
	You can have the greatest product, the greatest headline, the greatest targeting, the greatest offer, and the greatest price.

But you know what’s going to torpedo your entire promotion in a New York minute?

It’s: if your prospect doesn’t believe you.

Believability is the pass/fail test every ad must pass in order to work.

Period. 

But that’s not the end of the story.

In today’s Old Masters Series episode, we draw on the considerable wisdom of the great John Caples, and a new book recommended on twitter/x by a current copywriting master and friend of the show, Doug D’Anna.

Unlike the classic Caples work Tested Advertising Methods, this book is readily available on Amazon for the low, low price of $8.86. And the Kindle is even less.
 
It’s called Making Ads Pay, and it’s worth far more than the asking price.

In this book Caples has a whole chapter on making ads believable. We’re going to talk about that today.

Making Ads Pay, by John Caples: https://www.amazon.com/dp/048648601X

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Believability Secrets From John Caples - Old Masters Series

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	First weekend in May, the #1 show on Netflix was an origin story.  Not a real origin story, but a total fabrication for comedy purposes. It was a movie called Unfrosted.

It’s important for copywriters for a couple of reasons.

The first is the power of a product name.

The movie was a totally fictional story about how Kellogg's popular toaster pastries became a hit in grocery stores.

It's hardly a spoiler to tell you the name they settled on that led to the big bucks: Pop-Tarts.

How they got there is a big part of the totally made-up plot.

Also, there's a great cameo by actors Jon Hamm and John Slattery, who play two leading characters in the series Mad Men.

In the new Netflix movie, they play out-of-touch New York admen who come up with totally wrong product names.

Later in the movie, when they hear the name Pop-Tarts, one of ’em grumbles an admission of defeat:

"That'll sell."

So that’s the first important lesson for copywriters:

Gotta get the name right!

But there’s a second lesson that’s maybe even more important, since copywriters often don’t have control over the product name anyway.

And that lesson is this:

People love origin stories.

Yet I’ve found a lot of the time, copywriters don’t know how to put an effective one together, and how to use it once they do.

We’ll cover that today on the show.

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

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The Incredible, Versatile Origin Story


	Every day it gets worse–the struggle to get people’s attention.

It’s always been hard, but never like this before.

Too many things and people are competing for our attention at any given moment.

This may seem like a particular problem for copywriters, since we’ve been trained to start every message with a headline or a subject line.

Nothing wrong with that, but there is a way of using words that is scientifically proven to get and hold attention better than anything else.

And that’s a story.

We’re hard-wired at birth to blot everything else out, except a life-threatening emergency, when a good story is being told.

So, how do you tell a story in a headline? Or in your lead? Or in your opening paragraph?

Without, you know, launching into an old, tired, never-ending hero’s journey story or a nightmare story?

Well there is a way, and it’s much easier than you think.

Since you’ve already been exposed to it for years without realizing people were using stories that way.

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

Download.

New Ways To Open Your Copy With A Story


	Time to talk about a taboo subject that needs to be discussed: The truly awful clients copywriters inevitably get, and how to set things right with them (or make a Quick Draw McGraw exit)!

We’ve all had them. That can’t be changed or avoided.

But what to DO about them?

That can be learned, from an expert who’s been there, done that, and figured it out!

Our special guest today is A-List Copywriter Kim Krause Schwalm, author of the great new book Client Badassery Secrets: How Copywriters Can Earn MORE, Run A Thriving Freelance Business, And Cut Out The Client Bullshit

I’ve read it and it’s really good.

Kim’s just the right person to write this book, too. She’s worked as an executive with big direct-response publishers where she hired copywriters, and also someone who has written copy for some of the best-known publishers and supplement companies in the world. And plenty of other clients, along the way.

Today she’s going to tell us about the seven kinds of clients you meet on the way to copywriting “hell,” and how to avoid their tricks and traps and come out ahead.

Kim’s book, Client Badassery Secrets: 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGV7MZ8P

Kim’s website:
https://kimschwalm.com/

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Nightmare Clients And What To Do About Them, with Copywriter Kim Krause Schwalm


	After you’ve finished your copy, how do you know that you 
got everything right and haven’t left anything out?

There are several good ways to double-check, but I don’t 
think there’s one more fun than Jack Turk’s Killer Copy 
Checklist.

It’s an 8-page PDF, written and presented like a comic book.

But it’s serious stuff, in an easy-to-take form.

Today Jack’s going to tell us about the checklist and make it available to you free… free… free of charge.

To understand why this is such a good checklist, you need to know a little bit about Jack.

He’s our returning champion, and we’re really happy to have him back today!

Jack has decades of experience writing for corporations like Microsoft and Kodak, as well as a number of small businesses including dentists, attorneys, even magicians. 

As the voice of Dan Kennedy at GKIC and many other high-profile thought leaders, his sales copy has generated millions of dollars in sales and he’s now known as the world’s FASTEST Copywriter.

Jack was also host of the highly successful Copywriting Summit, and was kind enough to invite me on to talk about headlines and hooks.

Today he’s going to walk us through his Killer Copy Checklist. It’s as good as anything I’ve ever seen, and a whole lot more fun!

Get yourself a free copy of Jack’s Killer Copy Checklist here: www.writekillercopyfast.com/checklist 

Download.

Jack Turk’s Killer Copy Checklist


	If you’re a copywriter and you’re itching to build a business, what should you do?

You probably have many options. But if you’d like to know whether building your own agency is the right way to go, we have some valuable information for you.

Today’s guest, Andy Strote, has built two agencies. The first one, Fireworks Creative, grew from 2 to 30 people in five years. Andy and his partner sold the agency to a large company called Cognicase.

Six months later, he started another agency with one partner and one employee. That agency is called Context Creative. After 15 years, the agency had grown to have a staff of 28, and Andy sold his shares to his partners and returned to freelancing.

But he wrote a book about what he learned in 20 years of starting, managing, growing, and selling two agencies. The book is called How to Start a Successful Creative Agency, and of all the people I know, he’s the one to write that book!

Andy’s going to share some of those lessons and secrets today.


Andy’s book: How to Start A Successful Creative Agency

https://www.amazon.com/Start-Successful-Creative-Agency-Photographers-ebook/dp/B092CM9WTM

Download.

Believability Secrets From John Caples - Old Masters Series

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