What we learned running the numbers.
Sale vs Close: The Promise and the Justification
In 1910 an advertising man named St Elmo Lewis said all advertising must attract attention, maintain interest, arouse desire, and get action.
Let the Prospect Land on the Claim Themselves
As a young man Benjamin Franklin dropped blunt argument for questions, and found people reached his conclusions themselves.
Free Virtual Events That Pay for Themselves
In 1949 a Detroit saleswoman named Brownie Wise and her team sold more Tupperware at home parties than any store.
Sell Outcomes, Not Deliverables: Half Your Copy Should Describe the Result
A list of deliverables tells a buyer what you will do.
Sequence Words: Once, When, Then
"If you get results" plants a doubt.
Shadow AI Is a Demand Signal: Guardrails That Do Not Kill the Front Line
Shadow AI is unsanctioned employee AI use, and it maps where official tools fail.
Show Rate: Pre-Call Sequences That Get People to Attend
A British health centre cut missed appointments by 18 percent by asking patients to write the time down themselves, and by nearly a third when it also told them most people show up.
Rapport Openings: Why the Conscious Mind Rejects Pitches
A newspaper subscription letter that began with two young men graduating from college ran for nearly thirty years and is credited with an estimated two billion dollars in sales.
Six Openings: The Questions Every Post Can Start From
Reporters have used six questions for more than a century to make sure a story is complete.
Selling to Buyers Who Have Seen It All
A bold promise that works on a new buyer is a warning sign to an experienced one.
Source-of-Truth Skills: How We Run an Agency on Claude Code
A one-page checklist cut deaths in surgery by nearly half across eight hospitals.
Speed to Lead: The First Five Minutes Decide the Deal
Researchers sent enquiries to 2,241 companies and timed the replies.
The Stacked Close: Desire, Justification, Price
A sales video has no one on the other end to answer a question.
Straight-to-Quiz Lead Gen and the Catalog Model
A warehouse chain has sold rotisserie chickens since 1994 because they bring people through the door.
The Take-Away Close and a Three-Step Objection Method
In a 1975 study, people rated cookies more desirable when the jar held two instead of ten.
Teach Them and They Move: Educational Copy That Motivates
A music player with a 5 GB drive was launched as "1,000 songs in your pocket.
Text-on-Image Ads: The Meta Creative Format Working Right Now
For years Facebook rejected ad images with too many words.
The Three-Layer Ad: Why, What and How in One Post
A Facebook ad structure for cold traffic: spend about 60 percent of the words on why the problem exists, 30 on what changes, 10 on how.
The Three Beliefs That Stop a Buyer: Not Worth It, Can't Do It, Won't Work
When a buyer wants something and still does not act, one of three beliefs is in the way: it is not worth it, I cannot do it, or it will not work for me.
Relationship and Trust Cycles: Every Sale Spends Trust
Since February 2024, Gmail has asked bulk senders to keep spam complaints below 0.
A Twelve-Beat Video Sales Letter Skeleton
A seven-page studio memo in the 1980s turned an old theory of myth into the working structure of Hollywood films.
UGC Hook Video Ads: The Format Library
A razor company posted one video of its founder walking through a warehouse and took 12,000 orders in two days.
The Unasked Questions Every Landing Page Has to Answer
A visitor asks six questions in the first minute on your page and never says one of them out loud.
Most of Your Market Is Unaware: How to Move Them
Research on business buyers suggests around 95 percent are not in the market at any one time.