Copywriting Grab Bag

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Ready to roll with some more copywriting and marketing Q&A?

Alrighty then… let’s get it on…

QUESTION: Is there a good book or course that will show me how to write killer headlines?

BEN: One of the best headline resources I’ve ever seen is actually free… gets almost zero publicity in the copywriting “echo chambers”… and yet, contains an extremely powerful headline tactic that can significantly ratchet up the response of your ads.

Here’s how to get this incredible resource:

1. Go to: www.psychotactics.com

2. Sign up for Sean D’Souza’s AWESOME free e-newsletter

3. As a bonus you get a short report he calls, “Why Do Some Headlines Fail?”

This little hum-dinger of a report will change the way you write headlines forever (I know it did for me).

Check it out today.

You won’t be disappointed.

QUESTION: Did you hire someone to work on your inside text layout and book design for your dog book? Or did you lay all that out yourself? Cuz yours looks great and mine looks sloppy and I’m trying to figure out how to bridge that gap…

BEN: All my fellow “design-o-phobes” will love this.

I hired out the cover to “Mr. Subtle” (www.marketingbrainfarts.com/4hire.html).

And I did the inside layout myself with a freeware word processing program called “Neo Office” (www.neooffice.org).

But you can easily duplicate it with any decent word processor.

Anyway, here are the “specs”:

1. One inch margins all around.

2. Book Antiqua font (the whole book). 11.5 pt font for the body text. 18 pt font for the chapter titles. 10 pt font for the title in the top header of every page and the footer text at the bottom of every page (i.e. copyright notice, website url, and page numbers).

3. The line above the page number (on the bottom of each page) and below the title (on the top of each page) is a solid 1 pt border. (Don’t use an underscore or underline — use a border).

4. Chapter titles are simple numeric bullet points, with five little periods leading to the page number.

And that’s it.

I know it’s not “sexy.”

And will probably make a real designer’s brain shiver.

But it’s clean and simple, and anyone can use it to crank out a decent looking book.

If you want to see this layout “up close and personal”, you can get the book at:

QUESTION: I have read great reviews of your book “The Copywriter’s Cheat Sheet”. Do you offer this book for sale?

BEN: It will be for sale hopefully some time soon.

Although under a different name — “The Copywriting Grab Bag”.

It’s taken me a bit longer to get ready because I’m replacing the old appendixes (which were all swipe file ads — now added to my free swipe file report and ezine) with transcribed interviews with some of the savviest “street smart” copywriters on the planet. 

Such as “Doberman Dan” Gallapoo (who used to work side by side with Gary Halbert), Ken McCarthy, David Deutsch (who has multi-million dollar controls for many of today’s biggest direct mailers), Brian Clark, and a guy named Michael Winicki who, while not a “name” marketer — is one of the sharpest marketers I’ve ever met.

Whatever the case… these interviews are pure red meat.

I didn’t ask them lame questions about what their favorite color is or anything like that.

And each one of these guys was extremely generous with their knowledge and experiences.

The best part is you’ll be able to implement a lot of the stuff they talk about the exact same day you read it — no learning curve or “scraping together” a budget required.

Anyway, my blog alerts subscribers will get a HUGE discount on this book during the first 24 hours of its release.

But you must be on my blog “alerts” list for this.

If all you do is read my blog feed, you won’t get the special discount.

You gotta be on the list.

You can sign up in the upper right hand corner of this page where it says, “Free Advanced Copywriting eBook”.

Don’t worry… I won’t bite you.

Or even spam you, for that matter.

But you will be privy to tips, offers and even advanced copywriting audio lessons not available to everyone else.

Next question…

QUESTION: Just curious as to what you used to convert your MP3’s into the 3 grey buttons? I’ve been looking for a quick and easy way to do this with some of my testimonials, interviews, etc.

BEN: I use ImpactWebAudio (www.impactwebaudio.com) which’ll set you back about $47.

But John Anghelache recently sent me a link about some freeware that does the exact same thing.

The link he sent me is:

Also, Ray Edwards recommends InstantAudio.com.

Heck, he practically swears by it.

And I can see why, too.

You don’t need any computer or html skills to use it.

It’s basically “cut and paste”.

Anyway, between those three options, you should be good to go for a website.

If you need something for your blog, try mediacaster.

That’s what I use for this blog.

It’s super easy to use and definitely does the trick.

QUESTION: I just signed up for your free swipe file report. Great report packed with a ton of fantastic resources. You mention searching eBay for Gary Halbert’s “10 boilerplate letters.” I tried with no luck. Do you know who creates the product in question OR where I might find it?

BEN: I found the copy I have on complete accident.

I bought “Gary Halbert’s 57 Masterpiece Letters” on eBay and got the boilerplate book as a bonus. The eBay merchant I bought it from is a guy named Peter Yeung. It’s possible he may still sell it (try “googling” his name).

Also, a few years ago Scott Haines used to sell the 57 masterpiece letter collection — and I think he gave the boiler plate letters away as a bonus, too.

I asked him about this a couple days ago and he said he doesn’t sell them right now, but may sell them again in the future.

Which is just one (of many) reasons to sign up for his list at:

Whatever the case, I personally believe the Masterpiece letters and the Boilerplate letters are worth whatever time, money and effort it takes to get them.

Just awesome stuff.

QUESTION: What is the best way to get your name out there and start getting new business on the internet?

BEN: I have two words for you: Ray Edwards.

The interview he recently did for my site is probably the single best free resource on how to get started you’ll ever hear.

In fact, there’s no excuse NOT to make money online after listening to it.

The information he gave is actually so good I seriously considered charging money for it.

Or, at the very least, adding it to the appendixes of my upcoming copywriting book “The Copywriting Grab Bag”.

Unfortunately, when people get stuff free they tend not to value it.

So pretend you paid money for it, if you have to.

It’s just pure gold.

And contains everything you need to get started — even if you’re starting from point zero, with no money, contacts, list or resources.

You can listen to the Ray Edwards copywriting and marketing interview at:

You can visit his main website (HIGHLY recommended) at:

Okay, that’s a wrap for today.

If you have any questions for future Q&A’s, email them to me or leave them in the “comments” section below.

See you next time…