Copywriting

The urgent opportunity of the “reverse testimonial”

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“I’d like to tell you about a huge opportunity with no downside.” If that sentence got your heart pumping, then take a breath and calm down. And then listen to what I have to tell you, because it’s very much related:

A while back, I read a book called Biz Op. It’s a confessional by a guy named Bruce Easley. Back in the 1970s and 80s, Easley ran business opportunity scams.

I’m not much for scamming people and I don’t suggest you do it either. But it’s undeniable that opportunity marketing works like magic. I’ve seen it first hand a few times when I applied opportunity marketing ideas in this very newsletter.

So all I’m suggesting today is that you occasionally take a look at opportunity marketers like Easley, and see how some of these ideas could be used in what you’re doing. I’ll get you started with an innovative idea I call the reverse testimonial.

You can find an example at the link below. It’s a page taken from a bizopp pamphlet that was one of Easley’s standards. He sent out the pamphlet to all people responding to his classified ads. And you can bet each page, including the reverse testimonial page, has been heavily tested, and heavily proven by results.

So take a look at the link below. You’ll see just how reverse testimonials work, and how you might profitably integrate them in your marketing too.

Or don’t take a look. After all, maybe you’ve got a legitimate reason not to do it right now. Like this zen-monk reader who wrote me in response to an earlier email:

“I’ll take a look later. I only get a few emails in my inbox each day, and I make sure to reread all of them several times before I let them slip away. So there’s no fear I won’t get to this soon.”

Or this second reader, who’s working in a field unrelated to marketing, and who wrote:

“I don’t need this idea right now. But I will come back to it when I will need it. In my experience, links on the internet are eternal. It’s never happened to me that I tried to open a page and got a 404 error.”

Or like this very successful and stretched reader, who once dashed away the following message:

“You don’t understand how busy I am. Sure, clicking on this link would take only a half second, and looking over the page only 3-4 seconds more. But if I kept doing that all day long, it might really add up to a few extra minutes of learning. And who’s got time for that?”

If, like these readers, you’ve got a legit reason not to click below, forget I said anything. On the other hand… huge opportunity… no downside. All you gotta do is click here:

https://bejakovic.com/reverse-testimonial

Deadline in the air tonight

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“You know the song by Phil Collins, ‘In the Air of the Night’
About that guy who coulda saved that other guy from drownin’
But didn’t, then Phil saw it all, then at a show he found him?”
– Eminem, Stan

I just found out that Phil Collins’s famous hit In The Air Tonight is not about a drowning that Phil witnessed. I thought it was for years, apparently like Eminem and millions of other people. But no. It turns out to be just an urban legend. Says Phil:

“So what makes it even more comical is when I hear these stories which started many years ago, particularly in America, of someone come up to me and say, ‘Did you really see someone drowning?’ I said, ‘No, wrong.’ And then every time I go back to America the story gets Chinese whispers, it gets more and more elaborate. It’s so frustrating, ’cause this is one song out of all the songs probably that I’ve ever written that I really don’t know what it’s about, you know?”

I know, Phil. It’s gotta be frustrating. Still, it’s a hell of a story… and maybe you should have kept quiet about the bland real origin of the song.

But whatever. Phil can’t hear me. Maybe you can. So let me admit why I bring all this up:

In The Air Tonight has been playing in my head all evening long. In part, because it’s getting late. In part, because I don’t want to be accused, like that mysterious person in Phil’s song, of standing by and not lending a hand to a drowning man.

So here’s me, making a last effort to help you out:

The deadline to enroll in my Copy Riddles program is nearing. The cart will close in a few hours, at midnight PST.

Maybe you couldn’t care less and you’re just fine, right where you are. But if you have any interest in enrolling in Copy Riddles, consider this a lifebuoy I’m throwing you. To grab it and use it while there’s still time:

https://copyriddles.com/

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/

More pie: How to sometimes get what you want, even if you can’t afford it

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Before he became a master copywriter, back when he was still a young man, marketing legend Claude Hopkins tried to get a better paying job.

And he tried to do it by talking about his poverty.

No dice. The boss wasn’t moved. He thought struggle and poverty were good for a young man.

So Hopkins admitted his true ambition.

He wanted to eat more pie. There was a boarding house that served pie every night, but he couldn’t afford to live there.

Turns out, the boss loved pie. He couldn’t bear the idea of a man being denied pie. What’s life without pie.

So he hired Hopkins, at a better salary, and even invited the young man to his home — to eat pie, of course.

I mention this because over the past week, a few people have written me to get free access to Copy Riddles. They cited their poverty and bad circumstances.

I turned them away. You can probably guess my reasons:

1. I like to get paid, and even people who are in bad circumstances can often pull together the money for things they really really want.

2. Letting in people for free because isn’t very cool to people who pay.

3. There’s a lot of truth to the idea that, unless you pay for something, you don’t value it.

You’ve probably heard all these arguments before. The only extra thing I can add is to suggest that, if there’s something you really really want, and you absolutely 100% can’t afford it, then talk about your lust for pie — or whatever your true ambition is — rather than about your poverty. It might open more doors.

That however, is not an invitation to write to me about your love of pie. It won’t get you an invite to my house for dinner, and it won’t get you into Copy Riddles for free.

In fact, nothing will get you into Copy Riddles for free, at least for this next round, which kicks off on Monday. But enrollment ends even sooner, tomorrow, Sunday night, at midnight PST.

So if you’d like to join and you can afford to do so… or even if you can’t afford it, but you can somehow scrape together the money because it’s really really important to you… 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/

The secret swipe file of the ages

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Today I’d like to tell you about the wisdom and the mysticism hidden inside a marvelous swipe file.

You just have to command this swipe file to serve you, and you will soon carry riches, fame, and power in the hollow of your hand.

Maybe you’re wondering what I’m on about. So let me reveal an age-old truth:

All commerce is fundamentally based on mysticism. On secrets. On magic.

Maybe you find that hard to believe. So let me tell you that’s an idea from direct marketing legend Dan Kennedy.

​​To prove his point, Dan once pulled out a page of the local newspaper. He started reading the direct response ads — the ones that have been proven by repeat sales.

“Let’s see… we’re giving away free coins… we’ve got some whizzbang new device that is the secret key to weight loss… we got a smart clock that uses a satellite on the moon to correct itself…and then it’s a weight loss product, PATENT LEAN, which of course has magic patented ingredients that nobody else has… from Kuala Lumpur… that burns off the fat while you sleep and makes you not want to eat and grows hair.”

Who knows? Maybe Dan has a point. Maybe, once you dig deep down into successful offers and copy, it all boils down to mysticism and magic.

​​But if that’s true, what does it mean for you? ​​How do you profit from it? ​​​Here’s another insight from Dan, which transformed how I do marketing:

Look to the extremes.

​​In other words, if you want to harness a valuable copywriting technique or marketing approach… then look to the folks who specialize in this approach — and nothing else.

For example, if you want to frame your offer as a huge opportunity… then look to opportunity marketers. The real estate infomercials… the business opportunity classifieds… the Joe Karbo’s of the world.

And if you want to create an aura of magic and mystery in your copy… well… then look to the swipe file below.

Because on page 35 of this swipe file, you can find a magical ad I’ve been seeking for a long time. But until a few days ago, I could never find it.

This rare ad was written by Robert Collier.

It’s called The Secret of the Ages. As you probably realize, I swiped that headline for my headline today. And I did more than that.

Throughout this post, I also sprinkled in a few of the appeals and phrases from Collier’s copy. Because there’s some real magic in that ad.

Not only did it run for years… not only did it sell an ocean of Collier’s books… but it even foretold much of $40-billion self-development industry that was yet to to come.

Rub the lamp that is Collier’s ad, and out pops Tony Robbins’s “The Giant Within”… Earl Nightingale’s famous “Acres of Diamonds” story… and even the subliminal genie that A-list copywriter Gary Bencivenga summoned, every time he was writing one of his blockbuster sales letters.

But that’s not all. ​​

There’s copywriting power in this ad that transcends personal development. These are subtle ideas you can use to sell people health and happiness, power and riches.

That’s just one of the treasures you can find in the swipe file below.

And of course, since this is a newsletter about direct response ideas, this entire swipe file, 101 Greatest Ads of All Time, is yours free.

​​How is this possible?

Magic.

Well, not really. In truth, Matt Bockenstette is giving away the 101 Greatest Ads as the lead magnet for his Copy Legends newsletter.

But if you need a magic analogy to help you out, you can think of opting in to Matt’s list as whispering a secret phrase… one that gets you inside the cave of copywriting treasures.

So if you could use some mystery… power… success… in your copy and your business life…

Then peek inside the 101 Greatest Ads here, before the gates of the cave are sealed for good:

https://bejakovic.com/copy-legends

How I manipulated you, and how I might do it again

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It’s true. I shamelessly manipulated you. I might do it again. The worst thing is I’m so jaded I don’t think it’s a big deal any more.

I’ll explain everything. Let me start with this question I got two days ago, when I announced that enrollment for Copy Riddles is open again. A reader named Fanis wrote in:

I just read your entire sales page word-for-word and I love the concept!

The only thing that concerns me is you often talk about “getting away with extreme promises”, selling “uninteresting products”, “make up stuff”, and similar things. Now I am not against any of those, it’s just that my style of copy relies very heavily on bold honesty and staying away from over-hyping. Do you think Copy Riddles will still work for me? I really don’t want to be asking for a refund later (I’ve done it once and I hated it, because I hate it when they do it to me 😝)

It’s a fair question. Fanis is referring to these two bullets in the Copy Riddles sales letter:

* How A-list copywriters shamelessly make up facts and figures. Yep, they make up stuff, and you can do it too. It makes your copy more persuasive… and, as long as you follow what the A-listers do, the FTC won’t come a-knocking.

* The sneaky 7-word phrase Gary Bencivenga used to get away with making extreme promises. Gary was famous for providing proof in his copy… but this has nothing to do with proof. It’s pure A-list sleight-of-hand.

As I replied to Fanis, the objections he raises go to essence of what copywriting is. And that’s controlling attention and creating heightened emotions.

This means 1) stripping out details in your copy that don’t help your case (ie. not telling the whole truth)…

And 2) using reliable ways to get people more amped up than they would be normally.

That’s exactly what’s happening in those bullets above.

For example, it’s true that A-list copywriters sometimes make up facts and figures in a special way. But in every case I’ve seen of this technique, there was nothing devious or criminal about it. (Well, there was that Gary Halbert bullet with the “world-famous sex therapist”… but there’s a story behind that.)

In fact, the technique I’m describing in that bullet is worthwhile, solid, and maybe even unexciting. So of course, to sell that technique, I chose to omit those unhelpful details. And not only that.

I also chose to amp up the language and make it as dramatic as possible. “Shamelessly make up facts and figures.” What’s to be ashamed of, if you’re not doing anything criminal or devious? Nothing. Hence shameless, which is a powerful word to use in copy.

Because as you may have heard, people make decisions at an emotional level. Yes, you may have heard it. But you may still not get it, not deep in your gut.

So let me give you a second example, which might make you feel it:

Maybe you wouldn’t be reading this right now. Maybe not, had I written a less dramatic headline for today’s post. “How I heightened your emotions, and how I might do it again.”

“Sounds interesting,” you might have said. “Maybe later.”

That’s why I chose to use a more emotionally laden phrase. Manipulated you. It says much the same thing, but with negative connotations. And so, here we are.

Perhaps you’re inclined to shrug this example off. Perhaps you give me a free pass. After all, you’ve read halfway through this post already. Or maybe you kind of trust me.

But you shouldn’t discount what I did in today’s  headline. Because like I said, it goes to the essence of what copywriting is.

Like it or not, you’ve gotta poke, prod, jolt, shock, creep out, and unsettle people. You’ve gotta highlight what you want them to see, and hide everything else.

At least, that is, if you want to write sales copy… if you want to make decent money at it… and if you want to avoid struggling against the powerful current of human psychology.

Perhaps you’re not ok with that.

Perhaps, like Fanis above, and like me once upon a time, you’re still hoping you can write copy that “relies very heavily on bold honesty and staying away from over-hyping.”

If so, all I can say is godspeed. Maybe you will prove me wrong. Or maybe we will see each other again one day, after the market has broken your back.

But if you’ve made peace with consciously manipulating other people, both so you can 1) make money for yourself and 2) get solid, worthwhile, if unexciting solutions into the hands of people you’ve manipulated…

Then you’ll find that bullets are the #1 copywriting tool in more situations than you would ever believe.

And if you meditate on that sentence, you might be able to suck out a valuable persuasion lesson. But if you can’t get it, you can find it explained in round 6 of Copy Riddles, which you can sign up for until this Sunday, at 12 midnight PST. For more info on that:

https://copyriddles.com/

Marketing yokel discovers hidden way to write Ben Settle-style subject lines

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A long time ago in a galaxy pretty, pretty nearby, a marketing yokel subscribed to Ben Settle’s email list.

Now if you are reading this, odds are good you know who Ben Settle is.

​​No, he didn’t invent daily emails.

​​But he did do the most to popularize this marketing format… to develop it… and to teach it… so I and hundreds of other copywriters like me could get paid writing emails much like what you’re reading.

But let me get back to my story of the marketing yokel.

The very next day, our hero opened up his first Ben Settle email. The email had a big promise in the subject line, something like:

“How to have power & influence even if you don’t deserve it”

The yokel tore through the email. He was disappointed to find no step-by-step instructions there. Instead, he hit upon a link at the end, which led to a pitch for a paid newsletter.

“You got me once,” our marketing yokel muttered. “Never again.”

But the day after, a new email arrived from Ben Settle. The exact subject line is lost in the mists of history, but it might have been:

“What never to write in an email subject line”

Seeing this, our marketing yokel forgot his resolution from the day before. He opened this second email… chuckled a bit at the writing… and again hit a paywall.

“Ya sonova—”

Never again, right? Of course. The third day, another Ben Settle email arrived, with a colorful wrapper like:

“A secret way of using an ordinary pocket watch to get booked solid with paying clients”

Our hero hung his head, admitted defeat, and opened up the email to start reading.

Now here’s a Darth Vader-level reveal, which you might have seen coming. Cue James Earl Jones’s voice:

I AM that marketing yokel. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

Fact is, I kept getting sucked into Ben’s emails until I eventually broke down. One day, I became a subscriber to his email newsletter. I stayed subscribed for over 3 years. Plus as of today, I’ve ponied up an extra few thousand dollars to buy his other books and promoted offers.

There’s more to Ben’s email system than great subject lines. But subject lines are a big part of it, especially in the early days.

Great subject lines take people who haven’t yet bonded with you… who aren’t familiar with your inside jokes… who don’t yet care about your personality and your unique views… they take those people and suck them in. Just like they sucked me in until I was ready to start buying.

But now I’ve graduated from marketing yokel to somewhat of an email marketing authority. So I’d like to share a subject line tip with you.

It’s something I learned from Ben, though he doesn’t explicitly teach it, not as far as I know. It’s a ready-made way to come up with great subject lines like the ones above. Take a look at the following:

“How to have ‘killer sex’ at any age even if you don’t deserve it”

“What never to eat on an airplane”

“How to stop smoking using an ordinary hairbrush”

These are all bullets from classic promos. Compare them to Ben’s subject lines above. You will see that Ben adapted these classic bullets, either in form or in intent, to create his own subject lines.

So that’s my tip for you for today.

If you have your own list and you want to start mailing it daily… then classic bullets offer great templates for your subject lines.

And if you have no list, but you’re hoping to work with clients…

Then to me it seems like email is it. For every successful VSL and sales letter copywriter I come across, I meet three others who focus only on email.

By the way, I mentioned yesterday I’d make a prediction.

It has to do with a stubborn belief, popular in copywriting circles, that long copy will never die.

Well, my prediction is it will.

My reasoning is that, in an age when most of us feel our sense of control is under growing threat, we become more sensitized to outside manipulation.

Anything that looks and smells like advertising will be the first victim of this new sensitivity. And 45-page sales letters will be the first to go.

I think there are signs of this already. Or maybe I’m just biased, because I myself have a hard time reading a long-form sales letter for products I’m personally buying.

In any case, email marketing is still holding on, and likely will for a while.

And if your client wants email, the first thing he (and his customers) will care about is subject lines.

So my tip for you (again) is classic bullets.

And speaking of classic bullets, my Copy Riddles program is open for enrollment for the next few days. It’s all about teaching you sales copy, using the mechanism of bullets.

No, Copy Riddles is not just for learning bullets.

It’s also not just for email subject lines.

But even if that’s all this program gets you to do… then I reckon it can easily pay for itself.

So in more words of Darth Vader, “You’ve only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training.” If you want to find out more about the power of bullets:

https://copyriddles.com/

A chance to be afraid of how much you love Copy Riddles

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“Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.”
— Michael Scott, Dunder Mifflin Paper Company

Today, I am officially re-opening enrollment for my Copy Riddles program.

This only happens a few times a year. And whenever it happens, I get people coming and asking me a version of the following question:

“Is Copy Riddles about how to write bullets specifically, or copy in general?”

Oh ye who don’t read the sales page. (Though I can’t really blame you. I rarely read the sales page either. And I think there’s a valuable industry prediction to be made about that… something I will talk about tomorrow.)

But to get back to the question whether Copy Riddles is about copy OR bullets. In Michael Scott’s words:

“Simple. Both.”

In a few more words:

Copy Riddles is about implanting copywriting fundamentals into your head. Stuff you can’t do without if you write sales copy… like promises and proof and intrigue… and then some of those dirty and hidden copywriting tricks you may have heard whispered about between insiders.

So that’s the outcome that Copy Riddles focuses on getting you. And the mechanism to get you there… that’s A-list bullets. Because to mangle another Michael Scott quote:

“Copywriting courses are the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about copywriting and sell it. So you know you are getting the best possible information.”

That’s not what I wanted to do with Copy Riddles. That’s why I went with a unique mechanism.

So each day, for 8 weeks, you get a few paragraphs of text… you write a few bullets based on that text… and then you compare your bullets to the bullets of A-list copywriters, selling that same text. Do it regularly… and you’ll soon be afraid of how much you love the learning that’s happening inside your head.

Anyways, that’s my intro for Copy Riddles. I’ll talk more about it over the coming week (except Thursday, something different on Thursday).

If by chance you are already convinced you want in on Copy Riddles… or if you want to (cough) read the sales page, you can do that at the link below.

Otherwise, I’ll sneak in more subtle pitches for Copy Riddles over the coming days, all the way until Sunday. (Enrollment closes Sunday at 12am PST, and the program kicks off on Monday.)

So fear it or love it… here’s the link:

https://copyriddles.com/

How copywriters can avoid ham-handed segues that get them eaten alive

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Here’s one of the greatest (and for copywriters, most instructive) scenes in Hollywood history:

“Now then, tell me,” says the doctor behind the glass. “What did Miggs say to you? Multiple Miggs in the next cell. He hissed at you. What did he say?”

The young FBI agent on the other side of the glass adjusts a bit in her chair. “He said, ‘I can smell your cunt.'”

“I see,” the doctor says with a slow blink. “I myself cannot.”

That’s from the first meeting of Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter and FBI agent Clarice Starling, in The Silence of the Lambs.

Hannibal Lecter is a genius psychiatrist who happens to be a serial killer. ​​

Clarice is a young FBI trainee. She’s been sent to get Lecter’s help on a case of serial murders.

In those first few moments of the meeting, Clarice does lots of things right:

She makes a damaging admission (“I’m a student”). She flatters Lecter (“Maybe you can decide whether I’m qualified to learn from you”). She makes the embarrassing admission about Miggs. And she shows interest in the drawings of Florence on the walls of Lecter’s cell.

“All that detail just from memory, sir?” she asks.

“Memory, Agent Starling, is all I have instead of a view.”

So far, so good. And then comes the rupture:

“Well,” says Clarice with a nervous smile, “perhaps you’d care to lend us your view on this questionnaire, sir.”

Lecter tilts his head and smiles. Like he’s talking to a 3-year-old girl who just fell and scraped her knees.

“Oh no no no no no,” he says. “You were doing fine. You had been courteous and receptive to courtesy. You had established trust with the embarrassing truth about Miggs. And now this ham-handed segue into your questionnaire. Ts-ts-ts… it won’t do.”

And that’s exactly what can happen to you, and what will happen, unless you take care.

Because your prospect reads your value-laden content or watches your entertaining video. And then comes the pitch.

“Oh no no no no no,” your prospect says with a sympathetic tilt of the head. “It won’t do.”

If you don’t believe that that’s how it is, then let me make a damaging admission of my own.

A while back, an A-list copywriter sent out an email.

I’d been on his list for years, but he never ever emailed anything.

And here he was, writing, and with an interesting personal story. He got me sucked in.

And then, with a ham-handed segue, he switched to an offer for a course he was selling.

I’ll tell you this. I wasn’t as cool and courteous as Hannibal above. I might have cursed at my laptop. And that’s even though I make my living doing the same thing as this guy… and though I should be immune to being pitched.

So my point for you is this:

Indirect selling works. But you have to be better than Clarice was in that opening scene.

Your indirect lead is not just about building a bit of relationship, good will, and rapport.

In the indirect-selling bait, before you get to the switch, you have to do something critically important.

What exactly?

You can find out about that inside my Most Valuable Email training. Because the above email is an email that uses my Most Valuable Email trick.

If you want an explanation of how and where this email uses the Most Valuable Email trick, you can find that in the Most Valuable Email Swipes, which is something I give you along with the core training of the course. Look up #10 in that swipe file, and you will see the trick in action. Plus as a benefit, you will learn how to avoid ham-handed segues that get you eaten alive.

To get it now:

https://bejakovic.com/mve/