Copywriters Podcast

David Garfinkel
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Copywriting lessons from David Garfinkel

  1. 2H AGO

    The Visual Design CRISIS, And What Copywriters Can Do About It, With Lori Haller

    It’s a full-blown crisis. As if writing copy wasn’t hard enough, there’s a new demand falling on the plates of copywriters more and more. And while maybe it’s not fair, it IS real. And it’s important that you know about it, and know what to do about it. Good news. We’ve got just the person to explain what it is and how to come out ahead, looking like a million bucks and being a hero, whether you wear a cape or not. The crisis is one of Design. These days, just as more and more is being expected of copywriters on the word and strategy side, so is more being expected on the Design side. That doesn’t mean you have to be a full-fledged designer to get copy jobs. You don’t. But you do need to know your way around what a well designed ad or web page looks like. And there are details you need to understand and offer ideas about. And our very special guest today and returning champion, Lori Haller of Designing Response, is here to sort it out and straighten it all out for you. Lori works side by side with many of the greatest copywriters of our time to help create control-beating packages, for clients like Boardroom, Healthy Directions, Dr. Al Sears, Nutri-Health, KCI Communications, and Agora. She has coached clients around the world, and she is an in-demand speaker and trainer. I’ve only scratched the surface of Lori’s incredible and long list of credentials. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who knows more or who has done more. Her company, DesigningResponse, based in Germantown, Maryland, has built a reputation for creating award-winning, sales-generating direct mail, online promotions, space advertising, and product development. She knows from up-to-date information in the field what are the new demands and expectations being placed upon copywriters. And she will talk about that today. Lori’s website: https://lorihaller.com Reach Lori directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-haller-b2840717 Download.

  2. FEB 16

    The Neuroscience Of Copy That Sells, With Clive Cable

    These days people talk about neurochemicals a lot. Chemicals like dopamine, and cortisol, and the love chemical, oxytocin. I’ve always wondered how these chemicals are affected by copy, and how much it matters. So imagine my surprise when I discovered what our very special guest was doing! His name is Clive Cable, and he’s not only written a book about this, he has a complete system to evaluate copy based on the neurochemistry the copy will cause, and the buying behavior that chemistry will lead to. The book is called Neurocopy, and it’s the first systematic work I’ve ever seen that shows how copy stimulates certain chemicals, and how those chemicals make people want to buy. Clive is a trailblazer with his pioneering work. But I want to make it clear that he’s not some ivory tower guy sitting in a white coat in a lab measuring blood levels of dopamine and endorphins with a clinical chemistry analyzer. No, Clive’s one of us. He got started as a door-to-door salesman, offering home improvement products and services for as much as $25,000 a pop–and closing an amazing two out of every three people he talked to. He’s also an experienced copywriter, and has generated over £40 million, which is over 50 million dollars, across 12 different industries. Clive also built a supplement company that generated £24,000 a month, selling products including colloidal silver, prebiotics and aerobic oxygen. All of which to say that nothing he says about the process of buying and selling is theoretical. He’s lived it and he lives it. And he’s a great salesperson! I can also say that after I read through his book, I started to feel the effects of cortisol, which is a feeling of high stress, right before high-stakes events, and the effects of endorphins, which is a feeling of relief and satisfaction, after those events ended well. There’s a lot more to all this, as we’ll find out today. Link to get Clive’s new book, “Neurocopy” https://www.lulu.com/shop/clive-cable/neurocopy/paperback/product-w4qjdmn.html Download.

  3. FEB 9

    The One-Sentence Attention-Magnet Story

    We’re really at a crisis point for a lot of marketers. It’s not just that ads keep getting more expensive. It’s that it just gets harder and harder to get and keep prospects’ attention. And with everything being engineered and optimized by AI and CRO, stuff ends up looking more and more the same. And that only works against you. You know you need to stand out–but how? Well, the best way to get and keep attention is, and always has been, a story. But how long is a story? I mean, a Hero’s Journey story can take hours. And even the type of compact tales I introduced in my book The Persuasion Story Code can take two to three minutes. That’s not very long, but at a time of shrinking attention spans, it’s still too long. Now, you can try using outrageous hooks. But in addition to shrinking attention spans, you’re also fighting against rising levels of skepticism and outright distrust. If you say something that gets attention but just isn’t believable, you’re still sunk. So, what would be ideal to solve this problem? It would be a persuasion story you could tell in 15 or 20 words. Impossible, you say? That’s what I thought until I really started working on it. One of my clients, Ari Nirsissian, helped me quite a lot in the development of my thinking and writing of these new kind of attention magnets, the one-sentence microstory. It really is a story. It really is persuasive. And it really is short! Just the right size for today’s attention spans. Today I’m going to show you, step by step, how I developed three of them… and how I combined them into one electric three-sentence paragraph, which takes less than a minute to read out loud. Resources: To find out more about my book The Persuasion Story Code, check out this link to the Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQ And to find out more about my coaching for experienced copywriters and business owners, go to: https://garfinkelcoaching.com Download.

  4. FEB 2

    Value-Based Copywriting, With Harlan Kilstein

    Today’s show is for every talented copywriter stuck in the feast-or-famine cycle of business and would much rather get paid well, to reflect the enormous value their copy is bringing to their clients. We have a very special returning champion on the show today, Dr. Harlan Kilstein. He has just released a book called Value-Based Copywriting. Originally presented in a $997 seminar, this material has changed the lives and of course careers of some very fortunate copywriters. This book solves the problem faced by thousands of copywriters–not getting paid for what their work is worth. Harlan is a renowned entrepreneur and copywriting expert known for his innovative approaches in marketing, mindset, and personal development. With decades of experience at the intersection of psychology, persuasion, and business strategy, Harlan has built a reputation for helping individuals and companies unlock explosive growth through compelling communication and breakthrough thinking. He’s also a former educator with a doctorate in education. And, Harlan’s a very successful copywriter himself and an expert in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and hypnosis. He’ll bring all of this, and more, to bear today. So you may want to take notes while you’re listening to today’s podcast. Lots of money-making information you will be able to use immediately. Harlan’s new book: Value-Based Copywriting: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GCCR64DC My book The Persuasion Story Code: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQ Download.

  5. JAN 26

    Old Master’s Series: Walter Weir, The Copywriter WAY Ahead Of His Time

    Life must have been at least a little frustrating for our Old Master on today’s show. His name was Walter Weir. He was a very active and successful copywriter and advertising professor, but he must have constantly run into resistance along the way, since so many of his ideas were ahead of their time. Walter Weir was born in 1909 and he died in 1996. He published a couple of books which are nearly impossible to find today. Maybe the publisher, my old employer McGraw-Hill, took them out of print quickly because the ideas were so far ahead of their time that they didn’t sell very well. I don’t know. What I do know is I was fascinated by his ideas. Here are 5 takeaways from an exploration of Weir’s writings and thinking, from today’s show: 1. Write copy that you truly believe, because people can feel it when you don’t. When you don’t believe it, your reader won’t either. And if your reader doesn’t believe it, they won’t buy. 2. Use words that people can FEEL as well as merely understand. Forget about clever word-plays. Say stuff they can feel in their bones. 3. If you’ve got a group going over the copy, write the copy yourself. By yourself. Just you. While a committee can review, only one voice can lead. 4. Forget about features and benefits. Instead, present a description of something someone would feel good about using. People don’t tend to buy just to HAVE something. They buy to FEEL something. 5. Cut everything that doesn’t sound like something a real person would actually say. Because unless it sounds like a human, it won’t reach one. Download.

  6. JAN 19

    Copywriting Goals For 2026

    If you’re involved in copywriting in any way, you know right now we’re at an inflection point. Things have been changing fast over the last two years, and show no signs of slowing down. People who hire copywriters tell me it’s harder than ever to find a good one… yet people who write copy for a living, many of them, tell me it’s really hard to find good-paying work. There’s clearly a disconnect. AI has a lot to do with it. The very definition of what a copywriter is, and what a copywriter does, seems very much in flux. Today I want to suggest five copywriting goals for 2026. These are based on how I was able to help my own mentoring clients solve problems and develop their marketability over the past 12 months. I work with established copywriters and business owners who use direct response, and what I helped them with on a very personal, customized basis would be a good idea for most everyone who listens to this podcast. Links: Copywriting Mentoring: https://garfinkelcoaching.com Persuasive storytelling: The Persuasion Story Code https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFD2KXNQ Download.

  7. JAN 12

    Why Copywriter Alin DragWhy Copywriter Alin Dragu Fired ALL His Clientsu Fired ALL His Clients

    It takes a lot of courage and a lot of confidence to do what our special guest today has done… and that’s fire all his clients and start an email-based business. But Alin Dragu did just that, and he’s here to tell us about it. He’s the best-selling author of the book Meaningful Marketing, he spent 5 years as direct of marketing at one of the fastest growing churches in the US, and 3 years as the VP of growth at a Christian marketing agency. Alin is definitely a copywriter’s copywriter. He’s obsessed with reading novels and old fiction letters. And he admits he’s secretly obsessed with luxury watches, something Nathan’s a collector of as well. Finally, in case you end up taking Alin to dinner, which probably wouldn’t be a bad idea, you should know he says he’s never refused a steak, ever in his life. Now, here’s what we asked him: 1. So Alin, could you give us a quick tour of what you do? 2. I’m very interested in your S-L-O framework that you use to write all your emails. Could you walk us through that? 3. So as I understand it, your funnel works something like this: - you make youtube videos that promote your lead magnets - when people get the lead magnets, of course they opt-into your list - every day you send one, and I quote, “very entertaining story” while also plugging one of your products - and you get sales every day. I was wondering if we could go through one of those stories and you could break it down for us–like, say, the “I spent $613 on coffee” story? And talk about what makes a great story? 4. You are in a very email-list-dependent business. How do you deal with the issues that come with that, like trolls, unsubscribes, and delivering content every day? 5. You need to come up with a new idea every day. How do you do that without running up against burnout? 6. OK, you do something a lot of people are afraid to do. It’s something Nathan and I strongly recommend, though. Tell us how you sell in every email and get people to keep opening the next email? 7. So tell us about who your list is for and how someone can join. -- Link to get on Alin’s list: https://alindragu.com/ Download.

  8. JAN 5

    More Free Financial Copy Training, With Glenn Fisher

    Last fall, our returning champion Glenn Fisher and his business partner Nick O’Connor teamed up with mega financial publisher Marketwise for a bold experiment: Offer FREE training in financial copywriting to 12 people who competed for the spots. There were 500 people applied. Of the 12 who were selected, Glenn says, four were offered jobs… and two are being mentored by financial copywriting legend Mike Palmer. You know, in many stupid businesses, when something works, the business immediately stops doing it and decides to try something else. Lucky for you, Marketwise is anything but a stupid business. They know a good thing when they see it. So they decided to keep working with Glenn and Nick and run more programs through 2026. And Glenn’s back on the show to tell us what they learned and what’s next… and how you might be one of the lucky 12 in a future cohort! Links: Financial Copy U: https://www.financialcopyu.com/ The Fix, Glenn’s and Nick’s other program: https://thefixcopywriting.com/ Download.

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About

Copywriting lessons from David Garfinkel

Information

  • Creator
    David Garfinkel
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    462
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All Rights Reserved
  • Show Website
    Copywriters Podcast

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