Our returning champion is copywriter Doug Pew. He was kind enough to be a guest a couple of months ago, when he talked about The Music of Copywriting. Doug is currently working on a couple of books about copywriting, but that’s not why he’s here today. The reason Doug agreed to come on and speak is The Copywriters Podcast itself. That is, Doug found himself in a bind a few weeks ago. The kind of bind every copywriter both dreams of and dreads. An onslaught of work no normal human could possibly ...
May 20, 2019
With Brandon Frederickson Brandon is a stock market guru, turned marketer - turned copywriter. He’s managed product launches for the likes of Jeff Walker and he’s currently a copywriter for Stansberry Research, the 2nd largest division of Agora. Brandon specializes in product launches and maximizing long term value and retention. He does this by understanding how to build long term relationships with clients through marketing and copy, and by working deep inside of funnels to maximize net revenu...
May 13, 2019
Three books I’ve been picking through for other projects, from entertainment fields, reminded me of the way we’re writing copy today: Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy, by Robert Jourdain The Writer’s Journey, 2nd Edition, by Christopher Vogler Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting, by Robin Frederick The rules used to be that copy was NOT to be entertaining. And that seems to have changed. But here’s one thing that has never changed, and never will: How it was in the past How it is now Three things that bro...
May 06, 2019
Richard Armstrong is a top A-List copywriter and I’m proud to say he’s my friend. He’s written for all the big mailers: Agora, Boardroom, Rodale, Kiplinger’s, Reader’s Digest, and many others. The late and extremely picky William F. Buckley, Jr. once allowed that Richard’s writing is “terrific.” The legendary Gary Bencivenga called Richard “one of the best copywriters on the planet.” And the great Dan Kennedy simply said of Richard, “I envy his talent.” Gotta agree with Dan on that one. I envy R...
Apr 29, 2019
A row of dominoes can shed some light on the secrets of the close in copywriting. So can • Picking an apple • Checking out at the grocery store • Asking someone to marry you What do all these things have in common? We explore this in today’s show. What’s important to remember is nothing happens all by itself, and that’s excruciatingly true when it comes to closing the sale. Study all the power closes and tricky closing techniques you want. They won’t do you a bit of good until you understand whe...
Apr 22, 2019
Our show today features superstar public speaker and Internet marketing trainer Tom Antion, who shares some expert info about the red-hot topic of public speaking for copywriters and business owners. Why is this important? Because “the copywriter’s journey,” as we’ll call it, goes something like this: - You start out learning to write copy. Big mystery - Suddenly, it becomes clear as something you write “hits” - Then, almost just as suddenly, the floodgates open. You have more clients than you h...
Apr 15, 2019
A little-known book called “The Act of Creation” by Arthur Koestler says that there are three states of mind all creative people use in the process of coming up with new ideas. Broadly stated, these three states are: 1. Humor 2. Scientific Thinking 3. Art While knowing about these is somewhat useful for the process of writing copy, being able to write copy that inspires these different states of mind in prospects while they are READING your copy is even more valuable. I’ve never seen anyone talk...
Apr 08, 2019
Driving around Orange County in Western New York. What a police officer told me that, years later, really helped my copywriting. How you lose readers… and sales crater Very few people talk about this, and when people do, they tend to give it the short shrift. But not us. We’re going to give it the long shrift in today’s episode. Why everyone struggles so much with this problem The best “greased chute” copy is not only seamless; it’s virtually invisible to the untrained eye. Most people not only ...
Apr 01, 2019
Before they start writing copy, people always ask me about a version of the same question: How can I make my copy succeed? But, strangely enough, after they’ve written their copy, their questions turn in a different direction. They are almost always the same question: Why did my copy fail? Today we’re going to talk about three things that really answer both questions. But before we do, let me answer a question I find on a lot of people’s minds. The question is, of course, what is the essential n...
Mar 25, 2019
We have a Special Report from the field today. In fact we might want to call it a fast-track masterclass in music and copywriting. Our special guest today is copywriter Doug Pew. He also happens to have a doctorate in classical music composition from the University of Cincinnati. He’s won awards for his music and he wrote an operate which was performed at the Kennedy Center. Plus, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the prestigious Ferydyrik Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Poland. Now, since thi...
Mar 18, 2019
How a TV interview with legendary singer/songwriter Robbie Robertson put the icing on the cake for me about a crucial problem in copywriter — on towering copywriter Gene Schwartz revealed on an obscure video, and certainly is Gene’s biggest secret for all copywriter. Something not even found in “Breakthrough Advertising.” The big problem with how people go about writing copy: We’ve got to shake old habits. The most important revelation is, contrary to what most people think, copy is not “written...
Mar 11, 2019
Chances are very good you’ve seen and heard our guest before. Maybe on ABC News, or CNBC, or Howard Stern. Or somewhere else on the radio. And, if you’ve ever called Citibank, hers is the familiar voice you hear before you get to a live person. Chances are just as good you’ve heard at least one of her students and clients, too. In fact I know you’ve heard at least one of them on this very podcast, because Agora Financial, which Joe Schriefer heads up, is one of her clients. But that was before S...
Mar 04, 2019
Without a good roadmap, most copywriters are just flying blind when they sit down to craft a sales letter. Sure, having a template can help, but even that doesn't get at the underlying problem. In order to write persuasive copy, you need to understand what each section of the copy is supposed to do. This week, David and Nathan break down the job of many essential parts of your sales letter. From headlines to P.S. sections, we get deep into the psychology behind each part and how to go about writ...
Feb 25, 2019
Einstein said: “Imagination is More Important than Knowledge.” It’s a quote that has led a lot of people to think they don’t need to know anything… all they need to do is “be creative” by using their imagination, and all their dreams will come true. That’s just not true. Because that quote, while accurate, is taken way out of context. Einstein needed to add just one word to it so the quote would stand alone and capture the meaning of the sentence in context, without the words that came before it...
Feb 18, 2019
Million Dollar Mike Morgan is a top copywriter currently working for a major division of the world’s largest financial publisher, Agora Inc. As a copywriter for Agora’s Money Map Press division, Mike’s in charge of promoting newsletters and other financial advisory services. His promotions that have made as much as $17 million apiece. Mike doesn’t like to do many interviews, but he’s one of my closest personal friends and so I was able to convince him to share some valuable inside secrets with y...
Feb 11, 2019
We’re back with Meron Bareket, who’s known as the “Sherlock Holmes” of funnels and conversions. He has the unique background and ability to find the “murderous leaks” in your online sales process — and fix them. When he combines that with his copywriting, you get outsized conversions and record profits. I know this because Meron is a mentoring client of mine. I’ve seen the kind of detective work he does and the massive sales results he’s gotten for clients. Meron can do what he does because he’s...
Feb 04, 2019
Meron Bareket, who’s known as the “Sherlock Holmes” of funnels and conversions. He has the unique background and ability to find the “murderous leaks” in your online sales process — and fix them. When he combines that with his copywriting, you get outsized conversions and record profits. I know this because Meron is a mentoring client of mine. I’ve seen the kind of detective work he does and the massive sales results he’s gotten for clients. Meron can do what he does because he’s a dedicated stu...
Jan 28, 2019
The famous English writer George Orwell is best known for his book 1984, which is a bestseller and a major cultural signpost in the English-speaking world. But lesser known is a book he published three years before. 1984 was published in 1949. But Politics and the English Language was published in 1946. In this book, Orwell lays out six iron-clad rules for writing, which are pretty good for copywriters, too — with some notable exceptions. We’ll get to those in a few minutes. But first, let me sh...
Jan 21, 2019
Simulmedia, a 10-year-old company based in New York and LA, helps businesses use TV advertising to get better results by bringing in data analytics. Recently Simulmedia launched a marketplace called D2Cx. It’s especially interesting for direct marketers who want to reach consumers on TV without all of the old hoops that you used to have jump through. I reached out to Matt Collins and invited him to come on the Copywriters Podcast to explain this. Some listeners are not ready for TV, but I’m pret...
Jan 14, 2019
A rocket scientist describes how a spacecraft takes off. There’s a big difference between the energy and controlled chaos of the lift-off and the regular, cyclical path of the orbit around the earth. What can we learn about this description when it comes to the two basic types of people necessary to make copywriting make money? Plenty. Two conversations started this all. The first one – one of those accidental things about something else entirely, that really sparked my thinking about this. The ...
Jan 07, 2019
A story about my mother and the vacuum cleaner. What objections are and why it’s so vitally important that you know them and overcome them. The best way to find objections. What to do if you can’t find objections out first-hand Handling objections in your copy: • Overcoming copy with a headline • Overcoming copy with a guarantee • Overcoming objections in your bullet points • Overcoming objections in your FAQs • Two powerful ways to overcome objections that many people overlook • How to reduce t...
Dec 31, 2018
Parris Lampropoulos is one of the few true A-List copywriters in the world, and he is a much sought-after teacher of copywriting as well. This special one-hour session with Parris is a veritable masterclass. He reveals the subtle psychology and strategies behind a sales letter that trounced the previous control and went on to run for over 7 years. At the bottom of this page, you’ll receive a link to download this historic piece of copywriting excellence that Parris explains in granular — yet, ea...
Dec 24, 2018
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 a...
Dec 17, 2018
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 natur...
Dec 10, 2018
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 larg...
Dec 03, 2018
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 him...
Nov 26, 2018
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 him...
Nov 19, 2018
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 ...
Nov 12, 2018
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 goi...
Nov 05, 2018
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? W...
Oct 29, 2018
