Copywriters Podcast

Nathan came up with the idea for this show, and it started, of all places, in his mom’s kitchen.
Here’s what happened: 
If Mom says dinner will be ready in 30 minutes, Nathan is much less likely to go digging through the fridge.
So if she wanted to stop him from digging through the fridge, she wouldn’t have to say a word about the fridge. She could just start cooking dinner.
Think about that for a second. No argument. No lecture. No “get out of the fridge.”
Just one piece of information—and an entire behavior stops in its tracks.
When Nathan told me this, I had one of those moments where you realize you’ve been looking at something really important your whole career, without ever really seeing it.
By that I mean, the insanely simple power of copy to STOP you from doing something.
Here’s why I didn’t see that:
Every copywriting formula out there is built to do the opposite. To get someone to START a behavior. To push people toward taking action.
But there’s a whole nother side of influence that almost nobody in our business talks about. 
Not because it doesn’t work. It does.
People don’t talk about it because it’s never been named and explained.
Today, we’re gonna change all that.
We’re talking about using copy to DISsuade people – to STOP a behavior that’s standing between your prospect and the sale (or between your son and his dinner).
We’re going to look at how this technique works, why it’s so powerful, and how you can add it to your skill set, today.

I was rummaging around on youtube when I came across this video with an outrageous claim:
“This book literally teaches you to think like a Harvard lawyer.”
My skepticism shot into high gear, but when I watched the video, from a youtube educator named Stephan L. Petro, I saw he was on the level.
I’ll tell you about the book in a minute. It’s really valuable for any copywriter, because it will help you sharpen up your sales argument quite a bit.
But more important, it has one idea called “the bridge” which most experienced copywriters do automatically but most beginners miss out on–and this idea can make all the difference between whether your copy works.
Now, we’re not lawyers, but in some ways we do the same thing, so it will be worthwhile to find out more about this book and what it means to us as copywriters.

Resources
The Uses of Argument, by Stephen E. Toulmin
https://www.amazon.com/Uses-Argument-Stephen-Toulmin/dp/0521534836

The Persuasion Story Code
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQ

This week I had a great conversation with a Hollywood screenwriting coach and screenwriter himself, and it reminded me about how much people in Hollywood know that copywriters can learn and use.
One of his most important points was there are structures that make stories work. Not rigid formulas or two-dimensional templates, but guidelines with benchmarks that have proven time and time again to act as a container for great stories.
I was reminded that we’re not always talking hero’s journey when we look at stories. I went back into some of my own research and found some more micro-story structures that we as copywriters can adapt to make our own copy that much more compelling.
We did this a couple months ago when we talked about The Dark Knight, Inception and Rocky.
Today I’ve got three new story types that will add a little Hollywood intrigue to our sales letters, sales funnels, websites and VSLs. 
Really, to any type of copy.

RESOURCE:
The Persuasion Story Code
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQ

Today we’re continuing with Part 3 of our Old Masters Series, focusing on the contributions of Albert Lasker. 
That’s because in 1898, Albert Lasker arrived in Chicago to work at Lord and Thomas, which he took over in only a few years.
And what Lasker and the copywriters he hired would do over the next 10 years would change the course of advertising.
We’ve covered lessons in Parts 1 and 2 of this Old Masters Series. Particularly, lessons for direct-response marketers.
Today we’re going to cover the last four lessons and then broaden our lens, because Lasker in fact had major and lasting impacts on our CULTURE, and he hasn’t gotten all that much credit for it as far as I’ve been able to tell.
So now’s the perfect time, since I think you’ll find some of the most important changes he caused to be interesting and possibly very useful in your own world.

Resources:
The Man Who Sold America, by Jeffrey L. Cruikshank and Arthur W Schultz 
https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Sold-America-Advertising-ebook/dp/B003SNJYTY
The Persuasion Story Code
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQ

The world of copywriting and ecommerce almost changed forever last September 29, when Open AI launched something called Instant Checkout.
This new service was designed to let you seamlessly buy something right from Chat GPT.
Instant Checkout crashed and burned over the next six months for a number of reasons.
One, the infrastructure wasn’t there to let it happen. It was launched before there were enough figurative runways, air traffic control towers, connections between Chat GPT and merchants, and other things like that.
Two, the cost to merchants was really out of line:7% per transaction, more than double what they were paying when customers came directly to their site.
They shut it down in March. Not forever; just, for now.
So Instant Checkout was an early attempt at what’s called Agentic Shopping, where you order right from the AI and an AI agent does a lot of the heavy lifting for you.
We’re most likely 3-5 years out from Agentic Shopping becoming a widespread reality.
But when it does, our world as copywriters will change. In a big way.
We’re going to look at how, and what you can do to prepare for this inevitable future, today.