Posts Tagged ‘Copywriting’

How To Get Killer Copy For Under $500

June 5th, 2012 | Bret Thomson

How To Get Killer Copy For Under $500

I was interviewed last night via podcast by my good mate and blogging expert, Yaro Starak.

(Recording available next week)

I gotta say… I surprised myself just how amazing, intelligent and

awesome even, I sound sometimes.

Anyway…

He threw this question at me near the end of the call:
“Okay Bret, knowing that top copywriters, like yourself, won’t take on a project under the 10K mark. And knowing that only big players can really justify spending that much…. But what about the small fish that might only have a budget of say $500 or maybe a few thousand?”

I have to say… I came up with a cracker of an answer.

Problem was… it was ½ an hour AFTER the interview finished.

(I hate that)

At the time, I revealed how I have a team of kickass “Marketing Avengers” who I co-write with, where we tackle smaller to middle size jobs.

Another option is to invest in an affordable copywriting course (based on their budget) so they can learn this craft for themselves.

I also mentioned they should start building up their own swipe file of winning sales letters, emails, landing pages, video sales letters,headlines,bullet points, graphics, whatever they come across, to arm themselves for battle.

Notice how I didn’t mention investing in a B-grade copywriter? Why? To be blunt…

Bad copy will COST you money!

The penny pinchers might save a few bucks at the front end… then forever be cursed with below average sales and repel customers from then on…

Moving forward…

Here’s the answer I thought of AFTER we ended the interview. And you need to know this. What I should have added was…

Get an A-class copywriter to critique your sales copy

Word-by-word… line-by-line…

It’s the closest you’ll get to me sitting down and writing your sales copy for you! How it works is… I will…

… Analyze (and intensify) the headline so it jolts the reader into a frenzy of desire

… Strip the offer down to the bone and re-build it so it’s brain-dead irresistible

… Inject the bullet points with bionic power so they feel helpless to your persuasive powers

… Shake out boring flatline chunks of copy and replace it with snappy conversational flow

… Polish the overall look & feel to eliminate any possible sales-friction from the get go

… And unleash an unstoppable barrage of big idea and marketing insights just for you

Yep… that’s the best solution if you’re on a shoestring budget and want fast results.

So… I s’pose you wanna know how much you’d have to invest for me to overhaul your sales copy like that, right? Look, there’s a good chance I might regret this. It’s pretty insane, but I’ll plunge ahead anyway…

Instead of my usual $1,500 critiquing fee…

Get this: If you’re one of the first 10 (and only 10) people who shoot us a message through the “Contact Me” tab at the top right of this page, I’ll give you one of my LIVE critiques over Skype for a measly $497.00.

So it’s me and you… on Skype…

Dissecting your sales letter LIVE in real time

(Side note: If you came across this post too late, then don’t shoot the messenger if the price has gone back up to normal)

When we start the LIVE critique, I’d strongly suggest you record it. And I’d encourage you to have a pen and paper on hand and catch everything I say. Cos once I’m on a roll… you’d have a better chance of stopping Niagara Falls with a paper cup…

PLUS (and this is cool), I’ll give you access to my private million-dollar swipe file for any piece of winning sales copy related to your market.

But know this… You’ll have to qualify to make the final 10…. I’ll be extracting some info from you first… before I accept you, fair enough? Good.

So, if this message caught you at the right time, then here’s what I want you to do, I want you to click the “Contact Me” tab above and shoot us a brief (very brief) summary of your business. I don’t want an essay at this stage. Keep it simple.

I’ll reply personally to you and start the ball rolling…

And before you know it…you’ll have razor sharp sales copy that’ll mesmerize your clients into a buying frenzy… for under $500? Sweet deal, my friend.

Speak soon…

Think big. Be different.

Bret Thomson

P.S. This is ESPECIALLY good timing if you’re about to launch a product in any way. And one more thing… you’d wanna hope your competition doesn’t see this email 😉 So go ahead and shoot us a message now so we can start chatting…

The Avengers In Your Biz?

May 25th, 2012 | Bret Thomson

The Avengers In Your Biz?

It’s the big rave right now…

The Blockbuster flick, “The Avengers”. Pulse-pumping adrenaline fix for the year…

Six superheroes: Captain America, Thor, Ironman, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye

Each with individual ‘gifts’ that, once united, can obliterate any enemy…

(Except Chuck Norris, of course)

So here’s my take on how to posses each of their unique skills… to decimate your competition and be the hero in your niche…

Captain America: Tactical thinker. Under extreme pressure he’ll whip out a strategic action plan with unquestionable confidence. He’ll delegate with such clarity and vision that others are compelled to follow his lead. (Lead with vision and confidence)
Thor – God of Thunder: He knows what his main strength is. His lightening Hammer. He doesn’t waste time picking up swords or guns. He knows what works and he’ll wield the hammer to annihilate his competition. (Know your strengths)
The Hulk: One word, “SMASH”. No time to procrastinate. Doesn’t second-guess. Zero hesitation. There’s only one speed, one focus, one objective: To Smash, conquer and demolish his task. (Don’t get distracted, take focused action)
Hawkeye: As Eben Pagan says, “Get Altitude”. Scale to the highest roof and look down at the whole picture. Keep an eye on what’s working, what’s not and spot the targets that’ll get the best results. (Take time to look at your whole business)
Black Widow: Stay in the fight. Be grounded, stay where the action happens and sharpen your skills with street-smart, practical experience, not just theory or observation. (If you’re going to preach being an expert, get in the trenches and earn your respect)
Iron man. Exude confidence almost to the point of arrogance. Display your skills with dynamic impressive demonstration. And have the intelligence to know your enemy. (Your clients won’t believe you’re the best until you believe in yourself and show them)

Let’s face it… we all need a bit of the avengers within us to triumph our daily battle of entrepreneurship, right?

But if you’re sick of fighting the same daily battle by yourself…

If you want to delegate your marketing to my team of marketing avengers (that’s their new name as of 6 seconds ago)… then let us fight in your place.

Here’s the page that shows the world just how amazing we are when we put our greatest skills to work: Making you moolah.

Check it (You’ll even see some videos of other mortals we have avenged from the clutches of marketing despair)

www.bretthomson.com/project-success

Our mission: To eradicate your competition and bring you complete domination.

Think big. Be different.

P.S. Tell me… If they had a 7^th Avenger, who should it be? Comment below. Over and out…

Why I Bribe My Kids To Read

May 12th, 2012 | Bret Thomson

The Ode Of A Copywriter

Ignore the bad singing and enjoy the message of how reading changed my life… And my ongoing dilemma of getting my kids to do what I NEVER did!

Why I Bribe My Kids To Read

Yep, it’s true.

I bribe my kids (with cash) to read books.

Good? Bad? Whatever. Nothing else works.

The idea of them reading a book… heaven forbid… outside of school hours… would cause a raucous mutiny… Thinking back, I was the same…

My only appetite for reading as a kid was Alfred. P. Newman’s “MAD Magazines”… or the occasional “Choose your own adventure” books… (Might explain some things)

So with my boys… why did I revert to bribery? Cos books (eventually) changed my life, as you’ll hear when you read on…

And let’s face it folks… as any truth-telling parent would admit… We tend to fill the voids from our own life with a caring hand of direction to our kids. True or true?

I needed to inject some outside positive dialogue into their noggins… To open their eyes up to what’s possible in life… So they can see the unlimited potential in themselves, like i see in them.

Don’t get me wrong… They get smothered with my daily positive brain droppings…But you know how that goes. I never listened to my old man till i was in my thirties (thtupid me)… So they need to hear it from someone else, i.e. Books.

And besides… wearing the “Strict Dad” hat with my hard-nosed-drill-sergeant routine doesn’t always work with my kids. So I found another way (maybe not the best way, but a way)… I got creative and bribed them.

There Is Madness To My Method.

I’ll tell you why in a sec… and… believe it or not… this relates to your marketing success too. But first…

Here’s a typical scene at our house:

I’ll whip out a $10 (or $20) note and tape it to the inside back cover… with an inch or more of the note sticking out the top.

I’ll call my boys (usually 3 or 4 times) into the room to announce the challenge…

“Okay my men, first person to read this book, cover to cover, get’s to keep the cash. I have no way of checking if you’re cheating or not. I’m trusting you.”

Then I’ll say, “You’ll have to live with your own guilt if you take my money dishonestly. And besides, I’ll be quizzing you about sections of the book anyway”

I’ll rant about the book and tell ‘em why I think it’ll benefit them. Then I’ll slap the book on the table, tell them how awesome they are, and walk away.

I’m Sure Qualified Quacks Would Preach 101 Reasons Why This Is Wrong.

Whatever.

Look, it’s getting harder to fill their minds with positive stuff these days, would you agree?

Man… I thought the X-box and PlayStation were a brain drain for kids… Pfft… that’s nothing… Facebook dominates that role now. Don’t get me started on that…

Moving on. Like I said, books changed my life. But here’s something that might surprise you…

I didn’t start reading till I was in my mid twenties. True story. Prior to that, the only reading I’d do was the “Did you know” quiz under beer bottle caps.

Oh yeah… Mr Suave, thank you.

Actually, I do remember reading one article once… about how excessive alcohol is highly damaging to your brain. Blew me away. Stunned, I was.

So I made a firm decision that day.

I Was NEVER Going To Read Again.

In time, I smartened up. The first book I ever read (by my own choice) was when I was 26, called, “Awaken The Giant Within” by Anthony Robbins.

Changed my life forever… and launched me on a never-ending journey of personal excellence. I had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge… I devoured books like a piranha let loose in a fish farm.

These days, I tell my boys…

If You Can’t See Where You’re Going In Life Then You’re Not Standing On Enough Books

Charlie “Tremendous” Jones said, “The books you read and the people you meet will determine where you are in five years.”

Friend, that’s especially true with your business…

Whether you do your own copywriting and marketing… or you get me and my word-slinging A-team to do it for you… the point is this…

You’ve gotta keep yourself educated… stay sharp with your marketing… cos things can change fast, amigo…

That’s why I created http://www.thecopywritingsystem.com

So fellow biz owners, entrepreneurs and copywriters can get weekly breakthrough insights on how to annihilate their competition with edgy marketing and copywriting power.

To open their eyes up to what’s possible in their business… So they can see their unlimited potential with effective (and affordable) marketing… like I see.

Remember… He who markets the best wins!

Just one idea… one tweak… one insight… one paragraph from a book (when actioned)… can fling you into poll position. It’s true in life… and in business.

Keep your saw sharpened my friend…

Think big. Be different.

Bret Thomson

P.S. Spread the love and share or comment below. Catchya

Hello From Bret!

May 5th, 2010 | Bret Thomson

Dear Friend

Geeez… if I made a buck out of everyone asking me this…

“Bret, when are you putting up your website?”

By now… I’d be laying back, feet up, cocktail in hand, sunbaking on the front deck of a luxury yacht sailing around the Greek Islands!

Okay – in truth? I’d probably have around $36 – but here’s my point…

From what started out as a ‘seemingly’ small decision to give my business a BOOST – turned out to be a major lifestyle shift! Totally in my favour. And guess what?

Believe it or not… but it’s in your favour too. Keep reading to see what I mean…

“So What am I talking about?”

Let me explain: It was the day when I decided to learn the art of “Emotional Direct Response Copywriting”

And look, at the time; I didn’t exactly wake up in the morning and think, “Hey, you know what? I’m bored, so I might start learning a whole new skill today”

You gotta be kidding – Far from it – in fact, after 15 years of slogging away for a boss, managing a multi-million dollar business, babysitting (opps, I mean ‘managing’) 15 staff, running sales teams… making my boss RICH!

Plus – on the home front – trying to be the best Dad I could be to my three gorgeous boys (my little best mates) as a single father. (More on that later)

Then, 18months of trying to get a new business concept off the ground! Unsuccessfully… although not a regret! So yeah… you could say… I wasn’t really busting out of the seems excited to learn a whole new skill from scratch. But here’s what happened…

In what amazed even the most seasoned marketing and copywriting guru’s in Australia, I humbly went from zero, just writing my own copy, to having a line up of some of Australia’s greatest marketers and entrepreneurs knocking at my door – cash in hand – begging and pleading me to write copy for their business!

Weird??? – Damn right – Very weird I thought – Considering that this all happened in just the first 6 months!

But what happened in the following 6months was even a bigger shock!

Was it beginners luck? Well, that was a safe theory early on, but after months and months of continuous successful letters, emails and ads that were getting unprecedented response rates AND sales… Well… that theory wore pretty thin.

So why the sudden mass attention to my copywriting? Well, it obviously wasn’t my good looks or charm, nor a long list of testimonials to refer to. You wanna know what it was?

The answer is simple.

“Results”.

No smokes or mirrors – No B.S – No Hype – just good ol’ fashion black and white, rock solid measurable results.

Can’t argue with the truth right? And get this…

I thought – It’s time to have a red-hot shot for myself!

I decided to put my “new found skill” into action for my own business. I mean after all… I had already helped dozens of other business owners make blistering profits, over and above what they had ever expected. So now it was my turn!

A good mate of mine, Andy, over a couple of glasses of red, decided to go 50/50 in an offline direct mail business.

Cut a long story short – I took a product that was selling for $498 and re-wrote the copy to my standard; added a few extra steps and components; then put it to the test. Here’s what happened.

I was able to sell the exact same product for $1497 (3 X the price) PLUS! I out sold every other distributer in other states by more than double! – Often triple!

Amazingly – My sales letter had a 22% sales rate. Unheard of in the direct mail business. We made $125,000 in 4 months, starting from scratch!

DAMN! This stuff really works!

And then the unthinkable happened…

BANG! Out of the blue…

The business was gone! The guy who owned the rights for the product ended up selling out to someone who wanted all of the marketing rights. No big deal.

So I re opened my doors and started writing copy for other people. And just like last time – the results were staggering! I was writing copy for some of the greatest marketers in Australia AND exceeding their expectations (not an easy feat I hear)

And then “the phone call” – the call that every copywriter dreams of…

It was Mal Emery – easily the country’s No.1 Emotional Direct Response Marketing genius Aka: Australia’s Millionaire Maker.

He’d seen the copy I was punching out, and little did I know, was secretly keeping track of my successes.
In Mal’s own words… “I realized that Bret was the guy I wanted as my personal copywriter. His pure talent will make me a lot more money than I would have to pay him”

Sounds good to me. So he gave me an offer too good to refuse… and as they say, “The rest is history”.
So what’s that got to do with you?

Here’s the scoop. Sure… I’m pretty busy with Mal’s stuff, but occasionally I do take on the odd job for people here and there.

The last guy that snuck into my schedule needed my help to fill a seminar room to a cold list. I whipped out a “guns-are-blazing” sales pack and here’s what happened…

He got a 12.5% take up rate off the first letter! That’ll probably net him around $100,000 in 2days.

Anyway… I’ve gotta fly now… if you wanna touch base with me and see if I can help you, then email me now at info@thecopywritingsystem.com – give a quick overview of your project and then I’ll decide if we go the next step.

So what is the next step anyway?

Good question. I have a copywriting questionnaire that will help me (and you) get inside the head of your client – because then (and only then) is when the ‘magic happens’ with copy.

Anyway, keep an eye out for some emails from me. I plan to share some hot copy tips that anyone, anytime, anywhere, can simply implement immediately into their marketing strategies that will dramatically BOOST response.

Worth reading – stay tuned!

Bye for now