Copywriters Podcast

This week's episode is a little bit different. David and Nathan do a bit of a freestyle rant on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, as it pertains to writing your sales copy. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the topic, here's what we'll be covering. Physiological needs * consumer goods * food * clothing * shelter Safety needs * personal security * financial security * health and well being Social belonging * Fitting in * Trends * Identity brands Esteem * Status symbols * Luxury items Self-actualization * Courses * Self-Improvement materialsDownload.

As a journalist, I was trained to do “news stories” and “feature stories.” A news story started with a quick, curiosity-provoking sentence hinting or outright telling what the story was about. A feature story would start with an anecdote, or a startling fact, or something other than the direct subject of the story. Same as direct / indirect leads. What we’ll talk about today. Because which one you use can have a dramatic impact, positive or negative, on your sales. You need to know which one to use, when, and that’s what we’ll cover. 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. Direct vs. Indirect Leads Definition Direct: Where you prese

Story about recent critique client: a couple good ideas; 20. Mandy’s question about my creativity, from her podcast interview: Question 2: One other thing I noticed about reading your testimonials… your clients are impressed with how fast you come up with great ideas. He also has this ridiculous talent for coming up with copy, like, effortlessly. It would take me at least 30 minutes to come up with what he comes up with in 30 seconds. —Fran Rengel, CEO, Enrich Marketing, Inc., Austin, TX After WEEKS of struggling to find the perfect lead for a promotion I was working on, David nailed it in only 37 seconds flat. Doberman Dan Where did it come from? I actually eat my own cooking. Today I’ll share some of the recipes with you. Before we get started on Monster Creativity, a reminder: 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 ind

Native Instruments purchase - $1200 for a hard drive filled with music software and virtual instruments. This cost me more than a lot of my guitars! I called my sales engineer at Sweetwater, Brian. What he explained to me. What I’d be able to do… what I would not have to spend… or take time learning. Suddenly, it didn’t seem that expensive. Think about what it would have cost to do that in real life. Rent Davies Symphony Hall. $2500 minimum – already more than twice what I paid for the software. And that does not include • Hiring a trumpet soloist • Hiring a woodwind ensemble, with flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, saxophones, contrabassoons and bass clarinets. • Or hiring a string section, with cellos, violas and violins And that’s just for starters. Add to that the cost of professionally setting up microphones and recording the instruments; then, mixing and producing the finished piece. We’re easily now between $3000 and $4000 just for 10-1/2 seconds of music. So now you can see how suddenly $1199 was

I got this small rubber ball to squeeze to strengthen the muscles in my left hand, when I started playing guitar again a couple years ago after a 40-year “break.” You want your copy to be as strong as possible, too. Remember that good copy has a job to do… to move qualified prospects to take action. That takes muscle! Today’s episode tells you how to make your copy more muscular. 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. These are seven easy-to-use tips. You might want to cut and paste the show notes from our home site, copywriterspodcast.com, and make yourself a little checklist. Use the checklist to go over your copy after you’ve written it

On June 23, 1965, a group out of Detroit called The Contours released a record which became a big hit. The tune was written by written by Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers, and it was called “First, I Look At The Purse.” Many other groups covered this song afterwards, including the Jay Geils Band. It’s a very interesting song… but, when it comes to critiquing copy, I have my own version. Actually, I don’t have a whole song, just a title at this point. Maybe someday I’ll write the song and then release it first on this podcast, Nathan. We could even do it as a duet. But for now, just the title. It’s… “First I Look For The Hook!” In any piece of copy, your hook’s so important. We’ll get into what it is in a minute, and how you can find your best hook for any copy you’re writing. This will be a revelation to a lot of people. But before we do, first an important announcement from your conscience: Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense

Copywriting is a lot like magic. With good sales copy, you can hold a reader captive. You can take them on a journey and open them up a world of opportunities. You can spell out some words and cast a spell on your readers. David Allan is both a copywriter and a magician. He joins the podcast this week to share some of his knowledge with our listeners. We talk about the overlap between his two worlds, including the skills he's been able to bring over from one to the other. David reveals some of the secrets of human nature that makes magic work. Then he explains how those same aspects of our nature apply to persuasive sales copy. This one is a "must listen" episode. Download.

How does copywriting apply to a sales funnel? David Allan joins us to break it down. We start with the 5,000-foot view by exploring what funnels are and how they work. Then, David goes over some simple rules to follow when building your sales funnels. We cover some of the most common mistakes people make when crafting their sales funnels. And David shares some of his favorite resources for people to learn more. If you're trying to build out a full-fledged marketing machine for your business, this is the episode for you. Download it now.Download.

When I first started copywriting, I had a real disadvantage. I had been a journalist, and the underlying belief -- at the time -- was that people are rational: You simply give them the facts, for and against, and they will make a reasoned decision. So when I started to see promotions that were working based on emotional appeals that seemed foreign and bizarre to me, I didn't understand. It took a while. But eventually, I came to realize what every successful copywriter realizes: that people are motivated by forces that had nothing to do with what I had learned in school, or on the job as a working journalist. One way I came to make sense of all of this was by looking at what's known as "the Seven Deadly Sins." That is -- all of these things you were NOT supposed to do and feel, were, in fact, what motivated large numbers of people to act and to buy. That's what we'll be talking about today. Warning Copy is powerful. You're responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, comm

1 Bob story "Like my family's kitchen." My experience was a little different - Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford. I knew how to ask questions - but still hadn't learned how to ask engaging questions that helped people to open up. That's what I've spent the last 40 years learning, and I'll share what I can today with you. 0.1 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. 2 What interviewing is It's not an interrogation It's a conversation starts with building rapport Stan Russell - Jerry Richardson, The Magic of Rapport http://a.co/e3JqwHo Comes from experience, common sense, skills training, clarity of your purpose of the interview -- and, res

I remember when I was a kid, I asked my dad about the cigarettes he was smoking. Very sarcastically, he repeated words from a commercial: "For the best combination of filter and good taste, Kent satisfies best!" I smiled, but he could tell I didn't get his little joke. Then he said, "Seriously, David - it's because Kent has this Micronite filter. It filters out the harsher parts of the smoke." Dad, being a nuclear physicist, really bought into Kent's so-called "logical" Unique Selling Proposition. He told me about the Micronite filter like it was established scientific fact. But of course, it was just a USP dreamed up by some ad agency. Now… these days the old ads for cigarettes are considered evil. And though evil they may have been, they were definitely effective. Having a good USP for each brand was definitely a big part of their success. So the question arises: Can you use a USP to sell healthy products? Good products? Products that improve people's lives? And here's the answer: Not only you can, but

Have you ever see a musician who's like this unimpressive guy, sort of could fade into the background at the drop of a pin. Then he picks up an instrument, and he's like in a different universe. What happened? He'd tell you, "I got in the pocket" or "I slipped into the groove." Another way to say that is, "I got into flow." What's what we'll talk about today. Advisory 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 Is "Flow?" • Ease of writing • Non-stop • Low stress • Easy access to creativity • Could even feel like a rush - dopamine drop Benefits Of Flow For Writing • The writing's smoother, it's easier to read • When you're in flow and you'

I was at a marketing conference and ended up sitting next to a woman named Maya who had the most unusual briefcase I'd ever seen. I asked her about it and she said, I got it at the Coach store. I was planning to spend no more than $300 but the Fashion Advisor asked me some questions, and she recommended this one, based on my answers. I nodded. Then she said, I ended up spending $700. And I really hate the salespeople at the OTHER stores. But Connie wasn't a salesperson at all. She just found out what I was looking for and showed it to me. I simply HAD to have it! I bit my tongue and did my best to keep a straight face. I didn't want to burst Maya's bubble by pointing out that Connie was a GOOD salesperson, and that's why she didn't see her as a salesperson at all. But Maya's attitude about salespeople would have made it very hard for her to be successful as a copywriter. That's what we'll talk about today. Copy is powerful. You're responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time,

They say that laughter is the best medicine. It can uplift the soul. It can make people fall in love with you. But it's one of the hardest things to accomplish in writing. And that's doubly so when it comes to copywriting. Kevin Rogers is back to join us this week. Kevin has a long history of both copywriting, and stand-up comedy. He knows what works and what doesn't when it comes to injecting comedy into your sales copy, and he's spilling the beans for you to gobble up. There's a lot of overlap between a career in comedy and a career in comedy. But it takes a man talented in both to bring these similarities to light. And in this episode, Kevin and David do just that. Kevin's Website Copy ChiefDownload.

Getting started is often the hardest thing for a new copywriter to do. That's why we invited Kevin Rogers on the podcast to shed some light on the topic. Kevin is the head of the Copy Chief community, an online resource for copywriters of all experience levels. And he brings a wealth of knowledge for newbie copywriters to the table in this interview. We cover: How to get clients when you're first starting out Classic mistakes new copywriters tend to make How to join the Copy Chief community and much more. Kevin's WebsiteDownload.

My friend Michael owns a sushi restaurant in my neighborhood in San Francisco. His place is one of a dozen, maybe dozens, in the neighborhood - I've never taken time to count all of them. Even though the restaurant has much more seating than your typical sushi bar, it's always nearly full at dinnertime. One day I pulled Michael aside and asked him how he got so many customers. "David, it's not all that many customers," he said. "It's that the customers I have, keep coming back." Does a sushi restaurant owner know something that you don't? Or even if you know it, are you falling short when it comes to taking advantage of this truth? That is: You'll make a lot more money when you find a way to get old customers to keep coming back. We'll talk about that in today's episode. But first on the menu is this: 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

I started teaching writing 30 years ago, and one of the biggest challenges my students always seemed to face was the amount of time it took to write. This of course was especially true for people who had to do writing as one of a few or many tasks in their businesses or their lives. Over the years, I've developed systems and techniques that help people write faster. But I've never before shared the system for writing copy faster than I'm going to share today. This one is based on some of the same ideas I used 30 years ago for doing other kinds of writing, that worked so well. We'll move on in a minute. But first, there's this: 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 cli

Copywriters are solitary creatures who spend large amounts of time alone. Yet the good ones understand quite a bit more about human motivations and behaviors than almost anyone else, including most professional psychologists. Why is that? A lot of it comes from observation and thinking about what they have observed. But more to the point, they have to… or, their copy just won't work. Last week we talked about a "core curriculum" of books people copywriters need to read. This week, we're going to talk about "the advanced stuff" – a deep and possibly disturbing survey of how and why people do what they do. Stuff you need to know if you want to improve the response to your copy. So today these words are especially relevant: 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

When I first got into writing copy, I was having a hard time finding any good information about how to do it. So I took every seminar I could and read every book I could find. It was exhausting, and frankly, maybe not the best use of my time. Originally I put this episode together with the plan to come up with a handful of books every copywriter should read – what I wish I had known when I started. But my list got so long that I realized we were going to need two episodes to cover things fully. So this is part 1 – what I'd call "the core curriculum." Next week, we'll go through a second list I'm calling "the advanced stuff." First, a pleasant reminder: 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

The other day I was watching a TV interview with a Hollywood actor in his 80s. The interviewer asked him, "What do you think of all the new movies with special effects and robot characters?" The actor clearly didn't want to answer the question directly. Instead, he said: "What I look for in a script is three things: 1) What's the story? 2) Who are the characters that embody the story? 3) What's the emotion?" It was a good answer, and I think the third thing the old actor mentioned is also important for copywriters. Even more than that, I think the conventional wisdom we've gotten about emotion is not nearly specific enough to be useful. I'll review the conventional wisdom in this episode, & replace it with specifics you can use. Before we do, here's something that you might not find emotional at all: 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