How to write emotional copy, with examples that made sales

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Today I will recommend to you a book that I have not read and that I have no plans on reading.

Let me tell you why I am still recommending it to you.

The book in question is written by Denny Hatch. Just yesterday, it was re-released after a long time of not being available.

A bit of background:

I’ve known of Denny Hatch for a long time because he once put together a different book, called Million Dollar Mailings. That was a book with a cool proof element. It brought together a bunch of sales letters, each of which had made $1M+, along with the history and context of the mailing and the people behind it.

My kind of stuff. And worth the big price tag it sold for.

But that is NOT the book I am recommending to you today.

The book I am recommending to you today is one that a long-time reader of this newsletter, Jeffrey Thomas, decided to republish on behalf of Denny Hatch.

Jeffrey himself is not just some kook who likes to republish out-of-print books. He’s a direct response copywriter at MarketingProfs, a big education platform for B2B marketers. He’s also got a podcast on marketing, on which I appeared some years ago.

A few months ago, Jeffrey contacted me, full of enthusiasm, about resurrecting this great Denny Hatch book, called Emotional Hot-Button Copywriting. Would I want to read it?

The fact is, no. My own to-read list is already too long. I’m reluctant to take others’ recommendations even when backed by a lot of enthusiasm.

I asked Jeffrey why he thought this book was so important that it merited republishing. In his own good time, Jeffrey responded:

===

Hey John,

A few weeks ago you asked why I was interested in releasing Denny Hatch’s book (which will be officially released next Monday, Feb 16).

When I first started in copy, there were many people saying how important benefits are in the sales process. And they still say that, and they’re not wrong.

But a small group of direct response writers talked about emotions in copy. The Rule of One, for instance, occasionally includes the importance of a single driving emotion. But not everyone includes emotion in their description of the Rule of One, like it’s a secret or a shameful thing.

Personally, I’ve tried hard to not be too emotional in life. I already cry easily at movies, which I find ridiculous, and I worried that being emotional might convey the wrong message. One of weakness.

Slowly I realized that emotions are in fact why we choose to do most things, and that I’m a fool if I leave it out. But that doesn’t mean I need to cry. There are plenty of powerful emotions.

And since Hatch’s book was based on successful sales letters focused around emotions, what better way to learn how to apply this aspect than with swipes from highly successful copy.

I couldn’t find the book, so I asked Denny if I could help him republish it, for his benefit and my own and anyone else who wants to learn how emotions can be used to sell with success.

===

Denny Hatch’s republished book has a legit reason for existing (emotions ARE important in copywriting).

It also has legit proof behind it (again, a bunch of winning sales letters, which illustrate the concepts and techniques).

That’s why I’m recommending this book to you today, in case you need it.

The fact is, I needed this book myself, and I coulda gotten a lot of value out of it, 10 or so years ago, in the first 2-3 years of learning about copywriting.

At that point, I had learned the structure of sales copy. I understood how to provide proof and make a logical argument. I could handle objections.

But much of the time, something was missing, and I knew it. Some substance. The emotion.

I fixed that for myself over the years. I read a lot about copy and about psychology. I bought a bunch of courses and even went through some of them. I experimented, I observed myself and others, I dissected others’ copy and my own when it worked.

I took me, I don’t know, two, three, four, five years, but eventually I overcame my own deficits or reluctance around writing emotional copy, in those situations where it’s needed.

And that’s why I have no plans to read Denny Hatch’s republished book.

But if writing sales copy is still a mysterious topic to you, and in particular, if you’re awed or intimidated by the alchemy of getting people to feel something real, just by arranging the little black letters they see on a page or screen, then this book can be valuable for you, today.

This book is expensive.

$49.

That’s because it’s only available in a large, paperback edition, full of color and pictures and real sales letters.

If you’d like to get it, before it goes out of print again:

https://bejakovic.com/emotional

Readers respond about direct mail

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Yesterday, I wrote about direct mail, and how not dead it is, and in fact how savvy business owners, who grew up online, are now rediscovering it.

I asked for the experiences of readers related to direct mail. I got ’em. Here are a few particularly relevant and current ones…

#1. From an in-house copywriter at a big supplement brand and alternative health publisher:

“One of my sales letters for [client] is going to direct mail soon. Excited to see how it performs.”

#2. From the chief copywriter at a health and beauty brand:

“We’ve been sending direct mail at [client]! It’s not the classic plain text letter format, but postcard style cart/checkout abandonment campaigns with some short copy + a discount. Not sure what the ROI is but I imagine it’s not bad since we’ve been doing it for a while. ”

#3. From a fundraising expert:

“I love direct mail. I’ve been doing it for 17 years for clients but in the nonprofit space. It works really well. I made over $10MM with mostly direct mail. From a very small warm list of donors.”

#4. From a fractional CMO:

“Current client spends $200k per month on direct mail. Cold, B2C.”

#5. From the owner of a guitar school:

“I’ve basically built my whole school around it and made ~200k€ with direct mail. It’s really profitable, but a bit slow.”

#6. From an expert in retention marketing for 8-figure ecom brands:

“100%. That’s a huge part of ecomm. I’ve run many campaigns and automations with direct mail. I also have direct connections in the biggest direct mail platforms.”

My point for you today is the same as yesterday.

Direct mail has gone underground. But it is something to consider unearthing again if you have a business, so you can make sales to the 80% of your email list that doesn’t open your emails, or to the 99% of your audience that never sees your messages on social.

Direct mail is also something to consider doing behind the scenes if you partner with businesses and take a cut, or if you take on clients straight out, as a way to distinguish yourself from the sea of copywriters and marketers offering same-old services and producing same-old results.

That’s really all I have for you today.

Except, maybe you’d like to buy something from me? For just $5?

If you haven’t read it yet, you might like my 10 Commandments of A-List Copywriters.

Out of the A-list copywriters I profile in that book, the majority cut their chops on direct mail.

Their stories and commandments can be relevant to you if you decide to integrate this new-again medium of selling into your toolbox. If you’re interested:

https://bejakovic.com/10commandments

Direct mail interest rising

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A bit of behind-the-scenes of my newsletter:

Last Wednesday, a guy signed up to my email list.

As they always do, my minions went to work, figuring out who this guy is.

Turns out he has an interesting business and a book I could relate to. I sent him a 1-1 email to connect more personally.

He replied.

We got into a bit of an email conversation about what we’re each working on. We got on the topic of auctions, which I’m offering to run for people who have offers and an audience.

It turns out this guy has an email list of 99,000 living souls, mostly buyers, and a proven $10k offer he has been selling to that list.

He was interested in the idea of having me run an auction with his audience and offer.

He sent me a Loom with his questions about auction stuff. And at the end of it, he added:

===

I’m wondering if you would be open to running this as a direct mail campaign as well.

Cause I’ve got 99,000 people on the list and they’re hit with emails, but direct mail is something I haven’t done yet to them.

===

My eyes lit up. Direct mail is a separate topic from auctions, but it’s one I’m very, very interested in.

I tend to glamorize direct mail because its golden days happened before I came onto the scene.

All the legends of the direct response biz, from Halbert to Bencivenga to Schwartz to Caples to Collier, worked in direct mail, honed their chops on direct mail, and praised direct mail as the most reliable, most profitable, most practical medium of salesmanship multiplied.

“Come on Bejako,” I hear you say, “that was centuries ago, back in the time of Margaret Thatcher and Bill Shakespeare. Ancient history!”

No, not really. The fact is, while direct marketing definitely moved online over the past 20 years, direct mail never went away.

Some businesses continued to rely on it…

… and now, like my new reader’s comment shows, interest in direct mail is bubbling up again, among savvy business owners who might never have considered direct mail 10 years ago.

Interest in direct mail is not bubbling up because these business owners glamorize direct mail the way I do.

It’s bubbling up because direct mail today is a great investment. How great? I’ve heard one smart marketer say that for every $100 he spends on direct mail, to a highly targeted list of buyers, with a proven high-ticket offer… he makes 3 grand in return.

Those are the kinds of numbers that should make your furry ears perk up with interest.

I’m putting this idea out there so you start seeing mention of direct mail, and maybe get curious about this opportunity.

I’m also doing it as an information gathering mission.

Have you done direct mail campaigns in your own biz? Have you done direct direct mail for a client? Or do you have interest in having direct mail campaigns run for you… or learning how to do them for others?

Curiosity considered harmful

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“The cure to boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”

— Dorothy Parker

I came across this quote on January 29, in a bout of idle clicking online.

I took note of it and wrote it down.

The article I was reading used this quote to make it sound like perpetual curiosity is a good thing.

But if you’ve spent any time in Internet Marketing land, where I live online, you know that perpetual curiosity can be harmful.

It’s Saturday morning as I write this. I’ve been awake for only a few hours but so far my media and content consumption has consisted of:

– A few paragraphs of an article on quantum physics (“mysteries finally resolved?”)

– A few minutes of a training by marketer Travis Sago (I was chuffed to hear my name mentioned right in the first few minutes)

– An excerpt of a tennis podcast hosted by former world no. 1 Andy Roddick (“Is Alcaraz the second coming of Roger Federer?”)

– Several articles on St. Valentine and the history of Valentine’s Day (a Roman holiday, rebranded)

– A summary of the book Million Dollar Consulting by Adam Weiss (“sell outcomes not deliverables”)

– Several visits to my Daily Email House community, to see what people have guessed so far in response to a marketing riddle I’ve posted (nobody’s got it yet)

– A half dozen trips to my email inbox, because, you know, maybe somebody’s written me something important? (no)

Point being, I am what you might generously call a curious person, and what you might less generously call a distractible and scatterbrained layabout.

I realized a long time ago that I would starve to death and die alone, by the side of the road, if I just kept following my curiosity wherever it led me.

I also realized a long time ago that people who end up successful in direct marketing are, like me, all opportunity seekers at heart, who have somehow figured out a way to survive in spite of their perpetual opportunity seeking.

Because while there is no cure for curiosity, there is a palliative, and it’s to do something with what you found out, to put it to use.

I wasted much of this morning in idle clicking around and reading stuff that interested me for the moment.

That’s how I spend much of my day, every day, even now, that I am reasonably successful and productive.

I’ve been able to afford myself this luxury because I pay the piper every day, and I do something with at least a tiny portion of all the information I’ve been exposed to.

Specifically, I write a daily email.

Writing a daily email has kept me from starving to death, alone, by the side of the road.

It’s even allowed me to live a comfortable and interesting life.

Interesting both because I’ve been allowed to keep idly following almost every fascinating story and sales page and link that draws my attention…

… and because actually implementing a bit of what I’ve learned, every day, has opened up incredible opportunities and hidden doors, which I never would have known about had I simply stayed in pure curiosity-land.

Writing every day is a great way to do something with all the info you’re seeking out every day.

If you’re not yet writing daily, I highly recommend it.

And if you want my help in putting some structure around your own perpetual curiosity, and getting an email out every day, consistently, in reasonable time, so you quickly can get back to clicking and reading and being fascinated, here’s where to go:

https://bejakovic.com/deh

One is the loneliest number

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It being Valentine’s Day tomorrow, and it being a fact that, in spite of looking everywhere, high and low, I still don’t have a sweetheart, a date, or anybody who could possibly serve as a Valentine, I have to admit the following truth:

One is the loneliest number.

No, come on. Get real.

I am an incorrigible bachelor, and whether by nature or by longstanding habit, I’ve found I almost never get lonely, even after months spent alone. (Although it does turn me quite weird, more so than usual.)

But still.

One is the loneliest number… of clients.

Yesterday, I teased a mystery A-list direct marketer and copywriter, who is helping a small and select group of copywriters profit from the crisis, confusion, and uncertainty in the market right now… by doing something that no copywriters are doing now, at least none that I know of.

I asked for a show of hands from those who are interested.

A good number of people replied.

I followed up for more info.

Some replied to my followup.

One curious thing stood out. Multiple people wrote they are working as copywriters… and they have precisely ONE client.

I remember from my days of being a freelance copywriter, it’s a stressful situation to be in, particularly if you don’t have a reliable way of getting more good clients.

I remember periods of time of not even looking for new clients, because the search seemed futile, and simply spending my days delivering the work I had, and either praying for a miracle or waiting for the axe to drop.

I’ve been thinking of kicking off a group with the mystery A-lister to help with this.

The idea being, this group would be a place where this A-lister would talk about how he gets clients by going to businesses no other copywriters or marketers are going after… and how he turns those clients into 5- and 6-figure paydays.

Is this group something you’d be interested in?

If so, tell me a bit about where you’re at right now with your copywriting biz, and what even has you interested in this.

If I feel there’s enough serious interest, as evidenced by people actually replying in meaningful ways, I’ll make this group a reality.

If not… no problem. I’ll just go and sulk, on my own.

 

Offer for copywriters

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I’ve been talking to… a guy.

He’s a legit A-list direct marketer and copywriter.

He has made millions with his own businesses… he’s been hired by the biggest brands (like Agora) to help them start entire new ventures….. he counts legends in the DM world as close personal friends.

(Among these close personal friends is the #1 authority I have mentioned over and over and over in these emails.)

Back in 2021, at the height of the covid confusion, this A-list marketer and copywriter ran a small group program.

He personally worked with a select group of copywriters and helped them profit from the crisis, confusion, and uncertainty in the market then… by doing something different from what all other copywriters at the time were doing.

Now, 5 years later, with AI taking jobs (and copywriting gigs), and with the overall market wobbly and unsure outside the NVIDIA-OpenAI cross-investment bubble, he is doing it again.

He is putting together a small group of copywriters whom he will help to profit from the crisis, confusion, and uncertainty in the market right now… by doing something that no copywriters are doing now, at least none that I know of.

Is this something that interests you?

If so, hit reply and let me know.

It’s as easy as ABC

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Maybe you’ve heard?

Google and Meta are now on trial for creating apps that are addicting to children.

No?

You haven’t heard?

Well I have heard. Or rather, yesterday I read an article about it.

I have little to say about the actual substance of this case, since I have neither children nor any apps, but I thought something else in the story was very interesting.

Trial lawyer Mark Lanier, who is representing the plaintiffs, was using all kinds of sticky messaging strategies. A few examples:

1. “They don’t only build apps; they build traps.”

2. “They didn’t want users, they wanted addicts.”

And my favorite…

3. “This case is as easy as ABC. Addicting the Brains of Children.” [Lanier also had some toy blocks to spell out ABC]

I looked up this Lanier guy.

Turns out he’s one of the biggest trial lawyers in the US. He’s represented plaintiffs against big corporations like Johnson & Johnson and Merck, and has been able to win ~$20 billion in damages for his clients.

And get this. In an asbestos damage trial, Lanier used the same ABC strategy as in the recent Meta and Google trial:

“This case is as easy as ABC. Asbestos, breathed in, causes cancer.”

My point for you today is as easy as ABC:

Aphorisms. Boost. Conversions.

(Particularly if you can get them to form an “ABC” acronym.)

If you’re interested in more ways to make your message sticky and persuasive, I have a book recommendation for you.

It’s a book I’ve read only once but that has been immensely sticky in my head, in part because the entire message of the book is summed but up in an easy-to-remember acronym (you’ll have to read it to find out).

I think this book is so important if you thrive or starve by how well you persuade people that I have repeatedly said I would include it in the first-semester required reading of my mythical AIDA School.

In case you’re interested in getting your hand on the ABC’s of effective messaging:

https://bejakovic.com/sticky

Follow up about yesterday’s follow up

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Yesterday, I sent an email telling readers to:

1. Find out who their highest-LTV customer is

2. Reach out to that customer and simply catch up

A couple hours after that email went out, I got a message from a long-time reader who runs a paid newsletter, which she sells via a $2k yearly subscription. The reader wrote:

===

What a great idea, John!

I sorted my Google spreadsheet and found 11 current subscribers stood out as paying in the 5 figs, some of whom surprised me.

Sent them each a nice note since no one in [industry] answers the phone, while they do respond to emails.

Every one of them responded within an hour. Several good convos came out of this.

Also reached out to 6 expired subs worth over 5 figs.

One is in between jobs and will sub once they land somewhere.

Two have retired and miss the blog dearly.

One is waiting for the new 2026 budget to open.

One just re-upped their subscription and thanked me for the reminder.

===

That’s-a what I’m a-talking about!

Particularly impressive I thought was the last line, about somebody who had lapsed as a customer, and who ended up making a $2k purchase after being hit with a little reconnect message.

This morning, I took this to heart and created a spreadsheet which I titled “Follow Up Systems.” It’s a more structured way to follow up with people than simply counting on a kind guardian angel to remind me to do it. My spreadsheet has following columns:

* who

* when (eg. email, Skool)

* where

* about what

* next followup date

* next followup content

I noticed that creating this spreadsheet already took a lot of anxiety around the topic of followup out of my head.

Today, I found myself following up with people just so I could fill in the spreadsheet.

Tomorrow, I figure I will add any conversations in there that have stalled in the meantime.

And then in the days that come, I will sort this spreadsheet by the “next followup date” column, and follow up with people I said I should follow up with then.

Maybe it’s worth creating a spreadsheet like this for yourself right now, if you’re looking for clients, referrals, JV partners…

… except, that’s just the structure, the scaffolding.

What about the content? The stuff you actually send to people?

I figure you have a few options:

1. You can wing it each time.

2. You can craft your own system based on what worked and didn’t work for you.

3. Or you can take somebody else’s system that works.

The Notorious Nick Bandy has a system that works, called Ghostbuster Sequence.

It’s a series of 5 mostly templatized/somewhat adaptable followup messages you can send to clients, referrals, JV partners to get them to say yes or no.

Either a yes or a no is ok. What’s not ok is not following up at all or sending one message and treating silence as a reply, and letting it eat away at your little entrepreneur heart.

Btw, when I say Nick’s system works, here’s a recent story he shared about it:

===

Last year I set my eyes on an A+ potential partner, he tried ghosting me. I even wrote about him on the sales page for The Ghostbuster Sequence.

I busted the ever-loving ectoplasm out of that ghost…

Totally flipped the script…

Got HIM chasing ME.

But I got busy…went to Singapore…hibernated for a month, chillin’ with my wife and toddler.

I’m a busy and very important guy.

🦥

He kept following up…over and over again.

And today? Just sent over his entire customer and lead database.

The LIFEBLOOD of his business.

THIRTY THOUSAND CUSTOMERS.

30k!

Do you know how hard I’m rubbing my hands together right now? With an average deal size of $20k and up?

To me. Some random guy. I’m dressed like a K-Drama fanboy in my profile picture. You should not trust this dude with your business. But he did.

Why? Because I’m the best copywriter in America?

No.

Because I read this 9-page, poorly formatted PDF and I know that NO isn’t NO.

===

That 9-page PDF Nick read?

It’s Nick’s Ghostbuster Sequence, which he himself rereads and applies.

The Ghostbuster Sequence will set you back a mighty $54. But it could legit be worth tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars to you if you only put it to use.

If you wanna get it, and better yet, want to start using it today, in just five minutes from now:

https://bejakovic.com/ghostbuster

What’s the name of your highest LTV customer?

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I’m a bit strapped for time today, dealing with the Wrath of God in the form of another family crisis.

As a result, it’s late in the day — almost 10pm my time — and I still haven’t written my daily email.

So let me send out an email I have been meaning to send out for a while:

Who is your highest LTV customer?

I’m not asking for a psychological profile or demographic description.

I’m asking for a specific name.

You don’t have to tell me.

But you should know it yourself.

If you do know, reach out to that person today.

(I did it myself, just this morning.)

Start a conversation.

Find out what they’ve been up to lately.

Ideally, get them on a call and just listen.

I promise:

You will be enlightened. You will come out of it with new offer ideas. You will feel better about what you do (surprisingly important, particularly if you sell something vaporous like I do, magic spells that make money appear out of thin air).

And what if you don’t know the name of your highest LTV customer?

Then find out.

In case you use ThriveCart, like I do, but you don’t know the name of your highest LTV customer, I can help you out.

Reply to this email, and I’ll send you a Google Sheets spreadsheet you can clone and drop your ThriveCart transactions in, which will calculate per-customer LTV for you.

And now, back to the Wrath of God.

17 ideas for charging more

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I wanna write a new book about the art of charging higher prices:

How to overcome your own mental blocks around charging more…

How to make the technical changes that need to be made to your offers and positioning…

How to get people to happily pay you at new and higher prices.

I don’t know yet how I will organize this book. But I do have a bunch of ideas for the content to include.

Since one of my ideas for charging higher prices is to give away stuff for free in certain circumstances, here are 17 ways to charge higher prices, for you to use and profit from today:

#1. Just double your prices right now, without waiting, and then make whatever changes this new price forces you into

Yes, ​it can be done​.

#2. Specialize

People will pay more for an all-black German shepherd than they will for a mottled mixed-breed mutt, even if both ultimately have two ears, four legs, one tail, and the ability to bark.

#3. Sell an outcome, not deliverables

In other words, ​sell the house, not the hammer​.

#4. Deliver a more complete outcome

(I heard this advice from a “sales closer agency” that takes people’s $5k offers and turns them into $50k offers, and makes their clients and themselves tens of millions per year.)

Example: if you sell a live event, then instead of selling just entry to the event and what’s inside, sell a package that includes a hotel room, a flight, transportation from the airport, and maybe dinner at a fancy restaurant with the organizers of the event. And charge a premium on top of each.

#5. Sell a bigger outcome

instead of helping people get a client worth $1k, help them get a client worth $10k. Instead of helping them close one $1k client, help them close three $1k clients.

#6. Guarantee the outcome

My $31k auction went to $31k ​in large part because of the guarantee​.

#7. Sell something scarce vs. something common

You might have something legitimately scarce (“the last five copies ever that will ever be printed”) or you can have something artificially scarce (“only five spots open this entire year”).

#8. Sell yourself vs. selling your solution

If you have an audience and your audience likes you, you can sell yourself first and foremost. This is a special and easy kind of scarcity that nobody can take away from you or challenge you on.

As an example, consider the dozens of “how to write emails” courses that popped up over the past 2-3 years. Many of them sold, and well — to the audiences of the person creating the course, and to nobody else.

#9. Go after the Maverick segment rather than the Goose segment of your market

For more on this distinction, ​check here​. Or ​read this​ to see where I first got the idea.

#10. Go to a richer market

Example: ​people wanting to learn improv comedy vs. trial lawyers​. Who will pay more?

#11. Position yourself as the premier solution

A few examples: ​Rolex, Harvard, Jay Abraham​.

#12. Offer “real-world value” bonuses vs. “valued at” bonuses

The information in this email is “valued at” $10,000, by me personally, based on my extensive research and deep introspection.

Do you think I could use this “valued at $10k” email as a bonus for a legit $10k offer, and make the $10k offer feel effectively free?

No?

You don’t think so?

Well, maybe you will, after I take this information and turn it into a 4-week cohort I start charging $10k for, and start selling over and over to my list.

#13. Ask for future money rather than present money

The most money I ever made while working as a freelance copywriter came to me after I asked a client to let me write emails for them for free, on commission only.

They agreed, and offered me 20% of the profits made.

In this way, it became routine for me to get paid $500 for an email it took me 15 minutes to write, and $1k per email was not unheard of either.

There’s no way the client would have agreed to pay me such rates out of pocket. But out of profit? Different story.

#14. Get your prospects thinking what it costs not to buy rather than what it costs to buy

This is ​a classic lesson from sales trainer David Sandler​.

#15. Reframe or repackage your core offer into something valued more

I once put on an entire $197 training about this… but for just one example, ​take a look here​. (Just don’t write me asking for the offer at that link.)

#16. Charge for things you do for free now.

Research… replying to emails… sales calls…

… who says you have to do them for free?

Charging for such things automatically pushes everything else up also. Your perceived value rises. Plus you now have something you can anchor your other offers to, or offer as a real-world-value bonus.

(On the other hand, it can be better to give things away for free than to discount them. I’ll just leave it at that for now.)

#17. Change format

Books sell for $-$$. A one-evening Zoom training sells for $$-$$$. A course sells for $$$-$$$$. An in-person training sells for $$$$-$$$$$.

Same info, same outcome, but the format affects how people value that info, and what they are willing to pay for it.

… and that makes 17.

Did I miss anything? Do you have extra ideas for how to charge more?

Let me know, and maybe I will include your ideas in my new book, and put your name up in the “acknowledgements” marquee, with lights shining on it, right at the front. Thanks in advance.