A couple weeks back I was in Las Vegas, hanging out at the Palms Casino. I was attending an event called MicroConf, a get-together for entrepreneurs and startup founders. And I bumped into an almost-client, a tech CEO named Adam. Adam had reached out to me last fall about writing a new landing page for […]
Continue readingJust for a minute, close your eyes and think of a recent time when you bought something (especially something EXPENSIVE). Now, see if you can remember the “tipping point” where you became interested enough to buy. Chances are good it was a recommendation from a friend who tried the product and loved it. Or a […]
Continue readingOne of the toughest copywriting tasks to do well is fundraising for non-profits. You’re still facing all the normal human resistance to “selling,” and as if that’s not enough, you can’t fall back on the copywriter’s greatest ally—self interest. Reader Andy finds himself in this situation, and he asks: ~~~ How do you make a […]
Continue readingYesterday I did a copy critique for a business owner named Jeff. Jeff’s in an unusual business, at least as far as I’m concerned. While most of my clients sell 1s and 0s in the form of software or “info products,” Jeff sells meat. Beef raised on sweet clover and dry-aged to perfection. Savory lamb […]
Continue readingEver have a project that seems to just drag on and on and on… That’s me right now with this sales page I’m writing. Part of the problem is that I know there’s a lot riding on this project. The sales page is for my business partner John Sonmez’s flagship course, and if nail this […]
Continue readingOne aspect of marketing that gets people all wrapped around the axel is: DESIGN To see why, just pick up a magazine sometime and thumb through the ads. What do you see? Gorgeous photography. Open layouts with tons of white space. Tight little blocks of copy. It’s the same on the web. The “best” websites […]
Continue readingA few weeks back a client emailed me to say how he could hardly believe the open rate on one of the emails I’d written for him. This client has a list that’s normally very active and engaged. But the subject line I wrote for this particular email set his list buzzing like I’d whacked […]
Continue readingEver watch one of those “happy clappy” Regis Philbin interviews? (If I ever meet Regis in person, it’s about 50/50 whether I punch him in the mouth. He’s just too freakin’ cheerful. When I wake up I need a minimum of 1-2 hours and two cups of coffee before I’m ready to even **think** about […]
Continue readingShould you ever delete email subscribers? I raised a ruckus a few months back when I described how I “terminate” subscribers who show no signs of life. It’s a controversial stance. Since email is essentially “free” to send, why wouldn’t you want to keep as many subscribers as possible? The reason is **deliverability**. Before anyone […]
Continue readingCheck this out: Right now I’m reading through a whole pile of Gary Halbert’s old newsletters, about 1,200 pages in all. (The late Gary Halbert was my introduction to copywriting. He was a genius—his ads and sales letters appeared billions of times before his death in 2007.) Reading newsletters this way is kinda like bing-watching […]
Continue readingMy favorite thing about affiliate marketing is how you can use it to fill in gaps in your own product line. Example: At Simple Programmer, we don’t yet have a product aimed specifically at freelance software developers. I’d like to create a freelancing course, but this is a relatively small sliver of our audience, so […]
Continue readingA business owner named Jeff asked a question on a forum I frequent: On the form earlier this week, I submitted a sample of a landing page I wrote. There was someone who took a look at it and suggested that I consider hiring a professional copywriter. Thing is, I’d love to become a great […]
Continue readingWouldn’t it be great if you could sit down with your BEST prospects… And have them tell you **exactly** what to say to them to make them perk up and give your product the attention it deserves? Yesterday I did the next best thing. This was for a big sales page I’m writing. The product […]
Continue readingGot an email this morning: I’m Meligy. I’ve been a loyal listener to the Entreprogrammers podcast since June 2014, and read a lot of your daily e-mails. For over a year, I have been building a mailing list for JavaScript developers interested in AngularJS, especially those who use ASP.NET developers. I used my blog (~300-600 […]
Continue readingBack when I was apprenticing under my slave-driving copywriting mentor, one of the tasks he saddled me with was writing dozens of promo emails for a client of his in the chiropractic niche. Here’s a scenario that would play out over and over: I’d be working on a tight deadline. Tight, as in, “Hey Josh, […]
Continue readingHere’s a nifty little ethical dilemma for you: Is it OK to combine several true stories into a “composite” for your marketing? Fiction writers do this all the time (and even many “non-fiction” writers). The question came to me by way of a marketing consultant who was working on an autoresponder sequence for a dentist […]
Continue readingEvery 17th summer here in western Pennsylvania, legions of fat grubs tunnel their way up out of the ground, and climb the nearest tree to shed their husks and take flight. Then the “singing” starts. No matter where you go, you hear this steady droning as millions of cicadas pimp their wares in search of […]
Continue readingWeird fact: That gigantic chocolate bunny you just bought for Easter? It’s death to your dog. Chocolate contains a stimulant that can trigger seizures in dogs—and kill them if they eat enough of it. This is more common than you’d think. Dogs also can’t handle sunburned tomatoes. Birds can eat berries that would send you […]
Continue readingMy buddy and former coworker Jason writes: Thanks to your blog/daily emails (I prefer the RSS route, big surprise), I now write smaller sized paragraph in my emails. I didn’t like that style at first but it grew on me. (Although I don’t quite have the Josh one-may-two-sentences-max paragraph style down.) He’s on to […]
Continue readingThis is going to smash a little stemware, but it has to be said: Following Gary Vaynerchuk’s advice in your marketing is a great way to wind up broke and frustrated. I recently saw Gary V speak at the 2016 Traffic and Conversion Summit. And it’s easy to see why the guy has such a […]
Continue readingOn Wednesday I hit a new personal best: I cranked out 3,800 words in one day. That included: 1 email (450 words) 1/4 blog post (200 words) 1/2 sales page (3,150 words) In the past I’ve struggled with being a slow writer. And there are still plenty of days where writing is like yanking out […]
Continue readingThe other day I was listening to a talk by Gary Bencivenga, widely acclaimed as the “world’s greatest living copywriter.” And he said something that set my mind racing: Of all the elements that go into a persuasive advertisement, the one that’s the rarest and most valuable is PROOF. It’s easy to make inflated claims—it’s […]
Continue readingRight now I’m smack dab in the middle of a high-stakes writing project. About 2 years ago my business partner John launched his flagship product, a video course that helps software developers to become respected authorities in a specific niche—opening up career opportunities most programmers never even dream about. The course sells for $299, and […]
Continue readingThe most common fear I hear from entrepreneurs who are just getting into email marketing is: “But I don’t want to be a spammer!” That’s a healthy and admirable concern, but if it takes root, it can easily have a crippling effect on your marketing efforts. What happens is this: You hear that “the money’s […]
Continue readingThis email landed in my inbox recently: Subject: Good Day! Hi, Josh, I started following you on Twitter because I noticed that you shared (SEO guru’s) guide on (SEO technique). I love that guide. In fact, I started offering the exact process they lay out in that guide as a service. Your website looks great […]
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