Goldmine Marketing

Here’s what I’m up to…

  • Claims Must NOT Violate Beliefs (Plus: Bad Art!)

    10:05am
    Saint Paul

    The problem with making claims in your ads?

    No one believes them.

    But the brilliant Eugene Schwartz knew this, and offered us a few solutions…

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  • Magical Marketing

    10:18am
    Boston Seaport

    A few years ago, for the Persuasion Play Podcast, I interviewed magician Paul Gertner. Paul lives here in Boston, where I am today for the world’s best B2B marketing conference (B2B Forum ftw!)

    Magic, it seems, is a common interest among direct response copywriters, myself included.

    Why? What is it about copywriting that draws more wanna-be magicians than, to put it in Justin Willman’s terms, the “plus-ones” that don’t care about magic?

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  • Umm, ahh, oops: The case for awkward interviews

    9:05am
    Saint Paul

    I saw a video on LinkedIn just now where a woman walks through ehr video production using AI.

    And one of the first things she mentions is how the AI tool can remove filler words.

    The umms… The ahhs… and whatnot.

    I used to do this for my Persuasion Play Podcast episodes.

    Remove filler words. Shorten silences.

    It added hours to my work. Like, 3x the length of the recording. So a 1 hour interview took an additional 3 hours or so. Before adding slides, splicing in the introduction and theme song, and writing show notes.

    And today, AI can do it all for me?

    Great, I’ll pass. Here’s why.

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  • Are AI bonuses attractive?

    2:37pm
    Saint Paul

    I’m working on promotions for The Secrets of Emotional, Hot-Button Copywriting.

    And I’m trying to think up some good bonuses for you, too.

    As a writer, I like to write.

    But I know plenty of people think AI is amazing and takes a lot of work off their shoulders.

    So, my question to you:

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  • The House that Email Built (qualified email marketers wanted)

    8:59am
    Saint Paul

    Lemme tell you about one of my failures.

    Few years back, I tried starting an online community.

    It was on Telegram. Maybe you were there?

    Anyhow, much like the Ronin class of Samurai warriors, my “Copy Ronin” community was aimed at copywriters who were skilled in their persuasion and wanted the freedom of freelance work.

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  • Keep Going

    2:54pm
    Saint Paul

    It’s a nap kinda day.

    Take care of yourself.

    And then, once you’re feeling right again?

    Keep going.

    Love you.

    —J

  • Lawrence Bernstein: Know Your History (Persuasion Play Podcast #017)

    1:46pm
    Saint Paul

    My high school history teacher used to tell us:

    If you don’t know your history, you don’t know anything!

    This is true in civics: what has worked, and what has repeatedly failed?

    True in cooking.

    And it’s certainly true in marketing.

    Which is why successful marketers study what’s worked in the past, to learn from those successes and apply those lessons to their work today.

    Lawrence Bernstein knows his history.

    As the “world’s most obsessed ad archivist,” Lawrence has been collecting, analyzing, and applying the lessons from great direct response marketing and copywriting for over 25 years.

    In this interview, Lawrence dips into the powers of direct mail, the importance of building your list, where to find secrets of great marketing, and more.

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  • Beware this VSL health scam

    2:09pm
    Saint Paul

    My uncle’s memory is slipping.

    It’s not as bad as it could be. Yet.

    But it adds a lot of stress to the family, especially for my mom (his sister).

    So when my mom and dad were recently sent a Video Sales Letter (VSL) about a miracle cure for Alzheimer’s , they were interested in what it had to say.

    They watched the full hour or so.

    And then they sent it to other family members before one wrote back with a warning:

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  • What Won’t THEY Tell You?

    9:33am
    Oct 31
    Saint Paul

    You’re on the operating table, and they’ve opened you up. Guess who calmly walks out of the room?

    This copy comes from the late Mel Martin’s copy for Boardroom’s Bottom Line Yearbook, 1992.

    Talk about opening a loop!

    And to get the resolution to this –– “and lots more that hospitals don’t tell you” –– you had to buy the book and turn to page 262.

    (See this and more of Mel’s incredible bullets in the image below.)

    Today is Halloween.

    And while FEAR may be all around you tonight…

    FEAR is a standard technique used in Direct Response Marketing.

    Not in a jump-scare sort of way…

    But as a spychological technique, tapping into:

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  • Halloween Creeps!

    12:01pm
    Saint Paul

    Last night, Extra Eclectic––my favorite classical music radio program––aired two hours of Halloween-ish music.

    And while the recorded radio program will be available to stream in a week or so, I wanted those tunes to play on Friday, Oct 31…

    Halloween itself!

    So I just compiled the tracks from last night, plus previous Halloween-themed evenings, into a long Spotify playlist.

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