World Copywriting Blog

A Brilliant Insight About Wealth: It's Not In The Phases of the Moon, It's In Your Attitude About DOIN' ...

My friend Kevin Hogan just let me know about a truly mind-blowing article he wrote on the subject of "getting rich."  Hint:  It's not about "getting."  It's about being proactive in building your wealth.

Doing something.  Seeing that it's up to you and in your power to become wealthier tomorrow than you are today.

Of course, copywriting is a major key to all of this.  But you can write the best copy in the world and if you just sit there and expect the wealth to simply fall into your lap... well, you've got a long wait ahead of you, according to Kevin.

I agree.  Read more: http://www.kevinhogan.com/wealth-get-rich.htm

Hunter S. Thompson, 1937 - 2005: To Many People, He Was The Most Important Writer Of The 20th Century; To Others, A Candle In the Wind

I was in Las Vegas a week ago when a few hours' drive to the north, in Woody Creek, Colorado, Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson pulled the trigger on a loaded revolver aimed at himself and left the planet in a blaze of glory and a dreary, bloody pool of muck.

It was Monday at the Vegas airport when I saw the article in USA Today and first learned of Thompson's last hurrah.  Since then I've read maybe half a dozen more articles, and I've given a lot of thought to what I want to say about him in this blog.

It's Sunday now, Sunday afternoon.  I'm in San Francisco, a little more than a stone's throw from...

Important News: The Next Breakthrough Copywriting Seminar Is Already Scheduled; And The Waiting List Is So Long, It May Sell Out In A Matter of Days

As you can see from the previous post, people are stark raving bananas about the last Breakthrough Copywriting seminar -- in a good way, of course. :)

Due to popular demand, I have scheduled the next one in June.  We're finalizing arrangements, but for now it looks like the June 12-14.  Despite pressures to increase the class size, we're keeping it small, at 40.

I5 students from the last one said they want to attend, and I have another 6 people who couldn't make the last one and are very interested in the next one.

I've also heard from 3 more people who responded to this post in the last 24 hours (as of Monday evening).

If every one of those people attends along with a partner, we're already sold out.

Of course not everyone will, but demand was high even before I made this announcement.  If you want to go on the waiting list - and we'll fill available spots on a first-come, first-served basis - just send me a short email: david@davidgarfinkel.com

In the subject line, just write: Breakthrough Copywriting Waiting List, to hold your spot.  There's no obligation - but if you don't act soon, there may be no space, either!

More soon,
David Garfinkel

Las Vegas Breakthrough Copywriting Seminar - More Than Anyone Could Have Expected

You can barely believe what happend in Las Vegas this weekend.  We went from 8 in the morning to 10 at night for two days, and 8 to 5 on Sunday.

I'm taking a breather today and will be back to report more in the next couple days.

One student wrote me today and confessed,

What I learned in this seminar was worth 120 times more than what you've asked us for..

(I was skeptical at first but.. lol)

That ought to give you some idea of how unique this whole program was!

BTW... anyone reading this blog who was there... while I recover, if you have something to say, please leave a comment here!

David Garfinkel
World Copywriting Newsletter

World Copywriting Blog break for President's Day Weekend - I'm in Las Vegas

Joining Michel Fortin, Dr. Melissa Andersson, Brian Keith Voiles, Carl Galletti, Craig Perrine, Peter Stone, Mike Stewart, Jim Van Wyck, Randall Blaum, David Scotland and a small group of very lucky students for my Breakthrough Copywriting Seminar Friday through Sunday.

I'll see if there's time to post dispatches to the World Copywriting Blog from the seminar.  If there is, you'll get first-hand field reports.

If not... have a great weekend, and I'll see you on Tuesday!

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter
To subscribe, click here

OK, here's a quiz... is THIS why Southwest Airlines is profitable while almost every other airline is not?

It's Valentine's Day, and I have received so many commercial emails from people who must have learned what the word "love" means watching Desperate Housewives.  It's funny (or maybe it's sad) when the lust for money overcomes the love of your customers, however pure and chaste that form of love may be.

However, today I also received an email from Southwest Airlines.  I'm a member of their Rapid Rewards program, and I'm also a member of many other airline frequent-flyer programs.

To set the record straight, Southwest is not my absolute favorite airline.  It's pretty close to the top, though.

Anyway, today Southwest sent me a Valentine that led to a Web page with an interactive Flash animation of a nutcracker and a peanut... which is pretty funny to begin with:

As you crack the nut open with your cursor, a brassy melody plays, and the nuts inside turn into hearts.  One of them has inscribed upon it "Still nuts about you."  The other one: "Happy Valentine's Day."

And it's signed, "Luv, your friends at Rapid Rewards."

Tacky?  Beyond belief.  Corny?  As corny as it gets.

But sincere and congruent with the whole corporate personality of Southwest, and my experience dealing with the company and its people on the phone and in the air?

100%.

Think about that the next time you are considering a "coloring outside of the lines" promotion.

David Garfinkel

P.S. Happy Valentine's Day, dear blog reader.  I love the fact that you're here!

So many readers of this blog love baseball, that I simply HAD to pass this along

You know that wonderfully quirky cartoon of me in the upper left of this blog?

It was drawn by an immensely talented (and quirky) man named Jim Siergey.

Well, Jim just told me about a new book he illustrated coming out in a couple months on the good ol' American pastime of baseball.

Here's the scoop, directly from Jim himself...

A book of poetry profusely illustrated by Yours Truly is due to be released by Doggerel Daze (a California publisher of works of light verse) in April. Fair Game: Open Season on Baseball, will be a $9.95 paperback, 5.25" x 8.5" which, besides my little drawings, contains more than 70 poems masterfully penned by light verse guru Bob McKenty and endorsed by Hall-of-Famer Ralph Kiner.

Doggerel Daze has agreed to this pre-publication offer: Paid orders received by March 15, 2005, will be shipped at no charge.

There are two other books coming out later this year: Gail White's anthology on breaking up, Kiss and Part, due in July, and J. Patrick Lewis's God Made the Skunk in September.

Previously published and still available is Max Gutmann's There Was a Young Girl from Verona, with a limerick about each of Shakespeare's plays.

The free-shipping offer applies to orders for any of Doggerel's books placed by March 15. You can order online with a credit card at Doggerel Daze Funny Poetry Homepage (ddaze.com). To order Fair Game by mail, simply send your name and address with a check for $9.95/copy (California residents, add sales tax) to:

Doggerel Daze
10144 Riedel Place
Cupertino, CA 95014

(Publication dates and prices of other books are posted at the website.)

I hope you will avail yourselves of this generous offer, and that you will overwhelm our publisher with orders for Fair Game--to the point that he will have to go to a second printing. For those of you who aren't baseball fans, I'll bet you know someone who is.

Feel free to pass this e-mail along to any friends you think might be interested.

Thank you,
Jim 'Mr. Steroids' Siergey

The hidden secret of case studies: how to use them in copywriting to engage your reader's subconscious mind

In your copy, case studies are very powerful.  And for more than one reason.

On the surface, case studies prove that you can deliver the results you promise earlier in your copy, and they show that you're confident and that you know what you're doing.

And this point is not trivial:  Case studies showthat you have customers in the first place!

But case studies also have a more subtle effect, and it's what I call identification. People will read the case study and they will put themselves in the place of the client the case study is about.

Plus, if you write your case study with a story arc where the person had a problem and came to a crisis, they were at risk, they nearly lost it all, and then...

... you came to rescue, and your solution made things better, and now their life is better than ever...

... that's going to take your prospect on a bit of a journey.

The story-arc case study will work on the level of their unconscious mind. It will pique their fear and their desire, and that's of course what you need to get people more likely to take action.

David Garfinkel

Breakthrough Copywriting Seminar, Las Vegas

This Friday!

How to Combine The Languages of Logic and Emotion To Win More Sales With Your Copywriting

Here's a little secret: If you can do a verbal dance, swaying back and forth between appealing to the emotional mind first, and THEN appealing to the logical mind -- many times throughout your copy - you will make FAR more sales.

Here are two realistic examples of how to do this:

In an ebook title - Money in Your Email Box!  11 Steps to Financial Success Online ("Money in Your Email Box!" is a high-intensity, emotion - provoking image.  "11 Steps to Financial Success Online" is objective, procedural and sounds like a very rational process.  Putting these two phrases together this way creates excitement that is also believable.)

In a headline for a Web page - How to Prosper Online Beyond Your Wildest Dreams - By Using These Proven, Easy-to-Follow Methods That Consistently Work in ANY Economy.

("Wildest Dreams" in the first part of the headline is highly emotional; "proven" "methods" and "consistently" are all rational, comforting words that make the rational mind feel safe and secure.)

Here's Your Chance to Supercharge Your Networking Skills, And Help A Terrific Guy in Dire Straits

This is a little more somber than usual.  A friend of mine, a humanitarian in Internet Direct Marketing, and a really caring person in life has suddenly confronted almost unthinkable tragedy.

Chip Tarver was driving with his wife Paula when they got broadsided by a truck.  Paula died.  Chip underwent multiple injuries, and is up against challenges most of us would never imagine for ourselves in our worst nightmares.

What is worse, Chip -- like many people -- didn't have insurance to cover these awful events.  If you care to help him out and help yourself in the process, take a serious look at his excellent book on power networking on the Internet at the highest level: First Contact Secrets

http://www.FirstContactSecrets.com

I want to personally send my best wishes to Chip for a speedy recovery from these horrible events.

David Garfinkel