World Copywriting Blog

1. John Carlton 2. His "Interactive Brain Training" for Copywriters 3. Me... And 4. You?

A lot of people have asked me if I'm going to put on a live copywriting seminar this year.

The answer is no... not exactly.

I won't, but, I only have ONE live program where I'll be teaching.  I'll be assisting, not the main presenter.  The term we're using is "wingman."

My good friend John Carlton, who many people believe is the best living copywriter on the planet, is hosting a wacky, almost eccentric, event.

https://m190.infusionsoft.com/go/17pws/dgarfinkel/

John's talent and accomplishments almost defy description. The fact that he wrote one of the first infomercials and was the only person ever to be partner to the late Gary Halbert (at least as far as I know) are merely the tip of the iceberg.

Crusty old curmudgeon Dan Kennedy says Carlton is one of the few people he'd actually pay to be the room with.

I've learned so much whenever I've been in the room with John I know exactly why Kennedy says that.

Look, if you're interested in learning from the best, you need to check this out.  See if it's for you.

https://m190.infusionsoft.com/go/17pws/dgarfinkel/

Oh, here are just a few details:

1.  On May 2-4, (that's Friday through Sunday), in gorgeous San Francisco, John is hosting a very small workshop -- no more than 20 attendees will be allowed in -- where he will reveal the secret "17-point Checklist" of critical elements he puts into everything he writes. (This checklist is the foundation of his consistent, legendary success.)

2.  However, this is NOT a lecture.  It's a hands-on, highly interactive workshop... and John intends to force-feed real copywriting skills straight into your brain and your muscle-memory.  Under his direct personal attention, you will actually write during this one-of-a-kind event.

3.  And here's something even more unique:  He is letting you name your price to attend. It's a wacky pricing experiment that no one else has ever attempted before.

Check it out. Maybe I'll see you there?

https://m190.infusionsoft.com/go/17pws/dgarfinkel/

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

If You Have Ever Wondered Whether A Teleseminar Could Be Spoken-Word Sales Copy, You Need To Find Out More About Michael Cage

This weekend I spent three electrifying days at Michael Cage's small, intimate and cutting-edge powerful seminar on how to use teleseminars and webinars to make maximum marketing profits.

Michael is an old friend of mine and has really stayed under the radar as far as most of the people who would like to hear what he has to say are concerned.  Until now, that is.  He is emerging as, well, the "go-to guy" when it comes to money-making on-phone/online seminars.

I stole that label for Michael, by the way, from Bill Glazer (Dan Kennedy's partner), who said it first and was one of many big guns in the audience at the seminar. Other attendees who are forces in their own right included Steve and Bill Harrison (National Publicity Summit), voiceover maven Susan Berkley, and commercial real estate investment guru Sherman Ragland, to name a few.

I have been pleading with Michael since last summer to do a teleseminar for my subscribers, since the information he has is unique and can be turned into solid and legitimate cash very quickly for anyone who has a business, and even for many people who want to start one.

Here's a quick example: Michael's the only guy I've ever heard who insists that you have one or more "sales stories" at the ready for a presentation AND tells you exactly how to put one together.

He goes further:

"If you try to go into a competitive market with no sales story, you have no chance," Michael said this weekend.  "If you're not in a competitive market, it doesn't mean you don't have to do this. But if you're the only one in your market with a sales story, you will dominate your market."

To show us the power of this kind of story, Michael brought one of his clients, Kevin Thompson, to the front of the room.  Kevin had seasoned, hardened, cynical marketers who had heard it all before hanging on his every word as he described in lurid detail how he had almost lost his life as a commercial fisherman in Alaska... and then lost his wife (to divorce) when he decided to start a business of his own, rather than take another life-threatening blue-collar job.

In case you're wondering what's the point of all this, it's money.  Kevin reported to the group that he routinely brings in five figures in sales when he tells that personal sales story on a live teleseminar.

After hearing the story myself, I can understand why.

I spoke with Michael privately after the seminar, asking him to do a teleseminar (about teleseminars) for my subscribers.  He finally said yes.  That's one commitment down, two to go. 

I still need to get a specific date from him, and I'm going to give it everything I've got to convince him to talk more about sales stories on the call.

Being in Northern Virginia brought back fond and melancholy memories of my old friend Mac Ross, who used to live there.  He passed away two years ago.

Michael and I both recalled hearing Mac's "Four W's" formula for the little-discussed but vitally important NEGATIVE side of a prospect's self-talk as they are reading your sales copy.

Mac apparently only uttered the formula once in public, at the Jay Abraham seminar where he was speaking.  Michael and I both heard a recording of that seminar.  The Four W's are questions that you need to answer in order to get the grumpy side of most every prospect to actually take the action you want them to take.

Here are the questions, which your copy needs to answer, maybe not directly, but by providing content and reasons that allow the prospect to come up with the answers themselves (answers favorable to you) as they read your copy:

1. Why are you bothering me?

2. Who cares?

3. Why should I believe you?

4. Why should I do anything about it NOW?

Those may seem like innocuous or even overly aggressive questions... until, that is,  you've actually tried to make copy produce results in a competitive marketplace environment.

Once you've been through that harrowing experience, you realize why those who knew him recognized Mac as the understated, world-class genius he was.

David Garfinkel
World Copywriting Newsletter