The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

"Copywriting Secrets in 5 Minutes" - Explode Your Sales During The C0VlD-19 Pandemic

Marketing, social media, advertising

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
336%
Apr 28, 2017
2,070
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
Your sales may be drying out. Demand may have taken a nosedive. You're in trouble because of the pandemic.

You need a FAST way to jumpstart your sales once again.

You're in need to reposition your offers.

And Fast.

Time is running out.

The "Copywriting Secrets in 5 Minutes" Course comes to the rescue...

(I give this to newbie copywriters at my agency...

And now I spill the beans and reveal this to the rest of the world.

For the very first time!)

What 20% of copywriting principles determine 80% of your results?

For each one of the 9 classics below, I summarized the 1, 2 or maybe even 3 most important ideas that really move the needle on sales. These are the tactics that you need to keep at the back of your mind as you're trying to explode sales for our customers.

1. Scientific Advertising - Claude Hopkins

a) Copywriting is sales in print. This is more radical than it appears. Always ask yourself - would you speak what you have written to a person you were trying to sell face to face? If NO, then change it. Ex. Do you SCREAM when you speak to your prospect? If not then why do you write "REVEALING THE 7 BIGGEST SECRETS!"?
b) The goal of ads is to call out & grab the attention of your specific target audience. Don't try to get the attention of everyone and in the process sacrifice getting the attention of those who matter most.
c) Even the best copywriter in the entire world cannot predict which approach will work best. That's why you want to start by testing out as many marketing angles as possible.

2. Breakthrough Advertising - Eugene Schwartz

a) Your marketing angle should be determined by 3 factors: the mass market desire you appeal to, the state of awareness of your prospects, and the sophistication of the market.
b) Your job is NOT to create desire, but rather to identify existing desires and re-direct them towards a particular product/service.
c) Headlines are responsible for most of your success or failure.

3. Ca$hvertising - Eric Drew Whitman

a) Appeal to one of the biologically programmed desires: Survival/Enjoyment of life, Enjoyment of food/drinks, Freedom from fear/pain/danger, Sexual fulfilment, Comfort, Envy, Care, Social approval.
b) Also make sure you appeal to at least one of the learned human wants: to be informed, curiosity, cleanliness of body, efficiency, convenience, dependability, expression of beauty, economy/profit, bargains.
c) Use the mechanism of your product/service to (1) differentiate from your competitors, and (2) set the buying criteria by inoculating viewers about what to look for in the competition.

4. Web Copy That Sells - Maria Veloso

a) The editorial approach is better than the greasy marketer one. Write content that is interesting and valuable to read, even on your sales pages - stuff that is editorial, and that lots of people want to know. Tap into their curiosity.
b) In your landing pages make sure you: (1) define the problem, (2) explain why it hasn't been solved before, (3) explain what's possible, (4) say what and how things are different now, and (5) tell your reader what to do next.
c) Your buyers buy for emotional reasons, and will use logic to justify. So give them emotion to motivate them, and logic to help them justify their decision to themselves and third-parties.

5. Made to Stick - Heath Bros

a) Assess your message against SUCCESs -> Simple (find the core of your message and tell it in compact form), Unexpected (surprise to get attention, use mystery to hold it), Concrete (most important factor, makes message memorable address the individual, not the mass with palpable (not abstract) details), Credible (appeal to authority or anti-authority, offer specific details, make stats accessible, let them try it out), Emotional (make customers care by associating with something they care about, appealing to self-interest or to their identity), Story (get people to act by providing a simulation/taste, inspires people to act | 3 types - Challenger to overcome an obstacle, Connection to reconnect or get along, Creativity to inspire new thinking)
b) Use the inverted pyramid approach to writing - most important information at the TOP, details later.
c) Don't bury the lead - make sure the most important & relevant info for your audience is in the headline & first paragraph.

6. Influence - Robert Cialdini

a) 5 Factors of Influence: Reciprocity (offer free value, sample, lead magnet), Consistency (make them commit publicly), Social Proof (get them off the fence by showing that others are buying), Authority (offer facts, statistics, and data backed by authority), Liking (identify with your prospect - be like them), Scarcity (engineer real increasing scarcity into your offers)
b) The Contrast Principle - when building a funnel show your expensive upsells first, followed your cheaper ones. This makes the cheaper ones appear even less expensive than they are.

7. The Ultimate Sales Machine - Chet Holmes

a) Always use education-based marketing: give education that is valuable to as many of your potential prospects as possible. What info do THEY want to know?
b) BROAD marketing, NARROW sales. Many people want Cristiano Ronaldo’s body, few people want a jumping rope course. So keep your marketing broad to attract more leads, and then narrow down towards your product.
c) Develop an education-based core-story based on MARKET, not PRODUCT data. Product data “running shoes”, market data “feet connect to every organ of the body”.

8. Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink

a) Keep your marketing strategy SIMPLE all the time without exception. Simple, straight-forward strategies that you can test FAST are better than complex ones that are expensive/time-consuming.
b) BELIEVE in the product you are trying to sell. If you don't, then this will show in your copy. So ask yourself "Why is buying this product important? Who is it important for? What difference can it make?"
c) If sales aren't coming in, it's your fault. Assume ownership, identify the problem, and fix it!

9. The ONE Thing – Gary Keller

a) Ask “what’s the ONE thing that you can do to improve (conversions, CTRs, leads) such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
b) Asking yourself the RIGHT questions is the most important step to get the right answer. So make sure you ask BIG & SPECIFIC questions: “how can I improve conversions by 25%?”
c) Benchmark & trend – always research what others have done in the past to solve a problem, and then try to go one step beyond.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

BizyDad

Keep going. Keep growing.
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
416%
Oct 7, 2019
2,885
11,989
Phoenix AZ
Is this a sneaky way to advertise your course in your signature? And is your course actually featured on the forum? Asking for a friend...
 

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
336%
Apr 28, 2017
2,070
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
Is this a sneaky way to advertise your course in your signature?
Since my signature appears on every post, you can naturally draw the conclusion that every one of my posts is an advertisement for my course. There's nothing "sneaky" about it.

What you should be asking instead is if the post is providing VALUE to you (and others) - value that you can get without buying the course. If yes, then I don't see what your issue is, or why you felt the need to "point it out" (or why you signaled this post, as opposed to all my other posts in the forum...)

And is your course actually featured on the forum?
Yes. I have a Sticky Thread in the Marketplace forum which I purchased, and it's been mentioned by myself and several other members in a few Sell-Me-Saturdays. That counts as featured. It is not, however, endorsed by the forum, MJ, or Viperion Publishing Corporation.

Now back to the thread.
 
Last edited:

BizyDad

Keep going. Keep growing.
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
416%
Oct 7, 2019
2,885
11,989
Phoenix AZ
Since my signature appears on every post, you can naturally draw the conclusion that every one of my posts is an advertisement for my course. There's nothing "sneaky" about it.

I don't think that is a natural conclusion of all your posts at all. I've read several of your posts and you often add value. I have an issue with this post. Why? You baited and switched.

I drew my conclusion based on your headline, the content not actually addressing anything specific to C0VlD-19, and then I saw a second promise of C0VlD-19 related materials in your signature. So if I want the promise of the headline, I have to click your image in your signature.

Sneaky. Dirty. You wasted my time.

Is there value in the post? Perhaps for some. But all you did was share other people's good copywriting tips that are true anytime, not just in the time of C0VlD-19.

And this is the second time people have questioned if you are priming to pitch your course. I was one of those last time to. So for you to say you have no idea why I'd react this way makes me think either 1- you are displaying willful ignorance or 2- you truly had no idea this reaction would happen. But if it's 2, then are you really the one to be giving copy writing advice? Now you're a smart guy, so I doubt it is 2. I think you know what you did and are just playing word games to defend it. Don't bait and switch your headlines.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
336%
Apr 28, 2017
2,070
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
I don't think that is a natural conclusion of all your posts at all. I've read several of your posts and you often add value. I have an issue with this post. Why? You baited and switched.

I drew my conclusion based on your headline, the content not actually addressing anything specific to C0VlD-19, and then I saw a second promise of C0VlD-19 related materials in your signature. So if I want the promise of the headline, I have to click your image in your signature.

Sneaky. Dirty. You wasted my time.

Is there value in the post? Perhaps for some. But all you did was share other people's good copywriting tips that are true anytime, not just in the time of C0VlD-19.
Well, I'm sorry that you see it that way.

There is no bait-and-switch here.

I just think going back to these principles NOW, when sales are dropping for many people due to C0VlD-19, is a good way to get your sales back up. That's why C0VlD-19 is in the headline - I think these principles are especially valuable to people NOW. Going back to foundational principles is also what I had to do in my own business.

Do you disagree that these principles are valuable NOW, during C0VlD-19?

So if I want the promise of the headline, I have to click your image in your signature.
No you absolutely don't. There is no copywriting info (of the kind found in this thread) in my course in its current version - it's not a copywriting course to begin with. You are jumping to uninformed conclusions, which is a cognitive distortion.

And this is the second time people have questioned if you are priming to pitch your course.
To each his own. People questioned Walter Hay too if you look when he first came into this forum. They accused him of coming here to sell his books. Imo, who cares if the guy is providing tons of free value and helping other people?
 

DrScream

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
155%
Oct 4, 2019
135
209
I don't think that is a natural conclusion of all your posts at all. I've read several of your posts and you often add value. I have an issue with this post. Why? You baited and switched.

I drew my conclusion based on your headline, the content not actually addressing anything specific to C0VlD-19, and then I saw a second promise of C0VlD-19 related materials in your signature. So if I want the promise of the headline, I have to click your image in your signature.

Sneaky. Dirty. You wasted my time.

Is there value in the post? Perhaps for some. But all you did was share other people's good copywriting tips that are true anytime, not just in the time of C0VlD-19.

And this is the second time people have questioned if you are priming to pitch your course. I was one of those last time to. So for you to say you have no idea why I'd react this way makes me think either 1- you are displaying willful ignorance or 2- you truly had no idea this reaction would happen. But if it's 2, then are you really the one to
I feel like the CoVid19 line in itself is a copywriting tip hidden in the post lmao. It got you to click and is therefore useful xD
 

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
336%
Apr 28, 2017
2,070
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
I feel like the CoVid19 line in itself is a copywriting tip hidden in the post lmao. It got you to click and is therefore useful xD
It's not hidden :hilarious:
The goal of ads is to call out & grab the attention of your specific target audience. Don't try to get the attention of everyone and in the process sacrifice getting the attention of those who matter most.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

BizyDad

Keep going. Keep growing.
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
416%
Oct 7, 2019
2,885
11,989
Phoenix AZ
I feel like the CoVid19 line in itself is a copywriting tip hidden in the post lmao. It got you to click and is therefore useful xD

I think that's a short-sighted view. Hypothetically speaking, if I was an ad click, I would have been a useless one. Worse. It would have cost him money, and I would be irate with his brand. And I'd probably say something about it.

How useful is that?
 

DrScream

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
155%
Oct 4, 2019
135
209
I think that's a short-sighted view. Hypothetically speaking, if I was an ad click, I would have been a useless one. Worse. It would have cost him money, and I would be irate with his brand. And I'd probably say something about it.

How useful is that?
How does that old quote go? All publicity is good publicity?

Just joking...

I get what you're saying. However isnt copywriting about convincing people who clicked and may not have been entirely interested to begin with?
 

BizyDad

Keep going. Keep growing.
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
416%
Oct 7, 2019
2,885
11,989
Phoenix AZ
Well, I'm sorry that you see it that way.

There is no bait-and-switch here.

I just think going back to these principles NOW, when sales are dropping for many people due to C0VlD-19, is a good way to get your sales back up. That's why C0VlD-19 is in the headline - I think these principles are especially valuable to people NOW. Going back to foundational principles is also what I had to do in my own business.

Do you disagree that these principles are valuable NOW, during C0VlD-19?


No you absolutely don't. There is no copywriting info (of the kind found in this thread) in my course in its current version - it's not a copywriting course to begin with. You are jumping to uninformed conclusions, which is a cognitive distortion.


To each his own. People questioned Walter Hay too if you look when he first came into this forum. They accused him of coming here to sell his books. Imo, who cares if the guy is providing tons of free value and helping other people?

You've got a long way to go to be Walter Hay, but if that's your goal then I'm fine leaving the current debate at a "agree to disagree".

As for the "are these useful now" question, my point is they are useful anytime. Everytime. If
you had to go back to basics in your copywriting, my rhetorical question is why you ever left the basics.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
336%
Apr 28, 2017
2,070
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
As for the "are these useful now" question, my point is they are useful anytime. Everytime. If
you had to go back to basics in your copywriting, my rhetorical question is why you ever left the basics.
Yes, they are always useful. But I asked you if they are especially useful now.

For me, they have been. As for why you ever leave the basics... well, without constant repetition and going back to them, principles are always forgotten bit by bit. Moments like this are good to re-member them, because this is when we need them most. In good times, forgetting them is not so deadly.

I have an entire material actually prepared about the forgetfulness of principles and what we can do to better remember them. Did you know that you forget around 50-80% of the information you learned in the past 24 hours? It's currently part of a series of marketing emails that go out to people who grab one of my lead magnets. Perhaps I should make it into a thread, but then you might accuse me that I'm selling my course again :hilarious: or worse yet. Maybe I predicted your reaction and expected this line of questioning and oh my oh my prepared the material in advance! ;):happy:
 
G

Guest24480

Guest
I think the headline was simply a relevancy play to grab the reader's attention. You are blowing it out of proportion severely in my opinion @BizyDad

If simply clicking on the thread and reading the OP was a waste of your time, why did you just spend a bunch more arguing about the intentions of a headline on a forum post?

I thought the OP was useful and got some of my creatives juices flowing again.
 

BizyDad

Keep going. Keep growing.
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
416%
Oct 7, 2019
2,885
11,989
Phoenix AZ
How does that old quote go? All publicity is good publicity?

Just joking...

I get what you're saying. However isnt copywriting about convincing people who clicked and may not have been entirely interested to begin with?

No. That is not the point of copywriting. I think too many people make that the ultimate goal.

Plus this is kind of a broad point, as there are different types of copywriting at different stages of the process, and at each stage there is a different goal.

For example, I think it was Dan Kennedy the first introduced me to the idea that the purpose of a headline is to get people to read the next sentence. And the purpose of that sentence is to get people to read the next sentence.

But if your ultimate goal is to have satisfied customers, then the copywriting should reflect that. Regardless, I'll take the OP at his word that this isn't merely a lame attempt to sell.

Yes, they are always useful. But I asked you if they are especially useful now.

I actually gave the question a bit of thought. But I didn't want to come off as argumentative on it, considering I was already arguing the intent of the post.

Let's take a step back for a moment. I'm looking at this question philosophically. Is it really especially useful now? The easy answer is of course.

But digging a little deeper, a lot of people are unwilling to spend money right now, and a lot of businesses are closed. For those closed businesses, they can't generate revenue no matter what. So copywriting is the opposite of useful to them. It's useless.

And when your competition is lowering their ad budgets, getting your message across is actually easier.

I think there's a case to be made that when things are really busy and you have a lot of competition that's when you especially need copywriting to differentiate.

But I also see the other side that when times are tough, you really got to dig deep. Which I think is the point you are making.

I guess that's a long way of saying I don't know what the right answer is. I don't know if it's more useful now than at other times. I just think it's always important.

That's how I got to my original answer...

I think the headline was simply a relevancy play to grab the reader's attention. You are blowing it out of proportion severely in my opinion @BizyDad

If simply clicking on the thread and reading the OP was a waste of your time, why did you just spend a bunch more arguing about the intentions of a headline on a forum post?

I thought the OP was useful and got some of my creatives juices flowing again.

Already agreed to disagree, so I'm not sure why you think I'm still carrying on the "argument". I respect that you have a different take. I'm glad you got value.

But since you asked...

To be fair, I asked a question first because I wasn't sure the intent. He told me it was reasonable to conclude that he was trying to sell. Apparently this is always his intent. So there isn't too much of a debate going on here. I don't think I blew it out of proportion if what I thought was going on is kinda what is going on.

But the OP clarified that that's not the only thing that's going on. He's trying to bring value. And that's when I let it go. Because as I mentioned, I recognize that I have gotten value out of several other posts of his.

So I had one post about debating the intentions. Then the thread turned into a more interesting conversation about copywriting. So I'm still here.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Jon L

Platinum Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
272%
Aug 22, 2015
1,649
4,489
Bellevue, WA
I liked both the title and the post. There's only so much you can learn in 5 minutes. But, I learned some things in 5 minutes reading the post that i didn't know before. I thought it was interesting that each of the authors listed had a different take on copywriting. I can see how learning what was listed could move the needle on your writing ability.

I also didn't notice the ad in the signature. (I think the graphic design of it could use a LOT of help, by the way). Even so, I don't mind people making money and pushing their wares. Especially if they do it in the proper way like the OP did.
 

Xeon

All Cars Kneel Before Pagani.
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
191%
Sep 3, 2017
2,427
4,628
Singapore
b) BROAD marketing, NARROW sales. Many people want Cristiano Ronaldo’s body, few people want a jumping rope course. So keep your marketing broad to attract more leads, and then narrow down towards your product.

I don't quite understand this. How do you do that in real life? Are there any real life examples?

Also, I agree with Jon L. I didn't even noticed there's a banner in your signature. It looks too much like those banner ads embedded on websites (I've banner blindness since the ealy 00s). Maybe make it bright red background with white font, or neon yellow background with black font.
 

Nick M.

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
230%
Jul 13, 2018
175
403
First of all, @Black_Dragon43, this was definitely an interesting and valuable read.

…and I've read through in detail your replies with @BizyDad above. This post is continuing the philosophical thread about the bait and switch discussion, as well as showing a way in which I think that can be prevented. In no way is this meant to be a personal attack or in some way detract from the original post, which I found useful.

If any of you believe I'm wrong, I'm interested to hear your side.

I have an issue with this post. Why? You baited and switched.

This statement is true. The content doesn't live up to the title. Why? Continue reading.

Do you disagree that these principles are valuable NOW, during C0VlD-19?

This is a logical fallacy. Even if these principles are valuable now, the original post can still be a bait and switch.

So if I want the promise of the headline, I have to click your image in your signature.

That brings up a question: what's the promise of the headline? We'll get to that.

Here's the response:

No you absolutely don't. There is no copywriting info (of the kind found in this thread) in my course in its current version - it's not a copywriting course to begin with. You are jumping to uninformed conclusions, which is a cognitive distortion.

Based purely on the facts and details laid in the original post, it does appear that the course is needed to fulfill the promise laid out (see @BizyDad's reasoning above).

Even if the course has no copywriting info, the original post can seem like a sales pitch. As a reader, I'd have no idea that your course doesn't have copywriting tips. I'd have to click on your ad. So perhaps these conclusions are uninformed. But just given the information in the original post, it's actually a completely valid conclusion.

In reality, there seems to be miscommunication: not over the words being said, but rather the promise of the headline.

Simply put, when you make a promise, you then have to fulfill that promise. If you fulfill a different promise, even one that's really, really close to the original one, it's a bait and switch.

So what was the promise @Black_Dragon43 was trying to fill?

I just think going back to these principles NOW, when sales are dropping for many people due to C0VlD-19, is a good way to get your sales back up. That's why C0VlD-19 is in the headline - I think these principles are especially valuable to people NOW. Going back to foundational principles is also what I had to do in my own business.

Basically, @Black_Dragon43 is saying if your sales are dropping from C0VlD-19, you need to reevaluate your copywriting by looking at the foundational principles. And he's coming from his own personal experience. (I don't think I took the quote out of context)

In fact, it's actually a really good premise for a post here on the forum. And when reading the original post from the OP's perspective, everything he's saying makes sense.

But here's a question: where was that premise mentioned in the title?

Side note: For this post, the terms "premise" and "promise" are not interchangeable. The "premise" is what the OP was trying to explain, and the "promise" is the expectations set by the post.

The title promises us "Copywriting Secrets" that will explode your sales during the pandemic. The specificity in the title implies that these "secrets" are specific to the pandemic.

Furthermore, that idea is also carried into the introduction. Instead of saying that the principles are especially important now, it says, "You're in trouble because of the pandemic. You need a FAST way to jumpstart your sales once again. You're in need to reposition your offers." The pandemic is causing your current offers to fail. You need to reposition them. The old tactics you're currently using don't work anymore.

Finally, the article "fulfills" the promise with copywriting principles (which aren't "secrets" by the way) that just happen to be useful during the pandemic. In no way is it mentioned how you need to reposition your offer. In no way does it mention how your offer needs to be different from before. I no way does it mention how the pandemic is causing your current offer to fail.

Though hints of the intended premise are sprinkled everywhere, it's not even mentioned in the post. Even though the intended premise is actually fulfilled by the post, the promise laid out by the post is not fulfilled.

That's an important, yet subtle distinction.

Luckily, it's actually quite easy to change.

To fulfill the promise as well, just show me how to reposition my offers, and specifically how they need to be different now because of C0VlD-19. So imagine how this tip would really benefit from some elaboration:

a) Appeal to one of the biologically programmed desires: Survival/Enjoyment of life, Enjoyment of food/drinks, Freedom from fear/pain/danger, Sexual fulfilment, Comfort, Envy, Care, Social approval.

…but in times of mass panic, it could be wise to appeal toward the desires of survival, freedom from fear/pain/danger, and social approval. Since these biologically programmed desires are exacerbated by current conditions, you are going to have an easier time generating sales with those than by using "envy."

There! Now that fulfills the promise in laid out in your title.

See the cause and effect?

Show me why what your saying matters today because of C0VlD-19. If you're going to add specificity in the title, add specificity to the content (and not just in the intro/conclusion). Fulfill the promise completely and fully. Otherwise, it is a bait and switch.

I've personally always been fascinated by how logical principles and emotion in copywriting go hand in hand. On a logical level, copywriting is about creating promises. Then you've got to fulfill those promises. It's all a logical battle. But when you write, you've got to hook people in emotionally. As you said, they buy with emotion and justify with logic. You need both.

In fact, I'd argue that in times like this, it's especially important to make sure your offers are logically sound.

More and more people are trying to capitalize on the situation, many of them by scamming consumers. And with many people having less money to spend, they will likely scrutinize every piece of promotional material.

So yes, you especially need to hook them in emotionally. But with people's guards up, you need to make sure your logic is sound. And it can't just be sound for you, it has to be sound for your customers. Because often, what you think you've written is not always what you wrote. That goes for all of us.

(see what I did there?)
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
336%
Apr 28, 2017
2,070
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
I don't quite understand this. How do you do that in real life? Are there any real life examples?
I'm glad you asked. This is one of the most powerful secrets out there.

I work with some of the biggest YouTube channels - we're talking the big-a$$ 1-10M subscribers ones.

How did these guys get big FAST?

BROAD marketing, NARROW sales.

Let me ask you a question...

31570

Jump rope gets 100K searches every month. Cristiano Ronaldo gets 10M -> 100X more. The competition for one is high. The competition for the other is low.

Buuut... "I need to market jump ropes". No. No you don't. Nobody gives a rat's a$$ about jump rope. You need to market Cristiano Ronaldo's body because that's what everyone cares about.

Like this.

31571

Look at that. 1M views, and yet the channel only has 600K subscribers.

Market Cristiano Ronaldo's body. Then sell a jumping rope course. Teach people how jump rope gets them to Cristiano's sexy body. Like they do..
31572

What does that equal? MILLIONS. Guys like these make millions every year.

It's a full time business though. With many employees, the help of direct response agencies like mine, etc. Not something you can run from your mom's basement.

Growing a YouTube channel from 0 to 10M may be simple, but it's certainly not easy.
 
Last edited:

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
336%
Apr 28, 2017
2,070
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
(I think the graphic design of it could use a LOT of help, by the way).
Maybe make it bright red background with white font, or neon yellow background with black font.
If you want to improve the banner, feel free to PM me.

I actually have some versions which are on brighter backgrounds and use red. Like this one:
31573

But I don't personally much like it. It looks scammy and unprofessional, screaming for attention. I'd rather have it the standard black, unobtrusive, and just there. Just for the people who care. Just like my agency, my eBook is not for everyone. I have a saying... I am the Ferrari of digital marketing, NOT the Volkswagen!
 

Xeon

All Cars Kneel Before Pagani.
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
191%
Sep 3, 2017
2,427
4,628
Singapore
I'm glad you asked. This is one of the most powerful secrets out there.

I work with some of the biggest YouTube channels - we're talking the big-a$$ 1-10M subscribers ones.

How did these guys get big FAST?

BROAD marketing, NARROW sales.

Let me ask you a question...

View attachment 31570

Jump rope gets 100K searches every month. Cristiano Ronaldo gets 10M -> 100X more. The competition for one is high. The competition for the other is low.

Buuut... "I need to market jump ropes". No. No you don't. Nobody gives a rat's a$$ about jump rope. You need to market Cristiano Ronaldo's body because that's what everyone cares about.

Like this.

View attachment 31571

Look at that. 1M views, and yet the channel only has 600K subscribers.

Market Cristiano Ronaldo's body. Then sell a jumping rope course. Teach people how jump rope gets them to Cristiano's sexy body. Like they do..
View attachment 31572

What does that equal? MILLIONS. Guys like these make millions every year.

It's a full time business though. With many employees, the help of direct response agencies like mine, etc. Not something you can run from your mom's basement.

Growing a YouTube channel from 0 to 10M may be simple, but it's certainly not easy.

That's genius! HOLY F*ck. So it's basically latching onto something popular, then sell an item to capitalize on that. But for a rough estimate, how much do you charge people for this kind of work? Say, if I've a youtube channel (0 subscriber) and I want to take it to the big leagues like these big-time channels, using the 'broad-marketing-narrow-sales' approach?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Xeon

All Cars Kneel Before Pagani.
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
191%
Sep 3, 2017
2,427
4,628
Singapore
If you want to improve the banner, feel free to PM me.

I actually have some versions which are on brighter backgrounds and use red. Like this one:
View attachment 31573

But I don't personally much like it. It looks scammy and unprofessional, screaming for attention. I'd rather have it the standard black, unobtrusive, and just there. Just for the people who care. Just like my agency, my eBook is not for everyone. I have a saying... I am the Ferrari of digital marketing, NOT the Volkswagen!

Let me think about it and let you know.
 

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
336%
Apr 28, 2017
2,070
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
…but in times of mass panic, it could be wise to appeal toward the desires of survival, freedom from fear/pain/danger, and social approval. Since these biologically programmed desires are exacerbated by current conditions, you are going to have an easier time generating sales with those than by using "envy."
You are right, I could do that. Except that I don't think it's the right thing to help people.

Which desires you appeal to is largely determined by how relevant your product is towards helping people solve that particular desire. So for some products, it would be outright WRONG to appeal to those desires that you mention above, since it wouldn't fit with the product sold.

At the moment, digital marketing is a hypercompetitive industry, crowded due to low barriers of entry, and full of peeps who don't know what they're doing. Principles are more important than ever to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Some people think that advertising and marketing can solve every problem. But that's not true. Some industries, and some companies, will still go under during this recession regardless of what they do. Certainly, there are some actions they can take which will delay this as much as possible, but they will not completely prevent it.

So some people need to be packing.

Because here's the thing... advertising and marketing do not CREATE desire. All that we do is tap into existing desires and re-direct them towards certain products. The market itself creates the desires. So if corona comes along, and the desires are wiped out, there is little one can do to market the leftover products.

So if the desire your product is relevant for exists on the market, and you market your product well, then your success will be determined by how common those desires are among people. Very common = tons of sales, not common = few sales ceteris paribus.

That's why it's up to people to go back to these principles and actually apply them to their own business during the Corona crisis. I cannot give general advice such as you indicate above because I don't believe in it.
 

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
336%
Apr 28, 2017
2,070
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
But for a rough estimate, how much do you charge people for this kind of work? Say, if I've a youtube channel (0 subscriber) and I want to take it to the big leagues like these big-time channels, using the 'broad-marketing-narrow-sales' approach?
Well, that depends on how much work we are doing for you. Is it strategy work? Is it research for topics, and you create the videos? Is it consultancy only? Do we need to do implementation such as create titles, thumbnails, and CTAs to use in the vids?

A complete video (minus the footage and the video editing) which is composed of research to identify the topic, picking the marketing angle, choosing the structure, creating the thumbnail, creating the title, creating the CTA to be used inside would cost around $2,500-5,000. You would still need to write your own script for the content inside, film it, and edit it.

Successful YouTube channel owners can make anywhere from 2 cents to 25 cents per viewer just from ads only. So most videos easily pay for themselves after you reach a certain level.

So here's the thing. My agency is not generally suited for complete beginners (unless you're rich and have the money upfront - in which case reach out, and we'll discuss). It's for people who have already scaled to a certain level - say 50K subscribers - and now want to go to 10M.

Just like with getting investors, you need to put in some upfront work and show that you're valuable to work with.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Nick M.

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
230%
Jul 13, 2018
175
403
You are right, I could do that. Except that I don't think it's the right thing to help people.

Which desires you appeal to is largely determined by how relevant your product is towards helping people solve that particular desire. So for some products, it would be outright WRONG to appeal to those desires that you mention above, since it wouldn't fit with the product sold.

At the moment, digital marketing is a hypercompetitive industry, crowded due to low barriers of entry, and full of peeps who don't know what they're doing. Principles are more important than ever to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Some people think that advertising and marketing can solve every problem. But that's not true. Some industries, and some companies, will still go under during this recession regardless of what they do. Certainly, there are some actions they can take which will delay this as much as possible, but they will not completely prevent it.

So some people need to be packing.

Because here's the thing... advertising and marketing do not CREATE desire. All that we do is tap into existing desires and re-direct them towards certain products. The market itself creates the desires. So if corona comes along, and the desires are wiped out, there is little one can do to market the leftover products.

So if the desire your product is relevant for exists on the market, and you market your product well, then your success will be determined by how common those desires are among people. Very common = tons of sales, not common = few sales ceteris paribus.

That's why it's up to people to go back to these principles and actually apply them to their own business during the Corona crisis. I cannot give general advice such as you indicate above because I don't believe in it.

That's totally fine if that's the direction you wished to go in with your post.

The "bait and switch" problem was not so much with what you wanted to say, what you believe, or the body of your post. Rather, it's that the promise laid out in the original post was not fulfilled.

I was simply providing a way to fulfill the promise of the post. With the promise laid out, you would have needed advice specific on how to change your offer because of the pandemic. It's clear that you don't believe in doing that. So to fix it, you'll need to fix the promise.

For instance, instead of using the title:

"Copywriting Secrets In 5 Minutes" - Explode Your Sales During The C0VlD-19 Pandemic

You could use the titles:

Copywriting Principles that are Especially Important During the C0VlD-19 Pandemic
Make Sure You Follow These 9 Copywriting Principles During the C0VlD-19 Pandemic
Losing Sales from C0VlD-19? Make Sure You're Following These 9 Experts


Or instead of saying this in the introduction:

You're in trouble because of the pandemic.

You need a FAST way to jumpstart your sales once again.

You're in need to reposition your offers.

You can say:

You're losing sales because of the pandemic. If your product or service is still valuable, perhaps you're losing sales from a weak offer.

Weak offers turn off potential customers because they aren't convinced you're solving their problems. Transform your offers into strong ones using these copywriting principles.


Or something similar. That may not be exactly what you wanted to say, but at least the content fulfills those promises completely.

Here's a question: Your replies in this thread make it very clear what your intentions were. Why didn't you say that in your original post?

That's a genuine question–not trying to box you into a corner. I'm curious about what you have to say.
 

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
336%
Apr 28, 2017
2,070
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
Here's a question: Your replies in this thread make it very clear what your intentions were. Why didn't you say that in your original post?

That's a genuine question–not trying to box you into a corner. I'm curious about what you have to say.
Should I say at the top of every post that I make "be warned, I have an advertisement running in my signature which goes to a course that I'm selling"?

You're absolutely not putting me on the spot here, but I never made this post with any greater intent of driving traffic to my offer than any other posts that I make.

Is it an advertisement for my course? Sure, every post is since it has my signature on it.

The intent for this thread was specifically to get a lot of likes and views by providing something valuable that other members may find helpful at this particular point in time.

That's it.

If you think making a post the way I did was a way to drive traffic to my signature, you are mistaken. That's not how it works. Most of the purchasers of my product from this forum come from Sell me Saturdays (which I haven't even participated in for a long time) and the Marketplace thread, not random places in the forum based on signatures in posts (since most people don't go around the forum in buying mode... but when they go to a Sell me Sat thread, they either are looking for interesting or useful stuff to purchase or selling their own stuff). Why is the signature useful then? Because it gets people familiar with the offer and comes in handy when they see it in the marketplace or sell me sat.
 

MarkT525

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
156%
Feb 16, 2020
9
14
I don't quite understand this. How do you do that in real life? Are there any real life examples?

Also, I agree with Jon L. I didn't even noticed there's a banner in your signature. It looks too much like those banner ads embedded on websites (I've banner blindness since the ealy 00s). Maybe make it bright red background with white font, or neon yellow background with black font.

To me, I think more like

"Sell them what they want, give them when they need"

That's what I see in the example. They want to look like the guy in the picture. What they need to get there is the jump rope - in this example anyway.

Mark
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

evergreen_scene

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
92%
Dec 5, 2016
12
11
33
I liked both the title and the post. There's only so much you can learn in 5 minutes. But, I learned some things in 5 minutes reading the post that i didn't know before. I thought it was interesting that each of the authors listed had a different take on copywriting. I can see how learning what was listed could move the needle on your writing ability.

I also didn't notice the ad in the signature. (I think the graphic design of it could use a LOT of help, by the way). Even so, I don't mind people making money and pushing their wares. Especially if they do it in the proper way like the OP did.
Isn't this where you mention you do graphic design? :D
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top