The Claude Hopkins secret hidden inside Boogie Nights

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There’s a memorable scene in the 1997 flick Boogie Nights:

It’s New Year’s Eve, 1980.

Party at the house of Jack Horner, the porn director played by Burt Reynolds.

The assistant director, played by William H. Macy (the main guy in Fargo), is wandering through the crowd inside Horner’s house, looking for his wife.

Nobody has seen her.

Eventually William H. makes his way to the bedroom.

And he finds his wife there, banging some other guy.

​​Yet again.

So William H. walks out of the house and to his car…

He pulls out his gun from the glove compartment…

Locks the car…

Walks back inside the house…

To the bedroom…

Where, in cold blood, he shoots and kills the wife and her hump partner…

Before walking out of the bedroom and blowing his brains out in front of all the partygoers.

I bring up this scene because it brings up the power of possessiveness. Not just about cuckolded husbands who are pushed past the breaking point. It also works in marketing. As Claude Hopkins, the father of direct marketing, wrote a hundred years ago:

“When a man knows something belongs to him, even if it’s a trifle, he will make the effort to get it.”

For example, when Hopkins and the OG marketers like Robert Collier had a boring offer, like a history book or an inquiry form for an insurance policy…

They often wouldn’t focus the sale on that boring offer.

Instead, they would just notify the prospect they had something that belonged to him.

Like a pen with his name etched into it… Or an edition of the boring history book with the prospect’s name engraved on the spine.

This kind of marketing tactic isn’t so common in the digital marketing world. Or at least it’s not being done well.

That might be an opportunity for you. As the Boogie Nights scene shows, possessiveness is a deep human instinct, and it certainly didn’t disappear 100 years ago with Hopkins and Collier.

So if you are selling something online, it might be worth thinking a bit about modern day equivalents of the name-engraved book. Or the wife banging another guy.

For now, if you want some more help with marketing, whether for selling your products or merely returning other people’s property, then take a look here:

https://bejakovic.com/advertorials/

Be more like James Blunt

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I was just driving and I heard on the radio that Ed Sheeran is retiring.

He is planning to get married and raise a family, and that’s why he’s stepping away from the music business.

Right now, millions of men around the world are holding their breath and waiting to exhale a big sigh of relief if this news turns out to be true.

Because the only English singer-songwriter worse than Ed Sheeran is James Blunt. But at least James has his incredible social media presence to make up for his sickly sweet songs.

(What, you haven’t seen James Blunt on Twitter? Go and check. It’s worth 15 minutes of your time.)

I was talking to a friend today about this. And he commented that James Blunt has cracked the code on sentimental bubblegum (there should be a name for this genre of music).

So now, James puts out a new song or new album every few years…

He rakes in a few more million dollars…

Which he uses to entertain gaggles of beautiful women at hip London nightspots…

All the while trolling people who mock his awful music on Twitter.

I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a pretty good business.

Just swap out “sentimental bubblegum music” and replace it with “helpful information product,” and you’ve got the ideal lifestyle of the successful digital marketer.

So that’s why I want to be more like James Blunt.

And that’s why I suggest that maybe you too consider emulating this great man.

All right, before I go to bed, I have my usual pitch to make:

In case you need some sentimental bubblegum copywriting, specifically advertorials to promote and maybe even sell your helpful products, then you might find the following offer beautiful:

https://bejakovic.com/advertorials/

10 fresh ways for freelancers to compete against cheaper rates

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A question comes via the Reddit copywriting group:

“How do you compete against people who can do the same work you can, but much cheaper because they live in a country where living is just cheaper (India for example)?”

I honestly don’t think it will matter much what I say.

Because most people who ask this question are too far gone.

Like R. Kelly, fighting against his evil urges but giving in inevitably…

These people are possessed by the evil urge to believe that freelancing won’t work out for them. And like R. Kelly, they will inevitably give in to this urge. They will prove themselves right and fail.
​
Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way.

So in the interest of eternal glory and in the hope it might help someone somewhere, here are 10 fresh ways, which I’ve just baked up, to help you compete even against thousands of people who will charge much less than you:

#1. Have a track record of success. I just read that Stefan Georgi charges between $50k and $100k for a sales letter, plus royalties. His secret? The long track record of making his clients much more than he charges them.

#2. Be more likable. People will hire you just because they like you. Conversely, they will refuse to hire you just because they dislike you.

#3. Get there first. Be the first to apply for an opportunity. Or get in contact with clients that nobody else is approaching. Or that nobody else can reach.

#4. Offer a guarantee. Most freelancer copywriters don’t offer a guarantee. This includes me. I tell clients, “I guarantee I’ll work my ass off for you, and that’s it.” So if you are brave and smart and you offer a guarantee, you can stand out.

#5. Explain your service better. Like Claude Hopkins, who made Schlitz the #1 beer in America by saying it’s pasteurized after it’s sealed. Every other beer was pasteurized as well. But nobody else was explaining these facts.

#6. Explain why your service is better. Why do you deliver a better service than others — other than just trying hard?

#7. Be non-needy. There’s some magic in not worrying whether any particular client comes or goes. The best way to do this is by having other good options. You’ll be surprised how well clients will pay you when they realize you don’t need their money.

#8. Be famous. Start a blog. Get on a podcast. Get on a stage. Marry a Kardashian.

#9. Move into the profits column. Stop offering services that cost your clients money. Instead, start offering services that make your clients money, and take a share of the money they make.

#10. Let your clients sell themselves. I’ve talked about this before, but simply by asking your clients a few open-ended questions about their business, their problems, and their projects, you can often get them to sell themselves — without you saying much or anything at all.

Will these 10 tips help you? I hope so.

And if you have some more questions about the business of copy and how to make it work for you, you might like the following:

https://bejakovic.com/150-dollar-per-hour-freelancer

4 daily email newsletters you might like

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I’m subscribed to several dozen daily newsletters.

Reading most of them is a chore.

In part, that’s cause they all come from Agora or Agora-like companies.

And they either deal with stock tips and gold rush advice…

Or health information about diseases I haven’t heard of, at least yet. (Macular degeneration, when you arrive, I will be ready.)

I slog through these emails each day because email marketing is my job.

But among these dull but important emails, there are a few email newsletters, which arrive daily or even multiple times a day, that I actually open up and read with some personal interest. Here they are:

#1. Simon Black

“America is going to shit and you better have a plan B for when it happens”

That’s the summary of International Man, run by Simon Black.

The thing is, Simon writes interesting emails. There’s always some little history lesson, written as a simple story. I find myself intrigued and educated.

Word to the wise: Simon’s subject lines are pretty dull and too matter-of-fact. Try opening up his emails even if the subject line doesn’t catch your attention.

#2. Newsmax

I mentioned Newsmax a few days ago.

It’s a giant newsletter about news from a conservative standpoint.

All of the stories in Newsmax will get your blood pressure up, whether you vote left, right, or not at all.

Plus, you will get links to some of the most shameless sales letters running on the Internet right now.

#3. Ben Settle

Ben settle didn’t invent daily emails. But he did a lot to make them popular.

He did this by being surprising and polarizing.

Even after many years of reading Ben’s emails, I still open and read them each day.

#4. James Altucher

I only started reading James Altucher several months ago.

He is multimillionaire former hedge fund manager and failed entrepreneur.

He writes long blog posts that get sent as emails as well.

His emails are personal, funny, and interesting.

But James also seems to be backed by some Agora company.

So the interesting and personal stuff that he writes is interspersed with cutthroat sales copy for getting rich off marijuana penny stocks. Just so ya know.

#5. That’s actually it. The above 4 are the only daily newsletters I enjoy reading.

​​But while preparing to write this email, I typed “daily emails” into Google. And I subscribed to a bunch of newsletters I had never heard of before:

– Uptown Messenger (about where to buy drugs in New York City?)
– the Skimm (possibly about the milk industry)
– PRSUIT (of missing vowels)
– Londonist (about things to do in London, where I don’t live)
– and something called “A Season of Grief,” which apparently sends you inspiring daily emails to help you cope with a death in the family

I can’t wait. I’ll keep you updated. But before you go, there’s one more:

#6. Your recommendation.

Do you follow any newsletters (daily or not) that you actually enjoy reading? (Besides mine, of course.)

If you do, please let me know.

This is not just an engagement tactic. I’m planning on putting together a weekly (not daily) newsletter about email marketing soon.

So you’d be helping me out. And I’d give you due credit in the first edition of that upcoming newsletter.

Just click here, and if you’ve got a hit tip for me, send me the juice.

The Warren Beatty strategy for seducing copywriting clients

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“Women are like a jar of olives. You can eat one, close it up. Or you can eat them all.”
— Warren Beatty

I recently read some statistics about the sex life of Warren Beatty.

The man lost his virginity at age 20.

And then, he became a Hollywood star.

Over the next 35 years, he supposedly slept with almost 13,000 women, according to the best estimates of his biographer, Peter Biskind.

That averages to a new woman every day.

Almost certainly not true. Even Beatty himself has denied the claim.

However, he has over the decades been associated with a lot of famous women, including Melanie Griffith, Darryl Hannah, Jane Fonda, Vivien Leigh, Madonna, Carly Simon, Goldie Hawn, Barbara Streisand…

Oh, and Joan Collins, who said Beatty was “so pretty but just TOO exhausting in the bedroom.”

Mind you, all those women knew about each other. In other words, Beatty’s playboy background didn’t hurt. It helped. ​​

Anyways, now that you have that in mind, I want to tell you something related that might help your copywriting career.

I am currently negotiating a project with a client that I’ve done some smaller work for.

If this comes through, it will be the biggest single project I have had to date.

But the interesting thing is how I got this client.

About a year ago, I wrote him a cold email to introduce myself.

“Sounds interesting,” he replied. “I will keep you in mind.”

And he did.

He first hired me for a single project around December, then again for something in April, then a few small things earlier this summer. And now, here we are.

And here’s the thing.

I’ve sent the same cold email to several other leads.

They haven’t hired me yet. But they have all gotten back to me very quickly, with an almost identical response.

“Sounds interesting. I will keep you in mind.”

So what was the cold email? Well, if you’d like to find that out, you can get it inside my shamelessly promiscuous A-List Zone. For more information:

https://bejakovic.com/alist-zone

A natural path to heavier testicles

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The first time I got my testosterone levels tested was in 2012.

They came back normal. Even healthy.

I wasn’t pleased.

Because back then, I wasn’t feeling particularly normal or healthy.

I was 32 at the time, but I had less interest in sex than when I was 9 years old.

I wasn’t sleeping very well, and most days I was as tired as a used towel.

And though I did my squats and deadlifts and even hip thrusters, I wasn’t getting much stronger or more muscular.

So regardless of the reassuring lab results, I kept worrying about my testosterone levels. And I kept getting them tested, until predictably, I got one result that said — LOW.

“I knew it!” I said triumphantly.

And I set off on a multi-year crusade to get my already-normal testosterone levels back to normal.

So I loaded up on the grass-fed butter and vitamin A…

I made sure to avoid handling receipts, because, you know, CHEMICALS…

And I constantly scoured the Internet for supplements from the mountains of Peru or the jungles of Cambodia that had some bro science claims about improving your manliness.

Unfortunately, nothing changed.

My testosterone levels stayed mainly normal (“Lies!”) and I didn’t feel much progress in practical terms (“I don’t understand, you want to come over to my place tonight? To watch a movie? Why?”)

There was no saving me. I slowly resigned myself to a life of undiagnosed low testosterone levels.

And then, while browsing a science magazine at lunch, I came across an intriguing medical study:

“YOGURT INCREASES TESTICULAR WEIGHT”

It turns out some scientists, at MIT no less, fed a bunch of undersexed male mice a yogurt made with a specific strain of probiotics.

Result?

Shinier mouse fur.

Lower mouse inflammation.

Heavier mouse testicles (yes, they killed the mice and cut off their testicles and put the testicles on a mice-testicle-sized scale).

And finally: more mouse testosterone!

Now, I bring all this up for two reasons.

First, because, while a caricature, it is all true. The probiotic strain in question is called Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC 6475. ​​A bit of googling will quickly lead you to the MIT study, as well as to a recipe for making your own L. reuteri yogurt (which tastes delicious, and, you know, works, at least in my experience).

But the other reason has to do with copywriting.

Because this post uses the same basic skeleton as an advertorial I wrote recently.

It’s a good skeleton for introducing a new product, particularly one that’s got some science behind it.

If you look over this post, you can probably glean this skeleton easily with your X-ray vision.

But if you cannot, then you will want to read my upcoming book on advertorials, where I will go over this particularly skeleton in detail, along with other go-to skeletons I’ve used for advertorials.

You can sign up here to get notified when I finish and release this book:

https://bejakovic.com/advertorials/

A hot tip for copywriters and others

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Get ready for some hard-as-headboards teaching. To set it up, let me give you some example headlines:

A. Retire in 15 years
B. How to have a cool, quiet bedroom
C. Key to fitness at any age

Decent headlines, right? All of them have a benefit, all of them are clear, all of them are short.

However, let’s say for the sake of argumance that you wanted to do better.

How might you tweak the above headlines to increase the number of grateful readers who fall into your ad and start reading your copy?

Take a moment and really think about it.

I’ll tell you in a second, but think about it first.

All right, thought some?

Well, here are alternate versions of the above headlines. All of these alternate versions outperformed the versions listed first. And if you look carefully, all of these alternate versions have something in common:

A. How a man of 40 can retire in 15 years
B. How to have a cool, quiet bedroom — even on hot nights
C. Key to fitness at any age for men and women

We know these alternate versions outperformed the originals because these were all case studies reported by the great John Caples in his book Tested Advertising Methods.

So what’s the lesson contained in Caples’s case studies?

Well if you look at the alternate headlines, you could slice the changes in different ways:

– calling out the audience
– addressing objections
– intensifying the promise

But I think all of these different slices can be put under the single, powerful, and shady umbrella of:

Specificity.

Sure, “Retire in 15 years” actually implies “How a man of 40 can retire in 40 years.”

But that’s not how people read ads.

You’ve got a fraction of an unconscious second to wake up your slumbering prospect and get him to hear what you have to say.

Don’t count on his tired brain to do any calculating in your favor.

Instead, use as much specificity as you can. Even if it’s redundant or not actually specific, such as saying “Key to fitness for men and women.”

So that’s my hot tip for copywriters.

Or others, such as business owners who hire copywriters.

​​And if that’s you, and you are looking for more specific copywriting tips (that have to do with increasing sales), then you might like the following:

https://bejakovic.com/advertorials/

Airbnb goes direct response

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Last December, top-flight copywriter Dan Ferrari sent out an email about big changes he was seeing in the copywriting and direct marketing worlds. One part of it was the following:

So watch as companies with products and businesses that don’t really fall into our little world of internet direct response start to require the services of people that know how traffic, copy, and funnels work online, at mega-scale.

Even what you might think of as more traditional “brand” companies (if you have a keen eye, you’ll already have noticed this is happening with companies like Samsung, Bissell, etc…)

It’s going to be another area of HUGE growth and along with it, more big opportunities for the copywriters that have proven themselves.

This stuck in my head. But since I don’t go much on Facebook, since I refuse to download any apps on my phone, and since I live in a tiny eastern European country that doesn’t get too much ad targeting…

I hadn’t seen any examples of the big new players that Dan was talking about.

Well, until today.

Today, I opened up a Newsmax email. Newsmax is a massive newsletter that caters to aging baby boomers who love Trump, hate Obama, and worry about diabetes, immigrants, and race riots. Each Newsmax email has the latest-breaking news from a conservative standpoint, along with a few carefully placed links to long-form, very hard-hitting sales letters.

Except not today.

Today, the sponsored post in Newsmax was for Airbnb. The headline read:

“Earn while you’re away”

The pitch was that you could make money renting out your home on Airbnb while you travel. And the link took you to a regular Airbnb page for signing up hosts.

Now, I personally find it hard to imagine that a 65-year-old retired dentist, who’s afraid that El Salvadorean immigrants are coming to displace him from his castle of a home that he finally paid off after 30 years, will be thrilled with the idea of opening up said home to strangers while he goes traveling (where? to Bali?).

And even if he was curious about this offer, I’m not sure he would know what to do with the Airbnb page that the ad linked to.

In other words, I expect that the Airbnb Newsmax promo was a big stinkin’ flop.

But who cares? Airbnb is currently valued at $35 billion. They can afford to throw away a measly $20k or $50k on some failed ad tests.

But eventually, they will wise up, and they will ask their direct marketing to actually turn some kind of a profit.

And when that happens, you’ll see the situation that Dan was describing above:

“Big opportunities for the copywriters that have proven themselves.”

Just something to think about if you’re deciding whether copywriting is something you want to double-down on, or if you just want to keep dabbling in it from the sidelines.

If you are doubling-down, then you might like my upcoming book. It will talk about what I’ve learned over the past year while writing advertorials for some successful cold traffic campaigns. To get notified when I finish this book, you can sign up here:

https://bejakovic.com/advertorials/

Proof that Donald Trump is actually smart

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Dan Kennedy once told a revealing story about Donald Trump:

Some years earlier, Dan was giving a talk at some kind of event. After his talk, he ran into Trump back stage.

​​”What are you reading these days?” asked The Donald.

Dan listed one book.

The Donald nodded.

Dan listed another.

The Donald nodded again.

Dan listed a third.

The Donald turned to his hanger-on and said, “Get me that, I haven’t read it yet.”

​​I don’t know about you, but to me this doesn’t sound like the dolt that the media likes to portray.

Anyways, in spite of the pulling power of Donald Trump, I actually want to talk about Dan Kennedy tonight. In case you haven’t heard, the man is either dead, or very close to dead.

Now, I’m not sentimental about death in the least. But a few things are undeniable:

1) Dan Kennedy was a big name in the direct marketing space, and a big influence on many.

2) He had tons of interesting and entertaining stories, like the one above.

3) He was smart, and he was successful.

So even though I’m not personally saddened by Dan Kennedy’s death, I do respect what the guy did and how he did it.

And so, today I’d like to point you to a Dan Kennedy talk that I go back to regularly, because it’s got so much marketing value.

This talk was the keynote speech to Brian Kurtz’s “Titans of Direct Response” event, which sold for $2k while it was still available.

Brian made this presentation of Dan’s available for free online for some reason.

And if you’re interested in learning more about direct marketing and copywriting, from a guy who clearly knew what he was doing, then I think this video is worth a look. Or two. Or ten.

(Plus, it’s where Dan actually tells the Trump story above.)

In case you’re interested, here’s the link:

https://vimeo.com/user41807591/review/132998983/eacabe46f6

Opening the doors of marketing perception

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A few weeks ago, I found myself at an open-air club in Barcelona, talking to Tony the drug dealer.

Tony didn’t speak very good English.

When he couldn’t find the right word, he would shake his fist at the sky and yell, “TEACHER!!!”

In spite of his habit of selling drugs for a living, Tony didn’t do too many drugs himself.

“Just a little ketamine right now,” he told me. “It opens up the pineal gland.” He pointed to the back of his head to illustrate where the pineal gland is.

Now, from my previous readings, I know the the pineal gland is supposed to be the seat of the soul.

If it gets clogged up, then you find it hard to see God.

When it gets cleansed, say with a bit of ketamine, then you start to see the true nature of reality.

Maybe you don’t believe in any of this.

So let me tell you about marketing instead.

I just had my first call with my new marketing and copywriting coach.

Earlier this afternoon, I was thinking to myself how I’m already a pretty good writer and I know a lot about marketing.

I wonder what this guy is gonna be able to tell me,” I thought.

Well, I’ve just had my pineal gland opened.

And I feel like I got a short but powerful glimpse of the true nature of marketing reality.

I had a similar though less powerful experience the first time I started hand-copying successful ads many years back.

There’s such a big difference between reading about copywriting theory online and seeing real ads that actually made millions of dollars.

And there’s an even bigger difference between working on moderate copywriting projects, and seeing behind the curtain of someone who works on some of the most successful current promotions.

So if you’re wondering what this has to do with you, here’s all I can say:

Find​ some way of cleansing your own doors of marketing perception and opening up your own pineal gland.

Maybe you can start by looking at historically successful ads.

Maybe you can find a mentor or a coach, like I’m doing now.

Or maybe you can get a job in a fast-moving and successful marketing organization, where you can get a lot of experience very quickly.

Speaking of which, a past client of mine, Josh Dunlop, got in touch with me a few days ago.

Josh runs a very big and successful photography instruction website called Expert Photography.

I wrote some emails for Josh in my first year as a copywriter. He’s now looking for somebody to hire full-time.

I’m not interested. But you might be. So in case you want to find out more about the copywriting position that Josh is advertising, check out the following page:

https://expertphotography.com/careers/copywriter/