You’ve got to make your promos like Die Hard.  Whenever it gets too boring, make something EXPLODE. This could be a “Eureka!” moment in a science lab, with scientists high fiving each other across the room… A heart wrenching confession to a stranger in a burger bar… Or the pivotal moment when your hero is on their knees… But finds the missing piece of the puzzle that sets them on the road to redemption.  When should you make something explode? It all comes down to pacing. When you’ve just had a slow section…  …like the backstory before your PIG opening… Jolt your readers awake a ..read more

Promises are like balloons. You’ve got to blow them up until they’re about to POP. Because here’s the thing… Your reader craves MASSIVE change. They’re hungry for life transforming results… Not mild improvements.  So, blow up your promises as big as they’ll go. BUT… And this is a big but… You can only make promises your proof backs up.  Solid, irrefutable proof is what makes your promises believable.  Because if your promise outstrips your proof… You’ll break the “chain of logic”…  And your whole sales argument falls apart like a cheap suit. So, what do you do if you’re sho ..read more

You’ll often hear that “specifics sell”. But why? One simple reason… PROOF. Specifics are concrete details you can add to make your claims more believable.  Specifics show that you know what you’re talking about… And that you have proof to back it up.  For example… Instead of saying “apigenin helps to relieve stressful thoughts at bedtime”, say…  “Apigenin helps release the happiness hormone serotonin. And with more serotonin, your mind feels calmer, and the risk of cortisol spikes fades away”. Instead of saying “Dr. Mark Hyman is a best selling author”… Say “Dr. Mark Hyman has ..read more

Getting people to take action is hard. It’s easier for them to do nothing, to keep their credit card in their pocket and carry on with their day. But inaction has a price too. That price is continuing to wince when opening a jar from joint pain… To continue feeling embarrassed when they can’t follow conversations due to brain fog… Or to still feel the dread of what high blood sugar means for their nerves, vision and future. Remind them of this. When you get to the close of your sales letter or email sequence… Remind people that inaction is a choice too. A choice between being trapped on their ..read more

Words like “prospects” and “email list” are cold. They sound transactional. Which is going to affect how you write. Do this instead… Use words like “brothers and sisters in arms”, “fellowship”, and “tribe” . Then, when you sit down to write… You’ll naturally write from a position of kinship, and wanting to help people…  People with shared goals, ideals and dreams… Which will naturally make the way you write warmer, more relatable and more likely to convert. The post It’s not a list, it’s a tribe appeared first on The Copywriter's Crucible ..read more

Many guitarists start out wanting to sound like Led Zeppelin…  But end up sounding like Kingdom Come. What’s this got to do with writing copy? When starting off you want to study the greats. Read their sales letters… copy them out by hand… and try to replicate their structure and writing style. But, in case you hadn’t heard… The robots are coming.  Which means relying on templates…  Re-engineering other people’s copy… And writing in someone else’s voice risks you getting trampled under their algorithmic boot. Don’t settle for average. If you’re to survive the robot wars you need ..read more

To get people to click through their emails, most copywriters go hard on curiosity. Sure, curiosity gets clicks. But conversions? Not as many as you’d hope. Try this instead… Go deeper. Go beyond curiosity, being entertaining or useful. Dig deeper into your reader’s psyche. Say something insightful about why they’re stuck which they’ve never heard before. Tell a story about someone who also felt trapped until they made ONE key mindset shift… Or talk about why they’ll be forever be chasing diet guru after guru like  a lost sheep unless they click the link. Sure, curiosity is powerful. But ..read more

You always want your reader to think you’re just like them. Someone who worries about the same things…  Faces the same daily struggles…  And heck, even watches the same TV shows and shares the same worldview. Because the more you can mirror your reader… The more relatable your emails and sales pages will be. So what’s the best way to sound relatable in your copy? Step one – Create a buyer persona of your reader, and write to that person ONLY. The good news is that with AI tools you can create buyer personas faster than it takes to boil an egg… And in a puff of smoke, your reader will ..read more

Want to know one of the most powerful emotions to trigger in your copy? An emotion that makes us do crazy things… Makes us wildly jealous… And forces us to feel like we’re in constant competition with our friends, work colleagues, and the Jones’ next door?  ENVY! Envy is a super powerful emotion. It’s envy that drives us to want more money, designer clothes, a flashier car and to fear missing out. The best way to trigger envy? Here are three ways to do it: 1) Talk about someone your reader would love to be like.. who has the perfect life and the social status your reader craves. 2) Descri ..read more

This week I was shaking hands and kissing babies at Affiliate World Asia. Met lots of high level people, particularly at the DRMP and Clickbank meetups. What I quickly learned is that the key to networking at these events is not to just talk business, but focus on getting to know people and making friends first.  Here are my key takeaways from Liss Graham’s talk on email marketing: You should aim for $1.50 per month in revenue per email subscriber If running SMS campaigns make sure you update your T&Cs. Otherwise the fines are BIG! Best tools when you have a 100k list – Maropost, On ..read more