A couple years back I got to spend some time with copywriting legend Ted Nicholas in a day-long copywriting workshop.

Ted gave a lot of insight into many of the ads he has written over the years, and it’s easy to see why his copy has generated more than $4.9 BILLION for himself and his clients, including Nightingale-Conant, Agora, Marriott Corporation, Dearborn Financial Publishing, and Fischer Publishing, to name a few.

While Ted covered a lot of the basics important to the foundation of successful copywriting, he also touched upon a few oft-misunderstood concepts, such as the hidden benefit, which isn’t obtained by reviewing the product.

Instead, he asked us to challenge ourselves with the following question: “If I had unlimited God-like powers and could grant my prospect the biggest benefit I could imagine, what would it be?”

Ted also shared many of his offline copywriting strategies with us, and I ultimately found my mind spinning with ideas to test online (a certain type of lift letter, for one).

Ted also stayed for the duration of the seminar over the weekend as an attendee and speaker, and I was lucky to get some one-on-one time with him on a few occasions. That time was well-spent and packed with a million-dollar education. Just one idea he shared with me was worth fifty times the cost of the seminar to me.

I want to tell you about one little gem in particular that we discussed, as it may help your business as well.

I had been talking to a potential client, who wanted to expand his market reach and have sales copy written in other languages besides English. He was exploring the option of retaining a copywriter who could write copy in these foreign languages.

Well, I knew Ted had many of his sales letters translated into other languages, and I asked him about the necessity of writing copy from scratch in a foreign language. What Ted suggested (and what he has done) was to have the control letter translated, rather than writing a new one. But the translation should be done by someone who understands marketing (i.e. NOT a foreign language professor or standard translator).

You see, as long as the market remains the same, the underlying emotional hot buttons are also the same, whether you are talking to Americans, Germans, Hispanics, etc., etc.

In other words, a person from Brazil usually has the same wants and desires as someone from the Netherlands.

Are you starting to see some potential here?

Simply by having your website copy translated into multiple languages, you are extending your reach dramatically. Or, alternatively, if you are thinking about entering the Latino market, for example, it may be easier than you think, especially if you have customer support people who already speak Spanish.

And by having multiple versions of your sales letter online in different languages, it increases the likelihood that prospects from those countries will find your sales letter in a search engine. These are prospects that you wouldn’t have attracted before.

Ted also showed us a variety of envelope teaser copy split tests, successful ads, and of course I picked up his huge 700+ page swipe file.

Ted’s story of success is an inspiration to me and many other entrepreneurs out there.

In fact, when Ted first went into business he was in debt to the tune of $96,000, and the future looked bleak. He soon realized that the tiny cashflow coming into his small business was falling far short of what he really needed to survive in the long-term.

But then he came up with a novel idea. Leveraging the small reserve of cash he had left, Ted came up with a genius master plan to remake his business and attract paying customers in droves.

As a result, today Ted is without question a tremendous role model of entrepreneurial success. He’s a highly sought-after international speaker and marketing consultant, a well-read author, and one of the most highest paid and successful copywriters in the world.

I recently learned that Ted sat down for a mind-blowing 99 minutes of “marketing legend reveals all” information-packed interview.

In it, Ted revealed his mindset and some rather clever marketing strategies behind some of his most successful campaigns. I’m constantly amazed by how much he is a walking spigot of sales ideas and tactics.

You can get all the details on Ted’s interview and download it here.

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If you want to get more comments on your blog, while at the same time providing an extra value for your visitors who do comment, then you may want to give this tool a try.

It’s called CommentLuv, and it’s available for a variety of blog platforms, including the one I use, WordPress.

What does it do? Every time someone posts a comment on your blog, it looks up the URL of the web address they provide, and if it’s a blog, it then checks the feeds of that blog to look for their latest blog post. Finally, it provides a link to their last blog post from their own blog right under their comment on your blog.

Sound confusing? It’s really one of those things that’s better shown by example.

I’ve installed it for this blog, so feel free to leave a comment and see it in action.

Not only does it reward people who leave comments by promoting their own blog, it’s a nice value-added social tool that’s a win/win for everyone.

And if you register your blog at CommentLuv’s site, you get additional features that include tracking, rankings, and more.

Note that there’s a checkbox that allows visitors leaving a comment the option of using CommentLuv or not. So it’s not forced on anyone. Pretty slick!

So what do you think? Try it out and let me know.

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There’s a lot of bloggers out there who tell you all the time why their blog is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Some of them even offer shameless bribes to get you there. (Why? If they’re blog is so great, why do they need to bribe you??)

Well, I definitely need to bribe you hardcore to go to my blog. Because it sucks. And here’s why…

For starters, some people add to their blog every day. Some even post more than once a day.

Me? I post when I want to. When I have time. I won’t tell you about what I had for breakfast or my take on the funniest YouTube vid of the week..

Some bloggers are hip to the latest trends and tactics.

Me? Yeah, I might or might not be hip to them, but I won’t tell you about them until I’ve vetted them myself. Sometimes that can take a while. Sorry.

The top bloggers do really cool viral stuff that’s designed to get EVERYONE talking about their latest post.

Yeah, that’s nice. Good for them!

Some of them even go against the grain to post controversial stuff, for the same reasons. They want trackbacks and syndication and a partridge in a pear tree!

Look, I read those blogs too. But I don’t think it would bring you any extra value to parade their stuff around like it’s the second coming. You’ve already read it. If I can add to it, ok. Maybe. If not, then it’s best to let those folks have the last word.

Unfortunately there’s a sadder breed that use blogs to personally attack other people and/or businesses, thinking because they control their site, they’re untouchable. Sad.

You’ll never get that from me here. I will NEVER attack someone on my blog. There’s much more positive things to talk about.

So yeah, my blog kinda sucks.

But those who read it email me all the time. They call me on the phone. They participate in the discussion. These are the people I want to associate with.

And I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

So maybe my sucky blog isn’t so bad. Or maybe it is.

Ah, but that’s not up to me. It’s up to you. The power is in YOUR hands.

And here’s to hoping I become less of a “suck” factory over time, and more of a delivery of value!

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Ok, it’s been some time since I’ve posted, and I feel I should explain why.

You see, not only am I booked solid writing for my clients, I also have a project of my own in the works that I’ve been trying to get moving along when I have the time.

I moved this blog from the old Blogger site to here with the intention of taking it in some new directions. That’s still my goal.

In the past, I’ve only posted when I had time to sit down and write an article about a worthwhile topic. While I still intend to write about worthwhile topics, I’m going to make it a point to write more frequently, even if it’s just a quick update on something, a rant, or something I think you’ll find interested. Even if it isn’t a polished long article.

So, that being said. Let me give you a brief update on what’s been happening lately.

I just got back from Yanik Silver’s Underground III seminar a couple weeks ago. It was very worthwhile for me, as it gave me a chance to meet some folks I’ve talked to online and on the phone (as seminars typically do). Plus I got to spend a day with Yanik and Ted Nicholas in a day-long copywriting workshop (see my post about that on Michel Fortin’s Copywriter’s Blog).

For me, spending one on one time with Ted was worth the price of the seminar alone. Plus a few deals I have put together (and new clients I’m writing for) have also paid for the seminar many times over (and it hasn’t even been two weeks yet!)

Another project I am working on is my Copywriter’s Toolkit. I’ll have much more to say about that in the coming weeks ahead. All I’ll say at this point is if you sell any product or service online, you’re gonna want to keep an eye out for this one. I’ll have more on that soon, and you can decide for yourself…

Finally, I dropped the ball on a topic on which I was tagged. My apologies to Alice Seba, who tagged me back in February in her Why I Read Blogs post.

But better late than never, I suppose.

I mainly read blogs not only to see what others are doing in their professional lives, but to learn as well.

For example, a colleague of mine asked me several months ago about affiliate marketing with Clickbank. I pointed him to Andre Chaperon’s blog. Specifically this post, which was the first of many on the subject. Great stuff!

And when I was trying to learn a little about marketing via MySpace, I found this little gem.

And don’t forget about Willie Crawford’s One Million Dollars in 90 Days.

Listen, I could go on like this all day. There’s a lot of great stuff out there. There’s a lot of junk, too, but by finding which blogs I like to read and checking with them regularly, I learn about new ones and expand my pool of resources over time.

Ok, that about sums it up for now. I promise I won’t wait another month and a half before writing again!

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My friend and colleague Ryan Healy recently posted a topic entitled Why Do I Blog, and opened up the floor with an invitation to others to give their own reasons…on their own respective blogs.

I think that’s a great idea, as many of his readers may find other interesting points of view by doing a little exploring. Plus, rather than encouraging comments on his site, he’s tagging these other blogs, just like Mike Sansone did in his response to the Why Do I Blog theme making its rounds across the Net today.

And like Mike, who was tagged by others (a good testimonial to the Web 2.0 connectivity that continues to spread), Ryan tagged my blog here as well.

But here’s the kicker: this blog and it’s domain is something I’ve been building over the last few weeks. My old blog was on Google’s Blogger, and I’ve since moved to WordPress hosted on a new dedicated server of mine. But I never told a single soul about this move yet, because it’s still in progress!

I hope you’ll reread that last sentence and let its significance sink in.

Yes, I’ve been tagged and am already getting traffic without announcing anything. Without telling my subscribers. Without publishing a post on my Blogger-hosted blog telling my readers of the change. Without even telling my wife yet (although she would nod, smile, and say “that’s nice, John” anyway. She’s always so supportive!

So this should wake up a few of you who aren’t blogging yet for some reason.

But…back to the topic. Why do I blog?

I suppose originally it was my desire to engage a meaningful conversation about copywriting and marketing. I also wanted to get out in front of my potential clients and partners to maintain a good presence in a somewhat casual, but still professional, environment.

Although those reasons are still valid for me, today I’m learning more than ever. And when I come across something that’s just so cool (yes, the “cool” factor does play a part) and profitable for me, I just want to share it.

Give and you shall receive. Cliche? Maybe. But definitely true.

It’s been a crazy wonderful ride so far, and the more I “journey,” the better the scenery. And I have many people to thank for that.

So I guess in the end, blogging is a way to give back for all the gifts I’ve received and continue to receive.

It’s really an ongoing discovery for me. I wrote in my very first blog post:

There are many others out there with some of my experiences, expertise, and goals. But there’s nobody else in the world who has all the combined knowledge as me, and has experienced the exact same successes and failures. The same is true of you.

So what about you? Why do you blog?.

The 5 people I’m tagging are:

• David Garfinkel
• Jason Moffatt
• JP Maroney
• Alice Seba
• John Manley

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I’ve been meaning to start a blog for some time, and not because everyone else is doing it or that I feel I have to share my life with the world. It’s really my desire to start and engage a dialogue about a special topic for me: copywriting and marketing.

Now there are many others out there with some of my experiences, expertise, and goals. But there’s nobody else in the world who has all the combined knowledge as me, and has experienced the exact same successes and failures. The same is true of you.

I think the only thing that’s been holding me back on doing this blog has been how extraordinarily busy I’ve been for a while now. Or so I thought.

I recently had some issues come between my family life and my business life. They’ve caused me to put everything on hold temporarily to focus on my family. I’ve always believed family comes first, and it’s times like these that really make you stop and think just how important my family is to me.

But it also caused me to think about my business a little differently–That there’s nothing so important in business that you can’t cease all activity under the right circumstances. And this situation would certainly apply.

So while my operations are on hold, I had this nagging feeling that I should start putting down in words some of the experiences I’ve been going through as of late. And that now would be a good time to finally get that blog up and running.

And so while you’ll occasionally hear me rant or talk about whatever’s on my mind, this blog in the long run is going to allow me to share with you some of my successes and failures in business as well, and copywriting and marketing in particular.

Who knows? If it helps even one soul out there, it’s worth it to me.

And as this thing gets going, I’m hoping other like-minded individuals can share some of their successes and failures with me.

But this won’t be some pie-in-the-sky theoretical mumbo-jumbo. It will be about proven marketing techniques and strategies that either I have personally benefited from, or things I have learned from others…others who also have been in the trenches seeing what works and what doesn’t.

So no big lesson on anything today with respect to marketing. That will be for another day.

Instead, today is a day I will reflect back on as I go back and reread this post in the future.

And if there’s any sort of message from me to you today, it’s to embrace your family. Be there for them. Don’t let business get in the way. Life really is too short to see it pass you by in a heartbeat.

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