Business Of Copy

“Don’t have the right mindset” to learn the craft

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A few days ago, a long-time reader wrote to me. He first signed up for my email newsletter in 2019. I hadn’t heard from him in a while, so I asked him how his copywriting career is going.

​​He replied:

“As for the copywriting part, I’m still doubting myself because I’ve come to believe I don’t have the right mindset to learn the craft. I’m not disciplined enough and get easily distracted… And most of all, I lack confidence, because I still believe not being a native is an impediment to writing in English. The good news is: I’ve decided not to give up :-)”

As Mark Ford wrote recently, if you have what it takes, success should be a lay-up.

​​In my experience as a copywriter, that means all you have to do is take on small jobs at small pay to start, deliver on those jobs, continue to develop your skills, and increase the scale of jobs you take on and the money you’re paid for them.

Simple, right?

Well, as the Good Book says, broad is the way that leads to destruction. There are many swamps, quicksand pits, walls of brambles, and patches of stinging nettle and poison ivy that can show up in your way.

The first of these, as my long-time reader wrote above, is being afraid to even get started.

​​But there are others that come up also, even once you’re well on the path. I’ve come across some of them myself, and I’ve seen and heard other copywriters who had or have runins with some of these traps.

A few people have written to ask me about my Copy Zone offer, about succeeding in the business of copywriting. It’s behind schedule, and one reason is that I wanted to address the most common and the most dangerous of these quicksand pits and traps.

Because the best advice in the world is only a part of the story — one path that worked for somebody once, because they didn’t get stuck in the same traps that you might get stuck in.

But let me leave you with something concrete and maybe useful:

In my experience, action >>> mindset. It’s much easier and more effective to change your behavior than to change the way you think and feel.

That’s not a call to “just do it.”

​​Well, ideally, yes — just do it. But if you can’t force yourself to just do it, in spite of repeated tries, then just do something. Create some sort of change in your behavior, whatever that may be. You might just create a real change in your life — and even in your beliefs.

But actually, there’s something else also, which trumps changes in behavior… just as much as changes in behavior trump changes in mindset. But this email is running long, so I’ll save that for another time, or perhaps another place.

In the meantime, if you’d like to sign up for my email newsletter, you can do so here.

How to get Joe Biden to send you (or your grandma) a birthday card

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Did you know that:

White House greetings for anniversaries of couples married at least 50 years or for birthdays of people at least 80 years old can be arranged. Send name, address and date of event six weeks in advance to: The White House, Attn: Greetings Office, Washington, DC 20502-0039. Free. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-greeting

This new little fact lit up my brain when I first read. “I’ll be damned! Who knew?”

“Thanks for the tip,” you might say, “but so what?”

Well, so I can tell you the following personal fact, which might be relevant to you:

I first got interested in copywriting because of the promise of freedom and money.

But I managed to stick with copywriting for all these years — when I didn’t manage to stick with most other things for even a few weeks — because the actual work of copywriting caters to my nature.

The fact is, I am like a little ferret.

I’m a curious animal… I love to stick my nose into different things… and I get excited to find out I may in a few short decades be eligible to get a birthday card from the President.

And my point is:

There are many areas of life where none of this is any kind of asset. I mean, you don’t want your doctor, your financial advisor, or even your hair dresser to be easily distracted or addicted to novelty and surprise.

And yet, these things are definite assets if you are a copywriter.

So if you’re not a particularly curious person, then copywriting might prove to be a challenge and a slog, in spite of the other benefits.

On the other hand, if you are curious and a little ferret-like by nature, it can be a definite advantage in this business. It can lead you to success even if, like me, you’re not suited to much else.

But let’s get to business:

The White House factoid above is a sample of a source text at the heart of my Copy Riddles program.

Not all the source texts inside Copy Riddles are as novel or surprising as this one.

But still, many people who’ve gone through Copy Riddles have told me they enjoyed the source texts. Others said that besides getting copywriting skills into their heads, the Copy Riddles process was actually informative and fun.

​​Like copywriter Sonam Zahrt-Tenzin, who wrote:

CopyRiddles has absolutely lived up to my standards and far beyond.

It is helping me grow and understand the persuasive elements of copy on a level I didn’t anticipate being possible so soon. I would go as far as to say that I think most people should start learning about copywriting this way. I love how much thought you have put into your analyses and the solid examples that you tie theory back into.

(Also, the source texts are either informationally valuable by themselves or entertaining/amusing– so thank you for your good taste.)

It’s very kind of Sonam to say that, and it’s more boasting than I would usually do myself. So for the sake of good taste, let me wrap it up.

Copy Riddles is open for enrollment until this Sunday.

If you’re the curious type, and you’re curious for more info on Copy Riddles, then peek your little nose into the page below while there’s still time:

https://copyriddles.com/

Boiler rooms in Tirana

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A couple weeks ago I was in Tirana, Albania. I got to talking with one of the locals and it turned out he works in a boiler room.

“We do forex,” he explained. “We invest their money for them. Actually, we just take their money.” He shrugged. “Which country are you from?”

“Croatia,” I said.

“Ah. We don’t have any clients there. But Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Hungary — yes. I manage the sales team for the Hungarian market. It’s a very good market.”

I couldn’t believe it. “You have a team here of Hungarian forex sales people?”

“No no, all Albanians,” he said. “They learn a few phrases in Hungarian, the rest is in English. But it’s ok. These lawyers and doctors we call all speak good English.”

“Greed is universal,” I said to myself. “But how do you know who to call? How do you get their number?”

He looked at me like I’m an idiot. “They see an ad on the Internet. They click. They fill out the form with their info. Then one of our sales guys calls them. Then they give us all their money.”

Now I’m not an expert on boiler room tactics. But from what I know, it sounds like the same stuff that worked in 1972 works still in 2022. It’s just that the base of operations shifted from Chicago and Jersey City to other, less regulated locations like Tirana.

But the same system continues to work.

Of course, you don’t have to be a scammer. This basic funnel works even if you’re selling a legit, high-ticket offer, which can genuinely benefit your customers or clients. The sales system doesn’t care what you’re selling.

And equally as of course, this is not the only way to sell.

For example, the type of daily emails I write. Very hot right now. Many businesses want to do something similar. The promise is that you can build a relationship with your marketplace… without hard-selling… and instead, based on trust, influence, and personality.

Which is all true. But it ain’t new.

It goes back to Matt Furey… who probably got it from Dan Kennedy, who was sending weekly faxes, very similar in tone and content to what you’re reading now, but 20 and 30 years ago.

And if you asked Dan — if you could get him on the fax — I’m sure he would say that what he was doing then wasn’t new either. Somebody in the 70s and 50s and probably 1920s was probably doing the same long-form, personality-infused, frequent-contact marketing — just in a slightly different format.

So my point for you is that there’s a lot of value in knowing the history of your industry. Don’t be a scammer — I’m not advising that. But there’s almost nothing new under the sun, and it pays to know what came before you.

Which brings me to my offer, in case you didn’t take me up on it yesterday.

It’s to get a free copy of my Niche Expert Cold Emails training.

Because in my early days of working as a freelance copywriter, I hit upon two cold emails that got me client work.

​​Both of them were different from other cold email techniques out there. But I doubt they were truly new.

​​Had I been a better student, I probably would have found these ideas sooner, instead of having to wait to discover them on my own.

Whatever. You can do better than I did. Take advantage of my experience instead of fumbling around in the dark. Especially now that it’s free — well, free in money terms. For the full details:

https://bejakovic.com/free-offer-niche-expert-cold-emails/

Hidden desires of would-be copywriters

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Last night, a friend sent me an interesting article that Kevin Rogers of Copy Chief had written. The article is about MMA fighter Conor McGregor and features 14 points — a lot. The one that stood out to me was this:

#2 – Know what your audience REALLY wants.

Do you really know what your audience wants? Most people think they do, but there are often subtle differences in what they want… and what they REALLY want.

In the UFC winning is not enough. Sure, Conor is a professional fighter, and fans like to see wins.

But what the audience and organization REALLY want is a “finish”. They want to see one competitor knocked out cold on the canvas.

Hidden desires. Hidden from the world. Hidden from ourselves.

Maybe you think that the desire to see somebody knocked out isn’t so hidden. Fine.

So here are a few more tricky and subtle examples of what some markets REALLY want. They come from copywriter Chris Haddad:

1. Numerology. Not really about divining the future or understanding the universe. People in this market really just want to feel special.

2. Bizopp. Not really about the millions or even the lambo. People who go for these offers really just want to feel competent… and wipe the smug, dismissive look off their brother-in-law’s face.

Which begs the question… what do people in the “become a copywriter” niche really want?

For many of them, it’s not about making money… or writing as a new career… or the independence that comes with this job.

I know this for a fact. Because there are proven and well-trodden paths to success as a copywriter. But in spite of knowing the path, these people never take the first step. And if they take the first step, they never take the second.

I’ll be honest with you:

I don’t know what these people are really craving. Not on a primal level. Maybe you have some ideas and you can tell me.

Or better yet, maybe you don’t know either… because you yourself really are after the money, the new career, or the flexibility and freedom.

If that’s the case, I can point you down a well-trodden path to success. The path that I’ve personally taken. I’ve written up all the directions inside a little guidebook I’ve titled:

“How To Become A $150/hr, Top-Rated Sales Copywriter On Upwork: A Personal Success Story That Almost Anyone Can Replicate”

This book has my best advice for the early years of being a copywriter, whether you’re on Upwork or not. The how-to info inside is underpriced by a couple of factors of magnitude.

And as I wrote last night, I will be retiring this book permanently in a couple of hours. Depending on when you’re reading this email, the book might already be gone.

One final point about this $5 investment:

The information in this book won’t transform you into a copywriting success. You gotta take those steps yourself.

But if you are willing and able to put one foot in front of the other… then this book will point the way. Plus it will give you valuable tips and shortcuts it took me several years to discover.

​​So if you’ve got $5, and you want this before it disappears, here’s where to go:

https://bejakovic.com/upwork ​​

Become a copywriter by tomorrow

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Yesterday, reader Michael Harris wrote me to say:

I just wanted to let you know that I bought your Upwork book last week or the week before. I read it in an hour or two.

Yesterday, I got around to updating my profile and began bidding on jobs. Today, I closed my first job.

I used all of your tips and tricks (even the ‘hack’ you removed from the book) and landed a job in a day.

Full disclosure: I’m not new to copywriting, but I am new to Upwork as lead generation. The rate for this job is dog shit, but it’s the first step in getting started on Upwork.

I think the biggest takeaway I took from your book is this; don’t try to be clever. Just give them what they want, as long as it’s the truth.

My proposal was about 3 sentences long. Nothing fancy. Just what they wanted to see. 15 minutes after I sent the proposal I’d been hired. Nice.

Thanks for your help John

My point is, becoming a copywriter doesn’t have to take years. Even months.

You anoint yourself in this field. You can do it from today to tomorrow.

“Whoa there John. Can’t you read? Michael said he was already a copywriter and just using this as new source of leads.”

If that’s what you want to focus on, so be it. But let me offer another perspective:

Back in 2013, after wining his UCF debut, future two-division champion Conor McGregor gave an interview. McGregor is a master of self-promotional boasting and bluster, on a level that matches former President Donald J. Trump.

And yet, here’s what McGregor had to say about his confidence and invincibility:

“I’ve lost MMA fights. I’ve lost boxing fights. I’ve lost so many fights in the gym. I lose all the time. It is what it is. Any true martial artist will know in order to succeed at this game you must lose a fucking shitload of times.”

The good news is, you’re not aspiring to be a pro MMA fighter. You don’t need to risk getting your leg snapped in two. You don’t need to get your head kicked in. You don’t even need to expose your soft throat to strangulation until you’re an inch away from death.

The worst that can happen to you is you write something… the client comes back, tearing his hear out (not yours) and screaming, “What is this mess? Who told you you could be a copywriter?”

Tell ’em it was this guy, John Bejakovic, whose email newsletter you read.

And once your emotions subside in a few hours’ time, then start looking for your next gig. And as you do it, think how, in the future, you can avoid the big mistakes you made in that first job.

Again, that’s the worst case. And it ain’t all that bad.

The more likely case is, you deliver something… it’s okayish… particularly for the crap wage you’re getting paid. That’s a real success, and something you can build off.

But you know what?

You either get this or not. I’m just telling you this to be fair.

Because I mentioned a while ago that I will be retiring my Upwork book. Well, the time has come.

I will remove it from Amazon tomorrow night, after the final Influential Emails call, probably around 10pm CET.

I’ve promoted this book a few times before. It’s got my best advice for the early years of being a copywriter, whether you’re on Upwork or not. The how-to info inside is underpriced by a couple of factors of magnitude.

It’s going away tomorrow, for good. So in case you want to get it before it disappears, and maybe even apply some of the information it contains, here’s where to go:

https://bejakovic.com/upwork

Suicidally depressed copywriter tells you how to have more fun

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“Freelance copywriting changed my life. I went from making 30 grand a year to making 200 grand a year in a year and a half. That changed my life.”

I was talking today to a very successful copywriter who sells his own products. (Not the guy who said the quote above. We’ll get to him in a second.)

The copywriter I was talking to called me out on the fact that I seem indifferent about promoting myself and my list.

And it’s true. One reason is because I do client work. Client work makes me money, and so I don’t rely on my list for an income. But client work also takes up my time, so I don’t have as much drive to promote myself.

“When I was a copywriter making 20 grand a month, I was hustling every day for that 20 grand. I was trading time for money.”

Once my conversation with the very successful copywriter wound down, it was time to write this email. So I started shuffling through notes for an idea to share with you.

And it just so happened that after a handful of shuffling, I came across an interview I’d listened to last year. A second very successful copywriter, also selling his own products.

“My absolute best year as a freelance copywriter I made, I think, $350,000. My worst year as a product owner, which was a few years ago, when I could not work, when I was suicidally depressed, and I was so sick I could barely get out of bed and I was basically crippled, I made $400,000. But I didn’t do any work. I think I wrote one sales letter that year.”

Maybe you can guess from that quote who said it. It’s Chris Haddad.

Chris is​​ who I quoted at the top and throughout today’s email. He’s also somebody I found myself subconsciously imitating on more than one occasion (hello horror advertorials).
​​​
So let me leave you today with a bit of advice from Chris. Or really, am I just telling for my own benefit? In any case, here’s what Chris says:

“The biggest piece of advice I give copywriters is start being a product owner instead. I only wish I had done that 3 years earlier. I would have made a lot more money. And it’s a lot more fun.”

And if you want to get on my list — or not, it’s still up to you, no pressure — here’s where you can sign up.

Charging money for common human courtesy

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One day last week, I got an enthusiastic email from a guy in the UK.

He’d seen my presentation on what I call horror advertorials. He loved the idea. And he was trying to build something similar for the brand he’s working for.

Would I be willing to review what he had done and give pointers?

I wrote back to say I could do it as a consulting gig.

I got an email in response with a sad face emoji. “No worries – sure that may be interesting – how much would you charge?”

I wrote back with a price that would make it worth my while. More than the cost of a Starbucks Creme Frappuccino… but a drop in the bucket for anyone planning to run cold traffic to an advertorial and have it make money.

But I never heard back.

I don’t know why. It might have to do with the price I sent back. Or it might have nothing to do with it. But if that really turned this guy away, it got me wondering… what might he have been looking for really?

Perhaps a pat on the back. “Wow you really got this. Good job!”

Or perhaps a miracle band-aid. “If you add in the word ‘amazing’ in your headline here, it will increase conversions by 30%.”

But there’s one thing I doubt he would have wanted.

Serious critical feedback. Advice to throw out big chunks of stuff he had spent time and effort on. Advice to do significant extra work in order to have a real chance at success.

So here’s what I’m getting at. I say it for your benefit as much as my own.

In my history of offering free advice, I don’t remember the last time it turned into anything. Anything, that is, other than meetings, excuses, and requests for more free advice.

That’s why these days, I keep the following words from Dan Kennedy on a little slip of paper under my pillow while I sleep:

“Get paid. Do nothing free. Especially dispense advice. There is nothing more futile on Earth than giving anybody free advice. At best, they don’t appreciate it. At worst, they resent it.”

Maybe you don’t appreciate that either.

But maybe you get it. Maybe you just feel hesitant about making the transition… about putting your foot down and charging for things that seem to be common human courtesy… or worse, charging for things that everybody else seems to be giving away for free.

All I can tell you is, I’ve been there.

It’s taken me time and mental effort to make the transition myself. I have advice on how you might do it too. And when I do write it up one day — well, I bet you can guess. I’ll take my own advice. But if that don’t turn you away, and you want to know when I put this advice out, then here’s the first step to make sure you get it.

Woo-woo client attraction advice

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A couple days ago, a reader named Daniyal wrote:

“Please talk about looking for clients and becoming better at marketing your own self as well.”

I shared a good resource for marketing your own self in my email from two days ago.

And as for finding clients… I might be the worst person to ask about that.

I never had a good system for getting clients once I got off the freelancing platforms. What’s more, I never cared much.

Because I have zero debts in my life…. I have zero dependents tugging on my shirtsleeves and asking for an allowance… plus I can survive for a long time without food.

In other words, even when I had zero clients, and no money coming in, I didn’t panic and I didn’t change much about what I was doing.

With that preamble, there is one thing I can recommend for getting clients. But let me warn you. It’s rather woo-woo, at least the way I look at it.

Let me set it up:

A few days ago, I wrote to Chris Thompson. Chris is the CEO of Mike Mandel Hypnosis. If you don’t know them, you might want to. They put out tons of interesting stuff that can be relevant for marketers and copywriters.

I’ve been following Mike and Chris for a few years. But recently, I realized their email game is weak. So I wrote to Chris to ask if they want my help with emails. And as I was getting ready to click “Send,” I froze and thought:

“What the hell am I doing? What will I do if they say yes?”

Because I’ve got all the client work I want as far as my 20/20 eyes can see. Besides, I have this newsletter and the books and future mystery projects I am working on for you.

But still I sent the email to Chris.

And that’s my client-attraction advice.

Be respectful of your opportunities. Because the more opportunities you take, the more you get.

And vice versa. The fewer you take — whether because you’re booked up, tired, or simply unmotivated — the fewer opportunities you will get in the future.

This doesn’t mean you have to accept all the work that’s offered to you. It doesn’t mean working 36 hours a day… or working for wages you find unacceptable… or working on projects you find repulsive.

But the way I see it, there is some secret spider web, which connects clients. Once you start jumping up and down on one corner of that web, no matter how remote, it gets the attention of the other spiders, I mean clients, in other places. And if you keep jumping up and down, they will seek you out. Sooner or later.

(By the way, if you’re a guy, something similar happens with women in your life. At least in my experience.)

I told you it’s woo-woo. And maybe woo-woo is not your thing. In that case, perhaps you could use a more materialistic interpretation of what I’m saying:

The fact is, you never know. Opportunities that don’t seem promising for whatever reason might turn out to be so.

Or they might lead to other opportunities indirectly… which wouldn’t happen without you putting in that initial interest and effort.

Or perhaps… each interaction with clients in your market, even if it goes absolutely nowhere… gives you an extra bit of confidence and preparation for when a new opportunity comes along.

My point is to take all the stuff you are dismissing now for whatever reason — because it looks unpromising… or beneath you… or because you’re simply too busy at the moment — and treat it with respect and attention and care.

Do this consistently, for a few weeks or (in my case) a few years. And whether you believe in woo-woo stuff or not, I bet you will be surprised and pleased at the result.

Here’s something that won’t please you:

I have an email newsletter. If you cannot stand reading daily emails, particularly about marketing and copywriting, stay away. Otherwise… well, there might be hope for you. Click here to sign up.

The business-changing magic of prepaying up

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Here’s a wealth attraction story from Dan Kennedy, which might benefit you whether you’re a pro or just starting out in business:

Dan used to work as a business and marketing advisor to lots of chiropractors. And one thing he always tried to implement is prepay.

In other words, get a prospect in the door… sell them a $10k package of treatments that last an entire month… and charge them up front for it.

“You could take a chiropractor who’s barely keeping the lights on and take him to $40,000 a month like this,” Dan said with a snap of the fingers. “Because he only needs four new patients.”

So that’s one thing to mull over if you’re established in business already. And here’s a second thing, which can benefit you even if you’re as new as a child:

Dan said that if the chiropractor was really good at the prepay sales pitch, he could close three out of four leads.

If the chiropractor was ok at the sales pitch, he could close two out of four.

And if the chiropractor was bad at the sales pitch… he could close one out of four.

So take that and conclude from it what you will.

​​What? You want to know what my conclusion was? Gah, all right:

I take from this story that it doesn’t matter if your inner game sucks. It doesn’t matter if you are raw and unskilled. Because if you have the willingness and bare capacity to follow a system, however awkwardly, you can see results. Not the best results possible… but results nonetheless.

And now let me remind you that enrollment for my Copy Riddles program closes tonight at midnight PST.

So if you’d like a last-minute reminder of what this program is about… or if you’d like to prepay for two months of intense copywriting treatments while I’m still taking on new patients… then here’s where to go:

https://copyriddles.com/

Unavoidable price increases that leave you sick in your stomach

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“Who will ever hire me after this?”

When I started working as a copywriter, I was charging a mighty $15 an hour.

“No matter,” I told myself. “It’s shit money. But I won’t stay here for long.” Because I had a plan. After I completed the first five jobs, I would raise my rate to $20/hr. Then I’d be living large!

So the first five jobs came and went. I raised my rate. Nobody noticed. I still found work, even while charging more for the same.

After five more jobs, I raised my rate again, to $25/hr. This time, I felt a little uneasy. Still, nobody noticed. I found work at the new rate.

Things were going ok for a while…

But then, I did something that felt borderline illegal. 10 new copywriting jobs came and went. And that meant, according to the price increase schedule I’d set for myself, I should go from $25/hr… all the way to $40/hr.

“That’s like an $80k a year salary! For the same work I was doing only two months earlier! At less than 1/3 the rate!”

I was nervous. Almost sick in my stomach. “Who will ever hire me after this?” I thought. I imagined all the copywriting clients of the world folding up their arms… banding together in a picket line, and saying… “Enough is enough! $40 an hour! For clacking on a keyboard! Who do you think you are — Stephen King?”

But no picket line ever formed.

Instead, within the space of about two and a half years, I went from $15/hr to $150/hr.

After every price bump, I still got work. I ended up making more money. And I found better clients than I had been working with until then.

Today, I no longer have an hourly rate. But the point stands:

You have to raise your prices regularly.

And if you’re anything like me… and you’d rather work on developing your skills than on growing your business… then set an unavoidable price increase schedule for yourself. And then stick to it, without thinking, delaying, or wavering.

Because odds are there will never be a good moment, a moment where you feel worthy of getting paid more.

Of course, maybe this is not relevant to you.

Maybe you’re ready to get paid as much as you can, as soon as you can, and you have no mental blockages about that.

But if you are a little skill squirrel, the way that I am, then set a schedule for yourself. It worked great for me. And it continues to work great.

And on that note, I would like to bring the conversation gently to my Copy Riddles program… which is open for enrollment, at the current price, until this Sunday.

This is the third time I’m running this program.

Each time I’ve relaunched it so far, the price has gone up.

That’s because I have a simple strategy. “Did I make more money than last time?” Then up goes the price.

And since I made more money this time than last time, the price of Copy Riddles will go up again, the next time I run it, some time in early 2022.

I’ve got a feeling it will be worth it at that higher price also, and people will still buy.

In part, because other copywriting courses are still way more expensive, and people are buying those.

In part, based on the feedback I’ve gotten from people who have gone through Copy Riddles, who say it’s full of copywriting aha moments.

In part, because I know first hand the effort and thought I put into creating this program… and because I know I would have gotten value out of Copy Riddles earlier in my copywriting career, or even now, had somebody else thought to create it instead of me.

But none of that is really a proper pitch for Copy Riddles.

For that, check out the link below.

All I really want to say is that, if you’ve ever wanted to buy something, but the price shot up before you got it… leaving you feeling uneasy, or maybe even a little sick in your stomach… well, here’s a chance to save yourself from that feeling in the future.

Assuming that is, that you have interest in joining Copy Riddles. Enrollment closes this Sunday at 12 midnight PST. To grab it at the current price, or for more info:

https://copyriddles.com/