Why fhe unsubscribe

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A couple days ago, I promoted a book by marketer Denny Hatch.

Not, as said in the email, because I read the book or planned to read it.

Instead, I recommended the book based on the strength of Denny’s reputation, as well as on the endorsement of one of my own readers, Jeffrey Thomas, who felt so strongly about this book that he worked with Denny to bring it back to life after many years of being out-of-print.

I honestly recommended Denny’s book as well as I could without reading it. I gave my (rather unique) reasons why I won’t be reading it, and I gave reasons why you should. From what I can tell by my Amazon Affiliates portal, I actually drove Denny some sales.

Good deed? Bad deed?

Well, turns out Denny Hatch was subscribed to my newsletter.

Turns out he read that email from a couple days ago.

Turns out he unsubscribed today. And not only did he unsubscribe, but he wrote in to tell me so:

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Why fhe unsubscribe:

February 17, 2026 by John Bejakovic

“Today I will recommend to you a book that I have not read and that I have no plans on reading.” [the first sentence of the email I sent to promote Denny’s book]

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I’m not foolish enough to let a good “reason for unsubscribing” go to waste, even if that reason comes from a respected elder in the field.

So let me draw what lesson I can from this. It’s the most basic and fundamental lesson of them all:

Make people feel okay. In other words, make them feel seen, acknowledged, and respected.

And vice versa. If you make people feel unokay — ignored, dismissed, or disrespected — then even if you are somehow, objectively, but-why-can’t-you-see-it doing right by them, it won’t matter none.

They won’t be happy, and they will even feel the need to get back at you, to get the last jibe in.

This is such a fundamental law of human nature that I put it as Commandment I in my “10 Commandments of Con Men, Pickup Artists, etc.” book.

I’ve read that book, and I recommend it to you based on my own reading. But ok, I also wrote that book, so maybe that doesn’t count for so much.

Instead, let me share a bit of recognition and acknowledgement I just got regarding that book.

It comes from a successful online educator in the finance space. He just signed up to my list a few days ago, after reading my book and opting in for the bonus chapter. He simply wrote:

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I’m reading your book now for the 2nd time. Amazing what you can pick up the 2nd time around!

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Honestly that’s the best praise I think a book can get. I’m feeling quite okay right now as a result.

If you’d like to read my 10 Commandments book as well, maybe once, maybe twice, and learn some fundamental lessons about human nature, and how you can use them on occasion to bend reality to your will, and feel okay as a result:

https://bejakovic.com/new10commandments

Having trouble selling courses?

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Last August, a well-known course creator in the copywriting and email marketing space sent me a message that said, in part:

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Lately it feels like there’s a secret “Thou Shalt Not Buy From [dude’s name]” commandment that’s been floating around and I’m not sure how to fix it 😅

(Kidding, sort of. It’s just that course sales have been waaaaaaaay down)

They dropped off big around March. There was piracy, which certainly didn’t help, but I mostly think it was my audience getting crushed by the robots.

They got scared and stopped buying, even when I offered exactly what they said they wanted.

===

I have heard the same message since, from a few other list owners I know. Some have seen gradual declines in course sales. Others have seen things drop off a cliff over past 2-3 months.

Has selling courses become a a problem for you?

Were you able to sell courses before… and now it feels like there’s a secret fatwa on you, prohibiting people in your market from giving you money?

If so, hit reply and tell me about it. Think of me like your therapist or your father confessor.

I’ll listen, without judgment.

And if you like, I will also share with you a bit of behind-the-scenes of a second dude I know personally, somebody who is selling tons of courses right now, more so than ever, behind the scenes, quietly, without any fanfare, and what his secret is, in his own words.

Want the behind-the-scenes of the auctions I will be running?

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Over the past week, I’ve gotten on “coffee dates” with 7 possible auction partners. This is following a couple emails I sent out to my list 10 days ago, and two posts I made in two communities I’m in.

Among these possible auction partners are:

* A yoga teacher with a 15k email list, 500k Instagram followers, and 1-1 mentorships that reach into $2k/month range

* A copywriting course creator I’ve looked up to ever since I got started with my email list back in 2018

* A marketer with a Skool group of about 5k and a suite of offers he has sold successfully and now wants to auction off licensing rights to

* Several folks who help coaches get more business, and who have communities and lists made of thousands of coaches

* A dude who has a list of 99k souls, mostly buyers, and a $10k offer, I will say no more…

With all 7 of these possible auction partners, things are currently moving forward.

On top of that, there are auctions I myself will be running with my own audience and with my own offers.

On top of that top, there are auctions I want to run in partnership with other people who have offers or expertise, and putting in front of my own group, or new groups I spin up.

And now, because I don’t have enough things going on in my life, and enough obligations to deliver on, I was wondering…

Would you want the behind-the-scenes of the auctions I will be running?

I don’t know which of the auctions I’m working on will turn into reality, and which might die in the pre-auction phase.

But I figure out of my current 7 auction partners… plus 2-3 auction ideas for my own auctions… plus a few offers from other people thinking to auction to my groups…

… at least some, maybe half, will come to reality and produce real results, data, and insights.

And that’s just over the next few weeks.

I keep seeking out auction partners both via paid and organic, warm and cold channels.

I also have an arrangement to get possible auction partners referred to me, from somebody who has the ear of many community owners.

Interest in auctions has already been sizeable following my own $31k auction back in December. I figure after a few more successful auctions, interest will be even sizeabler.

All that’s to say, I think I will have plenty of behind-the-scenes to share over the coming weeks, months, and possibly years.

Here’s what I’m offering to make available for ALL the auctions I will run, from here to eternity:

– real numbers (sales and dollar amounts) about how the auction did, both in public and behind the scenes

– details of what the auction offer was, and what offers were made to people who bid but didn’t win (an auction is pretty much an exercise in devising a good offer, and so this will be education in offer-making in real time, with numbers to back it up)

– my “day after” conclusions following each auction, which I write with myself and share with nobody else (some good, some bad)

– my auction-partner-getting strategies, plus the results they’re producing (follow them yourself if you want auction partners too)

– my “Auction Systems” doc — my A-B-C doc for how to run an auction. So far, it’s pretty basic, but it will be updated and evolving based on future auctions I will run, including templates, copy, offer stack skeletons etc. Basically, I’m looking to make this an SOP for how to run an auction, or as close as I can get to it.

For transparency’s sake, and to reassure any of my potential auction partners who might be reading this:

I will anonymize or scrub the names of my auction partners, their businesses, and identifying offer details.

The point is not to expose internal stuff from people’s businesses, at least without their explicit consent.

The point is to give you behind-the-scenes of the auctions I’m running, plus what’s working, and what’s not.

Does that kill it for you?

If yes, that’s too bad.

If not, then read on, because I’m also thinking to offer some bonuses:

* Ride along with me on one of the auctions I will be running, either for myself or for a partner, so you can learn how to run an auction + get a 25% cut of what I will make

* Get on my shortlist for people I refer auction partners to

I realize I’m really getting into the territory of selling air here. But in my current optimism about auctions, I figure that some of the current one-time auction partners I have shaping up will become ongoing auction partners.

And with all the hustling I’m doing to get more partners, I figure will eventually get to a place where I have more possible partners than I can work with myself. If that happens, you can be the person I reach out to first for help.

* (Experimental and possibly deadly) An invite-only WhatsApp group where I share real-time auction results, complications, and curiosities, and where members can chime in both with help and with hooting

I’m foolishly enthusiastic about this idea of giving you a peek behind the scenes. But then again, I’m foolishly enthusiastic about a lot of things.

Sometimes my enthusiasm is proven right. Often it’s not.

So before I put in an ounce more energy or a minute more of time to create this, you gotta tell me:

Is this something you want?

Or since I’m so gung ho on auctions… would you bid $1 for the behind-the-scenes of the auctions I will be running?

Vote away below, and your vote will determine what happens here:

​Yes, I’d bid $1 ​

​Yes, I’d bid $100​

​Yes, I’d bid $1,000,000, my house, my car, and possibly my spouse for this​

​No, and I wish you’d stop trying to ram auctions down my throat​

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:

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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:

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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.

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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