Copywriters Podcast

Brian Cassingena helps businesses build out their customer acquisition funnels to create major breakthroughs in their sales and profits. He is a former Mindvalley chief copywriter. Brian’s responsible for at last count more than $4 million in revenue coming directly from his copy over the last 3 years.

Last year, more than $1.3 million, just for Mindvalley alone.

Brian has rolled out more than 20 major funnels, and some of these are making 6 or 7 figures per year on autopilot.

Today, Brian’s going to share some of his MindValley funnel secrets with us.

1. To start with, could you give us a quick summary of who MindValley is, when you worked for them, and what you did for them?

2. Now, before we get into your MindValley funnel secrets, please give us a brief, basic definition of a funnel, so even the least experienced listener will understand what we’re going to be talking about.

3. What was your best-performing funnel for MindValley? Could you walk us through the pieces/steps?

4. The most successful people get to where they are by making mistakes, and learning from them. Could you share a few interesting mistakes you made with funnels, how you corrected them, and what you learned from the experience?

5. You’re working with other clients these days. Maybe still with MindValley, I don’t know, but at best part-time. How do you take what you learned from MindValley and apply it to developing or fixing funnels for clients?

(A few nitty-gritty specifics here, please. You don’t have to give away your vast storehouse of knowledge – in fact, please don’t.  But make what you do tell us very real and easy to understand.)

6. What’s the easiest way to change an existing funnel to increase conversion the most?

7. What do you find marketers tend to leave out or overlook with their funnels?

8. Is there a bare-minimum checklist you could share with us (here, not in written form, but in the interview) that every funnel should have?

Geniuses Of Copywriting Podcast
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Today our special guest is Debbie Owen, who has her own podcast, The Sales Page Podcast, and is a book-launch strategist and freelance copywriter. She’s agreed to give us a crash course for coaches and consultants in writing copy that brings in business.

Here are the main topics she addresses:

1. What’s the biggest mistake coaches and consultants make when writing their own copy?

2. Everyone knows you’re supposed to write down such things as, “What keeps them awake at night? What do they fear? What do they desire?” What else can make a difference in writing copy for a coaching business, when it comes to knowing your avatar, or perfect client?

3. There are so many coaches out there; the competition is stiff. How do you fight that in your copy?

4. Let’s talk about the messaging in your copy. How do you compare yourself to your competition?

5. Many coaches either procrastinate about writing their sales page because they’re afraid of a blank page, or they just sit down and start writing without a plan. What’s a plan they can use to write copy for their coaching business?


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Today our special guest is Debbie Owen, who has her own podcast, The Sales Page Podcast, and is a book-launch strategist and freelance copywriter. She’s agreed to give us a crash course for business owners in writing copy that brings in business.

Here are the main topics she addresses:

1. What is the most important thing a business owner should start with when they think about writing copy for a sales page?

2. Many business owners try to write copy that creates a desire for the product or service they offer. What’s wrong with this approach?

3. How do you write copy for a sales page that addresses the prospect’s level of problem awareness?

4. What are some typical sales page copy mistakes business owners make when they write their own copy?

Debbie's Website


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The Tyranny of “Show, Don’t Tell”

If you take it too far, you’ll end up drawing pictures and using no words at all.

How do we profitably apply this to copywriting?

Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time.

The origin of “Show, Don’t Tell.”

Why you don’t need or want to do it all the time.

Where you do need to use it:

1. How your prospect feels now.

2. How your prospect will feel, once the benefits of the offer kick in

3. The experience of using your product or service

4. (Sometimes) What others will say about the prospect after the benefits of the offer have kicked in, and how the prospect will feel

5. How to order the product.

The main reason you want to show, not tell, in copy.


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Dynasty quote

How does that square with the reality about wealth?

What does this mean for copywriters?

Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time.

What the numbers say about billionaires.

What the numbers say about the wealthy.

What about copywriters and direct-response company entrepreneurs?

Most successful copywriter/business owner

2 founders

Top Copywriters

Going to college / not going to college

What all successful people I know have in common

Taking responsibility for your own education – college or not

What I did

Don’t buy into the rebellions teenager/cowboy myth

But don’t expect degrees or past successes to carry your bags for you

The market-proven secret of success


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The folly of trying to get better at “copywriting.”

“Inch by Inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard, life’s hard.”

Nobody but a fool would honestly claim that copywriting’s a cinch. But the way a lot of people go about learning it, they make it a lot harder than they need to.

Today we’ll take a look at all the things people do that just too hard. Things that take much longer than they need to.

Then, we look at what’s faster, easier, and works SO much better.

Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time.

Muscle memory for copywriters.

- what it is

- why all the top copywriters have it. Most don’t realize it. I’ve never heard anyone talk about it before. Not taboo; just like, not a lot of awareness. But I see it all the time with the other A-Listers I know and talk to.

Typical ways people go about trying to get better at copywriting:

- Just read and study: learn everything

- Handwrite sales letters

- Just do it – “natural”

Only one problem. If all you do is any one of them, that won’t work.

If you do all three together, they work – but it’s a tremendous amount of work, and you reach a point of diminishing returns pretty soon.

What works better

- Muscle memory technique

3 ways to go

1. Begin at the top of a sales letter and work your way down.

2. Start with your weakest copywriting skill.

3. Start with your strongest copywriting skill.

-So which one do you choose?

-Additional benefits: Besides skill development, there’s another great advantage.


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Our guest today is Tim Burt, who’s going to give you the inside story about writing copy for radio and TV commercials. In the last 26 years, Tim has written, recorded and/or produced more than 30,000 commercials worldwide. His clients range from small businesses to global corporations to presidential campaigns

He’s the founder of TimBurtMedia.com and has created programs including Broadcast Ad Secrets, The Restaurant Marketing Series, and Broadcast Ad Secrets.

Among the publications where Tim has been featured are: Radio Ink, Huffington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

Before we get into the good stuff, I have to tell you something that you’ll almost certainly never hear on the radio:

Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time.

1) Could you explain the difference, on radio and TV, between top-of-mind advertising and direct response advertising.

2) What’s the biggest mistake you see retailers make with their advertising?

3) Please explain your concept of using a “gateway drug” on an ad.

4) On a radio or TV ad you’ve only got 60 or even 30 seconds to say something to get someone to go to a store. What are the key parts of message?

Could you give a couple examples, where you break down the message and label the parts?

5) What are some of the most interesting reasons business owners give you for NOT doing what you suggest?

(Could you mention the top two or three?)

6) How do you answer each reason (assuming the business owner is not a lost cause and it’s worth the effort to answer a reasonable objection)

7) What advice do you have for business owners who are interested in advertising on radio and TV, but aren’t ready yet?

8) What would you suggest for copywriters who’d like to branch out into working with retailers this way?

TimBurtMedia
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Ted Nicholas: You can go broke selling people what they need. But you can make a fortune selling people what they want.

What did he mean?

How do we apply this into what we do as direct marketers?

But first… here’s something I want to tell you:

Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time.

• A fatal mistake of many marketers (hopefully not you): Trying to sell people something you want to sell them, that they don’t want themselves (i.e. Something you assume they need, or hope they will want).

• What works better: Selling people something they are actively aware that they already want. Just offering them a better version.

• How to find out what people want, so you’ll know what to sell them.

• Two things that get in the way of doing this:

- Lack of Marketing Realism

- Lack of Marketing Maturity

Put the odds on your side! Start out selling people what they want!


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Dr. Henry Heimlich story.

When I first heard about this, what prompted me to research it more and get all the details? Insatiable curiosity.

What insatiable curiosity is, and why it’s so important for copywriters – what we’ll talk about today.

Now, you might be curious about what comes next. Well, the suspense is over. Because…

Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims... and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity... you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time.

• Curiosity is how you get motivated to find the interesting tidbits that make your copy shine, and keeps your readers reading.

• Three types of people – and, depending on which kind you are, here’s how you should approach your own sense of curiosity.

• What insatiable curiosity looks like for a copywriter.

• How to ask questions that people will be willing to answer.

• The #1 driver of innovation is curiosity.

• Why thinking about stuff after you find out is such a big part of curiosity.

Stay curious!

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What a songwriting teacher says about how much writers hate to rewrite.

It’s not just songwriters. And this reluctance is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, copywriters never make it to the next level in their writing and in their career.

We’re going to fix that today!

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Copy is powerful. You’re responsible for how you use what you hear on this podcast. Most of the time, common sense is all you need. But if you make extreme claims… and/or if you’re writing copy for offers in highly regulated industries like health, finance, and business opportunity… you may want to get a legal review after you write and before you start using your copy. My larger clients do this all the time.

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- The two seemingly opposite puzzle pieces of putting together a magical story for your copy. When creativity meets implementation. Why they are like oil and water — they don’t mix, but most cars need both in order to operate.

- What usually happens when a writer sits down to write a sales story for copy. Why faster is NOT better. What happens to make sure a good story never gets done fast with this approach.

- What works so much better than the usual approach: Two stages of variation. These tricks come from world-famous writers, but they work just great for every copywriter who uses them. This could be just as fast, or faster, but it doesn’t seem that way until you actually try it.

- Why writers normally do what they do — and what they miss, doing things

this “normal” way. There’s a very good psychological reason for it. Too bad that, despite the good reason, doing things in this “normal” way leads to self-sabotage.

- Why writers resist rewriting, and the heavy cost of this resistance. How totally understandable emotions work against writing good stories.

- What to do instead of what people usually do. How to get past typical work-habit blocks to create great stories!


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