A schedule was posted on Twitter of a self-proclaimed mega millionaire, along with her age - critical information to include age.

I'm going to post the schedule of three men I know and worked with personally. One is a billionaire, and two-multi millionaires. I'm going to share a few personal details that are making me a little uncomfortable, as it will reveal some things on me.

To that first schedule. It was posted by popular Money Twitter guru Leila Hormozi. She's 30 years old btw.

The formulaic retorts racing in defense of the Hormozi’s is a lesson in how well Success makes its followers obedient.

- The projection of insecurity retort
- The how dare you don’t show fealty to someone “doing better” retort
- The you hate rich people retort

https://twitter.com/findjimclair/status/1599113548067897344

- The “stay in your lane” retort
- The let me frame myself higher by calling them “sad” retort
- The your jealous retort
- The taking up real estate retort
- The you must be poor and broke retort

Many copywriters fear "originality." They see it as bad and lump it into "perfectionism" or some other trope.

But it's not that hard, and it's critical to put your neck on the line and work towards originality to convert more.

The easiest way: read better writers

More below. Don't stay stuck in airport best-seller fare of Atomic Habits or Almanack. Read a variety, non-fiction and fiction. Read writers that stretch you and inspire you to write better.

Taking notes and a note-taking system while you read is well-intentioned but can make your reading pointless. Most people are taught to "extract applicable lessons" from a book. But this "active" reading turns into hunting fashionable Success soundbites. That "active reading"... Is passive. The reader looks for what they think they should be looking for - fashionable success advice. They then think that their notes should be the "lessons" but those lessons are forgettable platitudes.

That saps your agency and reduces the reader into a peon.

Better...

The concept of "reading better books" allures many people. But reading Classic Works/Great Books often draws out insecurities. Some get intimidated. Some read one to check it off a list or tell others but have no clue what they read.

Here are two ways to read better books:

👇 1) Swim Upstream - h/t Alan Jacobs

Let's say you love the James Reece novels by Jack Carr. Find out the writers, fiction or non-fiction, that influenced Carr. Then read one of those authors. If you like that one, swim upstream again. You're apt to hit upon a classic.

...

I respectfully disagree with @ROGUEWEALTH up to a point. Hemingway app directionally gets you looking to write with more clarity and punch.

The issue, most copywriters see a low score on the Hemingway app equating conversions. FALSE. Much of Ogilvy "fails" the Hemingway app.

👇

https://twitter.com/ROGUEWEALTH/status/1546885713014161410

Grammarly proves ok for basic grammar fixes that most writers -- good or newb -- miss in the editing process.

I found Readable superior to the Hemingway app. It features a better algorithm. But after a month or so, you should have the ability to figure out readable writing.

Not all normie things are bad. In particular business things.

Many here on Twitter ostracize anything normie, seeing it as a "psyop" or inferior.

I saw this play out in Online Marketing, and I fell for it too.

One mistake cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars.

👇 1) Financial Model

Gurus love to spout "the numbers". But it's an old stage trick. Show numbers projecting future income, use terms to give it "credibility" and marketers, copywriters, and salesman fawn over it.

"I never looked at info products like an asset!"

Raymond Chandler is one of the greatest writers of all time. He came to his mystery writing career late in life. But he used an exercise to shape and craft his writing. And it helped him become the 🐐

I'll share it below, and a few other things that made him great. Chandler was a freelance writer early in his life in London, then he moved to America where he worked as an oil executive. He turned into a complete drunk and his life went into shambles.

He moved to Santa Monica to dry out. While there, he became fascinated with pulp fiction.

A well-intentioned but misled English teacher taught you to not repeat words. I've also heard the advice uttered with copy critiques. It's bad advice with one exception.

Word repetition fuels clarity. In a section, you repeat a certain word to maintain clarity. You can use it for effect too. The fancy terms are anaphora and epistrophe.

Anaphora you repeat a term/word at the beginning. "You will... you will..."

Epistrophe, it repeats at the end ".. for the people. ... by the people."

Look up some famous speeches. You'll see it.

Want to write well?

Check this thread out. 1) Basic Must-Haves

-Writing With Style, John Trimble 3rd ed.

- Better Business Writing, Bryan Garner

- Plain Words, Sir Ernest Gowers (Revised and Edited by Rebecca Gowers)

- Verbal Advantage, Charles Harrington Elster

Most parts of online-direct marketing have been stagnant for decades. The Clickbank's, the success gurus, copywriting courses, etc. A few key players control most of it, generally by talent, not originality, and the rest obey the rules. It's not to say money isn't made in it. Copywise - Not much has happened since VSL's became a rage. Nor have the products sold gained longer shelf life. What's taught is a done-for-you formula: you must use this if you want to convert. Sure, formulas have changed, but it's just more bombastic hyperbole...

Copywriters, or anyone involved in copy, I declare this universal law of copy: follow @BryanAGarner.

Don't just follow him, but inhale his work. Continually and constantly learn from him, and go to one of his seminars, preferably in person.

And if you want a little context... I get asked a lot about the "psychology" of the ad. What makes things "persuasive." Then I see at best, cliched copyese trying to tell the customer what they deserve, but I generally see abysmal writing/pitching trying to sell. The psychology fails when the writing stinks.

Research is distinctly critical for marketing. But it's easy to fall prey to researching like everyone else: find the customer's pain points, then offer a promise/mechanism/fix /solution that answers the pain point.

Only focusing on that overlooks key factors. Knowing the pain points matters. But a professional goes much deeper. It's vital to know the ins and outs of the product. And if your product is one among many, and is similar, you need to know the industry.

By industry, I mean it's history, how competitors market...

A funny and poignant look at Celebrity Endorsements, in particular, Kevin O'Leary. I see Kevin's endorsement everywhere. The more endorsements, "as seen on" and "best-seller" labels likely points to more bullshit. I'll break down a little bit below to anyone who's interested.

https://twitter.com/coffeebreak_YT/status/1305899989370122240

The guru learns that these endorsements offer proof, credibility, and most important "boost conversions." They learn this at an event, and they go to the back of the room to buy the credibility.

A quick and dirty Video Sales Letter formula.

Brief Intro: who you are and briefly recapping your experience. State briefly what they're about to hear. All in all under 30ish seconds.

... BIG IDEA: In 100 words or less, define the current market, the problems with the current offering in the market, and why they must make a change with you (a winter is coming sense if they don't).

Quick Expertise Story: Who u r, recap results u've gotten, and the problems u see

I've been asked a few times, so I'll share...

I hand-copied sales letters daily for six years. Each day, without a day missed. I woke up, and for the first half-hour or hour and I hand-copied a sales letter. Pen and legal pad. Even when I was ill, even on holiday mornings... Even after being out till the sun came up in Miami, with a stunning girl on the arm, probably well past a bottle deep in good tequila, managed my way to the hotel room, and continued hand-copying an ad.

A few people seem to think I "talk shit" about Gary Halbert.
Here's my take on Halbert, and a few nuggets on his copy and the man.

1. I have a one-eyed cat named Halbert. Yep, named him after Gary Halbert. So no, I do not despise Gary Halbert, nor am I talking shit on him. 2. I'm critical of Gary Halbert, but I deeply respect Halbert. Halbert's copy method is good to know, but it's not the unicorn method it's believed to be. Here's what I mean, Gary Halbert basically hard-sold trinkets. The products he sold sucked. The only legitimate product...

I reread this recently. I consider it a staple if you do any sort of marketing. And it’s a staple to spot pseudo-experts and nonsense.

A few nuggets below, and the one critical lesson I think too many people overlook. Yellow Kid Weil was a notorious Confidence Man. He pioneered various cons. Many of his cons are still being used today. Think Theranos or Fyre Festival.

Despite him fleecing people, you can remove the fleece and study his basic sales, copywriting, and even outreach formula...

I retired from copywriting twoish years ago. No more client work. No more client hunting. No more launches. No stage speaking. Nada.

I lift, read, flaneur, write, travel, consult my Good Word subscribers.

My masterclass: Critical Essentials to copywriting or marketing. Even if you don't write copy or market - must-reads.

David Ogilvy - Confessions of an Advertising Man
Claude Hopkins - My Life in Advertising & Scientific Advertising (Get the real version from McGraw Hill. Find it on Abebooks)

This didn't seem to post yesterday. I'll try again & expand. The article makes key points calling out marketing hypocrisy. It relates to direct online marketing experts. It's laughable @ryandeiss, who pays to polish his online image, says he'll change
marketingweek.com/mark-ritson-bl… Ryan - you and your buddies @DigitalMktr create pen name characters and a stock image to sell prepper stuff. 2, can you really trust a person who pays to hide their uglies well documented by Salty Droid?

And how many African American's do you have in War Room?

Here's a plan..

"The product graveyard is filled with great products that were never marketed!"

Idiots say this.

Can anyone show me said graveyard?

With all the marketing secrets of the person saying the phrase, armed with "freelance secrets," armed with proven methods of persuasion... Why aren't they going to this graveyard - a literal goldmine - and making bank? Why aren't they using those "freelance secrets" and "lethal persuasion secrets" to convince the owners to sell these great products?

They can't. Someone saying this can't see beyond a sales mantra..