People like to say the “Universe” is working against them when things don’t go their way. Or vice versa, the “Universe” loves them when lucky happenstance comes their way. Sometimes, these same people like to say the “Universe” is sending them messages. The “Universe” (with a capital U), in this…

You know how… In film and TV, when the scene reaches a tense dramatic climax in a scene (a.k.a. the characters are fighting and one of them drops a bomb revealing a life-changing secret…)? Have you noticed how… they often linger on that moment of emotional gravity just for a…

It’s not coming up with a hook, big idea or core premise… although that’s very close. It’s definitely not writing features/benefits, an offer with an urgent close, nor blind bullets either. And if you think it’s truly, deeply, empathetically understanding the market… nope, that’s wrong too. All those things are…

You got their attention. You stoked their desire. You sold them on the benefits. Now it’s time to close them. Whether you’re a copywriter or salesperson, here are the nine types of closes… Crossroads/Fork-in-the-Road You have three choices right now. One, do nothing and get the same results you’ve always gotten…

The most common complaint in my hobby (designer board games) is: “I can never find other players”. No wonder. These are games with 16–32 page rulebooks that can take two, three… and sometimes four+ hours to play just one game. And yet… pre-pandemic, between 2015–2020, my brother and I ran…

If you sell knowledge for a living (e.g. advice, how-to, consulting, coaching, expertise, trade alerts, tips, etc.)… you are in the business of selling magic buttons and secret windows. Buttons and windows are ways in which you frame your knowledge in a digestible mechanism. In both cases, we can think…

First off, let’s start with a disclaimer: Stories are great for passing down moral principles, cultural identity markers, and warnings for tribe survival. Stories are arguably the best mechanism for delivering human lessons from one generation to the next. Even if details are changed, muddied, exaggerated, or even metaphorized… the…

At my agency, we recognize writing is a “team-sport”. Especially for long-form pieces (sales letters, VSLs, webinar scripts, advertorials). What drove this development was recognizing why writers get stuck when they do. It comes down to one thing: context shifts… or more accurately, the inability to. You see, every writing…

Your “about me” page, profile, or bio is where you show off your credibility. Stuff you’ve done, stuff you’ve won, stuff that tells people why they should listen to you. With every new client, I use a silly acronym (I made up) to get all these things down: ABDOMEN Here’s…