Goldmine Marketing

Here’s what I’m up to…

  • Upstream Marketing Knowledge On The Cheap

    2:13pm
    Saint Paul

    Hot deal alert!

    …Once from the stage, I asked an audience of marketers who knew Dan Kennedy’s name.

    Not a single hand went up.

    Fact is, almost every marketer around today has been influenced by Kennedy’s work –– and many don’t even know it.

    It’s hard to get more “upstream” than Dan Kennedy, with the breadth and depth of knowledge he offers.

    I signed up for Kennedy’s No B.S. Newsletter a few years ago, which is marketing gold for $97 per month.

    And it came with a huge box of bonus material –– too much to reasonably go through.

    (If you’re on Dan Kennedy’s email list, you’ll see the same thing:

    So many bonuses that it’s almost a turn-off from making a purchase. Because if you need all that to implement… who has time?)

    Luckily, Dan’s printed newsletter stands on its own.

    So do his books, which I highly recommend. (Find my summary of The Ultimate Sales Letter here.)

    And his recorded seminars, like Personality in Copy that I recently discussed with Lawrence Bernstein, are also worth listening to multiple times. That one ran something like a grand to get a hold of… on sale.

    Which makes this Big Deal of the Day a really BIG deal indeed:

    (more…)

  • Get OUT (of your head)

    9:06am
    Saint Paul

    Not gonna lie:

    The fear of judgement holds me back.

    Your judgement. People on social I’ve never met. My wife and kids. Friends, bosses, coworkers, whatever.

    Not always, of course.

    But it’s that stupid feeling that asks “who are you?”

    Who are you to share those thoughts?

    Who are you to try something new?

    Who are you to make mistakes?

    Imposter!

    Years ago, some friends found this website. They didn’t like what I was writing about persuasion and how humans make decisions and how we can influence that decision-making process.

    (more…)

  • Restaurant Marketing 101… in Action!

    2:24pm
    Saint Paul

    When a new restaurant opens, marketing genius Dan Kennedy suggests parking cars in the lot to make the restaurant appear busy.

    (And move the cars around, too, or it gets obvious.)

    Because when we’re not sure what to do, we tend to follow the example of others.

    If others are visiting a restaurant, we might go in. Or remember it for later.

    But if no one is there? Why chance it?

    Maybe you’ve heard this story:

    (more…)

  • 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…

    (more…)

  • 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?

    (more…)

  • 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.

    (more…)

  • 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:

    (more…)

  • 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.

    (more…)

  • 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.

    (more…)