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It's pretty common to hear copywriters recommend that you study old sales pages and even sales emails, but what about old magazine ads? The kind that are printed on paper in actual periodicals? Today, where so much advertising happens online or in your social media feed, Ad writing is a bit of a lost art form. But that doesn't mean we can't learn from it. In the 435th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast, I interviewed Lewis Folkard who breaks down old ads for his newsletter readers. And he shared what copywriters have to learn from his approach. Click the play button below, or scroll down for a full transcript. Stuff to check out: Lewis' Website The Olive Ad Breakdown The Silk Cut ad The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground Full Transcript: Rob Marsh: Copywriters seem to revere old books by Eugene Schwartz and Vic Schwab. But what about old ads? This is The Copywriter Club Podcast. If you've been a copywriter for more than a few weeks, you've probably heard other more experienced copywriters mention books like Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz, How to Write an Advertisement by Victor Schwab or Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples. They make up a large part of the official cannon of copywriting. In fact, David Ogilvy once said no one should be allowed to write a single word of copy until they had finished reading Caple's book seven times. Of course there are new books that ought to be added… books by Joe Sugarman, Ann Handley and Matthew Dix. In addition to books, there are a lot of copywriters who like to study old sales pages. They create swipe files full of them. I do this. My swipe file has more than 1,000 differnent sales pages I've collected over the last decade. Some copywriters even suggest you hand write sales pages as part of your learning. I don't go that far, but I think you can learn a lot by studying the persuasion techniques that copywriters have used in their work. But what about ads? One page with an image, headline, and a few lines of copy? Are they worth studying? And what can we learn from them? My guest on this episode is Lewis Folkard. Lewis has made a bit of a name for himself by picking old print ads from advertising award books, analyzing them, and writing about why they are effective or not. Lewis' breakdowns are more than interesting reading, they're mini-lessons on copywriting, attention-getting and persuasion. He told me why he does it and how it's impacted his business in this interview. Stick around to hear what he had to say. As you might expect, this episode is brought to you by The Copywriter Underground. I've mentioned that I've been rebuilding the content vault and adding a ton of additional workshops to it. Workshops taught be expert copywriters like Parris Lampropoulos, Joanna Weibe, Stefan Georgi, Jack Forde, Chanti Zak, Laura Belgray and dozens of others. And it's not just copywriters, we've got marketing experts teaching how to build funnels, how to market using tools like Linkedin and Pinterest, how to put yourself in the right mindset to succeed and so much more. And that's just the workshops. There are dozens of templates, a community of like-minded writers holding each other accountable, and monthly coaching with me. It's time you joined us inside. Learn more at thecopywriterclub.com/tcu And now, my interview with Lewis Folkard… Lewis, welcome to the podcast. I would love to hear your story and how you became a copywriter. Lewis Folkard: Okay, well, I mean, I guess a lot of copywriters say very similar things in the sense that I feel like I've always had an interest in people and communications. I mean, some of the earlier nonfiction books that I read were kind of about human psychology and communications. I think there was a How to Win Friends and Influence People and another one by Brian Tracy, I believe. But I was young and just always enjoyed learning about how the human mind works and...
In today's episode where we're diving into the best copywriting advice ever—straight from the legends themselves. The ads and copy may be from years gone by, but the strategies still work today. We'll be covering timeless tips from the likes of John Caples, Eugene Schwartz, Joseph Sugarman, and more. And to make it extra relevant, I'll show you how their wisdom can help you crush it in the world of fitness and health marketing. Whether you're writing for a fitness product, health supplement, or wellness program, these insights will help you write copy that converts. *****This podcast is powered by Leadfeeder: Know who's coming to your website, convert more leads and get a FREE trial at www.Leadfeeder.com/try Sign up for my free weekly newsletter for exclusive copywriting and marketing strategies and tips: https://thecopyworx.com/newsletter/For all my socials: https://linktr.ee/lindamelone
Today we have a special edition of the Old Masters Series. I've convened a “board meeting” of six of our favorite Old Masters: David Ogilvy, Vic Schwab, Joe Sugarman, Gene Schwartz, Claude Hopkins and John Caples. If you've read Think and Grow Rich, you know how Napoleon Hill used to have imaginary meetings with dead presidents? Well, this one's like that, but a little different. I've taken actual quotes from these six featured Old Masters and organized the quotes into three categories, to answer the question: How can you improve the quality and response of your video ads on Facebook, youtube and TikTok? You'll be surprised and maybe delighted to find out that these guys had some wisdom they published before there even was an internet that applies 100% today—and we'll show you how. Because some things never change. Download.
You can have the greatest product, the greatest headline, the greatest targeting, the greatest offer, and the greatest price. But you know what's going to torpedo your entire promotion in a New York minute? It's: if your prospect doesn't believe you. We covered one aspect of believability last week, but we have some fresh tips today. Because believability is the pass/fail test every ad must pass in order to work. Period. But that's not the end of the story. In today's Old Masters Series episode, we draw on the considerable wisdom of the great John Caples, and a new book I just found out about. Unlike the classic Caples work Tested Advertising Methods, this book is readily available on Amazon for the low, low price of $8.86. And the Kindle is even less. It's called Making Ads Pay, and it's worth far more than the asking price. In this book Caples has a whole chapter on making ads believable. We're going to talk more about that today. Making Ads Pay, by John Caples: https://www.amazon.com/dp/048648601X Download.
You can have the greatest product, the greatest headline, the greatest targeting, the greatest offer, and the greatest price. But you know what's going to torpedo your entire promotion in a New York minute? It's: if your prospect doesn't believe you. Believability is the pass/fail test every ad must pass in order to work. Period. But that's not the end of the story. In today's Old Masters Series episode, we draw on the considerable wisdom of the great John Caples, and a new book recommended on twitter/x by a current copywriting master and friend of the show, Doug D'Anna. Unlike the classic Caples work Tested Advertising Methods, this book is readily available on Amazon for the low, low price of $8.86. And the Kindle is even less. It's called Making Ads Pay, and it's worth far more than the asking price. In this book Caples has a whole chapter on making ads believable. We're going to talk about that today. Making Ads Pay, by John Caples: https://www.amazon.com/dp/048648601X Download.
On this episode, we discuss persuasion, power position, adverting lessons from John Caples and how to sell high-ticket products & services. The post 320: Persuasion, Power Positioning, and Lessons on Advertising from John Caples first appeared on Persuasion by the Pint.
Our returning champion is Joshua Lee Henry, the high-powered copywriter and copy chief. He should be a familiar name and face to you by now, with his four great previous appearances on the show. He's talked about writing leads and offers. And he even did the first and only guest Old Masters Series on this show, about John Caples. Joshua has a very impressive copywriting background and is currently copy chief for Money and Markets, an imprint of Agora's Banyan Hill company. Today's show with Joshua is a little different. Instead of tips on writing copy, to be blunt, we're talking about jobs. As you may have noticed, the copywriting world is in a very uncertain state. A perplexing economy that is roaring along as more and more people are just hanging on by their fingernails is one reason for the uncertainty. Another is the rapid growth of AI, especially ChatGPT. Will it replace human copywriters, many people wonder? Well, not in the financial copywriting space, at least not this year. All you have to do is listen to what Joshua has to say. If you know what to look for and where to look, you'll find there are opportunities galore right now. Joshua begins by telling us about SEVEN financial publishers who are hiring copywriters right now. Some of these companies are huge. He also tells us about a public financial newsletter company whose stock is up 60% since January. So things are definitely popping in financial copywriting. Again, as I said, if you know what to look for and where to look. The readers (or potential new readers) of these newsletters are numerous. In the tens of millions. Joshua shares some hands-on, real-world tips for getting your foot in the door at the financial publishers. And, for listeners and viewers of Copywriters Podcast only, he's making a special offer for a training program called The World Of Financial Copywriting. As of today enrollment is closed, but they are opening up registration again for the next five days from the day we release this podcast. And you can get a big discount, using this link: https://copychief.thrivecart.com/wofc/?coupon=DAVID Download.
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Today we returned to the Old Masters Series, but with a twist. We used some secrets from one Old Master to look at the famous work of another. This all came about last week, when I was going over the chapter on Intensification in Breakthrough Advertising with a client. Breakthrough Advertising, of course, is Gene Schwartz's masterwork on copywriting. Part 2 of the book is seven chapters on “the basic techniques of breakthrough advertising.” And the first of those seven sets of techniques is what Gene Schwartz calls “Intensification.” Basically, how to get your hands on your prospect's feeling of desire, and push it through the roof. I was struggling with how to put this on a podcast. And then I had an idea: Why not take John Caples's famous ad, “They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano… ” and see how Caples used the intensification techniques. You might not be surprised that, even though the ad was written nearly 40 years before the book was, Caples knew what he was doing and used a bunch of the techniques. So, as we get started, you should know there are actually 10 Intensification steps in this chapter. Plus three other tricks. Again, this is all in one of 14 chapters of the book. We only covered five of the 10 Intensification steps today. First, because we did not have time for all 10. Second, I wanted to leave out five so you'll be encouraged to get your own copy of Breakthrough Advertising from Brian Kurtz. We'll give you a link in the show notes. Really, it's one of the best copywriting books ever written. As you have already gotten a glimpse of there is so much in each chapter that you can spend years, and make a fortune, learning what's in the whole book. Now, as to Caples. Gene Schwartz actually mentions this ad as a great example of one of the intensification steps, and we'll cover that step. But it turns out Caples included more of than one Instensification step. It's interesting to look at this ad, one of the most famous in history, because of the unusual way Caples uses the steps. He skips around from the normal order you would put them in. You'll see what I mean in the full podcast. Here are the five Intensification steps we covered: 1. Present the product. 2. Put the claims in action. 3. Bring in the reader. 4. Bring in an audience. 5. Make a damaging admission. And a link to get Breakthrough Advertising: https://breakthroughadvertisingbook.com/ Download.
Our returning champion is Joshua Lee Henry, with a first: He came by to do a GUEST Old Master's Series show. Joshua asked me if he take a new look at the work of John Caples, the great copywriter and author. I said OK, as long he talked about something different than we have talked about on the many shows we've already done on Caples. Joshua put together a collection of unique items that filled the bill. So I was really happy to bring him back for this special show! As you may remember, Joshua is a high-powered copywriter and copy chief for Agora. He started his career 13 years ago writing fundraising letters for victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Joshua has been pastor of a megachurch and as a freelancer, has written for such famous clients as Jay Abraham, Brian Tracy and the Zig Ziglar corporation. Today, we found out what he discovered, digging into the archives of John Caples. Joshua broke it down into six lessons: 1. 4 Ways to Profit by Removing The Guesswork 2. How to Secure Testimonials 3. Appealing to the “Lazy Instinct” 4. The Value of Illusion 5. Write Long and Boil It Down 6. The Most Important Quality for a Writer is Sincerity Joshua rose to the challenge and we appreciate him for it! Here are a couple links: A training program Joshua's part of: World of Financial Copywriting, https://bit.ly/3CaB9S8 And if you want to reach Joshua personally, his email is: joshualeehenry @ activatemyadvertising.com Download.
For a lot of us, the hardest part of writing copy is getting started. Today we're going to dive into some very handy tips from Old Master John Caples. He is, of course, famous for his ad which has the headline, “They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano… but When I Began To Play… ” Caples was what we would call today a data-driven marketer. He made his choices based on test results as much as anything else. He was highly successful and author of some of the best books every written on direct response marketing. In “Tested Advertising Methods,” he has an entire chapter devoted to seven proven ways to start your copy. Imagine how much easier it will be to write if you have some sure-fire ways to get started. That's what today's show is about. Now, to come up with these seven techniques, John Caples didn't brainstorm a bunch of ways to start copy. He didn't even draw on his massive, successful experience as a copywriter and a copy chief for six of them. No, for this chapter, he did something better. He found the best source of leads where the words HAD to work. And that was the Reader's Digest. Now you may not be familiar with Reader's Digest, but if you are as old as I am, you probably are. If for no other reason that you remember copies of the magazine lying around the waiting room of the dentist's office. Reader's Digest was the largest-circulation magazine in the United States until 2009. Millions and millions of people would read these articles each month. And so the editors had to make sure that every word counted. They couldn't take risks or allow flights of fancy. Every article needed to make sense to every reader. From the first word, and all the way through. When you've got millions of readers, you've got to be a simple, straightforward and yet as compelling as humanly possible. It was against that backdrop that Caples began his research. He thought: If editors use something to start articles in the Reader's Digest over and over again, it's not by accident. They have to KNOW that it works. So he started cataloguing and counting the different ways the articles started. He figured, if it will work in editorial, it will also work in advertising. I think he was absolutely right, and it was a brilliant way to show copywriters proven ways to start their copy. He came up with six ways that were repeated over and over, and added a seventh one. All of this is from Chapter 9 of “Tested Advertising Methods.” I'm going to summarize what he found and then we'll bring it into the 21st Century. And, along the way, give you a little toolkit to get your copy started faster and with more confidence. Link to get “Tested Advertising Methods”: https://www.amazon.com/Advertising-Methods-Prentice-Business-Classics/dp/0130957011 Download.
OK, we're back with part 2 of deep headline wisdom from Old Master John Caples and his book “Tested Advertising Methods,” originally published in 1932. Last week we covered the first half of his chapter called “Twenty-nine formulas for writing headlines,” and like I said last week, this chapter is pure gold and no fat. This week we cover the second half. There was simply too much in one chapter to cover it all in one show. Now these formulas are simple, and in most cases you have to do the heavy lifting. They are formulas, but not templates. He shows you where to start, which is always half the battle when you're writing anything. So today we're going to cover the second half of Chapter 5 in Caples's landmark book, “Tested Advertising Methods,” 4th edition. Two groups of headline formulas in the second half of the chapter that, for me, are more fun and more interesting than the ones we covered last week. Don't get me wrong. The ones we covered last week, which I summarized just a moment ago, are very powerful and very effective. I just don't think most of them offer as many creative possibilities, that will still get results, as the ones we're going to cover today. And to be sure, your headline does not need to be quote-unquote creative. It just needs to be fresh and interesting enough to work. But, after all, if you can have a little more fun coming up with it—no harm in that! To emphasize how important headlines are and what a tightrope you're walking with them, let's start with these powerful fourth paragraphs from the Chapter 3 “Right and Wrong Methods of Writing Headlines” in “Tested Advertising Methods”: Remember that the reader's attention is yours for only a single, involuntary instant. He will not use up his valuable time trying to figure out what you mean. He will simply turn the page. Do not run advertisements without headlines. Some advertisers do this in the mistaken notion that it is smart, modern, and sophisticated. Because they do not test their advertising, these advertisers do not realize that about the only person who reads their copy is the proofreader, who is paid to read it. --- And this is something you should commit to memory, what he says next: -- You can't expect people to read your message unless you first give them in the headline a powerful reason for reading it. To run an advertisement without a headline is like opening a store without hanging out a sign to tell people what kind of store it is. A few customers may come in the store, but many prospective customers will be lost. If there is any exception to this rule, it is where an excellent picture of the product is used. For example, a beautiful, four color picture of delicious peaches with the name Del Monte at the bottom of the page conveys a message without a headline. Here are the 15 formulas we cover today: 1. How to 2. How 3. Why 4. Which 5. Who Else 6. This 7. Wanted 8. Advice 9. Use a testimonial-style headline 10. Offer the reader a test 11. Use a one-word headline 12. Use a two-word headline 13. Warn the reader to delay buying. 14. Let the advertiser speak directly to the reader 15. Address your headline to a specific group or customer Download.
Today we go deep into the headline wisdom of Old Master John Caples and his book “Tested Advertising Methods,” originally published in 1932. What's so important about this book for today's show is, it contains a chapter called “Twenty-Nine Formulas For Writing Headlines,” and this chapter is pure gold, no fat. It's hard to appreciate the immense value of what he says in this chapter. I had to go through it several times to make it into podcast material. It's clear and simple, but it's dense. In fact, there's so much there that I couldn't fit it into one podcast. We'd have to cover one formula a minute. Going that fast would make it incredibly hard to develop useful ideas. It would all go by in a blur. So today is Part 1. We'll cover 14 formulas. And we'll cover the other 15 next week. By the way, don't get intimidated by the word “formulas.” While Caples is accurate in describing them that way, they're MUCH easier to use and understand than you might imagine. Now the headline formulas are in the last of four chapters about headlines. And it really makes sense to devote that much space in a book to the subject. Because headlines are BY FAR the most important part of your ad, and account for as much as 80% of how effective it is. To put the formulas in context, let's quickly talk about the key points in the three chapters that lead up to the fourth chapter. You could go horribly wrong if you didn't follow the guidance he has in those three chapters. The main thing he says is that headlines need to speak to the self-interest of the reader. Sounds simple enough, but so many headlines fail this simple test. Because… what is self-interest? In advertising, self-interest is what your prospect already wants or doesn't want. Either something they want to move toward, or something they want to move away from. We'll have a number of concrete examples of this as we move forward. The most important thing for now to get is: you may think something your prospect should want, or needs to figure out is self interest—but it's not. Self-interest needs to be basically primal. Direct. Immediately recognizable. Primal things people want to move towards are things like: Money, health, popularity, prestige, pride. And primal things people want to move away from are things like: Threats, disrespect, loss of freedom, illness, pain. Stuff like that. Remember, copywriting is about what people instantly respond to, not what you think they should respond to. And all of this applies to headlines, especially. Keep in mind what I just said as we go through the formulas and the examples. Curiosity, which definitely attracts attention, does not usually set the frame for the copy by itself the way a good headline needs to do. However, curiosity combined with self-interest can work wonders. Again, more about this in a minute. And two other ingredients that work incredibly well when combined with self-interest are: - Quick and easy - News. Here are the short-form formulas, which we cover in depth on today's show. 1. Announcing 2. Announcement Quality 3. New 4. Now 5. At Last 6. Put a date in your headline 7. Write like a news headline 8. Feature the price in your headline 9. Feature reduced price 10. Feature special merchandising offer 11. Feature and easy payment plan 12. Feature a free offer 13. Offer information of value 14. Tell a story and next week, we'll cover the other 15. Download.
Evolvepreneur Secrets for Entrepreneurs Show With Shelby Olyschlager
Welcome to the Evolvepreneur Secrets Show Join me today where we dig deep with our guests and get you the best concepts and strategies to fast-track your business. My very special guest today is Jack Turk ... For decades, I focused on growing my career as a writer (my very first stint was writing comedy for a college radio show with my friend Tim Allen). After graduation, I bounced around at different jobs across the country – Michigan, Texas, Boston – having a great run writing for high-tech companies. But on my 50th birthday, I marched into my boss's office at Microsoft and told him “I'm quitting to become a magician.” Because even though my job as game writer for Flight Simulator, Age of Empires, and multiple XBox titles had been a blast, I still wanted to go for my dream of making a living as a professional magician and entrepreneur. It was quite the ride – with plenty of ups and downs. I'm an excellent kidshow performer, but the magic of a successful business only became real after I discovered the power of direct response copywriting in the mold of Dan Kennedy, John Caples, and other copy legends. I extended my business to help other magicians successfully sell their services… through webinars, live events, and products. Eventually, my success as a marketer and copywriter led me to join Dan Kennedy's company – GKIC – where from 2012 to 2015 I led the copy team as Head Copywriter... becoming known as the voice of Dan Kennedy. Today I provide marketing / writing services and counsel to a variety of clients in many different industries. My key superpower – I write FAST. Extremely FAST. I was the fastest writer at Microsoft and I daresay I'm likely the World's FASTEST Copywriter today. My passion is helping small business owners and entrepreneurs discover how write their own marketing materials FASTER.
Tip on getting attention with your message. link to video referenced in video - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaSJ4LuqRExrxFSnILYEGTm4GQ2MymkvI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEaZyBvd_hY Transcription A weird trick for getting attention anywhere. Hi I'm Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J Pombo Live. I'm going to cheat a little bit tonight. Last year, I put together a list and I'm gonna tell you what that list is all about in just a second. Before I do, I want to remind you I wrote a book, 9 Ways to Amazon-Proof Your Business. Getting attention really isn't as much about getting attention this instant, sometimes it comes from why you're getting attention. What are you going to do with that tension in the long run? How do you keep attention is really the major deal and this is one of the major things that I cover in my book, 9 Ways to Amazon-Proof Your Business, you can find out all those things and more at AmazonProofBook.com, get a free copy of my book. You can download it there, or you could go purchase one at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or wherever you pick up books, it's, 9 Ways to Amazon-Proof Your Business. Now, let's talk about this is I'm talking about a very specific way to get attention anywhere. If you've already been in this field, and you've gotten attention, you already understand this. But I'm reaching out to some people who may be new at it and don't realize the power of one thing. And that is the headline. No matter what you're doing there's oftentimes a headline involved and if there isn't, you have the ability to put a headline out there now headline is a term that comes from the old days of a lot of print advertising. The idea is that you make one line stand out above all others at the very top, the headline. And right there. That's what pulls people into reading the next sentence and the next sentence so that you eventually get them doing what you want them to do. Whether it be buying something or raising their hand about something, what have you? The same thing is true online though it whether you're selling things offline or online, there's always a headline, it doesn't matter if you're if you have a TV commercial, the first thing that comes out of your mouth is the headline. If you're putting out videos on YouTube, the title is the headline. No matter where you're at any type of advertising that you have out there has some form of a headline, that first thing that hits that is going to determine whether someone pays attention or not whether somebody clicks or not. All of that matters. And it's very important to learn the power of headlines. Now that thing I told you, I was going to give you a link. And I'm going to put this link in the description. If you're in a place that you can't see the description link, then you want to go to BrianJPombo.com and look this up. These are the 35 proven…let me see if I've got it right here. These are the 35 proven headline things. Of course, I say another thing is it's good to be prepared. I thought I had my finger on the right page, and I did it. So this is from tested advertising methods by John Caples. This is why I don't do any editing just to make myself look as idiotic as possible. The 35 proven formulas for writing headlines by John Caples. It's a specific chapter in this book, chapter five. I go through each and everyone on a separate video. And you can find the playlist for that on YouTube. If you want the link for that, look in the description. If you can't see it in the description, go to BrianJPombo.com and look it up the 35 proven formulas for writing headlines. That's all I've got for today, I want you to go back and look at that if you're not familiar with the science behind writing headlines, and there are a million different ways of going about doing it. And I've reviewed multiple books on here on Brian J Pombo Live where they discuss the writing of headlines.
Cada día compites con más y más estímulos para captar la atención de tu audiencia. Y aunque inviertes tiempo, dinero y esfuerzo en ser visible, el aluvión de contenido, notificaciones y anuncios que te rodea puede impedir que te hagas notar. Para conseguirlo la clave está en las primeras líneas. En este episodio aprenderás a crear los 3 tipos de titulares más exitosos según John Caples (uno de los padres del copywriting) para que, a partir de ahora, sea imposible ignorarte, enganches a tu audiencia, conviertas y vendas.
We've had really good responses for our Old Masters Series shows, where we look at one important copywriter from the past, and people were literally falling all over themselves when we brought on Sean Vosler a few weeks ago to talk about the founding fathers of copywriting. We had to send out the special writers unit of the Copy Patrol to pick those people up off the floor. But my friend and client Jason Parker made a suggestion that kicks things up a notch even higher. The idea involves finding the best single idea from the greatest copywriters, that we can all use today. I really appreciate Jason's suggestion and want to give him a shout-out right here and right now. I should also say that I spent a lot of time mulling this over, and today's show is what I came up with. We're going to look at five “keepers.” A keeper in this case is an idea you want to carry with you for the rest of your life, because it's so good. Five keepers from five of copywriting's greats. They range from the early 1900s to the last 20 years. The way I chose these five keepers was by asking: What's one thing that not only worked when the copywriter introduced it, but works just as well today? Also, what's something simple enough that we can talk about in just a few minutes, and everyone will understand it. With one exception. One of these concepts, from Gene Schwartz, really takes a while to make it your own. I included because it's so important, and so rarely understood, that it was worth breaking the guidelines to get you started on it if you don't already know it and use it. Besides Gene Schwartz, the other four copywriters are: Claude Hopkins, John E. Kennedy, John Caples and Gary Halbert. Links: breakthroughadvertisingbook.combreakthroughadvertisingbook.com thegaryhalbertletter.comthegaryhalbertletter.com Download.
Internet marketing has become increasingly popular these days. Unfortunately, with the abundance of information available today, internet marketing beginners are left to sift through what is valuable and what could be a scam. In this episode, Ken McCarthy shares some of his experiences as a pioneer in the internet marketing industry. He also shares deep insights on how to navigate and be successful in the world of internet marketing, providing many relatable examples taken from the world of the internet in this day and age. Join us and learn how to begin and navigate through the world of internet marketing. About Ken Ken McCarthy is called the “Godfather of Internet Marketing.” In 1994, he put on the very first internet marketing seminar with Marc Lowell Andreessen, the creator of Netscape. Since then, Ken has been a pioneer in the industry with his system seminars on direct response marketing and database marketing, among others. He has also been a significant influence on those in the IM space, with Rick Boyce giving Ken credit for introducing him to using the Internet as an advertising medium. Challenges and Values for Success in Internet Marketing Ken's Beginnings Ken's first taste of marketing was on getting girls to come to their high school dances. He did some demographic studies without knowing what it was. He discovered there were a lot of all-girls Catholic high schools in New York City. Then, he put up posters in these schools and went from a girl to guy ratio of 1:2 to 3:1. In college, Ken promoted concerts and brought jazz musicians to his campus. He also did a lot of direct mail marketing, which was very costly but taught him to be very disciplined and focused. Be Selective in Buying Information You cannot get all your marketing knowledge from whoever the current online marketing guru is. Everything you need to be a good marketer is available at a pretty low cost, but you need to do the work. Some cost $20 but are worth $100,000; and some programs cost $25,000 but are worth $20. There are people teaching internet marketing who only care about selling you their costly packages. Real educators acknowledge other real educators; they're not caught in a tight little circle. Your Biggest Challenge is You You may encounter challenges, and conditions are rarely optimal, but you have to deal with them. They may not be your fault, but it's your responsibility to get out of it. Everybody has problems, but successful people solve their problems. The Importance of Reading and Networking Read widely. Once you have something to contribute, reach out to other marketers and build your network of marketers. If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room. Marketing has three legs: learning, networking, and doing. The Biggest Hazard for Beginners Some get involved in idol worship and get linked into certain personalities. When you don't know what path to take, your choice of who to follow will make a difference. Don't be a passive audience member. People get caught on consuming but never produce anything with what they've learned. Volunteering as a Beginner Don't feel like you're going to monetize 100% of your effort. Sometimes you give and get nothing, sometimes you get a minimal return. There are times you'll get an equivalent return, or a huge, unimaginable return. You will never get anywhere if you only sit and wait for returns. People won't know what you're capable of if you don't show them. The Importance of Having a Quality Product Product quality is a marketing amplifier. Marketing is not about selling; it's about continuing after the first sale. Two sides of marketing churn them and burn them (a bad perspective as you lose potential customers) marketing as a part of the business (and business is bringing value to people at a profit) The Importance of Knowing your Market If you want a tall building (a lot of money), you need to dig a deep foundation. Pinterest's team went to cafes to ask real people for their suggestions about its interface. It's all about knowing your market intimately. Do this by engaging with them, finding the gaps, and ultimately finding a solution to fill those gaps. The Three Phases of Business First Phase: Wandering, lost, and aimless in the desert. Second Phase: Hair on fire, racing to get in critical mass as much as possible. Third Phase: Improving processes and systems to the extent that you can take yourself out of the business and employ others to operate. Find your Niche Ask yourself, “What market do I feel personally interested in?” Success comes from longevity, so find a niche that you love and run it through a filter. Remember also to be practical. The market already exists; you don't build the market. The System Club Tech Talk: They go over and review all the best internet marketing tools. Second Saturday: They talk with existing businesses or new business ideas and go over it to try to make it better. Masterclass: They go out and find masterclass guests who are accomplished people in internet marketing or marketing in general. Mindset and Hardwork You don't need to be as smart as Mark Zuckerberg, but you need to be as tenacious as he is. Networking is not hard; you simply have to go out and start doing it. Adversity makes men; luxury makes monsters. You can't rest on wherever you are sitting. Resources Tested Advertising Methods, Fourth Edition by John Caples on Amazon Voice Dream App The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin on Amazon Rick Bayless' Works on Amazon If you are interested in becoming a serious internet marketer, connect with Ken McCarthy at The System Club. P.S. Do you already have a successful business, meaning you're up, running, and paying your bills with some profit left over? Are you interested in growing your business, automating/streamlining things, and staying one step ahead of your competition? Do you want to achieve your goals, get more things done in less time, and double your sales? Sign up for our 21-Day Double Your Sales Challenge.
Part 35 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription 86% of my YouTube titles came from this book. Hi I’m Brian Pombo, welcome to Brian J. Pombo Live. What is today? Today is the final day in our series of videos all about […] The post 86% Of My YouTube Titles Came From This Book! first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 34 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Do you use questions in your headlines? Hi I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. And I’m giving away the topic today, because we’re talking about headlines once again, this is […] The post Do You Use Questions In Your Headlines? first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 32 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription I’ll show you a headline formula, that works! Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Once again, we are here going through the 35 proven formulas for writing headlines written […] The post I'll Show You A Headline Formula, That Works! first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 31 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Don’t buy ads before hearing this. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome to Brian J. Pombo Live. Why am I warning you not to buy ads, it’s because you could spend a whole lot of […] The post Don't Buy Ads Before Hearing This! first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 30 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Standout now! Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. And when I’m talking about standing out, I’m talking about you and your business. The whole game is standing out, getting […] The post Standout Now! first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 27 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Can you pass the headline test? Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. We’re going to talk about the headline test, whether you have the ability to pass it or […] The post Can You Pass The Headline Test? first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 26 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription How I’ve used headlines on social media to get attention. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. This is a daily thing where we get together, and we talk about […] The post How I've Used Headlines On Social Media To Get Attention first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 24 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription If you want to standout but you’re not sure how… Hi, I’m Brian pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. We’re going to be talking about how to stand out, we’re going to […] The post If You Want To Standout But Your Not Sure How... first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 25 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Advice for online business owners. Hi, I’m Brian pombo. Welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Tonight I wanted to remind you about well, first we’re going to talk about what the advice is […] The post Advice For Online Business Owners first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 23 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Because…you want to grow your business. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Every day we get together, and we talk about some idea that’s going to help your business […] The post Because...You Want To Grow Your Business first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 22 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription This…will make your business stand out. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, Welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. What am I talking about? I’m talking about two things. First thing is, this book will help […] The post This...Will Make Your Business Standout first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 21 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Wanted copywriter tricks that work. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Today we’re talking about copywriting tricks and specifically those that go along with headline writing. So we’re going […] The post Wanted: Copywriter Tricks That Work first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 20 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Who else wants advertising headline examples? Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Today coming to you from dining room of my in laws here in Fresno, California. And we’re […] The post Who Else Wants Advertising Headlines Examples? first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 18 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Why email subject lines are easy, when you know how. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Today we’re talking once again, about headlines, we’re going to go through number […] The post Why Email Subject Lines Are Easy (When You Know How) first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 19 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Which of these headline templates do you like the best? Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Once again, I’m coming to you from my dark in new car out […] The post Which Of These Headline Templates Do You Like The Best? first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 17 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription How easy headlines can be. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. I am coming to you from Tracy, California, a little bit of a different location, different lighting, and […] The post How Easy Headlines Can Be first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 15 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription How I came up with 563 podcast titles. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Why 563? Well, this is the 563rd, at least by my calculation, video podcast. Now […] The post How I Came Up With 563 Podcast Titles first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 13 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Free book on beating your competition? How do you beat that? I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. I’m not going to spend the whole time talking about my free book […] The post Free Book On Beating Your Competition first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 14 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Are your blog titles informational? Hi, I’m Brian pombo. Welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live and if not, why not? And if so, why would you care? Why does it matter that they’re […] The post Are Your Blog Titles Informational? first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 12 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Do 3 Easy Payments Work. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. You know, we were doing this series on headlines. And during this process, it’s funny, we’re going through […] The post Do 3 Easy Payments Work? first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 11 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Special merchandising offer headline formula. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Lately, we’ve been talking about headline formulas. This is all a series that I’m doing on the 35 […] The post Special Merchandising Offer Headline Formula first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 10 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription 90% off business strategy session. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. I’m using that headline that title for this podcast and video as an example. Although it’s true for […] The post 90% Off Business Strategy Session! first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 9 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Would you spend $20 to feel like a million? Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Now, what am I offering you for $20? It’s my book, okay, this isn’t […] The post Would You Spend to Feel Like A Million? first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 8 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Just rediscovered! Headline creation secrets. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. There’s a reason why I introduced the show that way. Number one, it’s my headline, it’s the headline […] The post Just Rediscovered! Headline Creation Secrets first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 6 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription At last – Email subject line formulas that you can use. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. We’re going through the top 35 headline formulas that were created by […] The post At Last - Email Subject Line Formulas You Can Use first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 7 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription A 2020 warning about headlines. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome to Brian J. Pombo Live. What are we talking about right now what we’re talking about is headlines. This is a series that I’m […] The post A 2020 Warning: About Headlines first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 5 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Now, YouTube titles are easy. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo. Welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Is not just about YouTube titles, this is a video all about how to title anything. It’s what […] The post Now YouTube Titles Are Easy! first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 4 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription New trick for writing headlines. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo. Welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Here’s a new trick, it’s probably new to you. It was new to me, though technically, it’s an […] The post New Trick For Writing Headlines first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Part 3 in a 35 part series on headlines from John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Finally, a simple way to create eye catching headlines. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo. Hope you don’t mind the pun. Welcome to Brian J. Pombo Live. We’re continuing our series on how to create good […] The post Finally A Simple Way to Create Eye-Catching Headlines first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Brian begins his series on John Caples Headline formulas from his classic book, Tested Advertising Methods. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Introducing 35 Proven Formulas for Writing Headlines by John Caples. Okay. John Caples wrote this book, Tested Advertising Methods. This is this is the fifth edition, it has other things added into it, it’s […] The post Introducing 35 Proven Formulas for Writing Headlines by John Caples first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
From chapter 5 from John Caples classic book, Tested Advertising Methods. The value of using the word “Announcing” at the beginning of your headline. Amazon-Proof Your Business➡️ https://brianjpombo.com/amazonbook/ Transcription Announcing formulas for writing headlines. Hi, I’m Brian Pombo, welcome back to Brian J. Pombo Live. Today we’re going to go through the second of John […] The post Announcing Formulas For Writing Headlines first appeared on BrianJPombo.com.
Everyone seems pretty impressed at how copywriters can turn words into dollar signs… so I wanted to give you three actionable steps if you're just getting started in the wonderful world of copy. Hand Copy Everyday You might have heard of this one before, but the biggest improvement I've had in my copy is spending 20 minutes a day hand copying sales letters. So, typically, I find 2-3 sales letters that ‘sell' me. And what I mean by that is a sales letter that holds my attention from start to finish… a product that I would more than likely buy myself. I think it's important to study these types of letters because there's a strong emotional connection to the product. Some of the writers i'd check out are John Carlton, Gary Bencavenga and Joe Sugarman. These guys are old school but very talented. Read, read and read When I'm not hand copying, I'm reading. We're lucky in the modern era that we have access to so many books and online resources. Personally, I'd suggest you buy physical hard copies of books because it's been proven that reading a real book - rather than a digital book - improves how you retain information and a bunch of other benefits. Amazon is obviously the place to go. I'd suggest reading books from David Ogilvy, Eugene Swartz and John Caples. These guys have some stellar books out there. The Coffee Power Hour Okay, this is my favourite technique by far. And it's not new. A lot of copywriters do this. I learnt this technique from Ben Settle actually. Basically, you want to dedicate the first hour of every work day to yourself. Not to your clients. Not to your family, friends or to paying bills. You want to set aside 1 solid hour to write copy for your blog, book, podcast, emails, digital products or whatever you're working on. This has been the biggest draw card for me. I've seen a huge improvement in how quickly I write. And an even bigger improvement in the way my copy flows… It doesn't feel like a chore. It's a way for me to de-stress and get all the thoughts out of my mind. It's actually really enjoyable. So there we go. Three easy steps to help you improve your sales copy in 21 days or less. I actually learnt one of these technique straight from Ben Settle's ‘Email Players' program [INSERT LINK] Until tomorrow my friends, --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/copycoffee/support
Join Tom Gaddis and Jack Turk as they talk about marketing and how to write copy fast. From the business of being a full-time magician, Jack found his love for marketing, helped other magicians with their business, and eventually was hired as a copywriter. He gets into the steps on how you can write copy without investing a million years into each word and phrase! By the end of the episode, you will learn how to develop yourself in whatever space you're in, understand your communities' identity, and engage with it to help others. “You can write your own copy. Give it a good shot!” – Jack Turk On this episode: Finding your niche in any business you're in and connecting with it. Knowing who you're writing to in your copy Where should you focus on as a new copywriter? Find the starving crowd! Turn off the editor in your head. Write the copy that you can write fast! Remember to use tools. Don't underestimate the power of templates and magazine ads. Copywriting is just putting all the pieces together. Make sure to find those pieces. --- Jack's Book: 101 Fast, Good , Cheap Hacks for Writing a KILLER Sales Letter https://www.amazon.com/Cheap-Hacks-Writing-KILLER-Letter-ebook/dp/B01MS73SXX How to Write Killer Copy Fast https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Killer-Copy-Fast/dp/1693647036 Jack's Website: https://writekillercopyfast.com/ About Jack Turk: For decades, I focused on growing my career as a writer (my very first stint was writing comedy for a college radio show with my friend Tim Allen). After graduation, I bounced around at different jobs across the country – Michigan, Texas, Boston – having a great run writing for high-tech companies. But on my 50th birthday, I marched into my boss's office at Microsoft and told him “I'm quitting to become a magician.” Even though my job as game writer for Flight Simulator, Age of Empires, and multiple XBox titles had been a blast, I still wanted to go for my dream of making a living as a professional magician and entrepreneur. It was quite the ride – with plenty of ups and downs along the way. I'm an excellent kidshow performer, but the magic of a successful business only became real after I discovered the power of direct response copywriting in the mold of Dan Kennedy, John Caples, and other copy greats. I extended my business to help other magicians successfully sell their services… through webinars, live events, and products. Eventually, my success as a marketer and copywriter led me to join Dan Kennedy's company – GKIC – where for over three years I led the copy team as Head Copywriter. Now I provide marketing / writing services and counsel to a variety of clients in many different industries. My key superpower – I write FAST. Extremely FAST. I was the fastest writer at Microsoft and I daresay I'm likely the World's FASTEST Copywriter today. Helping YOU write faster is why I created this site - because getting your copy written faster means you can get it DONE and out the door where it can help your customers and make you some money. --- Link for the free E-Guide https://tomgaddis.com/secret Connect with Tom Gaddis: Website - http://tomgaddis.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomgaddis Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/tomgbiz
John Caples is best known as a pioneer and master practitioner of testing copy, but he was also a brilliant copywriter. His first year writing copy, he wrote an ad with the headline “They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano… But When I Began To Play…” which is famous to this day. He taught copywriting at Columbia Business School in New York. Caples is truly an old master, and that’s why we’re including him in our Old Masters Series. His book “Tested Advertising Methods” has so much value for copywriters we could barely cover a few parts of a few chapters. But it’s easily available on Amazon, and I’ve included a link at the bottom of the show notes on copwriterspodcast.com Here are the key points. Much more detail in the recorded podcast itself. 1. The kind of headlines that attract the most readers Based on tests, usually headlines with a combination of self-interest and curiosity, work best. Sometimes, adding or implying “quick and easy” will boost response even further. 2. How to put enthusiasm into your copy Forget about everyone except your prospect… write fast… get worked up… let momentum launch you into a wave of enthusiasm. 3. Simple hacks to get more opt-ins Lots of proven “little” things will increase your response dramatically. Most people fall short here on some of the basics. 4. Simple hacks to multiply your copy’s selling power The key word here is “simple.” Fight every urge to be philosophical, elaborate or flowery in your writing. Tested Advertising MethodsDownload.
John Caples is best known as a pioneer and master practitioner of testing copy, but he was also a brilliant copywriter. His first year writing copy, he wrote an ad with the headline “They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano… But When I Began To Play…” which is famous to this day. He taught copywriting at Columbia Business School in New York. Caples is truly an old master, and that’s why we’re including him in our Old Masters Series. His book “Tested Advertising Methods” has so much value for copywriters we could barely cover a few parts of a few chapters. But it’s easily available on Amazon, and I’ve included a link at the bottom of the show notes on copwriterspodcast.com Here are the key points. Much more detail in the recorded podcast itself. 1. The kind of headlines that attract the most readers Based on tests, usually headlines with a combination of self-interest and curiosity, work best. Sometimes, adding or implying “quick and easy” will boost response even further. 2. How to put enthusiasm into your copy Forget about everyone except your prospect… write fast… get worked up… let momentum launch you into a wave of enthusiasm. 3. Simple hacks to get more opt-ins Lots of proven “little” things will increase your response dramatically. Most people fall short here on some of the basics. 4. Simple hacks to multiply your copy’s selling power The key word here is “simple.” Fight every urge to be philosophical, elaborate or flowery in your writing. Tested Advertising MethodsDownload.
Our guest today, Ken McCarthy, has been at the forefront of Internet marketing and copywriting from the start. To give you just one in example, way back in 1994, he sponsored a conference about making the Internet a place where you could do business. Before then, it was a business-free zone. His featured speaker was a pioneer of the time, Mark Andreessen, who went on to co-found one of Silicon Valley’s most important Venture Capital firms. OK. Let’s fast-forward 20 years to 2014. Five years ago. Tony Haile, CEO of Chartbeat, one of the world’s top data analytics firms, wrote this in Time magazine: In 1994, a former direct mail marketer called Ken McCarthy came up with the clickthrough as the measure of ad performance on the web. From that moment on, the click became the defining action of advertising on the web. See, it’s one thing to come up with an idea. It’s another thing entirely to be recognized as the guy who came up with it, by a leading industry authority in Time magazine. As a copywriter or business owner, why is this important to you? Here’s why. Ken’s also a copywriter. A marketer. He’s made a lot of money that way. And recently he pointed out that there are some key things no one’s been teaching that he’s decided he’s willing to share. With you. On this podcast. Things that, if you put them to use conscientiously, could make you a lot of money. Ken, thanks for being here. There’s one other thing I want to tell our listeners about themselves before we dive in: Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time. Topics Ken covered on these calls: • Though Ken never wrote for clients — only for his own business — he claims to have made more money “in a short time than many copywriters make in a long career.” • Some basics of copy that most people who teach, or talk about copy, gloss over or miss entirely. Ken dug in and shared nitty-gritty stuff that brings in the bucks. • Ken’s discovery of a hidden treasure trove of John Caples ads (that most people have never seen, to this day)… and what he learned from that. • And many other gems — the kind of stuff that has earned Ken high respect, both in the “big-box corporate world” of advertising, as well as among the hardest of the hard-core direct marketers Ken's Website KenMcCarthyDotComDownload.
Our guest today, Ken McCarthy, has been at the forefront of Internet marketing and copywriting from the start. To give you just one in example, way back in 1994, he sponsored a conference about making the Internet a place where you could do business. Before then, it was a business-free zone. His featured speaker was a pioneer of the time, Mark Andreessen, who went on to co-found one of Silicon Valley’s most important Venture Capital firms. OK. Let’s fast-forward 20 years to 2014. Five years ago. Tony Haile, CEO of Chartbeat, one of the world’s top data analytics firms, wrote this in Time magazine: In 1994, a former direct mail marketer called Ken McCarthy came up with the clickthrough as the measure of ad performance on the web. From that moment on, the click became the defining action of advertising on the web. See, it’s one thing to come up with an idea. It’s another thing entirely to be recognized as the guy who came up with it, by a leading industry authority in Time magazine. As a copywriter or business owner, why is this important to you? Here’s why. Ken’s also a copywriter. A marketer. He’s made a lot of money that way. And recently he pointed out that there are some key things no one’s been teaching that he’s decided he’s willing to share. With you. On this podcast. Things that, if you put them to use conscientiously, could make you a lot of money. Ken, thanks for being here. There’s one other thing I want to tell our listeners about themselves before we dive in: Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time. Topics Ken covered on these calls: • Though Ken never wrote for clients — only for his own business — he claims to have made more money “in a short time than many copywriters make in a long career.” • Some basics of copy that most people who teach, or talk about copy, gloss over or miss entirely. Ken dug in and shared nitty-gritty stuff that brings in the bucks. • Ken’s discovery of a hidden treasure trove of John Caples ads (that most people have never seen, to this day)… and what he learned from that. • And many other gems — the kind of stuff that has earned Ken high respect, both in the “big-box corporate world” of advertising, as well as among the hardest of the hard-core direct marketers Ken's Website KenMcCarthyDotComDownload.
Our guest today, Ken McCarthy, has been at the forefront of Internet marketing and copywriting from the start. To give you just one in example, way back in 1994, he sponsored a conference about making the Internet a place where you could do business. Before then, it was a business-free zone. His featured speaker was a pioneer of the time, Mark Andreessen, who went on to co-found one of Silicon Valley’s most important Venture Capital firms. OK. Let’s fast-forward 20 years to 2014. Five years ago. Tony Haile, CEO of Chartbeat, one of the world’s top data analytics firms, wrote this in Time magazine: In 1994, a former direct mail marketer called Ken McCarthy came up with the clickthrough as the measure of ad performance on the web. From that moment on, the click became the defining action of advertising on the web. See, it’s one thing to come up with an idea. It’s another thing entirely to be recognized as the guy who came up with it, by a leading industry authority in Time magazine. As a copywriter or business owner, why is this important to you? Here’s why. Ken’s also a copywriter. A marketer. He’s made a lot of money that way. And recently he pointed out that there are some key things no one’s been teaching that he’s decided he’s willing to share. With you. On this podcast. Things that, if you put them to use conscientiously, could make you a lot of money. Ken, thanks for being here. There’s one other thing I want to tell our listeners about themselves before we dive in: Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time. Topics Ken covered on these calls: • Though Ken never wrote for clients — only for his own business — he claims to have made more money “in a short time than many copywriters make in a long career.” • Some basics of copy that most people who teach, or talk about copy, gloss over or miss entirely. Ken dug in and shared nitty-gritty stuff that brings in the bucks. • Ken’s discovery of a hidden treasure trove of John Caples ads (that most people have never seen, to this day)… and what he learned from that. • And many other gems — the kind of stuff that has earned Ken high respect, both in the “big-box corporate world” of advertising, as well as among the hardest of the hard-core direct marketers. Ken's WebsiteDownload.
Our guest today, Ken McCarthy, has been at the forefront of Internet marketing and copywriting from the start. To give you just one in example, way back in 1994, he sponsored a conference about making the Internet a place where you could do business. Before then, it was a business-free zone. His featured speaker was a pioneer of the time, Mark Andreessen, who went on to co-found one of Silicon Valley’s most important Venture Capital firms. OK. Let’s fast-forward 20 years to 2014. Five years ago. Tony Haile, CEO of Chartbeat, one of the world’s top data analytics firms, wrote this in Time magazine: In 1994, a former direct mail marketer called Ken McCarthy came up with the clickthrough as the measure of ad performance on the web. From that moment on, the click became the defining action of advertising on the web. See, it’s one thing to come up with an idea. It’s another thing entirely to be recognized as the guy who came up with it, by a leading industry authority in Time magazine. As a copywriter or business owner, why is this important to you? Here’s why. Ken’s also a copywriter. A marketer. He’s made a lot of money that way. And recently he pointed out that there are some key things no one’s been teaching that he’s decided he’s willing to share. With you. On this podcast. Things that, if you put them to use conscientiously, could make you a lot of money. Ken, thanks for being here. There’s one other thing I want to tell our listeners about themselves before we dive in: Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time. Topics Ken covered on these calls: • Though Ken never wrote for clients — only for his own business — he claims to have made more money “in a short time than many copywriters make in a long career.” • Some basics of copy that most people who teach, or talk about copy, gloss over or miss entirely. Ken dug in and shared nitty-gritty stuff that brings in the bucks. • Ken’s discovery of a hidden treasure trove of John Caples ads (that most people have never seen, to this day)… and what he learned from that. • And many other gems — the kind of stuff that has earned Ken high respect, both in the “big-box corporate world” of advertising, as well as among the hardest of the hard-core direct marketers. Ken's WebsiteDownload.
If you're writing copy (messages) for ads, sales letters, video sales letters, emails and sales presentations, then make sure to add these books to your library: 1. Breakthrough advertising, Eugene Schwartz 2. Tested advertising methods, John Caples 3. How to write a Good Advertisement, Victor O. Schwab 4. The Boron Letters, Gary C. Halbert 5. The Adweek copywriting handbook, Joe Sugarman -- Want more information? https://www.chaosmap.com/talk
What’s the highest leverage skill you can learn in business? What if there was a skill you could learn that would allow you to: Create a new product or company from thin air? Create cash windfalls on command Convince others of your belief or cause Decide your income and make it real Become location independent Save a company or start a new one Attract and grow a tribe Launch or relaunch a product Get a raise or promotion Start a movement Lower marketing costs AND increase revenue & profits Spread your ideas globally There is one skill that can do all this and more – and we’re going to unpack it today. Click here to download or listen to this episode now. Here are the books I recommend you read if you want to reinvent your life and the way you think about it. SPONSOR #1 – How To Write Copy That Sells You can get my book by just paying for shipping. Get it here: Rayedwards.com/freebook SPIRITUAL FOUNDATIONS How to Love Your Neighbor Well In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus says you must love your neighbor as yourself: 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment.39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Do something to love yourself well and you will begin to love your neighbors well, too. TIP OF THE WEEK Doorframe Triggers- This is an idea I learned from Jordan Harbinger. It's a bit of a mindset hack. Put a reminder above the doorframe you walk through the most of the thing you wanted to be reminded of daily. FEATURE PRESENTATION “One Skill to Rule Them All” The one skill you need in life is Copywriting. Nora Ephron said that “Everything is copy“, and that is very true. Get my book – rayedwards.com/freebook Study the greats – Eugene Schwartz, Claude Hopkins, Robert Collier, John Caples, David Ogilvy, Jay Abraham, John Carlton, Clayton Makepeace Take a course Attend a workshop Apprentice or get certified The path of mastery. How to prosper while you practice. (Freelancing) Ask about our certification at support@rayedwards.com Or here : www.edwardscertified.com Get The Transcript Rayedwards.com/freebook www.edwardscertified.com Eugene Schwartz letters: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/20125529559269017/ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/338684834461940176/ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/590534569859910599/ Subscribe to the show through Apple Podcasts and give us a rating and review. Make sure you put your real name and website in the text of the review itself. We will mention you on this show. Get The Transcript Right-Click and “Save As” to Get the PDF Transcript.
Got any questions? Ask me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aleksander.vitkin Check out my free business training: http://www.vitkin.net Want to connect on Instagram? @AleksVitkin 1. Which marketing books to read (copywriting etc) 2. How to do webinars better 3. The Mindvalley hiring strategy explained (how to take Facebook, Google employees and recruit them for your company) 4. Why hiring milennials is better for internet based companies Ajit recommends picking up anything written by Dan Kennedy, as well as a book called copy logic, written by Michael Masterson, which allows you to think logically about copy. Ajit also gets a lot out of anything written by John Caples. He writes about advertising, but all the concepts apply. Spin selling is a fantastic book, it’s written for people who pick up the phone. He’s found the concepts behind the spin selling model are applicable to anything. Ajit uses the same model for launches, for consulting calls, for webinars, and anything he has to promote or market. He also recommends to pick up a book called scientific advertising, it’s a really old book, but it’s a good one. It covers the basics of marketing, and you’ll feel like you already know it all when reading it, but if you really think about it after you’ve finished reading it, it will always give you something new to do, and follow through on. Ajit’s companies are very much pro about understanding the user experience, and have the most epic experience for every user. If you have a look at his funnel structures, they run a lot of funnels, which are a pile of webinars. His company does about a webinar a week, in each of his businesses. Sometimes there are as many as two or three webinars, in each of the niches, which is a lot of webinars. First he, and his team were running these webinars live, which was a lot of work, because designers and developers would have to sit down, and create each webinar on a platform.
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Erfahrungen aus 5 Jahren Werbetexten Praxis Branko Dacevic aus dem Mehr Geschäft Team von Pascal Feyh, teilt im Interview seine besten Tipps und Geheimnisse für Umsatzsteigerungen und höhere Conversions durch Copywriting auf Salespages, Landingpages und Optin Seiten. Was du lernst: Wie du den Einstieg ins Copywriting findest. Welche Elemente eine gute Verkaufsseite beinhalten sollte Wie du deinen Umsatz durch die 4 Prinzipien des guten Copywriting steigerst. Shownotes / Links der Episode Brankos Website: Kaufe dir die Basisliteratur von David Ogilvy*, John Caples*, Ted Nicholas (Magic Words)* Brankos "Bibel für Werbetexte":Axel Andersson - Direktmarketing* *=Affiliate-Link Es wäre ein Traum, wenn du mir eine Podcast-Bewertunggibst. Gib dein ehrliches Feedback ab und hilf mir den Podcast noch besser zu machen. Ich lese alle Bewertungen. Danke :)
Siamo arrivati alla fine della nostra lettera di vendita, quindi è il momento di fare un bel ripasso.Io e Bruno Rago in questa puntata ripercorreremo i 6 elementi essenziali che assolutamente NON possono mancare all’interno di una sales lettera che porti risultati.Per approfondire nel dettaglio questi elementi, puoi ascoltare la prima puntata di questa rubrica, che trovi nei link utili.Ciò che imparerai in questa puntata:- I 6 elementi imprescindbili di una lettera di vendita- Prove scientifiche: perché non puoi farne a meno se vuoi differenziarti dalla concorrenza- Big idea: cosa avevano di diverso le M&Ms dagli altri cioccolatini negli anni Sessanta?Seguiremo anche l’esperienza di Robert Collier quando cercò di salvare dal fallimento una miniera di carbone del West Virginia – prima di diventare la leggenda del copywriting che conosciamo.Parleremo anche di Claude Hopkins e la birra Schlitz, di John Caples, dello storytelling e di un corso di pianoforte.P.S. Non sappiamo se le puntate del podcast rimarranno ancora per molto... perciò scarica le puntate precedenti (prima che spariscano)!NOTE DELL’EPISODIO[1.16] I 6 elementi essenziali di una lettera di vendita- È il punto di partenza di un copywriter in erba- «Le regole sono solo l'inizio, la vera scrittura di una lettera comincia adesso»[6.20] La crisi delle miniere di carbone del West Virginia.- «Ero convinto di un'idea ed è venuta fuori lungo tutta quella lettera»- Una lettera non è mai un disastro nella misura in cui migliora quello che c’era già prima- Un mercato concorrenziale, dove si gioca al ribasso, è la situazione ideale… per i consumatori[11.09] La big idea di Robert Collier e la sua prima sales letter. Come usare le prove scientifiche per vendere schifezze industriali.- «Ero solo molto entusiasta della mia idea, e quell’idea deve aver dato corpo alla lettera»- Scrivere una lettera sull’onda dell’entusiasmo non basta, ma bisogna sperimentare e sperimentare.- Non esiste la lettera perfetta al primo colpo.- La big idea delle M&M’s era «Si sciolgono in bocca e non in mano»[21.37] Come Robert Collier risolse il problema del coke facendone una semplice analisi. Hopkins e la birra Schlitz. John Caples , lo storytelling un corso di pianoforte.- Tutti lo facevano, ma nessuno ne aveva mai parlato- La big idea vuol dire sfruttare qualcosa che qualcuno ancora non ha sfruttato- L’utilizzo di una storia inventata non dimostra niente nel mondo reale****************************************************************LE RISORSE CHE TI CONSIGLIAMO PER DIVENTARE ABILE COL COPY PERSUASIVO® :►► Il Piccolo Libro della Scrittura Persuasiva (NUOVA EDIZIONE): https://amzn.to/2LuUepi►► Il sistema completo per lanciare la tua attività con il copy persuasivo™: http://copypersuasivo.com/programma-sfornaclienti►► Il canale YouTube di Copy Persuasivo®: https://www.youtube.com/c/CopyPersuasivoSrl
Siamo arrivati alla fine della nostra lettera di vendita, quindi è il momento di fare un bel ripasso.Io e Bruno Rago in questa puntata ripercorreremo i 6 elementi essenziali che assolutamente NON possono mancare all’interno di una sales lettera che porti risultati.Per approfondire nel dettaglio questi elementi, puoi ascoltare la prima puntata di questa rubrica, che trovi nei link utili.Ciò che imparerai in questa puntata:- I 6 elementi imprescindbili di una lettera di vendita- Prove scientifiche: perché non puoi farne a meno se vuoi differenziarti dalla concorrenza- Big idea: cosa avevano di diverso le M&Ms dagli altri cioccolatini negli anni Sessanta?Seguiremo anche l’esperienza di Robert Collier quando cercò di salvare dal fallimento una miniera di carbone del West Virginia – prima di diventare la leggenda del copywriting che conosciamo.Parleremo anche di Claude Hopkins e la birra Schlitz, di John Caples, dello storytelling e di un corso di pianoforte.P.S. Non sappiamo se le puntate del podcast rimarranno ancora per molto... perciò scarica le puntate precedenti (prima che spariscano)!NOTE DELL’EPISODIO[1.16] I 6 elementi essenziali di una lettera di vendita- È il punto di partenza di un copywriter in erba- «Le regole sono solo l'inizio, la vera scrittura di una lettera comincia adesso»[6.20] La crisi delle miniere di carbone del West Virginia.- «Ero convinto di un'idea ed è venuta fuori lungo tutta quella lettera»- Una lettera non è mai un disastro nella misura in cui migliora quello che c’era già prima- Un mercato concorrenziale, dove si gioca al ribasso, è la situazione ideale… per i consumatori[11.09] La big idea di Robert Collier e la sua prima sales letter. Come usare le prove scientifiche per vendere schifezze industriali.- «Ero solo molto entusiasta della mia idea, e quell’idea deve aver dato corpo alla lettera»- Scrivere una lettera sull’onda dell’entusiasmo non basta, ma bisogna sperimentare e sperimentare.- Non esiste la lettera perfetta al primo colpo.- La big idea delle M&M’s era «Si sciolgono in bocca e non in mano»[21.37] Come Robert Collier risolse il problema del coke facendone una semplice analisi. Hopkins e la birra Schlitz. John Caples , lo storytelling un corso di pianoforte.- Tutti lo facevano, ma nessuno ne aveva mai parlato- La big idea vuol dire sfruttare qualcosa che qualcuno ancora non ha sfruttato- L’utilizzo di una storia inventata non dimostra niente nel mondo reale****************************************************************LE RISORSE CHE TI CONSIGLIAMO PER DIVENTARE ABILE COL COPY PERSUASIVO® :►► Il Piccolo Libro della Scrittura Persuasiva (NUOVA EDIZIONE): https://amzn.to/2LuUepi►► Il sistema completo per lanciare la tua attività con il copy persuasivo™: http://copypersuasivo.com/programma-sfornaclienti►► Il canale YouTube di Copy Persuasivo®: https://www.youtube.com/c/CopyPersuasivoSrl
Do you want to learn about direct marketing from the best in the world? listen to Drayton Bird on this week's show Direct Marketing by Drayton Bird “Drayton Bird knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world.” – David Ogilvy, founder of Ogilvy & Mather One of the world's greatest advertising men, David Ogilvy thought Drayton knew more about direct marketing than anyone in the world. In this podcast, Drayton shares insights about direct marketing, advertising and copywriting. What can you learn from that insight? What are the deadly sins that small businesses are making in their copywriting? The answer is the same as large businesses. Those sins can be summed up in THREE words... Failure to Study Even copywriters are guilty. Drayton shared a story about a group of UK copywriters. How many of them had read what Drayton considers to be the single most important book on copywriting and marketing - Claude Hopkins Scientific Advertising. Just 10% of those copywriters had. http://www.scientificadvertising.com/ScientificAdvertising.pdf Drayton says the overwhelming number of people in marketing know the 'square root of sod all'. Hopkins' book was originally published in 1923. BUY THIS BOOK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scientific-Advertising-Claude-Hopkins/dp/1603866361 Everything that Drayton writes now, is based on the principles that Hopkins established in this book. Ogilvy said nobody should have anything to do with advertising until they have read this book at least SEVEN times. Read the book and it will make your marketing better. What makes a good copywriter? Drayton says he was influenced by David Ogilvy, even before he met him. These are important if you want to be a copywriter (according to David Ogilvy)... Obsessive curiosity - be very curious about things. Do you love to learn about new things? Do you get fascinated by new clients' businesses? Skill at the art of nit picking High standards of personal ethics - good copywriters are big people without pettiness. Guts under pressure, resilience in defeat. - sometimes people don't respond, when you get turned down, it is depressing, so be persistent. Brilliant brains, not safe plodders - ordinary people are not good at writing copy. Most good copywriters tend to be a little odd in some way other. A capacity for hard work and midnight oil. Charisma, charm and persuasiveness. Ogilvy had a way of changing the subject without warning. The secret of success in advertising was 'charm'. A streak of unorthodoxy. Look at things from a different angle to other people. The courage to make tough decisions. Inspiring enthusiasts - got to be able to motivate. Inspire people to follow and trust you. A sense of humour. 44% of Britain don't like their jobs! A burning desire to take money off people. Get people to buy stuff. Drayton's book Commonsense Direct Marketing - note the testimonial on the fly - "Read it and re-read it, it contains the knowledge of a lifetime" David Ogilvy It all started because Drayton could not find a simple definition of direct marketing. Drayton has a revised version of his 1980s book "How to Write a Sales Letter that Sells" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Write-Sales-Letters-that-Sell/dp/0749438762 Also see Bob Bly's https://www.amazon.co.uk/Copywriters-Handbook-Step-step-Writing/dp/0805078045/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=M68BDAK67YG890TC70PB Direct Marketing Definition "Any communication that goes out to people directly, or if they respond to directly." Therefore, everything on the internet is all direct marketing. Which 2 Other Books Does Drayton Recommend? John Caples "Tested Advertising Methods" - https://www.amazon.com/Advertising-Methods-Prentice-Business-Classics/dp/0130957011 Caples created systems for testing. He tested everything to find out what did and didn't work. Are you happy to throw money at advertising without knowing wi...
The Direct Mail Solution Craig Simpson is the co-author of The Direct Mail Solution and a bone fide direct mail solution expert. The Direct Mail Solution is a book written to help business owners build a lead-generating, sales-driving, money-making direct mail campaign. His co-author is Dan Kennedy. The Direct Mail Solution: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Direct-Mail-Solution-Lead-Generating-Sales-Driving/dp/1599185180 The Direct Mail Solution - Craig Simpson & Dan Kennedy Craig is the real thing. A direct mail solution expert. His firm, Simpson Direct, based in Oregon, USA has mailed more than 300 million sales pieces, used thousands of mailing lists and sold hundreds of thousands of products, courses, services and newsletters. Additionally, Craig is co-author of The Advertising Solution, a book that captures lessons from 6 of the greats of advertising – Robert Collier, Claude Hopkins, John Caples, David Ogilvy, Gary Halbert and Eugene Schwartz. The Advertising Solution: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Advertising-Solution-Influence-Prospects-Multiply/dp/1599185962 The Eugene Schwartz Copywriting Focus Method Craig started the podcast discussion with an explanation of how Eugene Schwartz focused on writing copy. "It works phenomenal" Craig said about this method he uses himself, not just for writing, but for all areas of business. The technique is great for difficult projects. So how does the technique work? Every time you have a very difficult project, that you really don't want to do or it's more than you want to accomplish, Craig puts this method into practise. When Gene Schwartz, possibly one of the road's best ever copywriters, he would have all these ideas in his mind. Too many to easily just put them down on paper. Or maybe he would have no ideas at all. The Focus Technique Gene would never just sit down to write a sales letter from A to Z. Instead, he would sit down and set a timer. For 33 minutes and 33 seconds. Just an odd number, but about the length of time you can actively focus for. For that 33 minutes and 33 seconds, he would only work on this ONE project. No going to make coffee, or take a break, he'd just do this one thing for 33 minutes 33 seconds. First, he would just organising his thoughts and his research. Read something, and if he found something he liked he would write it down and put it in a little folder. As the project progressed, he would just organise his thoughts. But he would only work for 33 minutes and 33 seconds at a time. When the buzzer went off, at the end of that time slot, he would get up, EVEN if it was mid-sentence. He would stop right then and there. At that point, he's going to do whatever he wants to do. He'd take the dog for a walk, grab a snack, whatever it was he could do whatever he wanted. Then, he'd jump back in and set the timer again. He'd re-organise his thoughts and move things around. Gene always said, it was like the copy wrote itself. Because, you weren't sitting down to write it, you were only organising your thoughts for 33 minutes at a time. He write phenomenal pieces that generated $100millions for clients, because of this ONE method. He would repeat this 4 or 5 or 6 times a day and that's how he created his mail pieces. Was the Pomodoro Technique a straight copy of Eugene's? Kevin mentioned the Pomodoro technique, developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique Interestingly, some time after Gene Schwartz had been using the same method... The Pomodoro Technique Ask yourself, what is the one thing you can get done in the next 33 minutes 33 seconds? It is a really attainable tie-frame to work in. It's not like you are going to be overwhelmed with a huge long day. Simpson Direct - a business that has shipped more than 300 Million Direct Mail pieces Craig is a direct mail consultant and coach, so he sends out 250-300 different mail campaigns every year.
Stephen Covey famously said "seek first to understand, then to be understood." Too bad most copywriters skim over this important part of selling. For many copywriters, market research is just too difficult. For others, they just don't know where to start. In this episode, David covers those bases, and more. Many years ago, a golf ball company was running a successful mail-order ad in a golfing magazine. The company owner decided to update the ad, and brought in a top designer from New York to redesign it. To everyone’s horror, response to the ad dropped to zero. No one could figure out why. The copy had not been changed. The market was still hot and growing. There was no bad news about the golf ball company that anyone was aware of. Turned out, the top designer had redone the coupon in the ad to be solid black, with white lettering and white blanks to fill in. This caused a problem for customers, because to fill out the coupon, they would have needed a pen that wrote in white ink! The business owner ordered the coupon to be changed back to white, with black lettering. Once the ad published with the normal coupon, response shot right back up. What’s important here is that the company could figure out what was wrong until they did hands-on research, step by step, to determine what the customer would have to do to order. This episode is all about copywriting research, which makes a huge and measurable difference in the profitability of your advertising. But first, my friendly reminder for you: Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims… and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity… you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time. • How to research your customers: what they want, and what they need to read or hear in order to buy 1. Basic research – talk to them o Don’t ask them about your product – ask them about their problems o Ask questions like: ■ What’s the one problem with __ you’re having trouble finding a solution for ■ What happens or will happen when you don’t solve this problem? ■ Do you have an idea of what caused this problem? o Conversationally, ask them what specific solution to a specific problem, that’s important to them, they would like… that they can’t find anywhere right now o Or, if they can find a solution, ask them about what they don’t like, or they wish they had, that they don’t, in that solution o Pay close attention to the words they use. The exact words. Don’t try to “help” them, or to correct them. Just listen and keep ’em talking. The way they talk about problems and solutions, the exact words they use, are very important in the crafting of your copy. 2. Read reviews. Especially on Amazon and social media. Pay less attention to what they gush about (positive) than what they complain about (negative) o One review doesn’t make a trend. Multiple similar complaints do o The same languaging for the same complaint in different locations (ie on Amazon, in a forum, in a blog post) is a sure sign that you’re onto something you can use in your copy. o A reminder: You don’t just want to repeat their complaints. You want to also offer a unique, valuable solution that SOLVES their complaints! 3. If you have a product going and a customer service department, listen in on the customer service calls – make sure it’s legal – or, better yet, do a shift or two on customer service. You’ll learn tons. o People never have a hesitancy to complain. o Just listen at first. Don’t try to fix it right away. o Sometimes, the REAL complaint is “below the surface.” That’s why you want to give people time to get to it. The REAL complaint is the one charged with emotion. Sometimes it will come out of nowhere. Cherish that information… it is gold. o Example: Someone is talking about dry skin… then it gets to wrinkles… finally the REAL complaint comes out: “I just don’t want to look that OLD!” • What to research about your competition – especially, how to determine what’s missing in their products, and what you can do better and/or differently to make them prefer you over your competition 1. The simplest thing you can do with the highest probability of success is find out what complaints are about WINNERS – and fix the biggest complaints in your offer – and trumpet it loudly. o The first place to start is to look at successful competing ads from present day. Just look around; opt-in to lists of competitors; watch your Facebook account. You’ll start getting related ads remarkably quickly. o The second place to look is successful ads in different fields from present day. Could be closely related or not related at all. What you’re looking for is an example of a complete package of words and … that’s plagiarism, and you wan to avoid that at all costs. More about that a little later on. o Third place to look is old ads. There are a bunch of books like The Greatest Direct Mail Letters of All Time and They Laughed When I Sat Down: An Informal History of Advertising in Words and Pictures. Also, there’s a website – swiped.co. It’s free, and it has copies of many old ads you can look at. Claude Hopkins, John Caples, etc. Has current ads too. Promo’s running right now. As best I can tell, it’s free. 2. Find out what appeal current winners leading with in their ads… especially ads that rank high (like on Clickbank) or appearing often (like Google AdWords, or Facebook ads). o By now you should be familiar with the range of features and benefits of your product and related products. o Simply find out which one(s) are being used in headlines and lead generation. o That should give a starting point for your ad. Don’t copy word for word, but use the same idea in different words. Example: For a sleep aid, instead of “sleep soundly,” you could say “sleep all through the night.” It means the same thing, but the words are different, so you’re much safer. 3. Buy a competitor’s product and go through the entire sales cycle. Note what the upsells are. A successful product with successful upsells has zero’d in on, and nailed, the exact “mass desire” that will buy the most. o Get a sense of the structure and the content o Successful promotions usually have a theme. You’ll find the theme in the main product is repeated in the upsell. I heard a great example at a seminar, I think it was Nick Andrews who said it. If the main offer is Excedrin, the first upsell should be “extra strength Excedrin.” Look for patterns that you can adapt and duplicate. o A good funnel with email follow-up is very valuable research. Learn all you can before you design yours. • The secrets of profitably researching other ads that are winners in your field and other fields. Without plagiarizing, using what they are doing by adapting it to improve results with your own copy 1. Swiping – the difference between plagiarism and borrowing/adapting concept o This is hard to teach and advanced concept – but, worth knowing about. o The important thing to remember is there is a concept behind each successful ad… at least almost all of them. Also known as the Big Idea. o It might be a metaphor… it might be a huge claim… it might be comparing a well known news situation or landmark, like global warming or the Eiffel Tower, to a specific situation your prospect is concerned about or wants. Global warming could be compared to toxic mold in a person’s home. You could make a case that there is gold buried under the Eiffel Tower. (But you need to have some backup!) And then compare it to a business or investment opportunity. o The key thing is not to use the same elements. Instead of global warming, you might talk about disappearing species of animals. Instead of the Eiffel Tower, you might use London Bridge. That steers you away from plagiarism. 2. Swiping – the difference between plagiarism and borrowing/adapting structure o Same idea here o The way to swipe structure is to identify the different elements in copy, map it out, and follow your map with different copy o Headline – warning about threat o Opening – expands on the threat o Writer of letter introduces himself and talks about his relevant experience in regard to protecting yourself against this threat o … and so on. 3. Notice how competing successful ads get into the customer’s head (conversation already going on in the prospect’s mind) and what they’re doing with their offer that is fresh and innovative. o At the end of the day, this is what you’re looking for: The conversation going on in your customer’s mind o It’s always very specific and down-to-earth o More often than not, it’s about avoiding some specific pain or achieving some specific and probably elusive goal o That, more than anything else, is what your research should help you figure out.Download.
Stephen Covey famously said "seek first to understand, then to be understood." Too bad most copywriters skim over this important part of selling. For many copywriters, market research is just too difficult. For others, they just don't know where to start. In this episode, David covers those bases, and more. Many years ago, a golf ball company was running a successful mail-order ad in a golfing magazine. The company owner decided to update the ad, and brought in a top designer from New York to redesign it. To everyone’s horror, response to the ad dropped to zero. No one could figure out why. The copy had not been changed. The market was still hot and growing. There was no bad news about the golf ball company that anyone was aware of. Turned out, the top designer had redone the coupon in the ad to be solid black, with white lettering and white blanks to fill in. This caused a problem for customers, because to fill out the coupon, they would have needed a pen that wrote in white ink! The business owner ordered the coupon to be changed back to white, with black lettering. Once the ad published with the normal coupon, response shot right back up. What’s important here is that the company could figure out what was wrong until they did hands-on research, step by step, to determine what the customer would have to do to order. This episode is all about copywriting research, which makes a huge and measurable difference in the profitability of your advertising. But first, my friendly reminder for you: Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims… and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity… you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time. • How to research your customers: what they want, and what they need to read or hear in order to buy 1. Basic research – talk to them o Don’t ask them about your product – ask them about their problems o Ask questions like: ■ What’s the one problem with __ you’re having trouble finding a solution for ■ What happens or will happen when you don’t solve this problem? ■ Do you have an idea of what caused this problem? o Conversationally, ask them what specific solution to a specific problem, that’s important to them, they would like… that they can’t find anywhere right now o Or, if they can find a solution, ask them about what they don’t like, or they wish they had, that they don’t, in that solution o Pay close attention to the words they use. The exact words. Don’t try to “help” them, or to correct them. Just listen and keep ’em talking. The way they talk about problems and solutions, the exact words they use, are very important in the crafting of your copy. 2. Read reviews. Especially on Amazon and social media. Pay less attention to what they gush about (positive) than what they complain about (negative) o One review doesn’t make a trend. Multiple similar complaints do o The same languaging for the same complaint in different locations (ie on Amazon, in a forum, in a blog post) is a sure sign that you’re onto something you can use in your copy. o A reminder: You don’t just want to repeat their complaints. You want to also offer a unique, valuable solution that SOLVES their complaints! 3. If you have a product going and a customer service department, listen in on the customer service calls – make sure it’s legal – or, better yet, do a shift or two on customer service. You’ll learn tons. o People never have a hesitancy to complain. o Just listen at first. Don’t try to fix it right away. o Sometimes, the REAL complaint is “below the surface.” That’s why you want to give people time to get to it. The REAL complaint is the one charged with emotion. Sometimes it will come out of nowhere. Cherish that information… it is gold. o Example: Someone is talking about dry skin… then it gets to wrinkles… finally the REAL complaint comes out: “I just don’t want to look that OLD!” • What to research about your competition – especially, how to determine what’s missing in their products, and what you can do better and/or differently to make them prefer you over your competition 1. The simplest thing you can do with the highest probability of success is find out what complaints are about WINNERS – and fix the biggest complaints in your offer – and trumpet it loudly. o The first place to start is to look at successful competing ads from present day. Just look around; opt-in to lists of competitors; watch your Facebook account. You’ll start getting related ads remarkably quickly. o The second place to look is successful ads in different fields from present day. Could be closely related or not related at all. What you’re looking for is an example of a complete package of words and … that’s plagiarism, and you wan to avoid that at all costs. More about that a little later on. o Third place to look is old ads. There are a bunch of books like The Greatest Direct Mail Letters of All Time and They Laughed When I Sat Down: An Informal History of Advertising in Words and Pictures. Also, there’s a website – swiped.co. It’s free, and it has copies of many old ads you can look at. Claude Hopkins, John Caples, etc. Has current ads too. Promo’s running right now. As best I can tell, it’s free. 2. Find out what appeal current winners leading with in their ads… especially ads that rank high (like on Clickbank) or appearing often (like Google AdWords, or Facebook ads). o By now you should be familiar with the range of features and benefits of your product and related products. o Simply find out which one(s) are being used in headlines and lead generation. o That should give a starting point for your ad. Don’t copy word for word, but use the same idea in different words. Example: For a sleep aid, instead of “sleep soundly,” you could say “sleep all through the night.” It means the same thing, but the words are different, so you’re much safer. 3. Buy a competitor’s product and go through the entire sales cycle. Note what the upsells are. A successful product with successful upsells has zero’d in on, and nailed, the exact “mass desire” that will buy the most. o Get a sense of the structure and the content o Successful promotions usually have a theme. You’ll find the theme in the main product is repeated in the upsell. I heard a great example at a seminar, I think it was Nick Andrews who said it. If the main offer is Excedrin, the first upsell should be “extra strength Excedrin.” Look for patterns that you can adapt and duplicate. o A good funnel with email follow-up is very valuable research. Learn all you can before you design yours. • The secrets of profitably researching other ads that are winners in your field and other fields. Without plagiarizing, using what they are doing by adapting it to improve results with your own copy 1. Swiping – the difference between plagiarism and borrowing/adapting concept o This is hard to teach and advanced concept – but, worth knowing about. o The important thing to remember is there is a concept behind each successful ad… at least almost all of them. Also known as the Big Idea. o It might be a metaphor… it might be a huge claim… it might be comparing a well known news situation or landmark, like global warming or the Eiffel Tower, to a specific situation your prospect is concerned about or wants. Global warming could be compared to toxic mold in a person’s home. You could make a case that there is gold buried under the Eiffel Tower. (But you need to have some backup!) And then compare it to a business or investment opportunity. o The key thing is not to use the same elements. Instead of global warming, you might talk about disappearing species of animals. Instead of the Eiffel Tower, you might use London Bridge. That steers you away from plagiarism. 2. Swiping – the difference between plagiarism and borrowing/adapting structure o Same idea here o The way to swipe structure is to identify the different elements in copy, map it out, and follow your map with different copy o Headline – warning about threat o Opening – expands on the threat o Writer of letter introduces himself and talks about his relevant experience in regard to protecting yourself against this threat o … and so on. 3. Notice how competing successful ads get into the customer’s head (conversation already going on in the prospect’s mind) and what they’re doing with their offer that is fresh and innovative. o At the end of the day, this is what you’re looking for: The conversation going on in your customer’s mind o It’s always very specific and down-to-earth o More often than not, it’s about avoiding some specific pain or achieving some specific and probably elusive goal o That, more than anything else, is what your research should help you figure out.Download.
I flew over to the offices of Mindvalley in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to interview Ajit Nawalkha, co-founder at Evercoach (Part of Mindvalley) Topics: - How to start a company from scratch - How to build a business to 6 figures - Should you get affiliates before you have a proven offer? - Should someone with no history of delivering results create info products? - How to manage email lists? - How much training to give someone I’m interviewing Ajit Nawalkha, who’s the co-founder of Mind Valley India, and Ever Coach. Ajit has specialized in marketing (he has teams of people, running marketing in his company). I have a member who doesn’t know how to start, they are just starting up marketing, and they want to get into making money online, and become good at marketing, and travelling, and sales. They have no idea where to start: they don’t have a product yet, they don’t have a list yet, they don’t have an audience yet, and they don’t know how to get any of those things. Every time Ajit starts a new company, he always starts off by opening up a simple landing page, for any idea he wants to pursue in the future. The first step to starting a new business, is to understand the market, and how small or narrow you can go, and understand a little bit about the market, so you can create a business from there, and then go further into it. Ajit started a new coaching business nine month ago, where he addresses coaches, and teaches them how to get better. Instead of jumping straight into the business, he looked at if they had any existing leverage already: he looked at whether there was a place where he could get existing coaches already, who would show up and be interested. If he saw the interest, the second part was to throw up a landing page, run a couple of Facebook ads, and see if people would be interested. It’s a very easy target, if you know what you’re going to address. For example, if you were starting a coaching business today, you would throw up a landing page, using click farm, unbound, or whichever software you prefer. It costs like ninety dollars, or you might be able to get a free trial. Set up a landing page, with a simple headline saying: ‘how to xyx’ (whatever the xyz is). For Ajit it was ‘how to be a six figure coach’ because he was addressing coaches, and makeing them into better ones. 1. Which marketing books to read (copywriting etc) 2. How to do webinars better 3. The Mindvalley hiring strategy explained (how to take Facebook, Google employees and recruit them for your company) 4. Why hiring milennials is better for internet based companies Ajit recommends picking up anything written by Dan Kennedy, as well as a book called copy logic, written by Michael Masterson, which allows you to think logically about copy. Ajit also gets a lot out of anything written by John Caples. He writes about advertising, but all the concepts apply. Spin selling is a fantastic book, it’s written for people who pick up the phone. He’s found the concepts behind the spin selling model are applicable to anything. Ajit uses the same model for launches, for consulting calls, for webinars, and anything he has to promote or market. He also recommends to pick up a book called scientific advertising, it’s a really old book, but it’s a good one. It covers the basics of marketing, and you’ll feel like you already know it all when reading it, but if you really think about it after you’ve finished reading it, it will always give you something new to do, and follow through on. Ajit’s companies are very much pro about understanding the user experience, and have the most epic experience for every user. If you have a look at his funnel structures, they run a lot of funnels, which are a pile of webinars.
This week's show is an interview with Brian Kurtz, direct marketing expert and co-author of the must-have upcoming book The Advertising Solution. Click here to download or listen to this episode now. Tip of the Week Our tip this week is the app WhatSize. This app scans all the hidden files in your system and gives you the opportunity to dramatically increase the available space on your hard drive. Sean was able to free up 160gb of space in just 30 minutes! Spiritual Foundations This past week we held our Copywriting Virtual Summit where I gathered over twenty-five of the world’s leading direct response experts and marketers to share their best wisdom with anyone who has ears to hear. What does this have to do with Spiritual Foundations? Proverbs 19:20 tells us, “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” Seeking an outside perspective from qualified sources can give you answers you never knew existed to the challenges you face today. Like I tell the people in my mastermind, “You can’t read the label if you’re inside the bottle.” Selah. Feature Presentation Brian Kurtz is one of the heroes of direct response copywriting. He has over thirty-five years of experience in the field, and as the leader of Boardroom, Inc which was the proving ground for state of the art direct marketing and copywriting. He has been able to market and sell newsletters and books via direct response television (infomercials) and using e-mail and the Internet in huge numbers. At the height of his infomercial success, he was responsible for buying media in excess of $80 million and sold over 3 million books via direct response television over a three year period. Brian is also the co-author of one of the most important books in recent memory, The Advertising Solution. This modern-day masterpiece is a collection of direct response gems from six legends of copywriting…the original MadMen. Imagine sitting in a room with David Ogilvy, Claude Hopkins, Robert Collier, John Caples, Gary Halbert, and Eugene Schwartz as they imparted their greatest secrets of how to turn copy into cash. In this interview Brian reveals: Why this is the best time to be a marketer. The answer is right at your fingertips. How being grounded in the “old school” can make you a master of the “new school”. It’s a marriage made in Heaven. One of the most important tenets in copywriting. Do this and watch your sales skyrocket. The single best way to write original copy that sells…almost everyone does this the wrong way. And how to get your hands on hard to find swipe files, videos, and more from the direct response masters mentioned above…for FREE! While you’re thinking about it, go to TheLegendsBook.com and secure your copy of the book that should be sitting right next to the laptop of every serious copywriter out there. How To Help Subscribe to the show through iTunes and give us a rating and review. Make sure you put your real name and website in the text of the review itself. We will mention you on this show. We are also on Stitcher.com, so if you prefer Stitcher, please subscribe there. Get The Transcript Right-Click and “Save As” to Get the PDF Transcript.
Sales Funnel Mastery: Business Growth | Conversions | Sales | Online Marketing
In today's episode we talk to the $1.5 BILLION dollar copywriter - Clayton Makepeace. Clayton is an absolute legend in the industry and is now semi-retired, working with just one single client, yet he graciously came on the show to talk to us about how to write world-class copy that increases revenue every single time. This is a must-listen episode! Resources Mentioned awaionline.com Want To Work With Me? Visit http://www.JeremyReeves.com or email me at Jeremy@JeremyReeves.com Enjoy! Transcript Jeremy Reeves: Hey everyone, this is Jeremy Reeves with another episode of a sales funnel mastery podcast and today I have on the line, one of the best living copywriters in the world right now, his name is Clayton Makepeace, and I will let him get into his you know, into his background and all that kind of stuff and who he has worked for, what kind of copy he writes, and all that kind of stuff, but let us just say this, he has made -- he has up to 1.5 billion dollars in sales writing copy which blows me out of the water. So Clayton, how are you buddy. Clayton Makepeace: I am doing good. It is good to be here. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I am excited to have you. So before we you know, we get into questions and all that kind of stuff, tell everybody a little bit you know, go into a little bit more detail about who you are, who you have worked for, some of the copy you have done and that kind of thing so they can get a good understanding of who they are listening to. Clayton Makepeace: Sure, well, really quickly. I have been writing copy for 43 years, it is about to be 44. I started back in the 70s. I have written for the health industry as well as for financial. I started out in the financial industry and then people (inaudible 1:11.1) and said, hey, we want to start an alternative health newsletter, would you write a promo for it and I agreed reluctantly. So we launch Health and Healing which was the world’s first alternative health newsletter. We sold 2 million subscriptions to that $29 newsletter. Prior to that, I had taken two companies to over 100 million in sales (inaudible 1:42.4) we start from $300,000 a month in sales to $16 million a month in sales in 1 year. Jeremy Reeves: Wow! Clayton Makepeace: And then (inaudible 1:49.7) company from about $20 million a year in sales to $120 million and then I started freelancing again and did the Health and Healing thing for Phillips. Then in the late 90s, I established relationship with Weiss Research and we turned safe money reported to the largest $98 investment newsletter in the world at that time and (inaudible 2:23.4) doing their acquisition program as well as their health style promotions. We just completed one selling high price investment advisory service. The service went for $3,000 and we did 15 million dollars in 4 months on that promotion. So it is a lot of fun, keeps you active that is for sure. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, definitely, definitely. So that kind of gives everybody a good background that you clearly know what you are talking about after that much you know, that experience and you know, it is a pretty impressive you know resume. So I have a whole bunch of questions lined up for you and I could probably have you on the phone for the next like be in a week and a half straight, but we will kind of keep it within you know 45 minutes or so. So I kind of -- I have some questions some are for copywriting you know, just salesmanship and then the other ones are for basically, I think it is going to help really anybody in the service industry you know, get clients and then also make like maximize the money that they make with clients you know, themselves and for other clients. So let us start with something of the copy questions. So my first one is and this is you know, I know that you could probably talk about this one for an entire day, but you know, when you are researching and you are one of the big things with copywriting and you know, writing any kind of package is the big idea you know, the hook. So what is your process for finding that you know, because there is one big one for each and another is kind of like a couple of mini ones even throughout the packages, but do you have any kind of specific process that you go through with that or do you kind of just keep like researching until it you know, until it hits you or what are your thoughts on that. Clayton Makepeace: Well, usually the hooks come fairly quickly to me. I do not have to -- I almost never do research in order to come up with a hook. I am looking for you know, what is a hook? What is the purpose of it? Right. Well it is something that is going to focus the mind on either the problem that the product solves or on the solution itself, right. So if you are focusing the mind, let us say, in the financial area. You are focusing the mind on the problem well the problem might be an impending crash in the stock market. So that would be your lead. That is where you would be focusing on. You would be explaining why you know this is about to happen. How much people lost last time. How you know, bloody it is going to be this time that kind of thing and you would begin with that. That would be your hook. If you have a product that has a really unique solution, then you might begin with that and that is basically the big promise headline. We have -- we are working at a promotion right now where the profit potential from these investments if you win is like winning a lottery. It is like you know, even that is $10,000, walk away with 10 million dollars. I mean it is just enormous, okay. So, on something like that, you might want to lead with the actual benefit of the product. Also, quite often we will look at the product and I will say, what is a good metaphor and we are talking about the lead you know, how to get in, how to start the conversation. So I will say, what is the good metaphor for what this product does. One of the products I am working on right now, look at it, okay, well this product is like having a rich uncle anytime I need money I just need to call him up and he will send a check or it is like having my own personal ATM or is like having a money tree in my backyard. Anytime I need a little extra money, I just go out and just pick it off of the tree or it could be -- maybe it is like a slot machine that pays off every single time you pull the handle, right. So I came up with a bunch of these metaphors that very quickly focus the mind on the benefit. Wow, could it really be that easy, right, and then it is just up to you to explain, yeah, it can be. Here is how it works. Maybe it could be a story if you have one or it could be constructed or it could be (inaudible 7:05.7) from the news. Anything that your prospect is thinking about -- he has feelings about. So he is worried about it. He is curious about it. He is fearful about it. He is excited about it. So somebody is reading about the elections right now for example that is dominating the news. How are they feeling about the elections. How are they feeling about the various candidates. How can you take what he has already thinking about and insert yourself into that conversation that he is having with himself. So those are just some of the things that I look for when I am looking for a lead. Jeremy Reeves: Okay, nice. What if it say something like you know, because even in the -- I do a lot of work in the like in a supplements base health, the health industry and some of the products that (inaudible 7:54.9) a lot of benefits. So one example is like turmeric you know, it does not just do one thing, it is like it helps with your brain, it helps with you know, metabolism and fatigue and all different kind of things. How do you -- if it is something like that works not just like the one big benefit or one big problem that is kind of like mixed up you know, how do you take a look at things like that. Clayton Makepeace: Well I have done a lot of supplement promotions as well. In fact, I have one -- we mailed 90 million pieces of. It was for (inaudible 8:27.4) for health resources. I have to say that, basically, you stopped looking at the product and you start looking at your market you know, if a particular substance lifts your mood and also prevents heart disease which do you think you should leave it. You know, you are going to leave with a health problem that is shared by the largest number of your people and that is also intense enough to make him want to take action to alleviate it and that is why you know, typically and I know there are some promotion now where brain supplements are starting to work and anti-aging to a lesser extent, but those things have never done as well as because you are talking about things that are not screaming, crying, problems that people have right now, right. So they have never worked as well as the prostate cure, the heart cure, the blood pressure cure, the cancer cure you know, arthritis cure you know, the things have people are dealing with every single day. So I would look for the benefit that shared by the most people and is also intense enough to cause people to want immediate relief. Jeremy Reeves: Okay, got it. That makes a lot of sense. And so you know, speaking of you know, a lot of -- I mean really, a lot of it comes down to or almost everything comes down to understanding who you are talking to you know, so I am sure you have some kind of process for doing the research, understanding the market, understanding the product that you are selling, all that kind of stuff. Do you have like a structure way of doing that or you kind of just start you know, dig in somewhere and then see you know, where it leads you or is it something like you do this first then second you know, how do you -- Clayton Makepeace: I do not have to worry about that too much anymore because I am focusing on the financial market and so you know, I learned decades ago who these people are and I have got a pretty good handle on that. It has not changed much over the years, but for example, when I went in to the health market for the first time it was like 1990 and I was doing my first health promotion and I say, well I do not even know who these people are you know, there bunch of -- (inaudible 10:48.7) you know, obsessed with their own health and so I did not share anything in common with those folks and so I went to the bookstore and I went to the aisle with all the books on various aspects of alternative health and I started looking at the chapter titles. The titles of the books and also the chapter titles and I figured out you know, which ones were the best sellers and so again, you know, the people I am going to be talking to are the people who made these the best sellers, right. Then I went to the news rack and I looked at the alternative health magazine like prevention and others and all other world health magazine and I looked at the various covers that they had and you know, I knew from friends of mine that did work for (inaudible 11:48.6) had several covers for prevention magazine each time it went out and so they had years of research on what kinds of articles (inaudible 12:01.7) on the cover that sell the magazine. Jeremy Reeves: Okay. Clayton Makepeace: So you know, by looking at what -- again, by looking at what my prospects are reading I got some really good cues as to who they were and what would get them and then also you can go to the Standard Rate and Data Service which is (inaudible 12:23.2) 30-pound book (inaudible 12:25.9) can get it all electronically, but Standard Rate and Data Service, you can look up all the competitors of your client. You can also look up your client and you can find out what the people bought in order to get his list. Then finally, you go to your client you say, hey look, show me what has worked in the past. Show me what has not worked in the past. Show me the most effective or successful promotion in any of your competitors are using and show me some (inaudible 12:58.1) that they put out there.” And all of that is -- not just a cue to what is working, it is a clue to you know, who your market is and what will get their attention. Jeremy Reeves: Okay, got you. So at this point you know, you have your -- you understand who you are talking to, you have the lead, you have the you know, the headline, the big idea all that kind of stuff so then you know, you kind of write the package. How about the offers? That is an area that I found that a lot of people do not put enough attention on you know, and I have worked with -- I worked with I mean everybody from you know, people kind of just starting to work with the 12-figure company right now. And a lot of -- I have done a couple with like infomercial kind of products and when I worked with them, I noticed that like 80% of their thinking at least goes into exactly what the offer is going to be you know. So when you are putting these packages together, how do you put an offer together including you know, the bonuses, the price point, even the names of the products, things like that. Clayton Makepeace: There is a lot there. Mainly the products for example, we are not selling Campbell suits so we do not have to you know, naming strategies are very different in the retail space than they are in the directors (inaudible 14:14.3) because in the retail space, the whole idea to come up with the name that will stick in someone’s mind so the next time they are at the store maybe they will remember your product and buy it, right. Very tenuous. (inaudible 14:28.0) direct response (inaudible 14:29.1) very nervous with that kind of nebulous, tenuous connection, but that is what they are doing you know. They are just trying to get a name that will stick in your brain. In our promotions, the name of the product quite often does not show up until 2/3 of the way through the promotion you know. We (inaudible 14:49.6) third of the promotion capturing the guys attention getting him to read. The next they are telling our story and the final (inaudible 14:57.2) presenting our solution which is a product. So the name of the product is less important to us; however, whenever I may name a product I tried to get a benefit into the name and I try not to worry about it being too descriptive. For example, I am working on something right now, it is a service that helps you invest in small mining shares, right. A gold mining companies that are very small and the stock is cheap. They are called Junior Miners. You know, somebody wanted to call it Junior Miner, (inaudible 15:39.0) something like that, right. Well that is descriptive, but there is no benefit there and also there is too much information. The word junior makes me think that maybe the service is not worth that much so you know, because I do not know if you are really -- if junior is modifying miners or if you know, describing a service you know, it would be quite simple to just drop it and say, Mining Millionaire you know, we are gold mining millionaire. Now you got gold because you know that your market is extremely excited about gold. Mining which is descriptive. We are not you know, we are not buying bullion we are buying money shares and millionaire which is the benefit, right. So I tend to look at it that way for (inaudible 16:31.3). The author needs to write -- if you are a freelancer though your client has already spent hopefully hours and hours on author and comes to you with a product that is fairly well conceived and (inaudible 16:46.4) comfortable with based on their own testing and their own track record. So that is usually good, but I always encouraged writers if you see something that you think can be improved, talk to your client about it because they love that. They feel like they are getting something extra other than just copywriting. I just had a situation where they gave me a product per month and I said, I absolutely hate it and they said, well, we are going to do it anyway and I said, well, okay, and I just turned to one of my junior copywriters and I said good luck buddy you know, this is your project and then probably should say this, well, actually Clayton, we are hoping you would write it. So I said okay, you know, I guess you know, if that will make you happy, I will write about it -- tell you right upfront this really sucks. And so the first thing I did was I changed the name of the service (inaudible 17:42.4) was I changed the focus of the service and the next thing I did was I changed the offer. It was the buy 3 years kit, 5 years offer. I changed the guarantee -- basically, I did not have to promote the service that they told me to promote because I completely changed it into something that it was not (inaudible 18:01.4) to promote. Jeremy Reeves: Nice. Clayton Makepeace: So when you see opportunities like that, take them you know. In terms of the author, basically you are just looking to create as much value as you can. We have a fairly standard template in the newsletter field. If you subscribe to 1 year, you will get 1 or 2 special reports and a premium. So you are connected with the subject matter at hand, and if you take 2 years, you will get 3 to 4 additional reports and the reports are given a value and so you know, the best offer you get you know, I just wrote 1 week at $700 in free gifts and discounts and so in terms of the price of those newsletters basically the industry will said the price for you because you are competing against other newsletters and so you know, you look around and you will say okay, well $29 seems to be what I am competing against. We can always have up or down from there, but that is kind of the industry standard. With pricing for premium service products, the price is directly related to the profit potential of the advice that you are given. So if you are doing an income service where you basically promising them that you will double their yield and they will get 6% instead of 3%. You can charge $5,000 a year for that because unless they got a couple of million dollars that they are investing you are not generating that much money for them. So you know, your price is lower, but if you got option service or a warrant service that has (inaudible 19:40.7) you can demonstrate of 2%, 3%, 4000% per trade. Now you are talking of service where you can charge a lot more money and the other variable course (inaudible 19:53.0) some of the service is we have to limit the number of people that can get in because of liquidity problems and so we you know, we will limit 500 or 1000 people, with that limit it is just (inaudible 20:08.9) to raise the price. So those are just some of the things that we look at in terms of offer. Jeremy Reeves: Okay, yeah, got you. So how about for buyers, it is kind of another you know, another area that I see -- huge mistake that a lot of people make typically online you know, people they call themselves you know “online marketers” you know, they are all focus on getting the lead you know, getting the first customer then they kind of forget about the buyers which is obviously a giant mistake because that is where all the money is you know. So what about buyers, you know, you write all these promotions to get people, I mean, you know, they are both first time buyers and then repeat buyer promotions, but do you have anything in place any specific examples that you can think of where it was a very structured approach like you had a package that was specifically meant just to get a first time buyer and get them in the door and then you had something that went on or hold sequence that went out to then get them you know, to kind of you know, opt in to the higher level packages. Clayton Makepeace: You know, for some really good stuff on that you should talk to Todd Brown. I can give you his contact information. Jeremy Reeves: Oh, yeah, (inaudible 21:18.4). Clayton Makepeace: Okay, so Todd is really great on this but you talked about funnels and yeah we have -- if you buy a product from us, let us say you come in as a lead and your response is something on Americas 10 best (inaudible 21:36.6) right. It is a special report, so you read the report and you opted in, you come to a squeeze page so we have your email address, but you do not buy anything okay, so you come on to our (inaudible 21:50.4) well there is a 7-week funnel process that you are about to go through as a new lead on our funnel. The first week and it is really interesting because first we assumed that you are (inaudible 22:09.0) because you like the product that you are looking at, but you just did not buy it. So we come back to you with a better offer and then we try another product along those same lines and then we will try something wildly different. And something else wildly different. Each week is a week long campaign where we -- with a deadline because a deadline is the most powerful tool you got online to get people to act. So 1 week campaign aimed at moving you into one of these products. After 7 weeks you see that the totality of what we have available for you. And there is a very good chance you will obey the purchase. If you come in having bought a product you will also get a funnel designed to introduce you to (inaudible 22:59.4) and introduce you to other products so we could basically cross sell you. You come in on a $29 newsletter, we can cross sell you to another $29 newsletter or we could push you all the way up to a $3,000 trading service, and it is amazing. Some of these people come in for $29 and their next purchase is $3,000. Others come in at $29 and they will buy another $29 and another $29 for God knows how long so that is on the low end of the scale. It is a wide end of the funnel, right. The leads that come in and the first time buyers of low price product. So funnels are the answer there and Todd is great because he automates and does all kinds of fancy stuff and he can be working with us on our stuffs too. The other thing is will you buy a high price service. It is a complete (inaudible 23:54.6) deal. If you just spent $3,000 with me I am not interested in selling you another product right now. What I am interested to doing is making absolutely sure you do not exercise the money back guarantee because you know I sell 15 million dollars worth of products, half of those people cancel I am out 7 million dollars, 7.5 million. So you know, it is very important to me to get you to consume the service and to experience some winners and so the funnel there is not aimed at making a sale at all, but is aimed at getting you to participate to engage with the service, to consume it, and so very different kind of approach. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, definitely. I call that a personal coach campaign because you are kind of taking them through like you know, just getting them to use the product, get a result from it that kind of thing. I love it. Clayton Makepeace: Exactly. Jeremy Reeves: Alright. So how about -- I have a feeling that we have similar thoughts on this, but what are your thoughts on writers block. Clayton Makepeace: Yeah. I do not ever have it, I used to, but over the years I have developed an approach to writing so that before I ever have to sit down and do the hard work of actual writing I have something that approximates the rough draft, but I did not have to write you know. So I go to the process of outlining you know, I will sit down -- let us say you give me a product, right. And the first thing I need to do is read the product profile. Identify the benefits and any unique selling proposition. You know, a lot of our products will have benefits that are common with other products that hopefully some of them will also have unique benefits that no other product has so I am looking for that and then I asked myself several questions. First question is what must my prospect believe in order for this product to become absolute mandatory for him to purchase. What must he believe in order to make this a mandatory purchase for him. The second question (inaudible 26:13.6) identify 2 or 3 things maybe 3 or 4 things. My next question is you know, what must I say to him or show him to make him believe those things without a shadow of doubt and that is my researcher question, right. You know, what chart do I need to show. What quote do I need from the famous person. What do I need to show him to absolutely nail down you know, that this is a mandatory purchase. Then I got this Ryan Deiss we were on the phone the other day with my mastermind group and Ryan is a real cool guy. I love the way he thinks and he said, he likes to sit down and basically draw a word picture of his prospect before he uses the product and after he uses the product you know. Basically this is -- and you can use it just like that in your copy you know. In fact, I did it once with the (inaudible 27:18.9) product where I showed this guy reversing his own heart disease and canceling his appointment with the heart surgeon you know. In picture 1, he is on the bed at (inaudible 27:30.9) and in picture 2, he is out dancing (inaudible 27:33.6) or something. So you know, you have this before and after picture. How is this product going to change your prospects life. How is it going to bring value to his life. How is it going to change him as a person. And then finally the final question I asked is what is he worried about, frustrated about, angry over, or excited about right. What are the things in his life that have him feeling these emotions. There are typically -- what I am looking for here are topical things, news, things in the news you know, because this is how I am going to get his attention. You know that old national anthem (inaudible 28:22.9) you know (inaudible 28:24.8) the word sex and then underneath it just said, now that I have your attention and then you know, it told you what was in the magazine. That is a very effective technique for what we are doing, not quite that blatant. I am doing a campaign right now for example that has to do with credit spreads, right. What could be more boring than credit spreads, right. So how did I start the engagement process. Well, I looked around and I said what is that everyone thinking about right now. What is everyone have their (inaudible 29:00.7) right now, the elections, you know. If you are republican, you hate other republicans because they vote for Cruz and you vote for Trump, you know. If you are a democrat, you hate republicans and you hate other democrats that are supporting Hillary if you (inaudible 29:17.5) support. So you know, everybody is up in arms over the elections and so that is all anyone is thinking about, it is all in the news. So instead of starting my campaign talking about credit spreads, I started out by doing a survey and asking people to tell me who is going to win the election you know, who is going to win this nomination, who is going to win that nomination. And then over time, and I said I will give you my prediction (inaudible 29:44.7) in the meantime I want (inaudible 29:46.7) from you. Like that is the conversation started that way but then later when my analyst said you know what he was predicting. His prediction was you know what, it does not matter because this thing which I named the golden red show, is credit spread is already determined that we are about to go through 4 years of hell in this country no matter who is president and so now is my transition into the product. You know, that is how you use this topic (inaudible 30:23.7) to get their attention. Now that was a stretch usually you do not have to go through that much of a stretch but that is an example of a stretch. So that is it, and I take those things and I create a strategy document and I create an outline for what I am going to write then I say, what is the (inaudible 30:44.3) do we need here in order to make this point and that because my research request. And now I sit down ay my computer and I have got this completed outline with all of the facts and figures in it and it is time to start writing. Jeremy Reeves: And you are already 80% done? Clayton Makepeace: 80% done. You are right, you know. So now you just have to turn it into a conversation, simple, you know. Jeremy Reeves: Nice, I love it, yeah. I actually -- I like how you kind of laid it out like what do they have to believe you know and then how do you, you know, what do you have to say to have them believe that. I love that. I am going to start using that actually. That is good. Alright, so moving into a little bit more of the business side of all this. I have a couple of things in here for people who are on the service side of thing, but then also you know, also clients who are hiring people like us you know, so what do you see -- I am trying to figure how to say this, when you are -- actually you know what, let us start with this one. When you are working with clients and they complained about people they are hiring you know, contract or service providers, copywriters, marketers, things like that, what are some of the things that they, that kind of you know, piss them you know, that pisses them off a little bit about people they are hiring you know, taking away the results and all that kind of stuff because that is you know, you kind of get the result or you do not. But you know, in terms of like the working relationship you know, what are some of the things that you see clients not particularly enjoying about working with copywriters. Does anything come into mind. Clayton Makepeace: Yeah. A lot of things. I am a client you know, I have gone to a point where although I write copy every day, I also hire other writers every day and I have got a staff 3 in-house writers. We also hire freelancers. So I see it all the time. I think the first you know, the first thing is, this is not my first -- this is my first rodeo. So do not try blowing smoke at my ass you know. It is physically impossible if 3 grandmothers all die while you are in this process you know, or you know, 6 grandfathers to get hospitalized still you cannot make your deadlines. If you are struggling, if you need help ask for it. If you do not understand your assignment, if you have questions ask them you know. It is a sign of intelligence you know. It is a sign that you thought this through, you thought about it and you have some valid questions. I am working with Eric Patel right now. Eric is a great writer. One of the top guys in health industry and every once in a while, he will work with me on a financial project. Eric is just, he is great that way you know, he is very intuitive, but there is no question he would not ask. The other thing is you know, communicate, if you are going to blow a deadline, that is fine. You know, Gary (inaudible 33:54.9) once said to me you know, I hired him to do a project, but I asked him when I am going to expect the first draft and he says, Clayton, my man, he goes the heartbreak of a blown deadline, has quickly forgotten in the warm blow of the new control. That is so true you know, but just do not be working on somebody else’s project and you know, we are doing -- not working on my project and putting me off. At some point, I am going to give you a kill if he did not tell you (inaudible 34:30.1) call me again. Another mistake that probably the most -- 2 mistakes real quick and then we can move on. The first mistake in copy that I see all the time is just (inaudible 34:46.4) or a disconnect between the product or the problem that you are talking about and the solution that you are offering you know, this happens a lot in the financial field. It would happen a lot less in the health area, but in the financial field it happens a lot (inaudible 35:05.8) with some like the elections that their backend is all about something else and there is no connection whatsoever. There is no transition. There is no way that these 2 have halves of this puzzle fit together. The other one is copywriters who will just simply make grand sweeping statements and expects the prospect to believe them you know, (inaudible 35:37.7) your prospect is not an idiot, she is your wife you know, and so you treat your prospect with respect. If you are going to make a statement as hard to believe, back it up. If you are going to make any kind of a statement that is key to them making the purchase, back it up you know, and respect their intelligence. Do not -- you know, read it critically. One of the hardest things for copywriter to do, you are in love with your copy, you just spent a month on it (inaudible 36:11.5) The hardest thing for you to do is to read it as a critique would, as a scenic you know, read it and say, oh, bullshit every other line you know, and ask yourself how can I make this absolutely believable. Jeremy Reeves: I actually -- sorry I cut you off. Really quick, I was listening to an interview, I think it was David Doidge, I might have that (inaudible 36:35.6). Clayton Makepeace: We are having dinner with David tonight. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, so you could ask him if he said it. It was a couple of weeks ago, I think I forgot, I listened to all kinds of stuff. I think it was him though and he was talking about the amount of benefits to put in a package and he said, he was saying that sometimes you can have too many benefits because it dilutes the big promise that you are making you know, and I love that and he said a lot of people the mistake they make is saying you are going to get you know, A, B, C, D, E, F, G you know, all the way down to Z and then they do not back up each individual one with you know, with proof and he said that actually because you know, even like little -- it kinds of adds up if they do not believe a tiny a little bit it is like okay you know, I will keep going, but then if you say 10 things and you are not backing up 10 things then they are like alright, this guy is bullshit you know. Clayton Makepeace: Absolutely. Think of the situation where you have the one main benefit that you really focus on your entire package and then in one section of a copy you say, oh by the way you know, users have also recorded the following: Bullet, bullet, bullet, bullet, right. But they are pushed way down. You do not have to believe those things in order to buy, right. The whole reason to buy the product is that one major reason you have upfront. Jeremy Reeves: I love it. So working with clients, I know you have always been huge on doing you know, (inaudible 38:03.7) deals, royalties, things like that you know. How do you go about structuring it with the client. I know in most of the area that you have worked with that is kind of you know, (inaudible 38:15.1) and all that. That is kind of like what they do you know, so they are used to that, but if you are going after somebody who they were not in that world like it was a new thing to them you know, how do you go about approaching them with (inaudible 38:28.8) hey, I am going to write this for you for X dollars, it will take you know whatever 8 weeks or whatever it is you know, how would you kind of position the pitch to get a royalty from it or some kind of (inaudible 38:40.3) deal you know, something beyond the one-time fee structure. Clayton Makepeace: You know, Jay Abraham did this with the IcyHot. It is actually a little well -- it depends on the kind of (inaudible 38:55.9) you are talking about. If you go to a work for Agora they already have a royalty program all set up. They know what their use (inaudible 39:02.6) you might be able to negotiate up a little bit if you have a super hot hand, and they really want you, but pretty much, they have a standard royalty rate you are going to pay. When you go to somebody that is not used to paying royalty or does not used to hire any copywriters, then you can do what a friend of mine did once. He just simply said, look, I am going to give you two choices in terms of how to pay for this, you could cut me a check right now for $25,000 and I write this or you can cut me a check for $5,000 now and give me 10% of revenues, if it works, right. So you know, most of these people are not that bright frankly and they are going to say, I am sorry but it is true, they just instinctively in a knee-jerk manner will go to the lower cost today. They will go to the $5,000 you know, but I had a project once where I had 10% revenues and for 30 days work I got paid 2 million dollars. So you know, I mean it is a -- and Jay Abraham made like 20 million on that IcyHot deal, you know. So you know, I like that idea of giving him a choice. One time I even went so far if you you know, every once in a while maybe 5 or 6 times in a lifetime if you are lucky, you will come across this guy with a kick butt product who does not have the first clue about marketing and he knows he has got a great product and he just cannot figure out why nobody is buying it, and you can go to him and -- you only do this if you are absolutely sure, but you can go to him and say, man I tell you the truth, I would pay you to (inaudible 41:08.2) and write this, but here is what I am going to do, I am going to write a promotion and I am not going to charge you a penny, but I want 10% or ask for 20% you know of the revenues and negotiate down from there. So you know, either give him a choice or let him pick the one that is going to end up making you the most money because it is less money out of pocket for him upfront or I mean use that -- I ended up with a 5 year client out of research publications by making that offer to Johnny Johnson back in the 70s. I said, you know, your (inaudible 41:45.2) I can really kill it, you know, and I tell you what, I am going to write a promotion for you, if you promise to mail it, test it, I will write a promotion for you and if it works, you pay me my normal upfront fee and my royalty, if it does not work, you pay me nothing and it is like a no brainer. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, definitely. I take it you know, if I was hiring someone and they said it to me. I think that is you know, I think you -- kind of just have to look at that as you know, what would I you know, what would be a no brainer it is almost like putting together an offer just for a product but you are doing it a service you know. Clayton Makepeace: Exactly, and think if you are talking to somebody, you put yourself in a client’s shoes. You talk to somebody and they show that kind of confidence you are going to want to hire him. Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, definitely. Alright, so we are kind of coming up on time here. So let us do two really quick questions. This first one might take a minute or two and then the second one is a really quick one. So the first one is, if you look back over your career you know, it is now spanning you know, whatever it was 46 years or whatever it was, if someone was you know, kind of in the beginning stage of that or you know whatever the stage of that and you were looking back over your career and there were like 2 or 3 big things that you know, held you back that you can help somebody to kind of not hit those road blocks you know, what would they be and let me know that -- that question came out a little bit weird, let me know if that was clear. Clayton Makepeace: Yeah, I think you are asking what would I ask if I was you know, -- Jeremy Reeves: Yeah, exactly. Clayton Makepeace: Well, the cool thing is you know, today, there is 9 million people out there well I would not overstate it, but today you have access (inaudible 43:37.8) good copy coaches, right. So back when I was getting started (inaudible 43:43.4) was my copy coach. I was brand new, he is a little older than me. He was already established and so I heard he was a good writer and I figured out who he was writing for and I subscribed to their publications and so I started getting all his great direct mail pieces and I would run you know, run at the mail box grab at one end and get my scissors out, I start cutting them out. I had a book for headlines. I had you know, I outlined a piece so -- it was amazing how consistent his outlines were. And I would look at the subheads, I look at every part of the author. I would memorize it. I never would steal anything but you are internalizing all of the stuff so the next time you write something is there. You get what he is doing right without doing anything verbatim. So that was how we had to (inaudible 44:37.5) and then my buddy, Gary Halbert, came along, Dan Kennedy came along, AWAI came along and Gary Bencivenga with his Bencivenga bullets. All of these guys are there to help and so you know, you got to take advantage of this. This is like it is a gift from (inaudible 45:03.0) from heaven you know, that you got these writers who have done great things in their careers and they are willing to help you. The questions that I would have had would have been pretty much the ones that you have asked me today. The ones about how do you connect with your market. How do you organize your promotions. How do you avoid writers (inaudible 45:29.4). How do you structure an offer you know, all of those things, and it is amazing when Mike Palmer came to visit a couple of weeks ago and we have drinks and Mike is a guy that wrote End of America for Stansberry. He sold 750,000 subscriptions after that one video sales letter and you know, just to talk to my -- and we were just sharing, well, how do you do this, how do you do that and our approaches were so different, but I learned from him and I think he may have learned a little bit you know, from me. In fact, one time, Mike called me up and said, can I just come to your office and sit in front of your desk for 2 days. I just want to -- I do not want to talk, I just want to watch you work and I said sure you know. So you know, he did that and like I said earlier, we have a dinner with David Doidge tonight, your friend (inaudible 46:31.9) to get his career started. All of these people have slightly different approaches to how they do things (inaudible 46:39.6) will sit down and write 350 fascinations before he starts writing a copy you know, and you can learn from each of them. So you know, I guess what that boils down to his networking you know. Spent time with other writers. Go to the American Writers and Artists boot camp every year in October. You will meet 500 or 600 other writers there. Join a mastermind. I have got a mastermind group. We had a couple of group members and we all share secret Facebook page plus we have webinars every month. So you are constantly (inaudible 47:16.0) each craft plus you can show your copy to other people, other copywriters give (inaudible 47:24.5) so you know, networking is very, very important. It is a gift that we have today and you take advantage of it. Jeremy Reeves: Definitely. Fully agree. Absolutely. Alright, so the final question is and you can throw out as many as you want, one or twenty or you know, whatever kind of pops in your head, but what are some of your favorite copywriting or marketing books, because a lot of times you know, some of the best copywriting books are not you know actually copywriting books you know, so besides any of your own stuff obviously you know, because I have gone through them and they are just ridiculous (inaudible 47:59.1) amazing there, but you know, any kind of you know, normal books. What pops in your head as kind of must reads for people either learning copywriting or just marketing you know selling in general. Clayton Makepeace: Well, you know, I kind of find I guess because I am an old guy you know, when I read modern day books, current day books, and copywriting, they seemed to me (inaudible 48:23.0) regurgitation of what Claude Hopkins wrote, what John Caples wrote, what David Ogilvy wrote, what (inaudible 48:33.5) wrote, what Eugene Schwartz wrote. Those are the guys -- I was speaking last year at the boot camp for AWAI and American Writers and Artist and I asked a question, how many of you have read Tested Advertising Methods, and maybe 10% of the people in the room raised their hand. Now these are people who just spent thousands of dollars to go through a conference on copywriting and they had read the masters, you know, blows my freaking my mind. You can go to a library, get this book for free and read it and it is pure gold, right. So again, Caples, Hopkins, Ogilvy, Eugene Schwartz anything by Mark Ford too, more modern day, Mark is absolute brilliant guy. Ready, Fire, Aim is awesome. He wrote copy logic with Mike Palmer, is also awesome. So you know, that would be my advise you know, to go to those guys and read all of the masters first and then start building up what they already knew what 100 years ago, 50 years ago. Jeremy Reeves: They figured it out a long time ago. I cannot even imagine what they could do if they were alive now with all the you know, split testing, so easy now and all that kind of stuff, it is just (inaudible 50:06.0) brilliant, but yeah, I totally agree. For anybody listening, if you know, they were a lot of things for (inaudible 50:12.3) so I will -- I will put all of my favorite books which are basically the same ones into the show notes so you can go and I will have the links to all of them and all that kind of stuff so you do not have to worry about remembering all the different names. You just click on the link. Well, hey, Clayton, I really appreciate you coming on. It was really fun for me. I was really looking forward to this interview as a copywriter myself. You are kind of a you know, you are one of the legends you know, so it was an honor having you on. Before we hop off you know, what can people do to find out more about you, get in touch you know, wherever you want to -- wherever you want to send them. Clayton Makepeace: Well, you can contact American Writers and Artist Institute. You can go to their site, awaionline.com and poke around, looking for me. If you cannot find information on my mastermind group you can always send an email though to help you out. Also, ask them about August, I am going to be doing an intensive, I think it is going to be in Denver and the point of this intensive is basically speed writing, I am known as one of the fastest copywriters out there and I am going to take for 3 days, I am going to take a group of 50 writers and we are going to -- I am going to teach them my method for creating really great sales pages in a week or less. So check that out too. Jeremy Reeves: Sounds fun. I am going to check that out myself actually. Sounds good. It was -- again, it was a pleasure having you off and we will talk to you soon. Clayton Makepeace: Alright, take care. Thanks for having me. Jeremy Reeves: Thanks.
This is an abbreviated list of headline samples from the book "Writing Riches" by one of my favorite authors and podcaster's Ray Edwards. If you buy his book, buy some paper and pencil along with it. This topic starts at 6:35 The How To Headline (how to write headlines that will bring you more downloads) The Testimonial headline (I wish I had found Dave Jackson sooner - I could've save a lot of money) The Give Me headline (Give me 10 days, and I'll get your podcast into iTunes) The Reason Why Headline (The to 3 reasons people fail at launching a podcast - and how to over come them) The Probing Question Headline (Do you know the five things that cause people to unsubscribe podcasts?) The Dominant Emotion (Are you tired of putting out an episode and getting ZERO feedback?) The Command headline (Be the influencer that leads change in the world) The If-Then Headline (If you can upload a picture on Faceboook, then you can upload a media file your hosting). The Warning Headline (Is Soundcloud Going Out of Business?) A headline grabs attention, draws listeners to press play, communicates the big idea, establishes credibility and joins the conversion that is already happening in your audience's head. Common Mistakes That Podcaster's Make With Episode Titles They put the phrase "Episode 123" at the BEGINNING of the headline. Nobody cares if you're on episode 6, 60, 600, or 6000. What they care about is how you are going to make them laugh, cry, think, groan, educate, or entertain them. If you MUST do this (I understand it makes it easy to search on your website) put it at the end. You can see in the image to the left that you don't get to see what the title is because half of it is EPISODE XXX. The worst offender of this is (unfortunately) the web based version of iTunes. It gives you very little room for your headline. They Put Very Little Thought Into the Podcast Episode Title This is the SECOND/THIRD thing people see when they find your listing (the first being your show artwork/Title of the Show). I know I am super guilty of waiting till I'd done recording the episode, editing, tagging it, listening to it "one more time," and writing the blog post. You're tired, you're excited (maybe), but you are "this close" to being done and you just "throw anything in there" just so you can press publish. If you think about it, from the 1890 to the 1940's they had paperboys who would shout out the headlines to entice people to purchase a paper and get the rest of the story. They weren't scream edition #417! If the podcast title is bad, the podcast will not be heard. Unheard audio impacts no one. (a twist on a John Caples quote). How To Write Good Podcast Episode Titles Typically Headlines do one of the following: Making a promise. Drawing a picture. Stating a fact. Asking a question. Try these steps Start with your audience. Cosmopolitan magazine knows their audience. Write your show notes first. Then write the title. Prime the pump that is your brain. Write several headlines. If you want to read them out loud. Pick the most important benefit and include that benefit in the headlines. Include the product or problem, or guest in the headlines Often email program like Mail Chimp have A/B testing tools so use two headlines and see which one gets more clicks. Automate the Process There are tools such as Headlinr and Freshtitle ($37) are two tools where you enter a subject and they spit out numerous examples of potential headlines/Episode titles. Freshtitle comes with Title Analyzer that rates your headlines and critiques this for you. The Yoast SEO plugin does something similar (and it's free). Headlinr is a browser extension (chrome only), and Fresh Title is software for the Mac or PC. If you're interested in knowing more about Headlines, sign up for my headline resource kit that has videos of these software titles as well as free ebooks and more. Free Headline Guide I've created guide to some of the best resources to help you create great headlines. These include free ebooks, Demos of headline automation tools, and some of the best blog posts by Headline experts (I did all the Google for you). Click here to get the guide. Because of My Podcast: Jim Collison is a Microsoft MVP 2:30 I host Ask the Podcast Coach every Saturday at 10:30 AM with Jim Collison from theaverageguy.tv. It's quite a hoot! We both love to talk podcasting. Last week Jim shared the story of how he became a Microsoft MVP, and it turns out it's because of his podcast. Do you have something that wouldn't have happened except for your podcast? Share your story and get some added exposure and be heard on this show (I might turn these into a book next year). Contact me. Google Play Discussion Continues This topic begins at 22:50 Steve Stewart chimes in on last week's episode about Google play. He is SUPER HAPPY that the #1 search tool is going to promote his show FOR FREE. As for the terms of service, they are there to cover Google's butt in the event someone gets stupid. Libsyn Launches New Plugin Podcast Rewind This topic begins at 30:05 Ideas for Podcasting Episode 5 Podcastonomics Episode 5 Libsyn Launches new Wordpress Plugin 32:25 If you are someone who has been usingPowerPress for a while, then do NOT switch Ready to Start Podcasting? Jin the school of podcasting and if you're not happy any time within the first 30 days, you can cancel your subcription and get a full refund.
Full Post and Video Here>> http://www.inspiredinsider.com/don-hauptman-one-question-inspires/ Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant for more than 30 years. In the course of his career, he's been a top copywriter, a sought-after consultant, an acclaimed speaker, and a published author. In copywriting circles, Don may be best known for his headline “Speak Spanish [French, German, etc.] like a Diplomat!” This series of ads generated revenues that total in the tens of millions of dollars … and achieved the status of an industry classic. His winning campaigns are mentioned in three major college advertising textbooks, and examples of his promotions are cited in the books Million Dollar Mailings and World's Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters. In a column in Advertising Age, Don’s name was included in a short list of direct-marketing “superstars.” His work was praised by such direct-marketing legends as John Caples, Eugene Schwartz, and Bob Stone. Full Post and Video Here>> http://www.inspiredinsider.com/don-hauptman-one-question-inspires/
Hi, welcome to the online marketing show, this is Joey Bushnell and in this episode I want to point you towards an incredible free resource. It's called the ultimate list of the best marketing books ever and it's by me! You can find it over at josephbushnell.com/marketing-books It's a huge list of what are in my opinion the best marketing books of all time, this is a treasure trove of the best marketing books ever written so go over there and pick out some books that you would like to read. There's some of the old classics by the early pioneers of marketing like Claude Hopkins, Eugene Schwartz, John Caples and David Ogilvy. There's modern day copywriting and direct marketing bestsellers from Joe Sugarman, Boy Bly, Dan Kennedy and Drayton Bird. There's the persuasion and influence section featuring the likes of Robert Cialdini, Sally Hogshead Seth Godin and Kevin Hogan. Marketing Strategy books from Al Ries, Jack Trout, Jay Abraham and Jay Conrad Levinson. As well as some recent online marketing and social media books too. These are in my opinion the best marketing books available anywhere in the world so give yourself the unfair advantage, go pick a few to add to your reading list and if you read them and apply them you pretty much can't help but improve your bank account. Go to josephbushnell.com/marketing-books
I'm pleased to have Michael Stelzner as my guest on today's show. If you don't know who Michael is… well in the words of Ron Burgundy, he's “kind of a big deal.” Don't act like you're not impressed. The Networking Party that kicks off this year's Social Media Marketing World in San Diego will happen on the deck of the USS Midway! We'll get to Michael's interview in a few minutes, but first I want to tell you about the upcoming celebration, and a few other reasons to keep listening, such as… The most compressive goal-setting and tracking software I have found. The number 166. One of my NEW top Copywriting book recommedations. Now let's get on with it… Announcements: Thanks to all who have left a review of the podcast in iTunes. This week I would like to thank: Kirk Bowman, Eric Dingler, “Lady J” Jevonnah Ellison. It looks like the one-day mastermind with me and 11 other people, where we make radical progress in your business… is on. You can get the full story here. Next week's show is number 100, and we will be devoting it exclusively to listener questions. I'm turning the microphone over to you. Conferences where I will be attending and/or speaking: NAMS 11 February 7-9, 2014, Atlanta, GA Social Media Marketing World, March 26-28, 2014, San Diego, CA The Launch Conference, April 7-10, 2014, Orlando, FL JV Alert: The Perfect Game April 24-27, Denver, CO SCORRE Conference May 5-8, Orlando, FL Tip Of The Week I have been experimenting with a number of different goal-setting apps, and so far the most full-featured of the bunch is GoalsOnTrack. Things I like about GoalsOnTrack: It has a great little iPhone app. It syncs my due dates with Google Calendar. It's hierarchical, so it works like an outline. I can track my goal, the purpose that drives the goal, the start and end dates… and most importantly, the habits and action plans needed to support the goal. I do wish they offered a native iPad app, but other than those two points I love GoalsOnTrack. Copywriting Corner Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content One of the problems I see in the world of copywriting and marketing today is a lack of original ideas. Look, folks, John Caples and David Ogilvy did not achieve their greatness by using somebody else's “swipe file”. They got their breakthrough ideas by dipping into a deeper well, where they probably found ideas swimming around that grew out of reading books (you remember those, stories like Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, The Stand, Fahrenheit 451, Etc.?) I suggest you dip into those wells for yourself. The best copy, in my humble but accurate opinion, is between the covers of the best novels. But, I digress. Would you like a shortcut to writing better copy? This great book was recommended to me by my friend Andy Traub. In the book, Levy teaches a concept and technique he calls freewriting. His claim is that it helps you produce breakthrough ideas and solve problems in minutes. This book has literally changed my writing process. I'm using the freewriting technique to generate material for my blog posts, podcasts, books, seminars, and products. What I was shocked to discover is that even if we consider ourselves creative, we tend to hold ourselves back. Inside each of us lives The Editor. Her job (yes, I'm afraid it's always a her) is to tell us that our writing is not perfect, that we need to go back and revise it, that we need to make sure we never sound stupid. Heaven forbid if anybody thought we were crazy. What results from that kind of limiting belief is limited thinking. Careful thinking. Thinking that wants to make sure we fit in. Thinking that keeps us stuck. Free writing, on the other hand, starts with you writing as fast as you can, for as long as you can, about something that's important to you and ignoring the standard rules of grammar and spelling and what you learned in English class and what your mother might think and what the Ladies' Society For Literary Decency might think. I freewrote that last sentence. Notice that it was longer than most of my more controlled writing. It also, I think, had a little sparkle. I'm not going to polish it fix it, I'm going to leave it here as an example that perhaps will tease you into buying this book. I've only scratched the surface of Levy's work. He has six big “secrets” that help render your Editor unconscious and let your genius run around for a while, naked and free. There are also a score of other exercises and techniques. And yes, he does teach you how to refine your free writing into something that you would share with somebody without fear or embarrassment. Spiritual Foundations 2 hours. That's the amount of time each week the average businessperson, manager, or entrepreneur spends inside of church. If you've done the math already you realize that there are only 168 hours in a week. That means that 166 hours are spent outside the church for most modern Christians. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, that's my point in this week's Spiritual Foundations. Jesus never told us, “go to church.” In fact, he said something quite opposite: And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” Mark 16:15 Most modern Christians act as if “ministry” is a job title that preachers have. But according to the Bible, the job of the preacher is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. The saints (that's you and me) are the ones doing the ministry. As a minister in the marketplace, you are quite literally going “into all the world.” In future episodes, we're going to focus a lot more intently on what it means to do marketplace ministry without being preachy or repulsive to other people. We're going to focus on how you show the love of Christ to others in such a way they are changed by it… they are changed by him. For now, I leave you with something to think about. Just like Jesus, your meant to be out there, doing your father's business. So how's business? Feature Segment: Social Media Marketing With Michael Stelzner Michael Stelzner is the founder of Social Media Examiner, the world’s largest online social media magazine. Michael is also the author of the books Launch and Writing White Papers… and the man behind some large events, such as Social Media Marketing World (the most influential physical event in the industry, and I am thrilled to be speaking there next month), and Social Media Success Summit, the largest online conference. He is also host of the Social Media Marketing podcast show. Get your tickets by clicking here. What To Do Now If you enjoy the podcast, I would consider it a great favor if you subscribe (and leave a review) in iTunes. This helps new people discover the show. You can also find the podcast on Stitcher. Question: What are your big questions about how to monetize your message? Click here to leave your comments.
PreneurCast: Entrepreneurship, Business, Internet Marketing and Productivity
This week, Pete talks to Jordan Pine, a specialist in short-form Direct Response Ads for TV. Jordan shares lots of tips with Pete about this fast-moving medium, and Direct Response marketing is applicable almost everywhere, so be ready to take notes. -= Links =- - Books: My Life in Advertising - Claude Hopkins Ogily on Advertising - David Ogilvy Reality in Advertising - Rosser Reeves Tested Advertising Methods - John Caples Triggers - Joseph Sugarman Salesman of the Century - Ron Popeil - Online: http://www.scimark.com - The site of Jordan's company, Scimark http://scimark.blogspot.com.au - Jordan's blog, where he critiques Direct Response Ads from various products. -=- For more information about Pete and Dom, visit us online at http://www.preneurmedia.tv or drop us a line at: preneurcast@preneurgroup.com If you like what we're doing, please leave us a review on iTunes or a comment on the Preneurmedia.tv Web Site.
Bro. John Caples preaches at SCORE Conference in Ocala, FL on "Desire of the Hopeless. Unknown what year this was preached.