It will be violent… relationships will crumble… and money will be turned away.  But…

I’ll feel a helluva lot better.

And those good vibes will spread throughout my family, friends and anyone else who puts up with me on a daily basis.

Over the past few months I’ve come to realize that it’s WAY more important to enjoy the people and projects you work with, than it is to stuff fat checks into your bank account.

(Curiously, when you really do get a kick out of turning up to “work” each day, more money is generated as a by-product.)

So if you’re a copywriter, freelancer or any kind of service professional… ask yourself if your working relationships are harmonious AND profitable.

Life is too short to suffer folks who don’t appreciate or value your skills.

Ok, off to pull the trigger…

Gossip and rumor about the future of Clickbank has been flying around forums, blogs and private channels for months now.

Some say it’s gone to the dogs — all the push-button bullshit eroding any credibility it may have had left.

Others say it’s shot itself in the foot by clearing out all the push-button bullshit that was in-fact making people a ton of (unethical?) money.

Me?  I say it’s entering an exhilarating period of rebirth.

Having just seen a webinar and talked with Beau Blackwell on Skype, I’m excited about the future.

For 2 reasons mainly…

1) The Joint Venture contract feature.  I’ve been trying this out for 3 or 4 months now and, from a copywriter’s persepctive, it makes product launches and evergreen projects way more exciting.

In the past, its been so hard to collect commissions owed from clients.  No matter how many contracts they may sign or how much you trust them… it’s far too easy for the client to cut and run with your cash.

The JV contract feature on Clickbank means your owed percentage is automatically depositied directly into your CB account when a sale is made.

Pretty cool.

And this means my preferred was of working… partnering with my clients… just stepped up a level.

2) The B2B markerplace.  The smart-cookies at ClickBank have realized there’s an entire ecosystem built up around CB products.

Copywriters, designers, JV managers, programmers and product creators all contribute.

And in early 2012 there will be a marketplace specifically to showcase their talents.

Plus there’s the up-coming digital product protection… the ability to sell big-ticket items… and — best of all — you’ll soon be able to sell physical products through CB.

Making money on the internet has always been a “people business”.  With these new features ClickBank just blazed a trail.  One I’m more than happy to follow.

If you’re like most people you probably cursed and felt a strong urge to abandon and start all over again.

Big Mistake.

It’s amazing to me how a few tweaks to a webpage can not just improve conversions… but turn a flatlining piece into a roaring success.

My point?  Don’t give up too soon.

No matter how bad you think your intial piece of copy is, you now have a base to work from.

Quick story…

When Dan Kennedy was called in to improve the performance of a sales letter, he didn’t rewrite or start over… he simply added one letter to the headline…

“Put The Magic Of Music Into Your Life” was the original head.  Can you guess what letter he added?

The letter ‘S’.

“Puts The Magic Of Music Into Your Life” ramped up conversions and boosted sales — all from one additional letter.

(And we’ll get to WHY that made such a difference another time).

So don’t despair… don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater… you may be only one letter from success.

Over the past 12 months I’ve been involved in at least 20 product launches. And truly irresistible offers have been as rare as hen’s teeth.

And when you consider that piecing together a tremendous offer easily ramps up your chances of a sale… you have to wonder why nobody seems to bother.

Is it a case of there’s nothing new out there… all the good product ideas have already been taken… or is it just laziness?

One thing’s for sure, over on Clickbank they’re taking very seriously some of the more — ahem — over the top copy that masks the crappy offer beneath.

And so I predict that The Offer is about to strike back.

Many copywriters would disagree with me but I personally think the copywriter/marketing consultant should be responsible for…

1) Identifying a great offer…

2) Building up a not-so-great offer into something worth at least double the price you’re asking for…

Case in point…

I’m currently working with a client who is charging $197 for 6 pretty nice pdfs on social media.  Now his original copy can be improved.  No doubt about that.  But the catalyst to much higher conversions will be creating a better offer.

So we’re adding interviews with some of the top CEOs and entrepreneurs in the country… a nifty bit of proprietary software… AND a 30 minute phone call with my client (who really knows his stuff).

Suddenly, the offer becomes damn near irresistible.  And we’ve yet more to add.

So look out marketers.  It’s time to go back to the “good old days” of crafting offers to die for.

It may be that the days of relying on fancy-pants copy alone are numbered.

Peter Buck -- Copywriting Guru?

Those three bands were tailor made for an adolescence spent in Nowheresville, Suburbia.

And I always remember an interview with R.E.M.’s guitarist Peter Buck.  I have no idea why this sticks in mind.  But over the past few months its become increasingly relevant to me and my work.

The exact quote I can’t find it anywhere online, but Buck reveals how the band spent 7 albums becoming more complicated  melodically.

They added more and more ‘layers’ and complexity because they figured it would improve the music.

But when it came time to record ‘Automatic For The People’ Buck realized the key was to strip everything back and simplify.

That made the music connect more directly with the audience.

And anybody who’s heard Everybody Hurts would probably agree it’s their most direct and affecting song.

So what’s my point?

Recently, I’ve seen way too much copy where the copywriter is drawing attention to himself.

Fancy metaphors, analogies and ‘word pictures’ get used so often they suffocate the copy and lose their power.

So if I ever find myself getting too “flowery” with my copy…  starting to fantasize I’m more novelist than copywriter…  I strip back to the essentials.

Let the copy breathe and it resonates that much better.

Thanks Peter for writing Man On The Moon and giving me a virtual kick up the behind in my everyday writing

In Malcolm Gladwell’s thought-provoking book, he puts forward the idea that our best decisions are made instantly.

And you better believe when prospects visit your webpage you have SECONDS (often less) to make an impression — good or bad.

Your graphics, sales copy, video opener, even your domain name all contribute towards that crucial first impression.

Bundle those in with any preconceived ideas your prospects may have about you or your product… plus the competition of 8 other tabs open on their browsers…

… and you’ll see why sales can be lost in the blink of an eye!

First impressions count.  And nowhere more so than online where dozens of distractions vie for our attention 24 hours a day.

(In case you’ve been on Mars, ClickBank is the no.1 affiliate network for digital goods.  And a great place to spot what’s working NOW in the marketplace.)

And what I saw was pretty… ugly.

Ok, not all bad.  In fact, there are some powerful tactics at play if you look closer than the screaming hype. We’ll get to those in the next blog post.

But right now, there’s a huge chasm between good quality products and trash software with excessively loud sales pages.

Why?  Well a client of mine put it best this week…

“You can’t sell candy when everyone else is selling crack.”

This is a guy with years of experience and millions of dollars in the bank who can’t get his product noticed because the top 10 in CB is filled up with (what I like to call) ‘push button bullsh*t’.

But just last week CB appeared to have woken up from their cash-induced slumber and declared war on over-the-top sales letters.

First a product claiming it had the secret to free Facebook ads was chopped.

And then, one of my favorite sales pages of the year (if you don’t take it seriously), Stripped Down Profits was also axed.

Side Note — anybody buying the latter in the hope that a stripper would give them financial aid deserved everything they got.

So what does this all mean?

Have ClickBank suddenly decided they better start actually keeping an eye on what’s happening in their network?

Or are they merely making an example of a couple of folks to keep the heat from the FTC at bay?

Time will tell.

I’ve spent the past few months drowning in one Clickbank launch after another.

And things are changing on CB… for the better.

I’ll post my findings in a couple days.

Stay tuned!

Over the past few years, I’ve devoured hundreds of books, watched dozens of seminars, listened to countless audios and just drowned myself in the teachings of copywriters past and present.

And although I’ve received some incredible insights from the copy goorooz of the world as well as my more underground but no less talented colleagues, no one book has really hit home as much as…

Made To Stick.

Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

This is now my official copywriting bible.

It deals with how to make your communications in print, audio, in person or on video more — yep — sticky.

And not only does it reveal the 5 key things any message must have to be memorable, it also talks about something we copywriters need to be mindful of…

The Curse Of Knowledge

I saw an example of this happening in a recent Warrior forum post.

Sometimes you can be so deep into your subject or market you forget what it’s like to be fresh on the scene.

Case in point — everyone in that forum post has their marketing goggles on trying to figure out why such a hypey, get-rich-quick style sales letter is working.

And, although the letter may be ethically questionable, it works because it taps perfectly into the mind-set of someone who desperately wants to believe in the “autopilot money” dream.

But Made To Stick deals with so much more than just that idea. It’s filled with anecdotes, real life examples and fascinating stranger-than-fiction tales.

If you want your messages or sales copy to stick like glue… memorize this book.

That step is your research. Getting clear on:

• Your prospect: how can you sell her if you don’t know who she is and how she thinks?
• Your product: how can you sell it if you don’t know how it changes her life?
• And your market: If you don’t know why your offer is unique, how will you rise above the clutter of your competition so your prospect buys from you RIGHT NOW?

For this short post, I’m going to focus on your prospect and how a simple tweak to your thought process can change your results dramatically. Then I’m going to share a personal example of how this tweak took my business to new incredible heights.

The Two Personas of Your Customer

Step 1: Is

This tweak is a two step process. First, you need to get clear on who your prospect is. This is the common strategy you read in most copywriting books (we’ll take it 1 step further). You need to know:

• The Big Three: Her top fears, biggest frustrations, and deepest desires
• Her demographics: her appearance, family life, occupation, and everything else relevant to forming a complete image of her in your mind
• Her emotional hot buttons you can ramp up her desires to achieve salvation (and buy)
• And the language and tone she uses to talk about her problem

The end goal for thinking over these points is to get explicitly clear on exactly who your prospect is… so you know exactly what to say (and how to say it) to exercise complete persuasive control over her.

Many successful business are built on this step alone. Because so many marketers skimp their research, taking this seriously will give you massive advantages over your competitors.

But don’t stop there. Not if you really want to take your sales to the next level…

Step 2: Wants to Be

Because your prospect has a second persona, one that she protects and likely only exists in her mind… and that’s who she aspires to be.

Your prospect isn’t going to buy your product to keep life as it is. No matter what you’re offering, she’s going to buy it to take her life to the next level of ease, joy, or prosperity.

Dudes buy sports cars to become James Bond. Moms buy cook books to become Martha Stewart or dinner party aficionados. You buy marketing products to become the Top Gun in your niche. I bought spinning class membership to become Lance Armstrong.

This aspirational persona is where you can exercise terrifying amounts of persuasion, because it shows you her end goal. It’s much, much deeper than this outer level of who she is.

For example, ask your friends about their life’s current state. A lot of times, their eyes glaze over as they recount what’s happening. But, talk to them about what they WANT to do, and notice the change. There’s much more buzz, hope, and energy. This is the emotional level you will tap by communicating to your prospect on her aspirational level.

Once you know where she wants to go, you know where you need to take her. All you must do then is show how your product takes her there.

So once you’ve completed Step 1 and know who your product is, you can move to step 2 to learn who she wants to be. Here’s how:

First, pull out your prospect research notes and read them slowly. Allow this persona to overtake and envelope your mind. Completely assume her identity, so you feel the same hopes, dreams, and fears as she does.

Now, in the mindset of your prospect, imagine where she wants to go. How does she want to feel? Focus your thinking on the kinds of values and experiences she desires. What does she dream her life looking like?

With this understanding, you can now reflect these desires back at her. Show her how you are already living the life of her dreams.

What type of environment does she want to exist in? Does she imagine life on the beach? In an immaculate house? Out at the bar surrounded by attractive friends? Film your videos in that environment.

• How does she want to be spoken to? Direct and aggressive? Calm and collected? Use that language and tone.
• What kind of experiences does she wish she was having? Show her you’re already having them.
• What lifestyle does she imagine? Show her how you’re living it.
• And show her how your product helped you get there… and can help her get there, too.

By speaking to and reflecting these desired feelings, values, and experiences back at her, you’re validating them. You’ll connect with her on a far deeper, emotional, and identity level than any of your competitors…

• You’re more likeable and more interesting to follow… so you keep her attention easier. She’ll read not only more of your messages, but larger portions of each message, too.
• You’re easier to trust because she sees her own identity reflected in you… so you face far less skepticism in anything you say.
• And you’re much easier to buy from because you represent the exact person she wants to become… so you experience far more (and far easier) sales growth.

The results come almost like magic, but it’s not magical at all. It’s a simple process of learning your prospect’s desired emotional destination, and showing how you can get her there.

An Illustrative (and Real) Story to Finish up

In August 2007 I launched my first product, a niche hookah pipe designed for the travel and party lifestyle.

We knew we had a great product (based on real feedback)… we knew exactly who would benefit from it… and we even bucked industry trend by adding a guarantee to make our offer unique.

I approached the release with high hopes.

And they were all dashed. Every single hope, crushed. Nary a sale came in that day.

Fast forward to our 2nd hookah model release in December 2009.

By this time, we know much more about WHY our customers were buying and the hopes this product embodied for them. We knew the experiences and lifestyle our prospect wished to achieve.

So in that sales letter, I reflected all these dreams back at my prospect. I showed her how this simple device made me the center of countless parties and social events, and how owning it brought me countless crazy travel adventures… the exact experiences she wanted for herself.

In essence, I showed her how owning this product let me live the life she dreamed about.

And that launch sold out in less than 14 hours, converting a massive 18% of our entire email list… and the product continues to bring reliable, steady sales to this day.

The copy isn’t extraordinary. No elaborate launch sequence. No affiliates, crazy pop ups, or up/down/cross sells.

Just a simple offer that showed why this new hookah was key to getting her where she wanted to go. I took the time to get clear on my prospect’s aspirations, and then validated and spoke to her on that level.

If you follow this simple 2-step process, chances are the same extraordinary results will happen to you, too.

Mike Williams is an entrepreneur and former freelance copywriter in Jersey City, New Jersey who runs an online hookah store and teaches an online copywriting course.