Business Ideas

How copywriters can reposition so business owners chase them

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This morning, I woke up to a bunch of emails as usual. Two stood out.

One was from a business owner I had reached out to, cold, a couple weeks ago.

After that first cold email, we exchanged a few more emails.

And then this past Sunday, we got on a call and talked about working together.

On that call, I listened to him as he told me the details of his business right now and his plans for the future.

His business has doubled each year for the past four years. He would like to double it yet again. I would like to help him.

​​But as I told him on the call, there’s a roadblock in our way. Once he clears that, we could work together.

In the email in my inbox this morning, the business owner was giving me an update on that roadblock (it’s getting cleared, but slowly). He also said he’s just anted up extra money to get the roadblock cleared faster.

In case it’s not obvious what I’m getting at, it seems to me that this business owner is more eager to work with me than I am to work with him. And I’m eager to work with him — that’s why I cold emailed him in the first place.

The second email that stood out in my inbox this morning came from a copywriter. She was inquiring about my Water Into Wine workshop, happening this Thursday. She asked:

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Do you think it will work for someone like me who provides copywriting services?

I can apply what you teach in this workshop to my clients, but I wonder if it will also help my positioning as a copywriter. What are your thoughts?

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My very careful answer to this copywriter is “100% yes.”

As I wrote yesterday, during the Water Into Wine workshop, I will cover one specific repositioning formula. I’ll show how this formula can be used in three separate ways:

1. To give clear, “Oh I get it” positioning to an offer that’s currently vague or unclear

2. To give unique, attractive positioning to a product or service which is not unique or not attractive (yes, sometimes you’re stuck with those)

3. To open up new markets for an offer, where the selling might be easier and where the money might come in bigger, heavier bags

I’ll have examples of how smart marketers have used this repositioning formula in niches like bizopp, finance, weight loss, copywriting, baseball, and of course, dentistry.

I’ll also have examples of how this formula can be used to sell offers of different formats, including courses, coaching, certifications, tickets to live events, and done-for-you services.

One example I’ll include will be of repositioning copywriting services.

​​In fact, it will be an example using me and the business owner above. This repositioning formula, applied in way #3 above, is exactly what I used when I cold emailed him.

So yes, it’s possible to use this formula to reposition copywriting services.

The only question is whether you will want to apply what I tell you.

Well, that, plus whether you will actually be there on the workshop so you can hear me tell it.

The workshop is happening this Thursday at 8pm CET/2pm EST/11am PST. It will also be recorded in case you cannot make it live.

The price to get in is $197.

I’m limiting the number of spots to 20.

Some have already been claimed, more will be claimed today.

I don’t have forward facing payment link for this. I want to first talk to everyone who’s interested, and make sure this workshop is a fit.

So the only way to get in is to first write me an email and express interest.

One way or another, the workshop is nearing. If you’re interested, it might make sense to hit reply right now, so we can talk and see if this workshop is a good fit for you.

Disaster recovery

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This morning I tried to walk to the beach. The police stopped me.

They said something in Catalan. I couldn’t understand. I got the gist though.

“Disaster recovery. Off limits.”

On my way to the beach, I had to walk through broken glass, charred pieces of wood and cardboard, and many shards of explosive. The air still smelled of smoke.

Hundreds of city employees in yellow vests were already on the scene. Several large, specialized tractors were brought in to decontaminate the area.

A few groups of shell-shocked survivors stood here and there, swaying mindlessly to some Latin music that I couldn’t identify.

All this was the consequence of la nit de Sant Joan, aka Saint John’s Eve. It happened last night.

Sant Joan is a holiday to mark the start of summer. In Barcelona, it’s celebrated with bonfires on the beach, big parties, and billions of kilograms of various explosives in the form of firecrackers and fireworks.

I only witnessed this from my couch last night. I was trying to read, but the warzone outside made it impossible.

Missiles whistled through the air. Deep explosions rumbled and echoed through my living room. A rat-tat-tat of what sounded like semiautomatic weapons went off regularly.

And it kept going all the damn night.

Instead of my usual 11pm-on-the-dot bedtime, I guess I fell asleep after 3am, when the explosions started to die down. Of course, I still woke up as I always do around 7am.

All that’s to say, my brain isn’t working so good right now.

But lucky for me, I got a reader question I can answer in today’s email to take the load off.

Paul, an in-house copywriter at a supplement brand, expressed interest in my upcoming Water Into Wine workshop. We exchanged a few emails, and then Paul posed me the following riddle:

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Thanks John.

​Yes, it’s very helpful and I think it’s a good fit 🙂
​​
By the way, I don’t know how much interest there is for this workshop. But maybe it might be useful for you to send to your list some quick “bullets” about the benefits of attending this workshop?

===

Hm. Benefits. I’ve heard of those.

The fact is, I’ve been purposefully keeping much about this workshop vague. But I can share the following.

During the Water Into Wine workshop, I will to cover one specific repositioning formula. I’ll show how this formula can be used in three separate ways:

1. To give clear, “Oh I get it” positioning to an offer that’s currently vague or unclear

2. To give unique, attractive positioning to a product or service which is not unique or not attractive (yes, sometimes you’re stuck with those)

3. To open up new markets for an offer, where the selling might be easier and where the money might come in bigger, heavier bags

I’ll have examples of how smart marketers have used this repositioning formula in niches like bizopp, finance, weight loss, copywriting, baseball, and of course, dentistry.

​​I’ll also have examples of how this formula can be used to sell offers of different formats, including courses, coaching, certifications, tickets to live events, and done-for-you services.

That said, it will take some thinking to apply this repositioning formula to your specific situation.

If that don’t turn you off, here are more details about this training:

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This Thursday, June 27th, I will host a little workshop with a few people.

I’m calling it the Water Into Wine workshop.

It will be all about a specific technique for repackaging and repositioning your offers so they sell better.

If you currently have an offer that’s not selling, this technique can start selling that offer for you.

On the other hand, if you have an offer that’s selling already, this technique can sell your offer more easily and for more money.

The ticket to join the Wine Into Water workshop is $197.

The workshop will happen live on Zoom, next Thursday, at 8pm CET/2pm EST/11am PST. It will also be recorded. So if you cannot attend live, you can still get your hands on this info and apply it to your own offers as soon as next Friday.

I’m not sure whether there will be a ton of demand for this workshop. In any case, I’ll cap the number of folks who sign up to 20 maximum.

Are you interested in joining us?

If so, just reply to this email.

I won’t have a public-facing sales page for this offer, and replying is the only way to get more info or get in.

Of course, if you reply to this email to express interest, it doesn’t oblige you in any way. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have and help you decide if this workshop is or isn’t right for you.

Competition riding your tail?

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Something you might not know about me is that I am not a fighter pilot.

​​Not even close.

​​I don’t even like flying as a passenger on a commercial plane.

But still, I have fantasies of how cool it must be to be a fighter pilot, based on movies like Top Gun and The Right Stuff.

Many of those fantasies were ruined for me today while I listened to an interview with an actual fighter pilot, one who flies a modern F-18.

He tried to repeatedly make it clear:

Flying a modern fighter jet is less about seat-of-the-pants flying skill and more about integrating a huge flow of information from all the panels and monitors and sensors.

But the podcaster who conducted this interview didn’t want to hear any of this.

Like me, the interviewer grew up on movies and video games. So he asked questions about the Red Baron and about Maverick from Top Gun.

The fighter pilot dutifully answered. And then, he tried to once again explain the complexities of how things really work today.

The interviewer glossed over these explanations. He kept circling back to what he really wanted to believe. At one point he got impatient. He asked:

“I know you said this doesn’t happen any more in aerial combat, so this might be a silly question. But what if an enemy plane gets on your tail? How would you shake him?”

The fighter pilot smiled sadly.

“It depends on which plane was behind me,” he said. “The F-18 has a very short turning radius. I might be able to evade him by making a quicker turn. But if it’s the same plane like mine, he could mimic every move that I do.”

The interviewer paused for a moment. “So you’d be fucked?”

“Yep,” the fighter pilot said. “I’d be fucked.”

One thing I’ve learned, from years of watching Top Gun, is that landing a fighter jet on an tiny aircraft carrier runway is the trickiest thing a fighter pilot has to do.

Another thing I’ve learned, from years of writing daily emails, is that landing a story about fighter jets on an dry marketing takeaway is the trickiest thing a daily email pilot has to do.

But I’m fearless, so let me try it now:

You know that thing above, about having the enemy plane on your tail? You might liken that to your competition. Hear me out.

Maybe you’re blessed to have an advantage that allows you to evade or overtake the competition — your shorter turning radius, your “USP.”

But maybe you don’t have anything like that.

Maybe your fighter jet is much like the one that the other guy or gal has.

What then?

Unlike the fighter pilot, you have some options. But I can tell you one thing that’s unlikely to work.

And it’s to dive into the complexity. To explain to your market how your offer actually works. To point at all the panels and the sensors, and to explain what they do and why that’s important.

Just like with the interviewer above, that kind of information will only make your market impatient and will likely be ignored.

So what to do instead?

That’s what I’ll be talking about during my upcoming Wine Into Water workshop, next Thursday evening.

For more information on that, here are the details from an earlier email:

===

Next Thursday, June 27th, I will host a little workshop with a few people.

I’m calling it the Water Into Wine workshop.

It will be all about a specific technique for repackaging and repositioning your offers so they sell better.

If you currently have an offer that’s not selling, this technique can start selling that offer for you.

On the other hand, if you have an offer that’s selling already, this technique can sell your offer more easily and for more money.

The ticket to join the Wine Into Water workshop is $197.

The workshop will happen live on Zoom, next Thursday, at 8pm CET/2pm EST/11am PST. It will also be recorded. So if you cannot attend live, you can still get your hands on this info and apply it to your own offers as soon as next Friday.

I’m not sure whether there will be a ton of demand for this workshop. In any case, I’ll cap the number of folks who sign up to 20 maximum.

Are you interested in joining us?

If so, just reply to this email.

I won’t have a public-facing sales page for this offer, and replying is the only way to get more info or get in.

Of course, if you reply to this email to express interest, it doesn’t oblige you in any way. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have and help you decide if this workshop is or isn’t right for you.

RSVP: Water Into Wine workshop

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Next Thursday, June 27th, I will host a little workshop with a few people.

I’m calling it the Water Into Wine workshop.

It will be all about a specific technique for repackaging and repositioning your offers so they sell better.

If you currently have an offer that’s not selling, this technique can start selling that offer for you.

On the other hand, if you have an offer that’s selling already, this technique can sell your offer more easily and for more money.

The ticket to join the Wine Into Water workshop is $197.

The workshop will happen live on Zoom, next Thursday, at 8pm CET/2pm EST/11am PST. It will also be recorded. So if you cannot attend live, you can still get your hands on this info and apply it to your own offers as soon as next Friday.

I’m not sure whether there will be a ton of demand for this workshop. In any case, I’ll cap the number of folks who sign up to 20 maximum. ​​

Are you interested in joining us?

If so, just reply to this email.

I won’t have a public-facing sales page for this offer, and replying is the only way to get more info or get in.

Of course, if you reply to this email to express interest, it doesn’t oblige you in any way. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have and help you decide if this workshop is or isn’t right for you.

Persuasion, Plan B:

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This past week, Lawrence Bernstein shared, via his Ad Money Machine, a very risky but very effective direct mail sales letter that ran some 15 years ago.

The teaser headline on the envelope read,

“Retirement, Plan B:”

… and then in smaller font, the copy went on to explain how you could now enroll and collect up to $120,000 each year, for the rest of your life, in the form of “pension paychecks.”

Pension paychecks?

As Lawrence said, “I don’t have the risk tolerance for such a promo, nor the legal team to cover me in case. But there’s no denying the success of this promo, based on its longevity.”

Maybe there’s something we can learn from this promo, without crossing over into risky legal waters.

Enter “Persuasion, Plan B.”

Persuasion, Plan A is to make your best argument. To give your audience the big promise. To pile on the reasons why, the testimonials, the features, the benefits, the bonuses, the urgency.

In many situations, that will work just fine.

But what if it don’t?

Persuasion, Plan B is what you can try then. It’s what you can witness in the promo above.

And it’s to suddenly whip up a creative repackaging that sums up, often in just a word or two, all the appeals in your offer, and suggests other appeals also, even if they’re not really there in your offer. (It’s not always illegal.)

I’m thinking about putting together a one-evening workshop about this. About using this kind of repackaging in your headlines, your body copy, your emails, and most importantly and profitably, in the positioning and packaging of your offers.

Persuasion, Plan B.

Is this workshop something you’d be interested in? If so, hit reply and let me know. If there’s enough interest, I’ll put it on. Otherwise, we can stick with just Plan A.

Failed magicians, unfunny comedians, and me

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I spent the whole morning working today. I got nothing done, including this email, which was supposed to be written hours ago.

Still, hope lingers inside me. Maybe it will all somehow turn out ok.

Because the fact is, I wasted the entire the morning in research, trying to find good examples of a technique I don’t have a good name for.

My most good name for this technique is “calling out the vibe.”

Maybe you don’t know what I mean by that. I guess that’s part of the problem.

Calling out the vibe is what comedians do when their jokes aren’t landing. They call out the awkwardness and lack of response. The audience often laughs at this point, out of recognition and relief.

You can also use this technique if you’re nervous on a date or during an interview. Call it out. Put your nervousness into words, and see how the mood improves.

Or of course, if you’re trying to write your daily email, and your attempts are awful, just awful, too awful to send out, call that out. That’s your email right there.

You might think this is simply about being honest, or making the other side feel better because you fess up to your own troubles.

That’s part of it. But it’s not all of it, or even the main part.

Magicians call it out if their audience has grown suspicious.

Hypnotists observe their subjects deeply, and call out the physical changes they see as the subjects enter trance.

And wise negotiators call out the fact that their adversary has gotten too enthusiastic during a negotiation — too eager to say yes.

There’s some magic when you accurately call out the vibe. Try it yourself and see.

Another confession:

I had an offer planned for today, but well, it doesn’t fit any more.

So let me remind you of my Simple Money Emails program. Because calling out the vibe in your email is great. But you can’t do it every day, not unless it’s true.

And even if what you’re calling out is true, your audience might get tired after the third consecutive email that starts, “I spent the whole morning working today. I got nothing done, including this email…”

So what do you do on all those other days?

The answer can be found inside Simple Money Emails, which gives you 9 tried-and-true, use-them-every-day email openings.

These 9 openings don’t require an entire morning’s worth of research and false starts.

​​In fact, many of the most successful emails I’ve ever written, which are documented in the Simple Money Email swipe file that goes along with the program, took me all of 15 or 20 minutes to write.

If you’d like to find out more about Simple Money Emails, and how you can write such emails yourself:

https://bejakovic.com/sme

Customers who pay you to pay you

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Right now, for the meager price of $30,000 to start, and then $10,000 per year to keep going, you can sign up to get a spot at Carbone.

Carbone is an exclusive restaurant in New York.

​​The $30k + $10k/year membership gets you a regular weekly table there.

​​Of course, you still have to pay for the food and drinks and service, which, as you can imagine, are expensive.

It turns out there are more and more such restaurants, going members-only.

They cater to people with money who want a few different things. One is better service, less waiting, and being treated with respect. Two is status and recognition. Three, and more than anything it seems, is a feeling of community.

In other words, people are paying good money to be among others like themselves, and to feel comfortable, welcome, and warm.

I’m telling you this to maybe warm up your own mind to the possibilities that are out there.

You can charge people decent money — maybe even indecent money — just for the privilege of being able to buy from you.

Of course, you do have to offer something in return — exclusivity, top-level service, a community.

Who knows? Maybe this is even a way you can charge for the marketing you give away now. Such as your daily emails, for example.

And with that, let me remind you of my Simple Money Emails program.

This program teaches you how to write emails that people want to read, and that they buy from.

I’ve only sent these kinds of emails to prospects for free.

But maybe you can not only use use these kinds of emails to make sales, but charge for them as well, by combining them with the idea above.

Whatever the case may be, if you’d like to find out more about Simple Money Emails:

https://bejakovic.com/sme

PJ gives my book between 2 and 3 stars

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Yesterday, I checked Goodreads, where my 10 Commandments Of A-List Copywriters sometimes gets reviews that aren’t visible on the Amazon page.

It turned out I have a new, negative, 2.5-star review, from Goodreads user PJ.

When I saw this, I first went to the kitchen, got a long and sharp knife, and settled in to deal with PJ. Then I started to read his review:

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2.5 – closer to a 3 than 2

Not enough actionable insights in this book. Some excellent tips and history overall – but the lack of conceptual relevance between commandments hurt this book. If this had cohesive structure as to why and how these “commandments” coincide with one another, a summary section after each chapter, and many more examples, this could easy be a stalwart in the niche. There were a lot of good insights but I left every chapter thinking how I can really apply these techniques properly, and without contradicting one another as went on further.

I also think that a pitch for a newsletter should be done subtly and should be omitted from a paid product; despite this being a copywriting book.

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What can I say?

I put my large and sharp knife away and just shrugged.

If PJ wants a single, unified copywriting system, with tons of examples, summary sections, and with detailed explanations that resolve the contradictions that show up whenever human psychology is involved, then he looked in the wrong place. (Maybe it’s for the best.)

My little 10 Commandments book, which happens to cost $5, never claimed to be a cohesive, exhaustive stalwart of copywriting education.

However, I do have something that does make those promises. It’s my Copy Riddles program.

PJ probably won’t ever find out about Copy Riddles – I’m guessing he never responded to my in-book pitch for this free newsletter.

But you are here. And you are reading.

And if you’d like to find out more about A-list copywriting techniques, and how to actually apply them properly in your own marketing or writing, in a systematic way, then lookee here for more info on my copywriting education stalwart, Copy Riddles:

https://bejakovic.com/cr

Successful cold outreach that teases secrets

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In my email yesterday, I featured a failed cold outreach message that some dude sent me. I asked readers how they might improve this failed message.

I got a bunch of responses, commentary, and reworked cold pitches. Among them was the following reworked pitch, from a copywriter named Paul:

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Hi John,

I read your book about A-List copywriters and I found it very interesting. Actually, I am also a writer and I had an idea that I’m sure will push your results through the roof. It’s a very interesting concept, especially for your type of business.

I feel like we could do a partnership with me providing extra value to your business and you telling about your experience in direct response.

Let me know if this could interest you, we can schedule a call in the week to talk about it.

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Like I wrote to Paul, his reworked cold email was an improvement over the original.

Because of this, I might at least respond to this email to acknowledge it.

Or I might not. Because I feel I’m being baited by this promise of a “very interesting concept.” ​​It’s a bait I can well refuse, especially considering the risk of biting down on it — wasting my time and having to meet God-knows-who on a Zoom call.

One thing’s for sure. I definitely wouldn’t agree to get on a call based on just this email.

And yet…

A very similar cold outreach message has worked in the past.

In fact, a very similar cold pitch opened up doors, got a meeting, and launched a million-dollar, A-list copywriting career.

The pitch was very similar to the one above. But it was also different, in one critical regard.

I’m not sure the if the critical difference will be obvious to you.

But if you are looking to do cold outreach that actually gets a response, it might be worth trying to figure out the difference between the cold outreach message above, and the one on the following page.

In case you are curious:

Click here to schedule a call with me (no, just kidding, click here to see the successful cold outreach message)

How to write a better cold outreach message

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Today, I got an email from somebody I don’t know with the subject line, “Need an intern?” I opened it. It read:

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Hi John,

I think I originally came across you via a Google search after reading Peter Tzemis’s blog. I like your writing style, and I was curious if you need anyone to help you with anything? I want to get hands on experience with direct response.

I currently write on [link to guy’s personal musings Substack]. Let me know if this is of any interest to you.

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I heard marketer Sean D’Souza say a smart thing once.

If you have a problem in your business, says Sean, don’t work on fixing it. Instead, work on fixing somebody else’s business.

Somehow, we’re all blinded by our own unique circumstances. It makes it hard to see the right thing to do.

It’s much easier when looking at other people’s circumstances. Figure out how to help others, and you figure out how to help yourself.

I’m telling you this because maybe you would like to connect with people you don’t know.

Maybe you’re looking for clients, or for an opportunity to get your message out, or you’re just trying to build your network.

Cold email can open lots of doors. But maybe it’s not opening doors for you right now.

So here’s your chance.

Figure out how you might fix the approach of the guy who wrote me above.

I can tell you I didn’t take him up on him on his intern offer.

​​In fact, I didn’t even respond to his email, and I make a habit of responding to almost everyone who writes me.

What could he have done differently?

Think about it, and maybe you can help yourself. And if you like, write in with your best idea, and I can tell you my opinion on whether it would have made a difference or no.