Ken McCarthy - Godfather of Digital Marketing Pt. 1

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


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