In a comment, on my very first post, on this blog an old friend referred to me as someone who thinks outside the box.

Being able to do so has helped me a lot in my business, my life really.

How to do it…

As I look at it, I have never been one to “accept it”, as “they” say it should be. That said, there was a big moment in my life when I think that this natural tendency was magnified. I was forced into a “shift in perception.” I think this is the foundation for being able to think outside the box…being able to see things from a different perspective.

Gary Halbert, John Carlton, Dan Kennedy… et moi?

Although I do not agree with some of what these guys teach I certainly have gleaned from their years of wisdom. I never would have thought there’d be a day when I’d be compared to them…but I have been!

Jason Moffatt compared me to these guys today on his blog. Unbelievable!

Check it out. In typical Moffatt style it is provocatively done. www.JasonMoffatt.com

Now, let me tell you this. I like Jason a lot.

Why?

Because he is brutally honest. Not prim and proper, just really honest.

This idea of “subheads”. If you look at direct response copy you’ll see a lot of very lame subheads.

This is either directly or indirectly being taught and it is VERY damaging to the power of your copy.

We need our subheads to be powerful. Sure the headline may be the most powerful but why not use this dynamic throughout your sales letter?

Why not?

Especially today. We know that readers are skimming very quickly. Doesn’t it make sense that we should plant strong headlines throughout the copy?

I call them Body Copy Headlines.

I’ve been watching this fever for online video for some time now. It’s official. I don’t get it.

I did see one video interview that sort of held my attention. Why? The two guys in it were great “participants” in the interview. I’ve also seen some good professional video. Seems like boring TV to me…Click!

And then there’s the pathetic homegrown style video. Be warned, there’s about to be a flood of these. I was just sent to one by a big name marketers blog, as if I should be impressed. I’m shaking my head. This video did not deserve the attention that it was given…not at all!

Moments ago I received an email from a current coaching client. In the program I give participants a long copy exercise to do. This participant was saying that when he started the exercise he thought he would need a template to write from.

He mentioned how he had become conditioned “to put out copy” and to do so quickly.

He was very complimentary about how my approach was accelerating his confidence and his copywriting career. He was ecstatic, feeling that he was writing the copy, that it wasn’t this empty, mechanical process. He could see how using a template was so lacking in quality.