TCC Podcast #174: Achieving the Impossible with Ray Edwards

Copywriter, coach and expert marketer, Ray Edwards is our guest for the 174th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. In this wide ranging conversation, Kira and Rob asked Ray about his business, how he got started, the changes he's making in his business and life, and what he does to accomplish more than most other people... even things he thinks are impossible. Here are a few of the things we covered: •  how Ray went from radio host to copywriter •  the experiences he had working in radio that help him in his copywriting career •  his tattoos… what they are and why had has them •  what has happened in Ray’s life and business over the last few years •  what can happen when you remove the fear from your life •  why it’s important to let your hidden personal beliefs influence your work persona •  the power of impossible goals to set off a quantum leap in your life and business •  why worthy failures are critical for achieving your impossible goals •  Ray’s two-word counsel you need to hear—especially if you’re not operating at your best •  the unspoken part of the law of manifestation and how to manifest things into your life •  the things that have made the biggest difference in Ray’s business •  what he would do today if he had to start over with nothing •  drag racing rental cars when he travels •  what’s next for Ray and where you can reach out to him If you want to accomplish more than you ever thought possible, you'll want to listen to this episode. Click the play button below, or scroll down for a full transcript. Or download the episode to your favorite podcast player.   The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Jack Canfield Frank Kern Tony Robbins Ray’s podcast Ray’s Instagram Ray’s website Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground   Full Transcript: Kira:   This episode is brought to you by The Copywriter Club In Real Life, our live event in San Diego, March 12th through the 14th. Get your tickets now at thecopywriterclub.com/TCCIRL. Rob:   What if you could hang out with seriously talented copywriters and other experts, ask them about their successes and failures, their work processes and their habits, then steal an idea or two to inspire your own work? That's what Kira and I do every week at The Copywriter Club Podcast. Kira:   You're invited to join the club for episode 174 as we chat with master copywriter, coach and consultant, Ray Edwards about his rise from radio personality to A-list copywriter, the relationship between his struggles and his success, the business and mindset shifts he's made in the past year and how he creates so much content every single week. Welcome Ray. Rob:   Hey Ray. Ray:   Hi, thank you. Kira:   It's great to have you here, Ray, because you are one of my mentors and I was lucky enough to be in your mastermind group last year and went through a lot of different .. my own mindset shifts just by joining that group and spending time with you. So I'm glad that we're able to dig in and ask you a bunch of questions today. I'm also surrounded by all the books you gave me because you gave me so many books from our time together. I'm still working my way through them, but they're all surrounding me right now. So I've got some Ray vibes in my office right now. Ray:   That's what happen with anybody who hangs around me, I'll actually have a book for you. Kira:   I loved it. So let's kick it off. Many of our listeners know who you are, but let's just share your story, how you ended up as a copywriter. Ray:   Well, I started in the radio business when I was 14 and I loved being on the radio. I loved storytelling. I hung out at my grandparents house a lot during those days and I used to read the National Enquirer and I was fascinated by the ads. I actually thought they were articles, I was a bit younger when this was going on. I thought they were articles, they were actually ads by Eugene Schwartz. And I just remember being fascinated by them. And later I learned that they were advertising, I learned about copywriting. So I started using that in my radio career to write ads for our clients, the stations, to write ads to promote the stations. And I did radio for over 25 years and I wrote tons of copy and I felt like I had the secret weapon because I had Jay Abraham and Claude Hopkins and Dan Kennedy and John Carlton backing me up. And nobody in radio knew who those guys were. So they were like my secret team of superheroes to make me look brilliant. And then Steve Jobs came out with this invention, the iPod and it was a thousand songs in your pocket with no commercials and no annoying DJs. And I said, oh, we're in trouble, radio business is in trouble. So I ended up getting out of radio. I figured out that people would actually pay me to write copy outside radio. And in the radio business, this is a little known fact, in the radio business, hardly anybody gets paid specifically to write copy. It's always a second job or something that you do for free. Often it's the DJ's. So think about that the next time you're making a big ad spend on radio, make sure you ask who's writing the copy. But I learned that copy was valued outside radio and so I hung out my shingle, I put up a webpage and just through fate, time, God, good fortune, I got linked up with some great clients in the very beginning. People like Armand Morin and Alex Mandossian and they began to recommend me to their friends. And so I ended up writing for Jack Canfield and Frank Kern and Tony Robbins and the list of illustrious folks I've had the privilege of working with goes on. And also people you've probably never heard of who are making lots of money. So I've had the chance to work with lots of different kinds of businesses and it's just been a really fun ride. Rob:   Yeah, we definitely want to talk about some of the clients you've worked for and the work that you've done. But before we leave your radio experience, I'm curious, Ray, are there things that you did as a DJ or that you learned in radio, aside from writing copy that you use today as a copywriter or that you use in the courses and the seminars that you teach? Ray:   Well, I mean there are practical things like mic technique and recording techniques. Having a sense about what makes good audio, being brief. We often had to get across a very complex message in 15 seconds, so I became pretty good at that. Although to listen to me these days, you might wonder. So it’s really thinking about probably the key skill that I learned in radio that's certainly well in copywriting is I came out of radio with a real sense of every time we wrote an ad or a promotional piece or we said anything on the air, it's valuable time. Time literally is money on the radio, so we had to know what do we want to happen as a result of what we're saying. So I had that peculiar focus on what's my most desired outcome for what I'm saying right now. And that has served me well in copy, I'm sure. Kira:   Ray, I want to talk about your tattoos. So I want to know what tattoos you have, what they say if you're willing to share and what they ... Everything, the catalyst for getting the tattoos and what they mean to you. Ray:   Okay, that was unexpected, I did say ask me anything. So I started thinking about getting a tattoo a couple of years ago and I hired an assistant whose name is Tiffany Laughter. She co-hosted the podcast with me now and she had a few tattoos and we would go, when we traveled to different cities to go to events and whatnot. She'd want to go to a tattoo shop. And I just started thinking this seems kind of interesting. I think I'd like to get a tattoo. And so I ended up, I was fascinated for a long time with owls. So my first tattoo is on my right shoulder, it is an owl and to me it represents, the owl represents wisdom and eyes that pierce the darkness. So that's why I got that tattoo and I got it ... It's rather large. It's like the size of your open hand. I didn't realize I was naive. I didn't want to ... Most people don't start with a big tattoo. Kira:   That's very brave. Ray:   Or stupid, but I endured and I was very happy with the result. Plus the other thing I did that was kind of crazy on that one was we're just in Nashville and we were driving by this shop and we just pulled in and talked to the artists. And I said, ‘Well, let's do it.’ I had no idea who this guy was or whether he was any good or ... But it turned out well. That's the first tattoo I got, the next tattoo I got was the Memento Mori tattoo, which is on my left forearm. And of course that phrase means, roughly translated from Latin, it means remember you are going to die and it's meant to get you to contemplate your mortality, not from a sad kind of spooky way, but to realize you've only got so much time. So be aware that, that's true. So on the other arm, I have a Latin phrase that is Vita Abundat which means live abundantly. So to me, those two go together. And then I have on my left shoulder, I have, this is the biggest piece of artwork I have so far. It goes from the top of my shoulder all the way down to my elbow. I have a tattoo of a lion and underneath the lion is the petals of a Rose. And it represents a courage and beauty and grace. Kira:   Yeah. And we can check out all those photos to anyone listening, if you want to check it out, check out Ray's Instagram feed, they're nice shots, especially that last one. Ray:   Thank you. I have one more tattoo, the most recent one I got is just inside my right elbow and it says SOU and it has a date, 3/23/85 and it has a special meaning for me and my wife. The date is our anniversary. Rob:   Very cool. And anybody who's listened to your podcast, Ray, realizes that the tattoos are maybe part of a change that you've been going through, not just in life, but in business.