If your open rates are excellent but your sales suck

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Yesterday, I wrote an email about a magical, far-off place called Affiliate World. I even invited you to meet me there.

​​To which, I got a reply from James “Get Paid Write” Carran, whose newsletter I am a reader of. James wrote:

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I’m obviously not in the right crowd because I spent this entire email thinking affiliate world was a thing you were making up for the email until I got to the end and realised it was a conference 😂

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James is right — i didn’t explain Affiliate World at all.

I didn’t mention it was a conference, or that it was in Budapest until halfway through the email, or anything about the dates. I figured there was no point — either people are already going and they know, or there’s no way I will persuade them to go with this one email.

Lazy?

Maybe.

Self-defeating?

Maybe.

But I remember hearing something about this a long time ago in an interview with marketer Travis Sago.

Travis a kind of nice-guy Ben Settle. Like Ben, Travis is an expert email copywriter and direct marketer. Like Ben, he has a cult-like following. And like Ben, he has made millions with his own online businesses and has helped others make millions too. One curious thing:

Travis says he writes his email subject lines like he has to pay for each open.

Rather than trying to get everyone to open, and hoping to somehow persuade or convince or explain to them why it’s in their interest to take the next step before they click away… Travis uses each email to select from the audience a tiny pocket of highly qualified people.

There’s a broader approach here – efficiency as a business principle. It’s how Travis has been able to build up a multimillion business selling little $39 ebooks… and how he was later able to build up a second multi million business, selling $5k and $10k and $25k programs and masterminds.

I don’t practice Travis’s subject line approach with this newsletter, not every day. But maybe it’s something for you to think about on this Sunday, particularly if your open rates are excellent but your sales suck.

And in case you’d like to know what to write once people open your emails, so your emails not only get opened, not only get read, but also make sales, you might like:

https://bejakovic.com/sme

You, me, Affiliate World?

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Are you going to Affiliate World? If you are, let me know. I need the encouragement.

I’ve been reading about sales trainer David Sandler’s “traps for success.”

For example, when Sandler used to cold call on prospects at their offices, he would park his car in a downtown garage, knowing he only had enough money on him to pay for either lunch or parking.

He liked lunch, and so he spent his money during the day.

That would mean he’d have to make some sales calls, and close at least one, and get at least a few dollars of deposit, if he wanted to get his car out of the garage and drive home at the end of the day.

That’s why I’m asking if you’re going to Affiliate World.

I already know some people who are going. I’ve thought about it myself.

Last year, I went to two live marketing-related events. After each was done, I was juiced and I told myself I should do this more often. Plus this year Affiliate World’s happening in Budapest. I love Budapest — I lived there for 11 years.

At the same time, thinking about being herded onto a plane… and staying in some dungeon-like Airbnb… and paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege of feeling guilty if I don’t talk to a bunch of strangers… all that’s making me hesitate.

So I’ve set a trap for myself. I’ve told myself I will go to Affiliate World if at least five people I know will also be there.

That’s why I’m writing you. Will you be there?

Let me know. We can meet, talk marketing, or not talk marketing — after all, there are many other interesting things to talk about.

And maybe I can even show you around. Or not show you around — after all, maybe you truly enjoy talking to a bunch of strangers, and it sounds like Affiliate World will be a very stimulating place.

Stop prospects leaving against medical advice

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By the time the doctor had walked into the room, the patient was already half-dressed. He had ripped the IV from his arm, packed his backpack, and was making for the door.

“I have stuff to do,” he said. “Call me when you know.”

The patient had come in a few days earlier, feverish and sweaty. He had been admitted, and he was waiting ever since for biopsy results, because there was a good chance the lump in his throat was lymphoma.

What to say to him? What to do to keep him from bolting out the door?

Think about that for a minute.

It might be relevant even if you’re not a doctor, but if you run a business — as long as you deal with troubled customers or clients, provide highly specialized treatment, and ask for a lot of money and trust in return.

So you got your answer?

Good. First, let me point out what the doctor didn’t do:

* He didn’t command. “THOU SHALT NOT LEAVE.” That would be futile and simply untrue.

* He didn’t persuade. “10 jaw-dropping reasons why leaving hospital treatment today will shorten your life! (page 14)”

* He didn’t cajole. “Please please please don’t do this. How about we give you a 10% coupon for your next purchase of medical services?”

That’s not to say that any of those approaches is bad in itself. They all have their place. It’s just not in a hospital room, and maybe not in your business.

So what did the doctor do to get the patient to calm down… go back to his room… and agree to stay until he had gotten a proper diagnosis and possibly treatment?

You can read all about it here, from an amazed resident who witnessed the scene:

https://archive.nytimes.com/well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/teaching-doctors-the-art-of-negotiation/

Dan Kennedy’s “stealth tactic” for client attraction from scratch

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Yesterday, I got on Skype. I live in Spain, I have a Croatian phone number, and Skype is my only way to dial an American landline and not pay ridiculous charges.

Skype connected.

“Hello?”

“Hi Steve. It’s John Bejakovic. We were in contact on LinkedIn. Is now an okay time to talk?”

“Hi John. Yeah, absolutely. I was expecting your call.”

Last week, I cold-contacted this guy. We weren’t even connected on LinkedIn but I sent him a message out of the blue.

Earlier this week, I guess he finally opened up LinkedIn because he replied. We exchanged a couple more messages. At the end of it, I got him to agree to a call. He sent me his home phone number.

We did the call yesterday. ​​I was asking questions and he was willingly answering. ​At the end of the call, I also got him to give me his home address.

Now, this wasn’t a business-getting call. But… it coulda been.

The same strategy I used to get on a call with this guy and to even get his home address is one I heard Dan Kennedy advocate in his Business of Copywriting Academy.

Unfortunately, that training is hidden inside the ancient infrastructure at AWAI. That means it’s hard to buy, and impossible to promote as an affiliate. It’s a shame, because the training is really interesting and really valuable.

One idea that’s stuck with me is a kind of Trojan horse for client getting, something that Dan says he would use himself if he needed to. In his own words:

“Let me give you my stealth tactic. Here’s what I would do if I was starting from scratch, right now, and I wanted some clients in Cleveland. If and when I retire and I decide to spend six months out of the year in Orlando, if I then feel I want a couple clients, I will use this strategy exactly as I’m about to describe it to you.”

Dan is famous for 1) never leaving suburban Ohio and 2) for never using the Internet. ​​That’s why he’s talking about using this strategy locally in Cleveland and Orlando.

​​But the same strategy works online too. Again, I used it just yesterday on LinkedIn and Skype, though I wasn’t looking for client work.

So I got a deal for you:

As I wrote yesterday, I’m considering putting together something new, a kind of offer research service that tracks unique and effective offers. In particular, I’m interested in offers that are 1) working now, and that 2) don’t rely on authority or a personal brand.

Have you spotted any such offers recently? Or better yet, have you bought any such offers recently?

If you have, write in and tell me about it.

If the offer you tell me about is unique and actually matches the two criteria above (working now, not relying on authority or personal brand), then I’ll reply to tell you Dan Kennedy’s client-getting stealth tactic — what he would do if he needed clients today.

And by the way, Dan’s stealth tactic is not limited to getting copywriting clients. It’s relevant if you want clients of any kind, or partners, or just connections for your own ends, like what I was doing with the guy I contacted on LinkedIn.

In other words, this tactic can work whenever you really want a connection with a specific person or profile of person.

​​And if that sounds attractive to you, then think of an offer that matches my criteria above. Write in with it, and I’ll tell you what Dan would do.

$12k bargain that’s working now

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I just finished an interesting hot seat for a copywriter within the PCM mastermind.

This copywriter is working with a business that’s selling a $4k offer and a $12k offer.

The two offers are largely the same, except the $12k offer is more done for you and comes with a stronger guarantee. Result:

The $4k offer gets about 5 sales each month. The $12k offer gets about 8-10 sales each month.

This reminded me of a Gary Halbert quote:

“Fundamentals never change but current variations of how to best use those fundamentals are something you must always stay on top of. In other words: It’s not enough to know that everybody wants a bargain… you must also know what people currently consider a bargain.”

It’s no big mystery that an offer that’s more done for you is easier to sell, and can sell for significantly more. That’s a fundamental that never changes.

What might be a surprise is that today, people apparently consider $12k a bargain.

And on that note:

I’m considering putting together something new, about unique offers working now.

I’m interested in offers that are 1) actually selling well right now, and that are 2) selling with zero or very little appeal to authority.

The way I figure, that intersection is where the most interesting and effective offers can be found.

Ben Settle could probably sell a closetful of old shoes to his list if he wanted to. That’s not because old shoes are a great offer. It’s because Ben has spent 15 years disciplining and punishing his list to do as he says.

Maybe you don’t want to go through that, or maybe you don’t have the time.

But even if you have authority or a strong relationship with your list, a sexy, unique, effective offer, one that will stand independent of you, will make your life easier and your wallet heavier.

Like I said, I’m considering creating something new about such unique, independent offers.

Can you do me a favor?

Simply hit reply and let me know if such information could be valuable to you in what you do. If it wouldn’t be valuable to you, let me know that as well.

Or of course, if you know an offer that is both 1) working now and 2) selling without authority, then let me know, and I will add it to the list of specimens to feature. Thanks in advance.

When ROUS were real

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If you’re a fan of The Princess Bride the way that I am, then you’ll know the fire swamp.

The fire swamp is a place in the kingdom of Florin, where The Princess Bride is set. Nobody has entered the place and lived to tell the tale.

That’s because the fire swamp holds three perils.

The first is sudden bursts of flame from the ground. Those aren’t so bad, because they make a deep popping sound right before they explode.

The second is Lightning Sand. It swallows you up and sucks you in, like you’re falling through a cloud. Lightning Sand is very dangerous but rare.

The third is ROUS. In the words of Westley, the protagonist of The Princess Bride:

“Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don’t think they exist.”

… but of course they do. Right as Westley says that ROUS are just a matter of legend, a giant, pig-sized rodent launches itself at him and a deadly struggle ensues.

I thought this was all just a wonderful bit of fantasy. But like Westley, I thought that ROUS don’t exist, not really.

It turns out they do. For real. William Goldman, who wrote The Princess Bride, was a compulsive researcher. He probably found out decades ago what I found out just a few days ago.

There’s a place in the Amazon where ROUS live, right now.

The locals call these beasts ariranha, and Spanish-speakers call them lobos del río. They grow up to 1.5 meters in length, with an additional 70cm for the long and thin tail. While they aren’t technically “rodents,” they are carnivorous, they look very much like the ROUS in The Princess Bride, and for all I know, they love the taste of human flesh.

At this point, it would be wise to tie this into some lesson about copywriting and marketing.

The fact is, I really just wanted to share this fact, that ROUS really exist. I think it’s wonderful that there are large mammals I have never heard of, and that fantasy and wonder still exist in the world.

But let me work a little, and try to make this relevant to you too.

Yesterday, I wrote an email in which I tied in a snippet I had heard from marketer Ryan Lee into my own offer, which was looking for a partner for my longevity newsletter.

A bunch of people wrote me about the partner offer.

But a couple people also wrote me about the email itself. They liked how I had managed to connect the Ryan Lee quote with my own offer. How to do that? And do I have a system for it?

I actually do have a system. I even created a training out of it, called Insight Exposed. But I only rarely sell that training because I suspect that, while this Insight Exposed system has been tremendously useful and valuable to me, it’s not something that I can actually transfer to other people. At least that’s the my sense, based on the feedback (or lack of it) I’ve gotten for Insight Exposed, compared to my other trainings like Copy Riddles and Most Valuable Email.

So I decided to do something different.

Next Tuesday, August 20 at 8pm CET/2pm EST/9am PST, I will hold an AMA — Ask Me Anything — about the topic of research, notetaking, and “creativity.”

The AMA will be live on Zoom. You can register for it simply by clicking the link below.

There won’t be a free replay. If you cannot make it live, I can give you the first step of my system, which is simply to keep an eye out on your own reactions. “ROUS? Are real? That’s wonderful!” Write that down, and you never know when you might be able to use it.

Maybe that’s enough to get you going. But maybe you sitll have questions. If you, you can get me to answer them on the AMA. Here’s the link. Click it, and I’ll let you into the Zoomery when the time comes:

[Get real, you gotta be on my list for this. If you wanna sign up: https://bejakovic.com/]

Looking for a partner for my longevity list

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I was massaging my ears this morning and watching a training hosted by marketer Ryan Lee.

Maybe you know Ryan — he’s been doing business online for 20+ years. He has coached and collaborated with and gotten endorsements from people like Russell Brunson and Ryan Deiss and Brian Kurtz and and Todd Brown — all big names in the Internet marketing space, in case you don’t know ’em.

Anyways, Ryan said:

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Biggest mistakes I’ve made by far, I just let a list go or I shift and I get out of that.

If I would have stayed in like the fitness market, just doing fitness stuff from 23 years ago, I’d probably be a billionaire.

Or if I got a piece of everyone’s business I taught, I would definitely be a billionaire by now. I’ve done fine, but I know, seeing what happened.

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When I heard Ryan say this, I let go of my ears. “Hmm,” I said. “HMM.”

Because back in March, I let my longevity list go.

For over a year, I had been writing a weekly newsletter to that list. The list was small but growing. Readers loved the content. But I didn’t have good offers to promote, and in spite of a year of work, I couldn’t make it pay.

I had had enough. So I stopped mailing it. It’s been sitting there ever since.

And it’s still getting people opting in to it… and even people writing in and asking me when I will write more newsletter issues.

The answer is, never. I have too much other stuff to do. But I had the idea this morning to look for a partner for this longevity list, somebody who would actually like to handle the regular writing part.

Maybe that partner could be you?

Before you start imagining that future, here are three facts of life:

# 1. I’m looking for a partner, not an unpaid coaching student or a drunk intern.

If you can write and enjoy research, then this could be a fit.

But if you cannot write, or if you’re sloppy with research, then it won’t work. I’d rather not send anything to this list than send a tossed salad of fluff and garbage. And while I have systems in place to help with the research and writing… and while I’m happy to give my feedback and ongoing input on the content… I also do not want to be constantly looking over your shoulder.

#2. This will only make sense if you are interested or rather obsessive about health and the science behind it.

If that’s not you in real life, this will not make sense — you will hate the day-to-day work, and the result won’t be very good, not in the long term.

#3. The list is not making any money right now.

If you need money yesterday, or by the end of the today, or by the end of this week, then this is not for you.

On the other hand, if the list ever does make any money, we can split it the way partners split stuff.

About the last part:

Even though the list is making zero money right now, it’s not impossible that it could make money, even right quick.

In part that’s because some things have changed since March — I’ve had a few potential good offers pop up.

Another reason is that, while I don’t want to spend time writing that longevity newsletter each week, I am willing to do other stuff.

Such as, finding offers to promote… finding partners for various JVs… growing the list… or even putting in money — assuming we have some hope of getting that money back.

Again, I am really looking for a partner. Writing is one thing you can contribute, but if you have other things to contribute too, then great. I’m also willing to do my part, long term.

This means we will have to like each other, have complementary skills and resources, and have some kind of common vision.

It’s highly unlikely all these things will line up. But maybe it’s not impossible.

If you’re interested, hit reply. And write me something to convince me that you’ve read this email thoroughly, that you could be a good fit for who I’m looking for, and that you’re actually interested in this idea, long-term.

Jacob Pegs testifies about the JB effect

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Back in May, on the last day of my promotion for the Daily Email Fastlane workshop, I got a message from Modern Maker Jacob Pegs.

Jacob was one of the three daily emailers I had profiled inside that Fastlane workshop. In brief:

1. For about two years now, Jacob has been posting on LinkedIn as a way to build an audience (he’s built it up to 40k LinkedIn followers)

2. He’s been driving those followers from LinkedIn to his daily email list, where he promotes a lean stack of info products and a group coaching offer

3. A few days ago, Jacob wrote that he had just crossed the 60% mark of his $1M goal for 2024. According to my math — and I was a math major, so you can trust me — this means that Jacob has made $600k so far this year.

I’m telling you about Jacob for two reasons.

One is to show you what’s possible, and even how quickly it’s possible, if things line up right.

Two is that in that email back in May, Jacob sent me a nice testimonial/case study, and it’s now time to trot it out, with only a three-month delay.

Jacob approached me back in April, because he wanted to improve his copywriting and email game.

I mean, clearly it was already working great. But he wanted it to work even greater.

So we did a kind of one-month “Up Your Skills” engagement. Over the course of a month, I gave Jacob my feedback on his emails, and I told him how I might tweak some of the copy he was writing. Result, in Jacob’s words:

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Here’s a good bit of feedback for you from our latest engagement, which might help as an honest testimonial 😅 —

Something about your writing style kept me glued from start to finish.

I’d go to make a coffee, the kettle would finish boiling, and I’d delay the coffee to the point I’d have to reboil the kettle again!

Because, I had to finish the email. I couldn’t quite pin point what it was, but it made me reach out to you.

3 weeks into our mentorship, I’m getting the same feedback from my list (screenshots attached).

15 sales in, and they can’t “quite pin point how.”

Maybe it’s the JB effect.

And it’s definitely in the fast lane.

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Like I said, Jacob already had everything lined up. He was making sales. He kept his readers reading day after day.

But Jacob did make changes to his emails during that time we worked together. I noticed the changes. It seems his audience noticed them too, and in a positive way. ​​​​

Maybe you’re in a similar situation to Jacob?

Not necessarily the same numbers with the money and the audience size… but maybe you have offers that are working, and you’re writing regularly to get your people reading and buying from you?

And maybe you’re wondering how much further you could take it?

If you are, I’m guessing it doesn’t make sense to do a long, extended, open-ended coaching program.

​​But maybe a one-month “Up Your Skills” engagement, like I did with Jacob, might make sense.

In case you’re interested, hit reply. No pressure, and no promises at this point. But I’ll get back to you, and we can talk in more detail.

How to heal the partisan divide one dollar at a time

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Here’s a provocative but revealing little quiz for ya:

For every $1 spent by the US government in 2022, how many cents went to military spending?

(I’m asking about 2022 because it’s the most recent year for which I could find data.)

Think about that for a moment, and come up with yer best guess.

I’ll tell you the answer in a second but really, the specifics are not all that interesting. What is interesting is that, if you’re American and maybe even if you’re not, your answer can expose you as being either Democrat or Republican, left or right.

The right answer by the way is 14.2 cents.

Like I said, that’s not all that interesting. What’s more interesting:

Dems tend to guess US military spending is higher than Republicans guess.

Ok, maybe that’s not tremendously interesting either. Maybe that’s predictable.

So let me try again. Here’s the really interesting part:

If you don’t just ask people to guess, but instead you pay them to guess right, or you pay them to simply say, “Dang I don’t know,” then suddenly party bias shrinks by 80%.

In other words, put some live chips on the table, and suddenly, people’s beliefs change.

We know this because a professor at Northwestern, John Bullock, did the experiment. He found the result confirmed over a large number of participants and a large number of questions, involving topics like race, unemployment, and military deaths.

Curious, no? What’s going on?

I can’t say for sure, but I can imagine two options:

1. Maybe there’s extra thinking going on when money’s on the table. Maybe people take a moment to say, “Gee my gut says this, but let me take an extra second or two to think it over, since there’s real consequences to expressing my opinion.”

2. Maybe there’s extra thinking going on when money’s not on the table. Maybe people “know” the real answer, or at least their best guess at the real answer. But when there’s no consequences to guessing wrong, maybe people like to engage in some “extra thinking” — posturing or group identification — and that comes out as a more partisan guess.

Either way, the conclusion is, money gets you closer to the truth.

Of course, I’m really talking about business, not politics.

Prospects lie, or they embellish, or they just don’t think very hard about what you’re asking them. Not until there’s money on the table — their own money, which they just took out of their pocket, and which they are now considering sliding across the table to you.

​​Or maybe they won’t slide it across? Maybe they’ll just put it back in their pocket? Which brings me to a second little quiz:

Are you launching a new offer?

If you are, you can just put it out there, and see if the market buys. No doubt that will give you feedback. But it won’t be very detailed or granular feedback. It won’t tell you what, if anything, you can do to make more sales.

There might be a better way. If you’re launching a new offer, then hit reply. Tell me what your offer is. And I can tell you about this better way.

A newsletter I’ve been fascinated by for years

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Last week, I awarded the Best Daily Email Awards, and the first of those went to Josh Spector of the For The Interested newsletter.

I’ve been fascinated by Josh’s FTI for years. In fact, I wrote about it last year under the subject line, “The opportunity of the two-sentence newsletter.”

Every day but Sunday, Josh sends a daily email that typically clocks in at under 50 words. That makes each day’s email easy to read, I’m assuming easy to write, and yet indisputably profitable.

(Josh monetizes his newsletter by promoting his own offers and by running classified ads. I don’t know the inside of Josh’s info publishing and coaching business, and how much that’s making. But the classified ads alone bring in close to $10k each month.)

I’m telling you about this because it puts the lie to the idea that effective daily emails have to be hundreds of words long, or have to take hundreds of minutes of your life to write each week.

And by the way, Josh’s emails cover topics like marketing and creativity and online businesses. But his ultra-brief daily email model could be replicated as-is in other niches like health, parenting, or investing.

If you’re curious to see how all of this works, and maybe even get hooked on Josh’s daily emails, the link is below. I’ve been a reader for years. If you’d like to give FTI a try yourself:

https://bejakovic.com/fti