[Story Sells] How to Answer Customer Objections with the “Death Star” Solution
As I write this, San Diego’s Comic Con just wrapped up. Fans were served tasty selections of their favorite fictional universes. Predictably, some offerings unleashed a flurry of geek-citement. [...]
Unleashing Your Inner Lazy B*stard – How Freelance Copywriters Can Get More Done By Working Less
As freelance copywriters, we’re at this weird intersection between ‘creatives’ and ‘craftspeople’… Because our working practices need to draw from both areas. Creatively, copywriters must [...]
[Story Sells] The Joy of Bob Ross: the hidden selling technique used by this mild-mannered painter in nearly every episode
When I feel stressed out at the end of the day, and I need to relax, I’ve got something better than single malt scotch. I tune in to an artist with a big ‘fro named Bob Ross, and step in his [...]
David Bowie: The Ultimate Artist-As-Entrepreneur?
June 2017 marks 50 years since David Bowie released his first album. The title of this landmark record? Somewhat unimaginatively, it was called: David Bowie. Ironic, because nothing else in [...]
How Eugene Schwartz’s Branding Secret Ignites Direct Response Sales
Before I became a copywriter, I spent 29 years working with brands. The power of those brands allowed me to create multi-million dollar businesses around the globe. That’s a nice piece of change. [...]
Boost Your Conversions by Thinking Like a Lawyer
Add strong proof elements to your marketing materials and watch your sales soar. The young lawyer wrapped up his closing argument. He felt confident in his performance over the course of the [...]
[Story Sells] How Bush beats Obama in your sales stories
I loved watching SNL as a kid. My favorite player? Dana Carvey. You might remember some of his best characters … The very special Church Lady. The dependable Garth. And, of course, the [...]
[Story Sells] How to Capture Drifting Attention with the Captain “Hook” Rule
You will lose sales unless you hook your customer’s attention with the very first sentence. But what do you say? Well, to figure that out, let’s look at what not to do. And then just do the [...]
Stephen King’s IT And The Secret To Creating Emotion-Driven Copy That Converts
It’s one of the most notorious openings to any novel… Shocking, gruesome… …and so very, very vivid. From Stephen King’s epic 1986 tale, IT: “A small boy in a yellow slicker and red galoshes [...]
4 Things You Should Be Testing But Probably Aren’t
I remember when I first deadlifted a barbell. Before that moment, I hesitated to pick up the 12.5lb dumbbells at bootcamp classes. So when I heard the barbell is 20kg (44.4 pounds) without plates [...]
[Story Sells] How To Make Your “AHA!” Moment Believable with this “Dr. Strange” Magic Trick
The latest Marvel blockbuster ‘Dr. Strange’ makes you believe in magic. To the tune of $653 million and counting. And one of the secrets of the believability is a little storytelling magic trick [...]
[Story Sells] Quickly Grab a Prospect’s Attention with these “Werewolves”
When I was in 5th grade, I woke up extra early on Halloween morning and took a seat in the makeup chair. My dad had a plane to catch in a few hours but before he did, he smothered grease paint on [...]
More writing, happier clients: 5 ways to handle the business side of copywriting
The dream of becoming a successful freelance copywriter is an alluring one. You make your own schedule. You work with who you want to work with. And you get paid handsomely for all of it. Plus, [...]
[Story Sells] Every Great Story Has This…
My buddy John, a veteran cop, got kicked out of his house recently. He’s a tough guy, but I’ve never seen him so down in the mouth. Things don’t look good. His old lady just accepted a job on the [...]
[Story Sells] The copywriting secret that helped this summer blockbuster rake in $1.6 Billion dollars
When I was a teenager, I stood in a long line to watch the first Jurassic Park. I had just read the novel in one big gulp and I was dying to see real dinosaurs on the screen. I wasn’t alone. The [...]
Conterintuitive Copy – Why this company reveals how to make their product on your own
There I am innocently perusing Facebook and then… woah! Good copy alert. Yes, I’m a nerd, buuuuuut… Check it: So I did what completely normal people do (right?)… and [...]
The Next Million Dollar Copywriter Live Hangout with Brian Kurtz and Kevin Rogers
The Next Million Dollar Copywriter Live Hangout with Brian Kurtz and Kevin Rogers This epic live summit sought to help direct response copywriters and companies discover better ways to work [...]
Stop being a pushover
In his book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, author Greg McKeown recalls his days as a first year law student in England. On a trip to the U.S., an executive mentioned casually, [...]