Copywriting

Beat Burnout & Breathe Life Into Your Day

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Today’s email is inspired by an important question a fellow copywriter asked me:

“I know we get paid to write… but I’m writing more than I ever have right now and I’m getting burnt out.

How do you stay fresh?”

I have a 5-part response to this question. These are helpful tips if you feel burnout creeping in… but you can also do them proactively to help prevent burnout before it starts.

1) Consume as much as you write. 

I don’t know if it’s true across the board, but in my experience, you need more fuel in the tank when you increase your creative workload.

Sometimes that means doing research. Sometimes it’s just going down the dark alleys of the internet (or Netflix) reading about things you’re interested in.

When you’re lucky, you can find places where work-related research overlaps with topics that interest and entertain you.

Looking for some good recreational material to consume? I’ve been sharing some of my favorite business books written by Black authors on social media.

2) Give yourself good breaks. 

You’re not ChatGPT, right? Your brain isn’t designed to write for 4 hours straight.

I took a full day off last week to take my son to the Chicago Auto Show (the biggest car show in the nation).

Copywriter Donnie Bryant and his son at the Chicago Auto Show

On the rare occasion you have the momentum for long writing sessions, go for it. Momentum is your best friend. (It can also be your worst enemy, but that’s a different conversation.)

But unless you have a screeching deadline, I encourage you not to force it.

3) Get sleep. 

I’m terrible at this, but it makes a huge difference.

I’m the king of the all-nighter. Ask any of my friends. So I can tell you as well as anyone (outside, you know, sleep scientists) that skipping sleep take a significant toll.

Especially after 30.

Double especially after 40.

Sure, you may pick up 8 extra hours of work, but if you’re like me, you’re basically useless for 12 hours after that.

Again, unless your deadline is tomorrow, I advise against skipping sleep.

4) Switch between tasks when you start hitting a wall.

Sometimes that looks like writing for a different project, sometimes it’s doing the laundry you know is piling up.

You’re able to keep working… but refocusing your brain can breathe some life back into your day.

5) Spend as much time as possible working on work that matters to you.

We don’t always have the luxury of doing this. But whenever you can, say “no” to work that drains you so you can make room for work you feel is meaningful, dare I say enjoyable.

Work you can wake up in the morning excited about.

Doing work that feels pointless sucks life out of you.

I don’t have statistics, but I reckon this could be the biggest cause of burnout on micro (getting tired of a particular task) and macro (general burnout that singes every part of your life) levels.

If you can swing it, just say “no.”

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— — —
Hopefully those tips are helpful for you.

Have a productive day!

Live Demo: Bing’s New AI-Powered Search

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Since we’ve been talking about how AI will change search, I thought you may be interested in watching a live demo of the new ChatGPT-powered Bing.

I meant to make a 5 minute video… but it kept pulling me back in.

There are some really impressive features (you get conversational AI that will follow commands like ChatGPT, but plugged into the web)

And some really glaring problems (which you kinda have to see to believe).

Check out the video here.

Have a productive day!

Is Search Dead? Answering the Question on Everybody’s Mind

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Are you tired of hearing about AI yet?

Or are you voraciously consuming everything in sight on the subject?

My wife said I’m “obsessed,” which can’t possibly be true. And I really think things went too far when the whole family got together to do an intervention.

Now, it’s not that I can’t talk about anything else… but a friend asked me a question about AI-powered search, and I thought I’d share the answer with you.

Because a) there was already a lot of chatter about ChatGPT destroying Google… and b) now Microsoft has announced an AI-powered version of Bing that has even more people shook.

Don’t worry, Google won’t be far behind. They announced their ChatGPT competitor, called Bard, this week. But Big G actually demonstrated an AI-infused search at their I/O conference back in 2021!

Anyway… here’s the question I got:

What’s the long-term importance of (written) content marketing now that search engines will give AI-powered synthesized answers to questions with no need to click through to a content publisher’s site?

Good question, right?!

Here’s my response:

Based on my interactions, most of the big dogs are still trying to figure out exactly what the impact of AI-powered search will be.
I don’t know of any publisher or copy guru who’s freaking out, though. (Although some gurus are promoting fear to sell their latest training)

Here’s my take:

1) People still love their people.

The AI-generated “answers” will, by definition, lack personality. Not saying the language won’t be personal-sounding, but it’s not created by a person.

People who love Dave Ramsey, for example, will continue looking to Dave Ramsey for his specific advice on issues.

So even though there will surely be a significant decline in clickthroughs from search inquiries… people will still want to be connected to their favorite experts on topics that intrigue them the most.

2) As smart as AI is, I don’t think the synthesized answers will satisfy anyone looking to really explore a topic. It will be perfect for quick answers, overviews of subjects, etc…

But at some point, deep divers will need to click over to real websites with more comprehensive coverage.

Google has already been prioritizing real expert-level content in search, and it will continue to do so.

Search results will be able to skip over websites that doesn’t offer in-depth content because the AI will be able to handle quick questions itself.

3) Publishers/content creators/entrepreneurs will HAVE to focus more on capturing email addresses.

Because you don’t want your fate completely in the hands of the fast-changing world of search.

Securing email addresses gives you a captive audience that you can push information to.

I see “push content” as a trend that’s been growing anyway.

When TikTok overtook Google as the most popular website on earth, you see that search barely exists.

People are deciding the kind of content they want to consume via engagement over time — and having that type of content pushed to them, via TikTok, email, SMS.

I think this will be an increasingly influential part of content marketing, which has been thought of as more passive up til now.

4) The other thing is that AI, in its current form, can’t be forward looking or truly creative. 

As you said in the question, it “synthesizes” what it consumes from human creators.

So in that respect, it’s going to lag behind humans until it figures out how to create something authentically new.

Also, AI can crunch economic and housing market data, for example, and even make predictions about where the market will go in the next 12 months…

But that info won’t be available in search anytime soon. Readers will still have to go to publishers to get trustworthy, contextually accurate insight into future developments.

So publishers/creators who are pushing their industries forward and helping their audience navigate a changing world will also be ahead of AI for the foreseeable future.

(Admittedly, the foreseeable future is probably like 90 days lol)

As you’re creating content, think about how you can push your industry forward and prepare your readers/viewers for what they’re likely to face in their uncertain tomorrows.

As you’re planning out products, a minimum viable product (MVP) may be less appealing. Because people can get so much from search, so much from AI.

You gotta bring the “A game” pretty quickly.

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Hope that’s helpful for you. Go capture some email addresses.

I have to get back to my intervention. Sounds like the family is starting to look for me.

Have a productive day.

Donnie

P.S. I clearly lied to you. I said Inbox X-Factor would be available in January. I missed my deadline. But it’s coming soon.

Thanks for your patience!

Don’t Let AI Do This to You

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What’s up, my friend?!

I should’ve said it sooner: happy new year. Hope you’ve been able to kick off 2023 with gusto.

After guzzling all that sparkling grape juice, I realized I left out an important point in my previous email about my 3 predictions for the year.

The major distinction I need to add pertains to the first part of Prediction #3:

The value of real expertise will increase.

Here’s how I see this playing out in 2023…

There will be an avalanche of mostly mediocre AI-generated content published.

Quantity will likely increase every day, but quality will lag for a while. It’ll be at least 6 to 12 months before folks get over their giddiness and notice the diminishing returns.

That means two things:

1) High quality human-generated content will become rarer relative to speed-focused stuff spit out by AI… and

2) Human buyers (because bots have no money) will be increasingly impacted by marketing that feels authentically personal and/or delivers entertainment as part of the interaction.

Remember: TikTok gets more visitors than Google for a reason. Humans crave entertainment. They DEMAND it. That won’t change anytime soon.

AI is great at putting together information. It’s nowhere near ready for prime time when it comes to entertainment, especially in smaller niches.

Here’s the takeaway. Two things.

First, I encourage you to get familiar with AI tools. There’s some incredible stuff out there. I’m especially fond of HelloScribe for writing purposes.

But don’t let AI do all the work for you. I’ve had too many conversations with entrepreneurs who are overly optimistic about the copy-pasteability of AI output. 

Don’t fall for it.

It’s true. You can get decent content/copy from AI. It will continue to get better over time.

But it’ll be a long time before it’s great. A long time before it’s authentically personal, especially in certain situations…

Secondly, the time of being Switzerland and playing it safe is over.

Work on adding personality and, yes, even entertainment into your content and copy.

Copywriting is no longer “salesmanship in print.” It’s SHOWMANSHIP in print.

I’ll be talking more about this in the coming days and weeks.

For now, I’ll point you to a conversation I had with copywriting legend John Forde on the topic. (The video should start at 32:01.)

Have a productive day!

P.S. Even as artificial intelligence platforms improve their copy-pasteability, it’s still going to be a LONG time before they’re able to tap into the pure creativity of human copywriters.

Here’s a quick illustration using curiosity-drenched bullets:

AI can’t touch copy like this for multiple reasons.

Firstly, these bullets draw on context not included in the content itself. Particularly the one about the curse.

Secondly, AI still has a way to go into understanding why people use language the way we do. The bot is programmed to predict what word will follow the previous word, based on a bank of words it’s been trained on.

But it doesn’t understand what it’s saying, let alone why we say what we say or how to phrase copy/content for a particular emotional effect.

That’s why, for now, copywriters can still do what AI can’t do.

Long live the humans!

3 Big Predictions for 2023

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Happy almost New Year!

Instead of being clever and coming up with 23 predictions for 2023, I’ll just give you 3 for the coming year.

I don’t know that any of these will be shocking, but I think you’ll find them useful. (And correct.)

Let’s get to it.

Prediction #1: The population general will shift even more toward fear about the economy.

Yes, we’ve already heard plenty of complaining about inflation (and I think we’re a ways off from seeing that fixed), possible recession, etc.

Still, 2022 holiday spending has been record-breaking.

If your neighborhood is anything like mine, people bought everything they could get their hands on for Christmas.

I predict people will adopt a more defensive attitude in 2023.  Spending will be tempered (not decimated), and in most industries, you’ll have to work harder to get people to open their wallets.

You’ll benefit from communicating safety, security and CERTAINTY in your marketing.  Help your clients and prospects feel a greater degree of control and they’ll reward you.

Prediction #2: AI will help creatives more than it hurts. Consumers won’t be so lucky.

Based on my last few emails, you already know I don’t see ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools as a threat to copywriters… designers… children’s book authors.

I just uploaded a video highlighting 10 copywriting skills AI doesn’t have (yet) that guarantee humans will still be running the show for the foreseeable future.

Besides, no one wants to do our jobs!

Entrepreneurs are already full-time busy with their jobs. The reason they don’t study copywriting or graphic design is the same reason most won’t invest the time to learning to leverage AI.

And even if they do bring AI into the mix, they still need skilled copywriters, designers, etc., to run the program!

That said, marketers will create far more content in 2023 than ever before. Much of it will likely come from AI.

More and more content… with less and less originality… which means more and more noise for everyone to sift through.

Several experts are even advocating for and teaching “authors” to use AI to ghost write their books!

In many ways, I believe 2023 is going to be a year of content quantity over quality as people prioritize speed.

It’s like giving a teenager the keys to a gassed-up Bugatti. Could be painful to watch.

Prediction #3: The value of real expertise will increase… but it’ll be harder than ever for most to get their expertise noticed.

True, original-thinking experts will seem increasingly rare and refreshing amidst an onslaught of mediocre AI content.

Your ideal clients will sing “Oh happy day” when they find you. They’ll likely be more tired than ever from wading through the sea of cyber-sameness.  

In 2023, you may need to crank out more copy/content than you’ve had to produce in the past — without decreasing its quality.

Showcase your expertise, your unique and relevant experience, your empathy and your HUMANNESS… even if you use AI like crazy.

(For the record, my plans for the new year include a TON more content. So I’m not just talking to hear my fingers hit the keys.)

AI will get better over time, and people (hopefully) will get better at using it.

Either way, 2023 is going to be interesting!

3 Steps to AI-Proof Your Copywriting Business

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I’m guessing you’ve had at least a couple conversations about AI over the past couple weeks.

I’ve had a couple dozen. And each time, an image pops in my mind of the steel-driving man John Henry staring down that ol’ steam drill.

According to the folk story John Henry worked himself to death trying to beat the machine in a high-stakes competition.

But the true story behind the legend ends differently. Henry dies from a lung condition caused by inhaling rock dust. In other words, it wasn’t a machine that killed him. It was the work itself.

I see a John Henry situation with artificial intelligence today.

Creatives are worried about the future. One of the most influential copywriters in the game predicted that AI will put 80% of copywriters out of work within 12 months.

Like that ol’ steam drill. Only John Henry could compete. Everyone else was obsolete.

Claiming 80% of copywriters will be out of a job by next New Year’s Eve is a bit drastic, if you ask me. But it’s impossible to deny that AI presents a challenge.

So, how do you AI-proof your business? 

Respect the Tech and Protect Your Neck

This advice is for copywriters, but I encourage any entrepreneur to pay attention, too.

1) Flip the fear. There’s a TON of things AI can’t do yet. And even more that it can’t do well. For example:

  • It’s not great at persuasion or authentic personality
  • It can’t really dig into breaking news and trending topics
  • The longer the output you’re looking for, the more problems will creep in.

Don’t let fear paralyze or discourage you. This is an opportunity. Respect the tech by using it to enhance your own productivity and creativity. Bring your special expertise to bear on the AI output and make real magic.

This is how you prevent the work from killing you like it did the real John Henry.

2) Get your weight up. There’s a lot AI can’t do, but it is more than capable of doing a TON of basic, low-level copy tasks.

In order to AI-proof your business, you can’t be mediocre. You can’t rely on basic, low-level copy tasks. Protect your neck by developing an expertise. I think it’ll be a while before AI can churn out effective (and accurate) copy for certain specialized niches like financial and alternative health. Especially long-form copy.

Continually get better at direct response techniques. Add something special a robot can’t do: humor… unique, bold perspective… original research.

3) Promote yourself more and better. This may be the most important advice, although it’s far from new.

Until AI starts making the hiring decisions, you’re still dealing with human prospects. They need to see you. They need to get a glimpse into your particular genius. They want to feel a connection with you.

It’s up to you to make that happen through confident self-promotion.

AI is getting all the good press these days. And your potential clients are thinking seriously about using it to make their lives easier. (So that can’t be your only argument now!) Their friends are telling them how cool it is. What do they need a copywriter for?

Well, for the reasons I mentioned above. If you have persuasion skills, the ability to communicate with authentic personality, and proven profit-pulling penmanship, you can do what AI can’t.

But you have to make sure people know that about you!

Whether you consider yourself an extrovert or not, you’re likely going to have to put yourself out there more.

I believe video will be especially important in the coming weeks. Because AI can’t recreate your personality, your charm, your empathy.

The only downside is that the more videos you make, the better Donnie deepfakes AI will be able to make!  

Respect the tech. Use it to your advantage.

Protect your neck. Show yourself superior in all the ways that matter.

The Lensa App & Your Fave 3 Letter Word

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Everybody’s doing it…

Hop onto social media and it won’t be 10 seconds before you see a smattering of AI-generated superhero versions of your friends and family.

It’s fascinating.

Artificial intelligence is set to revolutionize education, healthcare, and dozens of other industries – and terminate 96% of humans (hypothetically)…

And the application that goes viral makes selfies.

There are a number of lessons here. Today I’ll just share one.

The Lensa app has exploded onto the scene because it’s 100% focused on your favorite topic: Y O U.

Fully. Unapologetically.

It gives users:

  • idealized images of themselves, perhaps a version of self they fantasize about being…
  • Unique content to share on social media…
  • a fun diversion aka entertainment
  • the opportunity to be one of the first to use a cool new tool…
  • the ability to feel smarter/superior you can now talk about AI from the position of a creator…
  • at the same time as being an early adopter, there’s still that warm sense of belonging, being part of the “in crowd”…
  • Feelings (positive or negative – both are rewarding) about teaching the AI about different faces and characteristics…

… all for $7.99.

These emotional experiences are extremely desirable to millions of people.

There’s a version of these experiences that applies to your product or service. Make sure you speak to them in your marketing.

Have a productive day.

Can This Neuroscience-Based Story Structure Produce Mind Control?

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A masked man burst through the door.
Alicia screamed at the top of her lungs and fell back onto her pillow.
Johnny looked up and realized it was time…

Okay, based on the details you just read, what do you think is going on here?

Did you picture a late-night home invasion?

Or maybe it sounded like Alicia and Johnny are at the hospital, just moments away from welcoming a new baby into the world.

Maybe you imagined something totally different.

But chances are that when you read those 3 sentences, your mind assumed they were part of a single narrative rather than random, unconnected sentences.

You automatically made up a story.

(Which is why “facts tell but stories sell” is only half true.)

Everyone’s brain takes sensory input, i.e. whatever you’re trying to say…

Then auto-fills any gaps until it has a story that makes sense to that individual (based on what he already knows, believes and has experienced).

All in a fraction of a second. Amazing, really.

To make sure your reader accurately understands what you’re trying to say (or at least give your message the best possible chance), you have to fill in the gaps yourself before auto-fill kicks in.

And to beat the auto-fill function, you can deliver components to the reader in the specific sequence the brain uses to process and make sense out of stories.

According to neuroscience-based testing funded by the U.S. government (DARPA to be specific), that sequence is actually highly predictable.

To keep this email from dragging on endlessly, I’ll simply list the core components in order of appearance in the ideal story structure:

1) Main characters: Who’s in on the action?

2) Key (initial) characteristics of the characters: What are these characters like? They help shape our feelings about each character.

3) Intentions: What do the characters want? This drives action. Not the same thing as…

4) Motives: Why do they want what they want? This adds flavor to the action and further shapes our feelings about the characters. A man bursting through the door to deliver a baby is vastly different than one who’s about to commit a violent crime.

5) Conflict: What’s preventing the characters from achieving their intentions?

6) Stakes: What happens if the character doesn’t overcome the conflict? If there’s no consequence, there’s no reason for the reader to care.

7) Struggle: What hoops does the character go through in his pursuit of victory?

8) Details: To tell a satisfying story, you need details to paint the scene and add realism.

I know that’s a lot… ironically without much detail.

If your intention is to create more compelling stories, I’ll let you struggle in your attempt to apply this structure.

Who am I to rob you of this all-important conflict?

Have a productive day.

P.S. If 8 components is too many, maybe you’ll like my 3-part story structure better.

P.P.S. This is unrelated, but you may be interested. Next week, I’m speaking at the virtual POP to Millions Summit, and I’d love for you to sign up now.

This summit was created to give you a never-before-seen look at how multiple 7, 8, and 9-figure business owners quickly scaled their revenue in 2022… while keeping substantial profits each step along the way.

My topic is “The 4-I Formula: How to Structure High-Converting Copy.” I’m also giving away an exclusive video training I’ve never given away free before. If you’re interested, you can snag a free ticket here.

Is It Really True that “Facts Tell, Stories Sell”?

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How many times have you heard the sage advice that “facts tell, stories sell”?

Now, how many times have you heard it stated as a fact… instead of illustrated with a story?

Maybe you’re luckier than me. Maybe you’ve heard some good stories “proving” the fact that stories sell.

But here’s what makes it really interesting: “facts tell, stories sell” is both true and false.

Not that it’s bad advice. Quite the opposite. But something important is missing.

With one simple statement, a 10-year old Jeff Bezos made his grandmother burst into tears during a road trip in Texas…

He wasn’t trying to be mean. He wasn’t even trying to be persuasive.

He was trying to show off his intelligence.

The story goes something like this.

During this trip, Little Jeff heard a commercial on the radio saying that every puff of a cigarette takes 2 minutes off of your life. Nana Bezos smoked cigarettes, so Jeff thought he’d do the math to impress and inform his grandparents.

When he came up with his number, he tapped grandmother on the shoulder, and proudly proclaimed, “At two minutes per puff, you’ve taken nine years off your life!”

That’s when the waterworks started.

We don’t know if she gave up smoking on that day, but we do know this: that “fact” struck a deep nerve.

Why?

Because stories DO sell… and sometimes the right facts make a person tell himself an emotionally charged story.

Back to the Bezoses:

When Jeff said “hey Granny, you’re going to die 9 years early because of those cancer sticks,” here’s what happened…

Grandma Bezos told herself a story. Could’ve been:

  • This habit of mine is stealing time I should be spending with my grandson
  • My grandson will be so hurt when I’m gone. No more summer road trips… no more birthday cards… when we should have had so many more
  • My behavior is making this sweet boy imagine me dying. How could I be so selfish?

You get the picture.

Little Jeff didn’t have to tell any of those stories. Grandma did that on her own… automatically.

So here’s today’s lesson:

Keep in mind that your clients and prospects are prone to telling themselves stories based on the facts you tell them.

Choose which facts you share and how you share them wisely. Because the facts may lead your audience to draw different conclusions than you think, as illustrated in this video clip:

And YES, tell more stories.

Make sure to tell the stories that tell the stories you want to tell.

The good thing about telling a story (versus stats and facts) is that you have more control over the story that plays out in the other person’s mind. You can more skillfully guide him as he draws his own conclusions.

I may write about how to structure stories for maximum control over your reader/listener’s conclusions.

If you’d like to know more about that, stay tuned. My next article will dive into that.

Should You 100X Your Fees?

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Do you ever pause and think about how far you’ve come?

Yeah, me neither ?

Okay, I’m half-joking. Between my present work and future goals, I don’t spend a ton of time thinking about the past… unless something prompts me to do so.

I stumbled across something the other day that jolted me back to 2011, aka my scraping to survive days.

Check this out…

In case it’s not clear what you’re looking at, that’s a check stub from a client. For this particular project, I wrote 20 blogposts for $250.

DANG.

I remember accepting microscopic fees in my early days… but I forgot how many different ways I ripped myself off back then.

You’d have to write 8,000 blogposts at that rate to hit six-figures. And there are only 8,760 hours in a year.

Double DANG.

Thank God things have changed.

Today my fees are 100 times bigger (and it’s about time for them to go up again). Instead of scraping to survive, I turn down practically everyone who tries to throw money at me.

What made the difference?

Developing visibility and authority in the marketplace (which, if we’re honest, is only partially about results or ability)…

Working on the right projects for the right people…

And the confidence to ask for more (based on a proper understanding of how much value I bring to the particular project).

None of these are easy. But if I can do it, you can do it. Probably a lot faster than I did.

What would it be like finally charge what you deserve? To do the work you LOVE to do… with people you actually want to work with? To stop having to play by everyone else’s rules?

That can be your reality, and I encourage you to start today.

1. Work on building your visibility and authority. Publish authoritative content. Be seen associating with other respected authorities.

2. Get as specific as possible about who your perfect client is. Then determine what’s the most profitable result you can provide for that client.  

3. Try to find out how much impact you’ve had on those you’ve already helped. Find out the value of getting the job done right… and the cost (financial, emotional, lost time) of allowing the job to remain undone or to be done poorly. Then set your fees boldly, knowing the value you bring.

Today’s a good day to get started. Make it a productive one.

P.S. Whether you’re selling a product or service, this is possibly the quickest way to multiply your income.