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Scarcity as a performance art

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I got a lot of replies to my “No B.S. scarcity” email on Saturday.

That email was about Dan Kennedy’s decision to close down signups to his No B.S. Marketing Letter. The email linked to an optin page for a livestream from Dan’s basement — hosted by Russell Brunson — in which Dan would explain his inexplicable decision to stop taking on new subscribers.

Here’s what a few people wrote me in response:

#1 “I’m enjoying how you managed to critique the probably fake scarcity while still using it on us all… 😅“

#2 “I registered for the livestream, John. I appreciate your integrity of not promoting since you hadn’t signed up. :-)”

#3 “If you tell me it’s worth it, I’ll probably subscribe too. If not, I will continue to read and reread Master Dan’s books.”

And then, there was one reader who replied to simply say:

“If Russell Brunson is involved, it’s fake.”

I followed up to ask if this reader had some previous experience with Russell. To which my reader replied:

“He embodies the worst of direct marketing and fake urgency/scarcity. But, it seems to be working so not sure where that leaves me.”

Legendary 19th-century conjurer Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin once wrote that a conjurer is an “actor playing the part of a magician.”

And legendary 21-st century marketer Dan Kennedy once wrote:

“This gets to a view of selling as a performance art. As such it is to be planned, scripted, physically choreographed, rehearsed, and ultimately performed. Most sales professionals unfortunately view the presentation as something that they should just be able to do.”

I’m not sure if this makes anybody in Dan’s audience — or in the audiences of all the marketers who are descended from him — feel better about the experience of witnessing scarcity as a performance art.

But it might clear things up, and explain where that leaves you — and that’s participating in a show.

One thing’s for sure:

Both Dan Kennedy and Russell Brunson are sales professionals of the highest caliber.

If you want to see them in action, there’s that free livestream from Dan’s basement in a few weeks’ time, explaining why Dan has decided to shut down new signups “for the foreseeable future.”

So if you’d like to learn something about effective marketing or simply watch two wonderful actors put in a great performance, you can sign up below.

And DO IT NOW — before all the free tickets have sold out and the infinite Zoom attendee limit has been exhausted and the deadline sirens start to blare. Here’s the link, which will self-destruct after you click on it:

https://bejakovic.com/no-bs-scarcity

If you open

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Just now, I went on Amazon and checked the top three ebooks in the “nonfiction” category. They are:

#1: “Two Women Walk Into A Bar”

#2: “The Amish Wife”

#3: “If You Tell”

Unless you know these books already, the titles give you no clue as to what they might be about. And yet, they are at the top of Amazon.

Only once you dig into subcategories and the subcategories of those subcategories to get to the the marketing bestsellers, do you find understandable titles like:

“1-page Marketing Plan”

“How To Get To The Top Of Google”

“The Psychology Of Selling”

What gives?

Is it better to have a mysterious and opaque title to suck in aimless passersby? Do clear, benefit-oriented titles just scream “sales pitch” and drive readers away?

I’m sure it’s obvious to you, but I like to flog dead equines. So let me point out that the top three nonfiction books were all written by people with large existing audiences… big celeb endorsements (the author of the Women/Bar book was on Oprah multiple times)… and giant marketing pushes from established publishers.

On the other hand, the marketing bestsellers went to smaller existing audiences and probably had smaller if any marketing pushes (the last one, Brian Tracy’s The Psychology Of Selling, was published in 2006 and probably gets no active marketing whatsoever any more).

In other words, the top of the top nonfiction bestsellers are there in spite of their titles. While for the marketing books, clear, understandable, benefit-oriented titles help overcome other limitations, and sell books that might not sell otherwise.

And on that note, I’d like to tell you that yesterday I recorded a short presentation, 4 Proven Hooks That Sell More Books.

Based on that clear, benefit-oriented title, you can probably guess what the presentation is about.

I will be giving this presentation away as a bonus in a couple days’ time, if you buy a book I will be promoting. But more about that when it’s due.

For today, I’d like to point you to a little book with a clear and understandable title. It’s a title that I know for a fact has sold copies of this book that wouldn’t have sold otherwise.

I know this, because people who bought the book wrote me to say so.

The title is The 10 Commandments Of A-List Copywriters. The author is me.

And if you’d like to get this book, you can find it lurking among the direct-marketing bestsellers on Amazon. Here’s the link:

https://bejakovic.com/10commandments

The business of selling “feeling good”

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This morning before heading out for coffee, I thumbed through the pages of my Kindle and read a passage of Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent.

​​Dan was talking about those colorful patterned dress shirts, the ones with a second colorful print on the inside of the cuff. And he said:

===

The shirts are very popular in the Southwest with the rodeo crowd, rich oil men — one of whom has “collected 130 different designs” and spent so much money, the 2014 “collection” includes a design named after that customer, and quite a few GKIC members. The shirts go for $225.00 to over $500.00, and are sold direct, in catalogs, at Nieman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, high-end country western shops, and in several Las Vegas stores.

===

“I wanda,” I said to myself as I raised my nose in the air, “I wanda if this brand of shirts is the one that Parris Lampropoulos buys.”

As you might remember if you were reading my emails back this past May, I went to a copywriting conference. Multimillionaire A-list copywriter Parris Lampropoulos was the star there.

The first night, Parris worked the room. As he did, he kept showing off his colorful, patterned shirt. “It’s a Robert Graham,” Parris would say to anyone who expressed interest. “I put his kids through college.”

I brought my nose back down to the pages of Marketing to the Affluent. Sure enough, Dan Kennedy was talking about Robert Graham shirts. And he had this to say:

===

The brand’s owner, Robert Stock, calls customers “connoisseurs.” He says he is in the business of selling “feeling good” — getting favorably noticed, getting compliments, getting bragging rights.

===

My point is that old chestnut, that you are not in the business that you think you are in. At least, that is, if you want people bragging about how much money they spent on a collection of your stuff, instead of treating your offer like a commodity or at best a necessary occasional expense.

That’s all I got for you today. Except for an encouragement to read No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent if you haven’t done so.

It’s a valuable book, and I wish I had read it earlier.

If you wish to read it now, here’s where you can get it:

No B.S Marketing for the Affluent

My first 1-star Amazon review

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It finally happened. I finally got my first 1-star Amazon review.

I wrote back in May about how I had gotten a 1-star review of my “10 Commandments of A-list Copywriters” on Goodreads, a book review platform.

That review was in Serbian, a language that I understand. The gist of the review was an attack on direct response copywriting. “Outdated!” “Cringe!” My poor book, which has the word “copywriters” in the title, apparently attracted somebody who loves to read about a topic they hate.

That’s okay. Because I wrote an email about that review and I profited from it.

But I’m not sure I can profit from my first 1-star Amazon review. Because a while back, Amazon started allowing reviews that don’t say anything, but simply just pick a number of stars.

What precise and profound comment did my reader mean to express by choosing a single star for my book?

Perhaps the reader had some genuine gripe or even a legitimate critique of the actual content.

But perhaps he or she read the book and thought it was great, and wanted to reward me for writing it: “This book is so good it reminds of my home state of Texas! Here’s a lone star fer ya.”

Or perhaps this reader thought the book was too valuable to share, and wanted to discourage others from reading it and getting good ideas from it also.

Unfortunately, we will never know.

Instead, in order to profit from this zero-content review, let me tie it up with something more substantive. And that’s a message I got last week from Kieran Drew.

As you might know, Kieran is a bit of a star in the creative entrepreneur space. He has close to 200k followers on Twitter. He also has a big and growing email newsletter, with over 25k readers.

Earlier this year, Kieran launched a course about writing, High Impact Writing. Over the course of two 5-day launches, he sold over $300,000 worth of this course to his audience.

But back to the message Kieran sent me last week.

​​It simply said, “hope you’re well mate, continuing to spread the good word.”

​​Beneath that was a screenshot of a tweet that Kieran wrote earlier that day:

===

Copywriting is the most important skill for any creator.

My 5 favorite books (if you’re a beginner, read in this order):

1. Adweek Copywriting Handbook
2. Great Leads
3. Cashvertising
4. 10 Commandments of A-list Copywriters
5. Breakthrough Advertising

===

I’ve never read Cashvertising. But the others I have read, and multiple times each. It kind of tickles me to be included on a top-5 copywriting list along with Joe Sugarman and Mark Ford John Forde and Gene Schwartz.

I’ve been pushing my 10 Commandments book pretty hard over the past few days.

Today is last day will be pushing it for a while.

Of course, you can choose to buy it today or you can choose not to. There’s no urgency, beyond the fact that people who care about writing and know about online business success think that what’s inside this book is valuable.

It might be so for you too. If you’d like to stake $5 on it to find out:

https://bejakovic.com/10commandments

My new chore-of-the-month arrived yesterday and is looking at me accusingly

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Yesterday I pushed my way into the lobby of my building — too many grocery bags in my hands — and I peeked into my mailbox.

My ex-girlfriend (still living together) was already by the elevators, holding her own batch of grocery bags. “There’s nothing,” she said. “I checked already.”

But I don’t trust anyone. So I peeked into the mailbox. And I saw it:

A narrow cardboard package that somehow telegraphed class and high-value.

I opened up the mailbox. The ex came over wide-eyed. “What is it? What did you order?”

Frankly, I had no idea.

The package was postmarked UK. I thought for a minute. And then I remembered.

I’d signed up to a magazine-of-the-month club a while back. Each month, they send you a new magazine, so you can get exposed to new stuff, be entertained, have new email fodder.

This was my first issue.

I couldn’t wait to see what I got. I tore open the cardboard package right there in the lobby.

Inside was more beautiful paper packaging. I felt bad ripping it apart. In the elevator up to the apartment, I tried to peel it open carefully. But impatience to see my cool new magazine bubbled over.

I ripped up the paper packaging as well.

As I entered my apartment, I could finally get at the fascinating and intriguing contents inside. And what I found was:

A squat, black cover, showing a hand holding a spoon, and taking a bit of some kind of unidentified mass from a platter, which was held by another hand.

A vague, arty photo. There was nothing else on the cover except the magazine title. Not a good start.

I flipped to the back.

​​”FEATURING,” the back cover said, “Fiction:” and then a long list of contributors. “Poetry:” and then another long list of contributors. “Art and photography:” and then more contributors.

“Ugh,” I sighed. “This feels like it’s gonna be work.”

I tossed my new chore-of-the-month onto the little stand next to the couch, where it’s still sitting, in its shrink-wrap. I’ll have to schedule a time during my work hours to sit down and face this obligation.

In case you’re wondering how this could possibly be relevant to you:

Between 2017 and 2021, I subscribed to Ben Settle’s Email Players print newsletter.

After I decided to unsubscribe, I asked myself why. What did it?

There were several logical reasons.

But I realized that the real, emotional reason was simply that reading Email Players had become a chore.

I’m sure there were still some valuable ideas in each issue. But it was no longer fun to read.

I kept looking at it sitting there by my couch, and thinking, “Ugh. There’s that to do.” And since Email Players is hardly the only source of valuable ideas in the universe, I decided to unsubscribe.

I myself am now planning a subscription offer, a community around newsletters, which I’m planning to call Publishers Club.

But I realize that — and here’s the takeaway of today’s email — value notwithstanding, my subscription offer will have to be enjoyable and even fun if people will have any chance of getting value out of it.

So I am appealing to you for help and input.

Write in and tell me one subscription offer that you pay for, and that you actually enjoy or even look forward to.

It could be a newsletter, a community, a magazine, a magazine-of-the-month club, a streaming service, whatever.

For bonus points, tell me what makes this subscription offer enjoyable or even fun.

In return, I will 1) telepathically send you good vibes along with my gratitude and 2) reply via email and tell you the only subscription offer I am currently enjoying, and why I suspect I am enjoying it.

I’ve mentioned this subscription offer in passing a few times in the past. But I’d say chances are about 99.9% you do not know what I have in mind.

​​If you’d like to know, write me with your fun or enjoyable subscriptions, and we can do a tit-for-tat trade.

Free new newsletter idea

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Today I want to give you an idea for a new newsletter, free for you if you want to run with it. But first, a bit o’ background:

A couple days ago I was at the gym, stretching and listening to one of only two podcasts I ever listen to, Mike Mandel’s Brain Software Podcast.

In this episode Mike had a guest, Scott Adams of Dilbert and Trump fame/infamy. Adams has written a new book, and he’s going around to promote it.

I finished listening to that podcast but I was still not done with the gym. The podcast app jumped to the new episode of the second of only two podcasts I ever listen to, the James Altucher Show.

In this episode, James had a guest, also Scott Adams, still promoting his new book.

That’s the background. It’s relevant because Adams’s new book is called Reframe your Brain. It’s all about reframes — different ways to look at situations, changes in perspectives that make you happier, wiser, or simply more effective.

My point in telling you this is to show you that now is a good moment to launch a newsletter, one I have been thinking about for along time, exactly on this topic.

I was planning on launching this newsletter myself.

​​But I simply have no time to do it along with this marketing newsletter you’re reading now and the other health one I’ve got running.

​​So I’m giving you the idea if you want it, for free.

The name I thought of for this newsletter was Great Reframes. It would be in the vein of Letters of Note, in case you know that.

Each issue would simply give readers an interesting and valuable reframe, along with a bit of a story or historical anecdote to make it stick. For example, your first issue could cover one of the classic and most powerful reframes of all time:

“Pain is just weakness leaving the body”

… which is how Arnold Schwarzenegger hypnotized himself into pushing harder at the gym, and how he ultimately won seven Mr. Olympia titles.

I’ve been collecting such reframes for a while. I got a few dozen of ’em so far. They’re everywhere once you get yer antennae up.

Scott Adams collected a bunch of his own reframes into his book. Scott’s book is both a resource for you if you choose to launch this newsletter, and it’s also free publicity, a horse to ride, an occasion to justify your new newsletter. The time to get going is now.

“Yea sure,” you say, “but what about the money? Weakness leaving the body is nice and all, but how about some money entering my wallet?”

If you want to monetize this newsletter, then you got a few options, depending on what you like to do:

You can position this Great Reframes newsletter as a resource for investors, along the lines of Morgan Housel’s Psychology of Money.

​​You could make the reasonable claim that a change in perspective is an invaluable investing tool. At the end of each issue, you could simply pitch stuff that would be interesting to investors — exclusive access, high-priced analysis.

Or if you want to promote yourself and your writing services, you could position this as being an inspiring resource for entrepreneurs and hustlers.

​​You could get entrepreneurs all motivated and inspired with your reframe, and then simply suggest they hire you to write whatever it is you write, since you’ve just demonstrated you can do it well.

Or you could go full-consumer, and simply aim this at self-help junkies. Give them a new reframe in each issue, and then sell them courses, retreats, coaching, whatever.

So there you go. In the slightly modified words of info publisher Bernarr MacFadden:

“Not having your own newsletter is a crime — don’t be a criminal”

… which is another good reframe for you to use in an issue of your new newsletter.

And as I said yesterday, if you do decide to create this newsletter, and you need a platform to actually send your newsletter and a website to get people to opt in to it, then I recommend Beehiiv.

Beehiiv is what I use for my own health newsletter, and it’s great, a rare piece of online software that works well and is a pleasure to use.

​​In case you’d like to get this newsletter started now, for free, go here:

https://bejakovic.com/beehiiv

Psychographics of prospective copywriting clients

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Last week, I advertised a writing job through this newsletter.

I got a few dozen applications coming in. As a result, I could confirm first-hand what I had figured out second-hand a long time ago, and that is the psychographics of prospective copywriting clients.

In case you’re curious, I’ll share these psychographics with you:

1. Prospective clients are busy

Copywriting clients have their own businesses to run and lots of other plates to spin. That’s why they are looking for a writer instead of writing themselves. It’s also how they have money to pay you.

2. Prospective clients do not enjoy the work of hiring a copywriter

Resumes/application emails are not fun to read. Neither is wit — not when it’s jammed like a head of lettuce into a job application. Neither are random samples of sales copy — not unless the client happens to be a member of the target audience for that copy, and even then.

3. Prospective clients will be swamped with applications

My list is not huge. I still got a few dozen applications following just one email. When I advertised on Upwork in the past, I got still more applications, towards 100, coming in for a single advertised writing job.

So what to do if you are a freelance copywriter looking for work?

The best way I found around the nasty psychographics above was to get into a position where I don’t have to apply for copywriting jobs, ever.

Yes, it can be done.

You can put yourself into a position where clients get referred to you or even seek you out — specifically because they are busy… and do not enjoy the work of hiring a copywriter… and do not want to be swamped with applications.

The trouble is, getting into such a position takes time or luck or ideally both.

So let me tell you about the second-best way.

This second-best way is designed to take into account the three psychographic elements above. By my estimate, it boosts your chances of winning a job about 20x-30x.

I’ve used this strategy while I was still applying to copywriting jobs, both when I was on Upwork and later off it, often winning out against 50+ other hungry copywriters.

I used this strategy to win 4- and 5-figure copywriting jobs, even when I was new in the industry and had little to nothing to say for myself… and also later, when I was more established, but I really wanted a specific job because it was such a great opportunity for whatever reason.

If that’s got you curious, then you can find this job application strategy described in detail in a short training I call Copywriting Portfolio Secrets. Earlier this year, I got a testimonial about this training from copywriter Kevin Wood:

===

Yo!

Your copywriting portfolio secrets workshop works like magic, even on Upwork in 2023.

[censored – Kevin explains how he applied the ideas in Copywriting Portfolio Secrets, with the result being…]

Pitched 100/hr with no job history, no reviews, only one ongoing job since they use Upwork to pay freelancers.

Got the job the next day. Should be a solid 3-4k/mo for the foreseeable future.

Shit works!

If you’re selling that training separately, I’d be happy to write up a better testimonial you can use.

===

I’ve sold Copywriting Portfolio Secrets previously for $97, but I’m giving it away for free now as a bonus to anyone who gets the Infostack copywriting bundle.

You can find out more about that bundle at the link below. But before you go there, here are three other free bonuses I will send you to complement the bundle and Bonus #1, Copywriting Portfolio Secrets:

Bonus #2. No-Stress Negotiation For Well-Paid Copywriters ($100 value)

This guide outlines my 7-part negotiating system, which I adapted from negotiation coach Jim Camp. This system kept me sane while I still regularly interviewed and worked with copywriting clients. Follow these seven principles, and you will end up making more money, working with better clients, and being able to stick to it for the long term.

I only offered this guide once before, as part of the $100 Copy Zone guide, which also featured….

Bonus #3. How To Get Set Up On Upwork

This free bonus is an excerpt from a short self-published book I wrote once, How to Become a $150/Hr Sales Copywriter on Upwork: A Personal Success Story that Almost Anyone Can Replicate. It tells you how to actually get set up on Upwork — the details of your profile page, your description, your title.

If you combine this bonus with the two bonuses above — Copywriting Portfolio Secrets and No-Stress Negotiation — you have a great shot of winning a job on Upwork by the end of this week, or even today.

And finally, my bonus stack also includes…

Bonus #4. Dan’s Timeless Wisdom (priceless, or $25k+)

Between August of 2019 and March 2020, I was in Dan Ferrari’s coaching group. As you might know, Dan started out as a star copywriter at The Motley Fool, and went on to become one of the most successful, most winning, big-money direct response copywriters working today.

Inside his coaching group, Dan dispensed copy critiques, marketing advice, and mystical koans to help his coaching students get to the next level.

At some point, I had the bright idea to start archiving the best and most valuable things that Dan was saying. I got 25 of them down, and they are all included in this document, which has until now only been shared with Dan and his coaching students.

(By the way, I never tallied up the exact and rather painful amount of money I paid Dan for the coaching. It was north of $25k. I do know I made it all back, and then some, in just the first two months after I stopped with the coaching, thanks to just one tip I got from Dan.)

So there you go. If you want the Ultimate Copywriter’s SUPER Stack for its $555.86 worth of value and inspiration, yours for just $49…

… or if you want my add-on bonuses for their $25,197/∞ value, yours free…

… then here’s what to do:

1. Buy the Ultimate Copywriter’s SUPER Bundle at https://bejakovic.com/infostack

2. You will then get an automated email from ThriveCart with a link to a special, members-only page on my site where you can access the four free bonuses above.

Important:

Infostack’s bundle offer is live now and will go on until next week, but I will only be promoting it until tomorrow, Friday, at 8:31pm CET.

That’s how long my offer with the bonuses above is good for. Your gotta buy this bundle before Friday at 8:31pm CET to get my bonuses. So if you know you want them, why not get them now?

How to use LinkedIn to win friends and influence clients within three months

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Many years ago, while I was still on Upwork, I created a short-lived LinkedIn profile.

​​I thought LinkedIn could be a way to get high-quality leads for my copywriting services. So I created a profile and started aimlessly “connecting” with people who could be potential clients or contacts to help me get clients.

This lasted all about three days. I hated the experience, and it produced nothin’. I felt stupid and frankly humiliated, groping, and needy.

In a fit of rage, I deleted my LinkedIn profile, raced up to the tower of my moss-covered castle, slammed the large oaken doors behind me, and vowed that the cruel world would never see me “connecting” with anyone ever again.

And yet, ever since, I continue to hear stories of people getting clients, customers, and, yes, valuable connections through LinkedIn.

Even though I refuse to come down from the tower of my moss-covered castle, I have to admit my beastly ears always do perk up at these stories.

And so they did a few days ago, when I got an email from reader Carlo Gargiulo, who works as a copywriter at an info publishing business in Switzerland.

​​Carlo wrote me to say he has been applying some ideas I’ve shared, specifically inside my Most Valuable Email training, to writing LinkedIn posts. The results have been impressive.

Like I said, I couldn’t keep my beastly ears in place. I let out a soft growl. And I wrote back to Carlo, to ask exactly what he was doing on LinkedIn. He wrote me to say:

===

About three months ago I decided to start writing posts on LinkedIn about copywriting and direct response marketing.

I started doing this because I noticed that very few Italian copywriters were talking about copy on LinkedIn.

So, every Monday morning I publish a post.

The goal is to create some authority for myself and to get some clients among the entrepreneurs who follow my page.

For the past 2 weeks or so I have been reaping the first fruits.

There are entrepreneurs I had met in the past who have contacted me privately to ask how much it costs to consult with me and how much money I charge in exchange for writing marketing materials.

Specifically, they want posts similar to the ones I write on LinkedIn and email sequences.

The other result I have achieved is about the growth of authority in the company where I work as a copywriter.

Many colleagues started following me, and since I’m not very popular (since I’m very private), those posts were a hook to showcase my knowledge, and now I end up with a queue of people who want to talk to me about anything related to copy and direct response marketing.

As I told you, I’m very private, I lead a quiet lifestyle (books, TV series, magazines, running, walks at the lake) and I don’t like to show off.

===

Carlo’s message went on. He listed the specific marketing and copywriting ideas from the MVE swipe file, included with the MVE training, that he has been using in his LinkedIn posts.

I won’t repeat those here. ​​But I think you get the bigger point:

A way to use LinkedIn not to feel humiliated and out of place, but to get clients warmed up, reaching out, and asking to work with you… and even maybe to get a kind word or a smile of appreciation from your coworkers and colleagues.

Of course, that’s all assuming that you can write something that lights up people’s brains a bit, and that they feel interested in reading more of.

There are different ways to do that.

​​But as Carlo found, and as I found before him, using the MVE trick, and specific ideas in the MVE swipe file, is one effective way to go about it. If you’d like to get started with that today, so you can reap the benefits within a few months’ time:

https://bejakovic.com/mve/​​

The power of preparation for perplexing performances

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“Tell me Sir, was this real… or was it humbug?”

Houdini was shocked at the power of his own show. He couldn’t believe that the man standing across from him — respected, intelligent, worldly — could be asking him such a question.

“No Colonel,” Houdini said with a shake of his head. “It was hocus pocus.”

The year was 1914. The place was the Imperator, a ship on the Hamburg-New York line, sailing west across the Atlantic. Houdini was traveling on the ship as a passenger, but he agreed to perform a seance act for the large and rich ship’s company.

Houdini walked around the audience, giving out pieces of paper and envelopes, telling people to write down a question, seal it in the envelope, and then put it in a hat that Houdini passed around.

But one of the audience members was particularly distinguished and highly reputable — Colonel Teddy Roosevelt, former President of the United States, traveling back from the UK. Roosevelt had just finished promotion of his new book about an adventure trip he had taken to Brazil the year previous.

“I am sure there will be no objection if we use the Colonel’s question,” Houdini said during the seance, tentatively walking towards Roosevelt. The audience murmured assent.

Then Houdini took out two little slate tablets, which were blank. After appropriate buildup and mystery, he asked Roosevelt to place his envelope, with the question inside, between the two tablets.

“Can you please tell the audience what your question was?” Houdini asked.

“Where was I last Christmas?” Roosevelt said.

Houdini opened up the slate tablets. They were no longer blank. Instead, they now showed a colored chalk map of Brazil, with the River of Doubt highlighted, where Roosevelt had spent the Christmas prior.

The effect of this on the crowd, and on Teddy Roosevelt himself, was immense. Roosevelt jumped up, and started laughing so hard and slapping his legs until tears ran down his face.

And then, the very next day, Roosevelt buttonholed Houdini on the deck of the ship. Roosevelt asked, in a hushed voice, whether Houdini truly had connections to the spirit world.

Houdini did not. It was hocus pocus, and he was ready to admit it.

So what lay behind his spectacular performance?

I won’t tell you the exact details. Like all tricks, it’s underwhelming when you find out the truth. But I will tell you the powerful underlying principle, in a single word:

Preparation.

An immense amount of quiet background work… research… setup… as well as thinking up and making plans for all possible contingencies.

Like I wrote a few weeks ago, I’ve decided to put together a new book. Working title — and maybe final title — is “10 Commandments of Hypnotists, Pick Up Artists, Comedians, Copywriters, Con Men, Door-To-Door Salesmen, Professional Negotiators, Storytellers, Spirit Mediums, and Stage Magicians.”

Some of the commandments I have in mind are clever techniques. Others… well, they’re stuff like this. Research. Preparation.

Few wanna do it. Few take it seriously. But the ones who do are eventually seen as having supernatural powers, while everybody else — ah, it’s not too bad, but I could do the same.

I already have a lot of this book ready, thanks to emails like this that I’ve already written. But it’s still gonna take me a while to pull everything together and get the book published.

Meanwhile, if you want a similar book, with a similar mix of stories and often unsexy but extremely powerful ideas, take a look at my other 10 Commandments book:

https://bejakovic.com/10commandments

Why I retired Copy Riddles

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Yesterday, I sent an email about how my Copy Riddles program is up on pirate sites, even though it’s not for sale on my own site any more. I got a bunch of responses to that email.

​​One reader wrote in to say that “not selling Copy Riddles is a crime against copywriters who want to master the craft.” Others wrote in to ask why I decided to retire the program.

If you like, I’ll tell you a reason why.

It’s that I believe — how can I put this delicately — that teaching people how to be a copywriter is a crumbling business.

ChatGPT is a part of it. But really, it’s that we were in a “copywriting bubble” over the past five or seven years.

The 4 Hour Work Week and podcasts and side hustle blogs made copywriting a thing. Marketers with copy chops and those without could create courses about copywriting, and sell them for good money to masses of people.

​​That came to a fever pitch thanks to corona — there was genuinely more demand for copywriters since everything moved online, and many people were looking for a change.

When I was looking for a copywriting coach in 2019, I had trouble finding one. Over the next year, every living A-list copywriter, and many others, unliving, C-list, or D-list, launched coaching programs.

But now, I believe all that’s coming to an end.

I’m not saying copywriting as a profession is gonna die. I predict that, if you have already have skills and clients, you will be able to adapt and continue to do well. And I’m sure new people will appear and write winning copy tomorrow who have never heard of Gary Halbert today.

But the fact is, 90% of the copywriting education market is not made up of people who will ever write winning copy, or really any kind of copy. It’s made up of people who don’t have skills or clients, and who never will, for reasons of their own.

With all the talk of AI, plus the wobbling of the economy, plus simply the fact that copywriting is past its gold rush moment, I believe this large crowd will start to scatter, if it hasn’t started already, to other business opportunities that sound newer and more exciting.

So that’s why I decided to give myself a bit of a nudge, and I retired my Copy Riddles program. A shrinking market makes me uneasy.

So that’s why I decided to give myself a bit of a nudge, and I retired my Copy Riddles program. A shrinking market makes me uneasy, and I wanted to step ahead of it.

But more on that in the future.

For now, I’ll point you to my Most Valuable Email course. I’ve kept that peach on the table because it’s not meant for copywriting specifically. Rather, it’s for anybody who considers themselves a marketer, and who wants to become more successful and valuable at what they do. For more info:

https://bejakovic.com/mve/