New copywriters: Best way to get experience and momentum…

New copywriters: Best way to get experience and momentum…

Any experience is better than no experience… So many copywriters at the beginning of their careers just freaking spin their wheels! It’s so frustrating, to see from the perspective of someone who has been in the business for a while.  You get these people who get...
How to drive attendance for live events?

How to drive attendance for live events?

First, sometimes a little break goes a long way… We went on a family adventure this weekend.  It was a 3-day camping trip with some good friends.  Outside.  In tents.  At a state park.  Lots of hiking. And Halloween activities, to boot!  There was a pumpkin roll, down...
The world’s greatest sales letter (that wasn’t)…

The world’s greatest sales letter (that wasn’t)…

Once again, I’ve seen a reference to The Wall Street Journal’s “Two Young Men” letter by Martin Conroy… And, as usual, it’s cited as the most successful sales letter of all time. Which may or may not be true in the absolute sense. But there’s another seldom-told story...
“A brand-new way to make money”

“A brand-new way to make money”

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently… It’s inspired by a private webinar I attended with Henry Bingaman and Marcella Allison.  In it, they broke down the creative process behind a promo Marcella wrote and Henry copy-chiefed. (Here’s the webinar...
The ideal selling process…

The ideal selling process…

We are all standing on the shoulders of a giant… I’ve talked about Eugene Schwartz many times before. And his book, Breakthrough Advertising. (A good starting point would be my One Big Idea video.) This book, beyond all others, truly gets at the core principle of...
The difference between success and failure in copywriting

The difference between success and failure in copywriting

I had an epiphany during a copy review today… It was about juxtapositions. That is, putting two ideas, concepts, or outcomes alongside each other for comparison. This was a big one… We were talking about saving and taxes in retirement… And we realized there are two...
What actually creates marketing profits?

What actually creates marketing profits?

Everything comes down to the right principles… If there’s one BIG lesson you can take away from reading Breakthrough Marketing Secrets, it’s that understanding the core principles of marketing and business will get you about 90% of the way to success. Applying them in...
How to write video sales copy…

How to write video sales copy…

Let’s start with the obvious: the world is going to video… Text-on-page sales copy is still critically important.  Sometimes to supplement video.  Sometimes instead of.  Sometimes in places where video just doesn’t work (for now).  And even when you have a video,...
Estimating project timelines [marketing project management]

Estimating project timelines [marketing project management]

ail “How long will this project take?” It sounds like a simple enough question.  At least on the surface. It’s actually anything but. My thoughts below… Remember: today is Monday, the day I open up the mailbox and answer your questions. To have your question answered...
The most effective copywriter website template…

The most effective copywriter website template…

What I’m about to reveal to you might just blow your mind… In part, because it breaks nearly every rule you’ve been told about marketing yourself as a copywriter. I’m going to share with you something powerful. It’s a website template. A website template specifically...