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It’s the day before the day of the night before Christmasas we put this on the air, and a very unknown year looms ahead.One thing for sure, no matter what happens:The market will be more unforgiving in 2025 than it was in 2024. Why?It’s simple. Competition keeps growing. So does impatience among almost all consumers, and mistrust among many of them.What this means to you, as a copywriter, is now more than ever, you can’t afford to do a half-assed job on your copy.Sounds pretty bleak and terrifying, I know.But wait? What’s that whooshing sound?It’s Copywriters Podcast to the rescue!You see, we’ve put together 10 absolute “musts” for your copy to give it the tippy-top chance of converting to a sale.And we’re going to share all of them today on the show, and even in the show notes so you won’t forget anything.Here are the 10 MUSTS:1. Remember your copy is about your prospect and how your product will improve their life. It’s not about you, your business, or your product.2. Make a list of the biggest objections, starting with the strongest and most common. Make sure your copy answers every one of the objections.3. Write drunk, edit sober. Don’t literally get drunk. Just go wild when you write. Put all your passion and intensity into it, and dial it back when you edit.4. Sell results, not the process it takes to get the results. You can explain the process briefly later on, but focus on the results for the prospect. That’s what they’re buying.5. Use the word “you” and at least twice as much as the words “me,” “my” “us” “ours” and your company and product name. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason.6. Close all your loops. If you mention a problem, solve it. If you make a claim, prove it. Loose ends that don’t get tied up lead to sales that don’t get closed.7. Use people in your copy. Don’t say, “helps build muscle.” say, “Helped Bob pack on 10 pounds of muscle.”8. Use proof early and often. Right away if you can. People are skeptical and proof helps them relax so they can feel good about buying.9. Use lots of white space. One sentence paragraphs sometimes. Maybe all the time. Make it easy to read.10. Write your headline last. Sometimes you don’t really know what your copy’s about until you’ve written it. You’ll have a better headline if you know what it’s leading to before you write it.
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So, we’re right in the middle of the Christmas shopping season as we come to you this week, and I’m wondering:Have you figured out how to delight your customers and fatten up your bank account?If you haven’t you’re not alone.Many copywriters and businesses don’t know exactly what to do to join in the holiday buying and selling fun… so they don’t do anything.Which is a shame, because there’s a ton of people out there just looking for a good excuse to buy something.So this podcast is my gift to you. It has enough practical how-to content to be a paid product, but since you are loyal Copywriters Podcast listener or viewer, we’re going to give it to you so you can join in the fun for the next few weeks… if you want to.Now, one word of warning. We’re going to give you 11 last-minute ideas. Some of these are as easy as pie to implement.Other ones require a lot of fine-tuned skill and the ability to handle some high-precision operations all at once. I’ll warn you about which ones are not for the faint of heart, or for beginners.But one thing I can promise you before we start. There’s something for everyone on today’s show, and it could lead to a little holiday bonus for your business in the next few days, if you do it right.Here’s a recap of what we covered. Details in the show itself: 1 The 24-Hour Flash Sale: Create urgency with a one-day 30% discount, supported by three perfectly timed emails.2 Smart Bundles: Combine multiple offerings at a 20% discount to increase average order value while delivering high perceived value.3 For The Last-Minute Buyer: Target procrastinators with premium-priced, instantly deliverable solutions during the final pre-Christmas rush.4 Christmas Countdown Special: Transform the final week before Christmas into a series of daily changing offers that build anticipation and repeat visits.5 Holiday Delivery Guarantee: Turn shipping anxiety into a competitive advantage by offering guaranteed Christmas delivery.6 Give Yourself A Gift: Capitalize on the December 26-31 period by targeting self-purchasers with gift money and cards.7 Gift Card Bonus: Offer gift cards with bonus value that drives January visits and increases total spending.8 For A Good Cause: Link purchases to charitable giving to tap into holiday generosity while building brand loyalty.9 Don’t Leave Yourself Out: Legitimize self-purchasing during holiday shopping with "one for them, one for you" promotions.10 New Year, New You: Bridge holiday spending with New Year's planning by offering Christmas buyers exclusive January access to a special self-development program.11 Peace In The Family: Address holiday stress by packaging gifts with stress-management solutions in a sensitive, solution-focused way.
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For the copywriting word of the year, I’d like to nominate the word “authenticity.”It’s a big deal right now.People talk about it a lot. I will give you an example on today’s show of how an accidental Facebook ad created more engagement than anything else I’ve ever seen.I went over the ad with my clients and we figured out that it was the way they used authenticity in the writing of it that touched so many people and inspired so much response.These days, slick marketing is on a steep decline when it comes to effectiveness.People are wary of high-powered pitches and over-the-top promises, more than ever before.Remember the old Who song, which is now the intro to CSI Vegas, “Who Are You?”In part, it goes:Well, who are you?I really wanna know Tell me, who are you?'Cause I really wanna knowI think they were decades ahead of their time when they released this song in 1978.Because it seems every prospect has this question on their mind before they will consider buying from you.And authenticity will get you a long way to a satisfactory answer and help them become a customer.
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Have you ever heard a song and thought,“Dang! How did they do that? I wish my copy was that catchy!”Well, Nathan and I have thought the same thing and in fact pondered the similarities between writing a song and writing copy.You see, we’re both songwriters. We stoutly assert that we are both amateurs at this.At one point, music was Nathan’s business.I never got that far. It’s always been just a hobby for me.But I have studied and tried intently. Just turned out that wasn’t my path.However, once you start with music, you can’t leave it.Or, it never leaves you. So we both live with music inside us, all the time.And today, we thought we’d talk about what we learned from songwriting and how a great song compares to a great piece of copy.The Persuasion Story Code: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQ
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Ever wonder why some copywriters consistently crush it while others struggle to get conversions? This episode dives deep into the Five Stages of Copywriter Awareness—a transformative framework that shows the path from instinctive, mediocre copy to breakthrough results. If you’ve ever felt like your copy was missing something, this episode will pinpoint exactly where you’re stuck and how to advance.Starting at Stage One, you’ll learn why writing based solely on your own perspective often falls flat and how the shift to understanding your audience begins at Stage Two. But even surface-level audience insights won’t cut it if you want to create reliable winners. That’s why we explore the leap to Stage Three, where systematic research transforms your understanding of what your prospects truly want.In Stages Four and Five, the game changes. Here, it’s not just about gathering data but analyzing it for hidden patterns and emotional drivers that resonate deeply with your audience. You’ll discover how advanced copywriters use strategic testing and ethical swiping of structures—not words—to craft high-converting campaigns backed by data, not guesses.By the end of this episode, you’ll have a roadmap to move beyond your current plateau, sharpen your skills, and write copy that performs at the highest level. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to join the ranks of elite copywriters, this episode promises to give you the tools to elevate your craft and your results. Listen now to unlock the next stage of your copywriting journey.
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Once you’ve finished your copy, the anxiety begins.And it almost always boils down to the answer to this question:How good is this copy–really?When people ask me to critique their copy, they’re often amazed at how quickly I can get to the heart of things. Once I have an overall opinion, I’ll drill down to a lot of specifics.But I think it’s important today not to talk about those specifics, but instead to talk about that quick take.How do you know if it’s any good to begin with?I’m going to give you useful answers to three questions today:1. How can you get a quick sense of whether copy will convert or fall flat?2. What mistakes do newbie copywriters make that immediately signal they still have a lot to learn?3. How do you develop the ability to have a gut feeling on whether copy will work or not?Link to AI Copywriting Mastermind: https://vip.getmynovus.ai
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Today we’re going to do another episode of “Just because it’s a story, it’s not a hero’s journey story.”What I mean by that is, many people have been misleading copywriters and salespeople for a while now. Saying, if you’re going to tell a story, it’s got to be a hero’s journey story.As you may know, in my book The Persuasion Story Code, I show 25 types of stories that are decidedly NOT hero’s journeys. That actually come from successful sales letters and other direct response copy. That you can adapt and use in your own copy.Today I want to focus in on stories where you walk a mile in your prospect’s shoes. These are from Chapter 4 and the shorthand name for these stories is “empathy stories.”They’re tremendously useful in gaining trust and connection with your prospects. Which is very important in these extremely low-trust times.Not only that. I’ve added a fifth kind of story which is not even in the book! So we’ve got a lot to cover today.Here’s what we cover in some useful detail:STORY TYPE 1: I KNOW YOUR PAIN This is an empathy story that describes your prospect’s pain or problem.STORY TYPE 2: I CAN SEE WHAT YOU SEE This is when you tell a story about a top of mind topic and how it affects your prospect.STORY TYPE 3: I FEEL YOUR PAIN What you’re doing here is revealing an experience of your own that will ring a bell with your prospect and their experience.STORY TYPE 4: THEY’RE INFLICTING PAIN ON YOU This is the opposite of a personal story involving you. It’s a social story where you are not personally involved.STORY TYPE 5: LOOK! SOMEONE ELSE IS IN PAIN! In this kind of story, the writer and the reader are actually distanced, as observers.The Persuasion Story Code: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQ
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It’s become so common we don’t even think about sometimes, but subscription products have really taken over our world in a way no one could ever have predicted.And along with them, new demands and new opportunities for copywriting.If you look at the past, you’ll see a lot of promotions were based on a single sale, with the copywriter or the business HOPING that the customer might buy the upsell.These days, recurring revenue is just a matter-of-fact business model.The question is, how do you not only sell people into a continuity program which bills them month after month, but get them feeling good about paying over and over?That’s what we’ll look at today.
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If you would like your lead magnets to perform better and get you more qualified prospects and customers, wouldn’t it make sense to look at the most popular form of engagement in the world for some clues?I’m talking about video games. According to the sports and gaming platform Sportskeeda, last year gaming was a $396 billion industry. Movies, $284 billion and music, only $28 billion.Marketing logic tells us that video games are so popular because they give people something they want that maybe they can’t get anywhere else.And guess who’s figured out how to design lead magnets for businesses the exact same way?No one less than our own Nathan Fraser, who’s going to share with you some new secrets about designing wildly successful lead magnets using video game principles.More info about this in Nathan’s Skool Marketing group, free for the time being, https://forbiddenmarketingsecrets.com
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Four months ago, I was completely skeptical about AI and how it would ever fit into copywriting. I saw a post on LinkedIn by Brian Halpin, a copywriter working in Jason Parker’s agency. Brian talked about some unbelievable results, nearly one million in sales, that they had gotten with a VSL that was 80% written by AI.I’ve known Jason for more than 10 years, and Brian’s post piqued my interest. Jason agreed to come onto the podcast to talk about what he was doing.Nathan insisted we bring Jason on again to explain further, and after the second show, Nathan and I were so astonished by what he was saying that we both signed up for his Jason’s AI Copywriting Mastermind.I have found it was a risk worth taking. Because I have learned so much about what is possible, including for me, that I’ve completely changed my mind about AI and the future of copywriting.Now that we’ve had a lot more experience with results, we wanted to bring Jason back along with Scott Zetlan, another returning champion to the show, to bring you up to date on what we’ve learned about - What AI can do with copywriting- What AI can NOT do with copywriting- And most importantly, what AI CAN do that we NEVER thought it would do.For today’s special edition of the podcast, Nathan is going to lead the show and interview the three of us, so I’ll get a chance to talk about what I’ve learned.4 points cover:1. How much time it saves in creating copy and content2. How we’re making the AI an extension of our brains – writing in our voice, creating an experience of writing like it’s the person who’s operating it3. How long it takes to write a sales letter that converts, that would normally take a good copywriter 2-3 weeks to write4. The dangers of “having a conversation” with AI to develop your hook, structure, idea, pitch5. How much editing the AI’s output requiresLink for more information about the Mastermind:AI Mastermind
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The term “cult” has become such a loaded word lately.People who aren’t members of certain groups call the groups a cult, and the members of those groups resent and deny it.Yet, are all cults bad?Maybe some are, maybe some aren’t.But on today’s show, Nathan Fraser is going to talk about a special kind of cult that, in his view, is not only GOOD — but actually necessary to the survival of some of his clients.We’ve got to admit, these are not what you usually think of when you hear the word “cult,” but once you hear what Nathan has to say, you may look at the whole idea in an entirely different light.Find out more about Nathan’s Forbidden Marketing Secrets group on Skool: Cult-ure Builders. http://forbiddenmarketingsecrets.com/
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Ever wonder how to set yourself, your product, or your business apart?It’s a big puzzle these days.The best general advice I’ve heard is from recent podcast guest Scott Zetlan:“Different is better than better.”It almost sounds silly, but in the super-competitive marketplace, where products live in the real world, it’s not silly at all.It’s actually profound.Because here’s what it means:When you can show something DIFFERENT about what you’re offering that MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE to your prospect, you have just increased your chances MASSIVELY of making a sale.Now, the problem is:What kind of difference will appeal above all others to your prospect, and how do you use it to describe your product?I have an answer to that question. And a method to find out what that difference is.Links:The Persuasion Story Code: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQCritiques and coaching: https://garfinkelcoaching.com
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Job one for a copywriter is getting and keeping attention. We always give that our best shot.But there are some situations where you need to do this more intensely, and you don’t want to come across like a screaming insane person yelling loudly just to get attention.So we need to come up with some unusual techniques, to increase the intensity without pushing our prospects away.That’s what today’s show is about. I’ve identified five unusual copy techniques that are especially helpful for cold traffic and introducing new products.They are a bit exotic, and you’ll find at least some of them extremely useful the next time you write copy.
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Today we’re going to talk about two words that can change your writing forever. Not just your copywriting, but especially your copywriting.One word is a first-grade word and the second word is a fourth-grade word, according to people who seem to know about those things.The words are “but” – with one ‘t’ – and “therefore.” Why are these words so important and who, besides us, says so?It’s because these words can take a boring string of sentences and make them interesting.They can add conflict, and consequences, to a story with as few as three sentences.We’ll show you why and how, and how this is true from stories around the world, in a little bit.The key thing to know now is that the creators of the cartoon show South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have been flying around the country explaining how these two words make the difference between boring and a really good story.I saw a one-minute video on TwitterX of these two talking to some students at New York University, and I instantly realized, this is something for Copywriters Podcast.Because what they are teaching, which we will get to in a moment, not only applies to stories, but also to many other parts of copy. Therefore, we’ll be talking about these two words today.See what I did there?Resource: The Persuasion Story Codehttp://shorturl.at/pzAEQ
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You know FAQs – that list of frequently asked questions, and answers?Are they a copywriting chore you would just as soon avoid?Well, today I’d like to offer a different way to look at them. As a huge, and mainly underutilized, marketing opportunity.I want you to consider this possibility:An FAQ section doesn't just inform. It also persuades. But not in a cheesy, ham-fisted kind of way. See, it is possible to inform while persuading, and we’ll look at how today.
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OK, finally. You’ve got your copy written.At least your first draft.Now what?That’s what a subscriber to the podcast asked me on youtube a few weeks ago.The best I can do to answer that question is tell you how I look at copy, whether it’s my own, or a client’s.Today’s show is about a series of steps I go through to review copy with a mentoring client or in a one-off copy critique.Some of this may be familiar, but listen for the parts that aren’t. Adding those parts to your routine could end up taking your finished copy to the next level.We go into depth on the podcast, but here is the complete set of lists from the show:4 important things to look for first1. Who is the prospect? Who is not? How would you know if you tripped over them?2. Empathy3. Rule of 1 - Golden Thread4. Continuity and Smooth Transitions5 Key Elements Of Copy1. Headline2. Opening3. Proof4. Offer5. Call to actionGetting the words right1. Do you use easy, simple-to-understand words?2. Variety in sentence, paragraph length—and bolding3. Flesch-Kincaid grade level4. Images, emotions, physicality of descriptions5. Conversational phrasing and actual dialogReadability formulas, mentioned in the show: https://readabilityformulas.com/Mentoring and critiques: https://garfinkelcoaching.com
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These days, things in copywriting are changing so fast it can make your head spin.Junior copywriters aren’t sure there’s a career path, because of AI.Experienced copywriters are finding clients have different and sometimes confusing demands that you never would have heard five years ago.Our special guest today, Scott Zetlan, has some answers for junior copywriters, experienced copywriters, and everyone in between.That’s because he’s seen and done so much in business, both old school and online. Scott has helped hundreds of businesses grow and scale fast, using innovative testing techniques.Scott’s company, Visiopt, has a tool that lets businesses run a single test equivalent to a whopping 4,317 split tests, allowing for rapid optimization that leads to profits and new opportunities.Scott’s also an expert in writing copy that converts cold traffic.He’s agreed to come on the podcast to talk about a new model of survival and success for copywriters, based on his wide span of expertise and his current in-the-trenches experience.Scott’s company: https://visiopt.com/
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One of the hardest things for copywriters and business owners to get right is running ads to cold traffic on Facebook and Instagram, and making those ads profitable.If you’ve tried this for yourself, I think you know what I mean.So does today’s guest, who has discovered some important techniques that work and has also discovered the mistakes to avoid, and is going to share valuable info about both with you in detail.Our special guest today is Travis Moh, a media buyer who understands copywriting as well as the mysterious world of online funnels and different types of campaigns.Travis is responsible for more than $25 million in tracked revenue over the last three years. He says, “most clients I work with come to me after they've been burned by large ad agencies, because they like my in-house, in-depth approach much better.”Travis also coaches other media buyers and business owners, and he’s going to let us in on some of his hard-won knowledge today.But first, let me let you in on something you may have heard before: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.Links to Travis’s courses:Agency Owners / Media Buyers Segment: https://mediabuyingpro.com/agencyCourse Creators / Coaches Segment: https://mediabuyingpro.com/adsforcoaches
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I would say our guest today Will Siebler takes a Zen approach to copywriting. On the home page of his website, he has a picture of a lonely but sturdy coffee cup on a table. On the coffee cup is the word “Begin.”But the shimmering peace is shattered by a few words overlayed on the picture:“I’m Will. I write words that make your clients say, ‘Shut up and take my money!’”It’s a quiet confidence you just don’t see that often in copywriters.Will has had his own marketing and copywriting business since 2003.He knows how to get big results, too.He helped a commercial cleaning go from $1 million a year in revenue to $5 million by using a simple direct mail strategy aimed at their best client type.Online, he recently helped a building design client reduce their cost per conversion from $1,168.58 to $132.72 and, he says, we’re just getting started.I met Will on LinkedIn, and a few weeks ago he shared a two page document with me that he’s spent years putting together. It’s not a sales letter. It’s a cheat sheet of what he calls “the greatest copywriting wisdom” he’s come across in 30 years.And he’s boiled it down to the nub.I asked Will to come on Copywriters Podcast to talk about it, and he agreed. Because he’s in Australia and Nathan and I are in the US, we are recording this much later in the day than our usual time. That’s why there’s a screen behind me to block out the late afternoon San Francisco blazing sunlight, if you’re watching this on youtube and you wondered, what’s that screen doing up there?Will's websitehttps://www.cashcopy.com.au/
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Listen to this:“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.”That’s from author and sportswriter Jim Dent, and it perfectly captures how a lot of us feel in the summertime. Lazy and happy to be so.And that’s fine. But don’t mistake your state of mind for the state of business. While more retail sales happen in November and December than they do in July and August, business is still very active. People want things. People buy things.Did you buy or sell anything in the middle of July, on Amazon Prime days? I know I sold a bunch of books. Well, that means somebody bought them. Business lives! And not just for me and book buyers.What I’d like for us to do today is talk about how you can take advantage of the summer and the other three seasons in your copy and in your overall marketing.use any time of year!Link to The Persuasion Story Code:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQ
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