Copywriters Podcast

One of my best-performing sales letters took three months to write. A big part of the time it took to write it had little to do with the headline or the rest of the copy. The letter crushed it. Literally. We broke the server the first day. This was for a small company and total sales were over $1 million on their mentoring program I had written the sales letter for. To prepare for that letter, I sought out stories from people in the marketplace who would end up being prospects and customers for the mentoring program. When I did the interviews, talking to people who were very different from me, I learned things about their motivations and their preferences that never would have occurred to me on my own. I don’t think the letter would have broken $1 million in sales or sold out in three days if I hadn’t done the work to get those stories out of prospective customers. Today, we talk about getting stories before you start writing your copy. In this fast-paced show, we cover: >Why it’s important to get stories from clients and their customers — two reasons most copywriters never consider >How most people screw this up… and… how to fix this >Who you want to talk to (far more types of people than you think now) >How you want to talk to the people you’re getting stories from (vitally important — makes all the difference) >What kind of questions to ask >What you want to get from the people you interview >What to do with what you getDownload.

In the offices of the most successful direct marketers in the world, when a promo isn’t making the money it should, you’ll hear most people speak these three words: “Call David Deutsch.” Because he’s the guy who can fix it. And, he’s our guest today. David’s promo’s have come close to pulling in $1 billion in sales. He’s written for Agora and the company formerly known as Boardroom (it’s now called Bottom Line Publications). David works with copy teams in the U.S. and around the world. He’s the author of Million Dollar Marketing Secrets and Think Inside The Box, two books I’m proud to say I have in my most important bookshelf (the one closest to my computer). I’m also proud that David’s a friend as well as a colleague. Today he’s going to talk about something you might have never thought had anything to do with copywriting. My goal, by the end of today’s show, is for you to see how it has EVERYTHING to do with copywriting. That topic is pitchmen. From Billy Mays and Ron Popeil to the carnival barker at the county fair, pitchmen — and pitchwomen — hold some secrets that make our copy better. And David knows more about them than you would ever imagine. Here’s what David talked about with us on this special show: - How he got into studying pitchmen. - Who pitchmen are and why what they do is so close to writing copy - Why he has studied pitchmen (and why you should, too) - With a pitchman, it’s NOT “all in the wrist” — it’s all in the VOICE - What pitchmen do all the time that the best copy does as well - Think word choice is important in copy? Take a close look at what pitchmen do! - How and when pitchmen reveal the product they’re pitching - How pitchmen MAXIMIZE the chance that every prospect will buy There’s so much good info in this show you may want to listen to it more than once! Go to David’s website and get a free report: “Copywriting from A to Z” www.DavidLDeutsch.comDownload.

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.

When I first started learning how to write copy, everybody told me “read Scientific Advertising.” It’s a book written at the beginning of the 20th century, over 100 years ago, by Claude Hopkins, who many consider the father of direct-response copywriting. I did read the book. I read it again. In fact, I read it 15 times. For today’s show, I reviewed it. This is part of our Old Masters series. I pulled out five powerful takeaways and we’re going to talk about them and how they apply to copywriting today. In the show notes on copywriterspodcast.com, you’ll find a link to get the book on Amazon. All I can say is, it’s well worth it. One of the most valuable books I’ve ever read. Here are the key takeaways. Much more detail on the podcast itself: 1. The only purpose of advertising is to make sales “Advertising is multiplied salesmanship.” Ask this question about your sales copy: “Would it help me sell them if I met them in person?” 2. The right headline can increase sales by 5 to 10 times. You can use your headline to target a particular type of prospect. The trick is to call out the type of qualified prospect that there are the most of. 3. Psychology is the gas in the engine — and the GPS — of all advertising. We can’t actually read people’s minds. But we can keep track of all their different behaviors. And the more specific things we know about what people respond to, and how they behave, the better our copy will perform. 4. The more specific you are, the more people will believe you. It’s always a bad idea to lie about specifics. But it’s always a good idea to include as many meaningful specifics as you can. “Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck… [but] the weight of an argument can often be multiplied by making it specific.” 5. How to guarantee your advertising WON’T make a profit. You can lose a lot of money by trying to change people’s habits. “It is a very shrewd thing to watch the development of a particular trend, the creation of new desires. Then at the right time offer to satisfy those desires.” Link to Scientific Advertising on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0844231010Download.

Today we return to our new series called “Old Masters,” and we’re going to look at another list from Maxwell Sackheim’s book, “My First 65 Years In Advertising.” Sackheim started in direct mail in 1906. In 1927 he was a co-founder of a highly successful direct-mail business, The Book-of-the-Month Club. He wrote a very famous ad with the headline, “Do You Make These Mistakes In English?”, which ran for 40 years and was always profitable. The list we’re going over today is called “Seven Deadly Direct Mail Mistakes.” But don’t worry if you don’t do direct mail yourself. It’s based on hard-won wisdom and it applies just as well today with Facebook ads and funnels as it does to actual direct mail. (Seven deadly Direct Mail mistakes) 1. Failing to Give The Reader a Good Reason to Open Your Envelope This applies to ALL forms of direct marketing. Almost all forms involve more than one step — whether the first step is opening the envelope, responding to a print ad, or clicking on a Facebook ad. Be sure that you’re giving your prospect a strong reason to take the FIRST step. Cheat Sheet Question #1: Did I give me prospect a good enough reason to take the the first step? 2. Failing to Give The Reader a Good Reason for Reading Your Mailing Every step of the way through your funnel, make sure you give your prospect a good reason to read it and move on to the next step. Cheat sheet question #2: Did I give my prospect a good enough reason to read this copy and move on to the next step? 3. Making Trivial Tests Important tests are of major elements that can really affect response. Headline, lead, offer, pricing, for example. Test the things that are most likely to make a real difference in response. Cheat sheet question #3: Make sure you’re testing elements of your copy that are likely to make an important difference. 4. Making Sales, Not Customers It costs a lot to acquire a customer. Why WASTE that money when you can turn it into profit by making additional offers to each customer? Cheat sheet question #4: What am I doing to increase the lifetime of each customer, and extend the lifetime value? 5. Believing that People Won’t Read Long Letters “People read long books, take long trips, watch long movies and plays, and read long letters — provided they justify the time. They must be interesting. They must promise a profit, in entertainment, in money, in enlightenment.” Cheat sheet question #5: Am I providing all the information my prospect needs—and doing it in a compelling way? 6. Letting the List Go to the Last “The reasons many mailings fail is that they are directed to too many wrong people.” Same is true for ads and other types of copy that are targeted wrong. Cheat sheet question 6: Am I targeting the right people? 7. Forgetting that Your Letters Are You “Every letter you send is your personality on paper. Whether you mail one or one million, each letter tells who YOU are.” Cheat sheet question #7: Am I writing to my customers like I would talk to a friend?Download.

Today we’re starting a new series called “Old Masters,” where we find wisdom from some of the Founding Fathers of copywriting and see how we can apply them today. On this show, we’re going to look at a list from Maxwell Sackheim’s book, “My First 65 Years In Advertising.” Sackheim started in direct mail in 1906. In 1927 he was a co-founder of a highly successful direct-mail business, The Book-of-the-Month Club. He wrote a very famous ad with the headline, “Do You Make These Mistakes In English?”, which ran for 40 years and was always profitable. Today the list we’ll go over is called “Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes.” There’s nothing obsolete about anything on this list. And I’ve added a lot of information for each item on the list so you can put the information to work right away. 1. Failing to Give The Reader a Reason to Read Your Ad You need to make a promise that your reader will find worth reading the rest of your ad. Cheat Sheet Question #1: Did I give my reader a good enough reason to read the ad? 2. Using Headlines That “Whisper Sweet Nothings” You need to get readers excited about something that’s important to them, in a direct and powerful way. Cheat Sheet Question #2: Does your headline reach out and grab the reader? 3. Using Pictures that Do Not Talk Any picture you use needs to tell a story, by itself, that furthers the purpose of the ad itself. Cheat Sheet Question #3: Is the picture so good that it could partially or fully make the ad work by itself? 4. Giving In To The Curse of Cleverness If you try to show how entertaining you are more than how much you know and care about a problem the prospect has, and how you can solve it… you’re making a deadly mistake. Cheat Sheet Question #4: Am I making my prospect laugh… or am I locking in my prospect’s serious attention? 5. Going Around Robin Hood’s Barn A lot of advertising makes readers jump through mental hoops to understand what it’s trying to sell you. Make yours a smooth glide in a straight line. Cheat Sheet Question #5: How easy is it to follow my pitch all the way through? 6. Leavin’ ‘em Dangling Always give your reader something to do. Otherwise, risk losing them forever. Cheat Sheet Question #6: Did I give my prospect something specific to do? 7. Using “Yackety-Yack” Copy Don’t waste your reader’s time. Make everything you say interesting, useful, intriguing, or curiosity-provoking. Cheat Sheet Question #7: Am I providing interesting value every step of the way?Download.

Sara’s dad was a lawyer. After she finished college, she wanted to go law school, but her Legal SAT scores weren’t good enough. So she tried stand-up comedy, but that didn’t catch fire. So, she became a billionaire instead. The youngest woman billionaire ever, according to Forbes magazine in 2009. A few weeks ago, I saw that Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, had a class on entrepreneurship up on MasterClass.com. I was curious and so I watched a few sessions. Not only was it the best program on business I’ve seen on MasterClass, but it’s also the best program for copywriters and entrepreneurs I’ve ever seen by a “big name” in business. Sara Blakely is a gifted teacher as well as a standout entrepreneur. I picked three lessons from the treasure trove of suggestions and ideas that make up the class. The reason I picked each one is that it would help copywriters as well business owners, and two of the three are things we haven’t talked about nearly enough on this podcast. But everything she had to say was unique, valuable and interesting. So here’s something really ironic about Sara Blakely. She said right on her Masterclass that for the first 16 years of her business, she didn’t do any advertising. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. So why are we devoting an entire show to her? Here’s why: What she DID do, to get the business up and running -- and what she continues to do on a daily basis -- are so valuable that they really transcend copywriting and spending money on ads. They are at the core essence of what we do as copywriters and business owners, which is to GET and KEEP customers. It’s also nice to get advice from someone who is actually running a huge business, rather than making their living running around sharing their theories about how the world might work and making their living doing seminars. In contrast, Sara’s making her living serving customers and innovating new products for her business. We cover three tips. You’ve probably heard them before, but Sara has a unique take on them… and, she’s made them work to literally build a business from scratch. Which gives them extra weight. Her first tip: Protect Your Mindset. Sara shared a very personal story about how she protected her idea from the criticism of others until she was ready to share it… and how she knew she was ready. We talk about how to protect your mindset so your ideas don’t die abornin’. Second Tip from Sara: Create Big Ideas Sara admits she takes idea-creation very seriously, and she devotes time every day to doing it. We’ll share her method and talk about what everyone has in common when you need to create big ideas, as well as what’s unique to each person. Third Tip from Sara: Connect… Really Connect Probably the most underrated asset in business is the act of deeply connecting with your customers. Sara turned her ability to do that into a net worth of more than one billion dollars in less than 10 years. We explore how copywriters - as well as business owners - can leverage this underrated asset themselves.Download.

Our guest today really gets around. Richard Miller is founder of Mission Control Studios in Phoenix. Have you ever heard of David DeAngelo and a product called Double Your Dating? David’s real name is Eben Pagan, and Richard helped him with every seminar and info-product. In the copywriting space, Richard’s worked with me and helped John Carlton with all the video in version 2.0 of the Simple Writing System. Richard has a vast array of experience in the world of seminars, video, and info-products. He even has a project he’s working on that got 1 million views the first day it was on YouTube… and this project gives new meaning to the term “killer content!” Here are the questions he answered: 1. What is the most important thing people need to know when it comes to creating video content/infoproducts? 2. Why should you listen to your producer, especially if you know more about your content than they do? 3. What did you learn from Dean Graziosi about creating best-selling info products? 4. You have an unusual info-product you’re working on with Sammy the Bull. Tell us about it. 5. If someone wants to work with you, what can you do for them and what’s a good next step? Richard’s email: richard@tetpros.comDownload.

In the opening of the movie “Echo In the Canyon,” the late Tom Petty is showing Bob Dylan’s son, Jakob, a Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar. He plays about six chords, stops, and says, “You can’t afford the rest.” And laughs. What’s underneath the joke is: They’re making a movie, and if he went much further, under music industry rules, the movie-makers would have to pay a large royalty for whatever song Petty was playing if it went on long enough. It’s definitely a joke because there are many full songs throughout the movie, which I thought was excellent, by the way. But it brings to mind an important question: What’s the story about royalties, or percentage-of-sales payments, for copywriters? We hear about them all the time but for most people, they’re a huge mystery. I have some experience with percentage deals myself, and I have a lot of clients who do as well. So I thought we could take a deep dive into this topic today. • What they are and how they work — or how they’re supposed to work (big picture) • The publishing industry (includes film, TV, music, as well as books and newsletter publishers) • Everyone else • The type of client you want to do a percentage deal with • The type of client you really DON’T want to do a percentage deal with • The best type of client to do a percentage deal with Some questions: 1. If it looks like a good deal, what’s a fair percentage to charge? 2. Does taking a percentage change your fee? 3. How do you know when you’re ready to do this?Download.

Our guest today comes to us through the magic of the Internet from Galicia, Spain — and he knows a lot about mastermind groups. Whether you know what a mastermind group is or not, you’ll know more about that today. And I think you’ll quickly see why they’re important for direct response copywriters and direct response business owners. Stan is the organizer and co-host of the Platinum Mastermind Group with John Carlton, the legendary copywriter who was on this show a couple of months ago. But Stan’s done a lot of other things, out in the business world, too. In a past life, he designed and helped bring to life cutting-edge information systems for the likes of like Wells Fargo, Exxon, Starbucks, and even the US Air Force and NATO. Over the last 10 years, working with Carlton, Stan launched the Simple Writing System copywriting training program, and a bunch of other things including the Platinum Mastermind. These days, Stan’s major focus in business is helping clients build and activate funnels that actually work, and bring in the bucks. 1. Stan, thanks for being here. You’ve got a lot of experience on this topic, but for our listeners who aren’t really sure, can we start at a very basic level: What is a mastermind group, and how do they work in general? 2. What’s the best thing you’ve ever seen come out of a mastermind group, in terms of a win for a member? 3. What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen come out a mastermind group, in terms of a fail for a member? 4. You’ve attended a lot of mastermind groups, plus you’ve handled the nuts and bolts of the Platinum Mastermind for a decade. Could you talk about what you’ve seen that works, in terms of the way mastermind groups are set up and the way they’re run, and what doesn’t work? 5. This next question is for people brave enough to attempt to do what you do for every meeting: deal with hotels. Could you offer some suggestions and warnings? 6. Let’s say someone is thinking about joining, or starting, a mastermind group. What are the key questions they should ask, or maybe better, get answered, before they go ahead and pull the trigger? 7. Finally, give us the quick version of what the Platinum Mastermind is like, and how people can find out more about it? More info about the Platinum Mastermind You can contact Stan directly by email: ChatWith@Stan-Dahl.com Download.