…you learn how to sell by doing it. And, if you want to be supreme in your efforts, you learn how to do it first in person and then you transfer your efforts to print. Gary Halbert

I couldn’t stick to my self-promise of writing at least something on my blog everyday, but it wasn’t my fault.

My site host provider had some serious issues with their server which meant all my sites have been down for days.

So, in order to prevent that messing up at least this site in future, I transferred it to a different host.

That said, on with the show.

Something basically all the top copywriters say is, learn to sell first before trying to write copy.

In fact, as far as I know, most of the top copywriters were doing some type of sales before they got into copywriting.

David Ogilvy was a door-to-door salesman.

So was Doug D’Anna.

Gary Bencivenga wrote extensivley about the need to be able to sell.

John Carlton, Clayton Makepeace, etc., etc., etc… and… of course, Gary Halbert.

… They all extol the virtues of learning to sell before writing copy.

I, personally, was a telephone salesman, a retail salesman, and even a door to door salesman.

I sold products for a major insurance firm, Kirby vacuum cleaners, mobile phones, perfume, and on and on and on.

As you can imagine, I’m sure, I know a thing or two about selling.

Anyway, one of the things I learned as a sales man is that we have one mouth and two ears.

No, no, no, that’s not what I meant.

What I mean is, when you have one of one and two of the other, use them in proportion.

As a salesman that meant asking questions… and then lsitening to the answers.

Smart questions.

Questions which would give you the information you need to sell your product and close the deal.

You see, for a salesman, the smart question is a tool of the trade.

You ask, and then you shut up.

Did did you hear that?

You ask question… and then… you shut up.

Don’t say a word.

Just listen to the answer.

Wait, if you have to, but don’t say anything until your prospect has answered the question.

In that way, the more questions you ask, the less you talk.

Funny, eh?

You see, questions are (usually, if they’re good questions) shorter than the answer.

You ask, they talk, you get your info… you sell.

So, in effect, the less you talk, the more you sell.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you shut up completely.

I mean, you have to tell your prospect about the benefits of your product for them, otherwise why would they want to buy it.

What that experience as a salesman does is to give you an insight into the way people think.

Having been out there and done it and gathered all the information you need, it’s easier to have the conversation inside your head with your prospect.

And, guess what?

If you can have the conversation inside your head with your prospect, knowing the likely questions, it’s easier to write down the answers on paper.

And, let’s face it, that’s what a lot of the sales copy is, isn’t it?

Answering any and all objections your prospect may raise, before they’ve done it.

If you can answer every question… every objection… your prospect might have, you’re in a much better position to close the sale.

Okay, that’s enough.

I said my posts would be short and this ones gone way past that, so I’m stopping.

So, until next time, cioa.

Best,
Rezbi

FREE E-Book Valued at $77 “Advertising Made Easy” A Potent Cocktail Of Proven Cash Generating Copywriting And Advertising Tools That Anyone Serious About Exploding Their Sales And Profits FAST . . . Would Be Lining Up At The Bar To Drink!

… the best way to get good at writing is… By Writing! Gary Halbert

Okay, so I nicked that headline from Alfred in Batman Begins.

However, considering my recent confession I’m sure you can afford me that little luxury, don’t you?

I mean let’s face it, there aren’t too many people willing to make the type of admission I did, are there?

La de da.

Onto the subject of today’s post.

Actually before I do I just want to say, as I am trying to get over my ‘writer’s block on steroids’, I intend to write something everyday from now on… even if it’s just a little… to get the creative juices flowing again.

Know what I mean?

So, now I want begin by telling you about some things my sales trainers used to say back in the days when I was selling insurance, mobile phones, vacuum cleaners, perfumes, and a whole host of other things even I’ve forgotten.

I used to sell these things instore and door to door… thought I’d chuck that in, just so you know I happen to be a seasoned salesman.

Anyway, one of the things they always used to tell me about was the ABC of selling – Always Be Closing.

You see, when I went out, or when someone came to see me… or… even when I was just on the phone, the objective was to close the deal from the word ‘go’.

You may have seen this in an email or a sales letter…

Sometimes you’d get one of these where there’s a link, or a Johnson box or something where they say something like, “If you don’t want to wait till the end of the letter click here.”

See, that right there is a close.

And if you don’t click the link at the top, you might see another one half way down, or wherever, every now and again.

They’re always trying to close you… to clinch the deal.

You see, the reason is you never know when someone might be ready to go for it and you need to give them the opportunity as often as you can.

Granted, it doesn’t always work… especially on the internet or in emails… nowadays.

However, if positioned right, they can work like gangbusters.

I know, I’ve done it when I’m selling.

And I’ve bought because of it.

See, those links before the final closing link near the bottom is what’s termed as ‘trial closes’.

It’s to grab your prospect at specific positions when your sales copy may have piqued their interest.

That’s it for today… hoped you’ve found it informative.

These posts could be quite short so I don’t get bored of writing, or even run out of things to write about.

So, until next time, ciao.

Best,

Rezbi

FREE E-Book Valued at $77 “Advertising Made Easy” A Potent Cocktail Of Proven Cash Generating Copywriting And Advertising Tools That Anyone Serious About Exploding Their Sales And Profits FAST . . . Would Be Lining Up At The Bar To Drink!

When I say our curries are hot picture an Indian (the original guys) running for the kitchen sink and drowning himself to relieve the feeling of a burning ember in his mouth.

Jalapeno and habanero?

Pah, not even warm.

So you can imagine what went through my mind when, on a training course from a job I had a few years back, one of my Italian colleagues boasted he can eat the hottest dishes around.

That was a boast and a half, considering he didn’t even know what ‘hot’ meant.

Madras, vindaloo and phals are a joke.

I told him, warned him, he hadn’t tried the really hot stuff… at least not the stuff I was used to.

He insisted – he could take anything I could throw at him.

It just so happened that, in the evenings, we ordered our own food in from the local takeaway  – so I offered to order his for him.

He agreed.

So I went to the takeaway and asked them what their hottest dish was.

It was a vindaloo.

I asked them to stick a few more chillis in.

Actually I asked them to put in a lot more chillis because I’d already tried it the night before and it was tame to say the least.

I took them both back, with the extra chillis, and handed one to my colleague in his room and left him to it.

I got back to my room and tucked in.

I was hungry and it tasted good, though I wished it was hotter.

The chillis they used weren’t very hot.

I guess they don’t want to risk making it too hot for the locals by accident.

A few minutes later I called down to my colleagues room by telephone and could hear sniffing and heavy breathing.

“How is it?” I asked him.

“It’s hot,” came the reply.

“Hottest thing you’ve tried?

“It’s hot,” he replied under laboured breathing.

“Okay,” I said and left him to it.

It kind of reminded me about the guy was who was the greatest kung fu fighter in the world… until he left his village for the first time in his life and was defeated by the first guy he met along the way.

Now, you may be wondering what my point is to this post… and… to be honest so am I.

I did have a point before I started but it’s gone.

I can’t remember.

However, having written all that down, I can’t bring myself to delete it all now.

Hope you enjoyed the story.

You cannot develop a personality with physics alone, the rest of life must be worked in. Richard Feynman

I’ve only ever been to the United States once in my life – that was towards the end of 1988 and I was 21 years of age.

I must admit, I loved it.

There was a group of us friends, four of us, and we first stayed in Orlando for one week and then Miami for the next.

Orlando was a nice place where you couldn’t find a speck of dirt in the streets if you went looking for it.

In fact, I did go looking, just to see if I could find at least a sweet wrapper or cigarette butt.

Nothing.

Not finding a cigaretter butt was no surprise as there was no smoking allowed in public as far as I could see.

I also visited Sea World and watched the dolphins swim, dive and jump around.

That was before they thanked us for the fish and left for good (If you’re puzzled about that one watch Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy).

Orlando was generally peaceful at night…

Except for the night I decided to take a walk to the shop across the road from the hotel.

On the way back a police car pulled up, a woman officer got out, hand on holster and told me to take my hands out of my pockets (hey, I was relaxed and out on a stroll).

I did as told (I wasn’t about to argue with a police officer – especially one with a gun).

She asked me who I was and what I was doing.

I told her I was a tourist and was staying at the hotel across the road and showed her my keys.

After she relaxed, she told me not to be fooled by the perceived peace of the place and that anyone could pull up to me, shoot me and walk off.

That was nice… not!

That certainly left a bitter taste in my mouth about Orlando.

Shattered any illusions I had.

Miami was (also?) nice, except for the time we accidentally drove downtown and realised the gang culture was for real.

We got out of their pronto.

There was the time we visited the Grand Bahamas for a day.

If you’ve never been to the Bahamas I highly recommend it… or at least I do if it’s still the same.

The ocean was clear.

I mean literally – if there were any fishes you would be able to see them right down to the bottom.

What was intriguing about that day, however, was when we got back to Miami.

I was carrying a case with the video equipment one of the other lads had – he had his hands full with other things.

Now, picture this – I’m Asian (Bangladeshi), I was a pretty muscular guy, had on a T-shirt with the sleeves cut off (hey I was young and it was HOT).

I also had a straw hat and a deep sun tan… and maybe a straw in my mouth.

(Picture a stereo-typical Cuban drug baron’s bodyguard – yep, you get the picture.)

Now, I hadn’t noticed, but Miami vice just happened to be there (the real dudes, not from TV).

One of the guys with me told me afterward that one of these had motioned toward me.

My three companions had gone ahead, bags in hand, but I was stopped.

They had me open up the case and, after searching it thoroughly and not being able to find the drugs they were obviously looking for, sent me on my way.

You had to be there, as they say, to witness the drama.

Unless you have a vivid imagination, of course.

Amazing, isn’t it, how we can be perceived based on the way we dress and the way our bodies look (would I have been stopped if I was a fat stodgy looking guy?  Who knows).

And how about the guys in downtown Miami?

Are they really how they’re portrayed in the movies.

Don’t hold this against me, but I’m inclined to believe they are.

You see, society labels us in certain ways based on how we look and how we behave.

Sometimes society gets it right (downtown Miami) and sometimes not (me dressed like a Cuban hitman with a high-powered rifle in a brief case).

What do you suppose would be people’s impression of an advert on a billboard, or a TV commercial, or a print copy in a newspaper, if there’s gunman staring straight out at you, or a bikini-clad woman simply smiling?

It would really depend on what it is you’re selling and what the image is you’re trying to portray.

You could get it right and rake in the dosh.

You could fool people by dressing up a wolf in a sheep’s clothing, in which case you’ll have a lot to answer for, from both your customers and the law.

You could get it wrong and you’ll have wasted your money and your time.

What can you do to ensure you get it right?

You could hire the right people and pay them what they want, which could be a load of cash.

Or, you could learn how to do it yourself.

The choice, as the man said, is yours.

Best,
Rezbi

FREE E-Book Valued at $77 “Advertising Made Easy” A Potent Cocktail Of Proven Cash Generating Copywriting And Advertising Tools That Anyone Serious About Exploding Their Sales And Profits FAST . . . Would Be Lining Up At The Bar To Drink!

How vain it is to sit down to write, when you have not stood up to live! Henry David Thoreau

I went to see my accountant today.

Actually, saying ‘my accountant’ makes me sound more established than I really am as it’s the first time I’ve ever bothered to use one.

Before today I did all my own accounts and taxes – making the usual darned stupid mistakes along the the way.

After speaking to ‘my accountant’ I realised I may have diddled myself out of cash I should be getting back from the tax man… maybe.

I woke up at just before 1pm, having gone to sleep at 6am – earlier than usual.

Had some ‘brekkie’, said my prayers and made my way in my banged up old Mitsubishi Carisma, stalling along the way (I’m getting rid of that old banger in a couple of weeks to pay for essentials).

I received a book today, written by a prospective client.

I’ll be sitting down, highlighter in hand, and going through it like a science nerd going through… well… anything science related.

I was going to say like a thirteen year old going through Playboy, but I think that’s been used already.

I expect it’ll take at least a week to go through all 418 pages, assuming I spend about 3-4 hours a day on it.

Oh, boy, what fun.

At least it’s work.

The fact is, as a copywriter, there are deadlines to be met – the main one being having food on the table.

Forget the long sleeping hours (no more six and seven hour lay-ins), the ten minute rest periods, or whatever other luxuries I’ve been managing to pack into my working days.

Now it’s time to hit the books and start scrawling in my note pad until I can scrawl no more.

In fact, the only time I’ll be stopping for a few minutes is when my handwriting looks like a spider’s stepped into a bottle of ink and crawled all over the page.

That’s when I’ll know to take a rest.

Boy, I really hope this copy turns out good.

Okay, enough for today, I have work to do.

Wahey!

Best,
Rezbi

FREE E-Book Valued at $77 “Advertising Made Easy” A Potent Cocktail Of Proven Cash Generating Copywriting And Advertising Tools That Anyone Serious About Exploding Their Sales And Profits FAST . . . Would Be Lining Up At The Bar To Drink!

You didn’t?

What, you missed that?

Okay, okay, I’ll tell ya.

Yeah, I changed the name of this blog.

Hey, I figure I’m writing so much crap and confessing every crummy little detail about myself I might as well call it something appropriate.

Yep, I guess my ‘house’ suits me now.

What do you think?

Best,
Rezbi

FREE E-Book Valued at $77 “Advertising Made Easy” A Potent Cocktail Of Proven Cash Generating Copywriting And Advertising Tools That Anyone Serious About Exploding Their Sales And Profits FAST . . . Would Be Lining Up At The Bar To Drink!

To write simply is as difficult as to be good. W. Somerset Maugham

I have a confession to make.

Recently, for the last few months, I’ve had a slight downturn in my copywriting career.  Not many people will admit to something like that – it’s like admitting to failure.

Actually, when I say ‘slight downturn’ what I mean is… well… let’s put it this way, if it went down any further I’d be at the bottom of the deepest ocean.

Ouch… that hurts.

However, the truth is, I actually lost my ability to write… literally… gone… just like that.  And I’m still struggling at this precise moment, so please excuse me if my writing’s a little shit (oh, shit, there I go using the ‘s’ word again).

What happened was, I fell into the trap of thinking I could set up an autopilot business online (as so many do), spent a HUGE amount of money… and then realised it doesn’t work that way… no matter how many people tell you it does.

That left me with a whole load of debt and my ability to write copy shot to pieces.  You see, the truth is, it’s not easy writing copy in the first place – it takes a lot of work.  And that’s after you’ve actually learned how to do it.

And that brings me onto my next point.  I lot of people ask how you become a copywriter.  They ask which books they should buy and which courses to get… and which copywriters to follow in order to learn to be the best copywriter.  They believe all you have to do is learn do write copy and the cash will come rolling in.

It’s not that easy.  It’s no accident that there are only a very few copywriters around who earn the big bucks.

Yes, sometimes you can get lucky – I was getting calls from people from all over the place asking me to write copy for them, despite the fact I was asking for ridiculous amounts of money.

In fact, the more I asked for the more enquiries I received.  I was turning them away, literally.

You see, the usual route is to start at the bottom, charging a few hundred dollars for a sales letter… through forums and other sites such as guru.com, etc… and working your way up… waiting for the big break.

At least thats’ the way I see it.  Luckily, I stayed offline.

The thing with copywriting is, it’s not just the ability to write, it’s also the ability and willingness to go that extra mile.  To work that much harder, ‘burning the midnight oil’ as Claude Hopkins put it, to achieve the best results you possibly can.

There’s a scene in the movie ‘The Pursuit Of Happyness’ with Will Smith where Will’s character, real life millionaire stockbroker Chris Gardner,  visits a prospective client during the weekend at his home.  He was struggling with a medical device on the off-chance he may make a sale, lugging it with him wherever he went without a car, hoping to make a sale.

Chris had no idea whether or not he would get his client, or that he would even see him, but he still went all the way there, hoping for the best.  Now, while he didn’t get that particular client, he did make other contacts as a result of his efforts, at the (American) football stadium.  He met other people there, chatted with them and made friends without trying to sell to them.

Now look where he is.  From the gutter (literally) to millionaire owner of his own stockbrokerage.  And all because he went that extra mile.

Okay, it’s not exactly the same with copywriting, but the work ethic is no different.  To do well, in any field, takes work.  And copywriting is no different.

What I will say is, it helps to have someone to ‘back you up’.  Someone who will take a look at your work and give you his or her true opinion.  Someone who will say, “Hey, that’s actually quite good,”… or… “Give over, that’s a pile of dog poo.”

Whatever it is you do on your way to becoming the next ‘big hitter’ in the marketing and copywriting world, it’s always a good idea to remember these things – that it takes work (a lot of work), patience, desire… and someone to give you a kick up the backside when necessary.

Best,
Rezbi

FREE E-Book Valued at $77 “Advertising Made Easy” A Potent Cocktail Of Proven Cash Generating Copywriting And Advertising Tools That Anyone Serious About Exploding Their Sales And Profits FAST . . . Would Be Lining Up At The Bar To Drink!

In the latest installation of this sorcery fest based at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, during a a little classroom competition Harry wins a small bottle of liquid luck – a luck potion.  He figured out how to make a certain mixture by reading about it in… naaah… I won’t spoil it all for you, just in case you haven’t seen it.

Anyway, Ron, Harry’s best mate, is the ‘goalie’ in the latest inter-house quidditch competition and he’s, well, let’s just say he’s shitting bricks. (Sorry, wasn’t I supposed to ‘shit’?  Okay, I won’t say ‘shit’ again.  I promise… I think).

On the day of the competition, at the amazingly long dining table, Harry hands Ron a cup to drink from.  Another student, can’t remember the name, asks if Harry’s put the ‘luck potion’ in it.  Without saying a word Harry smiles, wryly, and puts the bottle back in his pocket.

Hermione (pronounced Her-me-own, as far as I’m concerned), in her usual goody-two-shoes way, exhorts Ron not to drink.  So he does.  And immediately begins to smile and is raring to go.

At the game itself, Ron is unbeatable.  At the end of the game he is the hero, the champion, and even gets the girl… even if she is ugly.  Hermione is jealous.

Harry later confides to Hermione that he hadn’t, in fact, given him the potion.  It was just a ruse, a trick, to give Ron the confidence to be who he truly is and play as he really can.  A confidence booster.

I was reminded of this as, lately, I’ve been feeling quite down myself and feeling very low.  So I did something I felt I’ve needed to do for a long time.  I found myself a mentor – someone who’s ready to give me a kick up the backside when I need it most.

Because, the fact is, it’s not the people around who doubt us most.  The ones who doubt us most are the ones looking straight back at us when we look in the mirror.

And it’s at these times when we need someone whose only concern is to ensure we do our best and not feed our egos, which rarely helps, especially if we think there’s nothing there to feed.

Best,
Rezbi

FREE E-Book Valued at $77 “Advertising Made Easy” A Potent Cocktail Of Proven Cash Generating Copywriting And Advertising Tools That Anyone Serious About Exploding Their Sales And Profits FAST . . . Would Be Lining Up At The Bar To Drink!

I was fairly new to the world of computers at that level so I gave the interviewer the answer I felt was the best.

I told him I would take everything off the computer’s motherboard and only leave on the absolute bare essentials which make a computer work – the motherboard itself, the CPU (brain) and the memory (after all, what are we without memories?).

Attach it to the monitor and that should be enough the get the system powered up and running.

If the problem persisited, I’d know it’s the CPU, the memory or the slots in the motherboard, and it’s just a matter of replacing one of three components.

Not difficult.

If it did power up and work, then I would put back the rest of the components back one at a time.

As each part goes in seperately, if the machine stops working, you know where the problem is and you replace it.

How is that relevant to copywriting?

Well, think about this…

You have a headline that’s not pulling anything.

You decide to change the complete headline altogether.

How on earth are you going to know whether it was the whole headline which sucks, or just one single word, or even letter?

By changing a word here or a letter there and testing it each time, you get a better picture of what works and what doesn’t.

In that way you make changes and you test.

You make changes and you test.

After you’ve done all that, and you’ve gotten rid of all the faulty ‘components’ of your headline, you arrive at one which works together with all the other components.

And, hopefully, you should have a headline that works and reels in the sales like a fish on a hook.

Or, at least, it gets the rest of the sales letter read.

Best,
Rezbi

FREE E-Book Valued at $77 “Advertising Made Easy” A Potent Cocktail Of Proven Cash Generating Copywriting And Advertising Tools That Anyone Serious About Exploding Their Sales And Profits FAST . . . Would Be Lining Up At The Bar To Drink!

I’m not immune to any of the things I will say here.

Maybe the name of this blog is wrong, or maybe it’s all part and parcel of the same things, but this is a rant.

I have a few rants and I’m guilty of them all.

My question is, why are there so many gurus, online and offline?

Well, the fact is, we made them.

That’s right, the little guy such as myself and the rest of the majority of wannabe gurus who litter the internet and, to a lesser extent, the offline business world.

You see, we need to tell ourselves there are these experts out there who can teach us everything they know.

Okay, that part is probably true as there are plenty of people who could teach us – even people who don’t practice what they preach.

Let’s face it, Angelo Dundee was never a champion boxer even in the loosest sense of the word, and yet he trained Muhammad Ali, probably the best all-round scientific heavyweight boxer ever (in my opinion, anway).

So, it makes sense you don’y need to be a doer to teach others how to do as long as you KNOW HOW to do it.

However, the fact is, it’s not enough that a person knows exactly what to do, the ins and outs of a business.

It’s not enough that, if we do exactly as they say, we could most probably become just as successful and wealthy as any other business-man or woman, online or off.

There’s one factor that absolutely HAS to be present in order for us to BELIEVE this person knows what he or she is talking about, and has the chops to deliver what it is we are after.

Do you know that what that factor is?

It’s money.

The ‘guru’ in question has to charge a ton of cash.

Not a few dollars.

Sometimes not even a few hundred dollars.

And certainly not ‘nothing’.

Free?

You’re kidding, right?

If it’s free it must be worthless.

In fact, the more they charge the more we believe they know what they’re talking about and, thus, they will be able to make us ‘rich like them’.

Forget the fact that the material they teach is no different to something you could buy off Amazon for a few dollars.

Hey, I know because I’ve bought courses on copywriting which turned out to be no better and, in fact, inferior to some of the books I’ve bought on the same subject.

In fact, I’ve just recently bought a fourth edition copy of Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples.

It cost me $18 total from the Unites States, including postage and packing.

And I’m in the U.K.

Guess what?

That book is better than a lot of the high ticket courses available.

In fact, it’s a book people like John Carlton and Ken McCarthy rave about.

I’ve also got the fifth edition of the same book which I bought last year – I think that cost me about £12 from Amazon.

Other books I have on copywriting and advertising include Ogilvy On Advertising, 20 Ads That Shook The World, Confessions of An Advertising Man, The Elements of Style and a few other books which probably cost less than £100 in total.

In fact, the most expensive written course I have on copywriting is an original version of How to Convert White Space into Advertising That Sells by Clyde Bedell which my brother bought for me.

Oh, I also have an original first edition of Public Speaking as Listeners Like It! by Richard C. Borden – Cost?  $18.

Those are a few of my books and I have a few more.

I also have some of the more expensive ‘guru’ courses.

Guess what?

They’re no better but cost at least 50 times the price of any one of my books.

Will that stop me buying them?

I sincerely hope so.

I think I’ve been around a little too long to get ‘taken’ again.

Alas, I fear not… probably.

The fact is, I wasn’t ‘taken’.

I searched out these more expensive courses because I felt they MUST be better.

I’m not the only one to do so… I wasn’t the only one… and I will not be the only one in future.

The fact is, there may be people who read this very post, agree with everything I say, and still go looking  for the more expensive guru courses.

Well, good luck to them.

The fact is, if they actually follow them there’s a chance they will succeed whether it’s the $10,000 course, or the $20 book.

However, the gurus will always be in business because we want them to be.

And, if ever they all went bust, we will invent more of them.

We’ll throw money at whoever is willing to take it, just so we feel we’re getting the best there is out there.

It’s not the gurus’ fault.

I mean, if someone was willing to pay you thousands for your knowledge, would you turn it down just because you know your knowledge is freely available?

I doubt it.

So enough with the guru bashing.

If you don’t like what they do you don’t have to pay them to do it.

You may want to become a ‘guru’ yourself some day.

Meanwhile, I’m getting on with one of the best beginners business course available on the internet… and it’s completely free.

What is it?

The thirty day challenge, of course.