Copywriting

Imposter Syndrome Is Hurting Your Conversions… And You Don’t Know It

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Wanna know why you’re not closing more sales than you are right now?

I haven’t dug into your business, but I can tell you one reason.

Imposter syndrome.

Quick story.

I recently had a conversation with a guy I’ve known for about 20 years named Allen. We kinda came up together. Even had the same job at the same company on two separate occasions.

Over the past few years, our incomes really started to diverge. I regularly offered advice and encouragement. But he never seemed to be able to change course.

During this conversation last week, Allen inadvertently gave me a hint about why he was stuck.

“I’m not like you, Donnie,” he snapped at me.

Which is just plain false for a whole bunch of reasons.

As I said, we kinda came up together, worked some of the same jobs, etc.

(And yes, I realize this sounds a lot like scene between Derek and Chi from Save the Last Dance, but this is real life.)

Anyway, the point is this.

Over the years, the greater the difference between our incomes, the LESS he paid attention to the advice I gave him.

In his mind, he believed those ideas, strategies and resources wouldn’t work for him… because he’s not like me.

Imposter syndrome rears its hideous head.

Guess what.

The moral of this story applies to your marketing and your business.

Because YOU suffer from imposter syndrome.

There’s the twist.

I didn’t say you HAVE imposter syndrome.

But you almost certainly suffer from it…

Because your should-be clients have it.

They may listen to your advice. They may respond well to your encouragement. But many of them simply cannot bring themselves to change course.

They don’t believe your ideas, strategies and resources will work for them.

Because they’re not like YOU.

This Amazon review is a funny example… and sad at the same time.

This reviewer’s own self-doubt is blocking him from getting valuable information from the very people who have achieved the results he’s looking for.

But he just can’t see it.

How Do You Defeat Their Imposter Syndrome?

The brutal truth is that you won’t be able to beat in for a big chunk of your audience.

I won’t go so far as to call them hopeless…

Let’s just say your energy will be better spent focusing on the smaller percentage of “kingmakers” on your list.

With that in mind, here are a few tips:

1) Keep painting a vivid picture of a specific, desirable outcome.

Never underestimate the power of desire. In some cases, people will change their entire belief systems when they want something badly enough.

I get nervous every time mention this. But I trust you to do the right thing.

2) Tell more stories that illustrate that you really ARE like your reader. Or, at least you used to be.

Again, some people won’t be able to clear that hurdle. Don’t worry about it. The ones who get it will get it. And you may compel a brave minority to take action in spite of their self-doubt.

3) Show them examples of other people who really are like them. Detailed testimonials can go a long way here.

4) Make it insanely easy and low-risk to take the first step.

Offer a sample. A free or low-cost trial. A courageous money-back guarantee.

If it makes sense, maybe even offer to partner with them to get the result they’re looking for.

Get them to take the first step and they may come to see that, “hey, maybe I AM like you, Donnie.”

5) If you can do so honestly, demonstrate that even a caveman could get the desired result – with your help.  That way, imposter or not, they should be able to find success working with you.

Now…

This has been a lot of information. If it’s been overwhelming, I apologize.

Let’s simplify quickly before we get out of here.

You have “Allens” in your life. They’re on your email list. Maybe in your sales pipeline.

And their imposter syndrome is costing YOU money.

Try not to let that frustrate you.

Display your flawed past and the near-flawless ability of your product or service to produce their desired outcome (to whatever extent it’s reality).

You’ll convince the convincible… encourage the faithful… and put more sales on the board.

Know, Like & Trust is a LIE

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Unpopular opinion:

The “Know, Like & Trust” factor in marketing has cost entrepreneurs a bajillion dollars since John Jantsch popularized the concept in 2007.

Literally blocked a bajillion dollars from being deposited in their accounts.

Nobody is telling you this.

But I care about you too much to leave you in the dark.

No matter what your favorite expert says…

People don’t buy because they KNOW you.

Here’s a prime example. Think about all the times you asked your family to support your business. How did those conversations go?

If you’re like most entrepreneurs I know, less than 1% of your business comes from the people who know you best: family and friends.

(Friends you met after starting the business seem to be an exception.)

In most cases, people don’t buy because they LIKE you, either.

Or because they TRUST you.

We make buying decisions based on desire.

We buy what we want.

Knowing, liking and trusting the seller can help. But it plays a supporting role, not the leading role.

Don’t act like you’ve never bought merchandise from a hustle man who you’ve never met and have no reason to trust.  

If you have what someone really wants, they’ll talk often themselves into buying regardless of other considerations.

That’s the reason Know-Like-Trust is dangerous.

  • You spend an inordinate amount of time, money and energy trying to get “known” rather than creating a desirable offer.
  • You postpone making an offer until you feel you’ve built up enough K-L-T first.

    Truth is, many of your would-be buyers are bored with you by the time you’re ready to make an offer.
  • Trust is important. But no one buys something they don’t want just because they trust the person selling it.

If you offer something that improves people’s lives, you don’t have to “earn” the right to sell it to them.

The longer you wait, they longer they’re missing out on the benefits of your offer.

Imagine Moderna (a company you don’t know) and Pfizer (which NO ONE likes and few people trust) waiting to make their vaccines available until they’d crossed some arbitrary Know-Like-Trust threshold…

Doesn’t work like that.

People begged to get those jabs. Stood in line for hours to get them.

Because they desire protection — and getting back to “normal” life.

What does your ideal customer really want? Show them how to get it.

And whoever paints the clearest picture of a specific desirable outcome wins.

P.S. Share this revelation with your business buddies. They need to know the truth too!

Emotional Copy Sells. Here’s How You Do It

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Emotional copy focuses on "body, bank and boo"

Your life is about to get a little easier, my friend.

Starting today.

I’m going to remind you about something you may already know…

Then I’ll share a distinction you may have never thought of. One that could seriously simplify your sales and marketing efforts.

Let’s dive in.

As a student of the persuasion game, I’m sure you already know that emotions drive buying decisions.

If you have never heard this before, today’s your lucky day. Because now you know.

If you thought the air-tight logic of your sales argument is what seals your deals, today’s your lucky day. Because now you know better.

(If you feel the need to cling to this theory, check out where you swipe your own credit cards. You’ll see your feelings’ fingerprints all over the receipts.)

Here’s an old video covering this in greater detail, along with 5 specific emotions worth targeting.

The question that naturally comes up is…

How do you create emotion with copy? – especially when your product or service is “boring”?

Which is just one way we make sales and marketing more complicated than it needs to be.

The solution is simple.

Talk about topics your ideal customers are already emotional about. The stronger the emotions, the better.

To make it even simpler, I refer you to Body, Bank and Boo.

Everyone already has strong feelings, positive or negative, about their:

  • Body (physical, mental and emotional health)
  • Bank (making or saving money, other work-related stuff)
  • Boo (love life and other relationships)

They already have:

  • dreams and desires…
  • pains and problems…
  • fears and frustrations…

…about their Body, Bank, and Boo.

Get familiar with your should-be customers. You’ll discover which Body dreams… which Bank problems… which Boo frustrations they have the strongest feelings about. Which they’re most desperate to address.

See how that works?

You don’t have to be very creative. You don’t have to be a Donnie Bryant-level copywriter. And you don’t have to resort to overhype or dishonesty to get your prospects in the buying mood.

They’ll tell you how to get them in the mood.

Get to know them and then show them how you can help them get the Body/Bank/Boo result they’re already emotionally invested in achieving.

Every effective sales and copywriting strategy is a variation on that.

My advice? Keep it simple… and keep leading the way.

Have a productive day!

Donnie

P.S. Trying to generate emotions in your copy ex nihilo is almost like trying to divert a freight train hurtling down the track.

Why put yourself through that?

Tap into the momentum that’s already there. It’s easier, and more likely to take you smoothly to the desired destination.

Body, Bank and Boo.

Simple.

The Biggest Lesson Clayton Makepeace Taught Me

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Many of the biggest names in the copywriting world gathered yesterday to pay tribute to Clayton Makepeace, who passed away almost exactly one year ago.

His death hit me pretty hard because he was such an instrumental part of my journey.

Not only was Clayton a great copywriter (one of the all-time greats) and brilliant teacher (his copy cubs are some of the best in the game, too)…

He was one of the most interesting guys I’ve ever hung out with.

Since I wasn’t invited to speak at today’s tribute, which was organized and hosted by another legend, Carline Anglade-Cole…

I’m going to share a game-changing lesson he taught me right here.

Now, to be fair, I wasn’t invited to speak at the tribute because:

1) I’m barely a big name copywriter in my own house and
2) Clayton was only my mentor from a distance.

Plus, I only hung out with him once, when I was invited to speak on a hot seat panel during AWAI’s “Makepeace Method for Writing Million Dollar Sales Letters in 7 Days or Less” workshop in 2016.

Here’s a picture of Clayton and me on stage at the event, along with David Deutsch and Parris Lampropoulos (who both spoke at the tribute).

By the way, I’d like to publicly thank John Forde for helping get me on stage with these titans.

Now, let me share the lesson Clayton taught me that impacted me more than any other.

No matter how you rate your copywriting skills, this concept can revolutionize your ability to persuade in print or in person.

It’s…

“The Triumph of Hope Over Experience“

Your should-be clients have dreams and desires. In many cases, those dreams and desires do not match up with the reality they’re face every day.

They dream of having six-pack abs… even though they see their gut bulging more every week.

And they want to get that six-pack without exercise or dieting. A magical fat-burning pill will do nicely.

They dream of their husbands putting their socks in the hamper instead of leaving them on the bathroom floor… even though their experience tells them not to hold their breath. (Pun intended)

Experience tells them their dreams and desires are out of reach.

But they still have HOPE and their hope consistently triumphs over their experience.

Hope is what drives them to keep trying – and buying – new things to get closer to those dreams and desires.

Your job as a persuader is to pour gasoline on the embers of their hope. Do it right and your prospects will appreciate you selling to them.

And here’s a brilliant tip:

His experience can be the path of least resistance to the promised land he hopes to reach.

Show him an experience he’s already personally familiar with.

Then connect that experience to a fact he knows (or at least suspects) and could easily prove.

And then connect that fact to the dream/desire you’re appealing to in your copy.

Take this oversimplified example:

Copy: 90% of people live paycheck to paycheck.
Reader: “Yep, I’m broke and so is everyone I know.”

Copy: The 10% of people doing well have totally different mindsets and habits than the broke folk. But no one ever told you.
Reader: “That makes sense! My role models were broke, so they couldn’t show me the right way. So it’s not my fault”

Copy: Once you learn just a few mindset hacks and simple habit stacks, you’ll be ready to join the rich and famous 10%.
Reader: “Take my money!”

See how that works?

You’re building belief in the new transformation you’re selling on the foundation of one (or more) of his established beliefs.

And get this.

Even if the reader has tried a similar product… the fact that he’s reading your copy means he HOPES you’re going to be the one who finally helps him realize his dreams and desires.

A lot of copywriters skip this step. They go right from “You’re broke” to “here are mindset hacks and habit stacks to help you get rich.”

Again, that’s oversimplified, but you can see how powerful the concept is.

We could go deeper, but we’ve covered enough ground for one article.

Add this lesson from Clayton to your persuasion repertoire. It can make a world of difference for you (and your should-be clients).

Give Your Emails Superhuman Strength

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3-year old Donnie in Superman pajamas (nothing to do with email)

Superheroes don’t usually get to choose their own powers.

But YOU can decide today to give your sales copy superhuman selling strength.

In the video below, you’ll discover 4 simple strategies you can start using right away to:

  • compel more subscribers to open your emails…
  • build a deep & lasting connection with your readers…
  • make more sales without feeling salesy (unless you’re into that sort of thing).

I can’t think of a single industry where these strategies won’t work.

By the way, these tips work outside of email, too.

f that’s you, here’s a super quick overview of the superhero strategies you can use to make your copy more powerful

1) Never underestimate the value of a compelling villain.

Bad guys are what make the superheroes both necessary and interesting.

In your copy, spend some time talking about the person or thing that’s making life harder for your reader. What’s keeping him from living the life he dreams of?

Make the source of that blockage into a villain. Someone or something that can be demonized… then defeated.

E.g., “The reason you can’t rid of belly fat isn’t because you’re lazy. It’s because of a hormone called cortisol.” 

2) Focus on saving the world

Superheroes don’t use their powers to enrich themselves. They spend their time helping other people.

And they generally take on big threats.

Your copy should be about your reader, not yourself. And don’t waste anyone’s time making small promises. Talk about the massive transformative benefits you can deliver for people who work with you.

3) Identity is unspeakably important

Superheroes have carefully crafted secret identities. As a marketer, it’s useful to invest the time into crafting the identity you present to your reader.

Make yourself into the best possible individual/business to make the case for your product or service to your target audience.

That means you have to intimately understand the identity of your target audience, too.

4) Run towards the danger

Take a stand, even if it’s controversial. Maybe especially if it’s controversial.

Pick a fight.

Be an advocate for a cause that’s meaningful to your reader.

This makes you a leader. Draws the right kind of people to you and forms emotional bonds. Then helps them see you’re the obvious choice to help them reach their goals.

Pretty much everyone else is running away from the danger. Your copy should put you right in the heat of battle.

That’s what your favorite superhero would do.

This Story Can Put Money In Your Pocket

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“Did you seriously tip that waiter 37 percent?”

Wifey is clearly irritated with me… mainly because we’ve had this conversation before.

“Did I? I didn’t do the math. I just gave a flat $50.” Which is true, but we both knew that I knew I overtipped for our anniversary dinner.

I promised my queen I’d stop “showing off”…

Which explains why she was annoyed when the credit card company sent a message asking if the charge was legit.

But I did it anyway.

So why the heck did I do it?

I was manipulated by the waiter!

And it was so smooth I didn’t even realize what happened until 4 days later.

(It’s possible the manipulation wasn’t intentional, but I doubt it. I’m bet he uses this routine all the time to put more cash in his pocket.)

Here’s the short version of what happened:

We ate at a nice steakhouse in downtown Chicago. Food was amazing and the service was top notch. The guy was attentive, funny, even charming. Very likeable.

As we’re getting close to finishing the meal, the waiter points out a group of men hanging out at the bar… and he starts to tell me a story.

This is so doggone smooth…

He says the group remind him of another group of guys who didn’t want to leave the bar when the restaurant was closing one night.

The ringleader was a high roller. He’d spent about $8 grand on drinks that night. Tipped the bartender $1,000 and the waiter (the guy taking care of us) a couple hundred. Everyone loved the guy. But they didn’t want to keep the bar open all night for him.

Conveniently, the exterminator arrived for their monthly inspection, and our waiter concocted a ruse to convince Mr. Money Bags everyone had to leave.

And everyone lived happily ever after.

See the trick?

The story felt very natural. I couldn’t detect any ulterior motive. It was just another way our waiter was entertaining us during dinner.

But through the story, he introduced a couple insidious ideas:

  • Patrons of this restaurant are big tippers.
  • Waiters recognize your status by now much you tip… and you don’t want to be a man with lower status, do you?
  • Big spenders are admired — and have stories told about them.

He said all that without explicitly saying any of it. And there was zero pressure.

Masterful manipulation for maximum tip.

Let’s call it “maTIPulation.”

Long story short…

Stories can be the powerful persuasive tools.

Use them wisely.

P.S. Want help writing story-based emails that put money in your pocket? Inbox X-Factor is a good place to start.

The Whistledown Effect: 3 Copywriting Insights from Bridgerton

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So, this writer got tricked into watching Bridgerton a couple weeks ago.

Have you watched it? (If not, don’t worry. There are no spoilers here.)

Personally, I didn’t feel like it lived up to the hype.

That won’t stop me from getting a Duke of Hastings costume for Halloween. Think I can pull it off?

Seriously though…

There was one element I found really compelling, and it can boost your profitability if you can emulate it.

I’ve dubbed it the Whistledown Effect

A.K.A, how to get everyone in town to read your letters.

Now, if you haven’t seen the show, Lady Whistledown is the character who more or less drives the entire plot. She writes and distributes a gossip column that has the whole ‘Ton buzzing.

That column is the only reason the main characters get together in the first place.

So what’s the secret? How does Lady Whistledown get everyone to voraciously read every word she writes?

More importantly, how can you use the Whistledown Effect to get (and keep) more eyeballs on your copy and content?

Here are a few keys:

1. Talk about your reader

In Bridgerton, Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers are all about the people in town. You never knew when you’d see your name pop up.

When you write copy or content, it’s should be all about the reader. You may not be calling them by name (although it’s a good idea to use personalization where possible)…

You should write about the issues your reader is facing in his life today… the pains and problems he wants to get rid of… the dreams and desires he wants so badly to attain.

He needs to be able to see himself, his reality and his desired outcome in the copy you send him.

Too many entrepreneurs focus on themselves, their products or their business. The reader doesn’t care much about those things. And why should he?

If you want the reader’s attention and continued interest, talk about him and those things that concern him specifically.

2. Reveal juicy secrets

Whistledown also dropped bombshells about the hidden personal lives of Bridgerton characters — including the Queen herself. Humans have a hard time resisting secrets.

Your copy should at least at secret things. Lessons the reader won’t hear anywhere else. Hidden solutions no one else knows about. Facades that have everyone fooled… but you’re about to enlighten them about.

Of course, you may not reveal the secret until after the reader hits the buy button.

3. Be surprising

If the reader thinks he knows what you’re going to talk about, or he knows the secret you plan to unveil, he’s a lot less likely to pay attention.  He already knows that stuff.

Be unpredictable.
Be polarizing.
Ruffle some feathers.

Think of the great marketers and communicators you know. You were never sure what they were going to say or how they might say it. But you knew it would be good.

Lady Whistledown rarely disappointed. That’s why her readers were so rabidly loyal.

Dear reader, make sure every message you craft has something surprising in it.

It’s worth the time you invest in doing so.

Subject Lines Are Overrated – Here’s Proof

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Subject lines are the sexy part of email marketing.

Everyone wants to know the secret… the specific sequence of words that works every time.

Such secrets do exist.

But in reality, word choice is just one part of the magic of great emails.

Let me illustrate with a real-world example from this week.

Check out this screengrab. It’s showing the performance of a promotional email we sent out Wednesday.

The stats are ridiculous.

If you can’t read the pic, it’s showing an 84.5% open rate and 45% click rate. That means more than half of the openers also clicked through to the order form.

(More importantly, nearly half of the people who saw the order form also made a purchase.)

When someone sees those numbers, you already know what the first question will be 9 times out of 10:

“When did you learn to use Photoshop, Donnie?”

The next question is, “What’s the subject line?“

And yes, the subject line was perfect… and the preheader text was brilliant (I’ll reveal them in a minute)…

But we had a lot more going for us than just that:

  • You may have noticed this email went to 197 people. This is a very targeted segment of the much bigger list.
  • The “guru” has built great rapport and a ton of trust with subscribers. Becoming known as THE expert your subscribers look forward to hearing from is probably the greatest secret to email success.
  • There’s been a bunch of engagement with this segment recently to drum up anticipation.

Those factors will help you get opens. And they’ll definitely impact clicks.

But how did we get clickthrough rate so high?

(By the way, the last time this same offer was made to this same segment – before I started working with the client – the best CTR was less than 13%. As you recall, we got 45% this time.)

  • Focus on exclusivity
  • Social proof
  • Emphasis on emotional benefits over product features
  • Subtle validation of the reader’s self-worth

Obviously these results are specific to this effort. The point is… subject lines ARE important, but you need more than just tight subject lines to maximize the impact of and revenue from your emails.

Alright, I’ll finally reveal what the subject line and preheader text were.

Subject line: [First Name], here’s your private invitation

Preheader text: Congratulations! (shhh… it’s a secret)

The combination of personalization, an anticipated invitation, “congratulations” and a secret helped this achieve a spectacular open rate. 

Again, the biggest win here is the insanely high clickthrough rate and the conversion rate on the sales page.

In a way, open rates have always been overrated. Just because someone appears to have opened your message doesn’t mean they actually read it. And if they didn’t take any action, how good was the email, really?

Clickthrough rate is a much better measure of engagement. And sales is the ultimate metric, of course.

Speaking of open rates, have you heard about how the coming update to iOS 15 will make it basically impossible to track open rates for Apple users?

Some marketers are worried this will cause a disaster.

I believe it’s an opportunity.

Find out how in the video below.

(Almost) Unlimited Ideas for Story-Based Emails

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I shared this video training in the Email Copywriting Corner, but it makes sense to put it here, too…

Especially if making more money with email marketing is one of your new year’s resolutions.

You may be particularly interested in the 7 types of stories you should be sending to your email list:

Genesis stories: people want to know the story behind why you started something
Idealist stories: illustrate your personal & business values/philosophies with a story
Iron Fist stories: Tales of battle, struggle and victory (or lessons from losses) — either of yours or your customers’
Catalyst stories: Moments, decisions, interventions that caused critical change
Journalist stories: commentary on trending topics or news or little-known truth behind well-known stories
Adventurous stories: Crazy, funny stuff going on in your life
Status stories: Elevate your authority with big name clients, famous friends, recognition, accomplishments.

You’ll have to forgive me. I was really trying to be clever with this bootleg rhyming thing.

Until recently, this training was only available to Inbox X-Factor members. I’m giving you access now to help you kick 2021’s b.u.t.t.

Enjoy!

My Best Copywriting Tip, Bar None

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This is the most powerful copy principle I can share with you.

It’s shockingly simple to understand. Once you get it, it can change everything for you.

And in my humble opinion, it’s significantly more powerful (and easier to use) than Blair Warren’s famed One Sentence Persuasion.

I call it the “Red Bull” copy secret…

… and its the foundation of everything you need to know to sell more of your product or service.

Really.

This video gives you a quick overview (less than 4 minutes) along with the story behind the secret.

Now, if you don’t want to watch the video, let me give you the formula in one sentence:

Sell the transformation your buyer wants… using what he already has… with just a little help from you.

That’s how Red Bull works.

Buyers want alertness without having to change their sleeping habits. They want energy without changing their diet or exercise routines.

They buy the magical potion to fix things for them.

Here’s an example of what this might look like in sales copy:

Notice that you don’t have to start a new workout. You just have to get this report that shows you a smarter way of doing what you’re already doing.

This is more than just simplicity or ease — although that’s a part of it.

In general, people don’t want to change their lifestyle, habits or decisions.

(They may SAY they want to change, but that’s a lie.)

If your copy reassures the reader that he can achieve his stated goal… using the things in his life he’s already comfortable, familiar and even happy with…

You win the game.

Of course, you have to be honest. If you sell bottled water and energy-boosting meal plans, your copy can’t promise Red Bull.

That said, if you can make your products so they relieve the buyer of effort, responsibility and change, the more you’re likely to sell.

Make sense?

Let me point out one more thing.

In the beginning of this email, I said that once you understand this principle, “it can change everything for you.”

I told you that you don’t have to change. This secret changes your results FOR YOU.

This stuff works.

Now it’s time to make it work for you.

P.S. I am a big fan of Warren’s One Sentence Persuasion. It’s a powerful framework for crafting compelling messages and being a persuasive person.

I just think my “one sentence” is superior.