How Nigerian copywriters can get people to trust them

Comes a question all the way from the highways & byways of Nigeria: === …I was advised to put out valuable contents on LinkedIn and social media platforms So that clients can actually reach out to me. And also pitching in case it works But pitching has never ever worked for me so I get tired of doing it. Since last year till now I still put out valuable contents on LinkedIn on how to help health companies and make sales. And prevent catastrophe on their business Or help them in difficult problems. But has never been able to even close a client Upon my profile views and connections Some rejected me plainly because am a Nigerian and not a US citizen So I feel bad And them someone said putting out valuable contents is foolishness That is not the way forward at all. That it is you as a person of influence will make you find clients That giving value is a foolish way to get clients === The answer to his dilemma: Instead of having a marketing-first approach, take a market-first approach. There is a huge difference between the two approaches. And probably 95% of “online” marketers do marketing-first — and it shows in their abysmal results, the questions they ask, and the frustration they experience. What’s the difference between marketing-first and market-first? It is simple: Marketing-first is when your marketing imposes your will upon the market. While market-first is when the market imposes its will on your marketing. Marketing-first is what it sounds like the guy above is doing. But market-first is what he and everyone should be doing in my opinion. But the problem is, it’s not sexy. It eliminates the need for seeking out yet another mastermind, another book, another newsletter (including, ironically, my newsletter), another course, another video, another podcast, another Facebook group, or another coach, consultant, or “guru.” Because if anything the market IS your coach, consultant, and guru. Studying your market IS your book and course. And hanging out with your market IS your mastermind. Or at least, they should be. Example: Many years ago I had the pleasure of interviewing the great A-list copywriter Doug D’Anna. And I remember him saying he didn’t do copywriting critiques at the time. And the reason why was, he didn’t know their market, and how can he advise someone on how to improve their copy if he doesn’t know their market? Take his blockbuster ad headline: “Can India Beat China?” Zero benefit. No tease. No “how to” “or they laughed when I__ but then…” or “Who else?” structure. And no USP in sight. Just a simple question: “Can India Beat China?” And I guarantee you 999 out of 1000 copywriters who see that, in a vacuum, without knowing the market or the timing of when he was writing it (back in 2007) would say that headline was weak or whatever. But to THAT market, at THAT time, in THAT economic environment the answer to THAT question was probably the single most important thing on their minds. That is one of many examples. So to someone struggling with credibility, being taken seriously, etc I say this: Obsess over being market-first and not marketing-first. This is hard for most people. Mostly because of peer pressure — as there is absolutely nothing cool, exciting, or sparkly about market-first. If anything it’s boring, even disappointing, to those who are first introduced to it. Take another A-list copywriter I interviewed around the same time I interviewed Doug D’Anna — Email Players subscriber David Deutsch — told me basically the same thing about what him and his A-list copywriter pals talk about. (HINT: it ain’t “writing” techniques) In my humble experience: If you obsess over the marketing first, you’re playing the game on hard mode. If you obsess over market first, you’re playing it on easy mode. Or, at least, easier mode. As far as where to direct this obsession? Enter the upcoming January Email Players issue. This bad-boy is a mixture of a whole lot of things I’ve been wanting to say, building up to saying, and have waited until the right time to say in a total perfect storm, in the form of a 64-page issue (over triple the usual size). It doesn’t teach market research, but it does teach how I approach fostering relationships with my list and, by extension (although I never use the word inside) “authority” in my little corner of the internet. And if you think I’m just self-fapping about that, it ain’t so. The great David Deutsch I mentioned above said I was “great” at authority recently on Twitter. When a guy like him says it… More: I’m also giving a free copy of the Email Players Annual #2 to those who receive the January issue to help celebrate the newsletter’s 150th issue. You can read about that in the PS below if you want. To read more about Email Players though, go here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle P.S. The Annual bonus mentioned above is called: “Email Players Annual #2: Mad Men Copywriting Secrets” This oversized (literally — in both size and page count) Annual issue I am including with January’s issue exists outside the normal continuity of the newsletter. And I wrote it to both commemorate the newsletter’s 150th issue, and also to teach some cool stuff I’ve learned studying the old masters that have practically be all but forgotten about today. (NOTE: it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the TV show “Mad Men”, which I found extremely boring and overrated — it’s about advertising methods used by the actual Mad Men of the 60’s.) Some of the secrets found inside include: * The sneaky headline trick old school copywriters used to pre-test ads without spending a single dime. * Cunning advice (straight from a private, internal memo at the Leo Burnett agency back in the day) about how to trick egotistical clients (for their own good, of course) into running your sales copy “as-is.” (Old school screenwriters basically did the same thing to get scripts approved, today it’s practically a forgotten trick of the writing trade.) * A powerful Mad Men secret to making your business mysteriously attractive that can be like “catnip” to high-paying clients and others you wish to sell to or influence. * The World-Building technique all the Mad Men agency owners (the ones whose names are still on their companies today long after their deaths) used to position themselves as “the” agency to hire — with certain clients practically magnetically attracted to them, and probably even only them, and likely wanting nothing to do with anyone else. * How to exploit a dangling piece of psychological “wiring” in every human being’s brain to help make your emails and other marketing extremely hard to ignore and a whole lot more engaging. * A sneaky way to adapt Ogilvy’s enormously successful “Man In The Hathaway Shirt” ad from the 1950s into a high converting opt-in pages for your business today. * How the late Mad Man Leo Burnett would address a room of stuck up and snobby vice presidents of giant corporations to keep their egos in check and “prep” them for what he expected of them as clients. * How an old school phone salesman and high school dropout was able to ethically & legally out-negotiate & out-maneuver a room full of high-falutin’, and super educated and wealthy lawyers hired by a bank to get what he wanted. (Nothing directly to do with Mad Men — but what this phone salesman did is something that was quite common for people in the know to do back in the day to get what they wanted in contracts and deals.) * A clever way that certain bashful Mad Men copywriters used their shyness to help create far more powerful advertising. * A (admittedly bizarre sounding to most marketers today) advertising sales trick that David Ogilvy learned from a furniture salesman for turning a product’s flaws into reasons to buy. (Including tips for exactly how to turn high fees, bad reviews, and even slow service into reasons to buy.) * How David Ogilvy used good, old fashioned trolling (he was a world-class troll) to help get compliance and engagement from everyone from heads of corporations during high-pressure negotiations to his own wife in the kitchen. * A ridiculously effective door-to-door salesman technique (that, believe it or not, works even better on Facebook today, I have found) that can help you create headlines, offers, emails, and other marketing that can just seep right into the psychology and souls of your leads and customers, giving them almost no choice but to want to buy what you’re selling! (Does that sound almost like hype? Maybe so. But realize this: it was not uncommon for this technique to works so well it’d sometimes set record for product recalls for weak products.) * Just how brutal and soul-crushing old school Man Men were in their advertising campaign critiques. (One of the most respected copywriters of the day and creator of the famous Pillsbury Doughboy — Rudy Perz — said they’d make him feel like a “martyr”, and the creative director and original Marlboro Man model — Andy Armstrong — once literally suffered a nervous breakdown over one of these brutal critiques, if that tells you something.) * The little-known way the Leo Burnett Agency created such memorable and influential cartoon characters that helped sell truckloads of the products they promoted * The 7-word advertising principle that helped build one of the biggest and most respected ad agencies in human history. (And that is still around today almost 100 years later, while most have long-since floundered.) * Why fire-breathing atheist David Ogilvy was such a big fan of the Catholic Church. (Nothing really to do with copywriting or marketing, but his reasoning could be useful to anyone who runs teams or has lots of employees.) * The Mad Men attitude (almost non-existent today) that can help freelancers, coaches, consultants, and other businesses go from begging to business to having so many new leads practically begging to hire you you might even need a waiting list. (Best part: you don’t even have to be that great at what you do or, for that matter, “do” anything different — this is just a make a simple mindset shift in the way you approach your business.) * David Ogilvy’s bizarre email list-building secret (created back in the 1950’s — long before the invention of commercial email) that can also make your business stand out in an overcrowded marketplace and increase your sales. * A shrewd insurance selling method (that smart radio and magazine advertisers forced their customers to do since it worked so well) that can help drive your email response through the roof. * How an “honorary” Mad Man copywriter (who was a NYC public employee and not an ad man at all) used ANTI-direct response slogans to help create some of the most profitable and memorable advertising every penned by the hand of mortal man. (And yes, what he did can be used to write all kinds of profitable headlines, subject lines, bullets, and any other kind of direct response sales copy.) * A one-on-one interview with a “for real” Mad Man! In fact, the TV show producers even consulted this guy due to him being in the thick of the agency business back then, and who was involved with campaigns like The Marlboro Man, Fly the Friendly Skies, & industry-famous campaigns for Gallo Winery, Proctor & Gamble, Colgate, Vicks, Chanel, Max Factor, Philip Morris, and the list goes on. This interview is a rare look into the psychology behind how these guys worked. How they thought. And, yes, how they made lots of money for their clients and themselves. So that gives you a martini-sized look at what’s inside. This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2023 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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