Copywriters Podcast

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.

On the podcast Masters of Scale, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman interviewed Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb. Chesky tells of advice he got 10 years ago, when the company barely had any customers at all. He got the advice from one of the wisest men in Silicon Valley, Paul Graham of Y Combinator. The advice was simple, but powerful: “Get to know your customers by one.” Brian Chesky and his Airbnb co-founders followed the advice. He remembers, “I’d just spend time with them, and I’m like, What if I did this, what if I did this — and from those questions, a handcrafted experience is born.” He also said, “You literally start designing touchpoint by touchpoint, the creation of a peer review system, customer support, all those things came from us. We didn’t just meet our users, we lived with them. I used to joke that when you bought an iPhone, Steve Jobs didn’t come sit on your couch.” Well, good joke, but, Steve Jobs used to walk around the Apple Store on University Avenue in Palo Alto and ask people who were trying out Macs what they liked and what they didn’t like about the Mac. Anyway, that’s beside the point. I just wanted to give a shoutout to Steve Jobs. Meanwhile, Airbnb is slated to go public next year with a valuation of $35 billion. Not bad for 10 years work and starting out by going over to visit your customers at their homes. There’s a reason I told you this, and it’s not to suggest that you go live with your customers! I’m telling you because Brian Chesky of Airbnb made one of the four choices copywriters can make for empathy that we’ll talk about today. All four are important, and we cover them in the podcast. First though, we cover what “empathy” is. I’m using one of the best definitions I’ve ever come across, and naturally, it’s from a Hollywood screenwriting guru. I say “naturally” because screenwriters, just as much as copywriters, need to have strong empathy for the people involved in what they write, in order for it to connect with readers and viewers. Next, we go over the four choices you have for empathy each time you start a new project. You can only make one of them, and a couple of them are weak substitutes for the real thing. We’ll go into detail about all four. By the time you’ve finished listening to this show, you’ll have a much better idea of what empathy is; how to achieve it (and how not to); and why it’s important in the success of your copy.Download.

Adam Bensman, a successful copywriter with a background in direct-response and door-to-door sales, shares tips on discovering profitable niches and transitioning to a value-based retainer model in copywriting. He emphasizes the importance of aligning with high-ticket clients and providing ongoing value for consistent cash flow.

The famous investor Warren Buffett is famous for saying that when it comes to investing, he has two rules: 1) Never lose money. 2) See rule #1 To be sure, Warren Buffett hasn’t ALWAYS been able to follow these rules. Because, of course, he is an investor and some things are beyond his control. His insurance company General Re lost $2.4 billion after the attacks on 9-11. Even so, his overall company reported a profit for 2001, though much smaller than the profit from the year before. Now copywriting has rules, too. We’re going to focus on three of them. They’re not quite as clear-cut as Warren Buffett’s rules, but they’re just as important. And unlike Warren Buffett’s rules for investing, the three copywriting rules are all tempting to break. Everyone should know what these rules are and how to avoid temptation. Even more important than the rules themselves are the sneaky ways temptation tries to get you to break them. In your mind, each one seems perfectly reasonable and logical. On today’s show, we spend a little time on each rule and why it’s so important… and most of our time on the nine temptations that can lead you astray… hurt your sales… damage your customer relations… and even put your business at risk.Download.

Direct response copywriter Matt Rizvi has worked with famous people known for being strong independent thinkers who focus on the power of the individual. People like Dr. Ron Paul, the congressman from Texas; best-selling author and financial guru Pamela Yellen; and investment analyst Porter Stansberry. Matt’s sold millions with his copy. He’s the founder of DailyCopywriter.com and the DailyCopywriter podcast. Where I was a guest myself. While I was getting ready to be his show, I noticed on his website he mentioned he uses “a unique type of ethical copywriting.” That really intrigued me, because I’ve always believed in ethical copywriting but I think we don’t spend nearly enough time talking about it, whether it’s on this podcast or in the copywriting world at large. So I invited Matt to come on the Copywriters Podcast to talk about it, and here he is. It seemed like such a natural fit to me. We covered these questions: 1. Matt, what is your definition of ethical copywriting, and why is it important? 2. What events or experiences led you to focus on ethical copywriting? 3. A lot of copywriters might be less than ethical in the way they write. Just for our listeners who aren’t up to speed on this issue, what does less-than-ethical copywriting look like? 4. Could you walk us through a promo you did and share two or three decisions you made to stay on the right side of being ethical? 5. You have cubs you mentor. What are two or three tips or guidelines you share with them to stay ethical? An example of one of these ideas in action would be great. 6. In the short run, UNethical copy can bring in windfalls. But long-term, there are consequence. I recently heard about a guy who was a household name in direct marketing 20 years ago — got hit for a huge fine for his marketing — and has all but disappeared. What would you say about the short-term profitability vs. the long-term profitability of ethical copy, and the relative ease and/or difficulty of writing each kind of copy? Matt’s websites: DailyCopywriter, MattRizvi Download.

John Carlton, a legendary copywriter and teacher, returns to share profound insights into the advertising world. He reveals little-known wisdom from icons like Claude Hopkins and Rosser Reeves that can help copywriters stand out. Carlton discusses the concept of being a 'sales detective' to uncover client needs, emphasizing the importance of action over mere knowledge. His unique method for connecting with clients ensures the information needed to craft winning ads flows freely. This engaging conversation blends humor, empathy, and deep strategy in the world of copywriting.