Update: There’s currently a 24 hour special going on at Muvar.com to purchase Muvar 2009 at $50. The special ends on Thursday at noon (MST). I highly recommend getting it.

If you do, I’ll credit you $100 towards your first month of my testing service
at http://www.stephensblog.com/testing, if you sign up this week.

Also, I just made a video that talks about why I like Muvar better than other testing software. You can watch that video at this link: http://www.stephensblog.com/testing

Cheers,

Stephen Dean, Copywriter

Offering Incredible Copywriting Services

Recommended links for: Copywriting Services   Internet Advertising

Popularity: 6% [?]

A client from my testing service recently asked me why I had taken the P.S. out of his sales letter.

If you’ve read many sales letters you know the P.S. is a popular technique, so it is understandable that he would ask.

The thing is, I didn’t take out the P.S. Muvar did.

Muvar is a multivariate testing software that not only pits several different variables against each other up and down the sales page… it also makes brilliant decisions as to how often to show each variable. This results in a rapid, statistical increase in conversion.

With my client’s sales letter, Muvar found his original P.S. to be hurting sales and decided to stop showing it as often. Because of Muvar’s decisions like this, combined with my copywriting input, this client’s conversion rate has increased 39% in his first month with my service.

(If you’d like to join my multivariate testing service to work on getting the same results for your sales pages, leave a comment and I’ll shoot you an email.)

Sometimes when people think about multivariate testing, they think Taguchi. That’s not exactly accurate. Muvar is a multivariate testing software and does not use the Taguchi method.

Instead, James Brausch wrote his own algorithm designed to outperform Taguchi. Each time a sale is made, Muvar weights each of the variables that were displayed appropriately. Meaning those variables are now more likely to appear when a visitor hits the page.

That “weight” is something that James and his team has tested extensively. They’re constantly looking to improve the algorithm and get the fastest improvements possible… by testing the algorithm just like you would a sales page.

For that reason, I highly recommend using Muvar. I also highly recommend hiring me to run your multivariate testing for you.

A while back James sent me 10 copies of Muvar 2008 and Testivar 2008 and encouraged people to hire me to run their tests. Right now I currently have 3 spots open for the service.

You can contact me with questions about the service by leaving a comment.

Cheers,

Stephen Dean, Copywriter

Offering Incredible Copywriting Services

Recommended links for: Copywriting Services   Internet Advertising

Popularity: 13% [?]

Quick question… what’s your most important password?

…

…

…

Could it be the password to your online banking? Yeah, maybe. But a password that could be just as damaging if it got out is…

…the password to your EMAIL.

How many times have you lost a password to a site but were able to get it back by typing in your email address and waiting for them to send you your password? Most password protected sites use this feature. In fact, even your Wordpress blog will send out your password to your email address with minimal questions.

That means anyone who has access to your email account has access to most ALL of your passwords. And sometimes even your financial passwords (although their security is usually a little tighter).

Just something to think about. Make that email password hard to guess and don’t give it out!

Cheers,

Stephen Dean, Copywriter

Offering Incredible Copywriting Services

Recommended links for: Copywriting Services   Internet Advertising

Popularity: 23% [?]

One of my favorite copywriters is Ryan Healy. We’ve been shooting emails back and forth to each other for quite a while now… and sometimes shipping each other books and CDs in the mail. This guy’s top notch.

I value his advice on just about any topic, but especially copywriting. Recently he allowed me to ask him some questions and post them to this blog. Heck ya!

(I was also able to do the same for him. You can see my answers to his questions today at http://www.ryanhealy.com.)

Ok, here we go. The interview!

1. What attracted you to copywriting?

Actually, copywriting found me.

Starting in the 8th grade, I knew I would be a writer. I wrote for the high school paper, poetry journals, and the college paper. I wrote essays, speeches, and fiction — the whole gamut.

At every job I had, people would come to me to edit their writing. At Merrill Lynch, my managers would have me edit and rewrite their most important emails before they sent them out! (I wasn’t hired to do this; it just kind of happened.)

Anyway, I was approached by the owner of Sonlight Curriculum to write copy for him. He wanted to replace himself. He knew I loved to write and had an entrepreneurial bent, so he hired me.

I spent three years writing sales copy for him and his company, and doing all their Internet marketing.

And that is how copywriting found me.

2. When did you first know you had MADE IT, and that a copywriting career would work?

That’s an interesting question.

I guess I first knew I had “made it” when I got three clients in less than two weeks of launching my freelance career. That was one level of “knowing.”

I then knew I had “made it” (again, at a deeper level) a couple years later when I had more work than I could handle and a constant flow of new leads.

3. How would you recommend someone with NO copywriting experience… get some experience?!

First, hand copy some proven ads.

Then see if you can get somebody to mentor you.

John Holzmann was my first true mentor. He really forced me to become a better copywriter.

In fact, he also taught me perseverance — how to accept criticism, get better, and keep pressing forward.

This is one reason for my success. When the going gets tough, I keep going.

4. Where do you think there’s more money to be made, online or offline?

It depends on your definition of “more.”

In my own experience, there are more online copywriting projects than off-line.

So, in one sense, you could say there’s more money online.

On the other hand, one successful off-line project has the potential to generate more profit than multiple online projects.

There are more online projects to be had — but there is more leverage in an off-line project.

5. What’s your #1 productivity tip?

The strategy: Eliminating distractions.

The technique: Using a content filter to block most of the Internet — especially sites that naturally cause distraction.

I personally use Safe Eyes.

6. What keeps you MOTIVATED to keep writing amazing copy?

I’m like a kid with a stick. I like to poke people in the brain and see what happens.

Every sales letter I write is another experiment — and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

(In fact, I sometimes get just as excited to see how people respond to a new blog post as I do watching people respond to sales letters.)

7. What’s your favorite technique for researching/preparing for a project?

I have two favorite techniques:

a. Interviewing the client or the person who created the product.

b. Consuming the product.

These two things alone can provide mountains of information you can use in a sales letter.

8. From Rebecca at MissCopy.com: How do you find sales letters to be in your swipe file? And how do you make sure they should be in a swipe file?

I buy stuff.

Seriously.

If you buy a few products from Nightingale-Conant, you will start getting boatloads of sales letters.

If you subscribe to an Agora service (like The Oxford Club), you will get boatloads of sales letters.

If you subscribe to Bottom Line Personal, you will get boatloads of sales letters.

If you buy a book from Rodale, you will get boatloads of sales letters.

These companies pay a lot for good copy. Watch your mailbox for pieces mailed more than once. Those are the most profitable letters.

Another way to get sales letters: Ask a client to seed your name on his list.

I have a client in the financial industry who did this for me, so I get a ton of financial mail as well.

In the online world, I look for letters I know were written by a great copywriter. Right now, it’s very easy to find John Carlton letters, Clayton Makepeace letters, Michel Fortin letters, etc.

All you have to do is subscribe to their email lists.

9. What’s your #1 tip for instantly boosting conversion rates?

In general, I would say split-test.

Specifically, I would have to see the sales letter. Sometimes I can immediately see “trouble spots” and eliminate them.

Actually, that’s the fastest way to boost conversion rates: Stop doing stuff that kills sales.

Knowing what that “stuff” is, is a different question all together.

10. The headline: do you write it first, last or neither?

I like to write it first. I then like to rewrite it last.

When I worked with Alex Mandossian, he had me write at least 20 headlines for a sales letter. I would then write at least 30.

I’ve heard some people write at least 100.

I don’t know. Every time I’ve done this, I usually go with the headline concept that comes out somewhere in the middle. You might get a breakthrough at headline 100 — or you might just get crap because you ran out of good ideas.

Anyway, I like to write the headline first because it gives me some direction in my letter. But I like to rewrite it later, after I’ve written the letter itself.

Every letter is different though.

If I don’t write the headline first, I write bullets. More than once, one of my bullets became the headline for the letter.

11. If you had no contacts and no one knew your name, how would you get a client quickly?

I’d get on a plane, fly to a couple marketing seminars, and make my name known.

The first marketing seminar I went to, I landed a $1,000 project… in the bar… the night before the seminar started.

I’ve traced more than $60,000 in fees to that one seminar.

Historically, I get at least one new client from every seminar I attend.

The best part about this strategy is you don’t need a web site or a sales letter. All you need is a smile, a firm handshake, and a decent business card.

12. Where can people learn more about you?

You can go to www.RyanHealy.com to read my blog. I write new posts weekly about business growth, copywriting, and advertising.

I’ll be focusing more on direct response advertising & copywriting during the next month or two.

Thanks Ryan!

(Check out my answers to his questions at http://www.ryanhealy.com)

Cheers,

Stephen Dean, Copywriter

Offering Incredible Copywriting Services

Recommended links for: Copywriting Services   Internet Advertising

Popularity: 18% [?]

I think I’m going to give everyone who requested the WYSIWYG Killer with a link to the last post… a free copy of the Template I use to write all my sales letters. This Template is normally $35, but it will make the WYSIWYG Killer way cooler if you have it.

This Template takes in to account a myriad of testing results to create a highly converting sales page format. Of course, it takes good copy too, but this Template should help.

So if you want to get in on the free Template, read the previous post (found below) to see how to get the WYSIWYG Killer for free.

(Also: someone asked what operating system’s this software is compatible with. The answer, all operating systems. The software is written in PHP which is uploaded to your webhost, and virtually all webhosts support PHP.)

Cheers,

Stephen Dean, Copywriter

Offering Incredible Copywriting Services

Recommended links for: Copywriting Services   Internet Advertising

Popularity: 14% [?]

Many of you who have followed me on Twitter know that I’ve been working on a text-based software program to write my sales letters in.

Dreamweaver, Frontpage? They cost a fortune and all they do is INFURIATE me.

So I decided to write my own software that would allow me to just type… type as fast as my creative juices will allow me too.

There’s no worrying about whether Dreamweaver is going to mess with the formatting I tried so hard to get right. There’s no ugly code.

(In fact, this piece of software doesn’t know HOW to write ugly code. It comes out looking beautiful.)

All the good things aside, if you’re a total newbie you might be intimidated by all the white space. There’s not a lot of thrills or features. Sometimes I talk about HTML (even though you don’t have to use it), and those techy terms might scare you. But overall, and certainly for most computer users, it’s actually very simple.

To get the most out of this software, you’ll probably need to upload your own sales page Template (a default Template is included, but the software allows you to get as fancy as you’d like).

(If you don’t have a sales page Template, you can purchase mine: http://www.stephensblog.com/salespagetemplate.htm)

To get the WYSIWYG Killer free, you have a few options listed in order of preference: (1) just link to this post from your blog, (2) put the URL to this blog post in your next Twitter message, or (3) put a link to my blog in your Blog roll. Then leave a comment with a link to the evidence of one of the 3 choices.

When I get your comment, I’ll email you a link for the product page.

Cheers,

Stephen Dean, Copywriter

Offering Incredible Copywriting Services

Recommended links for: Copywriting Services   Internet Advertising

Popularity: 35% [?]

Heidi Ross won “Earn An Income By Creating Your Own CD…”

Heidi, will you leave a comment with your postal address so I can send the DVD?

For everyone else, I’m rendering and uploading the instruction videos for the WYSIWYG killer right now. Should have the announcement within the hour.

Cheers,

Stephen Dean, Copywriter

Offering Incredible Copywriting Services

Recommended links for: Copywriting Services   Internet Advertising

Popularity: 17% [?]

If you want a free DVD, keep reading to see how you can win it.

But first I want to tell you about the software I’ll be giving out free tomorrow.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I’m almost finished with a piece of software GUARANTEED to lower your stress levels (OK, at least guaranteed to lower mine. Your results may vary.)

I finally junked WYSIWYG editors for this text based sales letter creator. I’ve been using it for months, but there were some features that needed to be added before I thought it would benefit others. I’m nearly finished with those tweaks.

Tomorrow, you’ll be able to get the software for free. Well almost free, I’ll ask for a link from your blog to mine in exchange (either through a post, blogroll, or both).

For today, I’m giving out a free DVD called “Earn An Income By Creating Your Own CD…” To be considered, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post. I’ll announce the winner tomorrow.

Cheers,

Stephen Dean, Copywriter

Offering Incredible Copywriting Services

Recommended links for: Copywriting Services   Internet Advertising

Popularity: 20% [?]

Aspiring copywriters, you’re getting it wrong!

The P.S. is a widely known tactic when writing a sales letter. I’ve done countless copy critiques for product owners who write their own copy… and they almost always have a P.S.

What that usually means is that they’ve seen others doing it and assume it works.

Is that a logical assumption? Yes.

Especially since Michel Fortin and Eric Graham use them consistently, and they test everything.

There’s another avid tester who does NOT use them, however. That’s James Brausch (or Diego Norte).

I assume he doesn’t use them because either 1) he finds it a little unethical to pretend like you forgot to say something in the message, or 2) he hasn’t found them to work.

James often tests different parts of the sales letter against “nothingness.” Meaning some visitors might come to his sales letter and see the PS sections, while other visitors would come to his sales letter would not be able to see the PS section.

And whichever version of the letter gets the most sales wins.

My guess is that if James did test PS’s, he found them to hurt sales. That would match my test results with PS’s written by non-copywriters.

In my experience, if you’re new to copywriting you might as well just leave the PS section out. Most tests I run with other people’s copy, the PS is either beat or statistically tied by the blank variable. In fact, that’s been the case with every test for other people’s copy.

Sometimes the PS is actually far behind the blank variable, meaning the PS was actually hurting sales. So if you’re a beginner, you might as well just leave them out.

The PS’s I write do often convincingly beat the blank variable. I employ these “3 Quick Rules” for writing the PS section, and they work when done right.

Cheers,

Stephen Dean, Copywriter

Offering Incredible Copywriting Services

Recommended links for: Copywriting Services   Internet Advertising

Popularity: 16% [?]

Ryan Healy is now accepting students in to his copywriting coaching program. Check out the sales letter for the program, it’s awesome! http://www.copywritingcode.com/lessons/

This program isn’t about how to write copy - it’s about how to get high paying clients, and a lot of them.

I’ve been shooting emails back and forth with Ryan for some time now (we’ve even shipped a few books back and forth to each other). The guy’s top notch.

And honest as heck: I can count on just a couple fingers the number of people who won’t download music illegally because they recognize it as stealing (whether anyone’s looking or not). And Ryan’s one of them!

And since he’s one of the few copywriters that DID crack 6 figures in his first year working, I highly recommend checking out his new program: http://www.copywritingcode.com/lessons/

If you read the sales letter and become interested, he wants you to give him a call. I highly recommend giving Ryan Healy a call NOW.

Cheers,

Stephen Dean, Copywriter

Offering Incredible Copywriting Services

Recommended links for: Copywriting Services   Internet Advertising

Popularity: 23% [?]