opportunity. The cost for email programs is relatively fixed and a minimal cost at that. Capitalizing on every opportunity to drive sales using email is virtually free and can lead to serious sales growth. In today's episode, I'll be walking you through how to set up a referral email automation process for your business so you can transform missed opportunity into new sales. HINT: It's what happens before you ask for the referral that's most important.

I've re-written these Podcast notes about 18x now. Ironic... I put together a Podcast on finding creativity and inspiration and I'm sitting here hopelessly grasping for my flow state. Time to take a few minutes for technique #3... Ok. Back at it. Finding inspiration and creativity when it simply isn't there is just plain painful. So, I studied up on different blogs, followed productivity experts, and talked with fellow copywriters. I've tried it all. Seriously. In today's Podcast, I'll be telling you about the 7 techniques I regularly use to find creativity and inspiration. Some of them are pretty odd and I never believed they'd work. Now I use them daily. If you ever get "stuck" in your creative processes I suggest you set aside the next 14:06 for some help.

Studies show that the biological effect of dehydration does not impact an athlete's performance (except in extreme cases)... it's the psychological condition of feeling thirsty that does (How Bad Do You Want It, p. 8. Fitzgerald, Matt). Crazy. Feelings are more powerful than biological impulses? Yup. In today's Episode, we are going to dissect the fundamentals of evoking feelings in experiential exercises and storytelling. I'll walk you through how to "storify" your brand to create emotional experiences for everyone that interacts with your company. HINT: Hugs curves like yoga pants... Listen to today's Episode to learn more.

Send your emails at times ending with an odd number. Open rates will increase when your subject line has no capital letters. Blah blah blah... we've all heard email stats and tricks like this, but do they work? Maybe. In the short term. In today's Episode, we're going to talk about the single most important factor of email open rates. HINT: It has nothing to do with "mind tricks" or "subject line hacks." Master this one thing, and send times and subject lines no longer matter.

Are your persuasion efforts positioning you as an influencer or a manipulator? In today's Podcast, we'll discuss the 6 principles of persuasion and show you real life examples of how these "persuasion techniques" are being used in malicious marketing. Scary thing is... many marketers do it unintentionally. You're about to learn what not to do, and how to properly use the 6 principles of persuasion to become an influencer in your niche. SHOW NOTES This is the video showing you the 6 Principles of Persuasion and the scientific studies behind them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdCzN7RYbw Here is Robert Cialdini's Book: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - a must read! https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WTBSH12HS4EZ45VDZX30

In this episode you'll the learn the psychology of sales funnel success. I'll walk you through the 2 most common causes of "leaky" sales funnels, and how to fix them. Later in the Podcast, we'll explore how you can model your sales funnel like a movie trailer to drive sales.

In this episode, I'll walk you through how to position your brand to be unforgettable. Once you identify how you want your brand to "feel," you need to build it, and constantly improve your position in the marketplace. Here are the top 5 things you need to do to improve your position and create an unforgettable brand. #1 Identify your brand story message (use my formula). #2 Re-visit your name. #3 Craft your home page and sales pages. #4 Build your brand story into all your content, blogs, videos, and website. #5 Execute a killer customer experience. Through stories and live examples, you'll walk away with an executable strategy to be unforgettable.

I'm about to read you snippets of the WORST sales email I ever received. I'm not poking fun (although we will have a good laugh)... I'm using this as an example of the massive mistakes marketers make in their email campaigns, and how you can avoid them. Better yet, you'll learn how to do the exact opposite and witness an explosion in your open and click rates. I'll even show you some tips, tricks, and insider secrets to crafting powerful, successful sales emails.      

"People buy from people they know, life, and trust." In this Podcast Episode, you'll learn how to develop your online swagger: How to get people to know you, like you, and trust you. Listeners will walk away with actionable tips, tricks, and techniques to improve your online likeability and swagger. You'll learn what it takes to build an unshakably loyal audience who can't wait to buy from you.    

Someone opted in… woohoo! You got their email address, now what? Today we're talking about automating sales emails to follow up with opt-ins from your content strategy (Podcast Episode 003), or a contact form from your website. Follow my Blueprint to set up a killer, high converting email autoresponder. In this episode, you'll learn when to email... how often... and what to say. Download your Email Autoresponder BLUEPRINT, follow along, and start building yours today.    

I tell you the story of how I spent over $30,000 building a content-driven hobby business with a following of over 20,000 in 6 months... but I only made $400. How did I fail so hard when I was a strong sales person, sales trainer, strong writer, and C.O.O of an in-home sales company? This massive failure taught me 2 things. #1 Content and copy are entirely different animals #2 Everything I knew about selling in person doesn't work online In this episode you'll learn the 6 classic sales tactics you need to STOP when writing copy, and what to do instead. I'll also explore the difference of producing content and writing copy. Content builds audiences and copy converts.

Develop your content mission statement and distribution strategy across every content platform. Our subscription focused model will maximize conversion opportunity and build a loyal audience.