Strip Searched on Mexico Border

November 20th, 2012 | Bret Thomson

Strip Searched on Mexico Border

Hola from Mexico

We’re over here for a few weeks… Lynika and I… on the back end of a trip to Nashville to see the legendary marketers Dan Kennedy and John Carlton in action. Waaaay cool.

But more on that later…

Anyway… On the way to our hotel in Tijuana, Mexico… we were picked up at San Diego airport by a Spanish-speaking driver.

You know… It’s funny trying NOT to stand out like Gringos (tourists), but since my only source of Spanish was from watching “Speedy Gonzales” cartoons as a kid, we kinda stood out like a fluorescent Christmas tree in a cactus farm.

There was a 20-minute drive to the Mexican border, then another 15-minutes to our hotel.

Packed with a mind-load full of shady movie scenes about crossing the Mexico border… I was excitedly curious as to how it would play out.

Couldn’t get any advice from our Mexican driver.

“Notta mucha speaka engalisha”, he said.

“Just little bit”, he muttered, as he lifted his hand to show us a tiny gap between his pointer finger and thumb.

And seeing my Mexican vocabulary ran dry after “Taco, Nachos and Amigo”, we quickly reverted to the world’s universal language mode.

Smile and nod.

So get this…

We drive up to the Mexican border. To paint the picture… imagine these big-ass-wide-berth tollbooths that you drive into.

We get waved to the side and the driver pulls the car up. A couple of Mexican officials, all dressed in black, walk up to our car and tap on the windows.

There’s a steady flow of conversation going on between the driver and these officials.

Are we in trouble?

What’s the hassle?

Have drugs been planted on us for a set up?

What’s going on?

You know… All the usual stuff racing through your brain when approaching Tijuana (notorious as Mexico’s most corrupt city)

They triple check our passports then motion for us to get out of the car.

They take our luggage out and walk us into a building. Our bags go through a big scanner. Kinda like what you see at an airport, but twice as big.

They take Lynika to the side. In broken English, they say,

“I’m going to ask you to press this button. If the button turns green, you can go. If the button turns red, you will both have to be fully searched. Bags and all”.

Seriously? All because of the luck of pressing a button? I’m thinking, “What the hell determines it blinking green or red anyway?

As it turns out… it’s pot luck. 50/50 chance. Totally random.

Green = Go

Red = Full search

Great.

So Lynika steps forward to press “the button”.

We nervously look across at each other. As you can imagine, we’re not really hip to the idea of a strip search. No thanks.

Lynika presses the button.

We wait.

Red or green? Waiting… waiting…

Okay, let’s pause here for a second.

I know what you’re thinking…

I bet you’re secretly hoping for the RED light, aren’t you?

You cruel bastard.

Well guess what?

Luckily, us Aussie gringos got the green light that day, amigo! (Thank god)

But a 50/50 chance of a strip search… well… that’s not the kind of odds I like play’n with. Know what I mean?

Same goes with your marketing. You wanna tilt the scales more in your favour.

So, instead of throwing your website, sales page, video, or promotion up… and leaving it up to chance… “Hoping” for a good response…

There are some things you can do to stack the odds in your favour.

There are plenty of ways to do this. Here’s just one.

A smarter move (for you) is this.

You see hombre, I can change the numbers for you.

In just one sitting… I’ll run my masterful eyes over your marketing piece… and critique it word-by-word, line-by-line.

I’ll hack into it and cut out the lame, drivel and uninspiring fluff… and inject some pulse racing, compelling elements to cause a manic rush of sales.

That’s what I do.

Here’s how it’ll play…

After I grill you about your biz (on Skype)… I’ll start on your copy.

I’ll shoot a screen-capture video of me going through your copy (in real-time) with microscopic detail, like an OCD sales detective.

Next… You and I will hook up on a live follow-up call… just to make sure you’re crystal clear on what changes need to be made… and you’re hip with any strategy suggestions I have for you.

But be warned… you’ve gotta be thick skinned. I kid you not. It’s not for the faint hearted, that’s for sure.

Look, my role isn’t to blow roses your way (unless it’s truly deserved)… and I won’t waste your time sugar coating the facts.

I’ll critique it as if it was my very own piece going to market.

I’ll give your sales copy a much-needed adjustment so you can boogie to the sound of more sales.

Perfect (and an affordable) substitute if you sweat bricks when thinking about paying for an A-class copywriter to write your copy.

Thomson-style critiques are hard-core… but lighter on the pocket for you… my mission is to obliterate any sales obstructions I see… so you can bask in more sales while you sleep.

This is how to make sure the light goes GREEN… So you can cross the border to prosperity.

Either that… or you can leave your marketing up to chance and hope the “sales fairy” sprinkles magic dust your way…

Anyway. I’m here to help. You just gotta ask.

Let me send you more details about this. Shoot us an email at info@BretThomson.com and I’ll reply back with the options.

Think big. Be different.

Bret Thomson

P.S. Best I mention, I don’t take on everyone either. Don’t take offense if I politely knock you back. I just wanna be sure your idea will fly first…

Don’t forget to comment or share below so we know you want more 😉

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…