Goldmine Marketing

Here’s what I’m up to…

  • The 80/20 Rule

    Are you “stealing smart” today?

    11:04am
    East of the Mississippi


    You probably know the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle:

    80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers.

    Or the inverse:

    20% of the population earns ~80% of a nation’s income.

    While it’s not always exactly 80/20 (and they don’t need to add to 100), it’s a remarkably common distribution across many domains:

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  • Is AI the Curse of the Course?

    Have you seen it too?

    4:15pm
    East of the Mississippi


    Fellow marketer John Bejakovic recently wrote about a drop in marketing and copywriting courses being sold.

    Like, people ain’t buyin’.

    (I don’t think that’s entirely my doing, when I said I was going to focus on re-running through those valuable info nuggets I’ve already bought over the years.

    Surely, someone else out there was keeping these guys afloat!)

    Now, I don’t offer courses.

    I offer solutions.

    But I am on a lot of lists, and I’ve seen a decline in the number of courses being offered.

    Is AI to blame?

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  • Does AI help anything?

    Two competing headlines in one day––and how to cash in

    Looking at the new snowfall
    Juuust east of the Mississippi


    Hey *|FNAME|*,

    On Wednesday I saw these two headlines:

    Study of 12,000 EU Firms Finds AI’s Productivity Gains Are Real

    and

    Thousands of CEOs Just Admitted AI Had No Impact On Employment Or Productivity


    So which is it?

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  • Is Direct Marketing Dead?

    Branding vs Advertising

    2:50pm
    Saint Paul


    I was asked if direct response marketing is dead, because the Hatch book is filled with examples of direct response mail.

    No, it isn’t dead.

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  • Relentless Attacks on your Nervous System

    One of the hardest sales letters to write has to be for a Non-Profit.

    2:23pm
    East of the Mississippi



    Non-profit fundraising is tough work.

    Not at a gala. Those things are attended by wealthy donors who want their name in the press.

    I’m talking about direct mail.

    The reader of your letter has to be persuaded to take action… often without any immediate benefit to themselves.

    And the appeal has to go beyond altruism.

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  • It’s here: Secrets of Emotional, Hot-Button Copywriting

    Here’s your link for the FREE first chapter!

    Feb 16, 2026
    2:32pm
    Saint Paul

    Years ago when I first started in direct response, I quickly learned the idea, “benefits, not features.”

    For example:

    “Faster web browsing,” not “5 gig internet.”

    “Look great at your school reunion,” not “Lose 5 lbs.”

    Later, that idea was expanded to “features AND benefits.”

    But features and benefits alone don’t sell.

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  • Monday?

    Keep an eye out.

  • Dopamine might be your ENEMY

    12:20pm
    East of the Mississippi


    You watching the Olympics?

    They’re a big deal in our house:

    We have a TV that ONLY comes out every 2 years so we can watch the Olympics in the living room. And then, a few weeks later, we put it away.


    Scientists used to think dopamine was released after we accomplish something. It was seen as the “reward chemical.”

    But that’s not correct.

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  • 50% of Businesses are Broke

    2:11pm
    East of the Mississippi


    Alex Hormozi recently said that something like 50% of businesses don’t make any money.

    Many of those businesses probably don’t advertise or market themselves in any way.

    (I know of an IT services company that refuses to spend money to find customers. I know of a bar that doesn’t have a sign on its door.)

    And those companies that do advertise, but still aren’t making money, are probably playing the fool’s game of trying to replicate big brand advertising like Nike or Apple or BMW.

    Those brands have huge budgets and mindshare.

    But most businesses do not. And they should not take that approach.

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  • Sell ‘Em What They Want Already

    2:22pm
    East of the Mississippi


    We’re getting a break from the cold here in Saint Paul.

    It’s 36° outside!

    I was working on a landing page and my client kept asking me to clarify that only part of the offer was an easy-to-use “framework” –– a desirable aspect of this offer –– and that other parts of the offer weren’t a “framework” at all, but instead dealt with data and functional changes.

    Which, sure.

    But copywriting isn’t content writing!

    The goal of sales copy is to build up excitement, or anger, or fear, or some emotion about the current situation…

    And then to tie that into a changed emotion or other benefit that will only happen as a result of the purchase.

    If we spend all our time explaining the nuts and bolts of what the person will actually be doing –– in the name of transparency –– it begins to sound like a lot of work…

    And who wants to choose more work?

    Now, deep down, you and I and everyone knows that change and improvement does take work (or at least cash).

    But we can’t build up hope with technical details.

    There’s a difference between “See it sparkle!” and “It sparkles. Sometimes. When the light is right.“

    We can’t hope to make a sale when we say, “imagine how your friends will feel when they see you“…

    …and end that sentence with “putting in extra hours to make this work out.“

    Gotta sell the hope that tomorrow’s gonna sparkle.

    Sell your buyer what he wants.

    Deliver that.

    But also deliver what he really needs.

    Love you,

    Jeffrey

    PS. Might you know Judd Apatow’s email? The one I tried bounced.