Compelling copy combined with good storytelling is an unfair advantage.

An unfair advantage that the Wall Street Journal used to drive $2 Billion in revenue over 28 years using the same sales letter.

Here are 7 copywriting tips to help you write sticky stories 🧵

At 38, David Ogilvy was unemployed and hadn't written a word of copy.

Three years later, he was the most famous copywriter in the advertising industry.

And became known as the Father of Advertising.

Here are 7 tips from the legendary copywriter 🧵

1/ Learn Who You're Writing For

“The consumer isn't a moron. She is your wife."

Your copy should touch on:

-Who you’re writing for
-How that person thinks
-What that person needs

Let research shape your copy

Let your voice fuel it.

2/ Know The Product

“Big ideas come from the unconscious...But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant.”

Learn every detail about the product/industry/audience before you write.

Then unleash your unconscious mind and fuel the big ideas.

3/ Nail The Headline

“On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

Deadlines determine if the consumer’s interest is piqued enough to read the copy.

4/ Get Specific

"The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be."

Most people won't make decisions without being informed…

The informed, act.

The specifics will give consumers the confidence that acting is the right choice.

Four simple headline formulas you can use on your ads or landing pages:

1. [Introduce The Product] x [Say What It Does]
2. [Value Creation] x [Tackle The Objection Behind It]
3. [Define The Outcome] x [Explain What Creates The Outcome]
4. [Be Specific] x [Add Your Hook]

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The best marketing affects a human's behavior.

It leverages psychology to impact people's perceptions and decisions.

Understand it and you'll influence consumer's buying decisions.

Use these 12 psychology tips to influence your audience 🧵

1. Theory of reciprocity

As humans, we’re more likely to do something for someone after they’ve done something for us.

When you consistently provide value to your audience -- they’re more likely to reciprocate by supporting you.

This builds brand advocates.

2. Too many choices

Too many choices means too much confusion.

This affects a consumer's ability to make a decision and demotivates them from doing so.

Reduce your options.

Increase your conversion rate.

3. Decoy Effect

Perspective influences decisions.

With the decoy effect, you alter the consumer’s perspective by making the highest ticket item look like a deal.

Ex:

Small Popcorn: $3
Medium Popcorn: $6.50
Large Popcorn: $7

The large feels like a great deal.

4. The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

This phenomenon is when you see something for the first time then feel like you start seeing it everywhere.

Once you become aware of something you start to look for it unconsciously.

This then convinces you that it really is everywhere.

Good copywriting is a superpower.

Amazon, the second most valuable brand in the world, puts an emphasis on teaching its employees how to write.

They know good copy equates to more customers.

These are the 8 tips to write like an Amazonian 🧵

1. Keep Your Sentences Under 30 Words.

I'd keep them under 15 words.

They should be Kevin Hart short.

And only focus on one idea.

Short sentences help break down info into bite-size pieces.

This makes the communication smoother.

Digestible info = Retained info

2. Replace Adjectives With Data

In 1880, Mark Twain said, “When you catch an adjective, kill it."

In Amazon's case, don’t kill them -- replace them with data.

Why?

Because numbers are eye candy.

It organizes info into a logical order.

3. Eliminate Weasel Words

Weasel words kill sentences.

They're vague. Boring.

If you’re going to use adjectives -- use descriptive adjectives.

NOT interpretive adjectives.

Ex:

Interpretive - We went on a long boat ride.

Descriptive - We went on a 5-hour boat ride.

4. The “So What” Test

Re-read your writing and ask, “so what?”

Can the reader understand the sentence, paragraph, or page?

Does it make sense?

Does it provide value?

Are they learning?

This helps give you an understanding from the consumer's perspective.

5 Tactics I Used To Improve My Open Rate By 12%.

And Sometimes Even By 15-20% 🧵

Currently, my open rate ranges between 45-47% with nearly 15k subs.

My last email had a 48% open rate.

With iOS15 putting fear into every email we send, I thought I'd break down how I've been able to increase my open rate by 12% on avg.

Gimme 4 min...

1. Emoji Identity

This is something I stole from Morning Brew.

Morning Brew includes a "☕️" in all of their subject lines for good reason.

Because the repeated use of the "☕️" ingrains their identity in a reader's inbox.

And so I did the same.

Example: Morning Brew

Every email I send, the subject line starts with the "🔍"

And when you signed up for Marketing Examined, I let you know in the welcome email that each email subject line would start with the "🔍" " so that you would know it's me.

Example: Marketing Examined

2. Ask For A Reply In Your Welcome Email

The almighty spam and promotion folder where open rates go to die.

And where newsletters go to be forgotten.

One of the most effective ways I've found to combat this is by asking for a simple reply in your Welcome Email.

We've used "seller financing" on two self storage deals in the past year.

And it raised our cash on cash return by 20%+.

And lowered the amount of capital we needed by $500k.

Here's a THREAD about a deal of mine and how this magical debt structure can work.

👇👇

My method is simple. In the late stages of negotiation I submit two offers:

One at a lower price.

And one at the exact price the seller wants but with him holding back 10-20% of the purchase price in the form of a 2nd mortgage (with a second position to your bank loan).

Contrary to popular belief seller financing rarely includes the seller holding back 70-80% and acting as your bank.

Two reasons:

#1 most have some debt on the property.

#2 most want most of their money now.

Have you heard the saying:

"you name the price and i'll name the terms?"

This is a case of that situation exactly.

Lets paint a picture here:

Last week I was negotiating with a seller on a property in a small western PA town.

Not many interested buyers so I knew I had some leverage.

His asking price was $4.5MM. I wanted to pay $4.2M.

After a week or two and a lot of back and forth I found his lowest number.

I don’t want to put anyone on blast, but I’ve seen a few people saying, erroneously, that superhero comics sell more by the numbers, that they have the biggest sales overall and (most wrong of all) that they are the best selling comics globally. And, uh...Shounen Jump called. 📞

I’m not saying this to detract the historical and global importance of B2 comics... they were once huge. They are also old, so as far as historically, yeah they have decently big numbers. They are not doing those numbers now, or anytime in the past decade.

The best selling series, ever, by a Big 2 is Spider-man, selling 650 million since 1963. You can tally up all their series together but that’s a bit unfair so let’s stick to individuals. 650 is VERY respectable.

One Piece, Japans top selling collected manga, has sold 470 million....since 1997.

But that’s collected volumes...manga magazines are really a more equitable competitor to floppies, although not exact because, in fairness, they contain several series. That said, shounen jump has sold 7.6 billion. There are several other shounen magazines in that range.

*Thread* - Influencer Bundles

How to sell a book & hoodie for $500

People buy the name first

The price point of designer is because of the name associated with the product

Influencers poorly utilize the asset of their brand

Only leveraging the attention aspect to point to offers instead of leveraging the power of their name/reputation

Example: Fitness & Lifestyle YouTubers/IG Influencer

Can create a limited edition VIP bundle

Limited to 40 units

Posting on their story for social proof/scarcity as each gets sold

"12 left, Welcome, @ (tagging/shouting out people who order)"

Example of a Bundle

1) Signed print on demand leather version of their ebook including 4 secret chapters not available in the ebook edition

2) Hoodie or necklace/bracelet with a symbolic meaning to the vibe/slogan of the brand

(preferably not just your name plastered on it)

^ for example with YousXP the 'XP' has meaning so something XP related

Or a slogan/key quote from the influencer

3) 30 minute phone call with everyone who purchases the bundle

4) Exclusive invite to the inner circle, invite only $24.99/month private group chat & weekly call

Here are 6 things you need to know before applying for a remote marketing job...🧵

In 2015 I was offered a remote contract from a guy I’d met in an airport bar. 🍻

No joke. If my best friend wasn’t sitting beside me during that layover, I’m 100% convinced that everyone would think this was completely made up.

He’d overheard me talking about an SEO portfolio site that I’d recently made & that I was going to start looking for new side projects.

After a quick conversation and a week to think things over at the beach,🏖️ I flew home and took the offer. 😬

Working remotely in marketing has helped me grow personally and professionally in ways I never could at an office.

I’m grateful for everything I’ve learned and everyone who has helped me along the way.

I hope sharing a few tips I’ve picked up will help you on your journey. ✨

1) Make it real by making an action plan. Start by taking baby steps.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

When you first sit down to frame out what you’re looking for, it’s important to set clear goals and make a solid plan.

I built communities that created 83m new customers in 2020 with this marketing framework

I'm curious your thoughts

A startup marketing manifesto:

Connect the disconnected

1. Find people who want to pursue a goal (ex: new immigrants in the US, learn tennis etc)
2. Accelerate them

This will do more for your business than you can imagine

Customers need to feel lucky. Like the chosen ones

Lucky to be a part of the community. Lucky to buy the product. Lucky to be a part of your story

If you nail the “luckiness” feeling, you can drive your marketing costs to zero

How to jumpstart & structure community:

- Masterclass for X
- Clubhouse for X
- Q&A platforms
- Small virtual events
- Gaming events
- Text your community’s leader
- etc.

Have a design aesthetic. Own it

Make sure your niche is in love with it

Daring design aesthetics pay dividends