TCC Podcast #205: Creating an Offer with Justin Goff

One of the “options” for copywriters who don’t want to limit themselves to solely writing for clients is creating and promoting their own products. And for many of the copywriters who take this path, it’s very lucrative. Our guest for the 205th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast is Justin Goff. Justin has created his own offers and in this interview he talks about how you can do the same thing. We also talked about: •   how a gambling debt he couldn’t pay led to his first online product •   his over-the-top reaction to his first ever online sale of $149 •   what he learned working in the gaming niche (as a student) that still helps him today •   the one thing you need to do to be a better copywriter •   how he landed his first few clients as he got into copywriting •   the terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week that led to his first real success •   how he came up with the Big Idea that launched a 23 million dollar business •   reverse engineering a product to find your own Big Ideas •   the ins and outs of partnerships and how to make one work •   what he’s done to overcome his own money mindset issues •   the only thing that matters when it comes to dialing in a successful offer •   Justin’s advice for raising their prices—what he’s seen that almost always works •   why he believes in masterminds and what he gets from them •   the “have to apply” email trick that keeps his readers engaged and reading •   what he learned about knowing your audience from Tinder dates during quarantine •   how he guards his time to get more done •   why he bothers to dress up whenever he’s around potential partners and clients •   the future of copywriting and how to make sure you’re set up to take advantage We say this a lot, but this is another don’t-miss episode. To hear it, click the button below. Or subscribe wherever podcasts are available. Scroll down for links and a full transcript.   The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Patriot Greens Stefan Georgi No B.S. Wealth Attraction by Dan Kennedy Adam Bensman Sam Woods Justin's website Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground   Full Transcript: Rob:   There's this thing that tends to happen for a lot of copywriters, not all of us, but many, where they ultimately decide that they don't want to work with clients anymore. And at that point, they create their own products instead of helping other people sell their products. It sounds easy, right? But if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Today's guest, on the 205th episode of The Copywriter Club podcast, is Justin Goff. Just after the worst week of his life, Justin created his first product and earned a little over 100,000 dollars in three months, and then he did it again, earning millions. If that sounds like something that you'd like to do in your own business, then this episode is for you. Kira:   We'll share Justin's story in just a minute but first, this episode is brought to you by the Copywriter Underground, a private membership and community designed to help you hit your business growth goals faster, whether your goal is hitting 10K a month or launching a new service or product, or even just finding your first few clients, the resources in Underground can help with accountability, support, coaching, and a path to help you get out of your own way and build momentum in your business. Find out more at thecopywriterunderground.com. Rob:   There are a lot of ways to succeed as a copywriter, working directly with clients is one and creating your own products is another. Let's jump into our interview with Justin and hear how he has used copywriting to create his million-dollar business. Justin Goff:   I initially got into kind of making websites when I was in college, as the result of I had a $1,200 gambling debt when I was in college, I was probably 20 at the time. And so I was a really good sports better in college. I'd bet on college football games and college basketball games. I would make good money doing it. And then like a lot of kids, my age, I got really cocky and thought I was better than I was. And ended up betting a lot more money than I had. And one weekend, I basically had the weekend from hell where I lost like seven or eight of the games I'd bet on. I basically, went from being up $5,000 on this season to down $1,200. And this guy who I bet through, it was this big bookie who was like six foot eight named Gabe who weighed like 280 pounds and Gabe wanted his money two days later and I did not have that kind of money, so. Kira:   It sounds like a movie. Justin Goff:   It's like Rounders part two. So yeah, I owed this guy a bunch of money and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to pay him. And I had this bright idea that I could make a website and sell my sports picks. I knew nothing about making a website, knew nothing about selling stuff, but I'd seen other people doing it online. I'm like, "All right, I can do this." Long story short, basically about six months of that, just pounding my head against the wall in spamming forums and trying to figure out how to sell these picks, nothing ever worked. And then about six months later, it was around Christmas time, I remember, because I was at my parents' house for Christmas break. And I got on my email account and I noticed I had a PayPal notification and I remember opening it up and seeing that someone had spent $149 to buy one of the pick packages I was selling. I remember just going like absolutely crazy. I was like jumping up and down, screaming and running around the room. It's funny because I've had days where I've done 200, $300,000 since then in sales and I still remember more about that day and that $149 sale than anything. Because that was kind of the first time that it became real to me because kind of up until then, it just seemed like this pipe dream. So that's kind of what got me into it and I kind of weaseled my way into affiliate marketing after that and kind of learn the ropes of that. So I did that for a few years and then basically around 2009 or so. So I was doing affiliate marketing for a bunch of poker websites and gambling sites and then all that fell apart in like, '08, '09 because there was a law that was passed that you couldn't play poker online anymore in the United States. And I decided to get into fitness health, info-product stuff. I'd seen all these people make info-products and selling them. I was like, "Oh, let's do that." I kind of recently had gotten into the CrossFit and paleo stuff and this was kind of before it really blown up and really gotten big. I was like, "Oh, there's probably a big market for this, for people who don't really understand this." So I started creating a product around that and that's the first time I kind of really learned about copywriting. Because I tried for about a year and a half to do this on my own, selling it with a super boring sales page that was just features and benefits and almost like an eCom style page and nobody was buying anything. And my business partner at the time, who was the personal trainer, who was kind of the face of the product, he had been using direct response on his gym that he ran and he kept telling me about direct response and I was just very closed off to it. And finally, he gave me this big box of Dan Kennedy tapes and he's like, "Just watch this." He's like, "Just watch this, I think I will change your mind." And I finally plopped in one of his copywriting DVDs, it was like nine hours unedited Dan Kennedy. And by the end of it, I was just like, my world had kind of been shattered. I was like, “Oh my God, now I see what he meant now I understand why these ugly ass websites with yellow highlighter and 40-page sales letters work so well.” And that was kind of the first foray of the copywriting. Kira:    Okay, so I want to know Gabe, did you pay him or did you get beat up by Gabe, what happened with Gabe? Justin Goff:   No, so basically after about three days of that, I had to make an emergency decision to get a job as quick as possible. And I started valeting cars literally like two days after this and worked out a payment plan with Gabe to pay him back over the next two weeks. And no, I did not get my legs broken… Kira:   Okay. It'd be a good story though if you did, but I'm glad you didn't. So what are some lessons from your time gambling? I didn't realize because I hadn't heard that part of your story before. What have you learned from gambling that has helped you in life and business? Justin Goff:   So, the interesting thing to me is actually when I got into more business stuff, the kind of rush that I got from gambling stuff was very, very similar, except it's in a much more controlled environment now. So when I would do big media buys and spend $20,000 on an email drop and it would come back and we'd make, let's say $30,000, I got that same kind of excitement and that same rush, but I had 10 times the control over it compared to gambling where it's like you're kind of just looking for these slight edges all the time. One of the things, honestly that really turned me away from it, because I was actually pretty good at it, was the stress of it was just way too much. And in a way, your business can be the same way, especially if you get to the point where you're just the absolute workaholic who's working 12 hours a day and nothing else in your life matters. That's kind of the point I got to, I treated the gambling like it was a real job. I was studying stuff and creating all these models and putting 30, 40 hours a week into it while it was like a full-time student. But I mean, the dedication definitely pays off because it helped me in that. And then it obviously helped me in copywriting as well. Because those first couple of years that I was learning to write copy,