The Ultimate Funnel

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Back in 2005, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, looked like it might have to fold.

The mixed martial arts promotion had already had several big fights that did well on pay-per-view. And yet, financially, it was not successful enough as a business.

Fast forward to today.

Mixed martial arts has become a mainstream sport. UFC fights show on ESPN and sell millions of tickets on pay-per-view. And the company itself is worth multiple billions of dollars.

So what happened?

It’s a good question. And before I give you the answer, it’s worth thinking about what you yourself — as a marketer, or a business owner — might do in the situation that the UFC was in back in 2005.

Would you run ads on TV hyping up upcoming PPV fights?

Would you send direct mail to people who subscribe to martial arts magazines, telling them about the new sport and asking them to respond in some way?

Would you hire celebrities to come sit cageside?

In fact, none of these things were what the UFC did, or at least none were responsible for saving the UFC from ruin.

So what did happen?

Well, the owners of the UFC did a very smart thing.

They didn’t try to sell their core product at all.

Instead, they created another product, and they sold that.

Specifically, they created a reality TV show, called The Ultimate Fighter. It showed a bunch of guys, living together in a house, training and competing with each other for the right to get a six-figure contract for the regular UFC promotion.

And boy did it work. The Ultimate Fighter drew a lot of viewers, became profitable in itself, popularized mixed arts, and saved the UFC.

Because of all this, it offers a very valuable marketing lesson.

Off the top of my head, I can think of six separate marketing fundamentals that underlie this very clever move into reality TV.

But I won’t bore you by listing them here.

Instead, I just want to say that this kind of a funnel — coming up with a second, ancillary product to promote your core product — does not have to be limited to cage fights between two half-naked guys.

With a bit of thought, it can also work for many different offers and many different businesses.

For example, I’ve personally done this with a book I was selling once. And if you’d like to know the full story of how and what I did, you’ll be able to find the answer by going here:

https://bejakovic.com/profitable-health-emails/

How to become a multimillionaire if you’re not smart or lucky

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Yesterday, I watched a video by Mark Ford in which he shares his 7 essential elements for wealth building.

If you know about direct response marketing, odds are you’ve heard of Mark or his work.

He’s one of the guys who built up Agora into a $500 million (soon to be $1 billion?) business.

He also started AWAI, a training school for copywriters.

He’s got stakes in other multi-million dollar companies, owns dozens of real estate developments, and — as if all his other activities aren’t enough — he is also a broker of fine art from Latin America.

Mark’s personal wealth is not public, but based on hints he drops, I assume it’s in the tens-of-millions to hundreds-of-millions range. In spite of this, he will flatly claim he is not smarter or luckier than other people. When a guy like this decides to share his advice on wealth building, it makes sense to listen.

So, according to Mark Ford, here are the 7 elements you should have to become almost as rich as he is:

1. Time
2. Financially valuable skills (one or more of marketing, selling, creating, managing, and buying)
3. A high net investable income
4. Knowledge of how individual businesses create profits in individual industries
5. Seeking average returns for each asset class
6. Diversity among 4-5 asset classes
7. Risk aversion

In the video, Mark admits this list isn’t sexy. But, he says, he’s discovered (along with Bill Bonner, the founder of Agora) that…

“…there is an inverse relationship between the value of knowledge and what people are willing to pay for it. The most important things in life you’ve probably heard a hundred times before, but you’re not paying attention. When you’re in the right place and you hear it, you have that ‘aha’ moment and everything changes.”

Like I said, when a guy like Mark Ford speaks, it makes sense to listen.

At least that’s what I’m doing. I guess I’m on a decent path because I’m well along in developing a financially valuable skill — marketing.

In case you’re more of the creating or managing type, then we might be able to help each other out. Get in touch with me, and we can discuss how to get richer together.

Why it pays to be a four-legged whale

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Earlier this year, paleontologists working in Peru discovered the fossil of a prehistoric four-legged whale.

This beast lived around 40 million years ago. It was about 15 feet long, looked something like a giant otter, and could both walk on land and swim in water.

While I was meditating on this prehistoric monster, I realized it’s a good metaphor for a real problem that many marketers, copywriters, and entrepreneurs face.

In fact, I heard a very famous and successful marketer, copywriter, and entrepreneur talk about this very issue.

The man I have in mind is the late and great Gene Schwartz. And the problem Gene was discussing was this:

As you become more successful, you lose touch with your customers — and that’s terrible.

Becoming successful requires certain things — discipline, hard work, optimism. It also brings certain things — money, freedom, a sense of achievement.

The thing is, unless you’re specifically catering to other successful entrepreneurs… then these are not characteristics that your market will share.

And as you become more successful, it will become harder and harder for you to connect with people in your market, to understand them, and to get them to buy whatever you’re selling.

In other words, you will become a sleek, powerful, self-contented whale, swimming gracefully under water and gorging on tons of freely available plankton each day…

While all your monkey and squirrel customers still live in fear, anger, and scarcity on dry land.

So what’s the fix for this?

Well, Gene advised immersing yourself in trash pop culture and constantly talking to your prospects.

I’d personally take it a step further.

I’d advise growing a set of hairy whale legs and using them to crawl around on land every now and then.

So for example…

Allowing yourself to waste time…

Wallowing in controlled negativity…

Making an occasional impulsive decision…

Or blaming others for your problems instead of taking responsibility for yourself.

Of course, these aren’t good behaviors. They will not in themselves lead you to success.

But indulged carefully and sporadically, they can help you understand how most people live, what they want, and how you can give it to them.

At least that’s how I justify my own whale legs.

And if you want to take advantage of all of the time I spend reading trash pop culture and making impulsive decisions — so you can have more effective marketing for your successful business — then you might like the following offer:

https://bejakovic.com/profitable-health-emails/

My number one productivity tip for fellow white rabbits

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Major Valerie “Twitch” Wetzbarger is an instructor pilot with the 56th Fighter Wing of the US Air Force.

She is also one of the very few pilots who get to fly the F-35, the multi-billion-dollar stealth fighter that Lockheed Martin has been developing over the past decade or so.

Asked what lessons she has drawn from flying the F-35 (which is essentially a sentient death rocket that melds with the pilot’s body and shoots her into the clouds at 1,200 miles per hour), Major Wetzbarger commented:

“Some of my favorite advice is, ‘Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.’ This means slow down, do your part right the first time, and that will be quicker in the end.”

I read the above quote a few weeks ago, and it resonated with me. So I’ve taken Major Wetzbarger’s advice and I’ve refashioned it for myself:

“Go slow, and do one thing at a time.”

It’s been working very well. I’ve been getting more done by slowing down, plus I feel much better during the day. But here’s an important disclaimer:

This productivity tip works for me.

That’s because my brain is like a skittish white rabbit that makes its home in the future and only rarely and briefly comes into the present.

In other words, I’m always thinking about things that are coming up — and never things that are here.

Not only is this a recipe for being inefficient with whatever I’m working on, it’s also a recipe for needless worry and stress (“Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting!”)

And that’s why, if you do NOT have the problem of constantly living in the future, I won’t presume to give you productivity advice.

On the other hand, if you have the same white rabbit tendency as I do, then try slowing down instead of hurrying up. It might make a lot of difference in what you get done.

And finally, if you want some profitable info on email marketing and copywriting, specifically for the health space, then take the following steps very slowly and one at a time:

1. Click on the link below
2. Read over the short offer that’s described there
3. If it suits you, sign up with your email
4. And witness how good and productive you feel

https://bejakovic.com/profitable-health-emails/

Successful, in-demand copywriter wants to find a profitable, sexy business that sucks at marketing

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“Are you the founder or owner of a profitable business that could explode if you had constant access to a great copywriter? If so, read on.”

The sentence you’ve just read was supposed to be the lead of an ad. It’s an ad​​ I started to write — to sell myself. Here’s the background:

Earlier this month, I got my copy of the April issue of Ben Settle’s Email Players.

As you may know, Email Players is Ben’s paid print newsletter. It comes out each month and it sells for $97 a month.

In this month’s issue, Ben revealed some big news:

He is starting to sell ad space — one page of it — on the back cover of his 16-page newsletter.

The price?

A low and introductory $5,000.

Whoa, you might say. That seems like an awful lot. But since my goal for this year is to become a top-paid sales copywriter who’s booked months in advance, my “red shirt” detector went off.

In other words, I realized this might be an opportunity I should take seriously.

After all, if I get just one good client out of this promotion…

I would easily make back my $5k investment.

And if I got two or more such clients, I’d be on my way to reaching that goal of becoming booked months in advance.

In the end, I decided not to run the ad — for reasons I might talk about another time, but not today.

But the whole thing popped up in my mind again last night because I re-read a famous classic ad, from another copywriter looking to sell himself.

The copywriter in question is the Prince of Print, old Gary Halbert.

Thing is, Gary wasn’t fishing for copywriting clients in his ad. Instead, he was looking for love, or at least sex and adventure with the right woman.

So he wrote a three-page ad and ran it in the Los Angeles Times. And he got hundreds of responses, and (I believe) a long-term relationship out of the deal.

If you’re a copywriter and you’re thinking of writing an ad to promote yourself, you should check out Gary’s ad. After all, it’s not easy to write a personal ad (or a “looking for clients” ad) and not seem desperate. ​​

And yet it can be done. If you want to see how, here’s the link:

​​https://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/13Ad%20PDF.pdf

7 hot systems to get you more referrals than Bernie Madoff

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Here’s something you may not think about:

Bernie Madoff, author of the largest financial fraud in history, started from scratch. Back in the 1960’s, he had just $5,000, which he earned working as a lifeguard and sprinkler installer.

So how did he go from this modest beginning to a $65 billion investment Ponzi scheme?

Through referrals, of course.

His father-in-law, an accountant, referred friends and their relatives to Madoff, and this got the snowball rolling.

Unfortunately, you and I don’t have Bernie Madoff’s father-in-law to press-gang clients for us. But we have the next best thing.

And that’s Jay Abraham, whose stuff I’ve been listening to non-stop the past few weeks.

One of Jay’s products is “93 Referral Systems” — basically a bunch of people at a Jay Abraham seminar, coming up to the microphone and sharing what their business is and how they get referrals.

I haven’t yet finished all 93, but here are 7 that have stuck with me so far:

#1. The “ultimatum” referral system

In a nutshell: Refuse to do business with people unless they make referrals

A dentist in Australia decided to make his entire practice more upscale and based on referrals. So after interviewing a potential new patient to his exclusive practice, he would simply tell them that referring two equally qualified leads was a requirement for getting in. Result? Patients would ask him, “Can I refer only two people?”

#2. The “steak and eggs” referral system

In a nutshell: Approach complementary businesses and give them a cut for referrals

A heating-and-cooling company started a new duct cleaning side business. They went to their competition (in heating and cooling), and asked for referrals for duct cleaning in exchange for a cut.

#3. The “golf buddy” referral system

In a nutshell: Join an affinity-based association

Some kind of unidentified consultant joined the National Speakers Association, and got many referrals from within the organization itself.

#4. The “welcome to our cult” referral system

In a nutshell: Whip people up into a frenzy and ask them to refer your business

This one is from Jay’s own seminars. Once somebody signed up, the salesperson would ask them, “How serious are you about this?” The salesman would then point them to phones in the back of the room, and ask them to call three people and tell these three people about the decision to enroll in the seminar.

#5. The “lobbyist” referral system

In a nutshell: Hire lobbyists to reach the unreachable

An investing company was looking for institutional investors. So they found retired executives, got them to sign a contract saying they’d get 10% for referring people they knew.

#6. The “fog of war” referral system

In a nutshell: When somebody buys, contact people near them

This one’s from a Lexus dealership. When they delivered the car, they’d ask if it’s ok to mail all the neighbors. They would then send direct mail to the neighbors, telling them how Mr. Jones down the street just got a brand new Lexus in a “neighborhood beautification program” and how they can too.

#7. The “Frank Bettger” referral system

In a nutshell: Get your clients talking about themselves so they like you

A life insurance salesman would take his clients out to lunch. He’d kick things off by using a Frank Bettger classic: “How did you get started in this business, Mr. Bejako?” He’d then transition to asking for advice. “What could I do to be more successful?” And then he’d go for the kill. “I’d love to expand my business and get more referrals. Who are some high-quality prospects you’d call on if you were in my shoes?”

And there you go. 7 proven systems to get you more leads, more business, and more, more, more munny.

And in case you’re wondering…

Yes, I too will start implementing some of these referral systems right away.

So if you need sales copy written, get in touch with me and we can talk. Just know that I only take on new clients if they can refer two equally qualified prospects for my copywriting services.

Fake, unrealistic, and profitable

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I was just re-reading chapter 3 of Vic Schwab’s How to Write a Good Advertisement. That’s the chapter that talks about different kinds of proof.

At the end of the chapter, Vic throws in some grab-bag comments about how to make your ads more credible and effective.

Among these: use real photos in your ads, and not illustrations.

It’s been tested, says Vic, and photographs outpull drawings.

I’ve heard this advice from other sources as well, and I’ve taken it for granted. Until, that is, a few days ago.

That’s when I got a note from one of my clients who sells ecommerce products through Facebook ads. He wrote to say that they’d tested using custom-made illustrations in their FB ads.

These images aren’t trying to be hyper-realistic.

They are also clearly fake, in the sense they illustrate an idealized product-use scenario.

And yet, they are profitable — with higher clickthrough and conversion rates than regular product shots.

So what’s going on?

My guess is that it’s a matter of contrast.

Now that everybody is using photos, and even high quality photos are cheap to make, a drawing catches more attention and engages the consuming mass mind better.

Which might be a useful tidbit for you to know. But I think it’s also an illustration of the basic formula for effective marketing. And that’s to find a way to make the same promise — more money, less pain, a bit of respect — in a new and attention-grabbing way.

Which coincidentally, is what daily sales emails or blog posts are also about. Like what you’re reading right now.

New day, new angle — but same fundamental offer. Speaking of which:

​​If you’re looking to write daily emails for your business, which tirelessly promote your product or service in always new and fresh ways, then you might get some good ideas in the following:

https://bejakovic.com/profitable-health-emails/

Cry me a river, Smartcar — and build yourself a moat

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Yesterday, I read a bitter blog post by the CEO of the company Smartcar.

Smartcar is a small, 20-person company developing software that allows app developers to connect to smart cars.

And it looks like Smartcar (the company) has just been screwed. That’s because a bigger, better-funded company called Otonomo has apparently cloned Smartcar’s product, down to the API documentation.

And that’s what the CEO of Smartcar was railing against yesterday. He said Otonomo’s actions are illegal, wrong, and a rip-off.

To which I say, cry me a river. What did your expect would happen if your product started to show promise?

I personally think there are a couple of lessons in here.

First, it’s a good idea to learn about basic business principles rather than blindly following your passion and hoping this will carry the day.

For example, Warren Buffett, billionaire investor and currently the third wealthiest person in the world, has long talked about his castle-and-moat approach to investing. Says Buffett:

“We’re trying to find a business with a wide and long-lasting moat around it, protecting a terrific economic castle, with an honest lord in charge of the castle.”

I don’t know about Smartcar’s economic castle and the honesty of their lord, but they clearly didn’t have an adequate moat.

Not a surprise, because as Buffett says, “most moats aren’t worth a damn.”

So what makes a good moat? Buffett gives a few categories (the specific examples below are mine):

Being the low-cost producer (Walmart)…

Having an unassailable natural franchise (VMware)…

Having a clear technological advantage (Google)…

Occupying a strong position in the consumer’s mind (Apple).

Hopefully you’ve already one or more of these in place to protect your business.

And if you want to make your moat deeper, wider, and filled with hungry crocodiles, here’s how to occupy a stronger place in your consumer’s mind — without being Apple.

The key is to inform your consumers about all the great stuff your product or service will do for them…

To inform them frequently…

And to do it in a way where they still enjoy hearing from you, rather than being worn out by the constant thud of the selling hammer.

If that’s what you want to do, I’ve got two resources that might help.

The first is a list of 12 books, blogs, and courses on copywriting and marketing — which I personally found most useful when I was starting out.

The second is my own daily emails on marketing and copywriting.

Conveniently, you can get both resources with one simple action. And that’s by signing up with your email at the link below:

https://bejakovic.com/copywriters-hero/

Long-form sales copy is finally dead

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If you go on Google right now, and search for “freshly pressed olive oil,” you’ll soon find a quirky web page as the top result.

It’s for the Freshly Pressed Olive Oil Club, which mails you olive oils from around the world, right after they’ve been pressed, year round.

Here’s the interesting thing about this site for copywriters and marketers:

One of the people behind this business is Gary Bencivenga, often referred to as the “greatest living copywriter.”

Back in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and up to his retirement in 2005, Gary made his clients lots of money (hundreds of millions of dollars?) by writing long-form sales copy. His promotions sometimes spanned 40 or 50 pages.

And in fact, Gary even wrote a long-form sales letter for the Freshly Pressed Olive Oil Club.

It used to be there, right on the homepage.

But if you check the homepage of the club right now, that’s not what you will see any more.

Instead, you’ll see a quick and clear headline for the offer…

Some bullet points that have been pulled out from the original sales letter…

A bit about the founder of the club…

And a couple of buttons to buy.

That’s it. All in about 2 or max 3 pages of copy. So what’s going on?

I don’t know. But my guess is that they tested this shorter home page, and it’s working better than what they had before.

And here’s the lesson I draw from this.

If you start to learn about copywriting, you’ll quickly be told that “copy is never too long, only too boring.”

You might hear this backed up with the experience of top-level marketers and copywriters — including Gary B. — who will tell you that long copy, if done right, always outperforms short copy.

And it may be true.

IF you only have one shot to make the sale (ie. direct mail) or IF you are selling to cold traffic.

But that’s not how many online marketing situations work today.

And that’s why I say long-form sales copy is finally dead.

And in case you think this is just cherry-picking and exaggeration… then I agree with you. But I also think it’s no worse than saying “copy is never too long” — when it clearly can be.

Even if it’s written by the great Gary Bencivenga himself.

All right, that’s enough copywriting iconoclasm for today.

But in case you want more copywriting lessons — and not all of them controversial — you might like a list of the 12 best copywriting resources I’ve personally benefited from:

https://bejakovic.com/copywriters-hero/

5 lessons from the most successful email I’ve written to date

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About a year ago, I got hired to write a set of emails for the 8-figure supplement company RealDose Nutrition.

​​The goal was to promote a “reds” product — basically the good stuff in fruit minus the sugar — to people who had bought RealDose’s flagship weight-loss supplement.

RealDose already had an email sequence that was going out to these customers.

So I wrote 5 new emails that we just stuck in the middle of this existing sequence.

The result of adding in these new emails was a 3x increase in sales for this email funnel.

The thing is, one of the emails did way better than the other four. You can find it below, along with my guesses about why it did so well:

SUBJECT: The evil twins blocking your path to good health

Here’s an interesting bit of recent research:

Inflammation (caused by obesity) reduces the number of taste buds on the tongue.

When you think about it, this is really perverse.

It means food will taste more bland…

Driving up appetite and reducing the feeling of satiety…

Contributing to more obesity, more inflammation, and fewer taste receptors on the tongue, repeating the cycle one level down.

This downward health spiral illustrates an important point:

Extra weight and inflammation are very tightly linked. In fact, they are mutually reinforcing, in dozens of separate ways. The list of problems this vicious cycle creates goes on and on: hormonal changes, cardiovascular effects, problems with the immune system, additional weight gain.

So what can you do to deal with the evil twins of inflammation and weight gain?

Well, you’ve already taken the first step by getting Weight Loss Formula No. 1, which will help you lose fat.

What about the other problem child, inflammation?

RealReds to the rescue, thanks to its 8 polyphenol-packed ingredients and a healthy dose of digestive fiber.

Not only will RealReds help with its high polyphenol content (which reduces your inflammatory response), but it contains practically no sugar, unlike whole fruits. This makes RealReds the perfect complement to Weight Loss Formula No. 1 in helping you along on the path to good health.

Oh, one more important thing.

RealReds taste great, even though it’s almost entirely free of sugar. You can just mix RealReds with water, or add it to smoothies, or even make popsicles.

After all, if inflammation is going to play tricks with your taste buds, you have to fight back somehow.

When you’re ready to give RealReds a try, here’s where to start:

[link to product]

So that’s the email. Now, why did it work well?

​​Who knows. But here are my 5 best guesses:

#1. Curiosity + benefit headline

I’ve written about this before: curiosity + benefit seems to be one of the most powerful ways to open up a sales message. Curiosity alone can be too vague (“These evil twins are out to get you”). Benefit alone can be tiring (“How to beat the inflammation that’s keeping you fat”). But together, curiosity + benefit are magic.

#2. Research

People who buy health products love to hear the word “research” and love to be told about new scientific findings that relate to them. The key is to present the research in a friendly and understandable way, like I did above.

#3. Tied into where the prospect is

One of the cardinal rules of sales copywriting is to meet the customer where they are. These prospects had just bought RealDose’s weight loss product, and since this tied perfectly into the angle for this email, I called it out.

#4. “Reason why” sales argument

Reason why copy — what other kind is there? The headline + research sucks readers into accepting that inflammation is keeping them fat… and then presents the product as a way to eliminate inflammation.

#5. Close ties into the hook

I was proud of being able to tie in the close of this email (“RealReds taste great”) to the hook (“Obesity makes you lose your sense of taste”). Honestly, maybe this is just vanity, and I’m not sure it helps sales. Still, it can’t hurt to close a sales message on a high instead of simply trailing off into the call to action.

And there you have it — my most successful email to date.

The thing is, I’ve had lots of other successful emails — as well as some bombs. And I’ve learned lessons from all of them.

And when you want to read more of those lessons, here’s where to start:

https://bejakovic.com/profitable-health-emails/