Psych Insights for Modern Marketers

The world’s laziest podcast is back! (What!? It’s only been a year and a half.) This is a special episode on finding MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION, both when you’re a new copywriter and you don’t yet have a reason to write… … and also once you’re in the thick of your career and need to STAY […]

Have you noticed that you can’t talk a song lyric without hearing the melody of the song? Try it now with the Stone’s “Jumping Jack Flash” I was born in a cross-fire hurricane And I howled at my ma in the driving rain You hear that riff don’t you? Weird, right? Well, there’s a powerful […]

The fastest way to cut through all the clutter and confusion around starting your sales copy is to simply talk it out. Alcohol also helps

Lot’s of deep (and inspirational) “ah-ha!” moments in this one, including… 4:37 – What most marketing gurus preach religiously, but will actually make your audience flee in droves. (Instead, this 4-letter F-word is the key to turning your prospects into rabid, lifelong fans.) 7:17 – Warning: How Netflix can chill your career if you fall […]

Here’s how the inspiration for this show went down through email. John Carlton                                                                                      […]

PI4MM28 Show Bullets: [07:00 ] The brutally honest truth about why everyone definitely thinks you’re a boring snob [14:46] A-Lister John Carlton shares what makes people like you personally interesting to him [16:02] How both shoes dropping might be the best thing to happen to you, and how it makes you interesting as h-e-double hockey sticks […]

PI4MM27 Show Bullets: Why belly laughing is mandatory to your survival in life and business When to choose fun over money Why so serious? (the tale of two trips to a Greek restaurant with young gun and veteran copywriters) Why “humorless bastards” lose more than money when their business fails The critical care and feeding of […]

PI4MM26 Show Resources: Transference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transference How To Win Friends and Influence People: http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034 PRODUCER’S NOTE: You may notice a bit of noise in the early part of the show. It’s not you, it’s the recording. Happens. Every self-respecting Psych Insights listener should also… Read deeply at John’s blog, “The Rant”. Visit Kevin’s bustling new Community of Copywriters at CopyChief.com Get signed up […]

In this episode… 02:11 – Why people who boast and display extreme confidence are often the same people who screw things up beyond repair… 08:25 – The bizarre reason why many of the world’s greatest performers are painfully shy and fall to pieces in social situations. 12:10 – John’s “Hierarchy of Confidence” and the one category […]

PI4MM24 Show Bullets: Potbellies & Beatles Wigs 05:00 – Why laughing at older people will ALWAYS come back to bite you in the ass 06:50 – The natural cycle of App Abandonment every tech product will someday be forced to face up to 10:40 – The ‘Canaries In The Mine’ employed by smart entrepreneurs – […]

Listen, Download & Review this episode on iTunes PI4MM23 Top 6 Reputation Killers Show Bullets: 01:55 – Why following in the footsteps of “Hall of Fame” copywriters can instantly jeopardize your reputation 07:57 – The freelancing blunder that will leave your clients feeling like the “jilted lover” (easy fix, yet ignoring this may cost you […]

Listen, Download & Review this episode on iTunes Every self-respecting Psych Insights listener should also… Read deeply at John’s blog, “The Rant”. Visit Kevin’s bustling new Community of Copywriters at CopyChief.com Get signed up for news from show producer Brian McLeod’s site – ProductSpeed.com

Click here to read The 3-Sentence Story Challenge from John’s blog PI4MM SHOW 21 BULLETS: “ON STORY…” 01:52 – How two of John’s famous sales letters used story in completely different ways (one where story drives the letter and the other you’d swear had no story at all) 02:20 – John: “Most people are not good storytellers” (and […]

In this episode of the Psych Insights Podcast, Carlton is spitting so much fire and brimstone we’re calling it… The Psych of Suck It’s all about how people find misplaced comfort and stagnate in their “working on it” phase, never allowing the curtain to go up on their show. SHOW 20 BULLETS: 00:55 – Why John Carlton is pissed […]

Dive deep into John’s twisted brain to find out what really goes on when he sits at a keyboard to write… whether it’s copy, fiction or just a simple Facebook post. SHOW 19 PART 2 INDEX: 01:38 – The three writing styles that set a rhythm (just ask Mick Jagger)… 10:25 – How adjectives can confuse writers […]

SHOW 19 PART 1 INDEX: 00:37 – Why John is sitting alone in the dark during a power-outage spending the last drips of cell battery to record this episode… 07:36 – Why good writing is “good looking” writing… 09:17 – The only gauntlet John trusts to test his writing… 11:10 – The one thing your copywriting […]

Planning a business isn’t saying, “I’m going to open a restaurant and get rich.”  That’s not a business plan and a life plan is not, “I’m gonna be really happy next year.” That doesn’t cut it… You’ve got to start getting specific, and start nailing stuff down. In the episode below, John and Kevin dig into John’s […]

Road Doggin’ Your Way To The Top As a road dog, even though you’re handling everything, and even though you’re the guy who’s in charge and without you the whole thing falls apart… you don’t necessarily get the credit, you don’t get the billing, you don’t get any of that stuff. What you get is […]

Droughts are inherent in all freelance gigs. They’re not fun, they can sometimes force you to take drastic steps (like getting a J-O-B for a while), but they are regular pit-stops on the road. Thus, you should always be thinking about survival money, which is different than Fuck You Money. FU$ is a wad you […]

In this episode, we dissect the effect profanity and cursing has on people… Why some people develop a puritanical zealotry over words they deem offensive, while others simply hear a combination of sounds Why you should teach your children to curse properly at a young age Why it’s a modern marketers duty to know when colloquial […]

In this episode, we start off exploring Abraham Maslow’s psychological theory called the “Hierarchy of Needs”. But it didm’t take us long at all to veer off into the fertile soil of stand up comics who’ve found success and struggled to stay in touch, along with famous directors and guru marketers… Some notable topics from […]

You step up and put your head above the foxhole only to get shot from behind. If you’ve been around a while, this becomes predictable. We do it anyway because it’s the right thing to do. You’ll know what kind of leader you are the first time you hear people talking shit about you. You’ll […]

The biggest problem in business today is in our heads — it’s the inability to understand how salesmanship works. Veteran marketers just roll their eyes at the clueless rookies (and criminally-naive gurus) who rattle on about “selling without selling” and other attempts to circumvent the ONE TRUTH about business: If you want someone to buy […]

So here’s the deal: You get a brainstorm, or you inherit a biz, or you just see an opportunity out there that begs for some entrepreneur-minded dude or dudette to bust down the door and take over a niche market. You create a great, well-priced product or service, you study your prospects to find out what […]

In this episode of Psych Insights, Kevin and John explore the fascinating parallels of street-smart police work versus effective salesmanship – inspired by Kevin’s recent interview with his uncle Pete, a now retired veteran detective in Lowell, MA. By special request, here is the recorded interview with Uncle Pete: Part of being a Sales Detective […]