Copywriters Podcast

If you’d like to know what goes on behind the scenes in the world of financial copywriting, our guest today has the inside story. Aaron Gentzler is the CMO of Mauldin Economics, a major financial publisher based in Northern Florida. He’s been in the business since 2006 and tells us about his own journey, as well as some of the experiences he’s had training and advocating for younger copywriters. Just as important, he’ll let you know what he has seen that spells bad news for people trying to get their foot in the door in the first place. Plus, he shares in-the-trenches insights about what works and what doesn’t work with stories in copywriting. Contact Aaron at aaron@mauldineconomics.com Download.

Learn why bullet points are essential in copywriting and how they can boost sales. Discover the power of bullet points in capturing attention, generating excitement, and motivating action. Find out how to write a compelling feature plus benefit bullet point. Explore the importance of clear and specific bullet points in copywriting. Introducing a new book called The Persuasion Story Code and alternative approaches to the hero's journey in sales copy.

Learn why the call to action is the most powerful part of your copywriting. Discover how to overcome hesitation and fear in making an offer. Get tips on crafting an effective call to action and making it energetic and engaging.

Learn the significance of powerful headlines, hooks, and mechanisms in copywriting and discover the 'magic pill' for generating great ones. Explore the importance of creativity in advertising and get tips for applying it in copywriting. Unleash the power of the unconscious mind, deal with writer's block, and approach problems with freshness. Dive into a book on creative thinking and an advertisement for a copywriting guide.

The podcast explores the importance of details in copywriting and discusses various quotes and sayings that highlight their significance. It delves into the challenge of balancing dramatic language with attention to detail and discusses techniques like damaging admission and the use of the word 'almost'. The concept of the quintessential in copywriting is explored, emphasizing the need to make offers relatable. The strategy of using vivid details, testimonials, and case studies in copywriting is discussed, along with the importance of highlighting benefits. The impact of nitty gritty details on conversion rates and the power of persuasive storytelling in capturing prospects' attention are also discussed.

Let’s talk story. Experienced copywriters know that a story is the best way to introduce a product, bring a benefit to life, answer objections, and do a whole lot more. Why? Because stories galvanize the attention of your prospect. A story reaches deeper into the mind of someone, deeper than any other form of communication. But somewhere along the way, Hollywood got in the way, as it has a habit of doing. Because the hero’s journey is the go-to template for movies and other forms of fiction, a number of people started solemnly proclaiming that all stories in copy should be hero’s journeys, only hero’s journeys, and nothing but hero’s journeys, so help you Hollywood. Well… there’s only one problem with that idea. It’s simply not true. I’ve just written a book, just about to be released, called “The Persuasion Story Code,” where I identify and explain 25 different types of stories that work not only in copy but in all forms of persuasion, including face-to-face selling. On today’s show, I went into a lot of depth about the kind of stories we cover in the book. Here what I said about one, to give you some context: Persuasion stories are not entertainment. They’re stories that get results. Here’s an example of a persuasion story that got a result: A man walks up to the counter at the gate, 10 minutes before takeoff. The flight is full and everyone before him has been screaming a blue streak at the flight attendant staffing the desk. “No,” she says to the man before he can say a word. “I think I know what you’re going through,” the man says to her with a grimace. “I manage a store downtown, and the last three days before Christmas, our customers are just like the people here. Rude, impatient, and they won’t listen to reason. Sometimes you wonder why you took a job like this in the first place.” The flight attendant looks at him for a few seconds. The hint of a smile dances at the ends of her mouth. “May I see your ID?” she says. He hands it to her. She types into the computer, prints out a boarding pass, and gives it to him along with his ID. Then she says to him, almost in a whisper,
“We had a cancellation in first class. I’m upgrading you. Get on the plane NOW.” OK, so what did the man do? Either very deliberately or more likely, simply out of compassion, the man told the woman a story—about what goes on in his store before Christmas, and how he understood what she must be going through—and, after she heard it, she changed her mind. What he told her, whether or not he realized it, was a persuasion story. And, probably to his great surprise, he got a seat on what he thought was a fully-booked plane. Now, people tell stories like the man did all the time. Most of the time, people telling the story don’t even realize it’s a story. And neither do the people hearing the story. This is what I call a persuasion story. They make up the engine of persuasion in sales letters, and also in everyday life. I’ve identified 25 kinds of these stories, and I’ve written a book about them called “The Persuasion Story Code,” organized into six chapters. Here’s a short summary of what we cover: • Origin Stories, which build confidence by showing how a person’s or company’s background makes them solid and worth doing business with • Stories About Your Prospect’s Pain, which build trust by showing you understand the dilemma your prospect is in, thus creating valuable empathy • Stories That Predict The Future, painting a compelling word-picture of how much better your prospect’s future can be • Reassurance Stories are probably THE most effective way to deal with early doubts and worries that come up—especially when a prospect is really interested • Stories That Explain walk the fine line between interesting but neutral explanations and persuasion that puts up prospect defenses. These stories persuade while explaining! • Stories That Build Trust organize credentials, reviews, expert endorsements and case histories into powerful persuasion tools that eliminate last-minute doubts This will change your copy and really all your sales efforts for the better. Here’s a link to get your copy of the book. You can get your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQ Download.

When you are a copywriter, do you look at the world differently? Old Master Clyde Bedell emphatically says yes. Clyde Bedell is not all that well known these days. We featured his work last year in an episode where we talked about his seven keys to believability. Though he’s not all that well known today, decades ago Bedell was one of the top guys you would turn to if you want to learn how to write copy that works. Besides being a highly successful advertiser, he was also a prominent teacher. For example, he built a national sales training program for Ford Motor Company in the 1930s. When he was teaching copywriting at Northwestern University, he couldn’t find a suitable textbook, so he wrote one. That textbook eventually turned into “How To Write Advertising That Sells.” It was first published in 1940—13 years before I was born. This book is 8-1/2 by 11 and a massive 539 pages. It’s pretty hard to find a copy these days, but I found one copy for sale on Amazon for $956.62. Lucky for me, I got my copy years ago when it was easier to get and not quite as expensive. Today we looked at a chapter from this massive book called “Copy’s Point Of View.” It covers key points on how copywriters need to look at the world if they want their copy to convert. We started with the understanding that what we’re going to talk about today is not how a copywriter necessarily sees the world 24/7. It’s not that you have a completely different way of eating breakfast… of buying shoes… or of dealing with annoying relatives. This is about how you look at things when you’re writing copy. I saw an interesting meme on Twitter, quoting Gary Bencivenga. It said: “Copywriting is not a secret formula, it’s a way of thinking.” That way of thinking is what today’s show is about. We covered four big parts of the copywriter’s mindset. This will be useful to new and advanced copywriters alike, as guard rails on what to focus on when you’re writing copy. In the show, we looked at some ads to illustrate some of the key points in what Bedell had to say. Bedell’s book is all but unavailable. However, here are two other books mentioned during the show: Twenty Ads That Shook The World, by James Twitchell https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-That-Shook-World-Groundbreaking/dp/0609807234 How To Write A Good Advertisement, by Victor Schwab https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Good-Advertisement-Copywriting/dp/1648373143 Download.

The quote you are about to read is from a letter not written by today’s special guest and returning champion A-List copywriter, Mike Pavlish. This from a very controversial Old Master, the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. In a letter to author Marie Bonaparte, grand-niece of Napoleon Bonaparte, Freud wrote, “Despite my 30 years of research into the feminine soul I have never been able to answer the great question, ‘What does a woman want?’” A lot of people think Freud didn’t understand much about women in any way. Now our guest today does have an answer to that. Not a universal answer, but a proven answer to the more practical question, “What do women prefer in how you write to them in sales copy?” Mike Pavlish has this answer because he has written more than 400 long-form sales letters and video sales letters to women, for products include health, diet, fitness and beauty. For 32 years. Overall, Mike’s copy to male and female audiences has racked up more than $725 million in sales. Today, he shared 12 tips with us, based on what he’s learned over many years, up to and including this year. Mike told us that women and men respond VERY DIFFERENTLY to words, phrases, benefits, tone, personality and claims. The default of a lot of copywriting, “dude copy” or “macho copy,” doesn’t work. What does work? Most important of all, you need to understand that men are much easier to sell to than women, Mike said. Men make more impulsive purchases, take more unproven risks, and buy for simpler reasons. But women are far more complex in their buying behavior, Mike said. Women have a key primary need than most men don’t understand and appeal to when they write. Mike explained what this need is and gave good and bad examples to make it clear how to phrase winning copy in this regard. Mike also shared specific, ready-to-use secrets about tone… wording… connecting with women’s conversational style… the importance of relationship… and many other key tips. You can contact Mike at mike@mikepavlish.com. Download.

In an earlier part of this century, I produced an audiobook with my late friend and mentor Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the bestselling Guerrilla Marketing series. It was called “Guerrilla Copywriting.” I’m sad to say Jay’s no longer with us, and neither is the audiobook. It’s out of print. So I’m free to share my half of the material. This is the fourth and final installment of the tips. I’ve expanded them and added some examples to make them easier to grasp. Before, with the audiobook, you had a whirlwind tour of copywriting rules and techniques. Today, we slowed down the train down a little bit so you can take a look around and think about how you can use these in your own sales copy, landing pages and TikTok videos. But here’s something you’ll never find on a TikTok video: 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. Of course, that may change if someone sees this as a TikTok Copywriters Podcast “Copy is Powerful” challenge. But that’s not what I was hoping for. Now today we had some interesting techniques you can use, as well as super-important reminders, because even subscribers to Copywriters Podcast can get so caught up in their offers that occasionally they don’t give fundamentals the attention they deserve. We talked about a way to use stories that most people never do: to anticipate and eliminate objections, before they ever come up. We also covered: • The two jobs really great copy has • Why you should never just “sell a product” • Every prospect’s secret last name • Why you should always build up the value of your offer to the max Besides that, we talked about two writing techniques most people don’t know about: First, starting sentences with Seducer Words, and second, the enormous power of Hypnotic Stems. Download.

If you’d like to find out about one of the largest and most lucrative niches in copywriting, today’s show is just for you. Supplement copy is that niche, and our guest today is an expert on writing copy and building offers for health supplements. Steve Erl has written copy for some of the best-known names in the business. His clients include Newmarket Health, Dr. Al Sears, Pure Health Research, BioTrust, and many others. Supplement companies can grow very quickly. Steve has been writing copy and developing offers for a skincare and pet brand that has grown from $5 million to $100 million in the last four years. With his help, of course. Steve’s been writing copy full-time for nine years, and recently started a couple businesses himself he told us about on the show—mentoring, and a newsletter on supplement copy—which may be of interest to you if you decide to get deeper into this part of copywriting yourself. First, though, Steve’s walked us through three of his most important experiences and lessons, to give you an idea of what the world of writing supplement copy is like. Steve told us about a seemingly terrifying experience which was a blessing in disguise—copy that got sent back from his client after four weeks which had, in his words, “the heart ripped out of it.” But what happened next was jaw-dropping and eye-opening. The next lesson came from a much bigger win. His copy was so good, the copy chief said, that it was outpulling the control. But oddly enough, it didn’t become the control. Steve shared the interesting information he picked up from that one. Writing copy in the supplement field can make a writer gun-shy, because of all the compliance requirements and the knowledge that sooner or later, there will be a lawyer looking over your copy. But what Steve learned was, don’t write for that lawyer—write to sell the product, and let the lawyer do their job later. Third important lesson. Steve just started an email newsletter called Supps Copy Chief. He told us about it, and you can find out more here: https://suppscopychief.com Reach out to Steve here: steve@suppscopychief.com Download.