Copywriters Podcast

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...

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 th...

I remember a few years ago I had had it up to here with all the bulky, complicated audio equipment cluttering up my house. I needed something simpler, faster, better. I called BH Photo Video in New York and got a salesman, Aaron, on the line who listened very carefully to me. At one point I said to him, "Listen, I am not a technical wizard. I don't want to spend 15 minutes adjusting knobs and fade...

I saw a story on quora.com about Arnold Schwarzenegger. Before he became California's governor and while he was still a bodybuilder, he was walking down Venice Beach in southern California. Two young women saw his huge muscles, and I do mean huge!, and one of them supposedly said, "Ewww… I would never want to look like that!" He replied, "And you never willllll." The point being, he didn't really...

With a few years of success under my belt as a copywriter, I started to notice there were two types of clients who were approaching me. The first kind of client was way better at what they did than their marketing indicated. The second kind of client had really exciting marketing that made big, big promises – but their level of quality didn't come close to measuring up. Once I realized this, I mad...

Whenever you look at a bestselling book by a celebrity or a politician, the chances are better than good the so-called "author" didn't actually write it. A ghostwriter did. Good ghostwriters command fees comparable to, and sometimes exceeding, the fees of the best copywriters. One of the main reasons they get paid so well is they have the ultimate "chameleon" skill for a writer – they can write co...

People always ask me, what's the difference between "copy" and "branding." My answer is: There's no difference between copy and good branding. It's copy and bad branding that are so different. Here is why: Good copy is not about you, or your product. Really. It's about the customer. What their life is like right now, and what their life experience will be like once they have your product, or use y...

Mike Shreeve joins us again to discuss what works (and what doesn't) when it comes to Facebook advertising. Topics covered include: - Could you take a few minutes to describe the Facebook ad landscape, the way most people see it? - What are misconceptions most people have about using Facebook ads? - What are the hard realities about Facebook rules regarding ads that frustrate most advertisers? - Y...

Mike Shreeve is the man behind the curtain for a lot of successful people. He joins us this week to discuss how to stop chasing clients, and instead, get them chasing you. Here are just a few of the topics covered in this week's episode. - Could you talk about your own experience getting clients: What you’ve done, what you’ve learned, what you’re doing differently today than you used to? - What ar...

When I first started writing copy, it looked so easy. I had been an award-winning journalist and had nabbed the San Francisco Bureau Chief job for a large news organization. I thought it would be breeze… but that wasn't how it happened. Not at first. Copy looked very simple and straightforward to me, and, on the surface, a lot like news stories. And I was good at writing those fast! Now, the more...

You can improve the persuasiveness of your copy by using hypnotic language. This episode shows you how. About 10 years ago, I took a series of seminars on how to sell from the platform when you're giving a speech. The teacher was good… really good. I decided to try to figure out why he was so good. I asked him, "It sounds to me like you're taking a sales letter and making it horizontal – that is,...

What if you have some copy and you'd like it to convert better? In this episode, David shares some closely-guarded secrets on how the pro's do that. Let's say I could show you a very special slot machine. This one only takes quarters. Every time you put four quarters in, you get five quarters back. Pretty soon, those extra quarters start to add up. Wouldn't you want to play a machine like that all...

Sometimes you'll make more sales when copy is only PART of the picture. This episode is how copy "plays well with others." If you've ever bought a direct mail list, you can get a typical compiled list for as little as 10 cents to 25 cents a name. Sometimes for even less than that. A compiled direct mail list is usually put together from publicly available records. It doesn't tell you anything abou...

How do you create a Big Idea? Remember what Steve Jobs said about saying no to 100 good ideas before you say yes to the thing you've got to focus on? That means you've got to come up with some good ideas first- You don't necessarily need 100, but "you've got to turn over a lot of rocks" to find what you're looking for. - The key thing is going through the process of coming up with great ideas, not...

Some copy ideas change history. They're called "Big Ideas," and that's what today's show is about. He and his team pretty much redefined the music industry, the face of personal computing, and the way we use our phones. I'm talking about Steve Jobs, of course. In 2009, Fortune magazine said, "the past decade in business belongs to Jobs." In 2017, Recode, a tech website, said, "No single device wil...

A blockbuster Hollywood movie can make hundreds of millions of dollars in a matter of weeks. Here's how you can cash in on one of its major secrets in your copy. Nearly 20 years ago, I used to hang out with my friend John Cantu. We would meet once a month at Mel's Diner on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco's Richmond District, and we'd talk about all sorts of things. Before Cantu and I ever met, he...

One of the biggest keys to improving conversions with your copy is getting inside your prospect’s head. This episode reveals proven methods to do so. When I held my Breakthrough Copywriting Seminar in 2005, one of my special guests had everyone there on the edge of their seats. It was Brian Keith Voiles. He told us how he got into his prospect’s heads. I was stunned myself by the thoroughness of w...

This episode covers eight reasons people buy. You’ll get an example with the same product so you can see how to apply any one of these reasons in your own copy. When I first started writing copy, I was overwhelmed with all the differences from what I had known and done before. As a journalist, there was a certain set of rules and a format to follow. Copy seemed to turn everything on its head. I wa...

My all-time biggest hit was a direct mail sales letter for Abacus Travel Management that generated $40 million in new business. I wrote this pretty early in my career as a copywriter… over 20 years ago. One of the biggest challenges I had was getting into the way of thinking that ran through my prospect’s minds. My prospect was an entrepreneur who had a successful company and bought a lot of trave...

A friend of mine had an old Fender Stratocaster guitar he wanted to sell. He put up an ad on Craigslist. The price was good and he got five people to come by and look at it. Most of the people liked the way the guitar played, but they all kind of hesitated and nobody bought. He asked me what was wrong. I looked at the guitar. It was clean enough and it had new strings. It sounded good, but it look...

Looking for some tips on how to get over the blank page blues? We've got you covered. This week's episode is all about how to get started when you're in a slump. I used to take a lot of road trips, especially when I was in college. 500 miles from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Rockville MD. Back in the day, the length of this trip home was never a problem for me. But getting ready to go was. I was a worry...

When you watch a show on TV like “Law and Order” or “NCIS,” the detectives are mighty impressive. They efficiently rule out innocent subjects and nail the killers – all inside of 60 minutes! And how do they do it? First, by doing hands-on, smart research. And then, using what they learn to develop convincing proof … … to solve the case and nail the perpetrator. Now… copywriters are usually not cal...

Special Episode with copywriting legend John Carlton, on the topic of "Copywriting Is a Team Sport" Key takeaways: - Beginning and intermediate copywriters need mentors and critiques on their work. But, surprisingly, so do A-Listers and super-successful entrepreneurs. A different kind of support -- but, what's similar, is, they need to hear the truth about their work and their businesses from supp...

Stephen Covey famously said "seek first to understand, then to be understood." Too bad most copywriters skim over this important part of selling. For many copywriters, market research is just too difficult. For others, they just don't know where to start. In this episode, David covers those bases, and more. Many years ago, a golf ball company was running a successful mail-order ad in a golfing mag...

Bullet points can be tricky to get right, but they pay off big when you do. This week's episode will teach you how. An Afghanistan vet and his wife went to the housewares department of a “big box” store. They were looking for an electric can opener. The vet was an amputee. He only had his right arm, but it worked fine. The salesman showed the couple the best model, and started rattling off the fea...