Psychology Behind Advertising

I could not be in better company

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Today I’ve got quite the testimonial to share with you. Please indulge me.

This testimonial comes from a man who has sold 8 million books, and who, through his marketing and copywriting savvy, has gotten his business partner, who is the face of their business together, on 6,000 radio shows and 120 TV appearances, including the Oprah Winfrey Show.

This man’s name is J.Michael Palka. Somehow J.Michael found my “10 Commandments of Con Men, etc.” book. He read the book, and then he wrote me to say:

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John,

I have been writing copy for decades.

I have read, listened to and watch everything available on copywriting.

Probably have 500GB of copywriting material from all the greats and a few from the not so greats.

Your book is right there at the top.

As a master of marketing for over 50 years (my business partner and I sold 8 Million of our own self published books in print), I understand the foundation for marketing is psychology which I have studied for decades.

And your book blew me away.

Why I never heard of it before mystifies me. But the Universe always delivers when the time is right.

I will read it a few more times to get a full grasp of some of the concepts.

Your book is one of 2 books I will always have with me. The other is Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz. You could not be in better company.

Thanks for your effort in writing the book. And may you live a long, healthy and fruitful life.

===

I feel I should pull out some kind of a clever marketing or psychology lesson to share with you out of all this…

… but can’t I just share a glowing testimonial from time to time?

If you really want a some clever marketing or psychology lessons, I’ve written a book that’s full of that. People who are in the know like this book and recommend it quite highly. If you haven’t read it yet, your copy is waiting for you, right now. Here’s where you can find it:

https://bejakovic.com/new10commandments

[Psych Psundays] Cops and robbers

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For the past couple weeks, I’ve been running a new email series I call Psych Psundays. The first week, the response was good. The second week, it was also good:

#1. “Wow. Thank you, John.”

#2. “Lovely email John – many thanks for writing it – I loved reading it. Great storytelling.”

#3. “These Psych Sundays are helpful.”

#4. “Honestly this came at the right time for me. Just started a new creative strategist role – my first time writing ad scripts – with a new supplement brand. Since this is my first time doing this, I’ve been fighting similar thoughts like “This isn’t right for me, I only know email”… big imposter syndrome stuff. Been taking the next step and fighting those thoughts, leading up to submitting my first ads, was wondering if they’d be ripped to shreds, but the only real feedback I got was “good ads 🔥”… So it’s been a trip.”

This third week, Psych Psundays continues, and threatens to bleed into Pself-Help Psundays instead.

Will this be the end of this series as readers unsubscribe in disgust?

Or will I tell you something interesting and possibly valuable?

Let’s see.

I will start by admitting that last week I rewatched the 2002 Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs. You might know it better in the 2006 remake version by Martin Scorcese, called The Departed.

The movie tells the story of a drug kingpin and a police captain, each of whom plants a mole in the other’s organization.

The cops and criminals keep clashing, pulling away to try to outwit each other, and clashing again.

This coming together and pulling away is precisely what makes the movie tense and fun to watch, all the way to the final showdown, where everybody loses and order is restored to the universe.

Compare that to an article I read a while back about a man named Daniel Kinahan. The article asked a simple question, “An Irish drug dealer, Daniel Kinahan, commands a billion-dollar cocaine empire from the U.A.E. Why isn’t he in prison?”

The background was that Kinahan’s father, Christy, grew up middle class in Dublin, but got into the drug trade. Christy was smart, polite, and careful. Unlike everybody else in the drug business, he was not an addict himself.

Still, in the first few years of his career, back in 1987, Kinahan Sr. got caught and served a few years in prison.

After he got out, Kinahan Sr. made changes to how he was running his drug trafficking business to make it less likely he would get caught.

When his son Daniel took over, there were even more changes introduced, and the risk was reduced even further.

The result is that the Kinahans have been running one of the world’s biggest cocaine organizations, but continue to live free in Dubai, and apparently the police cannot or will not touch them.

Frankly, not much of a story there, and definitely not worth a movie.

A couple weeks ago, back in the inaugural Psych Psunday email, I mentioned I was reading a book called Games People Play. The book is a catalogue of “games” — repeated personal interactions that are played for ulterior motives and payoffs rather than the obvious reasons.

One game described in Games People Play is called “Cops and Robbers.” It’s about real-life cops and robbers, or at least some of them.

The game of “Cops and Robbers” is played for a combination of excitement and security. The excitement comes from being chased. The security comes from being caught and put back to the same place where the robber is used to being, whether that’s the local slum or prison.

But here’s the bit I found interesting. Not every criminal plays “Cops & Robbers.” From Games People Play:

“There seem to be two distinctive types of habitual criminals: those who are in crime primarily for profit, and those who are in it primarily for the game — with a large group in between who can handle it either way. The ‘compulsive winner,’ the big moneymaker whose Child really does not want to be caught, rarely is, according to reports; he is an untouchable, for whom the fix is always in. The ‘compulsive loser,’ on the other hand, who is playing ‘Cops and Robbers,’ seldom does very well financially.”

I found this distinction between “pros” and “C&R players” interesting. It’s the difference between the “Cops & Robbers” players as dramatized in Infernal Affairs, and the Kinahans, the real-life untouchables and compulsive winners, who don’t really make for a good story, but who do live rich and free.

This distinction between “pros” and “players of Cops & Robbers” goes way beyond the criminal world. If you ask me, this same distinction applies pretty much everywhere in life, including the direct response industry.

Publicly, the DR industry all about dramatic transformations and secret push-button solutions that will make you lose weight or turn you into a millionaire in the next 24 hours.

Privately, behind the scenes, the DR industry is built on the Recency-Frequency-Monetary Value formula.

Basically, it’s about selling the same thing, over and over, to people who have been buying for years, people who actually have ulterior motives than making money or losing weight quickly, even though that’s what they they are paying for.

And this is where we veer from Psych Psunday.

Psychology is good at classifying and diagnosing. For how to change, you gotta go to a different section of the bookstore, the self-help section.

For example, I once read a book called Straight-Line Leadership. At its core, it’s about the distinction between “straight-line people” and “circle people.”

It’s the exact same distinction as Games People Play makes, between “pros” and “people who play Cops & Robbers.”

The difference between Straight-Line Leadership and Games People Play is that Straight-Line Leadership tells you that you can become a straight-line person today.

You don’t have to keep quitting or “being caught” once things are going well. You can simply keep going in a straight line, onwards and upwards, like a compulsive winner.

And if you do encounter a setback (eg. you get thrown into jail, like Kinahan Sr.) you can simply come out of jail, make some changes, and get back on the straight line.

A master of direct marketing once wrote:

“One of the greatest lessons I learned about direct marketing over the years is that if it ain’t boring, you’re doing it wrong. If you’re juggling too many balls, running around frantically putting out fires all the time, if every day is a constant uphill battle to succeed… then… something ain’t right. This business, when done correctly, should be dull, boring, slow moving (even at high speed), and mostly automated.”

So there you go. To have a real shot at getting rich and free, get your kicks from somewhere other than your business.

Or don’t. Get your kicks from your business, keep playing Cops and Robbers, experiencing exciting ups and downs.

Many people do it, and there’s no shame in it.

But in that case, you can spare yourself the frustration of wondering why those ups and downs are always there, and realize they’re there because you want them on some level.

And now, a reminder that my Most Valuable Offer launches this coming Wednesday.

With Most Valuable Offer, I’m offering to give you my direct help so you can run a successful launch of a paid live workshop by the end of April, which you can then keep selling, in an automated way, until the stars fall from the sky.

For more info:

https://bejakovic.com/mvo

Fears of list rot

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Yesterday I launched a new offer, to help you launch a live workshop, delivered on a specific day that’s coming up soon, which I’m calling Most Valuable Offer.

I’ve had a few people sign up already. Among them was one list owner who said that his motivation is that he worries about list rot, and a live workshop could be a way to light a fire under his feet to combat list rot.

I dug in deeper. I asked him if he had seen signs of rot on his list. He explained:

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Not signs necessarily.

It’s more that the handful of times I’ve solicited engagement from my list to gauge interest in a particular product I was going to make, I got pretty good response. Then, when I’d start making it, I’d get too far in the weeds, then eventually, get distracted by life or some other thing, and then set it aside.

So, my concern is that they will start thinking I’m a flake who keeps asking for feedback, and then never coming through with the finished product. Which will lead to that rot.

So, I’m seeing this as that chance to spark that life back into the list by getting this MVO launched & out there.

===

One of the chapters I was considering for my “10 Commandments of Con Men, Pickup Artists, Magicians, etc” book was, “assume rapport.”

It’s a common behavior among many influence professionals like pick up artists, sales men, and stand up comedians.

Influence professionals behave how they want you to behave.

They treat you like a lifelong friend because they want you to treat them like a lifelong friend. They trust you because they want you to trust them. They find you endlessly fascinating and charming because they want you to find them fascinating and charming.

There’s a bigger principle here:

We all take our cues for how to behave from other people.

Influence professionals know this, and that’s why they take the lead. As with many things common to influence professionals, this applies more broadly to business and life, in ways that can be perfectly ethical.

In short, the above list owner’s fears of list rot are justified.

If you yourself behave like a flake, people will in time take their cues from you.

They will say one thing and do another. They will be late or not show up at all. They will make excuses or ghost you.

The good news is, the fix is easy, and and you can get started on it today.

The fix is to be punctual, to do as you say and to follow through, to make people a clear offer and ask them for a clear yes or no answer.

The results of that are both instant and long-term.

Instant, as in sales and a spike in engagement.

Long-term, as in a stronger bond with your list, greater trust in you and what you sell, and higher perceived value of your offers.

Like I said, yesterday I offered to help you launch and deliver your own Most Valuable Offer.

You can find the full details below.

If you decide that this offer is not for you, that’s perfectly fine.

If you decide it is for you, comment on the post below if you’re a member of Daily Email House, or if you’re not a member of Daily Email House, send me an email and tell me you’re in.

Here’s the link:

https://www.skool.com/daily-email-house/would-you-like-a-chocolate-chip-most-valuable-offer

[Psych Psundays] Why don’t you… yes, but

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I thought to introduce a new little series I could do every week, Psych Psundays.

I’m not a psychologist nor do I play one on TV, but I am interested in pop psychology. I read books about it, and I have a kind of live lab via this newsletter and other marketing I do. Plus I have a mind myself. I keep tabs on it. Sometimes I learn stuff that way too.

Let’s see if this new series could be interesting to you or not, and if it is, how long I can keep it going.

The first installation of Psych Psundays starts off with a reader question I got a few days ago:

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Hey John, how are you? I just wanted to ask if you could recommend a resource for audience building without video based content.

I’m writing daily emails but I can barely grow my newsletter, Twitter is filled with AI and it feels hollow.

The little subscribers I’ve gotten are from communities where I shared a little value with a link in my bio.

What would you recommend?

Thanks a lot and I hope you have a great weekend.

[name]

P.S. You don’t owe me crap of course so feel free to ignore this and go on with your day!

I just thought I’d ask you because I love your daily emails, it’s actually why I started writing daily.

===

I didn’t reply to this guy.

On the one hand, I enjoyed the flattery.

On the other hand, I suspect this was an attempt at playing a game, one that I no longer enjoy.

Right now, I’m reading a book called Games People Play by a guy named Eric Berne. The book was kind of a big thing back in the 1960s. It’s basically about repeated “games” — patterns of communication that people engage in, not for the stated and obvious purpose, but for ulterior motives.

The first “game” discovered by Berne was called “Why don’t you… yes but.” It’s the game I feel my reader above is asking me to play with him. It goes like this:

First, one person brings up a problem, say, they can’t grow their newsletter.

Then other person (or persons) jump in with suggestions:

– Why don’t you get on Twitter? Yes, but Twitter is filled with AI and feels hollow

– I hear YouTube works well, why don’t you try that? Yes, but I don’t want to create video content

– Why don’t you just keep posting in communities if that’s worked for you? Yes, but that takes way too much time

– Why don’t you try running ads? Yes, but I can’t afford ads

– Why don’t you try doing list swaps? Yes, but my list is too small for list swaps

– Why don’t you just invite perfect prospects to your list one by one? Yes, but that would be so slow and anyways who would say yes

The fact is, there are 1,001 ways to grow your newsletter. There are entire (free and high-quality) websites dedicated to cataloguing those ways. I myself have written about the topic dozens of times, including earlier this month.

But none of that really matters.

Because the point of playing “Why don’t you… yes, but” is not to get a workable solution, but to keep going until all the suggestions run dry, and the original person asking for advice can say, “See, I knew they had nothing for me.”

Ok. So now I probably sound like a dick, and a conceited dick at that.

I mean, have I really told you anything new here? Or have I just put a fancy new label on something that everybody already knows and does, while singling out a poor reader who just asked a question?

Fine. Let me tell you something else I read in Games People Play, which might be genuinely new and useful to you. Says Berne:

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While almost anyone will play this game under proper circumstances because of its time-structuring value, careful study of individuals who particularly favor it reveals several interesting features.

First, they characteristically can and will play either side of the game with equal facility.

This switchability of roles is true of all games. Players may habitually prefer one role to another, but they are capable of trading, and they are willing to play any other role in the same game if for some reason that is indicated.

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I can tell you that, until not too long ago, I myself was a ready player of “Why don’t you… yes but.”

Like Berne says, I happily played either side. I would both bring up frustrations and dismiss offered solutions… and at other times, I would also offer advice, have that advice dismissed, and then offer more advice.

I played either side happily because it made me feel smart and righteous.

Curious thing:

I noticed recently that I don’t play this game much any more.

These days, if people offer me advice, I nod. If it’s somebody I trust and respect, I do exactly as they say. Otherwise, I just let it go.

And on the other hand, when people come to me with their frustrations, I also nod. And then I say, “That sounds frustrating. What do you think you will do?”

Maybe, maybe, this change is tied to a bigger change in me, to being more proactive, less of a “thinker” who is mainly interested in collecting information, and a little more of a “doer” who at least sometimes tries and sees what will happen for real.

So that’s my mildly inspiring takeaway for you on this Pysch Psunday.

Maybe you are a habitual player of “Why don’t you… yes, but.”

If so, it’s not any kind of lifelong condition. If you like, you can change, starting right now.

And if you are having trouble getting yourself to take action, in spite of knowing what you should do… well, maybe Eric Berne is right about the “switchability of roles.”

I could tell you how to apply Berne’s idea to become more proactive, more of a doer. Except it would kind of defeat the whole point of this email.

Why fhe unsubscribe

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A couple days ago, I promoted a book by marketer Denny Hatch.

Not, as said in the email, because I read the book or planned to read it.

Instead, I recommended the book based on the strength of Denny’s reputation, as well as on the endorsement of one of my own readers, Jeffrey Thomas, who felt so strongly about this book that he worked with Denny to bring it back to life after many years of being out-of-print.

I honestly recommended Denny’s book as well as I could without reading it. I gave my (rather unique) reasons why I won’t be reading it, and I gave reasons why you should. From what I can tell by my Amazon Affiliates portal, I actually drove Denny some sales.

Good deed? Bad deed?

Well, turns out Denny Hatch was subscribed to my newsletter.

Turns out he read that email from a couple days ago.

Turns out he unsubscribed today. And not only did he unsubscribe, but he wrote in to tell me so:

===

Why fhe unsubscribe:

February 17, 2026 by John Bejakovic

“Today I will recommend to you a book that I have not read and that I have no plans on reading.” [the first sentence of the email I sent to promote Denny’s book]

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I’m not foolish enough to let a good “reason for unsubscribing” go to waste, even if that reason comes from a respected elder in the field.

So let me draw what lesson I can from this. It’s the most basic and fundamental lesson of them all:

Make people feel okay. In other words, make them feel seen, acknowledged, and respected.

And vice versa. If you make people feel unokay — ignored, dismissed, or disrespected — then even if you are somehow, objectively, but-why-can’t-you-see-it doing right by them, it won’t matter none.

They won’t be happy, and they will even feel the need to get back at you, to get the last jibe in.

This is such a fundamental law of human nature that I put it as Commandment I in my “10 Commandments of Con Men, Pickup Artists, etc.” book.

I’ve read that book, and I recommend it to you based on my own reading. But ok, I also wrote that book, so maybe that doesn’t count for so much.

Instead, let me share a bit of recognition and acknowledgement I just got regarding that book.

It comes from a successful online educator in the finance space. He just signed up to my list a few days ago, after reading my book and opting in for the bonus chapter. He simply wrote:

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I’m reading your book now for the 2nd time. Amazing what you can pick up the 2nd time around!

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Honestly that’s the best praise I think a book can get. I’m feeling quite okay right now as a result.

If you’d like to read my 10 Commandments book as well, maybe once, maybe twice, and learn some fundamental lessons about human nature, and how you can use them on occasion to bend reality to your will, and feel okay as a result:

https://bejakovic.com/new10commandments

Free 3-step plan to get more testimonials, perform an X-ray of your market, have buyers recommit to what they just bought from you, and possibly even drive more sales

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Here’s a 3-step plan to get more testimonials, perform an X-ray of your market, have buyers recommit to what they just bought from you, and possibly even drive more sales:

STEP 1. Sell an offer.

STEP 2. Offer people a bonus if they buy the offer now.

STEP 3. When people buy, send them an email with the promised bonuses. At the top of that email, paste in the following mystical, secret, wizard-like spell:

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Thanks for taking me up on [the name of your offer].

I’m curious, what made you do it?

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Yes, that’s it.

Yes, I can see your jaw drop and your eyes roll back in your head from mock amazement.

All I can say is, don’t knock it till you try it.

I’ve been doing this all week long with people who took me up on my recommendation for the 1-Person Advertorial Agency.

As usual when I interact directly with people on my list, I’ve been blown away by how little I know, how pale my own imagination, and how rich and surprising it is to go out to my market and talk to them.

You want examples?

I’ve gotten a dozen responses so far, with varying answers to “What made you do it.” Three categories have been prevalent so far:

A. The opportunity of the beast

This being a biz-in-a-box offer, it’s inevitable that people would cite the opportunity of it. Ok, that’s not surprising. But still, it’s different and more insightful to hear it in people’s own words:

#1. “I still don’t plan on leaving my job which I like no matter how successful it is though I might stop working overtime and do this instead once it starts paying. In the meantime it’s not that much of a time commitment that I can’t do both.”

#2. “I like Travis [Sago]’s model of working other’s lists but this method looks equally profitable but might be more helpful in expanding my skills.”

B. A point of differentiation

I hadn’t thought of this one at all, and I didn’t talk about it in my emails. And yet, multiple people brought up the uniqueness of advertorials as opposed to other things copywriters can offer:

#1. “It’s also a point of differentiation since it seems that everyone who hasn’t firmly planted their flag in the email copywriting camp (i.e. most copywriters/marketers) has rebranded themselves as a creative strategist overnight (soon-to-be most copywriters/marketers).”

#2. “Clients who are willing to spend money on advertorials are more serious overall. Meta ads is the bright shiny object that everyone and their dog in law wants rn. But advertorials have been around way longer and sophisticated clients like them a lot.”

C. Because of me

1-Person Advertorial Agency is a great offer, I think its value is self-contained.

And yet, the fact that my readers know and trust me (and maybe even like me???) definitely helps sell the offer, and makes it more credible — even when I say I haven’t used this system myself:

#1. “Plus, as a previous buyer of yours, products you recommend carry more weight than other offers.”

#2. “The fact that you are promoting it. Especially your honesty in saying you have not been taken the course yourself.”

So there you go. Sell something. Then ask people why they bought, and you shall receive.

And now, an important announcement:

The opportunity to get 1-Person Advertorial Agency + the bonuses I am offering is ending tonight at 12 midnight PST.

Along with the core 1-Person Advertorial Agency offer (full details at the sales page below), I am offering the following bonuses:

#1 Horror Advertorial Swipe File, which you can feed to the AI beast so it produces better, or rather, more horrifying advertorials

#2. 26 Rules of Client Management for Copywriters, taken from my Copy Zone guide to the business side of copywriting

#3. Most Valuable Postcard #1: Nota Rapida, which digs into the topic of building long-term relationships with copywriting clients much more deeply

#4. Ghostbuster, Nick Bandy’s 5-stage sequence for reactivating (reanimating?) dead clients or prospective clients

If you wanna get that, you will have to act today. But why not act now, while it’s on your mind? Here’s where to go:

https://bejakovic.com/advertorial-agency

Drive X: Why people online are such brutes

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Following my email yesterday about a new 2-star review of my 10 Commandments book, a bit of a discussion developed inside my community, Daily Email House, around the topic of:

“How do you deal with trolls, critics, and know-it-alls in your audience?”

One House member replied that she “stopped caring and installed a ‘mean’ part of me that can trigger people.”

To which another House member replied with some interesting historical context:

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The Internet has been like this since the age of the dinosaurs (the 1990s) when all we had were chat room and Usenet lists to abuse each other.

Back when everything was anonymous I did the same thing: develop a “mean” persona to play online because that’s the only way to survive a forest of predators.

After online turned social [sic] and we gave up on privacy, the urge to be a jerk behind a screen never went away.

It’s convinced me that a good portion of the public suffers from some kind of mental or emotional disturbance.

===

But if a good portion of the public has a mental or emotional disturbance… is it a disturbance any longer?

I’m not trying to be cute or contrary.

Rather, I think the House member above is on to a key insight about human nature.

It’s not that people are brutes by nature. But they do have a core human drive — let’s call it Drive X for the sake of mystery — which can turn them brutish.

Drive X is not the drive for sex, the way that Sigmund Freud taught.

It’s also not the drive for meaning in life, the way Victor Frankl taught.

Rather, Drive X is something entirely different, which permeates all our interactions with other human beings, online as well as offline.

When left unsatisfied, Drive X gives rise to brutish behavior.

But when Drive X is satisfied, people become open and relaxed and even compliant.

Which is why the world’s top influence professionals — from con men to copywriters to screenwriters — appeal to this Drive X and promise to satisfy it in their marks, prospects, and audiences, first and foremost, above all other considerations.

And that’s why, in my 10 Commandments book, I make Drive X the topic of the very first commandment, because it is PARAMOUNT.

If you have my 10 Commandments book already, you know what Drive X is, or you can look it up easily, at the end of Commandment I.

And if you don’t have my 10 Commandments book yet, you can find it below, and catch up to everyone who is clued in already:

https://bejakovic.com/new10commandments

The sneaky Christmas legend of THE ONE

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Today being December 25, let me tell you a story that happened on today’s date, supposedly.

The year was some time long ago, or thereabouts.

The place was London, though whether at St. Paul’s or not the French book doesn’t say.

Merlin had told the Archbishop of Canterbury to summon all the barons to London, for a sign would appear, showing who should become king and bring the realm out of lawless jeopardy.

And sure enow, during morning mass, right around the time that I’m writing this, specifically 11:02am, a great stone appeared in the churchyard, and an anvil atop that stone, with a sword, naked to the point, stuck inside the anvil. On the sword was an inscription in gold letters, which read:

“Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England.”

Maybe you know this story.

Lots of great knights tried to pull out the stone. They all failed.

Then on New Year’s day, a young boy named Arthur pulled out the sword, kind of by accident, and the sign was shown and the prophecy was fulfilled:

HERE WAS KING ARTHUR, NEW RULER OF THE REALM, KING OF ALL ENGLAND.

Good story, right? Right???

I don’t know whether this legend taps into something fundamental in the human psyche, or if it’s just that we’ve all been told it a million times over, in various forms.

One way or another, it’s snuck into our subconscious, where it does its damage. Because it’s not how reality works.

A few weeks ago, a member of my Daily Email House community, DTC copywriter and brand strategist Chavy Helfgott, posted a question in the group:

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I recently put a new page on my website called “Client Love”, which features screenshots of feedback I’ve gotten from clients.

And I noticed that there was a lot of really, really enthusiastic feedback there. Like multiple “wows”, “I’m amazed,” and “blown away.”

Here’s my problem: despite this great feedback, there’s this niggling little worm in my brain constantly whispering, “You’re not really good enough.”

This is problematic because it’s difficult to sell myself as THE answer to my ideal client’s problem… if I myself doubt that it is true.

I guess my question is – anyone have any ideas how to get past this hump? Why is feedback from my own clients not convincing me? How do I convince myself that my work is valuable, so I can more successfully convince others of this, so that they hire me?

===

Lotsa House members chimed in with great suggestions and ideas.

The one I want to highlight today came from speechwriter and trainer Alexander Westenberg. Alexander wrote:

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I agree with pretty much everything already said, but here’s an additional two cents: You say it’s difficult to sell yourself as THE answer, but to me I don’t see why you have to?

The way I like to look at it for myself (and pretty much everything else in life) is that you don’t have to be THE answer, just AN answer.

So for me, I’m a speechwriter and trainer. I have my way of doing things, and I honestly believe in it and in the value I bring. But a) there are other speechwriters out there, and b) some people prefer AI.

I provide AN answer to the problem of how to be a powerful and persuasive speaker. I’m even happy saying I’m one of the better answers — but I’m also happy saying that people can answer that problem in other ways.

===

Arthur legend notwithstanding, you don’t need to be THE ONE.

You can be ONE OF and still live a heroic life — a life where you take on great challenges that excite you, and get rewarded handsomely for your effort.

There are lots of ways you can be announce to the world you are ONE OF the better answers to whatever problem you are solving.

I think that having an online personal brand is one of the better ways to do that, though there certainly are other options.

I also think that, for having an online personal brand, an email newsletter is particularly attractive, and much easier to succeed with, though other platforms and formats can certainly work.

And if you do write an email newsletter, then I think a daily, personal-sounding email like what you are reading right now is a great way to go about it, though dailyish or weekly or occasional emails can work, and are certainly better than nothing.

And if you do choose to write daily emails, then one of the better ways to stick with it and be effective is to use daily prompts or topic categories for yourself, which keep your emails fresh and your mind focused, though of course using no structure and relying on inspiration each day is also an option.

You see where I’m going with this?

It’s an old story, one that I’ve told hundreds of times in these emails. But maybe you still don’t know how it ends? For that, take a look here, and see if you are willing to start on the journey that you are being invited upon:

https://bejakovic.com/deh

The best writer on the Internet?

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There musta been something in the water last week.

First, I exchanged a couple 1:1 emails with Derek Johanson of CopyHour, about a potential JV deal. At the end of of our exchange Derek wrote:

===

I LOVE your emails.

Literally the only daily emailer I read anymore. I’ve un-subbed from everyone. I don’t know how you do it daily. haha

===

Then I sent out one of my regular daily emails and I got a reply from Parker Worth.

In case you don’t know Parker, he is “just a guy with a neck tattoo,” as per his Twitter bio.

In reality, Parker is quite a bit more than that. He’s got an online audience of over 70,000 people spread across Twitter and LinkedIn and his email list, and in just two years, he’s built a 6-figure business on the back of it, teaching people how to write online.

Parker simply replied to my email and said:

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John,

I’m convinced you’re the best writer on the internet.

Happy holidays

===

Then I was on a mastermind call with marketer Travis Sago, somebody I have learned more from over the past couple years than anyone else, and somebody I’ve promoted to this list multiple times.

At one point, Travis said to his mastermind folks:

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I’ll brag on Johnny B. [that’s me, by the way].

Johnny B., when he sends affiliate promos, he brings a buncha people in.

He’s a micro influencer. He’s a big fish in a small pond. That’s all I am too.

But you’ve got these very, very rabid people, and they’re very responsive, because they’re not Mr. Beast and they’re not Grant Cardone. They’re very responsive and a lot of their little ponds will drive so much fucking traffic it’ll blow your fucking mind.

===

I’m telling you this because well, much like milk, endorsements and social proof are best used fresh.

Also, to show you that, as I’ve been claiming, I have the attention and trust of some influential marketers and business owners in my little corner of the Internet, many of whom read these emails every day.

Also, because tomorrow is the grand and dramatic start of my “I endorse YOU” auction.

This is in fact the last email I will send out before the auction starts.

I’ve been talking about this auction for what seems like an eternity. And yet I’m still getting questions about exactly where and how this auction will happen.

The details are the following:

1. The auction will kick off tomorrow at 6pm CET/12 noon EST/9am PST.

2. It will happen inside my Daily Email House community.

I will create a new post to lay out exactly what’s on offer to be auctioned off.

Bids will go as comments under the post. If you are a Daily Email House member, you will be able to bid, if you so choose, by posting your bid as a comment as well.

3. The auction will go on for as long as it has life.

I have had a few dozen people express interest in bidding in this auction. Let’s see who actually will bid, and for how long.

Since I am offering to transfer my own credibility to you (as for my credibility, see above), and since I am guaranteeing the winning bidder to make all his or her money back, I am hopeful of brisk business. But as I wrote yesterday, success is far from certain, and in fact, the road is treacherous.

4. I’ll have a free bonus for you if you make any kind of a bid, even if it’s just $2. The goal is to make this auction fun and lively for as many of my readers as possible.

5. Oh yeah, there will also be a pool party. Did I mention that? I recently moved to a new apartment. I now have a pool. On my terrace. The dimensions are ridiculous (enough to maybe fit a fridge inside, and not much else) and it’s more trouble than use to me. But I have a pool.

Would you like to join me for the pool party? If so, again, doors open tomorrow at 6pm my time. Here’s where to go:

https://bejakovic.com/house

If you won’t laugh too much if I fail, I’ll try it

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A couple years ago I read a biography of Harry Houdini. I wanted to learn about showmanship because I’m far from a natural showman. And who better to learn from than one of the greatest showmen of the 20th century?

One curious thing kept catching my eye throughout the book. The background:

The background:

Houdini built his career on accepting public, grand, and spectacular challenges.

He’d perform on stage and offer audience members the chance to tie him in the thickest of ropes from head to foot, twice over, however they pleased, to see if they could keep him from freeing himself.

He’d challenge secret service agents to cuff him with their most modern handcuffs, to see if these cuffs were the ones that could finally hold him.

He’d accept when police chiefs publicly announced they would lock him inside their most secure cells, because those cells were impossible to get out of.

Now here’s the curious thing that caught my eye:

Each time Houdini accepted such a public challenge, rather than boasting that this would be a cakewalk because of his supernatural skills, he would rather highlight the possibility that he would fail.

For example, one time, after Houdini had just escaped from handcuffs in a police station, the police chief joked he will lock Houdini in a cell to keep him from escaping. Houdini replied:

“Getting out of a cell isn’t in my contract and I don’t guarantee it, but if you won’t laugh too much if I fail, I’ll try it.”

I’ve been thinking about this as I prepare for my upcoming “I endorse YOU” auction.

As I wrote a few days ago, this auction is the riskiest offer I’ve ever made, for myself personally.

If nobody ends up bidding or the winning bid ends up too low, I will look incompetent, foolish, and very probably unskilled in this thing I claim to be good enough to teach, namely, making offers that people want to pay me good money for.

On the other hand, the more successful the auction becomes, the more obligation I am taking on, and the more risky it becomes that I will fail on the delivery side. After all, I am promising that the winning bidder will make back all of his or her investment, and that becomes progressively more difficult the higher the bid goes.

But I’ll try it nonetheless, for your entertainment.

If you won’t laugh too much if I fail, I’ll put my reputation and wellbeing on the line for you.

Here are the details of the spectacle:

Time: This Wednesday, Dec 10, at 6pm CET/12 noon EST/9am PST.

Place: My Skool community, Daily Email House

What to bring: Popcorn, binoculars, and possibly smelling salts in case the person next to you faints from the suspense

If you wanna get your seats to the most daring, most risky, possibly most lethal challenge of my career:

https://bejakovic.com/house