Copywriters Podcast

Show starts with an editorial in a business magazine that condemned negative thinkers. Warning: 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. Why positive thinking is so important for copywriters — and, really, anyone in business — most of the time. Why it’s a mistake to never allow negative thinking into the copywriting process — and where you should. Three important activities for copywriters that require negative thinking: 1. Mac Ross’s “Four W’s” Here are four questions most copywriters — and most business owners — never dare to ask. But they really must ask them (as painful as it may be) if they want their ads to work. 2. “What could possibly go wrong?” The power of positive thinking can drive you right into a ditch if you don’t keep an eagle-eye out for ditches when you’re driving. Now, this works a little bit differently in the copywriting process, but the idea is just as important. 3. Problem-Agitate-Solve Dan Kennedy made this formula famous, but it’s been around in one form or another for as long as people have had problems, needed some motivation to solve those problems, and needed solutions. But some copywriters get stuck in the “think positive” straightjacket when they try to use it. Here’s what you need to do instead.Download.

What I didn’t start learning about people until I was 40. Warning 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. What “human nature” means How understanding it at the behavioral level makes a difference when you’re writing copy… and you need to get specific behaviors from people reading your copy What happens when you live in an idealized world (read: “should”) about people and how they behave… and how that affects your copy (you’re screwed, your copy’s screwed) Four surprising things about human nature I learned only in copywriting • What people are really more concerned about, as opposed to what they’re “supposed to be” concerned about… • While many people say the greatest motivator is greed… or fear… or love… or hate… what I have discovered is the greatest overall motivator to get people to start reading your copy and keep reading it until they buy is something different. • It’s like completely obvious when you find out about this one, but it’s practically a forbidden subject in school, many homes and houses of worship, and even some businesses. • Before I knew anything about copywriting, I thought branding and advertising were the same thing. As a young copywriter, I thought branding was nonsense and a complete fraud. What I learned about human nature, only last month (October 2018), helped me see the value and the severe (and sales-preventing limitations) of branding. Review of four things about human nature I was only able to learn through Next time: The Power of Negative Thinking!Download.

The newsletter publisher that made more money with people who swiped his newsletter than he did from subscriptions. 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. What swiping is The difference between swiping and stealing (plagiarism) Why swipe files are important How to build a swipe file How to use a swipe file The three levels of creativity (Gene Schwartz, Breakthrough Advertising, p59) 1. Word-Substitute Technique (“the shallowest”) 2. Through Formula (“deeper and more difficult”) 3. Analytical approach (“It means a solution which has cost you days and weeks of painful effort, and which has done its job perfectly—can only be used once.”)Download.

Part 2 of 2 For today’s special Report from the Field, I literally met our guest “in the field,” at the Platinum Mastermind Group a few weeks ago. His name is Ted Prodromou, and he’s known as America’s leading LinkedIn coach. That would be good enough if Ted knew how you could get a job on LinkedIn better than anyone else, but I was extremely impressed that he knew a lot more than that. He knows how copywriters and entrepreneurs can use LinkedIn to make large amounts of money, as he does for himself every month. Ted’s the author of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business, and the third edition will be released by Entrepreneur Press next March. I’m so delighted that he’s agreed to come onto the Copywriters Podcast and share some of his secrets. Welcome, Ted! Before we get into the questions, let me share my one and only secret for this podcast: 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. 1. Ted, after listening to you, I got the impression that you really see LinkedIn differently than most people see it. Could you share the highlights of what opportunities you see for freelance copywriters, and for owners of small to medium businesses? 2. What are some simple actions a copywriter can take on LinkedIn, to get more copywriting clients? 3. Let’s say a business sells online courses or other kinds of info-products. What are some basic things a business can do to bring in more sales? 4. What are mistakes you see people making on LinkedIn – both really dumb ones, and mistakes that seem like they’re reasonable things to do, but actually aren’t such good ideas after all? 5. Please give us some tips on writing a LinkedIn profile. What are the most common mistakes, and what are your most popular strategies? 6. What writing tips would you suggest for articles and other content on LinkedIn? 7. You have this great set of insider secrets you call the LinkedIn Cheat Sheet. Could you tell us about it, and how our listeners can go get a copy themselves?Download.

Part 1 of 2 For today’s special Report from the Field, I literally met our guest “in the field,” at the Platinum Mastermind Group a few weeks ago. His name is Ted Prodromou, and he’s known as America’s leading LinkedIn coach. That would be good enough if Ted knew how you could get a job on LinkedIn better than anyone else, but I was extremely impressed that he knew a lot more than that. He knows how copywriters and entrepreneurs can use LinkedIn to make large amounts of money, as he does for himself every month. Ted’s the author of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business, and the third edition will be released by Entrepreneur Press next March. I’m so delighted that he’s agreed to come onto the Copywriters Podcast and share some of his secrets. Welcome, Ted! Before we get into the questions, let me share my one and only secret for this podcast: 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. 1. Ted, after listening to you, I got the impression that you really see LinkedIn differently than most people see it. Could you share the highlights of what opportunities you see for freelance copywriters, and for owners of small to medium businesses? 2. What are some simple actions a copywriter can take on LinkedIn, to get more copywriting clients? 3. Let’s say a business sells online courses or other kinds of info-products. What are some basic things a business can do to bring in more sales? 4. What are mistakes you see people making on LinkedIn – both really dumb ones, and mistakes that seem like they’re reasonable things to do, but actually aren’t such good ideas after all? 5. Please give us some tips on writing a LinkedIn profile. What are the most common mistakes, and what are your most popular strategies? 6. What writing tips would you suggest for articles and other content on LinkedIn? 7. You have this great set of insider secrets you call the LinkedIn Cheat Sheet. Could you tell us about it, and how our listeners can go get a copy themselves? Ted's WebsiteDownload.

Brian Cassingena helps businesses build out their customer acquisition funnels to create major breakthroughs in their sales and profits. He is a former Mindvalley chief copywriter. Brian’s responsible for at last count more than $4 million in revenue coming directly from his copy over the last 3 years. Last year, more than $1.3 million, just for Mindvalley alone. Brian has rolled out more than 20 major funnels, and some of these are making 6 or 7 figures per year on autopilot. Brian’s back with us from last week. Today, he’s going to talk with us about making money with daily emails. 1. Could you describe what sending a daily email means? Is it literally every day? How long are they typically? 2. When was the first time you started or took over a daily email program? Are there any results you can describe? 3. To many business owners, the idea of sending out an email to customer everyday borders on the unimaginable. What do you say to clients to reassure them what they send will be welcomed by customers, and that you’ll have enough to write about. 4. What advice would you give to a business owner who’s working with a copywriter to do daily emails? 5. What would you suggest to a business owner who wants to do it themselves? 6. And if a copywriter wants to approach a client about doing a daily email program, what are some suggestions would you have about how to go about this? 7. I’m sure you’ve seen some big mistakes people make with daily emails. What are some of them? 8. Could you share some inside secrets no one else talks about to make daily emails work? Geniuses Of Copywriting PodcastDownload.

Brian Cassingena helps businesses build out their customer acquisition funnels to create major breakthroughs in their sales and profits. He is a former Mindvalley chief copywriter. Brian’s responsible for at last count more than $4 million in revenue coming directly from his copy over the last 3 years. Last year, more than $1.3 million, just for Mindvalley alone. Brian has rolled out more than 20 major funnels, and some of these are making 6 or 7 figures per year on autopilot. Today, Brian’s going to share some of his MindValley funnel secrets with us. 1. To start with, could you give us a quick summary of who MindValley is, when you worked for them, and what you did for them? 2. Now, before we get into your MindValley funnel secrets, please give us a brief, basic definition of a funnel, so even the least experienced listener will understand what we’re going to be talking about. 3. What was your best-performing funnel for MindValley? Could you walk us through the pieces/steps? 4. The most successful people get to where they are by making mistakes, and learning from them. Could you share a few interesting mistakes you made with funnels, how you corrected them, and what you learned from the experience? 5. You’re working with other clients these days. Maybe still with MindValley, I don’t know, but at best part-time. How do you take what you learned from MindValley and apply it to developing or fixing funnels for clients? (A few nitty-gritty specifics here, please. You don’t have to give away your vast storehouse of knowledge – in fact, please don’t.  But make what you do tell us very real and easy to understand.) 6. What’s the easiest way to change an existing funnel to increase conversion the most? 7. What do you find marketers tend to leave out or overlook with their funnels? 8. Is there a bare-minimum checklist you could share with us (here, not in written form, but in the interview) that every funnel should have? Geniuses Of Copywriting PodcastDownload.

Today our special guest is Debbie Owen, who has her own podcast, The Sales Page Podcast, and is a book-launch strategist and freelance copywriter. She’s agreed to give us a crash course for coaches and consultants in writing copy that brings in business. Here are the main topics she addresses: 1. What’s the biggest mistake coaches and consultants make when writing their own copy? 2. Everyone knows you’re supposed to write down such things as, “What keeps them awake at night? What do they fear? What do they desire?” What else can make a difference in writing copy for a coaching business, when it comes to knowing your avatar, or perfect client? 3. There are so many coaches out there; the competition is stiff. How do you fight that in your copy? 4. Let’s talk about the messaging in your copy. How do you compare yourself to your competition? 5. Many coaches either procrastinate about writing their sales page because they’re afraid of a blank page, or they just sit down and start writing without a plan. What’s a plan they can use to write copy for their coaching business?Download.

Today our special guest is Debbie Owen, who has her own podcast, The Sales Page Podcast, and is a book-launch strategist and freelance copywriter. She’s agreed to give us a crash course for business owners in writing copy that brings in business. Here are the main topics she addresses: 1. What is the most important thing a business owner should start with when they think about writing copy for a sales page? 2. Many business owners try to write copy that creates a desire for the product or service they offer. What’s wrong with this approach? 3. How do you write copy for a sales page that addresses the prospect’s level of problem awareness? 4. What are some typical sales page copy mistakes business owners make when they write their own copy? Debbie's WebsiteDownload.

Explore the intriguing principle of 'show, don't tell' in copywriting and how misinterpretations can lead to confusion. Discover the art of storytelling and its role in engaging audiences emotionally, whether in marketing, comics, or fiction. Learn how vivid imagery can transform mundane narratives, drawing readers into the experience of using products. The power of testimonials shines as personal stories evoke trust and connection, making offers irresistible. Find out when to balance showing and telling for maximum impact.