I've been working today, a Saturday, as I need to take Sunday and Monday off (visiting my 80 year-old dad for Father's Day and, now, Grandfather’s Day, too). My wife's away and I'm doubling as babysitter. It's been fairly easy. Jonah needs to feed about every two hours, but I don't make that an excuse to goof off.
Nope. Either I'll read him some copywriting/marketing newsletter/book I have on the to-study stack, or we'll listen to a CD. We alternate the studying with longhand copy of copy. Not too difficult. I place Jonah in a cloth sling. Bottle in one hand. Pen in another. We've almost completely copied a magalog by Clayton Makepeace.
This morning we listened to the new EasyWriters Road Rants CD which came in the mail yesterday enclosed in the usual glaring orange envelope. This monthly audio interview is one of the benefits to being a member of the EasyWriters Marketing Club.
Now, I have to say, at first I was a bit disappointed when I saw who Clayton was interviewing this month.
You see, I've been trying to decide which way to go with my copywriting career. I recently "fired" my retainer client, for reasons I can explain another time. I've been debating between just writing copy for my own websites and direct mail ventures or getting some gigs with the big direct mail companies.
I'll fill you in on my evolving dilemma, another time too... The gist of it is that I was expecting to get another interview with a direct mail superstar.
Instead, it was Yanik Silver -- "Boy Wonder of the Internet". I assumed it was going to be a bit more of introductory to internet marketing. I've already studied quite a bit of Yanik's stuff, so I wasn't expecting anything new.
And I was right, more or less.
Instead, I heard things I heard before. Many of which I hadn't done. Many of which I wanted to do. Many of which I still need to do and should have done.
What really, impressed me, though, was hearing how valuable Yanik rated the ability write copy for success online. How much time he put into studying it. I guess, when I think of my own internet marketing ventures, I feels like I must be branded an "Internet Marketer" category. Nothing against, that, but I'm a writer first.
Anyways, at the beginning of the CD Clayton had Yanik relate the story of his humble beginning as a Russian immigrant to America. I'd heard bits and pieces before, but this was a great "Reality Copywriting/Internet Marketing" account.
Yanik started working for his father's medical supply company at the young age of 14. By the time he was 16, he was doing face-to-face sales with middle aged doctors.
He dabbled a bit with print advertising. On the CD he describes one horrible ad he did with a giant whale, and the words "Here's a Whale of Deal" underneath, offering a discount on a piece of medical equipment.
Things changed for him when one of the doctors gave him a Jay Abraham tape, and his eyes were opened to the light of direct-response copy.
Next thing you know, he's doing Sugarman-style full page advertorials in medical journals. Yanik's father sees the ads and exclaims in his thick Russian accent, "No one will read all that!"
"Come on Dad, let's just give it a try."
Those ads helped turn his dad's business into a million dollar operation.
Today, as many of you know, Yanik runs his own million dollar company helping individuals and small businesses make money online.
Other things Clayton and Yanik covered on the CD...
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How this 21st century internet marketer, relies on the copywriting wisdom of mail order legends going back as far as the 1800s. |
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How Yanik saved his marriage and made $30,000 in sales, all by taking advantage of a Collier idea. |
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The biggest mistake people are making online when it comes to guiding their visitor to the next step -- you need to know this whether you're putting up your own sites or writing copy for you clients. |
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How many hours a day, for how many years, Yanik would read about copywriting and marketing, in order to become the expert he is today. (And, when you come to think about it, READING is a rather fun pass time -- not that difficult at all.) |
If you missed this interview, don't miss next months. You can become a member of the EasyWriters Marketing Club easy enough -- just click here (then you'll have to do some other stuff involving your credit card, but I'm not supposed to mention that yet -- so let's just keep it between me and you, okay?)...
Jonah's sounding hungry. The hollering screams is how I know.
What's that smell? Oh-oh. I had some water boiling on the stove for his formula before I sat down to finish this email.
.....
Well, it's sterilized.
Better go reboil some more. Fortunately there is still one bottle left in the fridge of prepared formula.
If anyone knows a good babysitter (over the age 18) in the Stratford, Ontario area, please email me. So far, we've found none.
Capture, captivate convert,
John C. A. Manley
P.S. You can also get older versions of Road House Rant interviews by going here.
P.P.S. And Yanik Silver has a FREE e-mail course on how to apply your copywriting skills to the internet, setting up your own profitable mini-websites. Just click here. |
