World Copywriting Blog

Anatomy of a Launch -- I Call This One "The ANTI-Secret"

I've been involved in a number of new product launches this year, rather quietly, and more as a consultant and main sales page copywriter than launch manager (the balancing act that would send me off the deep end).

I'm particularly impressed with this one, because of the content quality of the videos.

Yes, yes, I've signed up as an affiliate.

And yes, yes, I did some "script doctoring" before the video was made.

But I can't take much credit for it. Kory Basaraba has done all the heavy lifting. He's the launch manager, and so much more.

The launch is for a long-time client of mine, Stuart Lichtman.  Stuart is a genius and was on a first-name basis with 50 of the (other) greatest inventors of the 20th century.

Key point: He knows stuff about the human brain, and about bringing ideas into being and then into huge profits, that nobody and I do mean nobody else knows.

His work, well, flies in the face of the "dream it and it shall effortlessly be yours" mantra of The Secret.

He has some pretty interesting stuff.  You should sign up for the launch emails just to see what he's doing:

Go to video and notification signup page

David Garfinkel, Publisher
World Copywriting Newsletter

P.S. If you are reading this as a printout on paper, he's the signup link as a URL:

https://svpi.infusionsoft.com/go/RIG/wci/

What I learned -- he pulled it out of me

If you are wondering what it's like to start at the bottom and rise to great success in the copywriting and coaching businesses, one relentless interviewer, Michael Senoff, has interviewed me like no one else ever has.

I used to watch NYPD Blue many years ago and I swear there were moments when I forgot it was Michael interviewing me and thought it was Detective Andy Sipowicz. The guy was decent and polite, but he showed no mercy.

I'm kinda private about some things so I feel like I shared more than I usually do / ever have / and to be perfectly open about it, I feel a little raw, having listened to the edited version this evening. But I don't regret it. I'll tell you this right now: There's stuff on this interview you won't find in any school or any book... or anything else I've ever said outside of very private conversations with friends before.

Michael did a great job and though, hey, I'm a little uncomfortable about what I revealed in parts, it's out there so I might as well share it with you.  I hope you find it valuable and enjoyable:

http://www.hardtofindseminars.com/David_Garfinkel_Interview.html

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

From the Legacy of Ernest Hemingway, Handsewn Shoes Good Enough to Last Forever - and as Rugged as the Man Who Inspired Them

What a great headline, eh?

Oh, by the way, I didn't write it myself. I pinched it from the Herrington Catalog -- one of the great overlooked sources of modern-day world-class copywriting, in my opinion.

In the little picture above you can see a selection of what this looks like in print.

And as of today, here is all the Hemingway-shoes copy, in the Web version of the catalog -- although frankly, Lee Herrington, as great a copywriter as he is (and I do admire him a lot), has more of a knack for selling on the printed page than he does online.

It's still worth reading on his Web site. And if the page is pulled down by the time you read this, here's a PDF of the page as it looked on October 17, 2010.

So why am I making a big deal about Herrington?

Because he is a master practitioner of a dying art, and if you are a connoisseur, a student, and/or a practitioner yourself of copywriting, you would do well to study his work.

That art: Self-disclosure that sells. Taking a passion of yours and turning it into a viable - nay, highly profitable - business, while staying true to who you are. Selling well without selling out!

A warning: He's very persuasive. I've spent hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars over the years buying knick-knacks from his catalog. I was wearing one of them this morning: the sports watch that secretly doubles as a heart-rate monitor.

A disclosure: I'm not an affiliate for his catalog. I'm only a customer, as of today. (Lee, if you're reading this, that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to be! I would! I would!)

You can sign up to get his catalog in the mail on his main Web site. It's in the style of J. Peterman, but less dashing and grandiose, and more customer-oriented. Yet still with a bravissimo sense of style. When Mario Puzo's Godfather said "All business is personal," maybe he was speaking less about the ugly business of violent crime and more about the way Lee Herrington conducts his affairs.

I know, I know. Not very likely.

But still.

A guy can dream...

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

The Seven Secrets Of Persuasive Copywriting? Here's What One Guru I Deeply Respect Has To Say

  Ultimately, it boils down to one question: How do you get people to say "Yes?"

Copywriting Virtuoso Denny Hatch has come out with a new book that clearly identifies seven ways to get prospects to pull out their credit cards:

1. Fear

2. Greed

3. Guilt

4. Anger

5. Exclusivity

6. Salvation

7. Flattery

By themselves, these words are little more than platitudes. But as is his trademark, Hatch goes the extra mile and comes up with 50 mainstream direct marketing examples to show how this is done in the real world.

"Reason-why" copywriting -- giving people a good excuse to say yes -- certainly has its place. But reasons why are the transmission and the body of the car called "buy."

Emotions are the fuel!

Check out The Secrets of Emotional, Hot-Button Copywriting.  Even if you "know all this stuff already," a refresher with proven examples can only deepen your knowledge and sharpen your skills.

And get more of your readers to say "yes!"

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

The One Change You Need To Make If Your Business Isn't Performing The Way You Want It To

Sometimes it takes a shock to the system to help you realize what has changed in the world of business, and how you need to adjust.

I had such a shock yesterday.

When my head cleared, I realized something about a fundamental change you need to make from the moment you wake up every morning till the time your head hits the pillow at night.

Get the details in my brand-new article at the Explosive Growth site.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

For Impatient, Hard-Charging Business Owners Only!

I've just launched a new Web site. It's for the fast-growth business coaching I've been doing for successful entrepreneurs for years: Explosive Growth Coaching.

If you want to get to the next level fast and everyone else is telling you to slow down and "be reasonable," you might be interested in my one-hour "Winner's Circle" audio interview with John Paul Mendocha, also known as Dr. Speed Selling®.

Take a listen and a look and let me know what you think.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Finally, A Profit-Boosting Approach to Design and Graphics Specifically For Copywriters and Other Direct Marketers

Last night I hosted the most stunning Webinar I have taken part in this year.

It was with Mike Capuzzi.  Using what I learned from him, I created the cartoon (above) in about 3 minutes.

There's so much more... and it's all going to help you make more money with your marketing.

Mike was gracious enough to post a replay:

http://www.copycosmetics.net/replay

Check it out!

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

If You Like To Tell Stories, You Are Going To LOVE This Video...

This video is the first in a series of Tips to Perk Up Your Business.

As promised, here are the titles of the books mentioned in the video:

1) Unlimited Selling Power, by Donald Moine and Kenneth Lloyd

2) Story, by Robert McKee

3) The Art of Dramatic Writing, by Lajos Egri

Good storytelling to you!

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

How A Famous Cartoon Cat And His TV Theme Song Can Help You Generate More Cash During The Great Recession

Felix the Cat,
the wonderful, wonderful cat.
Whenever he gets in a fix,
he reaches into his bag of tricks...
  -- Theme song for "Felix the Cat" TV Cartoon Show

Something's going on out there that's weird and confusing. The normal rules of business and "economic cycles" don't apply anymore. 

All the regular signs that business is getting better are there: Stock market's up, new home sales jumped 27% in March, leading economic indicators are inching ahead, and so on and so on and scooby dooby doo.

But life hasn't gotten back to "normal."  Far from it.

People from all points on the political spectrum are saying another crash in the economy is coming soon.  In public and without hedging what they're saying.

Meanwhile, unemployment is still in double digits and people in the real world (as opposed to the economists who crunch statistics) give all kinds of discouraging reports about trying to close deals.

And yet, I have a client who has done two highly profitable launches in the last four months that each brought him more business in two weeks than most companies do in a year.  Twice.

Huh???

What's going on here?

To help explain these apparent paradoxes, let me bring back a veteran of many economic cycles, Felix the Cat.

His TV show theme song offers a great hint as to what we all should do: reach into our own bag of tricks.

In fact, my friend copywriterissimo John Carlton has been recommending this very thing for years: he wisely added the word "deep," thus: "your deep bag of tricks."

Now before we get into what this means and what you can do, please take a look at the first 45 seconds of this old Felix feature, The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg.

(And do yourself a favor -- if you see a political message you don't like in that cartoon, ignore it!  Just notice the simple, reliable way Felix generates ready cash, over and over.  That's the point here.

Wouldn't you like to be able to do the same at a moment's notice?  OK, let's continue...)

Just last week I was honored by one of the world's leading experts on hypnosis, Igor Ledochowski.  Igor interviewed me as a "Master Hypnotist."

Apparently this surprised me a lot more than it did others who know me well.  Like being a poet who doesn't know it, evidently I am a hypnotist -- just not the therapist / healer kind of hypnotist, or the stage / spectacular kind of practitioner.

Anyway, in our long interview, Igor made the new revelation (to me) that copywriting is a combination of information (which appeals to the conscious mind) and evocative descriptions of experience (which speak to the unconscious mind).

And this is important to you... how?

Hold your horses, friend!  We're getting there!

What Igor and I concluded was that, unlike other forms of writing, copywriting is very definitely purpose-driven writing. Which is another way of saying something old and familiar: Namely, that copy persuades people to take action and leads to a desired outcome.

(By the way, if you want to hear the full interview, it will be released in September and only to members of Igor's Private Hypnosis Club.)

What was interesting to me, and can be incredibly valuable to you, is the focus Igor placed on the almost limitless resources in the unconscious mind.

Which, in the Felix world, could be called your "bag of tricks!"

Now don't get me wrong. An untrained unconscious mind will not give you quick and workable money-making ideas.

One thing I spend a lot of time on with coaching clients is having them research and think through carefully selected offers, headlines, sales funnels, upsell sequences, and other devices and components of businesses and promotions that have worked.  ("worked" as in... "made money")

This is very similar to what James Webb Young recommends in his landmark book, "A Technique for Producing Ideas."  He was too modest to add the words "That Make Money" to his title, but I will.

Because that's exactly what his book is about.

So now we come to the secret to being profitable in these crazy times.  It's something you should have started doing years ago -- and if you have, good for you -- but if you haven't, now's a great time to start:

Stock your bag of tricks with ideas that work!

A quick note: If you don't, then by default you will find your unconscious filled with all kinds of stupid ideas that will never work for you... like women falling in love with their new floor mop, as their old mop tries to win them back... or lizards that sell auto insurance... or brands of beer that win beautiful daughters of mean bosses.

And here's a hint: Your bag of tricks is already stuffed with crappy ideas like that.

You have to crowd them out with ones that actually make money for business owners, immediately and provably.

And as you do so, you too will become a wonderful, wonderful cat yourself.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

How You'll Know When You're Ready For Explosive Growth

After working with hundreds of small businesses for over 20 years and watching only a handful cross the seven-figure barrier (and fewer still make over $10 million a year), I've identified five characteristics the big winners have in common:

1. An explosive marketing strategy. Did you see the newspaper photo online over the weekend from the grocery store that had been picked clean by panicked shoppers before the big snowstorm? 

Too many businesses are like that. They depend on ONE marketing method to get new customers and when that method stops working, they have to start over from scratch.  They're as empty-handed as a supermarket whose aisles were ransacked by paying customers hoarding food.

On the other hand, businesses with an explosive marketing strategy expect what other businesses would whine about: failure. They know nothing lasts forever, so there's a plan B, a plan C, a plan D, and a quick and sure way to come up with plans E, F, and G when those become necessary.

Recently entire businesses closed down because the FTC frowned on testimonials and undisclosed affiliate relationships, followed by Visa and MasterCard frowning on shady free trials that turn into expensive continuity programs.

A more flexible and reality-based explosive marketing strategy would have prevented those businesses from closing.

One of my coaching clients was planning a big promotion recently. Part of his promotion included a free trial on a continuity program.

The new marketplace conditions didn't phase him. Using an explosive marketing strategy, he simply shifted gears by adjusting his offer.  He continued on with his plan... and proceeded to make more money in a day than most businesses will make all year.

2. An explosive sales message. Are you telling your customers what you need to tell them, or what they want to hear? Believe it or not, there's a big difference.

Many businesses couldn't sell clean, sparkling water to a man dying of thirst with pockets full of money. The reason? They are so stuck on a sales message that doesn't work that nothing short of a miracle (or a better sales message) could help them.

Just as bad is an anti-sales attitude by people at the top in charge of decisions. You can throw cold water on the bottom line by making it hard for salespeople to do their jobs, or for products to be shipped and delivered after orders are written.

I talked to someone last week who told me top management at the small company where he worked was actively blocking fast fulfillment to customers by saving a few pennies here and there. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!

But I also talked to a coaching client last week who is getting a growing number of hot leads in a very tough business and is increasing marketing spending with a sales message that puts him at the edge of his comfort zone.

As we talked about it, he realized the sales message, while edgy, was perfectly ethical and in fact contained the same words he'd use to advise a good friend who was thinking about buying what he sells.

And guess what?  He's on an explosive growth path at a time when many of his competitors will be closing shop.

3. An explosive scaling strategy. Growing fast is a challenge for a number of reasons. The biggest problem I have seen with most businesses is lack of clear communication and lack of systems.

The more excuses and complaints you hear from people who are supposed to be responsible and in charge, the more you know there's a scaling problem.  The old cliche "the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing" is perfect shorthand -- pardon the expression -- for what's underneath scaling problems.

You can have great marketing and great sales and the business can fall apart because you can't process the orders and keep customers happy. It doesn't matter whether you have a shoe store at a shopping mall or a digital information business on the Web.

Businesses that want explosive growth work hard on fine-tuning their scaling strategy until problems are solved, new problems are anticipated, and customers are taken care of.  My most successful coaching clients are more concerned about these issues than about their profit numbers.

Which is understandable, because they are very profitable.  What sets them apart from businesses teetering on the brink is that explosive businesses know exactly where the profits come from, and they go to great lengths not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

4. An explosive Web strategy. I've been online a long time. Ten years ago I edited a paid subscription newsletter called "What's Working Online," and as I look back, I'm surprised we had anything to write about.

Back in the day, most Web companies were doing the digital equivalent of throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what would stick.

These days, people know what will stick. One of my partners, a brilliant marketer who specializes in Jeff Walker-style launches, turned me onto a book by Gary Vaynerchuk called Crush It! Gary and his dad Sasha run a $60 million a year wine business online using an explosive Web strategy.

I had a conversation last week with a very successful client who has a Web based business. He's ready to embrace a more explosive Web strategy, but he's not totally comfortable with social media and online video.

He's got a big shift to make and I'm ready to guide him through it. He's not wild about the idea of making the shift but I have worked with him for almost a decade and I know he'll do what it takes to make the changes necessary to get what he wants.

Will you?

5. An unforgettable marketplace identity. Watching halftime with a friend yesterday during the Superbowl, I found myself embarrassed for the first time ever to be a baby-boomer.

The Who were playing onstage in the middle of the world's most-watched football field (at that moment). The word "geezer" kept crawling across my mind, and it wasn't in a warm, cuddly way, either.

But as they sang, "Who... are... you?  Who-who... are you?" I realized this was Paradise Regained for explosive marketing.  My football-watching buddy, a musician, reminisced how The Who were the coolest band around forty years ago.

If you're an American of my generation, you might not remember Thunderclap Newman or The Buckinghams or The Cyrkle or Gerry and the Pacemakers particularly well.

But how could you forget The Who?  Even if they weren't on TV yesterday, their name and their music will be indelibly etched into my memory for decades to come.

So... explosive growth?  What does this have to do with that?

As the Cameron Crowe teenage character says at the end of the movie "Almost Famous,":

"To begin with... everything."

My explosive growth clients aren't afraid to make some waves to make a point and claim some territory in the mindscape of the market.  They are able to answer The Who's question in a way that resonates meaningfully with the marketplace.

And people remember them. Not just when they want to buy something.  They remember them when they are talking to others.  They remember the good, the bad, the quotable.

And when you combine an unforgettable marketplace identity with an explosive marketing strategy, an explosive sales strategy, an explosive scaling strategy and an explosive Web strategy, you get... Explosive Business Growth.

6. How you can get explosive business growth. There are two ways: The hard way and the fast way.

The hard way is to take my formula, freely offered in this blog post, and figure out (in your spare time) how to apply it to your business.  Get all five factors right, and you are headed to seven-figure land.  Or, if you're already at seven, you're on the Eight-Figure Express.

The fast way is to apply for Explosive Business Coaching.  I have three slots open and while I currently have three prospects, not everybody makes the cut.  You have to be willing to do what it takes and you need to be able to afford it.

If you are excited by the prospect of getting this coaching and accelerating your business growth, send me an email.  Answer these four questions:

1. Where is your business now?

2. Where do you want it to be?

3. What's the most exciting thing to you about Explosive Business Growth?

4. How would you rate yourself on implementation and follow-through?

I like answers which are specific, vivid, and colorful -- and show a great deal of seriousness and commitment.  Numbers are good.  And playful humor is certainly welcome as part of the mix.

You can send your answers to this special email address:  explosive.growth.coaching@gmail.com

If you're ready, I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter