“Amy” is a frustrated single mom who wants to know: +++ Why is it so hard to get others to opt in? I’ve tried freebies, download free guides, list… virtually nothing has helped. I don’t have time to waste in growing my business and as a divorced mom this is essential to figure out. +++ […]
Continue readingThis morning I read a question from a VERY frustrated subscriber who I’ll call “Amy”: +++ Why is it so hard to get others to opt in? I’ve tried freebies, download free guides, list… virtually nothing has helped. I don’t have time to waste in growing my business and as a divorced mom this is […]
Continue readingDear Wikipedia, Today I visited your site to look up the titles of the books in the Harry Potter series (which I have not yet, to my undying shame, read). The following message greeted me (dressed in full funereal black): +++ Dear readers, We’ll get right to it: This week we ask you to help […]
Continue readingNot long ago I had my copywriter hat on and I was giving my buddy John Sonmez a good grilling. John hired me to help him launch his video course for software developers, “10 Steps to Learn Anything Quickly.” So we jumped on Skype and I started pummeling him with questions about his product. He […]
Continue readingHow’s this for a threat: “c’mon – this is pure click/buy bait – wasted my time reading to learn something (the newsletter is called sublime text tips) and just got a teaze. Please refrain from crap like this – one more and I unsubscribe.” And this: “If you’re going to lure me into your reading […]
Continue readingThis year I tried an experiment with my traditional post-Thanksgiving book sale. For the last couple of years I’ve done Cyber Monday sales for my Sublime Text book that went like this: Announce “the deal” with an email on Cyber Monday morning. Usually it’s a steep 50-60% discount that expires at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday. […]
Continue readingThat cold I got Thanksgiving weekend knocked me flat on my back. I spent the better part of a week on the couch, slurping down popsicles, guzzling Nyquil and bing-watching “24: Live Another Day.” (Which was AWESOME, by the way. Definitely the best season since 1-2 aired. Almost made getting sick worth it…) Anyway, I […]
Continue readingMy boys recently discovered the “Mighty Mophin’ Power Rangers.” (Thanks, Netflix!) I haven’t seen this show since I was 12 or 13. And back then, I had NO idea how hilariously formulaic it really was. I mean seriously… Every show is exactly the same: Our heroes are chillin’ in the juice bar. Then Rita Repulsa […]
Continue readingMany service-based businesses live and die by the mantra: “Referrals are king.” I’m doing a copywriting project in the mortgage niche right now, and some of these guys get 100% of their business from referrals. Don’t get me wrong here—referrals ARE pretty great. They’re basically free leads, and it’s hard to argue with that. And […]
Continue readingI saw this great poster on Pinterest. It said: “Introverts of the world, UNITE! Separately. In our own homes.” THAT’S SO ME!!! There’s a running joke at our house that I’m the “copy troll” who works in the basement and only ventures out into the blinding sunlight when forced to… This is actually pretty common […]
Continue reading“Listen. Understand. That Terminator is out there. It can’t be reasoned with, it can’t be bargained with. It doesn’t feel pity of remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead.” Kyle Reese, The Terminator Seems I’m earning a bit of a cold-blooded reputation. Subscriber Dave writes: +++ Hey Josh. […]
Continue readingOne of the biggest “controversies” in email marketing is this: How often should I mail my list? The gurus are all over the map on this. On one hand, you have guys like Matt Furey and Ben Settle who take an aggressive approach—emailing every day, sometimes even multiple times per day. Then you have a […]
Continue readingThis Thanksgiving weekend was pretty much a blur. Not so much because of the travel and turkey (although those was a factor). No, I’d come down with a “fun” little cold that started in my head and then sank its phlegmy tendrils into my chest as well. About the same time, my business partner and […]
Continue readingWhen I first got into email marketing, I was obsessed with open rates. I would send an email and then wait breathlessly while the stats started to roll in. I asked other email marketers what their open rates were to see how I stacked up. If I wrote a good subject line and my opens […]
Continue readingA funny thing happens when you sit down to write. It’s like that old classic horror story, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. You can be the warmest, wittiest, life-of-the-party person in real life, but when you write, you transform into someone else. Stilted. Formal. BORING. And “boring” is DEATH in copywriting. The problem is this: […]
Continue readingDid you ever see the comedy “What About Bob”? Bill Murray plays Bob Wiley, a guy who’s so paranoid that his fear basically paralyzes him. He’s afraid to get on elevators… Ride a bus… Or even touch anything out in public because he thinks he’ll get sick and die. Early in the movie, his shrink […]
Continue readingOver the weekend I fielded a question from Matt, who runs a landscaping business. Matt and I are both in Perry Marshall’s Mastermind Club, a paid private group that’s packed with top drawer marketers. Matt’s a sharp guy. If I remember his story correctly, he took over his dad’s business and has grown it like […]
Continue readingPop quiz for ya! Which Black Friday sale strategy will make more sales: Short and urgent 36-hour sale. Set a tight “open cart” window to crank up the scarcity. Send one email to announce the sale, and 2 on the second day as the clock ticks down. The idea here is to really play up […]
Continue readingThe turkeys on the turkey farm really have it made, don’t they? At least it looks that way… I recently read a quote about this from Nassim Nicholas Taleb (author of “The Black Swan”): “Consider a turkey that is fed every day,” Taleb writes. “Every single feeding will firm up the bird’s belief that it […]
Continue readingEmail autoresponders are a great “hack.” You write the messages once, queue them up… And now anyone who joins your list hears from you regularly. No more “Dang I haven’t emailed my list in two weeks” hamster wheel guilt. This is autopilot marketing at its best. Sometimes making the transition can get a little messy […]
Continue readingRight now I’m hip-deep in a major client project. This particular client sells marketing software for “loan officers.” Remember the reams of paperwork you signed when you got your mortgage? Loan officers are the fearless guys and gals who turned all those documents into the money you needed for your house. Like a lot of […]
Continue readingLately I’m binge-watching Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice.” When the shows originally aired, I was spending the evenings teaching myself web programming. So I have some catching up to do. Yesterday I watched the second episode of season 1, and my reactions ranged from amused to horrified. Mostly horrified. If you missed it, here’s how it […]
Continue readingOnce in a while a client will ask me, “So can you offer a guarantee of results?” And I’d love to say “Yes!” But the reality is that there are just too many variables in any marketing project to know exactly how it’s going to play out. Here’s an example: This was launch week for […]
Continue readingThe other night I tucked my two oldest boys in to bed and popped down to my office in the basement for a couple of minutes. I’m plowing through a few emails, when suddenly I hear the boys start making noise. Now their bedroom is all the way across the house, so at first the […]
Continue readingYesterday I was doing some research for a client, and I stumbled across this “pearl of wisdom”: “For 2014, it’s important to remember two things: 1) everything is online and 2) people are smarter than they used to be.” This was in an article about marketing for mortgage brokers. And I literally busted out laughing […]
Continue reading